no gift tags

I tried a Christmas decoration instead, it's not really appropriate for an Australian Christmas so maybe I'll finish it and send it to my Nordic friends.

stitching

After reading about the book launch for 'Stitched Gifts' by Jessica Marquez on the Purl bee I felt inspired to try a bit of stitching.  So of course I bought the book.

By the way, the book is lying on a gorgeous quilt made for me by a friend.  I know it's Amy Butler fabric and I think the range is daisy chain, but I can't be sure about that.

Back to stitching, I think I'll attempt something easy to start with.  I really like these gift tags.

a tiny bit of sewing and gardening

Another week has passed with lots of thinking about doing things but not actually getting anything done.  But I did have a couple of lovely days in Sydney visiting a friend and her new, very sweet baby. 

I made another Nicole Mallalieu bag, the pattern is 'Hobo' - love that name.   This bag is for a friend because I was sick of the one she was using (another bag I made).  I really do have a problem with polka dots, I love them.  I lined it with some red poplin, the photo didn't turn out too well of that. 

And there was a small harvest from my garden, a crop of turnips.  Not so sure what I'll be making with them, someone suggested Cornish pasties.  Yum.

still no crafting

It has been one of those weekends of going out at 8 each day and getting home late, I've now got a spare hour to do some things before heading out to my allotment when it's a bit cooler.  My weekend started with a bit of junk shopping, I love it and have to remember I can't fit everything in my tiny flat.  I picked up a few things from a fete, a metal filing cabinet thingy, a couple of pottery canisters (I love the colour), two cake plates which remind me of crockery from my childhood and a sticky tape holder - I've been meaning to buy one for ages.

A friend and I went in the Tour de Femme this morning, it's a 20km ride in the inner south of Canberra.  Not be pro riders we weren't racing but in it as a 'participation event' - so the Canberra Cycling Cub calls us leisure riders.  The weather was glorious and it was loads of fun.

And I did some more shopping.  I saw a cushion ages ago at The Style Emporium and wanted it but thought I shouldn't buy it and didn't really need it.  I was out that way this afternoon so thought I'd pop in on the off chance it was still there... success!  It's made by La cerise sur le gateau (can't work out how to do the thingy above the 'a'), it's obviously French and I think the fabric is Liberty.

my first snow peas

It has been a quiet week on the crafting front, hopefully this weekend will produce something.  However, I discovered this morning that I have grown my first snow peas!

As well as my allotment at the community garden I'm growing a few things on my balcony.  The snow pea success is especially exciting because I love them so much I could eat them every day.  Happy Saturday.

more spots

My mother asked me to make a little baby gift for her neighbour.  I've made this elephant a few times, it's adapted from an applique pattern I saw somewhere.  The hardest part is stuffing it, I like it to be quite hard but it seems to take forever and so much stuffing for that to happen.  To make it as colourful as possible I use different fabric and felt on each side. 

sewing clothes

I have never been good at sewing clothes for myself, I tend to not follow a pattern properly, not buy enough fabric, don't iron as I sew and force fabric where it shouldn't be forced.  I haven't attempted sewing myself anything for years until today.  Inspired by top notch and some Salme patterns Kirsty had tried I thought I'd give it a go myself.  I bought the Kimono Top pattern and some cheap polka dot fabric to make it up and see if my sewing had improved.

The photo is less than flattering but I'm quite pleased with how the top turned out, all the pieces seemed to fit!  It needs a bit of tweaking at the side to give it a little more shape and less of a front verandah look for me, I think some softer fabric would help that.  The pattern was easy to follow, it was a beginner pattern and only had about four pieces.  I think my attempt was a tiny sewing success.