A new top!

This is very similar to the 90-minute shirt tutorial that I tried a while ago (but never blogged as it didn't quite work out - my fault, not that of the tute, which is really quite awesome).  This was actually done from a very old pattern that I got at a garage sale. I cut this top out last year sometime but was too scared to finish it. I've been trying to finish off all my WIPs tho, so attacked this one too. The neckline binding isn't perfect, but I'm pretty happy with it for a first go. You may notice that the sleeves aren't finished yet... I want to bind them and the bottom of the top to match the neckline. This is a size one, but it is really quite roomy on my little guy who is now 2.25yo (altho he is quite small).

I will use the pattern from this to fix up the shirt I attempted using the 90-minute shirt tutorial as it was my pattern drafting that caused problems.  Then I will sew up the other two I have cut out ready to go. It's so nice to be able to make tops for my boy - and it really wasn't hard at all. Oh, and the first one only took me 2 hours so the 90 minutes is a pretty good estimate. I think I'll get in under that for the next one.

Together Parenting

I recently came across this blog, and I was instantly inspired. Particularly by this post. It's all about getting yourself a tribe - a group of people with whom you can share your parenting journey. It's not about all moving in together. But it is about spending regular time with these people doing regular things. I think that's the key - it's not about racing around and cooking and cleaning in preparation for guests. It's about going on with your day to day life in the company of friends. Invite them over and cook together. Do the housework together.

The way we parent now is so alien to our species. Each woman is not meant to be in her house all day with her child(ren), with playgroup and grocery shopping as her social outlets. Women are meant to gather together and share their days. We need more interaction than what a cuppa can provide.

So, anyway...

Nervous as heck, I put out the call to some local mums that I know. A couple are pretty good friends. I've `cried on the shoulder of one. The others are lovely people I meant through various groups - ABA, Cloth Nappies, EC and so on. We have socialised before but irregularly and on a superficial - clean your house before they come and pretend everything about your parenting journey is absolutely wonderful -  level. It is scary to open yourself up and let people into your real world. I was scared no one would reply to my initial call.

But I got lots of interest. And yesterday, we had our first get-together. So two mums came over for the morning. Old habits die hard, I have to admit I felt compelled to vac before they arrived. Once they arrived we chatted, and we baked. The kids played. Fun was had by all. We have organised to meet next week too. There should be another two women (and their kids) joining us. More cooking is on the agenda. But most importantly, real friendships are being formed.

Thank you so much Cassie for giving me the courage to finally do this!

From Top to Bottom(s)

From this:

One nice red top with plenty of stretch. Received it from Freecycle and, well, I figured it would look better as undies than a top!

To this: 

3 pairs of undies all cut out and ready to go. Using old clothes, whether they come from the wardrobe, Freecycle or the op-shop is turning out to be a great way to find good quality knit fabrics. 

Only problem I have with this fabric is I realised after cutting that it is polyester not cotton so I'm not too keen on it going on my little boy's bottom. If I'd noticed earlier I would've used it purely to make the leg and waist bands as it has a great stretch to it. I will still make the undies up, they can be spare undies for my bag, the car etc. 

A perfect blog-post would now have a pic of the finished undies, but, heck, I'm not perfect. And I think I've done pretty well given it's just 7.30 on Sunday morning :)

Making Life Simpler

Or the big wardrobe clean out lol

In an effort to make my life that much more simple, I am trying to declutter. A cluttered house leads to a cluttered mind, and all that... Plus the less stuff you have, the easier it is to put away and generally keep the whole house neat and tidy (and tidy and neat - any Mr Men fans lol??).

Here is what my wardrobe looked like before (and yes, I am embarressed to be posting this!):

And here is what I managed to declutter:

11 items sitting waiting by the door for someone from freecycle to come and pick them up.

That's just stage one of the cleanout...stage two happening soon.

Hoo Hoo Hooo!

Once upon a time I was quite into card-making, I don't do it very often any more, but a very good friend's birthday prompted me to get out the supplies and see what I could come up with. Nothing very fancy, but I was very happy with how this came out. The owls were cut out of some scrap fabric I got on freecycle, which makes me like it even more :)

Mr Fun Pants!

Don't these pants just shout "fun!" to you?

They're fun to walk in

Fun to explore in

Fun to dance in

Fun to hide in

And fun to go adventuring with special friends in.

I got the fabric from an op-shop and used this trusty pattern again - size two. My boy is only little so I've had to shorten them quite a bit. I however shortened the pattern a bit too much meaning I had to do a small small hem on these pants. I got inspired and googled "rolled hem foot" and found this youtube video. It made it so easy!  I'm having a bit of trouble with length at the moment as sometimes DS is in training pants and other times in undies. He was obviously in undies when I made the pair of test pants and this caused me to cut the pattern too short. I wouldn't have thought the training pants would make much of a difference, but they do shorten pants by a couple of centimetres.

I really love these pants. They weren't on my to do list, they were a spur of the moment thing and were all the more fun to make because of it! DS also helping sew - he lifts the presser foot lever and lowers it for me at the beginning/end of every seam. He also 'helps' feed the fabric through :)

Sewing Swap - What I Received

Yay!! I got home from my busy morning out to find a parcel waiting for me!! It was a couple of days late, but it was worth it :)

This is what was waiting for me!

There's a beautiful facewasher on the left - I LOVE this fabric, I keep looking at it and wanting to buy it, but didn't know what to do with it. Now I don't need to lol. J will love using this at bath time. He is right into his animals (maybe b/c he's been to the zoo seven times this year?!?) so it is sure to be a hit.

Here's a shot of the 6 coasters (sorry not the best photo but I wanted to blog straight away). They are all reversible and as it so happens I think both sides will look great on our table.

To encourage J to put his glass on the table (as opposed to tipping it on the floor or throwing the whole thing overboard!) we introduced coasters a while back. It has worked a treat, indeed now if he doesn't have one at his seat he will point at the table and say 'coaster, coaster'. So we use coasters all the time. Only, to date we have been using some plastic Winnie-the-Pooh ones. So these are a massive improvement!!

Thank you so much Kelly :)