My first order

A friend asked me if I could make a chair cover for her mother-in-law. My friend chose the fabric and let me at it. This is the result. To say I am impressed by my handy-work is an understatement! I love it and am inspired to make one for me.

  

And with some matching cushions.

Together Parenting...An Update

Back here I talked about how I took the plunge, put the call out for a tribe, and had my first meet up. That was almost two months ago. I cannot explain how glad I am that I had the courage to take that first step. We have met every week since then without fail. The friendships are growing firmer every week. We have cooked, baked, chatted, cleaned, and cried together (ok, so it was only me doing the crying, but they supported me through it).

It is just so lovely to have such a great group of people to meet up with on a weekly basis, and to not have to rush the visit. To have the luxury of spending at least four hours in each others company. And we have started to see each other more in addition to the regular meets.

It is perhaps a little sad that this is such a big thing, that I am so excited about spending quality time with friends... but I do think it is rare for women and children to get together in this way now. And, it is not only us women who are getting the benefit of each other's company either, the kids get to grow up regularly seeing other adults - my son sees no other adult (apart from me and DH) as often as he sees those in this group. It is delightful to see him become more and more comfortable with them. And of course, there are the other kids! Ranging from not-quite-one, to four, it is so valuable for him to have regular, extended contact with kids both younger and older than him. It is doing wonders for his ability to understand how give and take works :)

Ahhh, Thursdays :) my new favourite day of the week :)  And in case any of the girls read this - you're awesome!

Crayon Wallet

A crayon wallet...

 

 The perfect birthday present for a little boy who had his fourth birthday party yesterday. He is train-mad, but when asked his mum said maybe something not trainy for a change...so I compromised :)

Here it is all opened up. 10 pencils and one B5 sketch pad, ready to be taken anywhere he goes.

The pattern comes from http://sew-fantastic.blogspot.com/ and is available as an instant download :) And check out her etsy shop for lots of other beautiful products. So many gorgeous things to buy!  

The pattern was very easy to understand, however I upsized it to fit a larger notebook and pencils, rather than crayons. So I still had to play around with measurements. My trial one gets to stay with James, which is lucky as he really really liked it! I was a little worried it would be hard for him to get the pencils in and out but he managed just fine. I'll be making plenty more of these for presents, I do think.

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.