Summer jammies and more

Summer has definitely hit here in Melbourne; its humid, its hot, its raining, its not. And above all its time to pack away the winter jammies and make new Summer ones!

So the past week has been exactly this. One pair completed, one pair half way done. Possibly to be completed tonight if I can draw myself away from cruising round blogworld, and actually get them finished.

Patterns used were Ottobre 6/2010 Villi shirt for the top - altered to be short sleeves - and (my favourite) 3/2009 Cassia shorts for the bottoms. A fairy was stolen from the bottoms fabric and embroidered on to the top.

I wasn't that impressed with my fabric matching choices for this one. The two fabrics are very cute in their own right; one fairies, butterflies etc and the other little dragonflies on purple. But together, combined with my choice of pattern, I think they look a little like a rugby top, albeit a pretty fairy one... I think next time I'll just coordinate them with plains.

The pants are rather cute though... The pattern was changed by added ribbing at the legs instead of elastic to make them more suitable for sleeping. And the little ones loves them, particularly the fairies.

Then, I also finally downloaded my photos and remembered this one: Ottobre 6/2009 Phoenix tunic. Made from cotton interlock instead of velveteen, so suited to summer as well as hopefully lasting through to winter.

Front detail. I added a red trim to the neck yoke, as the fabric was a bit busy so the yoke wasn't really visible until I did this. For same reason I excluded the pockets (a lot of fiddling around with pockets and I didn't think they would be noticeable anyway).

Back detail. (The little hand luuuurves buttons)

Wear detail (it was cold on the day this was taken (despite the sun shining in the background) so a LS tee was worn underneath - the last through the winter version)

So what now, more blogging? Should I do my Christmas cards? Or finish the PJs? Or just veg on the couch watching pointless tv? The possibilities are endless...

my creative space, embellished

Ooh its been a while since I last hung out here. I hope I still have the knack.

So this week, for a change, there has been plenty of creativity going on, and its mostly been coffee table printing. Great fun as the two year old can actually join in.

First off the rank; a printed onesie for the 4 month old bubba. The onesie we were given as a gift, so I spiced it up a little with a simple monster print. Print done using a contact cut out (you know that stuff you use to cover school books). A not too scary blue monster for the little man.

And for the little lady, some cheap plain t-shirts from target, transformed into one off pieces with a bit of scrapbooking lacy paper used as stencils.

I've been scouring scrapbook shops for cool cut out papers that can be used for screen printing. All you need to do is use spray adhesive (washable) to attach the lace paper securely to the garment, then paint with fabric paint over the top. Peel off the stencil whilst the paint is still wet and; instant screen print. This one was made with lace paper.

The next one was created with a cut out border paper. First I sewed a circle of patterned fabric to the t shirt to add a different effect. Then printed in white over the top. It kind of looks like a big round moon (albeit pink) in the background.
I've still got two t-shirts left to embellish, so any ideas are welcome. We've certainly had fun with our coffee table printing so far.

Time to go make myself (firstly some time - any crafty ideas on how to whip some of this up?) a coffee and sit back and peruse the inspiring creativity that is around. Looking forward to it! Head on over to Kirsty's for more creative spaces.

The 2 x 2hr wedding outfit challenge

Last weekend we had a lovely time at my cousin's wedding. It was on the Saturday which was a pearler of a day. Leading up to the big event, I realised I didn't have an outfit, and we also needed something for the little one to wear too - it was her first wedding! Of course I realised all this only four days before the wedding, and ingeniously (!!) decided that, instead of hitting the shops, I would check out my stash and see if I could pull together a couple of dresses before the big event.

Despite the short timeline. Despite the fact I had to find time to make them during baby sleeps, and when I was able to organise something to entertain the two year old. Despite the fact the poor little button fell asleep on my knee in front of the sewing machine whilst sewing. And I was just thinking she was mesmerised by my sewing skills. Despite the fact I didn't have enough material to complete the dress cut on the bias so I had to rummage around to find some matching plain black to match (which I did!) Despite all this, we ended up with these two numbers which I was very happy with.

A wedding outfit for a two year old:

And a dress for me!

Mine was a very cheap fabric I picked up about 6 months ago. Whilst the fabric was not-so-nice polyester, I really loved the grey stripes with the hit of chartreuse. The pattern was New Look 6778 (easy 2 hour!!). I changed the pattern slightly by cutting the fabric on the bias so it sat really nicely when on. Although the pics don't show it, the stripe patterns matched up perfectly at the two side seams, which was completely unintentional. It definitely took more than two hours (and not just because I was also trying to keep the baby happy and stop the toddler from being completely bored.

And I have to say, I love this dress. If felt so lovely on; it sat nicely, it was flowy rather than figure hugging (a good thing at the moment...), and it was awesome to dance in. I sort of felt a bit 80's in it, but I have not been so happy in a dress for a long time. I hope to get a lot more wear out of this one.

The sweet little pinafore was based on Simplicity 3853 (It's so easy!!), however I changed this pattern too by excluding the sleeves and changing the shoulders to add buttons for a pinafore look rather than the button opening at the back. The bright yellow, hot pink and white looked really bright and pretty together.

So that was my challenge, successfully completed! Perhaps not in 2 hours each, but happily completed nonetheless. Now I just need another fancy event where we can wear them...

broody knitted jacket

My lovely Mum used to knit back in the day. However her last WIP was started around 30 years old - a cable knit jumper (actually a cardigan) for my Dad. It is dark and light brown and rather 80's so I can't imagine that Dad would ever wear it even if it was finished.

So our entire family was rather impressed when she knitted her first completed project in 30 years for her little granddaughter last year. Then, we were even more impressed this year when she whipped up this little number with a matching beanie for her this year. It is absolutely gorgeous (or is it just the cute little one that wears it?). The jacket flares out a little at the bottom and the front edges are shorter than the back.

It got plenty of wear over the winter, as the little one walked and ran regularly along the river pathway near our house. And although it was often pulled off when she got too hot from all the running, my little one loved it. And she knew it was knitted by her Nanna. She especially loved the pom pom beanie, the result of which is that every hat is now called a "pom-om". So whilst I can't knit myself (just haven't ever learnt), I am very lucky to have a mother that does such a wonderful job. Thanks Mum!

Finders Keepers market aprons {exclaim}

Last weekend was spent at the Finders Keepers market in Melbourne, helping out my friend Nic with her awesome Yardage Design stall there. We had a great time, and the market was amazing - so many inspirational people!

In the sewing department, I made some market aprons for us to wear over the weekend, made from some of Nic's gorgeous fabrics.

They were whipped up late on the Friday night before the weekend (nothing like a bit of last minute sewing - yes, I was the type to sit up all night before my assignments were due at high school).

They are a short apron with a set of three contrasting pockets across the front for various market necessities, the middle pocket had a zipper so we could run around doing cartwheels without stuff falling out - although we didn't actually test this feature...

The fabrics used were the brand new {exclaim} fabric and the swizzle fabric (the blue one). Check out Nic's blog and shop if you like the fabrics. Also check out Nic's blog for the obligatory photo of us in action wearing the aprons. The fabric is lovely to sew, which is why they were so quick. Most of my sewing lately has been with knits and stretch - so the linen was a welcome reprieve; it ironed nicely and stayed put and didn't move all about the place whilst trying to sew - very nice indeed.

I also got these gorgeous pears, made from Nic's fabric (not my own handiwork, made by Brenda) which look lovely sitting happily on the mantelpiece.

The market was fantastic, however I managed to get away without splurging too much, a cute handprinted tee for the newborn's summer wardrobe and some hand printed stretch fabric (oops, back on the stretch fabric bandwagon - a stickler for punishment), which hopefully you will see soon, made into something cute.

Autumn outfit

I'm back-posting. This was a post I started way back in Autumn, but never actually finished and made live, so here it is now.

The little one got another new outfit for the Autumn, which matched perfectly to our Boston Ivy which was turning beautiful shades of red at the time. Now we've moved, and left our wonderful garden behind, boston ivy and all, and now have a backyard full of weeds, sand and building mess. Maybe one day we'll get a beautiful garden back... But, I digress.

Back to the outfit:
The top is the Pumpulipilvi voile tunic from Ottobre 1/2010. It is actually quite a lot of fabric, pulled together at the neck and sleeve edges with elasticised shirring. The fabric is cotton voile, so it scrunches quite nicely, but creates an overall puffy effect when worn. It looks cute and I like it, but it is definitely a puffy outfit. The shirring was fun and turned out really well, particularly after I remembered the shirring trick - to iron after sewing which helps to pull it in tight.
Then there are the Jodphur pants to match from Ottobre 3/2010, made from brown sweater fabric. They have a fake button fastening at the bottom, and I had some cute pink duck buttons which helped to girly the pants up. These pants were super easy and look great with the buttons.
We've had a fair bit of wear out of this outfit through the winter, and the top should still fit in to wear it through the summer too. The bad bit is that since making the outfit, I worked out that the pink in the voile print runs when washed, so I have had to hand wash it in cold water everytime. It always pays to wash fabrics before making things I guess.

And now that Spring is well and truly here, how I am lovin daylight savings and some warmer weather. Yippee! Bring on Summer!

A blogging holiday and boy things

I've been on a bit of a blogging holiday. A holiday from blogging that is (not a holiday where all I do is blog). During this blogging holiday, I was busy being exhausted in the last trimester of my pregnancy, we moved house, we started a renovation/extension. Oh, and I had a baby.

Yep, we've added a brand new little baby boy to the Pippi creates family. He's the main reason I've been AWOL. Too tired to do anything in my last months of pregnancy, too tired to do anything now that I'm a mother to two little 'uns. So to show off the goods, here's a glimpse of the baby boy in question.Like the gorgeous quilt he's lying on? We had a visit from our lovely and awesome friend Nic from Yardage Design (almost a household name these days!). She had delved into her stash of boy fabrics and whipped this one up as a present for us, as featured in Nic's my creative space a few weeks back. It is so bright and lovely. Thanks Nic, we absolutely love it!

So life's good and I am looking forward to getting back to normal as things start to settle down. although normal probably has a completely different meaning these days.

And now I get to experience first hand this issue that everyone talks about - the lack of suitable boy fabrics/clothes/acessories for us creative crafters. Well, time to set the mind off pinks, ruffles and twirls, and on to boy themed robots, dinosaurs and automobiles. Sounds like a good reason to start a new stash. Yippee!

Crochet queen

I did it!
A while ago I attempted to learn to crochet. Very unsuccessfully. Last week, I gave it another go at the Perle 8's Thursday night session, under the instruction of Mary (who is not only very knowledgeable but also talented in all areas hooks and wool - although she will hate me saying so). So instead of trying to learn by endless lengths of warped single chains (as was my last effort), this time around I got to make a pretty flower! Much better for the motivation and much better having helpful instructions. A BIG thanks Mary!!

Now on to seeing if I can crochet another and begin a new obsession?

Stitches and Craft Show, Sew it Together, bold stripes and a green sheep...

Its been an eventful week and a bit. I'll try to keep the words short and keep you entertained with a few crafty pics.

Firstly it was the Melbourne Stitches and Craft Show last weekend. I was lucky enough to be helping out Nic at Yardage Design at her stall in the incubator section. It was loads of fun and it was great to see and talk to so many other crafters. The buzz was great.To show off Nic's gorgeous fabrics, I made myself a skirt of red linen, with a panel of the Yardage swizzle fabric which I wore when helping her out. It is a pretty easy pattern, cut on the bias, with a back seam (to give it a nice shape) and the feature panel added off centre front, and top stitched in linen cotton. I changed the waistline and added a 25cm stretch fabric tube, so it could sit comfortably over a growing baby belly. Here's a close up of Nic's lovely feature fabric!
Whilst I was at the show, I also picked up a few things myself, some great Hilco fabrics from EarthGirl fabrics (now on my Internet favourites list!), for making some Ottobre patterns. And this tea towel:
Which leads me to my next topic. Mother's day was lovely and we had a picnic with the extended family and then dinner with my family and sisters. I gave my Mum this Yardage tea towel, which she loved, and my little 17 month old spent all afternoon pointing at it chanting peeeeaaaar - one of her favourite words at the moment.

I also made up a green sheep brooch from granddaughter to Nanna, which is from one of her favourite books. It is green wool felt bought from the Show, stuffed and sewn together with blanket stitch, and embroidered to make the sheep features with some rather wayward legs sticking out. Both Nanna and granddaughter loved it though.
Finally last night was the Sew It Together dinner in Melbourne. Unfortunately I was not able to attend the day's crafting session, but have put next year's Sydney dates in the diary! The dinner was lovely though, and I had a great time meeting so many other talented and inspiring crafters and bloggers, so many that I already knew in blogland, but have now met in person.

Although I don't have picks from the night, I do have some pics of the leggings I wore which I had made a few weeks before (thanks to an Ottobre pattern lent to me by Mary of Perle 8's. I'll have to chase her down to get the pattern issue and post it later). I've been making lots of leggings for my little one, but finally made a big sized pair for me! Made from red/purple/black stripe cotton elastane (I love the fabric!), they were extremely simple to make and turned out well. I was very happy with them and have worn them a lot.
They were even a maternity pattern, so have a high waistline to go over a 7 month pregnant belly! (Sorry if I freak anyone out with the pic below, but I love the high waistline - it is super comfy. I also imagine bold stripes don't do much for the figure but...)
So that's it from me. Phew. That was great to get off my chest, although I'm sure I've forgotten heaps. It's been a while since my last post, but there is plenty more stashed away to bring to light on Pippi Creates. I just have to stop crashing at 8.30 at night so I can actually find some time to do things...

Edited to add: The leggings pattern was No.16 from 2/2008 of Ottobre Woman, they came as maternity and non maternity options. Thanks Mary.

Summer top finished. Just in time for WInter.

Oh my poor little blog! Seems you are well and truly behind. There has been so much going on here and you are having trouble keeping up, so I thought it was time to help you out a little. There are quite a few projects finished (yes finished!) of late, and there is much catching up to do.

Firstly, I finally finished the cool, flowy summer top. This one was started at the beginning of summer at a Perle 8's Thursday session. Now I finally finished it off (thanks to a bit of motivation from my creative space last week), perfectly timed as our weather has turned to winter these past few days with rain and cold. I did get a half day of wear out of it and it fits beautifully. Perhaps it can be teamed with a long sleeve t for wear in winter?The pattern is Simplicity 2962 and the fabric is cotton voile. Its a bit hard to tell, but there are pleats along the front bodice which give it a nice finish and add to the flowiness. Oh well, I guess I'll have to wait till next summer to really appreciate this one!

And note to self: I really need to get myself some labels made up. This top is screaming out for a made by me label. I saw these great ones Patch Andi got, but I am just not sure I will ever use thousands...

My creative space

My creative space
of the future...

We are moving house later this year. Plans are well underway for an extension and a renovation (that our little family will have the pleasure of living through!) And I am very excited about my new 'creative space' that is in the plans (above pic may be difficult to inperpret, unless you are me and spend A LOT of time staring at this little line drawing - The grey shaded bit in inside the house, you can see the windows opening to the outside. My creative space of the future is really just a length of desk, but imagine the possibilities!).

It will have nice big windows overlooking our backyard. Particularly looking out at an existing White Cedar (scientific name Melia azedarach - Persian Lilac) and the rest of a lush garden (that will be there eventually). But at the moment it just looks like this - a tree (a nice one at that) and some grass. It is amazing the excitment I have for imagining what this little corner of my life will be like. It's a while down the track to reality, but the dreaming is fun!

On a more practical level, this is what I am working on at the moment. Finishing off a cool breezy summer top I started last year (not much of a need for it this time of year, but hopefully I will have finished it before next summer...)

Visit Kootoyoo for more in the present creative spaces...

My creative space

Starting to get back into the swing of things this week. In my space this week is a work in progress. More embellishment for little person's clothes. This one hopefully transforms a boring old plain skivvy into a cute, warm winter garment.

Take 1 op shopped skivvy. Add a couple of squares of polar fleece in a warm wintry pattern.
I'm thinking a big square sewn on the front and some lengths doubled over and sewn on as cuffs to the edge of the sleeves.
The creative juices must be flowing readily around our place at the moment, as the hubby has some scrap metal pieces picked up this from the scrap yard. Bits of car engines and brakes and chains. He is going to weld together an outdoor table for my parents.
Visit the very creative Kirsty at Kootoyoo for see many many more creative juices.

A little time out and a crafty embellishment

I've been absent for a couple of weeks. An unexpected stint in hospital proved to be a bit of a hiccup to the normal flow of life. Fortunately all is well in the scheme of things, and some time to recover and 'taking it easy' will fix anything. So they say. And although I did, last minute, throw a couple of crafty projects into the overnight stay bag, the passion and energy was left behind at home so nothing got done. Even Internet access didn't work so the joy of blogging was absent.

I did, however, finish this project before I went into hospital. This was one of my op shopped finds that needed some crafty love to fix a lame decoration. The production line flowers were unpicked, and a new embellishment sewn over the top. I used a blue crochet ribbon, folded it into a bow shape, and hand sewed it to the top. I started this project at the Perle 8's Thursday night session, and finished it in front of the TV a few nights later.
Ooh, I just checked the Perle 8's blog and saw photos of craft'n in action, posted by the lovely quilting Andi. And there's a pic of my ribbon top in progress - fun!

Lucky my little toddler got to have some time out at the playground with her grandparents and aunty whilst Mum recovers. Here is the newly embellished top having a ball on the slides at the playground.

Getting ready for winter - Kayla assymetrical jacket

Just writing this post is making me feel hot. We are in the middle of a hot February and here I am making fleecy cardigans and corduroy pants (to come). And I will happily blame it all on the Ottobre magazine, that too damn good Finnish pattern design company that have the opposite seasons to us downunder (they are shovelling snow whilst we swelter away in the heat). Their Winter issue (albeit fantastic) arrives in the middle of Summer, and the Summer issue in Winter...

Enough complaining.

The pattern is the Kayla hooded jacket from Ottobre 3/2009 issue (which I just noticed was their Summer issue, not even a Winter issue. That's what happens when you live so close to the arctic circle I guess). The fabric is a cotton blend fleece. Fluffy on the inside so good for winter (ie not now). Lined with hot pink cotton lycra in the hood. It was the first time I have ever used snaps (instead of buttons or a zipper) on the front panel and they were super easy. Finished with some hot pink binding.

I forgot to take a close up photo of the hem, but there is some twin stitching along the bottom jacket and sleeve hems. Gives it a very professional finish, but also caused some minor distress with a certain broken twin needle about 5cm before the finish line...
Its still a bit too big. But this is a good thing as there is still some growing to do before Winter hits. It was pulled out on a chilly early morning walk to the park a couple of weeks ago (before it was completely finished). Just for a test drive. It worked fine, did all the things a jacket should do. Plus she looked super cute. Next is a skirt to match.

More legs

Two more pairs of leggings this week for an 18 month old. The pattern is the Lola leggings from Ottobre Summer issue 3/2009. These leggings are genuinely so easy so make, each leg is one piece of fabric so the method is simply sew the inner leg and crotch seams, hem the bottom and add the waist band. I have some very cool red/purple/black stripey knit that I want to make for myself, but I don't have a big person's pattern so I might try to wing it tracing the pattern from a pair of bought leggings. We'll see how we go.

The blue pair are made from a very lightweight stretch denim, and are finished with twin stitching. I used two different colours for the twin stitching - yellow and hot pink (although the colours don't show up very well in the pic) - to give them a bit of edge.

The pink pair are made from a plain cotton jersey. The flower is hand embroidered and adds a little girly touch (as if the pink wasn't girly enough...)

Again, more twin stitching on the hems and waistline. I've done a few project now with the twin needles here and here and I am definitely improving in my technique. And learning a lot along the way.

I signed up for My favourite February challenge which was sewing with knit fabrics, check out the others signed up for more stretchy goodness.

My creative space with automobiles

This week in my creative space is a sneak preview of a project recently finished.
Its all about automobiles, bright colours and summer.

But I can't show you the whole thing. Its a present for a friend. Or for their little dinosaur. So instead you get to see little bits and pieces.

It turns inside out. It has a nice stripey brim to shade out the sun.
And a neat round top to hold it in place.Hopefully it is liked by its owner to be.

What mysteries are going on in your creative space? Check out Kootoyoo to connect with others.