a love affair

I love church fetes!

I love vintage fabrics!
I love vintage prints!
also have a thing for vintage pillowcases!
for the princely sum of $2.. the lot ..WOW !
Absolutely gorgeous prints..I think a couple are Liberty ?

The little old lady thought the silk lined patchwork jacket would "look lovely on you, my dear! "

The clairvoyant in me is saying it will look much better deconstructed and sewn up into a gorgeous quilt!


What little treasures did you find this weekend?

x PJ x

Mummy The Sewing Goddess Pedestal

I must admit, now that I have started to make little girls clothes, I am quite addicted. Let's face it really, I had best make the most of it now as I am sure in a few years there is no way Emily will want to be seen dead in something that Mum has made ! Right now, however, I am up there on my Mummy The Sewing Goddess Pedestal. ( the fall down will be hard ! ) . Squeals of delight are forthcoming upon the completion of each item and well, thought she would pop a vein over this twirly layered skirt when she tried it on. Little devil was not going to stand still for a photo though, so hence I have pulled out the torso plastic dummy. The beauty of this style is the fact it can be made as a dress for a 2 yr old toddler ( just add shoestring straps ) or fits as a skirt for a 4yr old. I followed the pattern formula on this link at J Caroline Creative. You will just need to adjust your measurements to suit. Make one for yourself while you are at it !

love is the answer

I have been contemplating my navel, well metaphorically anyway, wondering what it is about sewing that can keep me awake until the wee small hours.Then it came to me…LOVE. I sew because I love it.I love the first seed of an idea…be it searching for a pattern or creating a design from scratch.I love to watch that idea grow and bloom. The sense of satisfaction from completing an item ,whether a small gift or a 70 inch square quilt, is amazing. Even better than this feeling though is when I gift the item to someone special and they LOVE it ! If you are a sewist, you know what I am talking about !

My latest project was born from my frustration at the selection of nightwear when searching for some PJs for my 4 yr old…not to mention the ridiculous price. Everything was polyester, not a scerrick of cotton in sight ! Off I trotted to the nearby Spotlight shop , purchased 2 meters of cotton voile -total cost= $8. Four hours later ( sounds a long time but I am a newbie to garment sewing ) and I had a shirred night dress and an appliqued PJ set. To top it off-they fit and Missy Moo loved them ! No pic of the nightdress yet !

The applique was without Viesofix as I wanted it to remain soft. The edges will fray over time but that is the effect I am wanting. Oh, and I made use of my stash of vintage sewing paraphenalia from my grandmother which provided the pink cotton ric-rac. A fab, cheap project that was useful and cute!

In case you were wondering, I used Simplicity pattern number 8493. A great unnisex design that has long sleeve and pants option plus a robe and a zip-up all in one style for the toddlers.

Happy sewing,

PJ

little tweetheart blogtoberfest giveaway

My parents travelled to Japan 10 years ago. Mum brought back some lovely pieces of vintage kimono fabric for me, which until recently have lay carefully wrapped in the original packaging.
3 months ago I unveiled them again and starting planning and scheming a quilt top design that I could best display these pieces in. I found the design needed a little more fabric than I had so popped it to the side until I had sourced more fabric.
Well...imagine my delight when I came across the giveway being hosted by little tweetheart as part of Blogtoberfest !! Fingers , toes and any other body part..crossed !!!
Pop over and have a look...and make sure you also visit her post about the Rainbow Present.
I am keeping that idea up my sleeve !
x PJ x

Seeing spots.....

These are the lovely goodies that arrived from Joanne, my partner in the Polka Dot Swap.
Dotty fabric, dotty grosgrain ribbon,cutest dotty Scotty dog buttons and a fabulous wallet with lots of room for cards!
Thanks Joanne !

And what did I send her ? well..this silly billy wrapped her parcel late at night and forgot to take photos.Duh !
Joanne has received her package and will be posting pics soon. I sent some fabric, buttons , cappucino set with spotty giraffes and a little quilt with cat applique for her cat's basket.

Garden swap,river walk and pink tulip!!

This morning I received a parcel from Scotland ,from Emma, my partner in the Garden Swap.



Emma kindly sent me some gorgeous handknit flowers with button centres, a pretty flower button bracelet, a lovely piece of bright floral pop daisy quilting fabric,a postcard with a lovely scene of Aberdeen, a funky purple cocktail shaker and some recipes for her fave cocktails...as well as a recipe for a decadent sweet. Emma was actually going to make the sweet and send it but I advised Emma that our quarantine customs officers would have probably confiscated it so now I can make it myself..yummy...
I am thrilled with it all..thanks Emma...how did you know that I do not have a cocktail shaker...??? And I have already planned a bag to make, that would feature the knitted flowers sewn onto it .

Emma received the package I sent her a few days ago....here are some photos....








An eco-calico shopping bag with a garden themed stitchery on the front, a purple apron with big appliqued flowers ( Emma LOVES baking and purple is her fave colour ) , a little needle and thread pouch- holds a reel of cotton and some needles in the felt on the inside of the lid ( finished off with flower buttons...oh...and it is purple fabric ! ) plus some cute coffee / hot chocolate stencils to decorate a cappucino or hot chocolate.( forgot to photograph them ) I made a note card and attached flower pot buttons to the front.

I have been lucky enough to win a little giveaway over at Loraine's blog Pink Tulip.Loraine sews some lovely clothes and bags, pop over and have a look....she has inspired me to try making a few skirts...I will post photos if they turn out half wearable ! I can sew quilts but I struggle with adult clothing................


I will leave with a photo from our family stroll/ walk/ bike ride along the river bike path last weekend. It is such a lovely location, very peaceful and restful.....

x PJ X

Mmmm..... coffee and chocolate.....Kitchen Swap !!

My partner Melissa received the little box of goodies for the Kitchen swap I sent her.
Melissa mentioned her kitchen was brown and cream, so when I saw some cute coffee themed fabric in those exact colours , on one of my fabric shop adventures...I knew I had to get it!
Apparently I chose well, Melissa and her husband both have a love of coffee!!
I made a set of coasters and a chalkboard fabric message board with the fabric.




What goes so well with coffee? .. ...chocolate !! ..so I included a Donna Hay Chocolate Recipe book, a spatula to help make some yummy chocolate cakes...and some cute stencils to decorate cappucino or hot chocolates with ...place them over the cup and shake the sprinkles over !!





Thankyou ,Melissa , for being my kitchen swap partner..it has been lots of fun !!

Unbirthday swap

The gorgeous Miya received her Unbithday swap package from me....and gathering from her comments..I'm pretty sure she liked it !!


I made her a Vampire Softie which I aptly named Vince. He has a green bow tie and buttons- Miya's favourite colour . The bow tie was the culprit I was having so much difficulty with-fabric was thick and the opening was small- it wouldn't turn through easily ! (read previous post )
Continuing on the horror movie theme , I made a set of coasters with horror movie posters and comic book covers..I LOVE printable inkjet fabric !!



or if Vince gets cold he could use one as a quilt ! ( as modelled in the photo..thanks Vince ).



A few pieces of fabric as well. Thanks Miya for organising the swap...let me know when the next one is !!
x PJ x

Starling

Oh, I could not help myself....very naughty...swore I would not buy any more fabric for at least a month..but look what I found .and of course had to have !

This online fabric shop , Kelani Fabric Obsession , has free postage within Australia.


They have some of my favourite prints, including my latest purchase.
I fell in love with the Starling print after seeing Elizabeth's latest creation over at Oh, Fransson.
I plan on using my fabric in the same manner as she has.

Now..off to browse more fabric shops.. what ? oh no..wont buy any more...I promise..well...I think I promise..( so glad my husband is not home when the postman delivers my parcels...phew !!)

I have been busy with the 4 swap parcels I need to have posted by the end of May....what was I thinking ???...signing up for 4 parcels that all have the same post date !

But what fun it all is !

x PJ x

An inspiring giveaway !!

I have been wanting to make a Coin quilt for some time now, however my stash of cute and modern fabrics is sadly lacking. But I am hoping to win this little give away over at A La Mode
which would be perfect for the look I wanted to achieve. Do have a look at this gorgeous blog...and her coin quilt..Pink Popsicle...very pretty...and don't forget to pop into her Etsy shop...lots of yumminess in there !!!

Art Nest Pincushion RingGIVEAWAY!!!!

Kathleen at Grosgrain is busy with another fabulous giveaway.
Kathleen's sponsor, Susannah from Art Nest, is offering 3 of her gorgeous pincushion rings to 3 lucky readers .
These rings are not only a wonderfully practical sewing accessory, they are also super-duper cute !
They look good enough to eat !
Made of funky fabrics and lush felt , the rings are silver plated, nickel free and size adjustable .

Art Nest Pincushion RingGIVEAWAY!!!!

Planning and organising

x PJ x

A quilt for my nephew.

My brother and his wife recently welcomed their beautiful boy, Jackson ,to their family.
So what does a doting Aunty do when a new baby arrives? Makes a quilt of course!
This is my version of Simple Modern Baby Quilt, from Elizabeth at Oh, Fransson. I quilted in the ditch rather than stipple all over . I like a baby quilt to be snuggly and I find that an all over stipple can make a quilt rather stiff. I was quite pleased with the final result.
I am off to meet a dear friend and her girls for a playdate at an indoor play centre..must remember my ear plugs.....the squeals of delight can be quite deafening !

Take a deep breath ...and.....blog !!!!!

I have done it ! I have finally made the plunge into blogland...and it feels great !!
I have been lurking on everyone else's blogs too long...I felt it was time...hey..I want to feel a part of this wonderful blog community too !!

I signed up for a fat quarter swap over at sewmamasew and what a lovely surprise when I received my first ever swap fabric in the mail today.
Not only was it an Amy Butler print ...but OMG it was pink and green...my favourite.
My swap buddy Nova had it beautifully wrapped and accompanied by a lovely note.

Thanks Nova ! Check out Nova's blog, she is on a mission to send smiles and hugs with cards !