my creative space

A saw a good friend of mine for coffee this morning and she whilst we were talking about news that crops up on my blog she said to me quasi jokingly "oh you should just forget about your blog now, it's not like you ever update it!" - she's right you know, I am not on here as much as I want to be, I have become a little blog lazy, and all that I want to do, the photography challenge for example, has been ignored, and I am just not as disciplined as I used to me...I think I needed that little kick, to get me back on track.


I have been busy channelling my inner 'mother of a boy child', getting organised for upcoming markets. I haven't touched a single piece of 'girl' fabric in so long! These dinosaurs were designed by Melanie (mother of one boy) and I think they look so cute albeit a little grizzly, I hope they are not too scary for a baby bib? The chocolate mingle is from Amy's shop - she has a terrific selection of unusual fabrics and her shipping is lightening fast!

Still making gorgeous pocket pants for boys, still in love with that brown - I hope the Heather Ross is appreciated. I always get nervous before a market that no one will like what fabrics I have chosen and everything will be rejected - so much of your heart goes into your sewing, it's hard to face the fact that not everyone will like it!

My next colour combination for the pocket pants will be this one. The navy is so blue, so inky, it needs some brightening up. Andrew liked this kind of 'western vintage' checked fabric so I did sigh with relief because I know sometimes my fabric choices can be a little on the unusual side. I suppose I should get back to the machine, school is over in less than 2 hours - where did the morning go?

check out more creative spaces here.

working

There are busy times ahead for Barefoot Babies! We have secured a spot at Canberra Handmade Market and also Billycart Market which both fall on the same weekend - it's going to be a bit crazy in the sewing v. sleep department!! At first we thought one of us could do Billycart and the other do Canberra but after some discussion we will be at both. Please come along and say hello, we would love to see you!!


Melanie and I have both been working quite furiously on boy's clothing which sold so fast in Canberra - I am loving this brown cord, brown is such a tricky colour, it really can look so drab and dirty sometimes but this colour looks very cool, has a nice vintage feel to it - I really love these pants, I hope they do well because they have taken me ages to make :-)

Thank you Kootoyoo

For your amazing banana bread recipe! It is delicious, fail safe and healthy. The kids absolutely devour it when I make it and they have NO idea it has 4 mashed bananas in it - that is a lot of banana!

Moderations I made was to use wholemeal flour and instead of 2/3 cup of sugar I used half a cup. When bananas are over ripe they are so sweet that cutting down on the sugar isn't really noticed.

Oh yeah and today I put a little desiccated coconut on top to toast! Life is so much better with coconut in it!

i'm back

From visiting my sister and her beautiful new baby, Jesse. Isn't he gorgeous!

He is, however a pretty high maintenance little thing - lots of crying and at times fussy feeding which makes for a really exhausted mum. I was so happy to be able to go and help her with the big job that is raising a baby and give her some advice that was valuable to me, like, you can be the best mum in the world and still have a crying baby.


I am definitely of the opinion that it takes a village to raise a child - it's way too big a job for 1 or 2 people. I felt very privileged to have some really quality time snuggling with Jesse and hearing his mum snoring quietly in her room having some delicious well deserved sleep was very satisfying.

Thank you Canberra!

What a wonderful time Melanie and Neve and I had in Canberra, super lovely, kind shoppers and a wonderful choice of stalls. Thank you Canberrans for supporting us and giving us such great feedback (and buying lots from us!) Barefoot Babies have been invited to do the Canberra Handmade Market and we think that we will do it after such a great time on Sunday.

We have also taken a leap of faith and signed up for Billycart Market on the 27th march as well which I am looking forward to mostly for the handmade kids factor but also because it's about a 5 minute drive from my home - yippee!!

I am off to QLD tomorrow for a visit with my sister who has a new baby so I might not be back at this blog for a little while.

while I was supposed to be working

I made Siena a new pair of shorts! What the?! She has been hounding me to go shopping for new shorts for ages but I kept telling her, that I would make some but I was just really nervous about it - Siena changes her preferences about everything almost daily, so what might have been acceptable last week would not have been ok today!

I am so pleased she agreed to this beautiful cotton striped canvas, you just can't beat stripes, always fashionable! This fabric was used as a big cover for our old lounge and bit by big I have been using it up for different projects.


Look at that fly! I am so proud of that fly, I keep opening and closing it just to see it work! There is nothing more important when sewing up a pattern than clear, concise directions and good diagrams and this pattern had both - I have also made the skirt (view A) for Siena and that too worked out beautifully!

I *heart* Ottobre

My mother in law called last week and asked if I could quickly make a few things for her friend's brand new grand daughter, I was happy for the distraction and knew exactly what 2 things I would make because I have been thinking about them for ages...



The sweetest pair of overalls ever! These are from my latest Ottobre, Spring 1/2010. The pattern calls for them to be totally lined (a lot of the patterns do no matter the season) but I thought that was a little too much, it's still so hot now and babies are just cuddled so much the extra fabric would be a nuisance. I am just in love with them, do you think cute overalls are a good enough reason for another baby? Just kidding!!








This amazingly cute dress is one of Bianca's Ottobres Summer 3/2007. It was very easy to sew, and had such beautiful details, typical of what you find in Ottobre, just a very pretty dress. The fabric came from Cottage Quiltworks which is a beautiful shop if you are in the area, except for the eyelet fabric which was a left over from my last project. I think the eyelet fabric looks so gorgeous as bloomers! It was very easy spending my mother in law's money but staying in budget was so hard, so much yumminess, not enough cash...story of my life!

I was gone for maybe a minute

Everyone needs to go to the toilet, and I was as fast as I could be because I just knew Evie would take the opportunity to do something she isn't allowed to, like pour her own milk and juice...


She poured cereal in a bowl and then filled it to the brim with juice and milk and ate some...

She is SO naughty, but kills me with her cuteness and her explanation of being hungry and isn't she good for cleaning up her mess...

where does the time go?

It seems like there are more and more days between posts these days, I don't know how that happens since I think about this blog all the time, planning my words, choosing my picture, but it's the sitting here and getting it all down in one go that is tricky for me!! It seems the more time I think I have the busier I am...Anyway, my little tooth fairy pillow was such a lovely quick project, and Lucia just adores her! I bailed out of doing embroidery on her eyes, instead I used a blue marker, since I thought she probably wont need washing, and I did some very sketchy embroidery on her mouth - very dubious indeed! I am hoping when I am in Melbourne in May, Cindy will be able to help me with learning some simple embroidery skills after her amazing recent project.



On the sewing front, I finally finished the eye for an eyelet top from Twinkle Sews, I will try and get a photo wearing it is really hard for me to trust someone else to take the picture, you know it's either to dark, or bright, or too abstract, I am a little bit of a control freak with getting the picture I really want...so until i figure that out here it is on the hanger! Unfortunately it's a little gaping at the front, I have to keep pulling it back on my shoulders so when I make it again I would need to start with a US size 6 at the shoulder and bust line and grade out to an 8 at my waist...I think this style would work in plenty of fabrics, and now I have successfully made it I feel confident to have another go.


This is a basic skirt I made last week out of sheer desperation. It has been so hot here, but not just hot, crazy humid too (like 92%) I had no clean skirts or dresses to wear (because it has been raining and raining and we have no tumble dryer!) and after wearing some cotton pants for about an hour, the sweat dripping down my legs was just too much! I just received this beautiful fabric from my new favourite designer, Patricia Bravo and it was perfect! How divine to have a cool, cotton NEW skirt to wear! Necessity is the mother of getting your bum off the couch and behind the sewing machine!!



Finally, market sewing! It feels like forever since we were in market preparation mode! I have made a few new items to add some variety to the stall and also to have some lower price point items. I have been making belts (which stangely I really like doing on a production line!) and also some lunch sacks. I use lunch sacks every day for my girls and find them so useful, and environmentally friendly too. These too were fun to make I think because they are quick the satisfaction of the pile growing keeps you motivated!

Is anyone out there interested in a little photography challenge? I do enjoy taking photos of my projects but want to expand my inspiration (if that makes sense?). I was thinking posting a photo one day a week on a general theme and have the picture describe the theme? I like the idea of a word having multiple meanings and interpretations. Let me know I was thinking of starting on Monday.

Bec! and loot

I am so sorry that I haven't kept you up to date with my sister in law and her baby! I left you all with that scary news. Bec was monitored at the hospital she plans to give birth at and found out that her baby had an irregular heartbeat. She was sent home and went to see her obstetrician the next day who also heard an irregular heartbeat so she was sent back to the hospital for a paediatric cardiologist to do an ultrasound. Good news is that her baby's heart is fine and the irregularity was put down to 'transient arrhythmia'. Thank you for all your kind comments, I am sure Bec has read them all!

My sister Melanie has been harping at me to post my birthday loot ONLY because she wants me to show off her handmade gift! So here goes Mel:

Beautiful mosaic candle holders (Mosaic making is another of Melanie's crafty endeavours)

Some hand rolled bees wax candles.

We have converted to bees wax candles since learning (form Mel) about the dangers of paraffin candles.

New sneakers! I don't know how I got through Winter last year with no boots or sneakers, I think I wore ballet flats the whole time!! I love the charcoal colour, can't wait till it cools down a little and I can break them in!


I know it doesn't seem like a romantic present but this gift from Andrew is so special. I have been asking for a tomtom for ages because I am one of those people who suffers anxiety attacks when I have to drive to a new place. Honestly it gets so bad I can't even read the Gregory's because my eyes have gone blurry! I think he was hoping I would toughen up a little and get over it but the last time I had to travel to a new place I pulled over to the side of the road and called him nearly in tears I was so stressed. He had to pull up where I was on Google Maps and direct me to where I needed to go...pretty sad huh!

I was also taken out for breakfast, given flowers and a voucher for a swanky clothing store so all in all I was pretty spoilt!!