My first quilt!

I'm still alive! It's been far too long...I will slowly update the happenings of the last few months but for today I just wanted to share this. I have been learning the quiet art of quilting since late last year with my sister. Instead of making a big quilt, I decided to make 2 baby quilts. Above is the first completed one. I chose all the material, cut all those squares and assembled the whole thing just by following a book. What do you think? I love it so. So much so that I think I will keep it for my baby one day.

Seam allowance guide

I got this in the mail the other day. It's a seam allowance guide which I won from a blog giveaway by Novita AKA verypurpleperson. I never win stuff so it was quite a nice surprise - Thanks Novita! Maybe this will help me to take the plunge into sewing clothes. Why am I so scared [?] [!]. I found it quite funny the fact that this nifty Australian innovation was made in China and came to me all the way from Japan lol

Reversible tote bag

Here is a picture of the reversible tote bag I made for a friend. The fabrics were chosen by her at Cobbitty market and the straps were saved from a bag I fixed for my sister. I did not use a pattern for this. If I get enough interest, I might even write a tutorial for this.

Vintage sewing box

I just wanted to share with you my first treasure for 2010. I picked up this vintage sewing box from the Antique General Store in Narrabeen. I've been trying to keep an eye out for one of these and couldn't believe my luck when I found it. Now the best part was that it came with stuff inside! I think it probably belonged to a little old lady who likes to craft as much as I do :o)
Check out some of the goodies that came with it:

How to pretty up a plain cardigan

A cost effective way to update your wardrobe is to modify what you already have especially your plain basics. I decided to pretty up one of my plain black cardigans by hand sewing on this embroidered motif. You can find similar designs from textile retailers such as Spotlight or Lincraft.

Handmade bag complete with lining

This is what I made my sister for her birthday last week. I used the pattern that I bought at the Stitches & Craft show. I picked up that pretty colourful fabric from Salvos awhile back and the lining is recycled from a bed sheet I got from a friend. There you have it - my first properly sewed bag complete with lining :o)

Sewing (mis)Adventures

I finally found time to sew yay! Nothing major just fixing this and that (read wardrobe reconstruction or refashion as some might call it) as well as some hemming. Before I show the goods to you I'd like to share some lessons in sewing that I learnt the hard way.

Lesson #1
Always always try on jeans (or long pants) before taking up the hem!
I made the big mistake of measuring my brand new pair of jeans against my old worn pair thinking to myself that as long as they're the same length it's going to be ok. How wrong I was! I found to my shock horror after I had finished cutting/sewing and trying it on that it was too short! So the genius that I am (thanks David), I went about fixing it by taking it all apart and sewing back the bits that I had cut off - I'm not kidding! I then went through the whole process of hemming again. So what took a few minutes to sew resulted in a few hours to fix. Fortunately I was able to add length without revealing the mistake. Phew!

Lesson #2
Never leave a full cup of tea within close proximity to your sewing station
My hubby (God bless him) seeing me hard at work decided to make me a cup of tea. The tea was too hot so I left it to cool a bit while I went back to sewing. I was so stuck into it that I forgot all about the tea. Before you know it I turned around to reach some stuff and knocked the whole cup over. The entire content of liquid spilled everywhere! Fortunately most of it hit the floor which made it easy to mop up. My yarn bag which was on the floor got wet but when I opened it to inspect my yarns they were all dry. Thanks goodness for waterproof lining on yarn bags!

Hooray for mail! Part II

So after blogging about my love for snail mail I recieved this in the letter box: a handmade purse and a sweet postcard from my lovely friend Sophie in Perth. Thanks Sophie!
I love the pretty lining on the inside of the purse and notice the 'milky & rosie' label? that's Sophie brand, named after her chickens! Sophie used to sell her handmade goodies on etsy and at her local market. You can check out some of her work here. I'm trying to encourage her to continue to do so after she finish her Archeology thesis :o)

After following up on some sewing blogs and recieving Sophie's present, I'm feeling all inspired to sew again. It had been months since I last touched my sewing machine and my pile of fabrics is sadly collecting dust! Anyways starting with baby steps, this is what I sewed on the weekend:

I didn't make the whole bag though. I got this free canvas bag from a company stall at the Careers Fair. Of course it had to have the company's logo and website on it so what I did to cover it up was sew on some thick like-coloured scrap material I had lying around. I decided to sew on some lace too you know to make it 'pretty' - what do you think?

Vintage sewing book

On rainy days I just wanna stay home and craft or read all day.
Oh well today is Friday after all!

A few weeks ago hubby and I enjoyed a nice quiet weekend with nothing much planned. We decided to go for a walk to check out the area where we lived. We moved to the inner west last November but just haven't had time to go exploring - apart from grocery shopping and the odd garage sale. Sadly there aren't many nice cafes around here which is what we missed most about moving away from the inner city (Glebe/ Newtown). We did however find a cute little 2nd hand bookstore in which hubby got some records and I came away with this:

...a vintage Japanese pattern drafting/dressmaking book!

check out these 70's clothes!

I love that the book is very detailed: specific measurements, sewing instructions and making adjustments!

Under the book is a wad of pretty fabric I picked up from the Nobue fabric sale which was really cheap! I'm so excited about my next sewing project which is most likely an apron. Depending on how I go with this, I might move on to making clothes. Well I'm off to researching face paint for facepainting kids at our church market stall tomorrow - so exciting! Have a nice weekend!