sew mama sew may giveaway...

I am participating in the Sew Mama Sew May giveaway day, which means that all you have to do to win this tissue case:

is leave me a comment below!

I'll be putting in a few buttons from my burgeoning collection to add to the specialness of the giveaway!

Enter as many times as you like, and international entries are welcome!!!

Postscript;
Fine print: this giveaway will be open until May 31, with the winner randomly drawn on June 1. International commenters are welcome! Please include an email address in your comment if your email is not available in your profile.

June 1st, 2009

I've just closed off commenting on this post.

Unfortunately, the link from sewmamasew wasn't working for the majority of the past 3 days. Which means that a lot of people wouldn't have been able to enter, but it also means that the 90 odd that did have a better chance of winning - right! :)

So, I'm off to check out who won now...

D.

store update...

What to do when the kids are sick.... I hummed and hawwed and then I updated the shop!

dick and jane cards

shy little kitten cards

and funky fabric flower brooches

are in stock now...

made | fabric flowers

ready to be made into brooches...

Just a little bit of the creativity going on at my house at the moment.  Not a whole lot happening because I have two sick kidlets home from school at the moment! :( 

Socks and Pudding

Mrs Sew Funky has had an excellent end to the week, making a rather cool sock bag:

And discovering that her trademark dessert, the microwave steamed pudding (a yummy version of what as a lad I used to know as a 'Spotted Dick') was just as yummy, if not more yummy, when made into a gluten and dairy free version:



In other exciting news, FilmGuide has some great reviews (including LVK & NATM2 along with some cool giveaways.

BUTTON LOVE

This is what $1 brang me from Spotlight yesterday - loads of really nice buttons that I can't wait to use! :)

I had a really productive decluttering day in the girls room yesterday - we threw away 4 bags of rubbish and gave 1 bag of toys away to the local Sally Army shop!  It feels good to have their room a little more sorted, although Aimee found it difficult to sleep in such a tidy environment...

I hope you're all having a fantastic week!

D.

new tissue cases...

very retro, 

having been made from 1970's sheeting and curtaining...

I am going to put a couple of them in the shop, so keep an eye out for some funky retro tissue cases...

a new bag for Aimster!

loving the cold mornings...

especially when they bring notes like these to me!

I have to say after the weekend we had with Aimee it's nice to think that I'm her Number 1 Mum!  We only had her for half of the weekend, but she sure filled that up with "lovely" behaviour.  For example, pushing over a display of strepsils at the Greenlane Foodtown last night, after muttering all through the store that, she was "angry, stay away from me, I hate you, get out of my space".  The whole store was made aware of her presence, you know the kind where EVERYONE turns and stares! 

Autism is a funny thing to live with because today I'm number 1.

Favourite things Friday...

Queen Anne teacup and antique brass tea strainer that I got on retreat last weekend. :) The teacups cost $1 for 3 cup and saucer sets and the tea strainer cost $5!!!

Fun, and now I'm off to use them because my good friend Jenny-Lee has turned up with mallowpuffs and tea!!!! SCORE! ;)

Postscript; Just discovered that the tea strainer was probably made between 1880 and 1920. How awesome is that, the lady that sold it to me said it was old - I just didn't figure it to be that old!

Also, just polished it up a little and it looks like it's silver plated. What a find... I'm going to be using it regularly, mainly because I really needed a tea-strainer now. Tea tastes just that much better from a pot.

Absolutely Fabulous...

They are the two word's I can use to describe my mothers day weekend!  First off, I was on a retreat with one of my very best friends where I was spoiled beyond belief.  And then I came home to the extra special treat of SEA SEW! :D

I cannot say anything negative at all about the weekend, it was ALL good.  The food, the company, the activities we did were all absolutely fabulous!

On Saturday morning, we moseyed on down to the Silverdale Markets, and were pleasantly surprised by how many neat new crafty stalls had popped up since we were last there.  I bought a really neat button ring and chatted to some really friendly creative people.  I was truly in my element!  It was neat to get feedback on my two new handbag creations.  One for Jodz a market bag and my cute little messenger bag mentioned in the previous post.  It's so satisfying to have people notice your creations when you are out and about, and I felt really encouraged to research more about doing a couple of local craft markets.  They just seem like SO much fun!

Saturday afternoon was spent getting nails manicured and unruly eyebrows trimmed.  This wasn't without laughter, especially when I regaled the story of my autistic daughter loving mono-brows.  Yes, I had let them get totally out of control and my children were drawing pictures of the mono-browed mother.  Aimee decided that she loved how it looked - like a comic book character, she said.  EEEK!  And so I was so very grateful for the lovely ladies who gave up their Saturday to pamper us mums!!  We did have a little freakout from Aimee when I got home and she saw what they had done, but all is forgiven now.  I think that is because, as she said, they will grow back!  The life and times of family life with autism - hehehe!

Sunday was relaxing with a walk down the beach, and a little art with Ursula, one of the other mum's that was there.  I got to dabble a little with paint and canvas - which proved a lot of fun, especially after a couple of glasses of pinot...  :D  We also watched the absolutely fab movie Sex in the City.  I can't believe I avoided that one, but was kinda glad that I had, as it was a great movie to watch with a good girl friend. 

It didn't rain all weekend, after all - hurrah!

Feeling greatly refreshed to face another term with my challenging family, and so I want to thank those that organise the retreats, RECREATE; and the retreat centre, Vaughn Park Anglican Retreat Centre; and especially the beauticians, Beautified.  Woo hoo, thanks so much guys for making the weekend so absolutely fab and just such a respite from my normal mundane life!  Of course, I shouldn't forget my retreat buddy, Jodz, in the thanks for a great weekend praises! ;)

x D.

hmmm...

relief is at hand!

Retreat starts in around 5 and a half hours, hurrah!

but the weather looks like this...

13°C

Current: Thunderstorm
Wind: N at 21 km/h
Humidity: 88%

Gotta love autumn for great weather! Still retreat's not about the weather and I'm really looking forward to long talks, good food, and even better wine! I bought a really yummy pinot noir to take with me, and Jodz always brings something nice too!

I've been busy sewing up a storm here this week - hence the absence of posts here on the blog, because most of it is secret stuff! ;)

Still here is something that's not secret - a new handbag for me!

I made this neat reversible messenger bag using the pattern you can find here on burdastyle. I love it so much, it's sure to become a favourite.

Please forgive the photograph as this is what it looks like outside my hall window - neighbours garage.

Better find out the old raincoat, don't ya think?!!

Hope you all have a great weekend, I know that I'm gonna!

Cloth of the month | May 2009

Pretty Frill Cloth

Instructions:
Cast on 16 stitches using 4mm needles,using 2 strands of cotton yarn. I like to use an 8ply cotton yarn witha finger weight crochet cotton yarn.

This cloth is made up of 4wedges, all exactly the same. Then the edge is sewn together, thethreads are sewn in and the cloth is complete. :)

Every wedge:
Row 1: K across row.
Row 2: K1, P1, K1, P1, YO, knit to last stitch (11 sts), turn.
Row 3: K to last 3 sts, P1, K1, P1.
Row 4: K1, P1, K1, P1, YO, knit to last 2 stitches (11 sts), turn.
Row 5: K to last 3 sts, P1, K1, P1.
Row 6: K1, P1, K1, P1, YO, knit to last 3 stitches (11 sts), turn.
Row 7: K across row.
Row 8: K1, P1, K1, P1, K2tog, knit to last 4 stitches (9 sts), turn.
Row 9: K to last 3 sts, P1, K1, P1.
Row 10: K1, P1, K1, P1, K2tog, knit to last 5 stitches (7 sts), turn.
Row 11: K to last 3 sts, P1, K1, P1.
Row 12: K1, P1, K1, P1, K2tog, knit to last 6 stitches (5 sts), turn.
Row 13: K across row.
Row 14: K1, P1, K1, P1, YO, knit to last 7 stitches (5 sts), turn.
Row 15: K to last 3 sts, P1, K1, P1.
Row 16: K1, P1, K1, P1, YO, knit to last 8 stitches (5 sts), turn.
Row 17: K to last 3 sts, P1, K1, P1.
Row 18: K1, P1, K1, P1, YO, knit to last 9 stitches (5 sts), turn.
Row 19: K across row.
Row 20: K1, P1, K1, P1, K2tog, knit to last 10 stitches (3 sts), turn.
Row 21: K to last 3 sts, P1, K1, P1.
Row 22: K1, P1, K1, P1, K2tog, knit to last 11 stitches (1 sts), turn.
Row 23: K to last 3 sts, P1, K1, P1.
Row 24: K1, P1, K1, P1, K2tog, turn.
Row 25: K across row.
Row 26: K1, P1, K1, P1, YO, K1, turn.
Row 27: K3, P1, K1, P1.
Row 28: K1, P1, K1, P1, YO, K3, turn.
Row 29: K5, P1, K1, P1.
Row 30: K1, P1, K1, P1, YO, K5, turn.
Row 31: K across row.
Row 32: K1, P1, K1, P1, K2tog, K5, turn.
Row 33: K7, P1, K1, P1.
Row 34: K1, P1, K1, P1, K2tog, K5, turn.
Row 35: K7, P1, K1, P1.
Row 36: K1, P1, K1, P1, K2tog, K5, turn.
Row 37: K across row.
Row 38: K1, P1, K1, P1, YO, K7, turn.
Row 39: K9, P1, K1, P1.
Row 40: K1, P1, K1, P1, YO, K9, turn.
Row 41: K11, P1, K1, P1.
Row 42: K1, P1, K1, P1, YO, K11, turn.
Row 43: K across row.
Row 44: K1, P1, K1, P1, K2tog, K11, turn.
Row 45: K13, P1, K1, P1.
Row 46: K1, P1, K1, P1, K2tog, K11, turn.
Row 47: K13, P1, K1, P1.
Row 46: K1, P1, K1, P1, K2tog, K to end of row.

For easy printing, I know how hard it can be to print from a blog, go here to download this pattern as a PDF file. :) Free Dishcloth Patterns from sew-funky.blogspot.com.

© SewFunky 2009
http://sew-funky.blogspot.com
etsy store: sewfunkynz.etsy.com

from this...

to this...

A little bit cryptic, but this is my little present to my retreat buddie Jodz and I don't want to give it all away - just a sneak peek! ;)

I discovered the neat retro purple apron in the sock bag, of all places, and I decided that it would be better re-fashioned/up-cycled into something great for my purple loving friend Jodz!!

On a side note, I am LOVING my little wristlet pincushion, so useful and comfy on my wrist! :D

And yep, I am starting the countdown to this weekends retreat now! Only 4 sleeps to go, hehehe!

wordle

I'm loving playing around with wordle - go check it out yourself!! :)

tutorial | tissue case

You will need:
two paper templates; 7 inches x 6 inches (outer) and 8 inches by 6 inches (inner)
fabric for both the outer and inner of your tissue case
a packet (or two) of tissues

1. Choose your fabric, these don't use a lot so you can cut into that favourite print for this one!

Pin, and cut out the fabric using the paper templates you made with the measurements given.

2. Place and pin right sides together on one of the shorter sides (6 inches).

Sew together using both a straight stitch and either overlock or zig-zag stitch.

Do the same to the other end.

3. Iron the seams towards the outer fabric.

4. Turn the fabric right-side out and iron. There will be a small overlap of lining on each 6 inch side. :)

5. Fold in half and iron so that you know where you are going to sew the side seams. Fold one side to the halfway mark and pin.

Do the same to the other side, overlapping slightly at the middle.

Now sew each end, by using both the straight stitch and zig-zag stitch.

6. Turn right-side out and use a knitting needle to push out the corners.

TAH DAH!!!

Kudos to Lianne who chose the fabric combination!

I've now made three for each of my wonderful daughters to take to school with them! The elephant one goes to Briahna, the circus one to Aimee and the cute retro one will be Hope's. Woo hoo! :D

made | neat little pincushion wristlets

Funny how ideas change and transform into new and interesting things...

I was wearing one of my cute new little wristlets out op-shopping yesterday, when a woman came up to me and asked me if I was a professional seamstress. (I wish.) I must've looked at her blankly weirdly and she pointed to my wristlet, which she thought was a pincushion.

And right there and then, a most wonderful idea was born and blossomed into...

the pincushion wristlet

What do you think? Most awesome, eh!!

And if you want, now you can own your very own, by purchasing one from my etsy store...

They're only $5, so a bit of a bargain!

Gotta love crafting... :D