Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Summer PJ's


Summer PJ's
Originally uploaded by sarabean
I can breathe a sigh of relief. This fabric had been sitting in my to-do pile for months. Originally it was going to be a nightgown, but after I received my Portabello Pixie Ruffle Pants pattern, I thought they would make cute pj pants. Also a fellow Crafty Mama made some for the same purpose.

The fabric is a nice rainbow stripey fabric that I bought from Spotlight on clearance. It wrinkles quite easily, so it's best that it is pj's. I don't have to worry about ironing them.

I found the pants pattern runs a bit small in the hip. Moo is of average build and according to measurements is a size 6 with the PP patterns. I though the pants were a bit snug across the back.

The top is a singlet that I sewed a ruffle around the neckline. I love my ruffler foot!

Outfits for Sam


Outfits for Sam
Originally uploaded by sarabean
One of my dear March Mums had an early arrival with her son being born at 32 weeks. I wanted to make him a few things because I figured her choice in clothing would be quite limited. Ottobre has a few patterns for preemies. These are from Ottobre 06/07, patterns #1 and #3. The turquoise/orange set is a size 40 and the orange/blue set is a size 45. Oh so tiny! The outfits were made from the same hand-dyed organic rib knit that I made some things from last month.

Friday, December 26, 2008

Tote bag


Tote bag
Originally uploaded by sarabean
I made two of these bags for Will's teachers at daycare. I thought it would be nicer than chocolate. I still put some chocolate in the bags though.

I've had this fabric sitting around for ages. It was never earmarked for a specific project. It was just one of those things that I bought during a shopping trip to Ikea. I don't think they are selling this fabric anymore and now I am kicking myself for waiting so long to use it because I'd really like to make some more bags for myself.

The tote bags are a copy of the green grocery bags that are sold here to use in place of plastic bags. Of course my bag is fully lined and reversible. It is also washable which the green bags aren't. This project was influenced by quite a few Crafty Mamas whipping up bags as gifts. My friend Milly has done a great tute on making plastic coated grocery bags.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Felty Goodness

Felt Hair Clips
I've been sewing little felt hair clips for Moo and her friends. I thought they would make a small, cute gift for some of her girlfriends. I've been having fun experimenting with different ideas. I love playing with felt. It's so forgiving, and it's just plain easy to work with.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Our first screen printing

I say "our" because I asked Mollie to draw an angel. She's been drawing these cute angels recently.
Moo's drawingSo I traced her drawing a made a couple of changes. We did a couple of test prints on some poplin then printed a singlet and a t-shirt front. I also did a bit of a tricky thing I printed the wings in a different colour first. I thought the wings would look great in silver, and I thought the angel needed some stars around her. When I printed the angel, in pink of course, she wasn't always perfectly situated in the wings, but still I think it looks good. I keep reminding myself that this was a only my first go at home.

Singlet
Screenprinted singlet
T-shirt front (I still have sew up the shirt)

Friday, December 12, 2008

Screen printing, lunch, late!!!

Yesterday was an adventure. Around 11am I decided that I was going to buy my screen printing gear. After ringing to ask if they had the inks I wanted, Will and I jumped in the car and off to Leichhardt we went. First stop was the screen printers. All was good except that I had assumed they would have the size screen I wanted on hand. Oops! They had sold them, but could put one together for me, but it would take a couple of hours. I looked at the clock and though yeah, I can do two hours and still have time to pick up Moo. So off Will and I went...

Next I rang my friend Andrew to see what he was doing for lunch. I figured a drive over the Newtown wasn't too far, and I hadn't seen Andrew in a while. He didn't answer so I went to buy coffee. As I was standing in the coffee shop, Andrew rang and plans were made. Will and I had lunch with Andrew. After we left the waitress asked Andrew if Will was his son!?!?! This is particularly funny because when Will was little we ask Mollie who Will looked like and she said Andrew B! It's always been a little joke with all of us. Thankfully Andrew was living in Seattle when Will was conceieved, so everyone knows it truly is a joke.

Plans were running smoothly until I decided to cut it too close. I left Newtown later than I should then had traffic getting back to Leichhardt. I also had wrongly assumed that everything would be ready and I could just pay and go, but this wasn't the case. So when I finally got into my car it was 2:40. School finishes at 3pm and was at least 45 minutes away. I started to panic and I really didn't want to ring my other half to confess that I had been out lunching and lost track of time. So instead I rang a friend that I knew Mollie would happily go home with. She totally saved me and Mollie was so excited to be going home with her friends instead of me!!! Stopped by the house on the way home and grabbed a bottle of wine as a thank you for my friend. Then we stayed over there way too long in the afternoon and got back home at 6pm.

You know I only went to buy my screen printing gear...
In the photo are the inks, screen, and squeegees. The navy fleece and calico are for covering my board that will go on the table when I do printing.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Patchy project

In the midst of my hectic week I managed to make this skirt for Mollie. I wanted a project that was more than some simple little thing. Something that would occupy me for a few nights and when I was finished, I would feel a sense of accomplishment.
Portabello Pixie Analise Skirt
It took me a while to pick fabrics. A few of these fabrics I've had in my stash for a while, but couldn't cut into them. I decided this was the project to take the cutter to the fabric.

I also used my ruffler foot to gather all the bits that had to be gathered. I decided that if I had to rip out some thread, it was still quicker to do that and re-adjust the ruffler foot than to use the traditional gathering method. Plus the gathers with the ruffler foot are more even. I figured that on a skirt this full if something wasn't quite right, you'd never notice. Overall it was quite smooth-going with the ruffler.

I think I'd like a skirt like this for myself. Only problem is that I don't think it would be very flattering. Perhaps if I have some time, a similar skirt could be made with an assortment of dyed fabric. Thinking....hmmmmmm, will have to get the ideas notebook out now!

Rushing madly

Lately I feel like I've been rushing madly to do all sorts of things. I am not sure if it is a last minute rush to do things before Mollie is on holidays, or if I am just picking up on everyone else's mad rush before Christmas vibes. Overall I don't get fussed over Christmas. I didn't grow up celebrating it with my family. We did Chanukah.

On Thursday I went on a mission with a friend to the city. We just happened to get off the monorail in the same building as Kinokuniya. I declared immediately that we must go! What a beautiful bookstore! I just had to buy a book for myself and a few goodies for Mollie. I have to admit that it's much harder to browse the books when you can't just scan the spine of the book! Will was amazingly patient as he sat in the stroller while I looked over the craft books!

Japanese goodies

Monday, December 1, 2008

willow & moo goes West!

All of my current stock has been sent over to Fremantle! My friend, Milly, of Tin Whistle has offered to have some willow & moo creations on her stall at the East Fremantle Festival. The festival is on Saturday, December 7, 1-8pm on George Street, East Fremantle. If you are in the area, go check it out! It looks like a great day for the family.

Other exciting news...we bought the kids a Springfree trampoline.
They are loving it as am I. I'm mostly enjoying it because the kids like it, but I will admit to having a few bounces myself.

I can't have a post without a colourful creation. It was a special request from a customer. I just can't seem to say NO to someone who wants lil ol' me to make something.
You can see WIll modeling it here.