Across the Story Bridge....

I love Book Week. It takes me back to when I was younger and dressing up in something that my mum had made for either myself or my sister and getting to parade around with all the other excited children. The costume I most remember was a colonial dress that my mum originally made for my older sister, I couldn't wait to grow taller so that I too could one day wear that special dress for my own book week character. I know there are some traditions that have gotten lost along the years, but I'm very thankful that Book Week hasn't been one of them.


This year's theme was "Across the Story Bridge" which was interpreted as being any story book character. Jai showed how similar he is to his big brother and wanted to dress up as Rascal from Paul Jennings "Rascal the Dragon" series. This is the same character Jordan chose for his own very first book week years ago. I followed a basic Burda pattern for the pull on pants and my trusty Burda hooded top pattern for the top (the one I used for Jordan's last top blogged here). I sewed the spikes down the centre of the hood and also in the seam I added into the middle of the back pattern. The tail is a separate piece which I attached to a belt I made so that he could take it off if he wanted too (but he didn't). The wings are also removable, they attach to a button in the middle of the back and then have an elastic wrist band. Seeing Jai love this costume so much was the best reward for all the time I spent sewing it - he barely took it off after the days that followed.


Jordan took a bit longer to decide who to go as, I think it's harder for the older ones as they don't want to choose a character that is seen as being 'babyish'. Around a week before the big event, I walked into Jordan's room to see him reading Roald Dahl's book "The Twits" and I mentioned that Mr Twit could be a good option (Jordan had previously rejected my earlier suggestions of 'Captain Underpants' or David from "The Fire Within") Jordan thankfully thought this was a good idea so off to the op shop we went in search of a suit and then I bought the wig from Spotlight and made the beard from wool and some off cuts of the wig as it was originally too long.

I got off quite lightly for Jordan's costume, the only sewing was attaching the elastic to the felt base for the beard and some hand sewing to hem up the pants!

Here is Jordan's very first book week in the Rascal dress up I made for him. Gosh, that was so long ago now, I didn't even own a sewing machine. I bought the top and pants (I remember orange being quite the "In" colour back then). The tail is all hand sewn and I ended up buying fairy wings and spray painting them and adding the spikes down the middle. Interesting to see how far I've come in 5 years!

Hee hee, he was quite the poser back then!

Natalie
xx

I finally finished a WIP knit!

I am an incredibly slow knitter - and as my children grow bigger, my knitting just seems to feel even slower, so I am very happy that I have finished one of my knitting works in progress. I fell in love with the Spring Garden Tee pattern when I first saw it. I hunted around for the same yarn (as whenever I try to substitute yarns it never works out!) and finally found some from an international ebay seller and off I started.... until I got to a tricky part, then I put it away for a little while until I could work it out.... then I'd pick it back up again.... then put it away.... had to re-do the neckline twice as this was the first time I'd had to 'pick up' stitches and my first attempt ended up in a baggy neck that had way too many stitches in it! Finally got the time and courage to do it again and finally I had a top! Granted there are a few mistakes, but most of them aren't seen when it's on. Next time I really need to start at a size or two bigger as by the time I finished this one it only just fits her.

I couldn't choose just one photo, she was really having fun with this little photo shoot!

Now to find the jumper I started for Jai two years ago...........

Natalie
xx

Kids Clothes Week - Day 3

After braving Spotlight with 5 children (my three, plus my niece and nephew) I was able to get the much needed elastic required to finish off Cheriese's skirt that I had been sewing yesterday afternoon.
It is from Ottobre 4/2007, design #4. I made a size 86cm which I think is a great fit for now and also has enough length to last the year too.

Cheriese loves it and was happy to show off her new outfit's versatility.

It's great for pondering what she wants to play on in our backyard that closely resembles the local park
It's great for jumping on the trampoline
Even great for dinosaur loaded sandpits
Also great for playing with the sand
and most of all, perfect for blowing kisses in.
Seeing something you have made being enjoyed in this way is just one of the best feelings!
Now to work out what to make for my boys, so far I've spent my hour today taking both Jordan and Jai's new measurements (they both really have grown!) and flipping through my Ottobre magazines trying to decide what top to pick for them first. Planning on doing some tracing and cutting out tonight, so fingers crossed I have some progress photos tomorrow.

Natalie
xx

Kids Clothes Week - Day 2

I'm happy to report that I have a finished top!

This pattern came together so quickly - I didn't even have to use my unpicker once! This is a record for me. I did change the method of attaching the neckline binding though. I have previously used another Ottobre pattern that called for sewing the sleeves to the front and then one of the sleeves to the back, attaching the neckline binding and then sewing the back to the remaining sleeve. I found this so fiddly and hard to get this seam even and didn't think it looked nice. So I attached the binding for this top in the same way I would with my other patterns by attaching the sleeves to the front and the back and then sewing the neckline binding into a circle and stitching it, folding it over thus enclosing the neck edge and doing two rows of top-stitching to finish it off. I remember when I first started sewing I would try to follow the instructions to the letter and often found it a lot harder, but now I'm finding the confidence to do things my own way.

The only shame about this top is that it is just fitting her now, I made a size 86 but should probably use a 92 from now on...... my little girl is growing up.



Close up of the decorative flower hem edging, been wanting to branch out and start to use some of the 100 odd different stitches I have.
Here she is showing off her latest 'artwork'
good thing it is on the new door that hasn't been painted yet.... sigh......

I have her skirt all ready to sew up, but that will have to wait until later this evening or will be tomorrow's afternoon project.

There's also still 2 spots free if you would like to be part of my Pay It Forward too.

Natalie
xx

Holiday wrap up

I am finally back from my holidays - ok, I have been back since the 23rd April, but I really needed some time to myself with my family to settle back into everyday life and just now I feel completely relaxed, settled, and energised to jump back into every aspect of my life - which includes blogging!

I had a fantastic time away! My brother Shaun and I went to Thailand, we spent 8 nights in Phuket at Patong beach and then 2 nights in Singapore before coming back home. I have always wanted to travel, but since having the children I thought it was something I had missed out on doing on my own. I'm so glad I had this chance though and as hard as it was initially to get on that plane and hug my darlings goodbye - it really was the best thing for all of us. I got to relax, recharge and have some wonderful adventures. Steve had a fantastic time with Jordan, Jai and Cheriese too, he works long hours and having the time off work to be a full time daddy was a very special time for him and the children as well. Coming home was great too, being greeted by eager smiling faces and getting wrapped up in great big hugs - followed by lots of cuddles on the couch, catching up on each others adventures.

Here's some of my favourite photos.

These were taken on our Phi Phi island tour:

My favourite spot on the tour, we stopped off at this beautiful cove on the way to our last beach and jumped in for a swim - I was even brave enough to dive in off the front of our speedboat. The water was so warm and clear, it was just perfect.

Snorkelling in open water, couldn't believe how many fish there were. This was my first time snorkelling and I just loved it!

Wat Chalong temple

Gorgeous sunsets every night - photo taken from the rooftop cocktail bar of our hotel

We took a day tour of Phuket, this is from one of the view points where you can see Kata, Karon and then Patong Beach in the

On the same day tour we stopped off to feed elephants on the side of the road.

My brother and I at the Thai new year dinner - our hotel put on this massive banquet with singers, dancers and even a fire twirler! Was a great night.

I still have more photos to go through on my laptop and camera, so there will probably be a part 2 to this post!

Natalie
xx

A 2nd birthday for my little miss

Hard to believe that one of the most amazing days of my life happened 2 years ago already! My sweet little Cheriese seems to have gone from baby, to toddler, to a true "little miss" in the blink of an eye (ok, well maybe two blinks!) We did things a bit backwards this year, as we decided to have a small party for her with just our immediate family the weekend before her birthday, with a special day just for us on her actual birthday the Thursday after. I am going to have a little tea party for her with a couple of my closest friends when I get back from holidays (reminder to self, send those invites out!!!)

Here's a few photos of Cheriese in her party dress. I could've made 5 dresses in the time it took me to pick a pattern and the 'just the right' fabric for her dress, but decided on a Spotlight "Get Creative" pattern I had in my collection - it is called "Little Girls Summer Dress" you can see a photo of it here. The fabric is a pretty floral cotton that had little silver shimmery threads through it to give it just the right touch of sheen. This is a fully lined dress, with a gathering of soft bridal tulle between the skirts layers to give it a sweet touch of fullness. I found the side zip to be very painful, but go there in the end (after countless attempts!)




I 'cheated' with her cake design and re-used my idea from the cup cake tower I made for my friend's baby shower. I love these towers, very nice and easy!
Of course the best thing about cupcakes is eating them!

We even got a very rare photo of both Steve and I together with our little party princess!

For her birthday we bought her a doll house and Jordan and Jai got to give her a prety gift box set filled with furniture and also a set of wooden dolls.


So far it's hard to work out which of my three little darlings enjoy playing with it the most!

The day was then spent with a picnic at the park, feeding the ducks and a big play on the playground.

Special "Thanks" and credit goes to Jordan for taking this photo, I just love it as I don't have many photos with me in front of the camera lately!

To my dear sweet Cheriese, Happy birthday darling - I hope you enjoyed your special day and thank you so much for bringing so much joy to our lives!

Natalie xx

Christmas in February

Yes I know, how terrible is it that I'm about to post my Christmas photos in February!!! Life has been so hectic here - Jai started reception this year and for the first two weeks and every Wednesday of the first term he finishes at 12:30pm, so I feel like I've just been spending my time running to and from the school, and trying to fit in all the other 'mum stuff' like food shopping, cooking, cleaning, playing, homework etc etc in between. Hoping that things will start to settle down now that Jai has 4 full days at school, I might even find a bit of my old routine, yay!!!!

So without any further ado, finally here's some photos from Christmas.....

Photo taken in front of the tree, I had to use the flash as they got up so early and it was still dark out!

I wanted to include more handmade elements to the present lists this year, I didn't get as many made as I wanted to do, but was happy with what I did make. Each of my three love drawing, so I followed the tutorial by One Red Robin for their drawing folders - Blue for Jordan, Yellow for Jai and Pink for Cheriese

I searched everywhere for an older style pram for Cheriese, either wooden or cane and found this one in an op-shop for the bargain price of $10!!! Steve touched it up with some pink paint, a few flowers stickers and then I re-made the mattress insert. I didn't need to make a new quilt for it as the one I received from Mands from one of the EB Doll quilt swaps fits perfectly and looks adorable in it!

Thankfully it's good and sturdy, Cheriese spends more time in it instead of her 'babies'

I think they liked the rest of their presents too.....

Jai with his DS, the only thing he asked Santa for, I love the shocked look on his face!

Jordan's present from Santa was an off-road RC car

They are both crazy over Star Wars lego!


Cheriese tired for awhile to fit in to her new doll's highchair and finally settled to give Sweetie-belle breakfast!

For Cheriese's Christmas dress, I used the Miss Lilly pattern from "The Handmade Dress" again - it is the same one I used for her 1st birthday dress. I really love this pattern and this second one came together even easier and quicker than the first one. I found the fabric in the quilting section at Spotlight, even better it had been reduced from $15 to $5 per metre!!!

Learning to accessorise early!

I ran out of time to make the boys' shirts this year. I was a bit sad about this as I've made them their outfits every year since I started sewing. But thankfully I found these ones in Pumpkin patch, in their right size and with the green and purple checks they matched in with their little sister's dress too.

The big day itself was just perfect, presents and breakfast at home - then off to Steve's parents for a big family lunch, and the afternoon was spent splashing about in the pool. It was so relaxing, we even stayed an extra couple of days!

I will be aiming for more handmade gifts for this year already have lots of ideas. Hmmmm think I'd better make a list and get started so I will be nice and organised for next Christmas!

Thanks for looking,
Natalie
xx