Merry Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas 2010, originally uploaded by MandyMade.

Have a great Christmas and a Happy and safe New Year.

TTFN

Mandy


Half-Eaten Gingerbread Man design by Meg Spaeth
Handmade by MandyMade

Gift for Little A's teacher and Big Buddy

Lily's Fabric Toadstool

Lily's Fabric Toadstool, originally uploaded by MandyMade.

Another Christening gift, this one for my other niece. You may remember the toadstool I posted about back in May. Well when thinking about what to make Lily I couldn't go past this fabric toadstool to match the toadstools at her house. The original idea was for Little A to help me make it but it didn't end up that way, he chose the materials but we ran out of time (and maybe patience). It was quick to make and I ended up putting an empty thread spool in the stalk, worked great. I could see a whole forest and maybe some little visitors in the future.

Pattern by Amy Adams from Sewing Calendar 2010. Handmade by MandyMade

Niah's Whale

Niah's Whale, originally uploaded by MandyMade.

When my niece was born Little A wanted to make something for her. We eventually settled on this whale from the book "Softies". He chose all of the materials, helped cut out the pattern, sat on my knee when sewing it up and helped stuff it. With my guidance he then over sewed the edges. We eventually gave it to her for her Christening a couple of weeks ago.

Pattern "the lookout" by Michelle Valigura from the book "Softies". Handmade by Aidan and MandyMade.

Ewok's on an adventure

Ewok's on an adventure, originally uploaded by MandyMade.

I made these two little guys for Little A's friends (brothers) for their birthdays in early November. They are Star Wars fans along with their Mum (I made the yoda for her) so now they have their own star wars amigurami. The pattern was a free tutorial found here. I can't believe she gives this tutorial away for free. It was very easy to follow and gave two options for the face, which was handy so I could make two individual ones. Little A is now obsessed with watching the Ewok movie. Lucky I haven't been asked to make one for him.

More stuff made in the last couple of months to come. Now I have the photos off the hubby's camera they will come sooner rather than later. I love the new lens he has on his cannon, perfect shots. I want a new sewing machine before I splash out on new lenses for my camera.

Only 3 weeks of work to go and only 3 weeks to start and finish making stuff for christmas. It's been so muggy in Melbourne that I haven't felt like sewing. Need to crank up the air con.

TTFN

Dad's Mug Rug

Dad's Mug Rug, originally uploaded by MandyMade.

I'm still here, I haven't totally disappeared!! Just part of my brain seems to have turned to mush. So I haven't been in the mood to write anything. But I have been doing some crafting. Gifts mainly so I can't post pics. I do have some to show though. But I wont do it all at once.

This is my latest. Mug rugs seem to have exploded in blog land and on flickr, so I thought I'd have a go. My Dad had a birthday on the weekend so I thought it a perfect time to make one, or two as it turns out!! I couldn't think of any designs and I've had this fabric for ages, only a small piece, he's into wood, so I thought i'd just have two plain pieces, no piecing to worry about, then quilt so it kinda looks like wood. So this is what I came up with. I made one with a spiral of circles and the other with a spiral of squares, he can use either side. He always puts his mug on a speaker next to the couch with a biscuit or two, now Mum wont have to wipe up after him, just chuck the mug rug into the wash.

So there you have it.

On the baby front, I'm now 26 weeks, 3rd trimester, yay. I had a scan on friday and it's around the 80 percentile so it looks like i'll have another tall one, Little A is currently in the 97th percentile!! Can't really keep calling him Little A. All is going well and I only have 4 weeks of work left, yay, then i'll have lots of time for crafting!!

Until next time

TTFN

PS. For more pics of the mug rug go to my flickr page.

Made a yoda I did

I recently made this little guy for a friends 40th, star wars fan, can you tell? I've got plans for her kids birthday's this year, shh. I got the pattern from a crochet tutorial by Oh so happy together. Go check her other stuff out.

My mum's been busy again. Another tea cosy, more to come, she's not stopping here.

My Creative Space

You may be under the impression that I have actually made something this week, or in fact month. But alas no. Not of the crafting variety at any rate. But I have been making something, of the human variety. Yes that's right, I'm 3 months preggers, and I've lost my crafty mojo, please tell me I'll get it back.

I did finish the man scarf I started for the hairy bloke. Sitting still and knitting or crocheting is all I can stomach at the moment, feeling better now though.

For more, crafty, creative spaces head over to kootoyoo

My Creative Space

Lately my creative space has been all about knitting. I'm making a scarf for the hubby out of a book he gave me for our anniversary, just a small hint I think!! It's the "Men's patchwork scarf" from the book "knitting" by Hikaru Noguchi. I've ended up having to buy heaps more wool than it said in the pattern, and I chose two different types of wool which has kinda worked, it adds to the patchwork appeal! my excuse is I'm still only learning.

My sewing machine has been on the blink. The top thread doesn't seem to be grabbing the bottom thread at even intervals so you get big stitches in between the right size stitches, very annoying. I've more or less taken the whole thing apart and given it a good clean, it's helped a little bit but not perfect. So unless anyone has any more suggestions as to how to fix it, it's going to be off to the doctor with it!!

It didn't help that I went to the craft show on the weekend and goggled over some very lovely machines, can't afford a new one at the mo :-(.

I'm having a weekend away with the girls this weekend so hopefully i'll have more to show next week. I did make a purse a couple of weeks ago but I forgot to take a photo before I gifted it so it'll have to wait.

For more creative spaces pop over to kootoyoo.

Boo

I'm off to the Melbourne Modern Quilt Guild today. Hopefully I will get some sewing done and be able to show something for a change. Until then....

TTFN

My Creative Space

Queen Anne Lace Scarf, originally uploaded by MandyMade.

This week....

Queen Anne Lace Scarf free pattern found via Ravelry, but I was inspired by a friend who also made a few. I used Patons Shadow Tweed which I bought a bag of really cheap, and crotchet hook 4.5mm. It's really chunky so I thought this size scarf was best. Whipped it up in an evening. I could add to it if I feel inclined though. I think I'm going to make a rug out of the rest of the wool. We'll see.

More creative spaces over at kootoyoo.

Showcase - My Mum

There hasn't been too much making going on around of late. I've had deadlines at work and that kinda drains you. So I decided to show some of what my mum has been up to, she's been busy!!

A jacket for my niece made from the pattern Uptown Girl by make it perfect.

Elephants for new baby niece from pattern Parsley and Beet by Ric Rac

I gave mum the book Really Wild Tea Cosies for mothers day and this is what she has made so far from it

and a close up

Well you can now see who I learned from! She's made another elephant since this photo, looks like a herd is gathering.

Lately I've been doing a bit of knitting and crocheting, I need to get the camera out and takes some pics in progress. Hopefully in the school holidays after all the deadlines are finished I might actually get onto the machine again. I hope to have more progress done on my quilts before the next melb modern quilt guild meet.

TTFN

Wordless weekend - a childhood memory

My childhood memories, originally uploaded by MandyMade.

A bit AWOL

And I'm not apologising for it, had life stuff to do!!

I did finally finish this though...

I gave it to my neice for her 4th birthday to decorate her new bedroom. There wasn't really any instructions for attaching the material to the frame, like how to fold it so it's nice and neat, so I just folded as best I could and was lucky enough to borrow a staple gun from this lovely lady. You were a life saver. It was lovely to stitch, I'd forgotten how relaxing hand sewing can be.


TTFN

Edit -  Kokeshi Friends Stitchery from the book Kaleidoscope by Melanie Hurlston. Handmade by MandyMade

Sew It Together 2010 - The next bit

The Saturday part of Sew It Together consisted of a whole day of sewing and a dinner. What a hard life hay? Sheridan did a wonderful job organising everything, thank you so much. It all appeared to come together so smoothly, I hope in the background it did too.

It was an early start for me catching the train into the city with my crafty sidekick. We stayed in the city that night so had all our crafty gear with us plus the overnight stuff.

We were greated at the door by lovely Donna with our Saturday goody bag.

Except for the fabric in the middle there that snuck into this photo instead of the friday one, all this stuff was given to all of us, like Christmas really, without the small one climbing all over me. For the full list of sponsors please checkout the SIT website, I don't want to miss anyone.

In the door prize I one a boys pant pattern, which is really cute, but in German, which I can't read. So I may need someones help out there, there may even be a pair of boys pants in it for you.

I had a great time, I didn't talk to as many people as I probably should but listened and watched in a bit of a star stuck moment.

This is what I sewed, yes there was sewing involved!!

I finished off the stitching part of the Kokeshi dolls by Melly and Me, and then started on Melly and Me's block of the month.  There were all sorts of crafting going on, and even some of Jodie's softies came out to play.

After all of the excitement of the sewing day most of us headed out to a lovely dinner, where we got to chat to different bloggers and catch up on other things other than sewing!! Imagine that, other stuff happens other than sewing!!

After a very rewarding but exhausting day we headed back to the hotel and collapsed until morning, and a sleep in, yay. Brunch at South Bank and a spot of craft market shopping then headed back home on the train.

I've spent the last week, other than dealing with a cold, trying to take in all that went on that weekend. I can't put it into words, guess you had to be there!! Check out my flickr page (link on my side bar) if you want to see more pics of the day.

TTFN

Sew It Together 2010

It's time to blog about it. It was fantastic. Had so much fun. I never thought it would come, now it's come and gone. I put so many faces to names and blog names. I wish I took a photo of everyone so I could remember.

Friday Shopping Trip and Drinks at Nikki's

I had to work in the morning of the shopping trip, which is an early start for me, so by the time I got on the bus I was nearly ready to finish the day. Didn't last long though, I was soon into the swing of things and meeting new people. I was a bit shell shocked and shy though so sorry if I didn't get to speak with you, I was taking it all in though.

First stop was Amitie. I've never been to the shop before, only buying from them at shows and being part of their VIP club. I will be going back. There are so many fantastic fabrics in there, and so many for boys, something I've been searching for. The ladies were lovely with afternoon tea waiting for us and a very generous discount, how ace. I bought fabric and hexagon templates. This is me and Leah, my partner in crime, poring over our fabric choices.

Photo Originally uploaded by SusanL

Next up was Patchwork on Central, there I bought an Amy Butler weekender pattern. Back on the bus and off to Ink and Spindle.

I've been wanting to go to their open days for ages but can never make it. So I was very excited. The girls gave us a printing demo and I bought some backing material to make cushions (and finally use up the fabric I bought from them at last years show).
Lastly for the day we ended up at Nikki's studio where she put on bubbly and nibbles for all of us. We also got to see her studio, amazing, and buy a few things too. I forgot to photograph them but I got some bag bits too. I was exhausted ready for bed, looking forward to the big sewing day ahead.

This is my haul from friday shopping day. (minus a few fabrics that made it into the satuday photo. The scissors, thread and fabric pack where from The Oz Material girls who were very generous in giving all the shopping girls a give-away, thanks heaps.

I'm going to break this into 2 posts, so I'll be back soon with more.

TTFN

Finally...

I started and finished my first Nicole Mallalieu bag. I've only had the pattern since mothers day last year!!

Large Satchel, Design by Nicole Mallalieu, Handmade by MandyMade

Print Fabric by Aunty Cookie

I don't know what took me so long. Once I started I found the pattern really easy to follow, I didn't have any problems at all. The only thing I would change if I made this bag again would be the interfacing I used, and add some padding. I wasn't thinking straight and used the interfacing I bought for backing my stitcheries. Oh well, we live and learn. Thanks Nikki for a great pattern.

I will be back soon I promise with all the news from Sew It Together. I'm still recovering!! I now have a cold and no voice, so the energy level just hasn't been up to blogging!! I have been checking out others posts though and de-lerking as much as possible!!

TTFN

Oops I missed it...

...my two year blogiversary. It was in april, oops. While reading another blog who mentioned 2 years was coming up, I thought I should check when mine will be, oops I missed it. I'm sure i've broken some unwritten rule of bloggers by missing it. I also may be breaking another rule by not having a giveaway. Sorry. I'll save that for my 200th post. If you want to check out my very first post go here.

I went to the Melbourne Stitches and Craft show yesterday. I took my mum and we had heaps of fun. I met heaps of bloggers, so now i can put faces to names, and caught up with some that I met at the last show or during the past year. Even though I've been blogging for 2 years I've only really started the meet and greet in the past year. Just can't wait for Sew It Together next weekend, very excited, can't wait. The show wasn't as big as last year, not as many fabric stalls and craft gadgets that I would have liked. I loved the incubator section though, so much talent there. Each booth was decorated perfectly reflecting the crafter. We didn't get to any talks or labs but we did do some crotchet at the craft bar. I was very restrained in my purchases (saving for SIT), only buying a new subscription to Homespun for myself, and a purse pattern and fabric for my mum for mothers day that she chose (more on that in another post). Mum bought a few patterns and I hope to share what she makes out of those as well.

I finally got to make one of Nikki's bags but I think that deserves a post of it's own, that, and the light is terrible for pictures at the mo.

TTFN

Still here!!

Don't worry, I'm still here, although you would get the impression that I'd gone walkabout!! Poor neglected blog, and so close to the bloggy spectacular that is Sew It Together!!

I have been making stuff, some secret stuff, some not so. We had a long weekend last weekend so I got to get up north to see my sister on her property. (That sounds rather grand doesn't it!!) It was very relaxing, got to have lots of cuddles with baby niece and ate scones :-). While wandering around we came across some awesome looking toad stools, you can just see the little pixie living under this one can't you?

I've been keeping busy and out of trouble on the train for the past couple of weeks making a gigantic granny square rug for Little A. I finally finished yesterday. I used Lincraft double knitting yarn with 4.5 hook. I used the granny square pattern from Meet Me at Mike's book and I finished the edges with triple crochet. Final measurement 1m square. If anyone needs something crocheted I'm looking for a new train project, just let me know.

I also finally got around to making Little A's school library bag. Only a term late!! I made it the same as this one but it came out skinnier, still fits books though. I bought the material from amitie last year at the craft show, finally got around to using it.

That's it for me today. Off to finally make Nikki's bag so I can take it to show her next week at the stitches and craft show, can't wait, if it's anything like last year, should be ace.

TTFN

Check this out

I got my very ace name tag today for Sew It Together.

Kelly from Purple Paisley Patch made it for me. She also wrapped it in some lovely fabric to fit in with the colour theme.

I was in a hurry to open it and didn't take a photo so it's not as perfect as when I recieved it. The parcel looks too big for the name tag doesn't it. That's cos she made this for me as well.

Front

Back

How cool is that?

And now my swap partner has received her tag I can reveal what I made.

Sorry Katia I didn't include any other cool snazzy stuff, I'm new at this swap thing, next time.

Something else happened to pop in my mail box this week.

I won mail bag in Homespun magazine. I sent these photos in ages ago and completely forgot about it. Well there you go. But as luck has it, I wont be able to use the prize. It's all this lovely perfumed stuff which, unfortunately, started to give me a migraine as soon as I opened the box :-(, so some very lucky ladies in my life might be getting some lovely gifts soon.

Well I think that is it for a while. I've been doing a bit of crotchet over the school holidays, which I'll take a photo of soon I hope, other than that I have a super secret pressy on the go and all of my other WIP's.

TTFN

He's 5

Wow I can't believe it, my little man turned 5 on the weekend. Besides now being the boss of everything!! he's a bit in awe of it himself, it took soooo long to get to 5. During the past year he's had these goals that when he turns 5 he can do all sorts of stuff, like watching (what he calls) scary movies. He tried a scary movie out today, maybe when I'm 6 mum!!

So this is the cake, for the first party, with his little friends.

The big man of the house made the cake, his forte, and I decorated it. We hired a number 5 tin from our local, very ace, cake shop. (if only we had a fabric shop this close by too!!). You can buy the cake mix and butter cream icing in tubs there so all we had to do is mix the dye in, messy business but fun. I had been flicking through the Aus Womens weekly birthday cake book, and got inspiration in there for making the cake into a race track. So there you have it. Lot's of cake which didn't really get eaten, brought out Nan's cup cakes a bit too soon I think. There was so much cake we ended up only cutting that for the afternoon too. But I still made this...

If you haven't gathered by now, Little A likes his cars. So I couldn't go past making a VW Beetle cake in the same colour as our beetle. My sister used to own our beetle and when she did I gave her this cake tin, which has now come in useful.

So there you have it. The end result of my creative thoughts of this week.

Now hopefully some sewing this week. Gotta start on the name tag for Sew It Together, time is running out. My to do list is massive!!

TTFN

My Creative Space

I have nothing to show for my creative space this week, (I could show the same photo as last week but that would be boring!!) It's all in my head and I don't think you want to see that. So in my creative head this week:

• Idea's for my new nieces birth present
• Little A's birthday cakes for this weekend - he is having 2 parties so 2 cakes are required. He's having a car theme so I'm thinking number 5 with racing track, and we have a VB beetle tin, so that will need to be decorated the same as our beetle.
• Decorations for the party, I did have all these grand plans of making stuff but that kinda went out the door, I work full time, what can you do!!
• Party games involving cars, any ideas very welcome ;-)
• Aidan's birthday present, I was thinking a photo board, got any great tutes? Not going to get that finished by sunday!

So there you have it, I assure you more was going on in my head this week, but this unfortunately, was about it for creativity. Hopefully I'll have photos of the out comes. Wow I've been a mum for nearly 5 years, time has flown.

For more creative spaces head here to kootoyoo.

TTFN

Library Bag for James

I may have mentioned a few posts ago that I was off to make a library bag for Little A. We'll I ended up making one for my friends son James instead, don't worry, Little A's will be made!!

I ended up making up the pattern, not too difficult. I just used bits and pieces of what I have learnt on bag making over the past year. If anyone is interested in a tutorial please let me know. When I get around to making the next one I'll document it as I go.

I'm going to have to put the crazy nine patch quilt on hold for a bit, my sister gave birth to a daughter yesterday so now I'm busy planning on something special for her. Very exciting :-).

TTFN

Electronics Case

I made this for my sister for her birthday. I gave her a clutch purse last year, she was being very inventive and using it as a case for her hard drive, so I thought I'd make her another one with a bit more padding!! Again, the pattern is from the Sewing Calendar 2010. This little calendar is coming in very useful for little projects. I quilted it with radiating straight lines from the centre, spiral like, and used a press stud instead of a button. I tried making a button hole with a sample but my machine just wasn't coping, layers were a bit thick I think.

Edit: I also changed the size so it would fit an external hard drive.

The design is by Ayumi Takahashi of Pink Penguin. You can also find the pattern on her website as a tutorial, along with some other lovely looking tutorials which I'm going to have to try.

TTFN

Sewing with Little A

This was a couple of weeks ago, sorry only getting around to writing it now. It's going to be a bit lengthy, I want to record it all.


Little A had decided one evening that we needed to make something, "with your machine Mummy". I told him we need to plan these things a bit more in advance. So after a few temper outbursts he was happy with the idea of dreaming up a really good idea for what to make. So when we got home from school the next afternoon we decided to make something. A few ideas flew around then I got some books out with patterns. Of course all the patterns he wanted to make from had to be enlarged. 


*** side rant *** I really love craft books, but why do they all now have patterns that have to be enlarged? They assume you can get to a photo copier, which i can only do on the off chance at work. It also limits a spontaneous softie making session. Not all books now have patterns that need to be enlarged and I thank them for that, but I don't want to buy a book based on how they have included the patterns. *** ok rant over!! ***


Then I looked through my sewing calendar and found a few things we could make in a couple of hours. I also didn't know how long his attention span was going to last, and I'd have to finish it. But we settled on a little robot pillow.

No patterns as such, just dimensions for squares, excellent. To the material box. Little A chose the fabric he wanted. It happened to be a fabric bundle I'd bought at Spotlight, so everything matched. He chose what colour should go with what part of the robot then we got the iron out and ironed all the material. This was the first time I'd let him use the iron so he was very chuffed ( He was very closely assisted, but even so). Next came the cutting mat and roller cutter. I lined everything up then with my help he rolled the cutter, very proud of himself. We read the instructions again (he's very big on me reading the instructions all the time) then matched the fabric up ready to sew. The pieces were very small so I let him guide the fabric through once, then he was in charge of raising the foot and turning the wheel. After a few seams sewn he decided that using the hole punch for a while would entertain him better. So while he was doing that I sewed the face and some tricky bits. But he came back wanting to do more which was good, cos it was stuffing time. He loves this bit and is often my cheif stuffing holder and getter out of the bag while I stuff softies. But this time it was his turn to stuff, which at times he did with a bit too much vigour but all was ok. I thought I'd be the one sewing the gap closed but no he wanted to do it. So I doubled the thread over, pinched the seams together for him, then he sewed the opening closed, guess he has been paying attention!! I grabbed the camera and the rest is history. Very proud of himself he was and I of him. He even took it to show and tell. 

TTFN

My Creative Space

I've decided to get on the band wagon and post my creative space for this week. I've been a bit absent from my blog of late, life stuff, so I thought this might get me back in.

I'm only working on 2 things at the moment, shock horror, with a million and 1 things in my head wanting to be made. I have started the stitchery from Melly and Me's Kaleidoscope book. It's the first bit of stitchery I've done in a while, after almost 15 years of intense cross stitch (which I haven't done for about 5 years now) it's nice to get back into some hand sewing in the evenings. But I have to say, what has happened to dmc thread? I needed to buy more black and it's not nearly as nice and smooth to stitch with as it used to be. I thought maybe it was because I wasn't stitching on aida cloth, but then I switched to another colour from my old stash, nope, it's so scratchy and the old stuff so smooth. Oh well.

I've finished all of the crazy nine patch squares, yay, and I've even trimmed them. Now I'm just a bit undecided as to how to put it together. There are a lot of patterns in the fabric and put together it's a bit too intense so I think I might border each with white. I'll post some mock ups soon.

And just to finish off, Little A's create space.

For more creative space go visit kootoyoo.

TTFN

It's all gone

World's Greatest Shave yesterday was a great success. Thanks to everyone who donated.

Before

After

For more in-between photos go to Mark's Flickr

TTFN

Patchwork Ball No 2

Another Patchwork Ball, this time for the cousin of the first ball I made. Confused, I am, it's my cousins daughter so does that make her my second cousin? And the first was given to my other cousins son. Anyway, I fussy cut the fabric again from a very cute fabric I found at a local material shop, Darn Cheap Fabrics. It didn't come together quite as nicely this time, I think it stretched a bit when sewing together, it was also very hot the day I decided to put it together. So there you go, another one done. I highly recommend this pattern for a relatively quick to make and useful gift for a 1 year old.
TTFN

Anna Maria Horner's For Kicks Patchwork Ball from Seams to Me. Handmade by MandyMade

First squares done

I have now completed 18 squares for the crazy nine patch quilt I mentioned.I'm making this. These are the first nine.

Too Chrismissy? What do you think? I'm going to have white squares in-between the lattice.
I've been having a few problems lining up the (not so) squares. I'm trying a few different things  to try and make them join up better. Any hints? It's also been really hard to cut through 9 layers of fabric (more when there is a join) so I've stuck some masking tape to my cutting matt and I'm lining them up and cutting that way with only a few layers at a time.

I was lucky enough to receive Denyse Schmidt's Book for my birthday so I've been reading that from cover to cover on my train trips. Now to decide which one to make first. I love them all but need to take baby steps!!

Off to make a school library bag for Little A. It's already a month late so I better get a move on.

TTFN

Thank you

originally uploaded by MandyMade.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. I had a lovely weekend filled with friends and family and lots of ace pressies . Don't worry I will blog more soon when I get more of a moment. Please check out my flickr if you would like to see what I've been up to. More sewing than blogging, more housework than sewing, shock horror!!

TTFN

Edit: Sorry forgot to mention, these flowers were picked by Little A (with permission) from his Nan's garden for me, how sweet :-).

What a Lovely Surprise

I love getting parcels in the post. It doesn't happen that often, and when you don't expect them they are even better!! I have a birthday coming up, but didn't even think that a gift would be inside, so I opened it early (well Little A did), how cheeky of me. The pressy is from the lovely Brooke, she is responsible for getting me back into crafting, I just now have to get her into blogging, she makes some amazing stuff. The material is from amitie and the card, isn't it just perfect, is from maggiedolly.

On the weekend I started cutting out 20cm squares to make this, the Crazy Nine-Patch Lattice Quilt by Oh, Fransson. I'm making it in red and white with a splash of green, so hopefully it wont look too christmassy. It's going to clash with my couch but oh well!!

I'll have some photos to put up soon so you can see for yourself.

Until next time.

TTFN

Oh dear

I just made my very first online fabric purchase. This may be a good beginning or a very bad expensive one!! I shopped here. At least I shopped in Aus and bought some aussie designed fabric too. Have you discovered Saffron Craig? I just have :-).

Help the hairy bloke please

Shave for a cure, originally uploaded by MandyMade.

The bloke of the house is shaving, yay you might say. But he is shaving for a great course, and not to let me know what he actually looks like underneath!! He's been quite hairy for quite a few years now, the boy wont know him!!

He's taking part in the Leukaemia Foundation World's Greatest Shave this year. Both the hair AND the beard goes. Wow.

Take a look at his Profile Page by clicking this link: here

I'd like you to support him by making a secure online donation using your credit card.

- Every hour of every day, at least one person in Australia is diagnosed with leukaemia, lymphoma or myeloma.
- Every two hours, someone loses their life to blood cancer.

Please help us raise as much as we can for the Leukaemia Foundation. Their vital work provides patients with practical support during their long and tough treatment, as well as funding important research.

Thanks for your support!

Note: stats taken from the WGS website.

Charging Basket

Charging Basket, originally uploaded by MandyMade.

Another project on the wish list done, and it serves as another domestic project too. Unfortunately I've had some time on my hands this week, long story, so I've been able to get  a bit of sewing done. It relaxes me and when I have a finished project, I feel good inside, can't beat that.

This one is another free tutorial from Oh! Fransson, the Charging Basket. It could be very tricky to make but her instructions are fantastic, so clear, and guides you through every step. I had a flat fat from my stash (spotlight splurge) and some matching red and I used calico instead of linen. After cutting the main square for the outside I didn't have the correct size for the centre, so I just adjusted the red outside it to fit. It got to the stippling bit, which I was looking forward to as I've never done it and thought this would be a great project to have a go, only to realise that my machine doesn't have a darning foot, thought it did, oh well. So I just sewed wavy lines instead (see below). Great project to make, highly recommend it.

 

TTFN