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

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

Sewing Calendar 2010

Sewing Calendar 2010, originally uploaded by MandyMade.

I bought this calendar just after new year. I wasn't going to buy a calendar this year, just use the computer ones. I buy one every year then never use it, so I thought I'd stick a nice picture on a wall with the computer print out underneath. Then I came across this calendar. It has a new project to make every couple of days, and flicking through it, I decided there was more in there that I would make than not, more than books usually, so I bought it.



Being in the southern hemisphere all of the projects are kind of out of sync for us, so I started with one in June. I made these head bands for a friends little girl who turned 3 this month. For one I stuck with how it told you to make it, I found it really tricky to do and ended up with it being bulky where the elastic gets sewn in. So for the second I sewed them together with the seam allowance then turned them, ironed, topped stitched and sewed the elastic in. Much better result for me, I'm too much of a perfectionist to handle the way it told me to do it!!



I then made this mini oven mitt for another friends son's 4th birthday this month. It was the first time I quilted this way. I just picked a spot to start then let the machine sew the line it wanted. It was small enough to do it this way, complete accident that the lines joined in the middle like that, gotta love that walking foot. I stuck to the pattern this time, the only difference being how I attched the wrist cuff, which wasn't too far off from the pattern.

I have started making the pin cushion pear, more on that another time.

TTFN