sew...its christmas day

This year Santa didn't deliver anything for me to wear on christmas day so out came the machine for an emergency whip up. 

I had bought this fabric at darn cheap (glenhuntly) recently. It is a knit and the panel is around 80cm wide. At $6.95/m. At $6.95 not a huge investment. 

(As a side this is our traditional brother and sister christmas tree photo - I must be in a bit of a rush as I am holding the TV remote!! Weird)

 Basically what I did was:
1. Cut small slit between panel repeats to form head hole. This was turned under and hemmed.
2. Folded in half and sewed two side seams. I left a gat at the tops for the armholes.
3. Hemmed the armholes.
4. Made a quick casing for some elastic around the bottom and put in on.
then I cut off the threads!!

Virgo Escape!

Sometimes I cannot control my inner virgo. She is often bubbling not far from the surface - but other times she just explodes. This time of year, the traditional time of lists (even santa writes one) and resolutions is a tough time for her.

Case in point:


This was todays production. An update for my christmas book. Yes, I already have one but this one is better - on the computer and with pictures. See - cant control her. I have gone around and photographed all of our decorations, cataloged what I have and where they will be stored. Also a list of some of our traditions, some of the things we did and other things to remember. I will put it in my christmas folder for next year.
I know it is really tragic but it really helped this year and made for a much smoother running festive time. The original idea for this is from flylady.net and this is my way of tailoring it a little.
Hope you are getting over christmas!!

Merry Christmas

From our lot to you - Merry Christmas and may the new year be healthy happy and bright.
From Us at the squirrel lodge

the night before

 One of our traditions is a new pair of PJs on christmas eve. I always think about these most of december, but notoriously end up leaving it to the last minute. This year I was at a bit of a loss what style to go with - but I had a range of cotton in spots which I had earmarked for shirts, but was a little desperate so went with it. My darling mum actually whipped up three pairs of shorts while I was off christmas visiting.
I had bought three white tshirts (from big w) with the idea of decoration them. I suggested to the boys that I could applique a tie on them, but they wanted something a little more formal. So I was straight of to How About Orange to get her pdf of this tuxedo front.
I used the silhouette for both the orange and the blue versions as I had some tshirt transfer so these were actually quick and easy. Alexander's were a different colour so I used tshirt transfer paper - but the one for dark tshirts. This actually is a white film which you print onto and then peel off and iron onto the shirt. I adjusted the colour to match his shorts and simply printed it through my regular printer. Then I used my low tech scissors and cut around the edge. The transfer is also on the white of his shirt - unlike the twins - but it is all white so there is no issue. In record time I had three happy boys - who don't want to take these tops off!

 Now the stockings are hung, the lights are on, the cookies are made and out and little boys tucked up in bed waiting for the big man in the red suit to visit.

Merry Christmas

compare and contrast - start and end

It was the kids last day of school today. The twins finished their first year of prep. Amazing really. Where has that time gone? But all the same they have grown and learned so much in that period.

Here are the munchkins at the start of Feb ready for their first day...

And here are Spencer and Benji in the same positions (pure luck rather than good management) at the end of the year. Much more confident and ready for adventure.

 The same for the picture of all three - all of them look like different kids. 

A big wish

Tomorrow marks 4 weeks since mum was sent home from hospital - the neurology ward. In the last 6weeks we have been on an incredible roller coaster ride, with dad receiving treatment for cancer and in the same week he came out of hospital, he was sitting in an ambulance with mum.
With days spent by her bedside, we were expecting, and told, the worst with brain surgery scheduled for the Wednesday. About 10 minutes later, a doctor was back in the room explaining there may be some discrepancies with their diagnosis and we would no more in the morning. That Tuesday morning, mum was in a diffent room and we were chatting waiting for the doctor - on a knife edge but still expecting the worst. Then a registrar came in to discharge her. Of course we were suggesting he was in the wrong room - but then we saw a doctor who said they were 95 percent sure it was a bleed and she was going home that day. We didn't even have any shoes for mum to go home in - that is how unexpected the news was. Now it is a month later and a follow up scan is scheduled for tomorrow.
Mum has been doing well, adjusting tot he medication and taking it slowly. She has been up and down in her outlook and it is hard for all of us to do anything without thinking about 14 August. No plans are being made- it is hard to see the future beyond tomorrow. Mum thinks there is still a tumor and wants everything sorted by tomorrow. We are, as you can imagine, hoping with everything we have, that this was an isolated incident due to stress and self medication, and that she is going to be fine.
I was going to write her a letter to let her know how much I love her and want her to fight against anything that may be in our way- but I decided against it. Not that I don't feel that, but I don't want her to feel like I am yang goodbye just in case. She needs all our positivity and love and I know she knows how much she means to me. . I think the waiting and uncertainty is the hardest bit. Now just to get on with things until we know more of what our future holds.....

Apologies

Anyone who knows me has no doubt waited somewhere for me, or for something from me. Why?? Because I am ALWAYS late. My vision of myself is a wild haired lady crazily running from one thing to the next. This is by no means intentional, its just that I am easily sidetracked. Like today.
Today I am working from home. The actual work that brings in money...I did do some, but then I got a bit bored and started to think about other things. The other things in pinterest.

Yes Pinterest, that place which if full of ideas where time has no meaning. Its a bit like the pokies for me - terribly addictive but doesn't result in much, until today.

I had seen a tshirt on there that was so me and I made myself one.

 As one of the big squirrel's colleages just commented - no NOT pregnant, but maybe that's just HIS issue. Putting it on my top saves that little bit of time....

How I did it.

With my MARVELLOUS Silhouette cameo, I cut out the words on freezer paper. Set on a lightweight paper setting with the shiny side of the freezer paper DOWN. This way it comes off the sticky mat easily and means you do not need to flip the fo

Then I ironed the freezer paper onto a tshirt

As I am not only late but inherently lazy, I used these fabric pastels to colour in the tshirt. Why? I couldn't find my fabric paint but I did find my lost felting tools - yeah!!

The fabric pastels are simply that - and I coloured in from the outer edge in. It worked best if I heated up the tshirt a little. This made the pastel melt and colour quicker.

Once happy with the depth of colour, a hot iron over a sheet of paper sets the pastel. Once this is done, I could remove the freezer paper stencil.

And ta-da completed shirt.

Thought I was being clever taking this picture on the computer instead of in the mirror - but found I had to flip that one anyway!