Gifting

Another Feb birthday - for another faux cousin. Eloise requested a cross stitch kit for her 8th birthday and while excited she was starting her own crafting journey, I actually found the 'right' gift hard to find.

I started with a sewing kit - the box which I already had I jazzed up with a bit of silhouette vinyl to personalize it. Inside are some threads, scissors, buttons etc.

The best find was the made it cross stitch kits. I found this at a pop up shop in Phillip Island from the Haby Goddess and it is just the right pitch. It is a great way to learn the stitches but also get the tension right and what I think is the best bit is when she is finished she can hang it off her schoolbag as decoration.

My Secret Addiction

I am not a big shopper. Well, let me correct that. I am not a big spender. I love love LOVE to look and wander the shops, yet I am the ultimate tight arse and cant justify the price of things. This may also be because I can sew. I usually look at things and think "I could make that for a quarter the price" and then never do. Fuelling this is my little addition on the internet.
McCalls patterns are for sale online. They have McCalls, Butterick, Kwik Sew and Vogue all under one umbrella. These are full paper patterns, delivered to your door at just a fraction of the price. Not only are they cheap but many of the designs are not yet available in Australia, so they are cheap and unique - what better combination.
I know you are asking - How Cheap. Well here is my maths. The recent sale had McCalls and Butterick patterns for US 99 cents and Vogue were US $2.99. To put it in perspective, the pattern for that red dress is usually US$30! Ok, I do have to pay for postage but for three patterns the postage is $15, but for 4 -7 it is $25. When you buy 8 the postage is up to $55, then it is cheaper to buy two lots of 7.  See I have worked it all out. This last bundle was under $40 for 7 patterns,  which I think is great value - as long as I use some of them!!
If you want to check out their site it is Here

Happy Birthday Trav

Applique - a quick how to

One of the things we have a lot of and need a lot of is PJs. The kids don't like the shirt style and prefer to sleep in a tshirt with either shorts or pants dependant on the season. I always decorate the tshirt to match otherwise it just ends up in the tshirt drawer never to be seen again. One of the quickest and easiest ways I find is with machine applique.

Materials -

tshirt - I just buy commercial ones from Kmart or Target for under $56

Fabric for applique - in this case a panel from Dr Seuss Lorax cotton

Vlisofix - from Spotlight etc usually behind the counter. It is an iron on double sided sticky film.

Also you will need an iron

1. Cut the vlisofix to side. Make sure you keep the film connected to the paper otherwise you will end up with a big mess on your iron.

 2. Onto the wrong side of your fabric, place the vlisofix rough side down and press with a hot iron. I always put some scrap fabric or an old tea towel to protect myironing board at this point. The sticky film will make a mess over future ironing.

 3. Cool slightly and remove the paper from the back of your project. Your fabric should have a matt coating of glue now.

4. Position your fabric where you want it on your tshirt. Then secure the image with the iron. The heat bonds the glue so the image and tshirt are now stuck together.

 5. Finish the edges with some machine stitches. I use a blanket stitch in a contrasting colour but a zig zag could also work. The applique doesn't require pins as it is stuck, but the edges still may fray so this is decorative as well as stopping the fabric fraying.

 6. Then you have a finished garmet. This little set is off to a friend for his birthday tomorrow.

Mum's Taxi

 For years I have failed to see the point of those little yellow signs mothers found compelled to hang in the back window of their car. You know the ones - Mum's Taxi. I don't know what about it offended me - maybe that I kind of thought that was mums job to run your kids around. Now that my kids are all at an age where they need running around and dropping at places I kind of get it.

Up til now my social life has been about them - particularly the twins, and if they were invited anywhere, it was assumed that I would also be there. Now they are six, no probably as soon as school started, this no longer seems to be the case. There is a lot of dropping and picking up - with a whole lot of nothing in between.

School back up and running this week and all of the associated activities, I have as a result seen a lot of the inside of the car. Both Tuesday and Wednesday consisted of multiple drop offs and pick ups and nights out for me, so by Thursday when there was school pick up for 2, karate drop off, fencing pick up, party drop off, karate pick up and party pick up all before 6:30, you may understand not only why my bum did not leave the couch and, two, I see some amusement in those signs.


Don't worry - I am not out on my way to get me one. In fact I wouldn't even know where you buy them, but I think the schedule needs to settle a little.

And before you ask - Fencing????? I know sounds a little ostentatious but it is actually a free after school activity for term one. This was their first lesson - the only instruction I heard was "Don't whack each each other with them. Its not tennis. Stab.Stab!"....stab, stab??

in the swim

Xandy has decided he wants to try out for the school swim team. He can swim but he's not pretty. The best bit is he wants to have a go which is cool. I wanted him to get in some swimming practice in a long pool so he at least knew what he was up for. So we all went up to the local YMCA for a swim and it was really fun.
I was swimming laps with Xandy and the big squirrel was with the twins. The last time I went swimming - as in laps etc was back when he was a baby so it would be a good 8 or more years ago.
I also dont have any swimming bathers. I had a pair that I made about 20 years ago - no really they must be about that old. While they still fit (they stretch) the body has aged a bit in 20 years and there are bits that people shouldn't see. Lets just cast your mind back to the early 90's fashion. Bodysuits with high waisted and belted jeans. There were also some coloured jeans back then. I think gym fashion was lycra tights with a leotard over the top? Are you there? Back in those days there was nothing hipster - everything was about the waist. Thats about where the legs of my bathers were cut to. Seriosuly. Not a good look. Of course I didn't go out like that. People wear goggles in the pool - I didn't need ot scar them for life. I wore a bikini bottom over the top - but there were still little hip cutouts poking over the top!

I can tell you don' believe them to be that bad. Think its all in my mind? I went off to do the grocery shopping and when I got back the big squirrel and twins had bought me a present. Lovely! New speedo bathers. Really it is a lovely thought and gesture and they are great bathers that fit really well. Wonder what triggered that idea??

run

 It was back to the grind of the saturday routine again today but we also managed a few jobs as well. Once cricket and basketball (with a mighty win) were done we headed off to the squirrels storage and worked out some more jobs!!

The day finished at the squirrel salon where 3 of the 4 boys got haircuts. Spencer didn't want his cut so now the twins look quite different. He is wanting his hair like Xandy instead, but we'll see!