KCWC - day 7

Today is the last day of  KCWC! I haven't done any sewing but I did make some plain shoes a bit more interesting! These shoes were such a hit and lasted so well when I made them a while ago, I decided to do make them for my little man again!

:: plain canvas shoe + a fine and thick Sharpie permanent marker

:: draw some lines with fine Sharpie marker

:: draw triangles - it doesn't matter if they are a bit crooked

:: colour them in with the thick Sharpie marker

:: some cool new shoes :)

I've had a great week doing the KCWC and making some things for my little man! I think I might concerntrate on making myself some clothes next week, now I have the sewing bug :)

Hope you are having a great weekend!

KCWC - day 6

This morning I had a few precious hours to myself while my little man was hanging out with his grandma and pop. So I got to work and did some more sewing for KCWC!

I wanted to fix up a sweat top he's had in the cupboard for ages.

I really don't like the design on this top (for obvious reasons he has never worn it)! I thought it would be such a waste not to do something with it!

So I decided to use an old top with a great graphic which I really love, cut it out and sew it onto the sweat top. He's worn this top to absolute death but it's getting way too small for him now and was fast becoming a mid drift top!

And Voila... a new, cute little sweat top which will get loads of wear this winter!

I'm so happy I could reuse the graphic from the old, much loved top though I did have a hard time taking the scissors to it, but I'm really happy I did :)

Hope you are having a lovely weekend!

my creative space: KCWC - day 4 & 5

I have finished the two pairs of "nowhere man pants" for my little man for KCWC! Woo hoo! It was great to make two at the same time, for some weird reason it didn't seem to take that much more time! I really love how the blue corduroy pants turned out! They will be great for winter!

:: nowhere man pants - corduroy front

:: nowhere man pants - corduroy back

But I'm not sure about the denim ones though...??? I think they look a bit stiff, a little bit daggy and quite 70's!

:: nowhere man pants - denim front

:: nowhere man pants - denim back

I think they will look much better once they have been bashed up a bit and totally worn out! Which shouldn't be too much of a problem with a very energetic three year old :)

It's a great little pattern... you can get it here at Shwin Designs! I have altered my pattern slightly so the legs were more straight leg than flared at the bottom. I can't wait to make some more... just need to find some more cool fabric!

Hope you are having a great creative week!
There are loads more creative people over at our creative spaces...

KCWC - day 3

I managed to get the back pockets done today for the "nowhere man pants" for KCWC on a busy Anzac day!  I'm always a bit scared of doing pockets as it involves straight, even and precise top stitching! Yikes! I decided to use the reverse side of the fabric for the denim pockets. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out!

:: denim nowhere pants - back pockets

But it was quite a challenge doing the chunky cord pockets but I think it turned out ok - after a few frustrating unpicking sessions with those pockets... grrrr!

:: corduroy nowhere pants - back pockets

It's funny that the decorative things always take the longest and my little man will probably never use these pockets! Oh well! Anyway I am really happy with how the pockets look! :)

Next... sew up the legs and crotch, put the waistband on and hem the legs.. nearly finished! Woo Hoo!

KCWC - day 1 and 2

KCWC - day 1
I am making the two pairs of "nowhere man pants" at the same time and I managed to get a few hours sewing time on Monday as it was a wet day here in Sydney! I would have happily kept on sewing but I hit a dead end... ran out of the steel grey blue cotton thread I was using... aarghhh! I thought I would have enough but didn't take into consideration all the top stitching I would be doing! So I had to put my tools down :(

KCWC - day 2
No sewing today... just me, making a mad dash off to Spotlight (fabric shop, one I hadn't been to before) for more cotton thread and nearly freaked out when they didn't have the steel grey blue thread I wanted, only to realise after 10 min of umming and ahhhing over the next best colour, that there was another section in the shop that had ALL the colours... phew! I am VERY relieved!

I am so please with my efforts so far... I've finished the pockets and the side seams, and also completed the top stitching on those bits too which I'm really happy about! It's not easy to do top stitching on chunky corduroy!

:: blue corduroy pants - pockets and sides sewn up

:: denim pants - pockets and sides sewn up

:: denim pants - top stitching :)

I was going to do a contrasting colour top stitch on the denim but I totally chickened out... I'm not that confident with my top stitching just yet!

Can't wait to get back to sewing tomorrow!

Hope your KCWC is going well so far :)

KCWC - kids clothing week challenge

I am participating in the kids clothing week challenge - KCWC over at elsie marley. The challenge is to sew one hour every day for seven days and hopefully by the end of that seven days you will have made some great kids clothes! Such a great challenge and it's not to late to join in!

With winter approaching, it's time for me to get sewing and make some things for my little man! I am hoping to make two pairs of "nowhere man pants", the same as the ones I made last week. I have cut the fabric out - ready to go, one in a beautiful blue corduroy and another in denim. You can never too many pants for winter as little boys are pretty good at getting dirty very easily!

Well I better get my sewing machine out and get going!
Happy Monday :)

my creative space: knitting frenzy

I have been a busy bee this week, especially as it has been bucketing down with rain here in Sydney for the last few days and we have been stuck inside... oh dear what to do... get busy making things... of course! More will be revealed next week :)

I'm currently in the grips of an obsessive knitting frenzy! I thought knitting was suppose to be relaxing...? Arghh....I'm at it every moment I have... I just can't stop!

:: my knitting frenzy

I saw this knitted/felted striped garter stitch bag on Ravelry (originally from Ishi's knitting diary blog here).  The bag pattern has been knitted flat and then sewn up, then it needs to be felted. I love the look of it for a winter bag, so I had to have a go! I decided to make mine in block colours dusty grey, aubergine (the wool I dyed a while ago) and olive wool. It's taken me about a week and a half to get this far and I'm on the home stretch now... Hooray!

:: knitted garter stitch bag - in progress

I'm looking forward to doing the felting process... although I am a little worried, scared/petrified and crossing my fingers... especially after the hours and hours of knitting! I love the challenge of making something new and I'm really hoping that it's all going to turn out ok! I think it's looking good so far :)

Anyone got any good tips on the best way to felt wool? I would love to hear them :)

Hope you are having a great creative week!
There are loads more creative people over at our creative spaces...

post note: Whoops I just realised that I made a boo boo knitting this pattern... the corner olive square isn't suppose to be there... drat!!! I will have to unravel that bit!!! I obviously got a little carried away in my knitting frenzy :)

my creative space: pants for my little man

I have been out shopping looking for winter clothes for my little man.... I find shopping for boys clothes VERY frustrating! There are some really gorgeous things out there if you want to spend a fortune, but we are on a tight budget! There are some ok things in the "not so" expensive shops, but I find that all the colours are quite dreary and very boring!!! There is way to much navy and black out there! Why can't we have some bright colours.... after all they are only little boys, what wrong with a bit of colour!! Does anyone else find this?

Anyway... I'm off my soap box now! So, today I made some happy green corduroy "nowhere man pants" from Shwin Designs for my little man! I have been looking for a good pants pattern for ages but hadn't come across any that I liked until I saw this one :)

It was all very straight forward, after purchasing the pattern on Etsy, I received the pdf pattern via email and then printed it all out. The instructions were very easy to follow with lots of construction photos. I altered the pattern slightly by making them more a straight leg, rather than slightly flared. I had a little freak out about doing top stitching... YIKES!!! Sometimes I can surprise myself... phew...it turned out excellent! I really enjoyed making these!

:: nowhere pants in the making - top stitch.... yikes!

:: nowhere pants - front
- excuse the mess in the background :)

:: nowhere pants - top stitch front detail

:: nowhere pants - back

:: nowhere pants - back detail

I am really happy with how they turned out and I can't believe it only took me a day to make - in between doing everything else today too! My lounge room is a total mess with lots of greeen cotton and corduroy bit everywhere... I better go and clean up! I will definately be making more of these cute pants in bright colours :)

Hope you are having a great creative week!
There are loads more creative people over at our creative spaces...

my creative space: crochet and screen print

I have finally got my creative mojo back... it's been a while! I had been plodding along for ages just doing bits and pieces here and there... not feeling particularly inspired! I was getting a little worried there for a bit, wondering if it was ever come back! YAY...It's back!

There is nothing like a little birthday to get one inspired! It was a little friends birthday last week, and I made a very cute little crochet super soft, fluffy bunny scarf! Our little friend LOVED it! I secretly want a grown up version for me! :)

:: cute little bunny scarf - pom pom tail and fluffy ears

I also designed a new "flower bunch" screen printed top for our little birthday friend! I am so happy with how it turned out! I love making special things for our little friends... too much fun! :)

:: flower bunch - screen printed

I thought I would share a bit of my process for the flower bunch screen print...
I do lots of doodles and scribbles to come up with ideas but mostly the ideas come to me in the middle of the night... does that happen to you too!!! In this case it was a middle of the night idea which also used the base design from my "bold flower" design which I created for handprinted: a fabric swap a while ago.

:: "bold flower" screen print for handprinted: a fabric swap

I then worked on the design in Adobe Illustrator, which can take a while... I love mucking around in Illustrator! Once I am happy with the design, I print it out in grey scale.

I place the grey scale printed image page on top of stencil paper and then cut through the two pieces of paper to create the stencils, a separate stencil for each colour in the design.

Once I have my stencils... I set up the screen printing board and use masking tape secure the garments to it.  To make sure everything is goes where it is suppose to, I use the original cut out printed to line up all the colours and to register it.

Then I mix up my fabric paints and screen print each colour.

I wanted to add a bit more texture to the flower dots of this screen print, so I used a stamp that I made and a  POSCA pen- slate grey which can be used on fabric (and many other surfaces).

Once I have ironed the design to fix the fabric paint on to the garment it's all done! I love this new little design :)

It's quite a long process which can take a few days, which I love because I can do little bits here and there in my busy day :)

Hope you are having a great creative week!

There are loads more creative people over at our creative spaces...

I am a lucky ducky

I was so thrilled when I got home the other day to find a little parcel waiting for me!

Woo hoo... I won these gorgeous little prints, a zine and two macaroon pin cushions from a giveaway on Dawn Tan's hand-made-love blog!

:: three gorgeous A4 prints

:: one A3 veggie print

:: two macaroon pin cushions and a very cute little zine

:: macaroons and tea anyone? :)

I feel so lucky! They are even more lovely in real life! I can't wait to frame the prints and put them on the wall! I just love Dawn's work and how she paint everyday things... so lovely!! I SO wish I could paint like her! She makes me want to get my paints out and get painting/practicing :)

Check our more of Dawn Tan's gorgeous work here ....