More action shots!

I got Taylor to try on her Christmas dress this morning before teeball (thus the spunky teeball pants peeking out below).

The front (mind the interesting expression!):


The back:

I really love the way it looks from the back!

It fits well except I made it a little too wide at the front and so it gapes a little. I think I might do some unpicking (arrgrhhhhh I even hate the word!) and add a little strip of elastic vertically in the front to gather it down a little. That is if I start feeling enthusiastic hehe.

I'm going to make Ellie a new dress for the hafla tonight and might make James some new pants to wear too :)

This is why Richard doesn't like me going out with Donni!

why? because I come home with fabric :P

Textile Traders (yes, I had a reason for going there - needed some thread!) had 30% of craft fabrics which meant their prepacked cotton prints in 1.5m lots were only $5 each! As anyone who has seen my fabric stash can atest, I'm a fabric whore and it doesn't take much to entice me!

So, I was brave and only came home with TWO (could have been MUCH worse lol) 1.5m lots with plans to transform them into dresses for Ellie!

The first one jumped at me to go with black or denim for a dress or possibly peasant top..... or maybe both??

The second is a border print. I like them after making Ellie and Taylor's dresses! I think Ellie will look gorgeous in a dress like the MM animals one made from this! Who knows, she might need a new dress for the hafla tomorrow night!!

Forgot to add:

James came with us (as well as Ainsley) and he didn't come away empty handed! He got a buzz car from the op shop and then chose a fat quarter:
Not entirely sure what we are going to do with it but he picked it up saying "Mum, this is mine" so how could I resist (for $1.75 lol). I was thinking of making him some of these so maybe he needs a matching wallet or something?? Anyone have any good boy ideas for a fat quarter?

Taylor's Dress

So, I asked Taylor if she wanted a dress matching Ellie's to wear for Christmas Day and she did :) So I made it tonight (I was meant to be making Tom's birthday bag but I might do that tomorrow instead).

Front:


Back:


Size difference of the dresses:


I changed it by actually having a sort of bodice instead of just a strip across the top which was a lot more complex than I anticipated lol. Next time I might plan it a bit better instead of just fumbling through!

Something for James!

Finally got around to making James some pants out of this Michael Miller print that I got too many months ago hehe

He was very eager while I was making them and kept coming back to check on me for progress reports lol

I'm quite happy with how they turned out however next time I'll be adding some more butt space lol Why do I have kids with big bums damnit!

The pants:

The action shot - that's his little sisters drink bottle hehe

So, what's next on the to do list?

1. Backpack for Tom's birthday (next weekend) might make this tonight :)
   
2. Christmas dress for Taylor - will match Ellie's Christmas dress - cutting this out tonight :)
   
3. Christmas set for James - thinking long shorts with an appliqued shirt, not sure which fabric to use for a special outfit though - hard to decide when the girls will be matching!
4. Something for me! I have a literal tonne of fabric that I have bought with good intentions
   

Action shots!

I put the dress on Ellie this morning and it FITS!!!! Oh yeah.

The front - this was catching the just after smile lol

Side on
The back - kinda hehe

She got a bit cranky when she tried to crawl but seeing as though I planned it as a walking dress, I'm ok with that hehe

Now, onto the backpack!

Her happy clap for something good :P

Interesting!

So, James just came out to me at 11pm asking me to help him with his bed - he spilt his drink of water.

This is what I was presented with when he entered the lounge room.....


He has NOT had a dummy for more than 2 yrs now!!

Another backpack :)

I think the sewing bug has well and truly bitten!

I bought this fabric from Spotlight for $2/m a couple of months ago with plans for 3/4 length pants for both Taylor and James.

I added a pocket, lengthened the body and straps and overlapped the front panels a bit more.

I can't believe how fast they go together really!

So, here are the pics!

Front:


Open:


Back:


Next time I'm going to apply interfacing to the body pieces before assembling which will turn it into more of a 'real' backpack!

Happy with how it turned out but not sure who it's for yet!

It's been a productive day!

I made Ellie a Toddler backpack from here this afternoon! It's a zipless bag which just overlaps at the front.

Front:


Showing the front opening:


Back:


Top (excuse the non turned corner on the right hehe) oh and Taylor is modelling!


So, what did I change? I sketched the pattern myself instead of printing so my shape is a little different, I added a hook so that we can hang it up if it gets taken to daycare and ummmm I think thats about it.

I think next time I will overlap the front panels a bit more (I'm thinking of adding a snap to the middle to hold it closed but I think I'll wait and see how Ellie goes with it first. I also didn't do any interfacing as the fabric I used was quite sturdy and canvas-ish.

Taylor has asked me to make her a backpack as well now so I'll be on the lookout for the perfect fabric for her! She has requested black (surprise, surprise lol) I'm thinking black and red checks for the back and side and fingers crossed I can find some Jack Skellington print for the front - if you know where I can get some, please let me know!

Finally, a creation! (or two)

So, here is Ellie's christmas outfit for this year! Pretty pleased with it overall and just crossing my fingers that it will fit well :) Followed the tute from here

The front:
The back (yes looks the same except you can kinda see where I put elastic in the bodice piece and the back seam where the print doesn't quite line up):

And also..... the Christmas Tree hanging with 3 kiddies pouches instead of a typical Advent Calendar. The kids get something little in their pouches every day. I made the pouches a decent size so that they can be used during the year as well as I'm sure they will choose different prints for their pouches next year!

The tree - empty lol


The tree - with the pouches


The pouches. Taylor chose the dragons fabric when she came to Textile Traders some time during the year. The wonky trains if of course James' as he is only 'slightly' obsessed with trains hehe. The oriental fishy flowers I bought from the remnant box at Spotlight for $1/m and I love it! I also got the same print but in red and I'm planning on either making a reversible pinny or possibly the Faith dress I've seen on others blogs.
I've got James' santa sack half finished (will finish tonight) as well as cutting and sewing the girls'. I'm also going to make Taylor a skirt or dress to match Ellie for Christmas - will ask her which she wants tonight! Other than that, I need to decide what I'm doing for James' Christmas outfit as so far I'm drawing a blank! Might do some shorts and an applique t-shirt. Will see if I can find some spunky ideas on some blogs hehe

How lazy am I!?

So, it's been much too long since my last post but quite a bit has happened too :)

I've completed the first year of my nursing degree and am now on holidays for a month before going back.

Taylor has turned 8, Elise has turned one and James is turning 4 in less than a month! Where has the time gone?

Ellie is starting to walk at 14.5mths which is the latest of all three. She is a happy mostly content baby who is an awesome sleeper! In the past couple of months, she has been really developing her personality which is just great to watch and be a part of!

James has been undergoing speech therapy as well as OT this year. At his assessment last week, his speech was still 18 months delayed which is what it was prior to getting his grommets in July... we thought he was doing MUCH better than that :( I've been looking for some help online and have managed to find quite a bit of speech related activities which we will be focusing on over summer. He starts kindy at the end of January which is exciting. He asked for the first time this morning if he could go to school instead of daycare which was nice!

Taylor is about to finish year two. She has had the same teacher for three years in a row now so it will be interesting to see how next year goes with a new teacher! Hopefully she will settle well and thoroughly enjoy it! It's hard to believe that in less than 10 years she will be able to drive!!!

We have had a "fun" time since mid-July. Richard had his bike accident on the way to work and ended up with a broken femur and metatarsals as well as road rash on his back. It's been 4.5mths now and he is still walking with a pretty severe limp and quite a bit of pain. We have lodged a claim with the insurance commission as it is a suspected hit and run. I'm hoping the pain will ease and that Richard can get back to doing the things he wants to do :) (and yes, that means he will be riding again too)

I'll have to look through my files and post some photos of the kids and I've been doing some sewing with more to do before Christmas so will be sewing my bum off in the coming weeks! Will definitely post pics :)