3 Tops :: Part3

The last top. View D of the Simplicity pattern. Made from a beautiful viole that my girlfriend bought from a recycle fabric shop in Mornington, Victoria. It has a little silk in it and sits so beautifully.




I cut the sleeves in a little more than the original pattern and used the same piece front and back. I didn't hem the top as the fabric already had a lovely selvedge on it.


The top isn't as sheer as the photos show. I just loved the photos with the light shining through, it emphasises the pattern.

Procrastinating

Tonight I am selling my wares at our kinder market night and I still have few things to get ready.

But the kids are all home sick.

And last night Steve brought me home a new toy. It is a little distracting.



I am not in anyway a gadget person and am feeling a little overwhelmed with this surprise. I thought I might hop on Apple's app store and see what there is to download. Well, where do I start? Any of you crafty girls out there with an iphone that can point me in the right direction? What are your favourite apps?

Maybe I need to look for an app that can make bows.

Note: the kinder market night is in Blackburn so if anyone would like to come along, just email me and I will send the details. tmmorris@bigpond.net.au

Who Needs a Lawn Mower?

We could call him Edward Scissorhands.







Before my girls went to school they used to drive me wild with their crafting mess. For always was the playroom floor covered in tiny bits of paper from the cutting and pasting. I kind of hoped when we had a boy that his mess would be different. But, with his good fine motor skills, I guess it is no surprise that he loves the scissors almost as much as his sisters. I am happy to say that he takes his cutting outside, most of the time.

3 Tops :: Part 2

The second top.

I absolutley love this pattern! Simplicity 2586. I had to buy it online as it is not available in Australia. I have done quite a bit of tweaking in every version I have made (of course), but the base is good.


The pattern gives several options, but not one with straps. For this top, I just took a pencil and drew in a suitable line and then traced the pattern. The pattern also has a high neck on the back but I just used the same pattern piece for front and back. The other change I made is that I did not shape the body,instead I just cut it straight down.


It sits really well across the back and the front. It is such an easy to wear, pretty top. The cotton voile is from Lincraft! I loved it so much I went back and bought the rest of the roll and have since made a couple of nighties from it. The nighties are also very sweet and only took an hour each to make, start to finish. That's my type of sewing!

3 Tops::Part 1

So, as I said the other day, I have been doing a little sewing. I have made three tops, a couple of nighties and have another dress cut out. And almost all of it is for me! That certainly makes a change.



This is the first top which I sewed a month or so ago. I traced the pattern off another top, which I loved. It has a couple of simple but nice features: the wide neckline (almost a boat neck) and way the shoulder seams sits just over the shoulder, not centred. This is accentuated by the two different fabrics, both from Darn Cheap. The front is a lovely soft cotton sateen and the back is a knit. The colour in the photo below is a little more accurate.



All of the loose tops this season are very easy to sew and this one was no exception AND I actually wear it!

Good Bread

We love good bread in this house. And it can be hard to find, especially on holidays. That's why I was very happy to discover a great bakery whilst holidaying on the Mornington Peninsula last summer. The best rye sourdough I have tasted for a while, beautiful fruit bread perfect for breakfast and paninis for lunches.


Yesterday we enjoyed a great day on the beach at Rye. And of course, I simply had to stop in a pick up some bread.

The bakery is called Baker Boys and from the outside doesn't seem any different from the normal Aussie bakery, but look beyond the counter to the bread on the shelves and you could be mistaken for thinking you were in France.

Playing Tetris

You know the game, lots of odd shaped pieces that kinda fit together, if you are clever at it. You can stack the pieces haphazardly on top or each other, and they would reach up to the sky, or you can carefully compose them and fit every corner into another, nice and tight.

Hmm, this is what my life feels like right now...each piece a task in my life. Every day is made up of lots of time slots where I need to fit in the many jobs that need to be done. Some tasks are quick and can fit into the twenty minutes before school pick-up, some require careful sequencing of other tasks.

Motherhood is such a tricky maneuvering of tasks and jobs.

I am starting to see some cracks in the tightly packed tetris board. One problem is that everything has to fit so perfectly together that if one thing is upset, the whole day doesn't fit. Another problem is that I spend too much time thinking of the next task to do, rather than enjoying the the moment. Sometimes I fit it all in a little bit more tightly than I should and end up feeling like a pressure cooker waiting to explode. My challenge in life has always been to balance my need to achieve/create/be productive with my need just be. Too much standing still and enjoying the moment and I get frustrated at the lack of achievement. But when I try to do too much I loose sight of the joys that motherhood brings.

Once again, I find myself needing a reminder to just BE in the moment, rather than thinking about what needs to be done in the next moment. I find posts like this from Grace's blog, Uncommon Grace, very helpful for this.


Today I took some time out for a little creativity and production with the focus on enjoying the process. I made a top and half of another one, but the best part, was enjoying the sewing with a couple of girlfriends. Food for the soul.

Bloom

New in the Ella and Kate range this season are some gorgeous flowers. Our Peonies are about 10cm across, a perfect size for little girls (and for mamas).

The girls and I have all been wearing them tucked in a side ponytail, beside a chignon or as a brooch on summer dresses and cardigans. They are a lovely accessory now that my girls are not wearing the other bows as much.



Don't forget, 20% off for all blog readers, just enter Bluebird at checkout.

Spring/Summer with Ella and Kate

www.ellaandkate.com.au

Well, I pulled my finger out and finally got my website updated. My brother, Alan, did such a great job of building the site two years ago and he made the whole process so easy to manage (well, as easy as a website can be).

Sometimes I wish I could use a professional photographer and have more design features put into the site but overall, I am pretty proud that it is all such a homegrown effort. And I do enjoy the photo shoots with my girls.

Steve, my tech support (and life support) has been working on a few changes to the site and I can now offer a discount at the Checkout.

So, until the end of November all orders from my blog are 20% off. Just type "Bluebird" into the discount code at the Checkout. And or course, feel free to spread the word.

Into The Swing

....or trying.

Our family took a lovely little break up north recently and since returning I am struggling to get into the swing of it all.

There were lots of lovely parts to the holiday namely the beach, food (we all love cooking and so even on holidays there were lots of culinary creations, especially salads) and family, all my family. My parents were home from England and my siblings were all there, including my new little nephew so we all got out dose of baby cuddles.

Now, it is back to reality; housework, the daily grind, working hard my Ella and Kate spring/summer range (it's a little late, ahem), and the garden does beckon. I am trying to find routine again.

Do I keep searching or maybe I'll just pour gin and tonic and pretend I am back on holidays.