Mama sewing

So I made myself a top. I can't tell you how exciting that is!

I love peasant tops. They're loose where they need to be and fitted where they need to be. I think the only thing more exciting than having made myself a top, which fits perfectly, and is very 'me', is that I bought this sheet from an op-shop for $3. I heart op-shopping.

My mother-in-law once told me if you find a pattern that works well, make one in every colour. I think this pattern is that. I am about to cut a few more out. It's cool and drizzling here. My husband has taken over the kitchen and the kids are playing with the train set. Perfect time to sew!

The cooler weather and our planned Easter camping trip to a cold place had me sew a hoodie for Mr 4. Not a blue one, not a mini-man one, not a commericialised one that would have my son looking like walking advertising, just a nice hoodie for a 4 year old boy. I also picked this sweatshirt fabric and the ribbing up from an op-shop many moons ago. They go perfectly and have resulted in a hoodie that my boy is happy to wear anywhere.

Lastly, a quick knit just off the needles for Ms 6.5 months. A simple yoke neck cardi with ribbing. Super easy, super stretchy and super cheap when using $2 clearance wool from Spotlight. Buttons from the op-shop too. Oh and how cute is she sitting up! Love <3

Sunday market

I had my usual stall at the Village Life market at Northey Street City Farm on Sunday, along side Fauve Fibres and Dash Robin. And as usual, it was a lovely morning sitting around chatting to beautiful people; catching up with friends and making new ones. I only had Ms 5 months with me and many willing arms to hold her so she was content and so was I. I came home with two new books and a pile of gorgeous yarn. See!

The kids book is a beautiful book about babywearing across different cultures. We're a big babywearing family. Our 4 year old is still back carried at times and our 5 month old just about lives in a carrier, like her siblings did at her age. It's a really lovely book, I'm so glad to be teaching my children about connection and attachment whilst living in a society that models disconnection and violence so well.

The second book is an early 90's baby craft book. It's got some outrageously ugly patterns in it, but it has some very sweet toy and bag patterns as well! Oh and it was free, who can argue with that.

These yarns are all Sally from Fauve Fibres dyeing creations. 50g 8 ply pure wool, 140g 10ply cotton and 200g 10 ply pure wool. I wound the aqua-purple skein last night, intending to make something for winter for Ms 2. The colours are incredible.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

horse pj's

My son loves horses. He lives and breathes them. He has been riding since he was 3 after a year of searching madly for a school that would let him start as early as possible. He has an entire farm set up in his room, devoted to horses. We thought it was a phase when his love for horses began, somewhere between 12-18m, but at 4 years and 3 months, he is completely and utterly devoted to horses. It's lovely!

I used to ride when I was younger and his passion for horses has reignited mine. I've promised him when he turns 10 we'll go in an endurance ride together. In our town, there are often international endurance rides on, and I always take the kids down to walk around and soak in the beauty of horses. Miss 2 seems to be picking up an interest in horses as well. She tells me when she turns 3 she's going to start horse riding and she's going to come on endurance rides with us.

So what do you make for a boy completely and utterly in love with horses? Horse pj's, so when he's tucked up in bed, no doubt dreaming of all things horsey, he can be wearing them as well! I love my boy :)

More knits

Two posts in one night, that's unheard of! Just getting round to taking some photos of a jumper I made Mr 4 for his birthday. I love it!

This soaker skirty for Miss 4 months is just off the needles.

My knitting bag is so full it is ready to explode. I'm making dresses, soakers, jumpers, vests and cardi's. I'm getting in early this year so I don't get caught out by cold weather and have to buy my children winter woolies!

yarnie

Today was one of those days where Miss 4 months wouldn't sleep anywhere but on me. So into the Yamo she went, on my back, and I dragged my yarn boxes out to do some winding. It's the one thing I can do happily for hours with a sleeping baby on my back. Mr 4 and Miss 2 were straight over. As usual. Mr 4 is always so eager to try whatever it is that I'm doing, so I showed him how to use the ball winder. I held the yarn for him as I don't have a swift and to my surprise, he wound a pretty decent ball! It's a bit loose, but easily knitable!

Then he wanted to try being the swift for me so I could wind the remaining skeins quickly and make lunch, and again, he held the skein up perfectly and even had the wrist flicks down pat! Anyone who has ever had the joy of hand winding a centre pull ball knows what I mean!

How gorgeous are these two skeins? The rainbow is my kind of rainbow. Bright and fun! The second one is such a stunning metallic shimmer, it's just beautiful. They're both 12ply WOOT, and they're from Fauve Fibres. Love.

I've got some lovely hand painted yarn that I'm going to make into a pair of shorties for Miss 4 months but I needed a co-ordinating colour for the waistband and leg cuffs because I won't have enough of the variegated yarn on its own. So out came the dye pot, the vinegar and food dye. And my audience :)

So all in all we had a wonderful day. Miss 4 months slept for hours, Mr 4 and Miss 2 were busy and happy and I got to dye some wool and cake loads of wool!

Winter knits

I've started this winters knits for my children. I finished this lovely handspun pinafore for Miss 2.

The purple trim is the divine WOOLganics and the gorgeous handspun is from Fauve Fibres. I'll be at the Northey Street markets this Sunday, alongside Fauve Fibres and many other creative souls. Looking forward to a day of great company, great atmosphere and great food!

Bedding to bedding

I finally did some sewing last night, after blogging yesterday about having to find time to sew! I used one of my op-shop finds from yesterday as well. A lovely single bed cotton fitted sheet that had no elastic left in it. It cost me $2. I turned it into a pair of cotton summer pj's for Miss 2, and have plenty left over. I heart op-shopping. And Miss 2 hearts her new pj's.

So single bed sheet to pyjamas. Easy peasy.

2 months?!

Has it really been 2 months since my last post? Really? Gosh, where has the time gone?! I might do a quick recap of the last 2 months to fill in the gaps then. What has happened to me in last two months? Well...

I turned 30!

My MIL bought me a brand new fancy pants sewing machine which I pick up in a few weeks, and my family got me this...

... a Nikon D3100! I've always loved photography so my new digital SLR is a much wanted and longed for gift. I'm off on a short course next weekend to learn how to use it properly.

We had Christmas.

I think the biggest surprise for me was my husband buying me this...

... a wool winder! He found the Tangled Yarns shop location online and went in himself and bought it, all without me knowing. He's definitely a keeper! I've had loads of fun winding wool. Loads!

Hmm, what else has happened?

We got a four year old on Boxing Day :)

We got piggy tails!

We went from counting Anya's age in weeks to months!

Otherwise, I guess the biggest thing that has happend is lots and lots of rain! All the river crossings around us are in flood, and for a waterway ecologist like me, there is little more beauty than to drive around and admire all the swollen rivers, inundated floodplains and active birdlife. Except maybe birthing a baby into your husbands hands by candle light at 2am in your own house, surrounded by family and powerful women.

So what's in store for us this year?

We're off to Ballina for our annual Australia Day holiday with the in laws, Mr 4 is off to kindy, we've sworn to do a handmade pledge cross consumption rebellion type challenge and only make or buy our clothes secondhand, loads more revegetation on our block, attending markets regularly and making the most of long weekends and holidays by doing as much camping as possible!

Look.At.This.

Look at this. Just look at this!! 125g of handspun, hand dyed rainbow gradient BFL, given to me yesterday by Sally from Fauve Fibres. I love it so much I could scream! I love bright, I love rainbow, I love handmade. And this is all that, plus more! Just because she's awesome and knows I prefer bulky/chunky yarns, it's a 12/14ply to top it off. Now, the big question, what to make with it?

My last market

I'm really sad to say that I'm doing my last market on Saturday night. Well, the last before this baby is born. I'll be at the launch of Mumatopia, which promises to be a night filled with handmade and environmentally aware products and most exciting, birthy goodness! It's quite symbolic, I think, that my last market is a celebration of birth and community.

I'm almost 32w, my first was born at 34w and my second at 38w, and she was overdone. She had been trying to birth from 35w, so the only thing I'm sure of, is that I have early babies. Meaning, it's time for me to slow down and rest up before I have this babe. Which is weeks away! We're all very excited, it's another homebirth for our family and this will be our last baby. So I'm going to do my best at resting as much as I can.

I'm hoping to be back into the swing of things as soon as I can, and will definitely be taking our newest addition to the Northey Street markets when I feel up to it. In the meantime, I'll be listing all my market stock on etsy so if you've seen something you like at one of the markets I've been at, that's where you can find me for now.

Thanks for your understanding :)

Weekend of rest

Today is Saturday, 31st July. I'm meant to be set up at the Red Hill Fair, enjoying good company, the lovely weather and a fun day out. Instead, I'm at home, still in my pj's, with a strained abdominal ligament, whilst 7 months pregnant. So sorry to miss those of you who were going to pop in and say hi.

I'm having a quiet day of resting and knitting. I've almost finished a gorgeous rainbow gradient knitted dress for my daughter and am going to make some newborn things for our new babe, due sooner than we are ready for! So in some ways, being forced to rest and take it easy at this point is a good thing. I look forward to being back at the Northey Street City Farm Village Life market next weekend.

BrisStyle

I'm so excited to announce that I'm now a very proud member of BrisStyle- Brisbane's indie designer collective. They hold several markets throughout the year, have a Facebook group and have many beautiful handmade items for sale on Etsy. I'm so excited to be part of such a talented group of crafters!

A new little original

That's right, a new little original will be joining our family later this year :D That's why I've been really quiet, I've been struggling with morning sickness! I'm into the start of the second trimester now so hopefully I'll be back on my feet in no time. We're very excited, as are Mr 3.5 and Miss 1.5. It'll be another homebirth for us so the kids and I have been watching birth videos on You Tube to get them used to the noise and awesomeness of birth, it's been lovely.

Anyway, that's my big news... and my reason for being so slow and quiet in recent months. I'm really hoping to be able to attend a few markets over the next few weeks, I've missed it!

Market update

Thanks so much for all your well wishes! I'm super happy to report that I was the biggest seller that night! I'm super happy, and super motivated to hit the sweat shop (it is literally a sauna in there) and make more original creations :)

To market to market...

Off to Fernvale Twilight Market tonight! I wish I had more stock, but I'm really happy with what I do have. Peasant tops and dresses, pants, shorts, tiered twirly skirts, ruffle neck dresses, knitted soakers and patchwork skirts. Most are made from imported designer cottons and there are some upcycled vintage tops that I've posted about previously. Have a great night!

Peasant dresses... the start of it all

I made these dresses a while ago now, but I felt the need to post about them. They were the first items I made for sale. I need to remind myself why I started sewing for sale. I made these 5 dresses, ranging from size 3-5. They're made from a stunning, imported designer cotton, and I just love them. Why? Because they're gorgeous, quality fabrics, and they're beautifully fun and feminine, but they're not pink!

I began sewing because I didn't want to dress my boy in blue, but that's all I could find. The older he got, the more "mini man" the clothing options became, so I started making my own bright and fun clothes for him. Well, by clothes I mean pants and shirts. You're kinda limited for choice with boys.

Then I had my daughter. She was a planned homebirth. A really hard, difficult birth, but she was born at home, on her own terms, in her own time, and for that, I am grateful. Slightly off topic... but the more you get to know me, the more you'll discover just how much birth matters to me! I am passionate about natural childbirth and even more so about homebirth.

So off we go and take our new little woman to the shops to find some clothes for her and we can't escape the sea of pink! I started making her clothes, because there are so many colours other than every shade of pink and the odd shade of purple to dress a girl in. Oh and don't even get me started on the blueness for boys! So here I am. Trying to provide fun and funky kids clothing to parents who want something a little bit different.

Semi custom orders

After several custom order enquiries I’ve decided to have a go at just listing semi-custom slots at my store. I’ve been taking photos of the fabric combinations on offer, with a measuring tape as a guide for print size. I’m listing some tonight and will be listing more over the next few days, especially as new fabric arrives. Hopefully that will give me time to work on the funky cotton boys shirts.

Fabric shopping!

I’ve spent hours this morning online buying the right fabric for the projects I have in mind. My next run of clothes will be for boys. It’s so hard to find funky boys fabric! But I’m happy with what I’ve selected. When I started making clothes I said I’d always have a selection for boys because I know how hard it is to find fun and funky boys clothes. So I was kinda surprised when I stocked my madeit store and it was just about all girls clothes. So my priority is to stock a heap of boys clothing asap. Stay tuned!

A home!

This blog will be the home of my work-at-home-business. I make unique and original childrens clothing from quality materials sourced all over the world. I look forward to having a place to share my creations!