Something old into something 'new'

Well it's been well over a year since my last blog! I have been doing creative things, but with working part-time + looking after a now 18month old, there isn't a lot of time to sit and write for a blog!

Here is a little something that I did a few months ago..
We are renovating our kitchen/dining area. We have knocked out a wall to open up the space, so I thought I may as well revamp the table and chairs while we were in the throws of making mess!. We are yet to get the floors redone, just waiting to knock out another small section of wall, so will post on this once the floor is completed.

THEN: (These are pics just after I had sanded it all down unfortunately)
My husband has had the table & chairs for years. Originally they were varnished wood with green and red tartan fabric on the cushions. Eww. So after we married, we recovered the chairs in an old duck egg blue woollen blanket fabric. Still with the wooden varnish + lots of hot pot/drink stains.. this lasted us a few years & kinda looked ok.

NOW:
Freshened up with a lick of white semi-gloss enamel paint for the table top + chairs, and a Karen Walker Duck Eggs Blue semi-gloss enamel for the table legs (I saw this on a design blog and loved the look). The cushion covers are old curtains I found from a Christchurch vintage store for $60. I had planned on using them for our babies room, but we had a boy.. so instead I've cut them up and thought I might as well make the most of the fabric. Much better I think :)

Bagels

Even though they are misshapen and slightly flat, these are delish! Yummy toasted with a little butter and jam. Bit of a process to make them though, mixing, kneading, waiting to rise, shaping, boiling, cooking. Worth it  though, so satisying to make homemade :)

O is for Owl

For a friends Kitchen Tea party she showed us a few tips for decorating cupcakes using fondant icing, so much fun! So in-between attending to the little man, I managed to whip up a batch of vanilla cupcakes then had fun making owls and roses with fondant. I'm keen to try decorating a whole cake with it next.

The quilt is made..

Finally I've had the chance to finish my quilt.. it was so much harder to make than I thought! Now I've got a new appreciation for the amazing quilts my mum has made. All was going well until it came time to sew all the layers together.. it all bunched up and when a bit out of proportion. Think I needed a walking foot on my machine or maybe more patience?

Anyway... I found the main animal print drill fabric from Spotlight and fell in love with it, I was going to make cushions with it for my babies room but decided I'd like to try my hand at quilting instead. The animals on the corners are hand embroidered (I found out how to do french knots and they are my favourite!), the letters have been cut out of felt, and ironed on with adhesive backing then stitched onto the white drill. I'm not super happy with the trim.. originally I'd hoped to use the base grey fabric and turn it over to bind the edges, but after sewing it all together there wasn't enough to do that. In my eager beaver way, instead of waiting to go and buy more fabric, I made do with the same fabric as the centre. So I think it looks quite busy.

Anyway, quilt number 1 is made, yay. Number 2 is already on the horizon...

Delicious drill fabric from Spotlight.. I got the last of the roll!

Fabric for the main part all cut (precisely!)

Letters cut from felt and ironed onto fabric with isofix

Getting there...

Top part all done, dacron + backing  added, now ready to sew

Embroidered animals, the fun part

Quilting around the animals

Ollie's first quilt

O is for Owl

 

The finished product!

Little man enjoying his new play mat

Home

It's been a while... life is now consumed with my bundle of joy!

I have managed to get a few crafty things made though, the most enjoyable being an octopus outfit for my sister in laws dress-up party, OJ looked so adorable, even if he only wore it for 10mins it was still worth making it. Then there is his little kerchief which will be handy for catching the dribbles. Another project was the 'home' ribbon cushion. A little tricky to make the letters flow, but came up well I think. Few more projects on the go preparing for our 6th Fraft market! and a new quilt I'm making for the little man. Will keep you posted...

If it's a boy...

The same pattern as the little ladies diapers below, just minus the ruffles.

And the headband won't do for a boy, so I've hand stitched this tie to the front of a top to complete the set..

It's wedding season

My little sister just got engaged!

We had a perfect picnic in the park with the sun shining & lots of treats.

Now for the wedding...

If it's a girl...

I found the cutest ruffled diaper pattern while searching on etsy.. and although we're not sure what we're having I couldn't resist making this just incase we had a little lady. The cute fabric is from Spotlight, the diaper cover pattern is thanks to littlelizardking.blogspot.com, the booties pattern is fromhttp://meetmeatmikes.blogspot.com/ and the headband I made up so hope the sizing will work! Now to modify the patterns and make a set for a little man..

Nesting...

I've finally finished up at work so have a month off (hopefully) before baby comes, to chill out, potter away and 'nest' at home.. although I seem to be busier than ever and as soon as one job is ticked off the list I've already added another!

One of the first jobs was to make some little mittens, a beanie and muslin wipes ready for when we head to the hospital. The knotted beanie pattern is thanks to www.poxcouture.etsy.com, the muslin wipes have been cut up into small pieces from a larger one and hemmed, and the mittens I made from my own pattern.. whether they work or not I'll find out!

Olivia Owl

I found this cutest wee owl softie pattern on Etsy (thanks to mytinystar) and couldn't resist buying it! It's the perfect addition to our babies room and was an easy project to keep me occupied in the evenings. Made from old curtains I found at the opshop, scraps of felt and finished off with doilies, the colours fit in nicely with the colour scheme I'm trying to go with. It's got a little weight in the bottom to keep it sitting upright.
Now to make an Oliver!

Mollie Makes

Oooh, thanks PaisleyJade for alerting me to this gorgeous new mag! It looks so fresh and fun and inspiring. Pity it comes all the way from the UK.. it's on my wishlist for friends to bring me back a copy! (I haven't seen it here yet..?)

Life is changing..

It's been a while since I've posted, but alot has happened of late..
I'm going to be a mumma! So now that I'm finally feeling more like myself and over the morning sickness, I can get back into my blogging/crafting etc.. and now I have a new project which I'm sure will keep me busy right up till the bubs is due in December.

(If the baby is anything like it's Dad, it will be a little 'thinker')
Check out this gorgeous little crochet beanie I've brought for our baby from the Auckland Art and Craft Fair from Poppy and Bee. I couldn't resist buying it now even though it's for a 6-12 month old.. it'll be perfect for next winter and will look great in the babies room. (See more of her work at http://www.poppyandbee.com/ )

We're getting pretty sorted as far as getting things ready.. we've brought a 2nd hand cot and change table (which need a few wee touch ups but are both in pretty good condition) so now to dress the room and get it looking fit for the bubs. My studio has had to move from this room to another part of the house, so I've had to downsize and clean up all my bits and pieces.. which was needed!
















(Husband checking to see that it's a sturdy cot.. ha!)
Watch this space for projects that will fill the room and keep me occupied for the next 4 months..

warm up winter with a wheaty

A wheaty bag to soothe your aches and pains or to snuggle up with as the days get colder.

Filled with organic wheat & covered with three different colours/types of fabric, complete with lace trim. Contact me if you'd like one.. for you $20.

one year today

From this...

to this..

to celebrating our one year wedding anniversary, 365 days of good times.

doorstop

I'm off work for the day sick but I just can't sit still, so I decided to get creative without exerting myself and made this doorstop. Made from (yet again) that Madder & Rouge fabric and filled with rice! it makes a nice change from the old kete we've been using.. and matches in nicely with my newly covered stool.

These are a few of the old light switch covers from our renovated house, which I've hoarded away until I found a purpose. Painted white with hammerite paint, these now make great photo frames.

cushy cushion

I was lucky enough to be given a few metres of some bright & delicious Madder & Rouge fabric..

I wanted something else bright for my studio so made this cushion with a hidden zip (thanks Ma for the tips!)

vintage booties

Found this gorgeous fabric (old curtain) from the Tamahere Farmers Market.. $2, bargain!

Thought of booties immediately. So, thanks to a 'Meet me at Mikes' pattern I made these..

doyenne du comic

Mmm, pear.

I found this beauty at the Tamahere Farmers Market.. loved that the wee leaf was still attached.