Meep Meep! EEP!!!

Just popping in to let you all know that I am still alive....just VERY busy this week!  I have finished one of those crochet projects that I was telling you about......3 to go!

What am I 'EEPing' about?  I have not one, but TWO job interviews tomorrow!!  EEP EEP!!!  The first will be for Maccas (yay!) and the 2nd is with the Cerebral Palsy League.....hmm...wonder which one actually fit in with my chosen field of study...?  hehe  Honestly.....if I get one of them, then I wont complain!  Money is money and you earn it while you work, so that is all that counts right now!

Will let ya know how I go!

I have been quiet because....

I have started the nerve racking experience of finding a job!  Our situation dictates that I need to find a job in order for us to live the life that we want to live, so I have been here (but not exactly on blogger) searching for a job online!

I am amazed at just how easy this internet has made it for us job hunters (well...as easy as job hunting can be)!  There are many sites that will have vacancies up and you are able to apply for them online or print off an application form and head in with it and your resume/CV and hand it in.  No more heading into your choice of workplace, acquiring an application form and having to head back after you have filled it out or filling it out right there!  My problem was making up my resume....I have not done it for many, many years (obviously)!  It took me about a day to get mine together before I actually liked it!

BUT it hasnt all been dull and gloomy here!  I have started on some crochet projects that my friend commissioned me to do for her birthday a little while ago.  Her birthday is on the 25th, so I thought I had better get my finger out and do something about them!

I have started to go over to the school in the mornings and help out Weez's class with their reading.......VERY rewarding stuff that!  I had a kid this morning that I hadnt heard since about mid last year and then he was horrible to sit with!  This morning, he was a gem!  He had improved soooo much!  I have also realised that I have a love of working with children.

Then there is this:

The Pledge

I Michelle Watts pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 2 / 4 / 6 months. I pledge that i shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoted, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftiness brings!

Signed MLWatts.

I took this up this morning!  I will have to work out something to do with a 'real' signature.  No doubt I will have to buy some uniforms to go to work in, but I am thinking that it should be ok.  It will probably be just shirts, because I have plenty of different coloured pants!  All my other clothes will be refashions!  I have also decided that I will venture into it for the kids as well......all of them are growing soooo much and they will need new clothes soon!  PLUS the boys are forever needing new shorts!  But what do you expect from boys, hey?  LOL

Just HAVE to boast!! (Mass picks!)

Isn't he just the cutest little thing you have EVER seen?  I tell ya - i am one PROUD Aunty!  Fell completely in love with him straight away!  I got HEAPS of cuddles with him and Will just couldn't get enough, either!!

Just a few more photos of the kids:

 Mumma T - a VERY proud Mumma!

 Aunty Shelli having a chat with Blayde!  I SWEAR he was trying to tell me something!

All the kids together - the one in the very middle is T's little sister, B (just 21 months older than Lenny).














The gifts went down a treat - T loved them and said that you can NEVER get enough burp cloths (well....DUH!!  hehe).  The bibs, she is a little bit worried about fitting around his chubby neck, but I think that she will find that the design is VERY forgiving and they will fit ok.

ETA - OH!!  I mentioned the other day that those little burp clothes were for another baby (remember)!  As T just 'all of a sudden' decided to come up from Ipswich (6-7 hours drive away), I decided that, mayhaps, they will go to her, instead.  All good, though!  I have more on the go that will be PERFECT for little Carter!

I have to get these up!!

I absolutely HAVE to get these photos up, coz I am expecting some visitors soon!!  One little visitor in particular, I am VERY much looking forward to meeting for the first time.  That is right - I get to meet my new little nephew tonight!  Can you tell I'm excited?  Have a goosey at these little beauties!  I hope that T likes them and will use them often!

Most of them you would have seen before from my posts during the last week.  The blue burpie blankies are made from an old towel (with no holes, of course!) and I added a little decorative stitch to the inside edge, mostly to keep the inside intact, because I cut it too narrow and just coz (felt like being adding a little detail).  the bibs I made just today, so they are hot off the press!  Now.....to find some wrapping paper that is not too girlish to wrap them in!!

On and off....

I have been on and off the bed today!  Just not feeling right.  Pains in the tummy like you would never believe and nothing to show for it (IYKWIM).  Therefore, my sewing project that I started this morning has only just been finished!  It was a bit of a 'make it up as I go' thing, but they turned out good, I reckon!  Well...from what I can see in this artificial light, anyhow.

On top of that, the weather today has been a shocker!  One minute its nice, the next it is really really humid and hot!  I expected a storm this afternoon - it was THAT bad.  Maybe someone else was lucky to get it!  With all this rain around lately (practically non-stop for the last 2 1/2 weeks), I am really not missing it, TBH. 

Well.....I am taking myself off to bed for the night, now.  I hope you had a good day!  I am proud of what I managed to achieve, myself (no point in my trying to do anything mind numbing, like boring bookwork, coz I would be in the middle of something and have to send myself off to bed, again!).  Photos will come tomorrow, when there is a little more natural light to work with!

Monday, Monday....

And yes...I DO have that song in my head, right now!  I made up a whole playlist of 60's and 70's songs on my iPod for my Dad's party and I have been listening to it while on my machine every morning!  I guess I may be a hippy at heart....?

With the cooking fiasco of yesterday behind me (the boys...not the food - might look a little ordinary, but is actually very Nom-Nom!!), I turned to today and wondered what it would bring me.  Turns out it was nothing any more special than a day to myself to wonder the internet, marvelling at the creativity of people (and adding a few blogs to my ever-growing-longer subscription list!) and enjoying the peace and quiet (well....what peace and quiet you can get out of a house beside a busy street!).

I made up some more of those little blankies (with the chicky fabric I bought the other day) and finished off a couple of burping cloths for my friends' little boy, Carter.  I made them a little while ago for my friend who had a little girl and she loved them, so I hope that Carter will love them just as much as A's little girl does!  Here are some photos:

The teddy fabric is from an old pair of pyjamas I had in my stash for AGES!!  And the nappies have been in there since the last time I made burp cloths.  The ribbon was in my trim drawer.

I am trying to think of something else to make up with the teddy material, so that little C will have a set of things made by me.  I have a HEAP left over!

Who knows.....if I keep sewing through my stash like this, I just might have to go out and buy a whole heap more.....at some stage!  hehe

Sunday...funday!

I tell ya!  Today has been a whole lot of fun so far!  Now....read that again with some sarcasm and you will catch my mood properly.

First off....set to the kitchen to do a little baking for the boys for lunch (today and school/daycare lunches) and asked if they would like to help.  Of course they did!  But proceeded to muck about and throw things instead of getting on with the job...GGRRR!!  So I banished them to downstairs, where Daddy was doing something WAY more interesting and they could bug him (hehe).  Off they toddled and promptly got in lots of trouble, again!  BOYS!!  I tell ya!  If you are thinking of having kids - opt for girls, coz in my current mood with my three....girls are the best.  Of course, I reserve the right to change that opinion once Weez comes home this afternoon from her father's place and there will, again, be 2 girls vying for attention in this house!

But...all good!  I got my baking done (in the end) and here is some photos I managed to salvage:

Banana and chocolate cupcakes - made with a cheapo (Home Brand) Butter cake mix with banana and nutmeg added and chocolate muffin mix.  The chocolate turned out thicker (probably bec, therefore I was able to dollop it on top of the banana mix and on the bottem.

Scone mix!  This is how I bake my scones.....I find that the mixture is too 'worked' by the time I get to making the last round scone and is tough.  It may look rough, but the kids LOVE it and just look at how light and fluffy it turns out!

DELICIOUS!!!!  And here is how the boys had them..

Bubba Pete - vegemite, peanut paste, jam and honey (he made a 'sandwich' from them with vegemite and peanut paste together and the honey and jam together....weird, I know!).

Mickey - vegemite and jam (no mixing for him, thank you very much!)

And Will - vegemite and honey

MAJOR flash aversion there, sorry!  But you get the idea, surely...?

Right now it is just WAY too hot to be doing anything constructive right now!  I was going to bake some more, but I think that will have to wait for tonight, now.....need to make cookies and slices for school lunches for the week!

So I am off to enjoy the peace and quiet, while the boys are sleeping.......under a fan!!

WHOOPS!!

Remember how I told you that I would come back here for a show and tell of what I made yesterday?  Well, I forgot to take photos of the completed projects before they were whisked off to school!  So sorry!  I will come back on tonight and post them up (provided they come home today!).

I hope these photos more than make up for my lack of organisation this morning!

From this ordinary looking shirt to.....

This sort of ordinary looking skirt.....EXCEPT!!  It was designed by Corky!!  I gave her the shirt and a piece of paper and told her to draw a skirt that she would like made.  I tweeked the pattern a little and sewed it up for her.....with her at my elbow (sometimes very very near to my elbow) looking on while I did.

 

Didn't work out QUITE the way we planned, but she is proud of it, all the same!

And here are some blankies that I have made up for a friend who recently had a baby

They are made from squares of what I call minky-type fabric.  I think it is actually a long pile polar fleece or something!  Dunno (if you do, then please tell me!).  They are backed with a terry cloth fabric in lime green.

I am making up another couple tonight, so I might venture into a tutorial.....just in case you are wondering how to make them!

Creative shot!!  hehe

Thursday already???

Holy COW!!  The weeks are just FLYING by!!  I s'pose that's happens when you are busy, hey?

I have some op-shop goodies to share with you!!  I went out yesterday on the sole purpose of finding Bubba Pete some new (old) school shorts and came home with a heap of goodness (as well as some shorts and two shirts - bonus!).  Of course, I expected myself to find these other said goodies that I just HAD to add to any one of my stashes, so I set myself a budget (yep - a BUDGET for op-shopping!) and took off and here is what I bought:

Harry Potter curtain material for Bubba Pete's library bag.....he is a Harry Potter/Ben 10 fan.  This was originally two skinny pieces.  I sewed them up last night before I thought to take a photo of them and they matched up almost perfectly!  And I just put them together and sewed!  Did NOT think that they would come together as well as they did!

 

A large, red men's shirt that I liked the look of the front.  PERFECT for a recon job!  AND it is from Jeans for Genes Day!  Can't WAIT to get my hands on it and my scissors and my sewing machine!

 

A lovely velvet-type material that is made up in a rectangle and lined on the back - my thoughts.....a bag - with lining already to match!  No going through my stash to look for the perfect lining for this one!

 

Fabric remnants - with a little bit of interfacing to boot!  THAT was a surprise!

 

Cotton yarn - gonna be perfect for what I want to make as Chrissy presents this year!

 

Clockwise from top left - 2 flannel pillow cases that will go superbly as flannel pants for Weez for Winter, Vogue pattern that tickled my fancy, red skirt - perfect for a recon job and chicky minky-type material....just perfect for the gift I plan on making for my friend who has just had a baby!

So what have I been up to today?  Cleaning out my office, of course!!  What else would any SANE person be doing the day after finding some goodies and making plans for each piece???  Seriously, though - it was in dire need of a great clean!  With my back the way it has been....I have been unable to do JACK and it is really really ticking me off!!  I can honestly say that, today, I have earned my keep around here!  LOL  TONIGHT, however, my sewing machine will be getting a much needed work-out!  Will come back tomorrow and have a little show-and-tell!

Things have popped up....

And they need attending to right away.  Financial things.......serious financial things from our old business (damn dodgy bookkeepers!).  Therefore I have made the hard decision to defer my university studies this year to enable me to concentrate on this problem and solve it once and for frikken all (sorry bout that - I hate having to do things twice....or in this case 3 times!).  After all....this is supposed to be the hardest year of the baccalaureate, so making this decision, although it was hard, was quite easy in the end - solving this problem will take the better half of my days and I will not have time to do that AND uni.

However, I will not be able to focus on the problem ALL the time, so I am having to work out some serious timetabling!  After all......I will be working on the computer......that computer has access to the internet......that internet is a MAJOR distraction, when it comes to doing stuff around here!

I hope to goodness that I can come up with something that is workable and I have the willpower to turn away from the internet for the majority of my time!  Mickey and William will be attending daycare 4 days a week still, so the timetable should be attainable.  I will have to buy myself a diary, too....to keep track of things!  This weekend will be my brain-storming weekend, I think. 

15 minutes.

Yep - 15 minutes!  That is all it took me this afternoon to clear out some of my clothing from my drawers.  I have very limited hanging space (a small hanging cupboard for just me and Pete.....UNTIL he can get his butt into gear and reno our room!), so all things in there are left......for the moment.

I sorted my clothes quite viciously.......one pile for 'never wear again', one pile for 'I wont wear that, but I want to take the pattern from it' and one pile of 'yep - I wear that regularly'.  Most of these were shirts and this is just my summer wardrobe (winter stuff has been packed away, due to the limited storage space I have), so a clean out will be coming in Winter, too!

Now....according to Tracey over at Mad Quilter, I am supposed to sort out my style......hmmmmm......do I really have a style?  All the links that she has on her site and all the sites that I visited yesterday afternoon quickly have a name for a style and a description for that particular style......I end up fitting under a couple of different styles, myself!  Therefore, I have concluded that I will just have to work out my own style....I refuse to just fit into one!

So, like Tracey, here is a list of what I like -

• easy care clothing (ie no ironing needed.....or minimal ironing)
  
• comfortable and relaxed
• I dont mind clothes that are a little bit clingy around my middle....I just dont like clothing that is tight around my shoulders and under arms.
  
• My shirts have to be long enough to cover my belly - no midriff tops, please!  Too scary with the stretchmarks!!
• I quite like my legs, but anything too short and I feel like I am forever pulling the darn things out of my bum when I stand up......and THAT isnt as shapely as it used to be, either!
• I am quite fond of the flowy little shirts that are going around these days - the light, breezy overshirts that you can buy and stuff (have a couple of those)
• layering - love layering when I can!!

And here is what I have (post clean out) -

• a couple pair of casual shorts
• a couple of plain singlets that go well under shirts that dip a little too low in the bust or under those flowy little shirts
• singlets that go well by themselves (with wide and skinny straps)
  
• a couple of pairs of good shorts - ones that can be dressy-casual or dressy
• some exercise clothing (basically a couple of sport singlets and a loose pair of shorts)
• some sleeved shirts (threw into my recon pile the old T-shirts that I just could not get rid of before)
• nice slacks - black, dark brown and blue (a couple of the blue, as I will, hopefully, be working in the health care system when I can get myself a job).  These wont be good for the hot weather that we have been having, but they are permanently in my drawers - they dont get put away with my winter clothing.

And here is what I intend to make for my wardrobe over the coming months -

• a couple of skirts - I was quite fond of the 'broomstick' skirt a couple of seasons ago, but since my weight loss, I have not gotten back into them
• some nice shirts from the ones that I would like to get patterns from or recon
• I would like to venture into making clothes that are more 'feminine' - I dont have many.  That might mean that I have to delve into the op shops and find some material/recon clothes that are a different colour, but that will be ok.
• Less denim!  I went through a faze, where I would where only denim shorts, denim jeans and just chuck a shirt on over the top - that will change!

That is about it for the moment!  All clothing that has been removed from my wardrobe is now in my sewing cupboard, ready for reconstruction.......I have plenty of material to work with!

What a week!

I realise that it is only Wednesday, but I want this week to be over already!  Nothing like trying to speed up time to speed up the aging process, hey?  LOL

Monday, Mickey and Will started at their new daycare.  A much better centre that is better equipped and better service (their old daycare was a little run down, dirty looking and their program for the kids was almost non-existent, because they didnt have enough kids in each age group to make activities for them - but it is what I could get them into at the time, so I shut my mouth and put up with it).  They went into their respective rooms with only a little bit of separation anxiety and settled in well.

Yesterday was Australia Day.  We did nothing special to celebrate the day - because Pete had to work :(  We went to the zoo in the afternoon, though (Rockhampton City Council have a small zoo as a part of their botanical gardens - small, not much in it, but the kids love it, all the same.....especially the two chimps they have there).  It was good to be out of the house and walking around in the fresh air.......albeit being bitten by mozzies at every turn (darn rain!).  I took my trusty walking stick along and managed to get up and down the hill without too many hassles and not needing a break.

My main cause for exhaustion was this morning.  The kids went back to school this morning after their Christmas break and they were a bundle of energy, I tell ya!  Weez was eager and ready to go to year 2, Moo was ready early for year 8 and Bubba Pete was excited as anything to go to Prep!  I took photos and they progressively got sillier and sillier as time went on.  Here is one of the last photos I took of Weez and Bubba together:

Mickey and Will came with Pete and I to drop off Bubba and, as a result, they were unsettled when they got to daycare.  I got a 'courtesy call' from Will's group leader to tell me that he was a little unsettled, but after telling her that he had his 'blankie' in his bag, I received no more calls, so I gather that he settled down after that.

I just picked up Bubba (first week, they finish 1/2 hour early) and my first impressions are - hungry!  I asked him if he wanted something to eat and he proceeded to take his lunch box off his bag and he had over 1/2 his lunch still in there uneaten!  Obviously, he needs to learn to eat some things before he goes out and plays.  We will see how he goes tomorrow and Friday.....if he comes home the same, then I will have to have a talk with his teacher.

So what did I do today without kids (Lenny starts tomorrow, because he is grade 10, and went off to work with Pete today) and an empty house?  Nothing constructive, I am afraid!  I caught up on e-mails that had filled up my inbox last week, caught up on facebook with some friends and became closer to my new friend "Artemis Fowl".  So, all in all......I took it pretty easy, really!  Tomorrow will be a different matter, though!  I am expecting company in the morning....a few friends from uni.  I have baking to do - cookies and such for lunches and I have a wardrobe to go through and start planning to update - my own!

So til then, my lovely cyber friends.......
CIAO!!

Life sends you lessons.....

And from them you must learn.  And you thought I would have learnt already to take it easy and NOT lift a 20L container of fuel and put it into the car, hey???  I COULD have demanded that my husband come home from work and do it, like he said that he would that morning, but I didn't.  I COULD have asked the older kids to do it together, under supervision from me......but (yep - you guessed it!) I didn't!  And, yes, I slapped myself on the forehead after I did.....knowing full well that I may hurt/injure my back in the process, I continued on my merry way (well....not so merry, as a matter of fact - a few choice words were being said out of my dainty - PAH!! - little mouth!) and lifted the proverbial thing by myself and did it myself!

Hence my lack of posting here in the last week and on facebook!  I HAVE done a heap of reading, though!  I read mostly teen boy books, because that was all that could be reached without going downstairs and finding my boxes of books, but they were riveting all the same!

I started off adventuring with a young boy named Will in the "Ranger's Apprentice" series, by John Flanagan.  To start with, it was just to fight off the numbing boredom that I was feeling while I was lying in bed with nothing to do, bar look at the ceiling or the walls......whichever position was less painful (I couldn't even crochet!!  How sad is that??).  However, it turned into something more.  I fell in love with the characters and found myself reading at lightning speed through each book (AHEM! One per day.....give or take).  If you are into reading fantasy books and love delving into another world, then I recommend that you pick these up - no matter what age you are (from around 12 up) and what gender.  Lenny really wanted these books as a gift 2 Christmases ago, so I bought all that were available at the time in the series.  This Christmas, he received "Halt's Peril" from Pete's Mum and had it read the week after Christmas.  The only problem now is.......we have to WAIT until next November until the next one is released!  I honestly cannot WAIT for it to come out!

Next up, I am delving into the world of a young criminal prodigy - Artemis Fowl, by Eoin (Irish for "Owen" - for those who lack an Irish lilt to their words) Colfer.  I read book one yesterday and I am, again, finding myself enthralled with a completely different set of characters and a completely different plot.  Artemis (for those of you who have not heard of this series) is just 12 years old and has taken it upon himself to renew his families riches to their former glory, following in the footsteps of his missing father.  But do not let his age fool you, he is a genius.....and he has his own lunchbox.  Together with his butler.....Butler and Butler's sister, Juliette, they are a force to be reckoned with.  In book one, he manages to find the equivalent to the fairy's bible to help him on his quest for fairy gold.  This little book helps him to a certain extent, however, you soon learn that it is not the only thing that will help him in his quest to restore his family's riches......

That is about it for me for the last week and a little bit!  Boring, I know.....but it was wonderful to get into some reading, again.....even if it WASN'T aimed at my age level!  I have got sooooo many ideas in my head for sewing/crafting.  Now....even though I still have to take it a little easy (still spending at least 20% of my day in bed), at least I can SIT (yep - was unable to sit, due to the nerve running down and around that part of my backside) and do little things to get ready for the big things that are clogging up my crafty-ness!

Tuesday Trio.

Instead of doing some sewing/crocheting or whatever other crafty thing my mind was supposed to be set at yesterday afternoon, I decided to head downstairs and go through some of my fabric stash.  I wanted to make a little purse out of some of the sample curtain material I got really cheap from a curtain shop that was closing down a couple of years ago.  I found some of said material, but to my surprise it was already cut out to make something else!  Of course, to make my life easier, the pattern and instructions werent with it, but I knew that I had to have gotten it off the internet - most likely somewhere over at Craftster.  So I set to looking for it there first.....only to be distracted by all the brand new stuff that I found on there!  Don't ya just HATE that?

Not to worry, though!  I found it (here)!  And here are the finished results -

And individually - I can tell you....I remember cutting these out now and it was a little hard to get the pattern to line up properly on the front!

These are destined to be gifts.  Probably for Christmas time.  I have a box which I like to fill with little things each year and this year, I have decided to fill it mostly with handmade objects, instead of cheap and nasty things I find at the $2 shop on sale.

So, my next endeavour will involve a reconstruction!  You may remember the bag I made from the shorts that my friend gave me...?  She also gave me a few items of clothing that she no longer wore...and I dont blame her!  Have a look at these -

"Hmmmmmmm" right?  I don't mind the black and silver/grey one....just the top needs changing.  The other one, however, is black with a bright yellow top and that ribbon is actually a purple....photo does not do it much justice.  The blue and white number is not too bad, either, except that it has a few rips in it and is looking a little old.

So i set to work with my unpicker today and came up with this -

First intentions were to make these into a broomstick skirt, but the one on the right has a thin gauzy material, which wont be suitable for it.  It does, however, have a lycra-type underskirt, which I can make into a pair of tights for me or one of the kids!  The rest may just go away for a future project.

Further inspection of the silver/grey one shows me that mayhaps I shouldn't have taken the skirt off and only changed the top around a little....but we learn from these things, don't we?  I shall just have to sew it back on....IF I can figure it out (my sewing skills are limited to straight sewing...haven't gone into gathering too much, just yet!).

As for the blue one.....?  No idea, just yet!  There are two layers - the blue with white dots and a white underskirt.......hmmm......

Monday Mojo!

After a full-on week last week, I am looking forward to a week of relative peace and quiet!  We held Dad's birthday party on Saturday night, which went quite well, so we are very VERY happy.  There were a few moments of disorganisation, but we stumbled through them and came out the other side trumps!  All in all - a good night was had by all and Dad really enjoyed himself and let his hair down (well....what hair he has left, anyway!).

Here are some photos of the dress I made for the night:

I must apologise for the photos themselves....they are cropped from others from the night and these were the best shots to get a view of both the front and back. 

I used a pattern from 'STYLE' number 2404.  Material was from the lot that I bought at the op shop week before last.  Buttons from my stash - I am fiercely allergic to sewing button holes, so I cheated and made the closure with clips and buttons sewn over the top (plus I was running out of time!!).  I also ran out of time to make the accessories that I planned on making!!  I was half way through crocheting a brooch or something using some chocolate brown yarn from my stash.....oh well!  The necklace I used was good enough to make it less plain.

So we come to today!  What is on my to-do list for today?  Well.....I have to:

* call the university and make an appointment for Thursday to see about what scholarships I may be able to apply for (found it hard to keep up with bills last year and this year looks like it won't be any better!)

* clean up my 'sewing area' - which consists of the top of the coffee table and several boxes lying around the lounge! 

* finish off the housework that I started this morning - with us being away all weekend, there isn't much to do, really!

And that's it!  Really - that IS it.  I have caught up on all the goss on blogs and facebook from the weekend, so this afternoon will be full of crafting, methinx!  Will have to come back and show it all off!

Free Friday!

Here is some of the free stuff that I have found on the web this week:

Crochet Patterns/tutorials:

 Craftzine.com - where people write in with a link to their free pattern, tutorial or whatever and have it published here.  Gives you plenty of links to patterns and has a category for just about everything you wish to know about!

The Crochet Dude - not many people know about Drew over here in Australia, but I would like to think that I am spreading the word about him and people are becoming more aware of this talented man!

Sewing Patterns/tutorials:

Indietutes - here are a lot of tutorials, technique directions and information!

Confessions of a sewing dork - HEAPS of information with tutorials!

Inspriations:

Crochet - Attic24 blog - lots of pictures in this post.  Her personal reflection on her year that was in '09 and the (very colourful) projects she completed.

Sewing - Wardrobe refashion - Lots and LOTS of inspirations here!  Follow the links to their blogs and you will get even more tutorials and inspiration!

Wattsie Wednesday!

Today is my Dad's birthday (hence the 'Wattsie')!!  Therefore, I am going to dedicate this post to him.  He is now a large 60 years old.  Not being there before, I would not know what it would be like to be that age (remember when you were a kid and considered 60 to be, like, ancient?) - I still have another 28 years to go 'til I am THAT age!

My Mum and Dad raised me to be accept other people, regardless of their race, colour, religion or denomination.  Growing up where I did in a small community kept me a little sheltered to the 'outside' world, even though I travelled into the nearest larger town nearly every weekend during hockey (field) season and had contact with other kids from there then.  I like to think that I am still the same person today, just that society has changed the way I see some people these days.

After Mum passed away in 1993 of cancer, Dad became our rock.  Although we all went our separate ways in an attempt to 'deal' with things, I like to think that Dad was still there for us in a large way.....even though we didnt express our feelings very often or stuff like that, it was just nice to know that he would be there, should I have needed him.

Dad has always been the 'quiet parent'.  However, I always knew when he didnt approve of something that I was thinking about doing or had done....just from the expression on his face or the tone of his voice.  A few times over the years, I have turned to him and told him that I have mucked up and he has given me the look of, 'I knew you would'.  For that I am thankful - he has let me make and learn from my own mistakes.  He hasnt stuck his nose in where it is not wanted (never has to anyone, as far as I know) and has never given unwanted advice.  Any advice he HAS given has been given with the expectation of us making up our own minds. 

I love my Dad for who he is - a gentle man.  My Mum was the outspoken one in our family.  He has put up with a lot shit over the years around the place (not that HE tells me...I have to hear it from someone else!), but always seems to come up with a smile or joke.  He may be a difficult person to talk to at times when it comes to other people in the family or close friends (for example....not letting us know that someone has gotten married or someone has passed away or similar), but that is my Dad - and I am slowly learning to ask questions to get inside his brain.

My favourite picture from Christmas just gone - Taking his shoes off at the bottem of the stairs with William.

Trashy Tuesday

(yes, I am writing this on Wednesday, but I had absolutely NO time to post last night!  Sorry!)

I have decided to make Tuesday my 'sorting out' day - for the moment, anyway.  This is where I will go through my stash (of one sort or another) or my office or my bedroom (which seems to be a dumping ground for most things!) and sort a few things out - whether it be rolling up fabric onto cardboard and putting them away, cleaning off my duchess (which my hubby manages to throw EVERYTHING on!) or my desk (which I seem to throw EVERYTHING on!).

So here is what I managed to do yesterday!

I got these four patterns from Spotlight last week at just $2 each!  So they were put into their respective spots in my pattern draw (I made that up last week).

I went op-shopping with Pete and the kids on NYE and came home with just a few bits of fabric...hehe.  All cheap, of course!  And now I know a good oppy to go to get some decent sized bits of fabric!

So they all ended up in a plastic box like this yesterday -

Added to the pile is a scraps bag that I plan on cutting up fabric squares from (idea from here), some spare plastic bags (some of the fabric came in it) and some shorts of Corky's that need taking in, because she is not quite your average sized 11 year old!

In the top photo, you may notice a roll of brown fabric with white spots...?  It is currently sitting on my ironing board with pattern pieces attached to it....waiting for tonight when I can attack it once again and, hopefully, start making the dress whose pattern I have been eyeing off for a little while!

All up....proud of my effort yesterday!  With the kids home from holidays, I find it hard to focus on anything at the moment!  Well.....for more than five minutes at a time, anyway!  Any longer and I find the kids will be fighting too much and/or wrecking something (wet weather is NOT my friend right now!).

Monday Mojo!

Pete headed off to Sydney by car late Thursday afternoon (yep - no New Years together for us this time!) to pick up some of his sister's furniture and bring it back, so I was left at home with 8 kids all by myself!  I am pleased to say that I survived, though I dont know how!  And I only have the girls at home today - Pete has taken the older boys off to work and the younger boys are at daycare (YAY!!).  Pete got home on Saturday night very tired and a little cranky (the seats in a panteck (sp?) truck are VERY unforgiving!).

Today, you can find me at my sewing machine (once again!).  I originally planned on making myself a dress, whose pattern I have been eyeing off for a while.....but I had a complete clean up of my little area yesterday and found a whole HEAP of unfinished projects!  Now....I have committed myself to completing these today before I start on anything new.  So here is what I have come up with today -


4 pairs of shorts - all I had to do was finish off the elastic and sew up the casing!!  What is it with the end of projects that I just cant finish?  hehe

My friend gave me these gosh-awful pair of pants a couple of months ago and none of my boys fit them, so decided to make a beach bag with them.  They are made of your typical board-shorts material, so will suit this purpose to a T.  Modeled by the lovely Moo.

My Dad is turning 60 on the 6th, so my SIL and I decided that we would throw him a little party on Saturday.  Things are getting turned on their heads, though.....my Uncle just celebrated his 50th on new Years Eve, so most of my Mum's family wont be able to make it.  We were hoping to give him a massive celebration, but it turns out that perhaps only 1/4 of the people that we invited will be able to make it (we invited close to 200).  Therefore it looks like we will be canceling our venue and making plans to have it at Cam and SIL's place!  Should be fun!  I sat down today and made phone calls and stuff to try and organise some people that have not gotten back to us yet (what IS it with people and invites....you send them out, but you still have to chase them up to get RSVP's!!??).  After this (and the school reunion I helped organise last year - OH!!  gotta tell you about THAT yet, hey?  WHOOPS!!) I dont think that I will be organising too many parties in the future!  Well.....maybe just ONE more, but it will be worth it - my brother's wedding!  Then that is IT!!  I mean - I LOVE organising parties and I love attending them, but it just seems like too much hassle in the week or so heading up to it!!

So that is it for my Monday Mojo!  I got into the swing of things and I am really happy with what I got accomplished today!