My Sarah-jo freebie!

Last week I recieved my/our robot bag that we won in the Sarah-jo giveaway. I have been desperate to blog about it ever since, but of course, with my boys being quite ill - I havent had the chance to come on the net... (thank god for facebook mobile, otherwise I would have died!!!) They are still quite sick, but meh - I need to do this!!! :D

The bag was impeccably made, just gorgeous! And the little touches really made it special....


Of course my boy would NOT sit still, typical. So sorry for the blurry action shots. He has been filling it up with mummy's things ever since.

Slipper socks Tutorial plus Free pattern...

Thought I'd write up some instructions and include how to create the pattern for my previously posted slipper socks.

So here goes...

You need:

Baking paper (for pattern pieces)
A shoe that fits

(based on babies size 5 shoes)
approx. 30cm of 5mm elastic
approx 20cmx30cm of material, per sock. (scrap pieces of microfleece were used)

1. To create the pattern, you need a shoe that fits. Draw around the base of the shoe to give you the sole. Lay down the shoe and trace around to give you the sides of the slipper. If the shoe is a good fit, be sure to add seam allowances. To give the top to the slipper sock, free hand as shown.


2. Cut your pattern out. Lay the pattern pieces out onto your material, and cut. You will need 4 side pieces for your outer, 4 pieces for the inner. 2 of each for the soles. So 8 side pieces, 4 soles.

Example of the outer pieces cut

4. Placing right sides together, Straight stitch the back of the side pieces together,


and then the front. Once finished, it will look like this:


5. Pin, then stitch the sole to the sock.



I find it easiest to sew them from the top, so that the top part of the sock is on top.

6. So that right sides are facing, tuck the inner of the sock, into the outer.

7. Stitch along the top, leaving a small opening to turn the sock back out. (The seam in question is closed to my rings)


8. Turn the sock back out the right way, Tuck the inner back into the outer.

9. Thread elastic in through the opening, pull to the desired 'tightness' (remembering that the sock still needs to be large enough to pull over the foot, but tight enough to stay on during wear). I find that the elastic needs to be quite loose.

10. Create a casing for the elastic, by sewing all around the top, just below the elastic. Just make sure the elastic stays above where you are sewing. You can pin it in place, or just hold it away while sewing.

11. Stitch the opening at the very top closed.

12. You have completed your slipper sock!

Forgive this blurry pic. Ande didnt want to stay still...!

My Garden has finally sprouted!!!

For Mothers day this year, Jason and the boys got me my veggie patch... Funny the things that are now considered a treat, hey?! Anyway, Jason had created the raised garden bed alittle while ago for me, and on mothers day he took Garrett to bunnings, and he came back with bean, zucchini and lettuce seedlings, and everything reading to start planting.

I had every intention of being a good gardener, and tending to my crop, but my laziness has got in the way, and I rarely go near it.... But to my amazement, this has happened:

My Beans!

The first Zucchini is almost ready for picking!

So if your in SE Qld, and looking for a low maintenance crop, I highly recommend these!

Slipper socks...

With Ande being off colour this week, I have noticed his poor little feet getting quite cold. This morning was no different, but this time all the washing was on the line and for the life of me i couldnt find ANY socks for him... So out comes the remnants box, and the boys slipper socks were born ;)

These were dead simple, I made them from some scrap microfleece, and lined them with scrap flannel. I thought originally that I would put an elastic casing in the top, but then after i finished the first half, and tried them on A, and thought they would be alittle small with elastic... Although after finishing them, they will need something at the back of them to help them stay up snug.

Garrett was really happy with his, kept pointing at his feet saying "McQueen socks Mummy!" - Thumbs up? I think so!

Love Lamb.....

This weeks food challenge was courtesy of my dear Husband, who suggested I make up some lamb chops and veggies... So this was the final result:



Pity the photo didn't come up well, must get Jason to take a better one for me...

Anyway - there is:

Lamb chop - Which i think needs a different colour for the bone. Its a cream. Maybe a light brown?

Potato - This was so simple to make up! Should have probably been bigger tho. Hey, its a baby potato, eh?

Carrot - Gosh these were also so simple, yet so effective!

Turnip - This was actually a piece of roast potato, but hubby said "eh?", and MIL suggested the top to it to turn it into the turnip... I quite like it like this!

Broccoli - This was made in a similar fashion to the potato, but i just anchored parts of it down, to create the 'tree' like quality of it.


I really must right the patterns as i go along... But I will get around to it, and post them up if someone is interested.

SoL Swap #15

I cant believe that I havent used this to blog about the swaps before...

So as a run down of what this is all about - I run the craft swaps on the SoL Forum. This is where a group of us all get together and handmake an item for another member - all secret until received.

Anyway - this round I made for Trumpet, and Mrs DLC made for me...

So first things first... Ill go with what I made:

Knitted Soaker with heart embellishments
Pattern

This pattern had crocheted leg holes, which is saddly not one of my strong points in the world of knitting... My MIL said she thought they looked good, but I think if I was to make them again, I would do a knitted leg... Of course - as this is something that i understand!

I lanolised them ready for use. I also put an elastic waist band in as drawstrings annoy me, but I did make one for her incase she wanted it.... I really hope it fits! It took as long to knit this as it does my longies!

"Yoga" Style 3/4 pants
Pattern - Bekky creation

This was a first for me. I havent made adult pants 'on the fly' before. Especially stretch womens pants! Lucky for me, I've lost a bit of weight in the past couple of months, and my swap person's measurements weren't far off my own - So I could use pants I already own to figure how to make it work.
I originally wanted the waist to fold over as a band, but during measuring/cutting/construction - I realised this wasn't going to work as planned, so that idea got scrapped.
They are a low slung pant, that is intended to be fitted around the hips, but loosen out over the length of the pant. Worn low on the hips.

I have enough material left over, I will have to make myself a pair now I think!

Then onto what i received.

I gave myself Mrs DLC this round (secretly, its the beauty of running the swaps, You get to choose who you get and make for!).

Hand painted keep sake boxes

I wanted to get the boys some nice boxes to house their keepsakes. Im sucker for sentiment! This is Ande's box, Im yet to pick up Garrett's. But anyway, so with these I can put there keepsakes up out of their reach, and the boxes are a nice decorative touch!

Roll on round 16!

hmmmmm - Hamburger!

Yes, I've been at it again... Its taken ages, but the hamburger is now complete.

Didnt quite turn out as planned, but I guess when you create a pattern off the top of your head, some things are always going to work!

Paying it forward...

I will make a handmade gift for the first 3 interested people who comment on this post. I have 365 days to do it in…What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise!The catch is that you must participate as well: you must have a blog and before you leave your comment here, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going.(just cut and paste this one if you like!, which I did.

Pay it Forwards are fun, go on, comment, you know you want too ;)

I just stole this from Kym's blog... But I really love these things. Its so much fun doing surprise gifts!

It was a LONGie night..

I've been struggling with Ande and his MCN for the past couple of months. It appears that just about every nappy he will wet through the night, or we end up with that not so pleasant odour the next morning. With all the knitting I've been doing, I thought it best to make him some longies and try them out.

I had another issue with night time and A, I always seem to misplace his socks... If he wasnt going to be in a onezie - I needed to either find socks - or better still, add feet to my Longie pattern... And so - Ande's Stary night longies were born.

They work a treat, but pity the nights are already starting to warm up again!

Sushi, Pizza, a hot dog and a side order of... wool...?

I've been getting stuck into creating some play food for my boys since Garrett's fascination for cooking has taken off... I scoured the net printing out patterns to get started on some new projects, but when i sat down and read through them, they weren't really what i had in mind... So of course, that leads to a Bekky original. So far I've completed these 3, and Im working on a hamburger right now... I have a few more ideas to keep me busy for the next decade too! If anyone wants my patterns, Ill have to knuckle down and write them out...