Balloon Nursery: Fabric dilemma
July 30, 2010
This morning I laid out all the fabrics for the quilt. This is one of my favourite things to do, I love that you never know which fabrics might work with others. Guaranteed some that you thought would be perfect together suck, and others make an unexpected match.
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I thought I was all set to go after discovering quite a funky look with some umbrella prints fabric that I adore, the clouds and Heather Bailey’s stripes. Loved it… quite pop retro but surprisingly working well.
Then, of course, I had to keep playing around with some idea fabric I bought ages ago with this quilt in mind. I don’t like the whole piece of fabric but when I folded it to just show the strips that I like it worked. Suddenly the quilt looked all whimsical.
So my dilemma is this: pop retro or whimsical?
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I also spent the morning creating a pattern for the balloons and sketching out the clouds which, I’m pleased to say, has worked. It’s all very rough but I just wanted to get the pattern pieces ready so as soon as I can finalise my fabrics then I should be able to whip up the mobile.
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Balloon Stalemate
July 26, 2010
I have ground to a bit of a crafting halt on the Balloon Nursery.
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Not really a good time to halt with only four weeks until the bubba is due but a halt nonetheless. I find that this happens to me when there’s something just not quite right about what I’m creating. Something in my subconscious is trying to tell me that another approach is needed. This leads to craftstipation.
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Finally over the weekend I figured out what it was. The socks. I had done a little sock prototype which worked out fine, the shape was good and it was so ridiculously easy. Still something stopped me from carrying on. While the sock idea is easy it just wasn’t allowing me to get the colours or style that I wanted together. While this might sound like a disaster it’s actually a big relief to realise what it is that has been bugging me. So now I’m back to feeling enthusiastic and have been planning the construction of balloons using fabric. This leads me onto one of my favourite things to do – choose the fabric.
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So far I’ve planned on using Cloud9 Blue Yonder and white linen for the quilt. With that as a base I’m looking at cherry reds to go with it. The other colour I’m tempted by is a yellow but I have a bit of a vision of red bunting so we’ll just have to see.
So now all I have to do is hope that this baby waits long enough for me to finish it!
Images: Bunting by GiggleBerry, Cloud9 Fabric at Duckcloth, Heather Baily Pocketbook, Pop Garden at Hawthorne Threads, Cosmo Red Stripes, Amy Butler Full Moon Dot and at Kelani Fabric
Baby Jessica’s Owls
July 22, 2010
It’s still all sickness and flu around here but I’ve been working on a little string of owls to go across a pram for the gorgeous baby Jessica. This was meant to be a newborn baby present and she’s now nearly four months old so I think it’s safe to say that I’m a little behind!
I put bells in a couple of them to make a little noise as she kicks them.
All the owls are finished, I’m just trying to track down some pink coloured elastic to thread them all together.
Nursery sketching
June 10, 2010
I’ve been planning and experimenting with sock air balloons and thinking that I might make a sock pup with flying goggles as a bit of a feature too. The first prototype is going quite well, the shape works and I think with a more interesting sock (I used an old one) and some bunting it could be quite nice. More pics soon!
Woman Cave
June 7, 2010
It’s official. I’m in full nesting mode. I can tell you this with authority because I found myself spontaneously cleaning all the cupboard doors, inside and out, on the weekend. Any voluntary or spontaneous cleaning on my part is definitely nesting. I also went quite nuts buying minky fleece to turn into snuggly wraps and spent hours pouring over images of nurseries and trawling the net for baby clothing patterns. Yup. Nesting.
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This time around I seem to have added a new dimension to nesting. I’m feeling the need to have a space where I can craft. A retreat from screaming children, piles of washing and curious little fingers. There is no corner of our flat for such a place so I am moving myself into the garage. I am creating a woman cave. A place with jars of buttons and stashes of fabric. A place where you can leave scissors on the table. A place where all my vintage patterns just invite me to browse them. I know that I won’t have much time to spend down there once the baby comes but I’m thinking that even an hour of time down there might just be the bliss that I need amongst newborn chaos. I even have visions of the baby taking naps there while I relax and stitch (yeah right, keep dreaming love!).
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It is highly likely that my woman cave will be a jumble of junk storage and abandoned projects but in my mind it’s filled with vintage suitcases, jars of buttons, a big clear cutting bench and a comfy arm chair. Perhaps the odd newborn swinging in a terribly designer linen hammock. Bliss.
Weekend sewing pics
June 3, 2010
I’ll let them speak for themselves…
Bump inspecting the hood (Thanks for the photos Belinda, is that a good enough bump shot for you Steph?)
Oh my god… it actually worked!!
The true test was on the pram though…
hooray! Just the binding to be done. Only problem is that I like the inside more than the outside.
I also made up a little doona cover for Oscar. We’ve been snuggled under it this week watching DVDs while the rainy weather goes on and on and on.
New Books
May 27, 2010
I took advantage of Mr Schmaft being in London with a little retail therapy on Amazon.co.uk. At one stage I was a little concerned about the weight of the gigantic box that I had ordered but the man was in business class for god’s sake… I thought he could deal with it! Amongst lots of novels, cook books and books for Oscar were these two…
Amy Butler’s little stitches – I love the Kimono PJs, the mummy PJs, the little booties, the snuggle wrap and the nappy bag. The only thing that terrifies me is the interfacing. I’m a newbie when it comes to anything but basic interfacing and lots of her patterns use a combination of 2-3 different types of interfacing. eek… thank goodness for Craft Room where the lovely Belinda, Kelly and Sophie sorted me out!
The other book I bought is Dozens of ways to repurpose a tea towel. I love a good vintage tea towel but can’t actually bring myself to use them for drying dishes. It just seems wrong! I fell in love with the bag on the cover so that’s the first project off the list…
There’s also aprons, purses and all sorts of other projects, I’ll try and get some pics and post soon.
Balloon Nursery inspiration
May 24, 2010
I originally had in my head aeroplanes and fluffy clouds for the bubbas Nursery. I’m quite obsessed with travel and there’s something about clouds and the sky that is quite innocent and day dreamy. Then hot air balloons started appearing in the clouds, floating and colourful. This happens to me a lot… I’ll start with a very firm idea and then while I’m not looking my mind will wander off to something else. Here’s a collection of inspiration that I’ve been gathering over the past few weeks.
A vintage poster that I’ve loved for a long time, I first saw it in a poster store in Paris…
Love the flags and decorative elements on these ones. What is it about circus colours and imagery?
Stunning poster found on flickr, Kindercastle poster by Alicia Waters
Can you believe this is a cake? Air Balloon Cake by Sweet Tier
Fabric that I bought from Ikea last week. I fell in love with the colours and especially the little flags. They also do a little soft toy balloon and stickers to go with it but I can’t say that I really love them, so I’m going to design my own.
Now that I’m all inspired I have some serious sketching to do.
Back to normal
May 23, 2010
Mr Schmaft is back today after being away on business for the past two weeks. It’s so nice to have him back. So nice, in fact, that I have completely forbidden him from any more travel until our children turn 18. Ha! We’ll see how long that lasts! Notes to self if he ever does locate his now hidden passport – absence really does make the heart grow fonder, important to know where the fuse box is on dark rainy nights when clothes dryer blows up and women who are 6.5 months pregnant really shouldn’t jump on trampolines at Kindy Gym.
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Onto more crafty related things, I have been on a fabric raid to ikea. I’m always amazed that such a mass produced store has such great fabric.
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I’m attempting to make a hood for my pram – it’s looking a little shabby after nearly 3 years of use and I could buy a new one but I quite like the challenge of making my own. This canvas weight fabric from ikea has quite the japanese feel and should go with the base colour. I really love sections of it like the pink flowers, the red huts and the leaves I haven’t had any luck finding a pattern yet so I’m going to have to be brave and copy the existing hood. I’ve allowed quite a few metres of fabric for experimentation and I’m also thinking I might take on the nappy bag to go with it if there’s enough fabric when I’m done.
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I bought this very cool abric for cushion covers…
And this one I had in mind for a maternity wrap skirt but with the lack of sewing for the past few weeks I’m not quite sure I’ll get that far before the bubba is born!
It’s a boy!
April 7, 2010
The envelope has been opened and it’s a boy! Oscar is going to have a little brother come August and I have some nursery planning to do. I’m almost finished this blue owl mobile (available as kits) with robots on it which I love but I’m feeling like I need a whole new theme for this bubba. Aeroplanes and fluffy clouds are high on the list at the moment but I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to make a plane out of socks… hmmm…
Hello. My name is Claire. I have a sock toy addiction. It began two years ago when I was pregnant and nesting. At first I dismissed it. I hadn't sewn in years. "Craft Schmaft" I said. Well it seems this crafty thing is here to stay. This blog brings you the delights of making sock softies, fabric finds and crafty inspiration from round the interweb.
