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…
Pitter Patter
February 14, 2010
I’ve been working on a secret project over the past three months. It won’t be finished until August but here it is in progress…
13 weeks ago I went to a big xmas party. To cut a long story short I had a very large night. LARGE. Advertising large. The next day I woke up with the worst hangover of my life. A week later I still felt like death and on further investigation discovered I was pregnant…eek! (doctor assures me all is OK). I have had the same hangover for 13 weeks. Can you imagine, I’ve been saying to myself “I’m never going to drink again, yes I’ll have fries with that” for 13 weeks?
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All that hangover was so worth it when I saw my new bubba on the screen – dancing around like a disco baby just like his/her big brother did. I didn’t think I’d be as excited about the second baby but I can proudly report that I’m every bit as clucky, excited and nervous as I was the first time. I can say that this time I will avoid international press coverage that went crazy over my first bubbas facebook page ” Womb with a view” . Oh bring on that second trimester glow and the nesting hormones that make me craft like crazy!
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Sock owl mobile
August 4, 2009
The owls are flying to Washington. Now onto Stitches and Craft Show preparations. While I’m quite behind on my preps (I’ve been sick, had a sick toddler, had a big pitch and project on at work) I realised last night I actually work best under pressure. It’s quite ridiculous really but knowing that there’s only two weeks to go gives me this little buzz of excitement. I have a to do list a mile long and a smile a mile wide.
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.So I thought I’d share all this madness with you and have the 12 days of stitches. Each day I’ll post something up that my true market preparations have brought to me. Corny? Yes. But I’m going to do it anyway.
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You can see my other sock owl mobile here:
http://craftschmaft.com/2009/05/10/the-finished-owl-mobile/
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Update: Thank you so much everyone who has asked for the owl mobile pattern. It’s now available in the Craft Schmaft Etsy and Australian store.
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The finished sock owl family
August 3, 2009
This final owl has taken much longer than anticipated. It took me forever to find a sock that matched the colours of the others. I didn’t want another brown, grey would be too much grey and blue would make the sock owl family more boy than unisex. So green was the only option left. Do you know how hard it is to find a soft olive coloured sock in this town? Maaan. The colour still isn’t 100% perfect but with the extra stitching detail on his tummy I’m really happy with the final owl. So here’s the whole family. They’re off to washington to adorn the nursery of little twins who are just weeks away from being born.
I’ll post some images of the mobile tomorrow.
Related Posts:
Owls for a Nursery
Fabric Lust: Goodnight Monkey
July 29, 2009
Two years ago I was in a sewing frenzy getting the Monkey Nursery (original post and photos here) ready for Oscar’s arrival. I fell in love with Erin Michaels 5 Funky Monkeys fabric and based the whole nursery around it.
Goodnight monkey has just been released and is on sale over at the Fat Quarter Shop. I’m loving the ZZZZZ’s, the books and the cheeky monkeys in pyjamas. I may just have to have another baby to justify a whole new set of monkey nursery accessories. This spending up on fabric is really going to have to stop soon!
Wall hangings and softie made for Oscars Monkey Nursery two years ago.
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.
