Project in progress
March 28, 2008
Not too much crafting for me in the past couple of weeks, I’ve been sick with a cold 
All better now though and I thought I’d mention my next project. My brother/sister-in-law are expecting a little boy in July. He’ll be the 10th baby to sleep in the cradle my grandfather built in the 70′s and I’m making a set of sheets and quilt for him. I’m using Lightning Bugs “goldfish” fabric which I looove and have some chocolate linen that I might throw in as well. Hopefully I’ll get time to make an owl or moopy to go with the whole set too… or perhaps a little sock dog with matching shorts. Ahhh… there’s nothing like the promise of little feet to get crafty inspiration flowing.
Oh and I haven’t forgotten about the Around the World in 80 Toys project, but I have gotten a little sidetracked. Back to it soon I promise.
Pigs, Owls and Pink
January 30, 2008
I’ve been feeling slightly down about crafting in the past week. I couldn’t figure out why I just hadn’t had that excitement… that promise of possibility running through me. Today it occurred to me… I’ve been playing with socks, which are a very plain thing, and missing out on patterns and colour combinations. I think what gets me excited about making softies, quilts and nurseries is putting together a theme. Playing around with matching fabrics and searching for little pieces that will compliment what I have in mind.
Well, inspiration is back! Firstly I’m making a cradle quilt and sheet set for my brother and his wife who are expecting a little boy in June. More about that later. That sent me on a mission to spotlight for fabric for plain white sheeting. While there I found the MOST ADORABLE little pigs fabric. I’m completely in love with it. I also found this fantastic spots fabric imported from Japan. Perfect for softies because you have 6 different tones of spots in one yardage. You may have noticed that these are all pink, which doesn’t help at all with the fact that everyone around me is having boys.
The other project is an owl softie. At the risk of falling in with a trend, I wanted to try making my own pattern and I’ve been very inspired by the owl illustrations over at Print and Pattern. I cut the fabric yesterday, which is a shame because now I have all these lovely dots which would have worked perfectly. Ahh well, there’s always the next one.
Domestic Goddess Moopy
January 4, 2008
Oh how I love to make Moopies. I think it’s something about choosing the fabric and adding a little personalisation to each. This one is for my god daughter Chloe whose birthday party I’ll be going to tomorrow. I really agonised over the colour of the apron tie and think perhaps I should have gone for the yellow tie instead. Decisions, decisions! The fabric is a mixture of new and a fantastic vintage seersucker (legs and backs of ears). I love the combination of green and navy, so retro.
Ready for Santa
December 19, 2007
The gnomes fabric arrived and I’ve finished Oscar’s Xmas stocking. It was an incredibly quick project actually, but it looks very cute hanging on the wall waiting for Santa. These pics aren’t fantastic, I have a new phone with camera that I thought I’d try out. Will put some better ones up tomorrow with daylight but I just couldn’t wait to share. I lined the”O” up with one of the little gnomes.
something for moi
December 17, 2007
The fabric for Oscar’s Xmas Stocking still hasn’t arrived so I’ve moved onto other things. I thought about making little pilchers/bloomers for him… then I thought about making more mini moopies for babies that are on the way… and THEN I stumbled across this fabric that has been in my stash for about six months. Glorious vintage fabric that I’ve been meaning to make a simple dress out of. Something for moi.
I’m breaking all the rules.
I’m not using a pattern. I’m just copying a simple tie top that I have and just extending it into an a-line skirt. I have been warned about this kind of thing by Amy Karol in her book (and whose blog I’ve been reading and loving every day lately), but I’m doing it anyway. I can’t believe I’m doing this with vintage fabric but something about have a 5 week old baby and limited windows for sewing just made me do it on a whim. I’m feeling reckless.
Fingers crossed.
Moopy for Lucy May
December 11, 2007
It’s finished and she’s here. Well Lucy May has been here for a few days now (born to mum Zoe at a healthy 3.6kg) but I’m yet to meet her in person. The suspense is killing me. Here’s her mini-moopy all finished. I got inspired by another little ballerina moopy on flickr for this one. The skirt is removable (just a simple ribbon tie) make her a regular moopy.
I’ve had a stash of fabric for years and am finally getting to use some of it with these moopies. The gingham with dragon flies I’ve had for at least 4 years, the stripes are from ikea and the hot pink floral was a cheapie from spotlight.
Monkey Nursery: The making of
December 2, 2007
Well most of the searches on this blog seem to be for cradle or monkey nursery posts so I thought I’d share the love and put what little I’ve learned from the amazing blog community out there.
FABRIC
I based the monkey nursery theme around the 5 Funky Monkeys print by Erin Michael. They are super cute and the come in a big range of colours. Red is a great neutral in case, like me, you don’t know the gender of your bub yet. There’s a huge range for this print I used multi-friends, monkeys at play, dots in aqua. All these links take you to hancocks – I used the Fat Quarter Shop and bought their monkey n’ round in red, but I noticed they’re out of stock on these items. Both these suppliers ship to Australia which is a bonus, cause you can’t get the full range here.
PATTERNS
Sheets: How to sew a crib sheet – super simple little formula.
Bed Skirt: McCalls Baby Room Essentials Pattern #5285
Monkey inspired mini-moopy: Original Pattern is from nest studio, monkey inspiration is here on flickr.
WALL HANGINGS
I looked everywhere for wall decals but in the end used the monkeys at play fabric which has a pretty large print. Just iron it flat and tape it to the back of a photograph mount in a frame. We painted our walls in a chalk colour with a feature colour of dulux “warm neutral” which works well with the brown tones of the monkeys.
WHAT NEXT?
I’d love to create a few of these little soft cubes (tutorial by london mummy), but now that the cherub has arrived I can’t see myself having too much time on my hands before christmas 
It’s time to get xmasy…
November 27, 2007
I LOVE Christmas. Growing up my brother, sister and I always had a little xmas stocking filled with little bits and pieces from Santa every year along with our main gift. Being much besotted by my new little man, I’m making him his very own stocking for his first xmas. Rather than go just plain red, which really seems a crafting waste, I’m going for a these gorgeous Lightning Bugs Gnomes with fluffy white edge and am planing to hand applique a red felt “O” on it. I know it’s not strictly traditional but….
Waffles and Wraps
November 6, 2007
I’ve been slowly getting through all the fabric I bought for blankets and wraps. It’s going to be summer here so I’ve just been hemming beautiful white cotton waffle weave and cotton muslin for the cradle. There’s something so innocent about that pure white fabric all finished and folded just waiting for a brand new baby to nestle into it – and probably destroy it within a matter of days, but hey… for now it looks pure.
So it looks like I’m going to have more time for crafting. This baby is due on Friday but still isn’t engaged. He/She is just lounging about in a posterior position. I’m hoping missing it’s first deadline is a good indication of a creative streak coming through.
So is it a boy or a girl? My feeling has been boy from the start, but that doesn’t explain why I’ve been so drawn to fabric in girl colours.
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.
