A little vintage inspiration…
April 8, 2008
I’m loving the vintage crockery that seems to be all over the net at the moment. The folksy patterns and colours scream 70s and remind me of cake making afternoons and visiting my nan when I was little.
White elephant are having a massive vintage pyrex sale over at etsy (courtesy of print & pattern), Skinny laMinx has gorgeous new tea towel designs from vintage mugs and Rosehip are doing wonderful prints on notebooks and cards.
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.
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.
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.
Here’s one I made earlier…
November 26, 2007
It’s lovely when projects actually get used. Oscar sleeps peacefully (well as much as a two week old baby can) under this quilt every night. There’s no better craft satisfaction. This is him mid yawn.
Moopy saved.
November 4, 2007
I had to completely unpick this moopy a month ago. He was a disaster. I think using the towel (vintage 70s, it was my grandfather’s) bulked the legs up too much and sewing a straight seam with all the arms, legs and ears inside became impossible. So I gave him a bit of lipo on the thighs and re-stitched him over the weekend. He’s not perfect, but he’s kind of cool… and a cute little gift for Max, a little Manly beach baby, who is now 12 weeks old. Pattern bought from Nest Studio.
So my next project is going to be monkey wall decorations for the nursery. This baby is due on Friday so I guess I better get cracking. I had also planned on making a monkey style moopy for Bubba Waring to match his nursery but we’ll just have to see how we go with that one. These oedema fingers can only get through so much in a day.
Oh and I’m IN LOVE with Earnest the Elephant created by future girl in October. So incredibly cute, I might just have to buy the Sock and Glove book for the pattern. So much inspiration on the interweb… and so little time!
Crafted with love.
November 1, 2007
After an exhausting day it’s finished. I mentioned a few posts ago that I was inspired by 6.5 stitches to make a quilt for the cradle my grandfather built 35 years ago. Well it’s done… and I’m quite proud of it. It’s definitely not perfect, the whole thing was quite a learning curve for me but as my hubby commented “there’s a lot of love gone into that”. The fabric ranges from linen and embroidery anglais to vintage scraps and silk thread left over from our wedding invitations. I wanted it to have a soft baby look to it with a slightly retro feel.
So now that the cradle is done it’s back to the nursery and those cheeky monkeys…
Vintage cradle for Bubba Waring
September 29, 2007
My grandfather made a cradle back in the seventies for his first grandchild. My cousins, brother, sister and I were all carefully placed in it when we came home. A few years ago my uncle repainted it for the arrival of his grand children. Bubba Waring will be the 9th baby to sleep in the cradle, which actually brings a bit of a family tear to my eye (pregnancy hormones hey).
I’ve been sewing sheets for the cradle and found this gorgeous retro style fabric in spotlight which I’ve trimmed the top sheets with. I love it, next step is to create a little quilt using the same fabric. It would be great if I could find an aqua/sage colour vintage fabric. The hunt is on.
I would love to add this owl pattern to the quilt posted over at print and pattern (my favourite blog) but sadly they don’t ship to Australia.
Pattern/instructions for sewing your own cradle sheets is at the homemaking cottage. I found it worked really well for a cradle that isn’t standard manufacturers size.
Disastrous Moopy
September 29, 2007
Maybe it’s because my fingers have swelled to resemble cocktail frankfurts. Perhaps I was impatient or used the wrong materials. Either way, my latest moopy was a disaster.
I set out to make a cool little beachy moopy for Max who is four weeks old. I pulled together a vintage towel of my grandfathers and bought some hawaiian print material to match. The colours I love. The end result was a disfigured moopy – I just couldn’t get the shape of his body even. After four hours I decided to unpick the whole thing to start again. This is the moment in craft where I wish there was a simple undo command like there is in the design work I do. An option to revert to an earlier version of the moopy and just carry on. I guess that would be cheating.
So moopy is back in pieces now… hopefully I’ll get back to him soon.
It all started with a mini-moopy
September 19, 2007
I can’t remember how I stumbled across it, but about a month ago I discovered mini-moopies from nest studio. Sadly I missed the free pattern, but I ordered it from etsy and had so much fun making my first one. The body is fabric from a pair of old trousers, and the ears are vintage fabric that came with the pattern.
The finished Moopy. I gave this one to a friend at work as a leaving present.
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.
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