this moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment.  A moment I want to pause, savour and remember.

Playing along with soule mama.

the memo I didn’t read

Apparently I neglected to read the memo sent out by Ms. M declaring that she will never, never ever,  wear pants or shorts again.

Bummer. I just finished making her two pairs of play shorts and there is a third pair almost finished, just waiting to be hemmed. I couldn’t help making some matching appliquéd tees to go with. I’m rather daggy like that. Oh well. The t-shirts have a chance of being worn but the chances of these shorts ever making it onto Ms. M and out into the yard for some play seem pretty slim.

cutting out

Cutting out is my least favourite part of sewing. I like sitting at the machine constructing best of all (oh yeah and buying fabric – that’s pretty hot too!). Still it has to be done. The cutting out bit. This week I ransacked the grey room for winter materials in the stash. It is time to stash bust. No point just sitting on the shelves and in the cupboard. So this week and weekend I’m tracing patterns and cutting fabric. I’m going to be organised this winter. Ruly truly I am. OK – so that pink fabric in the photo is a little light weight but after that it is full on winter sewing for sure. Really!

Linking up with the creative crew.

in the neighbourhood

The underpass. I drive past it and over it pretty much every day. I walk through it regularly too.

Playing along with Deb.

wednesday is library day

Wednesday is library day. Wednesday is library day. Wednesday is library day. Wednesday is library day. Wednesday is library day. Wednesday IS library day.

Oh my. The pressure not to forget. Mobile phones have been set with reminders, we know the theory of packing bags the night before… and yet still this morning we frantically turn the house upside down looking for E’s library book.

On the upside we did know where his new swanky library bag was – at the front door… but empty!

Made my moi of course using material from the stash chosen by E – the same material he chose for his backpack last year.

A big shout out of thanks to Dadda Dave who found the book at the last minute as we rushed out the door resigned to the fact that an awkward “we’ve lost the book” conversation was going to take place. You’re a legend.

doing it again :: pay it forward

I’ve done it before and it feels like the right time to do it again. I’ve signed up with Crafty Rie to participate in another game of pay it forward…

So here's what happens:
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! (again)

Looking forward to seeing who wants to pay it forward with me the second time around.

a brown paper package

I sent a brown paper package, tied up with string…

… with any luck it will be a favourite thing.

a piece of paper

There are things that stay with us for years and years. This piece of paper wrapped a prayer book that my paternal grandmother gave me when I was about sixteen years old. I have lived at many more than ten residences since then and this piece of paper has stayed with me. The paper was old when it was gifted to me, in fact it was the very piece of paper that was used to wrap the book when it was originally gifted to my grandmother, so it had stayed with her for most of her life, that is until she passed it on to me.

As time marches on I find myself treasuring this fragile piece of paper more than the prayer book itself. I’m at a loss to explain why. It is not for any religious or philosophical reasons and it is not in anyway intended to be slight to the prayer book, I do treasure that as well, it is just that this piece of paper that moves from draw to shelf to draw to draw to box to shelf… makes me smile from the inside every time I accidentally stumble upon it.

Is there a piece of paper, or something similar, that follows you through life?

this moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment.  A moment I want to pause, savour and remember.

Playing along with soule mama.

in our kitchen this week

Linking up with theme queen Lou @ Seaside Siblings.

not so little painter

Painting. Her feet traced in first position. Last minute. Not long until we need to leave for ballet and show her teacher.

Linking up.

starting over

Finally, after making the decision to unravel months ago, I plucked up the nerve and ripped it apart. Time to start over. This afternoon I found some moments on my (sandy) couch to enjoy a cuppa and get some hooking done.

Noice.

lisette sew-along :: ta-dah

Ta-dah! My Lisette Continental Dress is finished.

A very easy pattern indeed. Theoretically it should have been whipped up in an afternoon but it wasn’t. Noticing that there was a 7½” ease I was in two minds about what size to choose… and after flaffing around with the yellow toile I finally read the pattern sheet more comprehensively and decided to adjust with a smaller size up top than below.

Then it was a matter of stealing moments to make this frock (it really is a frock don’t you think?). I was in high demand all week, it is often the way when the kiddos aren’t feeling their best. Mama is the one to cuddle, the one to hang out with… “MAMA!!!!” I was being called for left, right and centre so this dress was constructed during stolen moments.

 

 

Some late at night, others during the day sitting in the lounge chair outside enjoying the cooler yet sunny days, watching children play or baby O swing.

I hand sewed the binding and the hems . Whilst it does add time it also means the project is more portable. This is one of the reasons I really, like ruly truly, enjoyed the process of constructing this frock (because really it is a frock not a dress) It was lazy. Sitting in the sun sewing by hand, the calming motion, so cathartic. Perfect.

 

 

 

 

Good thing I did enjoy the process because being a breast feeding mama I’m not going to get a chance to wear this dress for sometime yet. Whilst I’m not shy feeding in public I do draw the line at pulling up a dress so that not-so-little-anymore baby O can have a feed - especially since I’m still in my maternity knickers!  Not to worry, I will wear it next Saturday to my sewing guild meeting (when I am sans baby!) and then it will go into the closet ready for next summer. Then I am sure it will get regular wear.

I am so pleased with the fabric that I used. It is 96% cotton/4% spandex sateen and it has a lovely drape coupled with a sweet hint of stretch. It is very comfortable to wear; not too heavy, not too light. The pattern reminds me of my Nan. The colour and design. There is something about it that just makes me think of her but I can’t explain exactly what. Perhaps the pattern looks a little Samoan and Nan and I used to discuss Margaret Mead and nature versus nurture quite a bit. It was a shared topic of interest. Maybe not. Memory is a funny thing isn’t it? 

Now before I run off to answer the children’s call…

I’ll leave you with some more, somewhat awkward images, or me modelling my new frock. Enjoy them because I’m heading back to my natural place behind the lens.

 

Not too late to join in … head on over to Cam’s sign-up page.

babushka colouring book

Look what I was lucky enough to receive during the week from the very talented Manda. So wonderful. A book filled to the brim with babushkas of all kinds; rainbows, outer space, vegetables and butterflies to just name a few, all waiting to be coloured.

It is a quality colouring book - the paper is sturdy 100% recycled paper. It really stands out from the other colouring books my children own.

Thankyou so much Manda for this lovely prize. If you want one you can pick one up from Manda’s shop – Babushka Girl – it would make a delightful gift.

for the love of seals shirt

An appliquéd t-shirt for the big boy.  A simple seal that is a little bit special. 

Back when E. had just turned two he was gifted a “seal shirt” from his Grandpa.

Grandpa told him all about seeing the seals on his holiday to Kangaroo Island and would imitate the seals making their loud call. Needless to say the two year old thought the seal noises were hilarious and as such the shirt itself became very special.

So special that it was worn for years and years despite eventually becoming too small. Eventually though it just would not fit. It was time for a new seal shirt.

And now the boy is old enough to make his own seal call.

baking scones

Ms. M and I baked scones today. They’re so quick and easy to make. We weighed our ingredients having lots of fun looking at the numbers on the scales. Ms. M was thrilled to get the job of glazing. She was very thorough.

A couple were a little dark around the corners. They were at the front of the oven and maybe a little thicker than some of the others – but only marginally. I was very impressed with M’s skills with the rolling pin and scone cutter*.

We sat down with our scones and cuppas and enjoyed an episode of Postman Pat together. Quality girl time before heading off to ballet.

Best of all her brother loved them so much when he got home that he asked his little sister to make him some for school next week. High compliment indeed.

* I bought that scone cutter on a family holiday to Victoria stopping at Sovereign Hill back in 1989 and now my daughter uses it to cut dough.

sunshine all around

Another shitty night. Can’t be helped – babies will grow teeth and get colds and cry for most of the night. It’s to be expected. The mister is sick too. I’m not 100% but I’m doing okay. I know I can do it. This little crappy spell has the silver lining of illustrating to myself just how far I’ve come, just how strong I’m growing.

The sun was shining in these parts today with a gentle breeze. Just a lovely day to be outside. I was the parent helper at E.’s school in the morning. After another night this week of barely any sleep it was yet again a hard slog to get there, but once I was the energy from the children and in particular the excitement from E charged my batteries and got me through the rest of the day. We spent time outside doing sports, went to the library and then learnt about the sound “i”. Great stuff.

When I got home a parcel was waiting for me. Even better. And inside? All this lovely dovely uber ace vintage goodness…

An easy afternoon in which I finally got a moment to cut out the fabric for my Continental Dress. Paella for dinner. Stories in bed. Annabel’s Kitchen Cabinet.

… and there you have it. Sunshine all around.

in the laundry

Our laundry. I spend way too much time for my liking in this room. I do load, upon load of washing most days. Strange really considering my beloved and I wear our clothes over and over again before throwing them in the hamper. How our children manage to create so much washing is beyond me. I bust a gut to try to minimise laundry – it borders on an obsession for me. If I fall behind then all the other cogs in the house seem to stop turning over, and all and sundry seems to back-up – like a domestic version of constipation!  I’m pretty lazy when it comes to stain removal. The beloved has started to offer advice but on hearing that if he could do better he could take over he pretty quickly shut up.

Linking up with the MPAY over at Deb’s place.

Ooops! I forgot to include the photo I took using my phone of my littlest man who discovered the laundry for the first time this morning. The very reason I remembered to play along this week. Baby O sure is on the move, and was wet head to toe seconds later when he discovered the cat’s water bowl.