Some sewing, knitting and cooking

SECRET SANTA SWAP AT CRAFTY
MAMAS!

This is the adorable quilted purse I received from the lovely Justinamaria. She is so incredibly talented. Thankyou!! Check out her Blog and Etsy Shop.



Justinamaria's quilted purse










UNCERTAIN GIFTS
I made two Japanese style handbags for two little friends for Christmas, I also made them matching headbands. I was a trifle nervous of whether or not they would like them...but yesterday I spotted them out shopping sporting their new bags! Whew! They obviously did like them! It can be hard to judge how people will receive homemade gifts, sometimes. Most people adore them ( like me!) but some are still in the "store bought is better"school of thought. We need to convert them quick smart!!

Here's my bags and headbands. The headband pattern is from Heather Bailey's Blog. I will try to remember to post a link.












Cotton Time Bunny

I made this Japanese Bunny from Cotton Time 09. It looked very easy in the mag ~although I have no knowledge of Japanese~but I had trouble putting the head on! I did get it done, in a rough house manner,and whipped up a few changes of clothes and even crocheted a shopping basket for him! DD loves the bunny! As I was making the little clothes, I remembered the way Ottobre give their sewing instructions, kind of industrial, and followed suite. Made heming little pants and tops much easier!












GINGERBREAD HOUSE
And here's our family gingerbread house...with a gingerbread man to represent each of us. The kids loved doing this. Whilst I doubt we will not win any architectual awards for it, it was a much loved part of our Christmas this year.












A BIG GIRL KNITTING

And my knitting has been slowly chugging along. I think I prefer to knit little things ~much quicker! This is my new project~Cherry Bomb from Big Girls Knits. It's in a cotton/lycra mix yarn from the Bendigo Wool Mill. The colour is ocean. This book is so lovely, I hope to knit a lot from it. In time.

Christmas Dresses!

I made two more dresses from Ottobre Summer 2005 Pattern 11/12. In a lovely cherry red fabric with gold stars. I LOVE this pattern. I have made it so many times now. I followed Jaysmum's advice about using shirring elastic when I gather the waist ~works a charm!

I think I have figured how to add links to the Blog of my friends here now...I am hoping to get that done soon!! We are still under the threat of bushfire, the smoke is very bad out today. Looks like we will be indoors a fair bit...sewing and cooking!

Living with bushfire this week...

Very scary stuff. Still a waiting game here to see which way the bushfires go. The air is thick with smoke, we are staying inside!! Here's some pics taken last night at 7pm.











So, with all this spare time I have on my hands, I've been crafting and cooking.
I found the best Madiera cake recipe, from Nigella Lawons "How to be a Domestic Goddess" book. I iced it and decorated it.


Also been baking rustic bread loaves. Yum.








We also made 25 felt Christmas decorations for Bon's classmates. And finally got my hands on a Cotton Time magazine..ohhh..how fabulous are they?!!

An errie sky, indeed...

We have bush fires not far from us, quite a lot of them. Yesterday, you could hardly see for the smoke that had blown over the town. It literally stunk of smoke. It played havoc with us asthma sufferers. The sun was an orange colour all day, and very dull. Here's a few pics we took last night. I hope they get them under control soon, they are very scary. I am so glad I am not married to a firefighter. Selfish, I know..but way too scary. Those blokes work so hard in the bush fires, and in stinking hot weather. One change in the wind direction and they are all in strife.




On a more positive note, our Christmas tree is now up!! And our mini Christmas village set up.

Ottobre 2/2005 Pattern 12

Another attempt at this dress! I am bound to crack it eventually! The bodice is always lovely, I just keep mucking up the gathering in the skirt. I have a few more dresses to make yet. I need to slow down and concentrate more on my gathering.

It is a lovely patten, though, super easy. I love the way Ottobre Designs make every thing so easy and industrial like. They go together very well.

A quiet weekend here..not much on. I hope to get some sewing done and start the Christmas decorations.