MORE FROM OTTOBRE DESIGN 3/2006

Pattern 34. The Tie Jacket.

Made from pink hemp knit, this is such lovely fabric to wear and sew! Very soft and snuggly. I love this little shrug type jacket, and it is so quick to sew up, I will be making up a few more!

PILLOW CASE TO SMOCK TOP!

1 1HOUR PROJECT
This was my 1 hr project today! A very 60's pillow case I picked up at the Oppy a while back, transformed into a smock top for Ms Lil. Easy to whip up without a pattern. I'll post a tutorial on CraftyMamas ~ - Tutorials & Sew-a-longs for it shortly...

And, the new issue of Ottobre Kids is due out this week!!! Woo Hoo!!! Available in the SHOP at Crafty Mamas!

SOME SMALL GIFTS

I whipped these cd holders up, using justinamaria's clever design, added some money and gave them to three little friends for Easter. These little girls weren't big on chocolate ( one is allergic..poor kid), so the cd holders were just a bit nicer than giving them money in a card.

SWAP TIME AT CRAFTY MAMAS

This month at Crafty Mamas we are having a handmade card SWAP, which is always heaps of fun!! I love card making, but find it very hard to get motivated to do. I think it's because I have to spread so much stuff out everywhere, and then the kids want to "help" with my good Stampin' Up stamps and inks! I will have to devise a plan to keep them occupied while I work on my Swap cards. I'll post some inspiration here when I find some!!

RECIPE CARD SWAP

At Crafty Mamas we also have an ongoing recipe card Swap, which is such a hoot! The lovely Nikkou Hitori organises it for us each month, and we receive great cards and recipes from other Crafty Mamas. It's great, as the recipes are REAL LIFE and DO-ABLE! It is really enjoyable to be involved in!

Here's some I have received..

SOME WINTER SEWING

OTTOBRE 4/2004

So dd(7) is growing like a string bean, and suddenly nothing fits her (again). DH is complaining about her less than modest belly button baring tees, that were once full length.Her once long pants are now more 3/4 style. What's a Crafty Mama to do? OTTOBRE saves the day!! DD loves pink, and purple so I'm limited in the colour range. I'm trying to talk her into some browns and blues, but no luck so far.

Last night I whipped up two skirts Pattern 10, using fabric remnants. The purple skirt has some wool fabric that I felted, and then embroidered on, as the fake pockets. Looks quite effective. The embroidery is the plain * stitch on my Memory Craft 3000. This is a lovely, quick pattern to make up that lends itself to lots of creative variations.

Still to trace and make up from this issue:
33, 34, underwear
38 leggings
36, 22, 11, 12, 23, 21, 13 tops, pants, dress, coat.

THIS MONTH IN CRAFTY MAGAZINES

Ok, I admit it, I am hopelessly addicted to craft magazines ~especially imported ones. Seeing as I don't drink or smoke, I am surely allowed one vice? So far this month, I have had a stack of new ones come my way so I thought I'd do quick review for those interested.








KNITTING
My favourite Aussie knitting mag is YARN ( available in the Crafty Mamas SHOP). This issue is the biggest ever and has some really cool patterns and great info on spinning.


Another great knitting mag I have newly found, thanks to the lovely Justinamaria, is Intervweave KNITS. This mag has beautiful patterns and heaps of technical info...most of which is currently over my head, but I'm slowly increasing my knitting knowledge. Here's the site addy which shows the latest issue and also has extra freeby knitting patterns ( knitted lingerie!)
http://www.interweaveknits.com/








SEWING

And, of course, I just love a good sewing magazine. New ones to have arrived this week are...

SewNews. The April/May issue. Lots of great info on Home dec sewing and the run down on the US Spring fashion trends. I also like this mag as it is very helpful to the new machine embroiderer, lots of great tips and designs. Also, it has great tips for plus size sewing. I subscribe to this mag.










A new one the newsagent put me onto this week, by the makers of THREADS is Sew Stylish. It has wonderful info for newby sewers, and covers pretty much everything you need to know. It is the Premier Spring issue, worth having a look at. The website is www.besewstylish.com
Another Fave of mine is Cutting Edge magazine. It has great ideas for recons, sewing for yourself and family and home decorating. It's slightly funkier than Sew New and Threads.

http://www.cuttingedgemag.com/













AND SOME NEW JAPANESE ONES!!

I was not sure what it was that I loved about Japanese sewing books so much...but I think I now know. I think I am attracted to their tidy, white washed and lots of old wood photo shots. Lots of neatness and creativity. I think that's it! And their streamlined, non fussy patterns. And lots of navy, yep. Anyway, I have two new Cotton Time magazines...

#1 and #3






















And another called CAFE Kids Very funky! .ISBN 978-4-529-04332-8

So, although my Crafting time is Zilch at the moment, I can read and dream!

A BIT MORE OTTOBRE SEWING!

managed to squeeze in a bit more sewing this week...from Ottobre Design 2/2003 (pants) and two tops from the Creative Workshop T shirt pattern ( all patterns available in the SHOP!)

The plain pink top, I machine embroidered a swirly heart design on the front. The pants are a fine cord print, and I have left the edges to fray up nicely. Miss Bon had already spilt something on the top by the time I got to photo it! I love this Creative Workshop pattern, it truly is the best kids tee pattern ever.

As I was embroidering the flower design on the top, it struck me how gorgeous this design would be on a chocolate brown cord... perhaps a pinny or a skirt. So I know have all my Ottobre mags strewn across the table in search of the RIGHT pattern!!