Animal baby book

2012 was definitely a baby boom year among my friends - I love the excuses it affords for making lovely little gifts. I'm always doing so in a rush and seldom manage photos but this was definitely my favourite of the year.

A soft baby book with applique animal faces! I have to say I think this worked out well and I would love to have made it for my kids. If I was being critical I'd say I don't love the red bird - I think I prefer the slightly less aggresive colours!


Now, the reason I am quite proud of this is that it is for a lovely little boy born to really good friends of mine. He gave his Mum a pretty rough ride during pregnancy so for him to be here and her to be feeling fitter is great for everyone. Soppy reasons aside, I am also very proud because the pattern was *horrendous* to follow.

It's from the same book as the Awake-Asleep doll but the amateur/improvisational approach the author takes caused me a *lot* of problems.

None of the templates include seam allowances. Even those that are both drawn and give full dimensions. How ridiculous is that to draw a picture and give precise dimensions, that the reader then has to recalculate?

And, in the instructions to cut fabric to create pages, she gives dimensions "including seam allowances". What she means is "adding seam allowances". I cut every piece for this project twice. Thank goodness I have a lot of scraps.

It's a really fun project if you have scraps from quilts or cotton clothing for kids. You get to combine lots of colours for the front colour and then coordinate them into a colour scale on the inside pages. You could of course take a more eclectic approach throughout the pages. The benefit of the pattern would then be the directions on how to assemble the pages... well, it would be if any of it made sense! I'm actually going to rewrite this pattern for my own use so I don't go so crazy next time around.

Summer must be coming!

Oh heck, what happened there? I was going to get back on the blogging thing and lost my way again. Today's flurry of lovely dress activity on the blogs I follow has led me to make the effort today.

Oliver + S are releasing two patterns tomorrow. Kristin from skirt as top has been pattern testing and I love both her take on the Roller Skate Dress and the one posted on the Oliver + S blog! If you follow the links to the other bloggers that have shared in Kristin's pattern testing the tunic version looks brilliant too.

I've got fabric and several dress patterns and have even put in an order to my Mum, but the chill in the weather has put me off so far. I am now desperate to get them made - not least because Poppet has outgrown so many clothes - so I can try this pattern too! So why am I sitting here typing instead of sewing? Right, let's get this done!

Out of hibernation

Perhaps a little early as there is more snow on the ground than we've seen in 11 months, but yes, after what I now realise was a massive break from blogging, I'm back.

We were out of our home for six weeks and returned to a gorgeous new floor, kitchen, and a rearrangement that means we have a dedicated play room. Most importantly we are now confident that the wildlife is staying outside!

Autumn turned very quickly into the Christmas season and preparations for us to host my family for the first time. As you can imagine it left little time for sewing, but I had made gifts earlier in the year that I can now share so watch out for those posts in the next little while.

I received some great Christmas gifts - almost all sewing related. Scissors, a mini-iron, basting gun and a knitting bag. I will admit that the knitting bag was spied in a craft magazine and purchased from kntting supplier www.loopknitting.com (they don't appear to stock it anymore) but I have no intention of putting knitting in it. It's just the right size for my swimming gear!

During, and perhaps a significant reason for, this period of hibernation a friend lost his fight against leukemia. There are no words that can express how we've been feeling. Pulling together with friends to support his beautiful family has been cathartic for us, although I'm sure it's only taking a drop from the ocean of pain for them. If you happen to read this please consider becoming a blood donor and a stem cell donor.

Dreaming of stitching

Right now I am dreaming of stitching. Dreaming of sewing a thousand things for my house, and before the Christmas season is here.

Alas, it is just a dream. We have discovered a rodent problem in our house and in the process of working out how, where and how bad, we've had to pull apart our kitchen. So right now we are in temporary accomodation. The rodents have gone, but the kitchen is still a mess... until later this month when a whole new one is fitted... so so so excited!

We are lucky enough to have found a house to stay in for a month so that we can escape the chaos however the house is rather bijoux. Not a lot of room for sewing! So, sadly for me, I won't be doing Elsie Marley's Kids Clothing Week Challenge this autumn. Anyhow, I managed to make Poppet a skirt last week, and they've got plenty of clothes... waaaaay more than they need!

Awake and Asleep Doll

I made this sweet little doll and carry-basket early in the summer and I'm reliably informed that my niece is besotted with it. I call that a success!

The pattern is from Applique for Little Ones by Sylvie Blondeau. I used leftover fabric from making Poppet a skirt for the basket, and other scraps to make the doll.

The pattern directs you to make the basket sides from a single piece wrapped around the base. I decided from the off that I wanted the basket to have a bit more structure and piecing each side separately gave me the desired result. Throughout the patterns in this book you'll find many other ways in which even a slightly experienced sewist may do things in a different way. This pattern was less frustrating than others... but more about that in another post.

It's a pattern perfect for adapting - a bigger basket, different trims on the basket and blanket, different outfits or expressions for the doll. I found a lovely flower trim to coordinate with the fabric and used this on the basket, blanket and doll's dress to bring the items together.

And here she is having a sleep. Embroidery thread is used to sew an awake expression on one side of the doll and an asleep expression on the other.

Put down your laptop and have fun

Now.

We used to be serial fixer-uppers. Buy a place, fix it up, move on. We worked really hard, and then worked some more at painting, planning and so on at the weekends. And then we had kids. We really don't want to spend precious time in front of a laptop or holding a paintbrush when we could be with Poppet and Treacle so we are making a real effort to plan weekends and holidays that we can all enjoy together.

This weekend we went to Croyde Bay.

It's a surfer's paradise, and a lovely beach for families too! We had a great time on Saturday but the weekend really didn't go to plan. A four hour journey turned into seven; there was no surf; Treacle came out in chicken pox. Fortunately the journey home was quicker but it did cut our weekend short, and Treacle is suffering badly.

So you see what I'm saying? Have fun whenever you can because you never know when you have to change your plans!

And you never know what's around the corner.

A good friend of mine is currently being treated for secondary leukemia. He needs a bone marrow transplant and while they have found a suitable match for him, there are others who may not be so fortunate. Take a moment, before you put down your laptop and have some summer adventures, to consider joining the stem cell donation register (this used to be called bone marrow donation and was more invasive - these days it's a saliva sample to register and little more than blood donation to donate).

• Find out more at Anthony Nolan
• If you are over 40 you are not eligible to join Anthony Nolan but you can still donate through the NHS:  
• If you are not in the UK, find your local agency

Olympic fever

In huge contrast to the health of our British Olympic team, my poor little Poppet's been quite unwell. We had a large dose of chicken pox* just as Poppet was about to start at a new nursery, and now, just as she's getting over it, she's got tonsilitis. I feel so sorry for her. And guilty. Of course the tonsilitis was preceded by some major tantrums and arguments between us, like always.

While that's been going on we've been juggling childcare and getting Treacle settled into nursery and hosting visitors. Oh yeah, and watching the Olympics!

My parents were our main visitors as we live closer to Eton Dorney which is hosting the rowing events. My parents were fortunate to see the first British Gold of the Olympics! They had a fabulous time and were pretty hoarse by the time we collected them from the train station at the end of their second day at the river.

I'm completely absorbed by Olympic fever. Watching sporting events has always been a big deal in my family, even though none of us are particularly good at sports in practice! We've been watching on TV, listening on the radio and in preparation for our trip to the Olympic park to see a women's hockey semi-final, I've purchased a team GB t-shirt (and cap!).

And I've bought some London 2012 stamps. I could be accused of being a merchandiser's dream but I prefer to think of myself as being "in the spirit".



*we don't immunise against it here in the UK.