Living in a Handmade House

I love being surrounded by things handmade. Not only is it beautiful but also reminds me that I am loved - especially when someone else made it! So I went on a hunt around the house to do a snap-umentary of all the handmade items in our house. Some are old, some not so old but all of them I adore.



The red quilt I made with fabrics from Aunty Jean




I  needed a cover for my ipad quickly




Grannie made handbag - out of sample squares!




Handfull of skirts and dresses I made

 

Quilt funded by K Rudd stimulous




Painting by Beeji and funky card by Stu White

 


Handmade paper by sister in law Johannah (beside label maker)

  

Yellow cover by Maz Mellor's mum, sewing machine cover & pin cushin by me



Aunty Jeano's 21st birthday present (part 1)

 

Drumstick holder made for Joel for Christmas 2008

  

Aunty Jeano's 21st birthday present quilt (part 2)

 


Grannie's Christmas mittins!!

 
 

"Choctop" bear by me, bear patchwork by Aunty Jean, bible cover by Grannie





One of my first real quilting jobs! (made under direction of aunt)




I STOLE IT! Mum's 21st doily frm one of her sisters.



"Flat Cat" by mum when I was little


 

Photo box by Beej and Wedding album book by Jenni Lugg



One of the numerous cards made by my dear friend Joy!

I made the handbag (including screen printing the fabric)

Patch angels, little Nate's coat & Xiaoxi's pink nappy bagin progress



"Honey bear", bear broach and blue ribbon bear by Aunty Jean and byebye rabbit by Sonya!

Missing is a cross stitch my cousin Dicky made for me when we were really little (it must still be packed) and a funky opshop recycled belt that I made to go with a dress.

My wedding dress designed and made with love by Aunties Jean, Loi, Rhonno and mum (plus mum made Lilly's outfit)

 
Mostly I make and give away as presents things for friends and family. Do you have photos of anything I've made you as a present? Post them here! (or send them in)

A few firsts and things

 

The finished product and the excited seamstress



 I made my first shirt!! Just finished it this afternoon and had to take a photo just to prove to mum I can make it up myself (sleeves weren't in the original pattern - I just made them up!) and finish a project when it requires buttons. It's made from beautiful Japanese screen printed, double gauze so it is so soft gainst the skin and designed by Nani IRO.

From the back with the cutest pants

and again but with PiZazZ!

Following up the first time shirt are a few other first time 'whipped up' projects


Birthday bag for Alex (original design)
and her first sewing project the bear rug



 

Bag for 'bear' (original design)

By the way Amy appears to like the dress (but not the camera)! and Diana is once again unclothed until I trial the next design.

I now have a new stash of fabric from Rathdown Remnants - narrowly missing the filming crew for Project Runway - and from GJ's discount fabrics, to make new scarfs, winter coats and bags! Excitement plus!!

Anna's adventures

Meet Anna.

Anna - made from "Freya" by Melly and Me

She's sassy, handmade, and isn't afraid of anything.

 When the other soft toys are afraid of the dark... Anna's got your back. 

If you're up for adventure, run - because Anna is already half way down the path!

A perfect match for brother's dinosaur.

Have fun with Anna little Anna White!

One woman's toile is another woman's treasure

I've been on a finishing spree. Would it surprise you to know that I have half started projects all over the place? That's right, nearly a year later I've got wedding presents just a few stitches from finished, a skirt, dress, quilts and the like.

So when the sewing itch got me I decided to finish off a few goodies rather then start new ones.
And here she is! The toile for a pattern my aunt so lovingly made for me. It didn't quite fit my diamentions but a friend came round for bible study and fell in love with it. All it needed was the finishing of neck/arm holes and a hem. Congraulations Amy! I still can't believe you would wear this to an interview!



Amy's dress (nee Rosey's toile)

Diana is going to be feeling the cold now but I'll have her wearing a new creation without too much delay!

It's ALIVE!

I posted my first two items online tonight at www.madeit.com.au/rhuf so I now officially have an online shop front!
More items will be added over the next few days as I get to my sewing machine. Don't forget that you can request an item and it will be made to your specifications!

I was just so excited I had to blog!

Happy hunting!

Holiday fun

Q. What do you do when you have free time to sew and 8 or more projects on the go?
A. Do one that has no deadline pressure! Leaving all the others to glare at you from their corners.

And here she is... the project of choice Emsie-lou's cushion. Em's in China for the month so of course I made this one first! I love the 'Henry the Owl' print and the cushion was inspired by the Sew Mama Sew blog tutorial on quilted cushions. I made the button holes on the back a fraction too small so I'll get some smaller self cover buttons next time I'm at Spotlight to finish it off. Hope you like it Em! Love ya!

For Em with love

Joel and I have been on holidays since Christmas and this year we decided to stay at home (Joel's favourite kind of holiday) So side by side, he took on the bad spies in multiple secret missions, and I sewed up a storm! (His computer and my sewing machine share the same space.) My brain is now buzzing with new ideas for Chocolate Hedgehog and I'm planning to get the made it stall up and running by the end of this week with some products to purchase as a bit of a trial run. I even bought a cork board so that I can let my brain rest by putting ideas out there in the real world!

Speaking of trial runs what do you think of this as a scarf for autumn?


Chocolate Hedgehog scarf prototype

I was testing out both my new preloved overlocker on some fabric from an op shop. (Ignore the house mess and half made dress underneath!) I was thinking of using a heavier wool and placing the circles a little closer together for warmth and structure but on the whole I think it looks kind of pretty. Feel free to leave your comments on the bottom of this post!

Ok, so I admit it, I bought a little peoples sized jacket pattern from Make it Perfect just because it is adorable.  At a friend's suggestion, I'm also going to try create a funky adults winter coat with a hood! Options for winter coat patterns seem to come hoodless for the adults unless you want a cape or poncho and who wouldn't want an adorable screen printed and warm original winter piece?

But before I get too far ahead of myself I have a few more projects to tackle with some hard lessons hopefully under the belt.

1) My overlocker is very fussy about the needles it likes - and spotlight doesn't sell them

2) The weight of the fabric matters when you're using a variety of prints *sigh* lots of unpicking to be done

3) Shiny materials don't like taking pleats

Maybe I'll procrasternate with some screen printing...!

Got the BuzZ!!

That's right I'm home and enjoying sewing up those first few orders from the stall plus a few other little projects. There always seems so much to sew! (that's for others before I get distracted with pretty fabrics I'd like!)

Christmas Bunting now decorates our home!

I've got some time off work so I'll be playing around with new ideas and making products in the next month or so, so keep your spines spikey so that you can have input into the creative process or nab yourself a very original Chocolate Hedgehog piece!

Current projects on the go...
# skirt for Karen
# Christmas presents (for family)
# softie for the Whites
# skirt/dress for me!
# sisters quilt
# baby quilts
# new screen print designs
# finish wedding presents from 2010 >_<