reminders on a string

tidying is never ending it would seem but occasionally you find a gem, this 'to do' string must be at least 15 year old, from another life it would seem, the one where i made/had the time to doodle.

there are a more than a few common sayings floating around but they always ring true, a life time ago and today

they are

love and enjoy that you can

find a team

ask

listen

(the tick)

one of those creatures they describe as awkward on land

don't say it

grow your seeds

don't carry what is not yours

what i should do and what i will do are the same thing

(monster)

some people dream, some people do

get there any way

guide to the best life (five stars apparently)

grow with friends together

they are

love

(person)

ask again

listen

know what is right

paddler

don't say it again

grow your seeds

the airport check

should and will....

kill the monster while it is small

few do both

this way    get there

if i always do what i have always done............

hugs, kisses, warmth, comfort

it is nice to feel like i have come along way and practice many of these things without the reminder these days.......but yes a few still need work.......time to cut the string shorter

excuse my keeping house..

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just doing the bloglovin thing. enjoy my happy list

it is a wrap....trimming it again

i had the idea for these brewing and pieces languishing in basket for months, nothing like a deadline to give you a push.  i needed that push and i am so pleased with the result.  many thanks for these amazing pictures go to my lovely and uber talented friend susan.

here is where we started, originally i had not planned on using the green fan flowers (it is fair to say i love a neutral and muted colour pallet) but miss pitter can carry off any colour so it was back in the mix and allowed me enough fabric to squeak out two bands of colour on each scarf.  the blue tulipish pattern was a much lighter cotton and was whipped into tags, as everything is much better with a tag.

 

my trimming pieces along with crochet panels of alpaca, cotton and thick linen have been pulled together to make a family of loop scarves.  the wool is reassuringly wintery smelling and the cotton backing means no crys of itchyness from the littles.  the linen was destashed from my mother on a recent trip and is thick and soft. for all outings these will be a go to for most of the year and i am hoping to have these in use for many years yet.
 

voting opens on the pinterest board on the 1st of june and runs until the 5th, do check it out and give your favourite a repin. i highly recommend looking over the past years at some amazing work.  this has been another challenge i am so glad to have joined, i have such lovely things from it and will find more amazing crafters no doubt.

 and this is me enney pitter......hi (many of you will know the rare feeling of a photo of yourself you like....this is one for me)

trimming it

well all these little bits have come together for a car park/construction/street map inspired play mat.

n.b. always park your giraffe thoughtfully.  i really like the open ended play a simple mat like this provides, aside from the car/animal farm combination it has been a local map for outings and piled high with block for city building and pulled up over a chilly lap and investigated.  and so much nicer left laying out on the floor than some cartoony, busy riot of colour plastic shop bought thing (rant over)

.........

this mat came together simply in a few hours and would be a great project for a beginner sewist or if you needed to whip up  a quick baby shower or first birthday gift.  in saying that it is the 3 year old miss pitter playing away in the photos (without the normal promoting and/or bribing required) she happily pottered away for over an hour. win/win.

i began with this lofty brush cotton drill (i think it would be equally pleasing on a piece of denim).  my piece is 28 inches by 25 inches and seems about prefect for play and folded for transporting.

after squaring up my trimming pieces i played with the layout taking photos with my camera phone so i could look over them and pick out a favourite.

i then pinned, trimmed and stitched, 

if you were a beginner or perfectionist you could fuse your materials in place

 stitch the cotton tape first then a zigzag around your trimmings fabrics.

then bind , i could not help myself mixing up the black binding with some royal blue and white. i had to have white, as my adult self had to provide clear points of entry onto the mat and there had to be two to minimise the chance of disputes.

(if anyone would like a more complete tutorial let me know in the comments and i'll get to it)

and in the end this is what is left on the table....i am very happy and the mat is an everyday play item already, chocolate stained and fought over.

well and truly trimmed i would say!

if you have got this far and would like to vote for your favourite trimmings project (wink, wink), the voting is conducted via pinterest follow this link to pin your favourite/s between the 1st and 5th of June.

warm and worn...kids clothes week

with a few delays and absent days i have caught up on my commited hours to make a jacket each for master and miss pitter from more of those old woollen blankets.  after recently being inspired by the lovely Wendy from small forest shop i finally took the plunge into sewing with blankets i have had stockpiled for the past six months.

what can i say...i feared for my fingers almost every stitch and was ultimately surprised my efforts only resulted in one broken sewing machine needle and a few machine alarms.  the overlocker pulled through unscathed even when asked to do its thing with 4 layers of blanket sandwich!

this is one of the first things i have sewn for master pitter, which considering he recently turned 2 is probably lax of me but the new jacket has had to be photographed stains and all as he has been so proud and possessive since i told him it was his...it was very good for my moral and likely to spurn more boy sewing!

 

this is a from a pattern i drafted a couple of years ago and have made in a bundle of different fabrics, i find the cropped sleeve and waist work well for offering some warmth or sun coverage during busy play.  my generosity with sizing means both jacket should see at least 3 years wear which is part of the reason i was so happy to finish miss pitters jacket with some of my late nans floral embellishments.

i was think this might be a good first pattern release for me...i will work away during the winter, let me know if your keen to whip one up yourself.

now i will have to ignore the new fabric on my table and go back to my list

3 in the hand...a quick sew

it was very late in the night before the house settled and i could pay some attention to the pile of good intentions i had for the kids clothes week.  in the end i decided to start at the end with something simple to get back in the zone and not tax myself more than necessary. 

i managed to pop together 3 winter collars for the little pitters, two for miss and one for the master.  a lovely old woollen blanket, a few vintage cottons, and a few tidbits from the depths of the draws pulled together nicely i think.

for the little pitters i have found this style works well, it sits straight against the back of the neck and around the ears but rolls nicely over the collar bone and cheeks at the front

and just as well we are still burdened with easter chocolate to pay for the required modelling services.

i was considering making my pattern up as a pattern tutorial if there was any interest do let me know.

preparing to rug up.....kids clothing week

we have jumped from a balmy and comfortable autumn headlong into ''where are my sock, those big thick socks''.

so this round of kids clothing week is all about lovely soft, cuddley and warm layers to wear when we are stuck inside this coming winter. not especailly pinworthy i am sure but i will be happy to cuddle and pat the wearers for warmth.

i have had the oliver + s sailboat pattern for about 2 years and am finally breaking it out.  after reading thought the insructions as a late night pleasure i am at a loss why i have not made the top earlier.  i will be hitting my vintage flannel sheet stash for two tops. a hopeful two tops for miss pitter.

i am also planning to successfully convert my 20 minutes pants pattern into a size 2 and 3 for the little pitters.  with the plan being i can make some heavy cord, denim and brushed cotton pants without to much bulk at the waist. two pairs for each, mmmmmm!

if all goes well who know where the mood will take me....

if things go swimmingly then you might see some woollen coats and collars to fend off the bitingly cold breeze.....drawings tomorrow for anyone who wants to see pants magic planning..

When the glass is completely empty...

just popping in to say there is lots to say but we have had a family round of illness that has sapped me completely, i have had no will to pin or browse, my reader is clogged, instagram has been vastly ignored and my camera has not emerged from its case in two weeks.

i think a few more days and i will have my glass filling up with goodness again - there is much ahead

kids clothing week, the umbrella prints trimmings comp and the goodies from the hand made fabric swap to show off...

sorry for the picture-less words nobody needs to see reality at the moment....back soon and thank you for stopping by.

pin sticks be gone...

a little deadline procrastination has resulted in my sewing a pin cushion finally! in all my years of crafting i have never had one getting by with jars, tins and regular pin sticks.

master pitter is very fond of things that could result in injury so pins scissors and quick unpicks have been locked away....until now......

the pins are free to rest in the softest linen cushion with french knots to keep them company. i included a loop so it can hang on the wall away from interested hands when not in use and the base has a magnet for swiping up any strays.

we have a hazy light today so i will photograph more at a later date, thinking of making more and adding to my shop stock plans.

now i am more convinced that i need to treat myself to some clover patchwork glass head pins just to add to its soft pearly character....ohhh and i have lots of patching in my future too.

handprinting update.....

now everything is printed and posted and i managed to squeeze in something little into each parcel i can do another big reveal......yes i did reprint, late one evening and it was so much easier, mild temperatures made all the difference.  i managed sharper edges and smoother ink and will have to add a little more flexibility into printing next time around.

the grey/black/blues stayed as they were i loved them. i managed to mix a lovely teal and printed a small swatch onto grey cotton to send off to Leslie (seems only fair she should get a little extra for her organizational work, i am sure you agree!)

i also mastered my colour panels and decided to go with shades of greens as two of my swappers had yellow,green,blue as their colour preferences - try as i may i could not find a way to mix them to my pleasure....but here is what i ended up with.....

fingers crossed and maybe my legs too hoping everyone gets a little joy when their packages are opened. 

a little easter on the way...

hopefully there will be two little girls with smiles when these eggs get 'cracked' open ................

i am rather partial to big brooches on little girls and these scrappy dappy rabbits (yes one is in its egg already) will be fun year round i think.  the eggs are simply cut from old packaging paper, then add a few stripes of washi and sew closed.  to make the stuffed egg in one go i stitched about 2/3 the way around the unfilled egg and then inserted the rabbit, ears folded and continued back to the start.  i also find when stitching paper it help to set your stitch length to 4/5 unless you want to make a rip-able perforation.

in other eastery news miss pitter had a rabbit bonnet made. i used the cozy winter hood pattern from oliver+s little things to sew. and like a slew of crafty others i drafted my own pattern to convert the ears from the original bear shape to floppy bunny ear.  you will find a picture of this cheeky rabbit over on my instagram feed (over in the side bar there....) in truth the bonnet has barely been off with the only exception being sleep time and for trying on by other want to be bunnies.

and there are a couple of bunnies, Bernice and Bertram we shall call them (the basil pattern from hop skip jump) well on there way to completion in time for egg delivery day. i'll pop pictures up when they can see, have articulated arms and lovely pink noses ready for sniffing.

quick off the hook

a friend had run out of creative puff with a sea of new babies around her and sent out the call for help for something little and lovely. i jumped into my woolly stash and hook in hand and milk and cookies on the side set to work.....

the oak button is from here, they have a lovely selection and caring service. i am trying to find some blank cuts to make into hand drawn brooches for the eventual shop any suggestions?

and that's right a few more photos in manual mode

a long hot wait...

we have had a long run of hot days and nights, the littles have not slept well, the bigs had not slept well. everything slowed right down. the essentials were done and not much else.

that being said my best friend and fellow swapper drove out for our printing date earlier in the week and we stopped and started our way through our printing, lunching and entertaining 3 littles all who wanted to 'stamp'.

my plans for lovely blogging photos of printing processes, our lovely quiche and salad lunch and the necessary cups of tea and louise slice all fell away as trial and error and a travelling timetable took precedence.  i took a moment of quiet yesterday while one pitter slept the other adventured and i battled to get out some coloured prints i was comfortable with (love will never happen for me if it is not grey). i may still take another spin on the stamps tomorrow if the opportunity presents itself.........colour is hard!!!

but that said this is what i will be popping in the post if that fails. after another press (ironing in 36 degree = not fun), trim and suitability lovely wrapping.  i hope everyone gets the piece they may have eyed up!

next time around i will definitely participate again but make the change to screen printing as i really did love the sharp edges from my paper stamping, which after lots of fussing i just could not achieve on the fabric.  i think possibly it was a mistake to pre-wash the fabric? 

i have a few plans for making this week, we will see how we go.........no i am printing again i can not like the last print, any takers?