An easy present for boys!

To make this envelope cushion cover to fit a 45cm square cushion you'll need:

A piece of yellow material for the Lego man and a Lego man template. You can make this any size you like. 

A piece of fusible interfacing so you can iron your Lego man onto your cushion fabric. 

Cushion fabric - three pieces measuring 18"x18" (the front of the cushion), 18"x14, and 18"x12" (the two back pieces which will overlap creating an envelope opening. No zips!!!)

Print out and trace your Lego man onto your fusible interfacing then iron that onto your yellow fabric. The interfacing I use is double sided so I ironed it onto the yellow fabric then cut out the yellow Lego man, peel off the backing and...

These pieces will still measure 18".  You are folding, ironing and sewing the 14" side and 12" side. 

I like to use my 14" back piece first, then the 12" inch piece.  This gives the rear of the cushion a nice long covering on its envelope back. 

I say this with my tongue firmly in my cheek! I am very much in the camp of 'close enough, good enough' with my sewing, cutting and measuring!

I've made two of those now for boy's birthday presents this weekend. I may add a mini figure with them for good measure in case the birthday boy's are not huge fans of soft furnishings! 

 

Told you it was easy!

Crocheting with zpagetti



 

Ever worked with zpagetti?  Lordy me, is it hard work!  I have had a cone of this teasing me from the craft shelf for a while as every time I tried something with it I really struggled to get it started without it looking too messy.  And even though you hold the hook and yarn as you would normally, you really need to throw the rest of your body into it as well!

 

 

I've been super attracted to those rather large doily rugs you see on pinterest and thought I might see what I could come up with.  I didn't follow a pattern at all so it's pretty straightforward.  Best thing to do when starting off is to use a magic circle cause you need a big fat hook for this stuff and therefore a nice big starting circle too.  I also found it best to be a bit 'loose' with your stitches too!

 

Zpagetti works up fast and runs out quickly!  The rug I have made is only 55cm across at the moment.  I should probably get another cone of the stuff and make it bigger...

 



...which I will have to do anyway since I have run out halfway through on what might have been my last round!

 

Anyone else worked with this or something similar? 

My creative space...

I made a beanie.  With granny trebles.  And no pattern.  Why have I not done this before? 
So super easy.

 

Prompted by a chilly morning at under 9 football on Sunday where many a mum was adorned with some kind of furry, puffy, vesty/jackety number, scarf and woolly headpiece, I felt the need to join the group... (although I vow to never venture into a puffy anything!  So not flattering... on me anyway!)

 

I can't believe how easy this was and how quickly it comes together.  And although I made a few little errors which required some undoing and redoing, it used only a ball or so of wool. 

(Initially I tried to add ear flappy bits with plaited ties hanging off them but then it dawned on me that I am not a 17 year old babe waiting on the beach for my surfie boyfriend to return from the waves and join me!)

 

 

The Pattern.... (I'm assuming you have some crochet knowledge!)

 

Chain  5 or 6 and join with a slip stitch to the starting chain.

Double crochet 12 times into the ring and slip stitch to close.

Treble into each previous double crochet adding some space between these trebles by chaining two or three.  Join with a slip stitch.
 

In the next round, three chain and two trebles into the first space, and then three trebles into each space after that.  Join with a slip stitch into the third chain of your three chain starting point.

So your beanie doesn't start folding in too early, increase your rounds slowly and keep testing it out on your own head.  Initially I increased by adding a few chains between each set of three trebles.  Then increased some more by doing two lots of three trebles with a chain in between in each alternate space of the round.  I did an increase round, then a non increase round 2 or 3 times till I felt it was going to be wide enough to fit my moon head.
 

Eventually you will end up doing those three lots of trebles into each space with maybe a chain between each set 9-10 times till it comes far enough down your head.  To finish I used a different colour and did three rows of double crochet around the edge.  I may well add a pom pom!

 

Take it out onto your front porch and take 22 selfies before you find one that you are vaguely less critical of.  Muck around with it on instagram until you find the most flattering filter while your internal self continues to berate your moon head, the bags under your eyes,  pointy chin and puppet lined mouth.

 

Enjoy at a cold under 9's football match where you lose count of how many times your child pulls up their socks and repeatedly removes their mouthguard... while only touching the actual football twice. 

 

In absentia....

Olivia the Pig fabric made into a sweet wee girly skirt.

Progress on my ripplealong rug started with a whole bunch of people over at One Crafty Mumma.

To much running equals plantar fasciitis.  Whoops.  Still running in Run for the Kids though in two weeks time.  I'm embracing the pain!  (And strapping it and having some proper treatment just to be on the safe side!)

My completed quilt top from the scrappy quilt along that was doing the rounds on instagram.  Just got to teach myself what to do next!!!

Some crochet blankety progress.  It needs to be bigger!

 



 

I have not been here.  I have been everywhere else instead.  Mostly working (relief teaching) and lots of running with a little bit of parenting thrown in for good measure.  And some craft. 

So while I may not have been physically here I am actually still here.  Reading all my favourite bloggy things, wasting time on Pinterest, instagramming till the cows come home.  Basically as much procrastination as you can possibly imagine.

 

I would looooove to have a big clean up here.  Getting a real person to show me how to pretty this place up.  Use an actual camera for photos instead of repeated instragram ones.  Commit to blogging more regularly.  It takes time though, and that's just not on my side at the moment. 

 

I say thank goodness too that this revolting Melbourne hot spell appears to be coming to an end tomorrow as well.  Can everyone give me a halla-bloody-lujah!?

Some serious craft room mess!

I think it's safe to say that my craft room has become a dumping ground for stuff!

Seriously, how many tote bags does one girl need hanging on the door?!  And what you can't see hidden behind the door is shameful!  More bags of course, hanging on hooks, a stretcher bed and our old fold in half dining chairs that surely we can't throw out.... they might be useful at some point in time!



 

The bookshelf is vaguely tidy as I did have a massive magazine purge (which just about broke my heart!) but I tend to fill up all the nooks and crannies with 'things' that make actually accessing the books like a wee dance.  They have to be taken out in a twisty fashion just so for fear of knocking and breaking any of those special dust collectors!

 

And look at the piled high mess on top!  Don't even ask me what's in some of those tubs and boxes!

Having a crafty table is such a bonus.  I have that lovely big green cutting mat to use right next to the sewing machine... so why would I actually use it for that purpose!?  Instead, lets cover it with things that I have been too lazy to put in their proper spots!  And then lets use that as an excuse as to why I haven't been sewing anything... I don't have any room!!!

These lovely pj gift boxes where heading straight to the garbage bin at work on the weekend... almost sacrilegious!  They are terribly cute with little ribbon sides and clear lids which I thought would be perfect for little skirts and tops to go in.... if I ever get back to sewing any!!!

How could I go pass the 50% off calender stand at the shops when this daily crochet calender was begging to be added to the craft room mess!?

Last night whilst watching some tv I thought I'd start sewing some of those pesky ends in on the Mario rug while I wait for the last red ball of wool to arrive and instead I tripped over my long forgotten rainbow granny stripe rug.  It was just what I need to keep me calm as I stupidly watched Wolf Creek on my own until the wee hours.  Can I make a suggestion and say never watch it?!  I rarely go to bed and have nightmares and this one gave me some.  I think it was the freaky laugh that did it me.

 

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas with family and friends.  Wishing everyone a Happy New Year too.  Good luck with your resolutions if you make them!  Perhaps one of mine should be to have a craft room clean up!

My creative space...

More skirts this week!  I'm really cutting down my time making these reversible numbers and small people seem to love them.  I've had a sweet report of one little poppet whipping into the loo to change her skirt around several times during a kinder sesion!

I do need to find a reliable source of ric rac however!  I can't consistently seem to find lots of colours or of a good quality.  Spotlight is a good stop gap for quick supplies but... it is Spotlight!

I loved the owls on this one but I like to give them a plainer side too so spots make another appearance. 

(I am using the reversible skirt pattern from this book.)

The crochet cushion making is coming along too. 

 How satisfying is a pile of cut off yarny tails???!!!

The front...

It will look better once it's stretched over a cushion.

I'm crocheting a plain back for this one.

The pattern comes from Mollie Makes.

Love these clover soft touch hooks.  I'm building up a wee collection of these.  I'm waiting for my lovely friend Penni's new shop, The Stash Cupboard, to bring in some other sizes I am missing so I can complete my collection.

My creative space has moved over to Kidspot now....

Follow me right this way.

Granny Cushion and Lamp Love

Did everyone spy this lovely cushion in Mollie Makes?
This is a lovely easy granny pattern from this lovely lady.  I absolutely adore the granny covered lamp she has made that goes perfectly with her cushion! 

Source: etsy.com via Sonia on Pinterest

I'm using 8ply Moda Vera pure wool from Spotlight.

And I have almost finished weaving in all these little ends.  (I find something oddly thereaputic about it actually!)

I'll be gifting this to a friend in the next week or so, so I hope it turns out alright!
I promise to locate my real camera and get a good photo of the finished product!

My creative space...

It's all about spots and skirts...

Spotty t-shirts for the boys to wear to a wee girly friends Spotty party.

Grab spotty fabric, cut out big circle spots, sew them on a plain t-shirt.
Spotty Party Ready.

Pale blue spots on one side....

Navy blue spots on the other.
Will it be overdoing the whole Spotty theme by pairing this with navy spotty leggings and a nay top with pale blue spotty
 yo-yos?

And what does one do when you stuff up the binding on the bottom of the skirt?!  The binding didn't catch both layers of the fabric so then I had to add that fancy zig zag stitch to fix it up.  I'm going to pretend it was on purpose if anyone asks.

This one's a special order for a friend...
Little Red Riding Hood fabric from Spotlight.

And the other side - Lisette fabric from Spotlight too.

And another reversible number...
Dolly Clothing fabric from Spotlight too.

And the navy blue from the Lisette range.

I'm thinking of making a few of these reversible numbers and maybe selling them at a little market later on this year.  So far I've only ever really made things for people I know and my own little poppets so the wee quirks (errors!) in each one have not really been an issue.  I might have to smarten up my sewing skills!

For more crafty inspiration pop over here for a visit.

Curlypop's Lisette Dress Sew-a-long.

Who can resist a visit to Spotlight on a 30% off everything day???  Even if you have to take the three small people with you and bribe them with lollypops!

I had been thinking of joining in with Miss Curlypops sew-a-long, so I managed to snavel a pattern and the same material from the picture (which I thought was gorgeous) today.  I shall go forth and pattern cut in front of Revenge!