Bible Bag

On Friday, we started a project to make Elliot's bible bag. Well, today we made a dash to complete it. Unfortunately the dash was so efficient that we forgot the appliqué that was meant to go on the front of the flap! Luckily the bible fits...

The flap and the strap

The body of the bad

The bible fits! Phew...

Very happy with his new bag

The design that we were aiming for.

Prelude To A Long Weekend

It was always going to be a good day for the children. I woke up with no voice, and anything I squeaked out just made me sound like Scooby Doo. We got dressed for a very warm spring day with a top temperature of 33 degrees Celsius and set out for our first stop of the day, Costco. We had to replenish our weekly 9L supply of milk, stock up on snacks for our boating trip tomorrow and drinks for a party the following day.

Unbelievably, there was no traffic at 8.51 in the morning. This is unheard of for Sydney roads. Consequently, we arrived rather early at our destination. We took the opportunity to get poll parking position with the Costco carpark and strolled across the road to the conveniently placed Spotlight. We had things to purchase.

Elliot's much loved bible needed a cover. Having looked at the stock standard covers, we then decided that perhaps a bible bag might be better. The inspiration came from a pin on Pinterest. Luckily, instructions were included. We had Malcolm's old jeans to use, as well as Lara's old school uniform to recycle. All we needed was the magnetic snap closure.

Hopefully what Elliot's bag will look like when finished...

The bible that is to be protected

It was rather fun wandering around in Spotlight looking at buttons, various snap closures, materials, bits and pieces for arts and crafts. We ended up walking out with a glue gun prepared to make some hair bows for Lara and a flower corsage for me out of my old pyjamas...Stay tuned to see how far this whim goes!

Walking out of Spotlight with our loot

We headed back to Costco to line up for entry. We had our obligatory Costco lunch and churros after our shopping spree. It was then back home to start on our project. With all the pieces cut out, we needed to wait for Daddy to make our way up north to Oma's house to borrow her sewing machine. Alas, when we got there, we discovered that we forgot to bring our keys! So no sewing for today. Once again, stay tuned for the results of the bible bag!

Costco rope drop!

I don't know why I keep taking photos of churros...I can't help it!

Cutting up daddy's old jeans

Is child labour illegal?!?!

Time to chop up Lara's old uniform for the lining

We went back home and picked Malcolm's grandfather up along the way for a dinner of butter chicken and roti. Everyone loved it! Its an early night tonight in for another big day tomorrow.

Butter chicken, roti and beans

Someone enjoying it just a touch too much!

The Inner Bohemian

I bought this beautiful book over a year ago. It is filled with gorgeous designs that are colourful and perfect for children. It is very much clothes that are not "mini adult" like which I love. Equipped with the Farbenmix patterns, I embarked on an ambitious project of making a reversible jacket with a matching multi-layered skirt. My mother was kind enough to accompany us me on many visits to the Spotlight and Lincraft sourcing materials and trim. Lara was to be the lucky recipient.

One of my many purchases from Amazon UK when they offered free shipping to Australia

One year later, the project is finally finished! Hallelujah! It had been a struggle as the many trims were quite fiddly and I gave up many times. It was a relief to complete it and that it still fit Lara with room to grow!

The back of the jacket

The "other" side of the jacket

The matching skirt

The Next Project

After a long hiatus and having had the time to marvel at Irene's phenomenal Nemo costume, I have decided to embark on my second sewing project. I settled on a pretty summer skirt. There will certainly be no time pressure to complete this project in a hurry! I picked a pattern from the multiple books that I bought from Amazon.co.uk and took my mother-in-law along for a fabric shopping expedition at the mega Spotlight in Auburn. I was quickly reminded of the reason that I BUY my clothes. Fabric is not cheap in Australia! At least not the ones that I was interested in...

Sew Serendipity, one of the MANY books purchased thanks to Amazon UK's free delivery to Australia offer

I bit the bullet and chose some fabrics. This had better be a skirt that looked different from anything that can be purchased from the shops! The paper for the pattern has been picked up from my mother's and I learnt that mother-in-law owns a ruffler attachment. Bonus! No more gathering ruffles by hand. I'm set to go. I am posting this to keep myself accountable and not shove the project aside. Let's see how long I take...

Pretty in blue hopefully...

Life After A Big Disney Trip

The few weeks after our big trip were particularly difficult. I had multiple tasks to complete whilst combating the post Disney blues. The biggest one, which was completing my trip report, has been achieved! I have also completed our photo book. However, the photo sorting and culling continues...I am grateful that we have already purchased tickets for our trip to Hong Kong in May, for otherwise I fear that the hum-drum of everyday life would have killed me. Not that I give myself a good chance of leading a hum-drum life.

Not content with my already long list of to-dos, I decided that I want to be able to make my own clothes. I was inspired by the creations of a fellow cruiser. She had sewn amazing outfits with Disney themed materials for her children. How hard can it be?!?!? So I impulsively purchased a book with gorgeous designs for little girls (from the US of course) and settled on making a matching top and pants set for Lara. I then encountered my first problem. I had no equipment and zero know how. Mother came to the rescue! We went shopping together to pick out some material and she promised to assist me with my project. I went home and read my new sewing book. I started to wonder what I had gotten myself into.

My new book

The pretty (but expensive!) materials

I was feeling overwhelmed and I hadn't even started yet. On my third weekend as an on-call widow, I bit the bullet and decided to finish my project come what may. I had cut out the patterns and washed the material. It was time to put it together. I gathered the children and headed over to Mother's. She had all the equipment...The child minding came in the form of Father.

The pattern

Tracing and cutting

I devoted every spare moment on that rainy weekend to sewing. Progress was slow but I was intent on completing my task. My patience and skills were sorely tested with the use of elastic threads and multiple gathers that were involved. On Saturday night, it had got to the point where I had sewed the same line twice unsatisfactorily. It was 1 am and I had to call it quits. The children found it amusing that I too had a "sleepover" at Oma's.

Halfway through...or so I thought!

I didn't realise how tired I was on Saturday until I sewed on Sunday. Everything seemed so much easier! I was in good spirits as the end was in sight. I finally finished just after lunch. With great excitement, I called upon my model for a fitting. It fit! Hurray!!!! I was very happy with my first effort. However, I am not sure that I could ever sew at home with the multiple distractions. It would also mean an investment in a whole lot of equipment. Hmmm...

Voila!

My flower power girl!

I now have more things on my list to purchase from the US