Some pig

My son needs a doorstop as his bedroom door has a tendency to swing shut on its own, and the door handle is WAY above his reach. The house came with a heavy weight at this door for this reason. It's functional but ugly. And as I was painting a farm scene for his walls I just knew what he really needed was a pig doorstop. Of course! A quick search of the internet didn't bring up anything suitable, so it was a case of back to the drawing board! I already had a suitable test fabric, stuffing, felt, pellets etc. So here is my test pig:
His snout is a little wonky, and he is not quite heavy enough. I planned to insert the weight into the base of his body, but a last minute change to the foreleg design didn't allow enough room for this. His weight from the pellets is enough to keep him sitting upright. I think he needs to be made from a heavier fabric to handle the weight inside too.
Still he is rather cute, and now I have to urge to embroider a spiders web onto a cushion for Charlotte to join him...

WIP (more cubby shots)

These are views from three (mostly assembled) walls of the card table cubby. It's probably now quite obvious that it has a garage/workshop/service station theme!

Still to do - A tool box pocket, shop sign, stuffed spanner, letterbox and then sew the roof panel on!

Tagged!

Karen from http://www.and-so-i-sew.blogspot.com/ has tagged me to reveal some things about myself!
So here are the rules;
A. Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves.
B. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog...

So here goes...
I am a reforming small-time hoarder. I grew up in a household where stuff was fixed, not thrown out, and kept because ‘it might come in handy one day’. I think this is good, but within reason! So I am working hard to simplify my home and life and enjoying some clear spaces as a result! (leading to a self imposed fabric buying ban until some more projects are completed, though I found a loop hole-I can start something new if I already have the materials required in my stash-hence my new purse in the previous post! :D)

I grew up in Melbourne, but have been living in various parts of country Victoria since I went away to University. Part of me would love to return to the convenience of the city, but we are pretty settled where we are, and it is a great place to raise our son. I make do with visits to my Mum and Dad when we can.

As a teenager in the 80’s I was known for my tendency to whip up a new top or pants on Friday after school and be snipping the threads off as I was walking out the door in them an hour or two later. This stemmed from a lack of funds to buy new fashions and access to an abundance of fabrics in Mum’s stash. I can recall making a hooded top, a colour blocked and polka dot t-shirt, loud board shorts, and white leggings, amongst other things!

I think I have craft-related ADD. I have heaps of things on the go and will still see inspiration somewhere and go off on a tangent. I am trying to complete the card table cubby, yet instead in the past 24 hours I have made a purse and am fighting the urge to make some felt mice, an ugly doll, cabbage patch clothes and new shorts for my boy, following a few EB posts that have caught my eye. Focus girl!

I met my husband at a B’n’S Ball on the eve of the new millennium. I’d never been to one before but stepped outside my comfort zone had a fantastic time. Plus, the middle of nowhere with no electricity seemed a good place to be if all the electronics in the world were going to meltdown at midnight. Of course they didn’t. I’ve never drank so much rum before or since…

I unexpectedly went into premature labour at 33 weeks, leading to two ambulance rides, steroid shots, unsuccessful attempts to halt labour and my son arriving early the next morning. Luckily he was pretty healthy and came home 3.5 weeks later. Midwives discovered a potentially dangerous partial vasa previa when the placenta was delivered, and the general consensus was that he was better out than in. Not exactly the birth I had hoped for, but a beautiful healthy baby boy at the end.

I want to go to Canada to see the polar bears, and Italy to see as much as possible.

Last year we drove across the Nullabor to WA, our last holiday as just the two of us. We LOVED Wave Rock at Hyden and all the caves near Margaret River. We toured three in a day and the next day I could hardly walk. SO many steps…phew.

Well done if you’re still reading after that essay! I’m not sure who to tag yet so I’ll have to edit that bit in later.

New Purse!

I was checking out the Flickr group of 'Bend the rules sewing' and was loving the purse/wallet designs. They were all so cute but didn't have enough space for my bits and pieces, and I don't have the book yet either, but I was inspired to tackle a new purse anyway. My old one is pretty shabby.Here is my finished purse. I added the metal clip, in case I want to attach my keys to it in future
I sewed on some clear plastic from Spotlight (that was left over from another project) to make the pockets for photos and frequently used cards!
I carry quite a lot of cards, so here is the opened out purse, with about four cards in each pocket, and a pencil, just because I had room for it! I put in the hook and loop to prevent the whole thing opening during day-to-day use, as the cards in here are only needed fortnightly or less.
I needed to have a space for notes as not all our shops here have eftpos available so its good to have cash as well. The only thing missing is a really secure place for coins. We'll see how it goes and I may need to modify it later.
I kind of made it up as I went along, using whatever scraps I could find in my stash. I'm almost embarrassed to say that the fabrics are an old skirt and a cheap sheet (too cheap to ever have been slept on).

It certainly kept me busy last night and this morning. I gave it a test run at the shops this afternoon and so far, so good.

Wednesday WIP

Last night I made a big dent in the designs for the nephew's card table cubby. The parts below will be spread around three sides of the cubby. I am pleased with it so far, as the bucket and the fuel pump nozzle were very fiddly but have come up pretty much as I imagined. The bucket is a pocket, and the fuel pump has a pocket for the nozzle and a pocket on the front for the price of today's fuel. Hehehe. :)I hope BIL and SIL like that the card table cubby can be pretty compact when not in use, unlike lots of bulky kids stuff!

Still a few more parts to go but we are half way there. Yay!

Some completed projects

It seems blogging a few incomplete projects has helped a bit. Typing out what needed to be done really emphasised how close to finished some items were. So here is the completed cushion, sitting on the newly recovered chair. I called it my Cinderella chair as it is covered with a random patchwork of scraps! My folks came to visit for the weekend and Mum brought a pattern book with her. It was 'Kwik-Sew -Sewing for Toddlers', and once I got past the lovely 80's styling I found some great basics. I have been looking for a simple raglan t-shirt and there was one in the book. Unsure of the sizing, I traced off and made up the smallest shirt to work out the fit. It does fit but I think I will use the next size up for his Summer clothes. Still, the mock up turned into the perfect PJ top to go with last months froggy PJ pants! (Just don't look at the three quarter length sleeves!. My mistake, I think the pattern allows for ribbing to increase the arm length! Good Spring length anyway don't you think!!) I am also looking forward to making the 'hoodie' jacket.
Mum solved my stretch fabric pucker issue when she helped me fit the walking foot. I haven't taken it off yet as it is just so handy with all the funny little projects I've got going on!

Some more half done projects...

Perhaps if I put these things up here it will motivate me to complete them! The cushion only needs a backing that can be opened to remove and replace the insert. Don't know why I've put it off for so long when it's quite a small job really.

The wall hanging needs lots of hand stitching and I have decided to put together a kit of the necessary bits so I can gradually get it done while in waiting rooms, on long trips, lazy nights on the couch etc. The little froggy panel started as an idea for a bag, but I have lost my way with it. Hopefully will be able to post some more finished items soon!