Happy Birthday to Me

What a perfect weekend! The awesome things that have happened to me....

I got a year older (27)

I got my pink car!

I was featured at TSWL (thank you so much Lelanie!!)

and...

I got engaged!

(oh and a free rental from DVD shop hehe - I chose the Chris Lilley Miniseries "Australian of the Year")

If you know of any great wedding blogs to look out for, please let me know! hehe So much to plan... so exciting!

Cert IV Series Part Tiga - Toile-ing Away!

And now for the next (and favourite) post of the series, I present to you 'Dessert Time'...

This requirements for our final garment were that it had to be a capsule wardrobe (at least two pieces), incorporate screen printed fabric of our own design and print, use at least one fabric source internationally, and one interstate. To me, it was my last opportunity to learn to do elements that I loved.

Here are some in-progress shots of the toile creation. (I ended up purchasing my dummy as it was padded to my measurements! - I call her The Bumblebee)

The process of creating the toiles was at times laborious, but felt very rewarding. The panic starts to set in when it gets made into the fabric! Oh and waiting for the international fabric to arrive!

Before our last term commenced, we had one week of holidays to construct any required undergarments. I spent the week working on this:

Huge thanks to Trista at Sugardale for her tutorial that I followed.

For the next post in the series, I will put up pictures of the finished garment; maybe even some of me wearing it ;) 

A Hoy Hoy! Simplicity 2497 Up Ahead!

Recently I was in Spotlight, buying scrapbooking card stock to make my butterflies. Never able to resist a good pattern sale, I pulled over the Simplicity folder and began to browse. Inside I came across this: Simplicity 2497. I knew I needed it. I love the Cynthia Rowley patterns I have seen,  I think I'm going to have to look into her more! I love the ruffle of the neckline, but as I browsed for fabric to suit, I came across a striped cotton drill. That gave me the inspiration to do view 'B' instead!

I finally finished the dress today, which incidentally happens to be the day before my birthday! Yay me I have a new dress to wear tomorrow now ^__^.

I decided to change the skirt style from being gathered to having pleats instead. I did this by eyeballing and pinning the fabric to my dressmakers dummy. I'm happier with this styling as visually, I prefer pleating. I really like the blousy-ness of the bodice, but the jury is out on the sleeves. I kinda think for this styling sleeveless would have perhaps looked better. I decided to add the shoulder embellishment with the gold buttons also, as I thought the red needed a bit of balancing out.

I really love having the contrast fabric pockets! I have a clipping of Lauren Conrad wearing a playsuit that had a cute fabric contrast pocket as I love that little extra playfulness. 

I have recently fallen in love with wearing brooches. I love that extra bit of zazzle that you can add to your clothing to bring your outfit to the next level. That in mind, I set out to find a brooch in the shape of a ships' wheel. Now, I didn't really see any I fell in love with... until I saw this anchor:

Thank-you, eBay! Hopefully it gets here before I go away on holiday to Supanova as a challenge I set for myself was to wear something I've made each day I'm away.... This will certainly help me to achieve this goal hehe.

Anyway, I recommend this pattern most definitely! Funnily enough, most of the dresses I saw when I googled the pattern were with the ruffled collar. But you can bet I will be one of those people - one day soon!

New: I cut off the sleeves! See how it looks now... (full post here).

And as you can see I got my anchor brooch... Yay me! I prefer the sleeveless look... what do you think?

Pay It Forward...

I first came across the concept on Facebook... And I fell in love with it. I really like the idea of making something and passing it onto someone who would genuinely want something handmade by me. When I saw one of my favourite bloggers, Lelanie of To Sew With Love; offer the opportunity to receive a lovely handmade gift from her, of course I jumped on it!


The rules are simple:

I promise something handmade to the FIRST 5 people who leave a comment here. However, to be eligible, you must re-post this message, offering something handmade to 5 other people. The rules are that it must be handmade by you, and it must be sent to your 5 giftees sometime in 2011.

And so I put it to you... If you would like to receive a handmade gift by me, please leave a comment below! I will be in touch to get your postage details.


I was very excited when I got home from work to find a parcel addressed to me from Spain. I've never gotten one from Spain before! Eagerly removing the post bag, it revealed a lovely parcel wrapped in brown paper, tied with a pink ribbon (and I suspect a little love!) I wanted to share with everyone the lovely gifts I received from TSWL...

Before I oohed and aaahed over my gifts, I read the sweet hand written note. The gifts inside the parcel were:

• A lovely purse that she even has a tutorial on how to create on her blog. I tell myself the one she made for me is the actual one made in her tutorial. It might not be, but it gives me a small thrill to think so!
• Two hair clips that are very sturdy and well-made (my other half thought they looked like lollypops!)
• A little notebook and pen, which has already come in handy...!
• aaaand if that wasn't enough(!) also a voucher for 10% off in her etsy store - To Sew With Love the store

If you haven't already visited To Sew With Love, please do! You will be glad you did.

Butterfly Clips Tutorial

Recently I was visiting my parents, and reading their magazines (as you do!). In the letters page of Take 5 Magazine, I came across reference to an article from an issue sometime last year. It was a small picture, to be sure. I squinted away and read the instructions, the font about sz 1. Talk about super-small! But I knew I had to try their crafty project! I loved the end result, and I really wanted to share it with you all too. The instructions and wording for the tutorial are my own, however there is no-way I could have done it without their inspiration!

The templates were drawn by myself free-handed, if you're feeling adventurous you could do the same! Alternatively, I have created a PDF file with the templates and written instructions.

Download Printable Instructions

Letter | A4

You will need:
Butterfly wing templates Mini Bulldog Clips Decorative/Scrapbooking paper (sturdy is best) Scissors Pencil Hot Glue Gun

Select the paper that you would like to use for the wings. This is the best part! Pink and purple are my favourite colours, and I loved the sheet-music styling.

I played around a little with the colour/pattern combinations until I found what I liked.

Using the hot glue gun, place a line of glue onto the back of the bulldog clip. I brought my clips at Smiggle, I love their funky colours! Make sure that the arms of the clip are folded back like the image below, so they won't get in the way. Press and hold the clip in place until the glue sets, ensuring good contact between paper and clip.

Place a line of glue down the centre of the large wings, and press the smaller set of wings firmly in place until the glue sets.

Go ahead and create your army butterfly farm! I've never worked with scrapbooking paper before, but I was delighted with the fact that have not one, but two different themes! Tres chic. And so you can make so many different combinations easily.

To attach to items, simply fold back the bulldog clip arms so they are touching the paper wings. Then clip away to your heart's content! They would look great adorning a gift... Can you imagine receiving a brown paper package tied with ribbon and a butterfly on top? I can...

Hopefully you have just as much fun as I did creating the butterflies. Very easy and very satisfying! Please let me know if you enjoyed the tutorial or if you have any problems with it!

Knowing Me, Knowing You II

Thanks to the lovely ladies of TSWL, you get to learn more about me. Don't forget to thank them ;)

Older photo... before love of balloons exploded hehe

1. What's your most favorite household chore?

Urm... None of them? Maybe feeding the cats as they are my cheeky babies and I like to make them happy (and stopping the cacophony!), but they do try to trip me as they run full-pelt past my legs as I go to feed them.

2. What's your least favorite household chore?

Turning off all the electrical goods in the evening (as my other half conveniently falls asleep and I have to do it 95% of the time!

3. Coffee or tea?

Coffee... but I do like to make it into ice coffee by using a smidge of hot water, as I do not like hot drinks.

4. Fried chips/french fries or boiled/steamed broccoli?

Mmm... Chips and gravy is my favourite! (unfortunately)

5. Your most favorite time of the day?

That moment when sleep overtakes you after a long tiresome day, or that magical moment when any craft or sewing project is possible!

6. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear "sunday mornings"?

"Don't wake me at least until 9:00" is my standard Saturday evening instructions to my other half! haha

Get the blog-hop code here. I look forward to meeting new people!Thanks TSWL for giving me this sharing opportunity!