Summer PJs

A few posts back I mentioned that I had received a shipment of fabrics from David Walker's Oh Boy! collection. It's full of really cute prints for boys featuring dinosaurs, vehicles, stripes, circles and great colours. I also mentioned that I wanted to make Thomas some pjs out of one of the fabrics.

Well, my list of sewing projects is about as long as my arm at the moment, and it seems to be growing each day, so my lovely Mum took one thing off my list and made Thomas these very cute summer pjs, using Animals Allover in White. All I had to do was make the button holes and sew on the buttons. I'd never used the buttonhole function on my sewing machine before, but since it was all automatic it was really quite fun. Must try it again sometime, or maybe I should get Thomas to do it since he seems magnetically attracted to the dials on my sewing machine...

Anyway, these pjs took just over 1m of fabric to make, and are a large size 2 I would have said. I think Mum used a pattern, but I'm not sure of its details. Still, I'm sure any of the major pattern brands would have something similar.

A tee pee for Thomas

We live in a very small house that is in need of a lot of work. Ever since we moved in last March I have been dying to do up Thomas's room so that he has somewhere lovely to sleep and hang out doing boy stuff. Unfortunately other things, like rotten weatherboards, the fabrication suite and the garden, have taken up any spare time we have for renovating and we haven't gotten to his room yet.

So, to make up for it I wanted to give Thomas a Christmas present that would go some way towards brightening up his room and making his space a bit more toddler friendly. And since his favourite game still seems to be peek-a-boo I decided that a tee pee would be the perfect thing. He could hide in it, read books in it when he gets older, and generally have a wee space of his own.

I had seen a pattern for one ages ago in a Your Home & Garden magazine but of course when I went to look for it in my stack of mags I couldn't find it. Luckily, the lovely Fiona at YH&G was more than happy to email me a copy of the pattern so I set to work.

The tee pee takes quite a bit of fabric (just over 4m in total - I used curtain/upholstery fabric from Fabric House here in Christchurch) and you also need a few other bits and bobs, like dowel rods, some ribbon and a few beads, but it is very easy to make. Basically you just cut out your triange-shaped sides, stitch them together, add your strips for the poles and whack a hem around the top and bottom and you're done.

And, the result is fabulous - a tee pee that fits one small person very easily (at a pinch you can almost fit one small person and his mummy and daddy, or as in the bottom photo, his Gran and Great Aunty), it's portable, easy to erect, and is a great play hut for inside or out. Today we finally had some sun so I moved it outside for him. Unfortunately the wind meant that playtime was quite short lived because it kept blowing over (luckily not while Thomas was in it though!)

The only problem now is keeping hold of our pillows, cushions and visitors - they all seem to be dragged into the tee pee for a lie down and a story!

It's all gibberish to me!

Hi friends of the fabrication blog, I'm back! It feels like an eternity since I last sat at my computer tippy-tapping away on the keys writing a post, but actually it's only been a month. Still, far too long. I have blog post ideas coming out my ears, but finding the time to post them is the trouble at the moment. What with Christmas, New Year, family arriving home from overseas for a very much anticipated wedding, painting our shed, and doing all those other bits and bobs that you do on holiday I just haven't found the time. But, since I'm back at work tomorrow after a lovely break I thought it about time that I put an end to my absence and let you all know that I'm still here.

So, tonight I just wanted to let you know about my friend Lauren who has started up a wee enterprise called "Gibberish". She makes fabulous hand screen printed tea towels and cushion covers with quirky sayings on them like the ones in the pic above. She's very talented and lovely to boot, so I just wanted to spread the word on her products. They are very reasonably priced (only $10 for a huge tea towel) so if you're interested then please flick Lauren an email at gibberishgifts@yahoo.co.nz, I'm sure she'd love to hear from you.

A x

p.s. Just arrived in stock are some gorgeous japanese fabrics by Hokkoh from their Wa Nouveau collection. Check them out at the fabrication.co.nz shop now.

To market, to market ...

I received an email today from a lovely lady I met at Stash reHash inviting me to have a stall at a local school's fair next March. As you can imagine, I was absolutely thrilled with the invitation - how lovely that someone would hunt me down and ask me to join their fair! Anyway, pending any unforseen double-bookings I'm pretty sure that I'll be there. More details on that to come once I've confirmed ...

But, it made me wonder about what other fairs / markets there are out there that I could be taking my wares along to. I had already decided that next year I want to attend more markets, especially after the fun I had at Stash reHash, but I have to confess to being a bit in the dark as to what options are out there. Given I'll probably only be selling fabrics (but maybe the odd bit and bob that I've made too) I don't want to go along to just any old market and find that either people aren't interested in sewing, or they only want to buy rubbish at bargain basement prices. I guess that was why Stash reHash was so good - hundreds of fabricaholics all in one room - the perfect target audience.

Anyway, I would love to hear from you if you have any suggestions of good markets / fairs that you've been to in the past and think a Fabrication stall would do well at. And, don't feel you have to limit your suggestions to Christchurch or Canterbury markets - I love a good roadtrip, so I'm happy to travel around the spectacular South Island. So, if you know of any markets or fairs that you think might be up my alley, please don't be shy, just either post a comment, or if you can't be bothered with the signing in palava, then email me at annie@fabrication.co.nz. Thanks!

Finally, something for the boys!

Anyone who has boys knows that the fashion world just does not cater for them, and sadly, more often than not neither does the fabric world. But, David's Walker's Oh Boy! collection puts an end to that. This collection for little boys is just gorgeous ... beautiful summer colours and not a skull or cross bones in sight! I have had a couple of fabrics from this collection in for a while (Transport in Gold, Wheels in Brown and Animals in Green) but finally with the arrival of a new shipment on Friday I've got the rest of the fabrics that I ordered. There are dinosaurs, bears, monkeys, cars, trucks, trains and all those things that boys love, plus a stripe, and they're all available now at fabrication.co.nz.

My mind has been in creative overdrive trying to decide what to make with these prints, but I've settled on some summer pjs for Thomas, not only because the weather is finally starting to warm up here and it's getting too hot for flannelette, but mainly because his wee wrists are so chubby that I have a very hard time getting his current pjs over them. Now I just have to decide which of the new fabrics to make them from (no mean feat!) and find the time, something I'm sorely lacking at the moment ...  

Day 12: Mini Photo Album

Today, for the last day of Fabrication's Twelve Days of Christmas, I thought I'd do something nice and simple, since the days until Christmas are ticking away, but also something that is a perfect present for just about anyone - a mini photo album.

I took the idea from Amy Butler's book Little Stitches for Little Ones. This book is full of totally gorgeous presents for babies and new parents. I developed a love affair with it the first time I saw it - all the beautiful projects, the stunning fabrics, the cute babies! Anyway, I just had to have it and it's been a wonderful purchase. Everything I have made out of it has been a hit, so if you're looking for a great craft book and you know lots of people having babies, this one is for you.

I've made my brag book for Thomas  rather than to give away (so I didn't put a love heart applique on the front cover like the pattern called for), since I've been a very remiss mother and despite having more photos of him than we know what to do with, I've never managed to get them printed and put into an album. So, I thought I'd rectify that a tiny bit by putting this book together for him, full of all his favourite people. I used David Walker's Transport in Gold for the covers which is very cute and goes with the boy theme. Hopefully he'll like it! And, since he's too little to care yet, he won't notice that I didn't always do the best job of making sure the photos on both sides of the card were in exactly the same place, so my stitching is a little bit off on the reverse pictures ... oh well, if it's perfect it's not handmade ...

So, that's it, Fabrication's Twelve Days of Christmas is over for 2009! Thanks to everyone who's been following this blog and for all the comments and emails. It's so nice to know that people are reading this and enjoying the daily posts. Think I'll take a bit of a break for a couple of days now ... see you all again soon, and Merry Christmas!

Day 11: Matroyshka Doll

I have always been in love with Matroyshka Dolls and have long dreamed of having a set. The reason I haven't yet is because I have this romantic notion that if I'm going to get some they should be the genuine article, bought in Russia of course. However, given I'm unlikely to get to Russia anytime soon I decided that I'd make myself a stuffed Matroyshka Doll instead, based on some on the front of a card I bought recently. 

I made my Matroyshka Doll using Lecien's Pale Spots as the base fabric, then used Jennifer Paganelli's Marie in Sky for the scarf and Tania Wheelan's Picnic Damask in Red for the apron. I wanted my doll to be able to stand by herself, so I made her with a base and filled the bottom of her with rice, and I interfaced the front, back and bottom so she'd keep her shape. Her face and hair are made from felt and I drew on her features using fabric paint. Unfortunately while she was sitting out in the sun waiting for her face paint to dry she fell from a great height and smudged her makeup. Luckly felt is very forgiving and I was able to tidy her up a bit. She was great fun to make so I think I'll have to make a few more, decreasing in size of course, and given the way Thomas has taken to her I think he'll be needing a set of his own too...

As you can see from the photos above, dolls and other handmade toys make fantastic gifts for kids and they are so much nicer than something made of plastic. If you're looking for inspiration, check out the gorgeous Melly & Me patterns. Thomas got given a lovingly handmade Mrs Perkins the Giraffe for Christmas last year and he took to it like he has the Matroyshka doll. Melly & Me patterns are available in NZ from lots of fabric stores (unfortunately though not from Fabrication just yet), and are a great way to use up scraps of fabric, or even better, they're a great excuse to go out and buy some more.