Saturday Routine and a Floral Tiered Skirt - All the things I made 2014

Good Morning! 

Another Saturday in our household, and that means 'Game Day' which my boys eagerly wait for each week!

We don't have any TV connection now ( 3 months and not missing it! ), so when Saturday rolls around, those boys are up early talking gaming and what each of them is going to do....

Me?, well I'm not a fan, as they always end up arguing and grumpy at the end of it, and it stretches on longer than I would like, but looking at the bigger picture it does give Mike and I some time-out of our own, and its only for Saturday, so right now I can live with that! 

Aren't you all sick of the Mummy guilts? They seem to come with the territory, and right now for me its the Gaming! I've never liked it, and I'm unlikely to in the near future, so who wouldn't want free time to sew? Knit? Garden for hours without interruption? 

Exactly! So I'm leaving the guilt behind, and I'll take what time I can get!

And one of those days last year, was spent making this skirt for my Lil Miss.

Made in a pretty cotton voile, it's my first tiered skirt, a nice easy sew and from the book 

Happy Homemade: Sew Chic Kids 

 

 Captured how she attempts to open the front door....despite it looking like 'Strike a pose'

I love that book! I must make some more clothes from it!

A few more items to add to the ever increasing list!

What about you? What's one of your mummy guilts? 

Is it really that bad?  

 

 

Slow down and Smell the Roses - Roadside Foraging

Do you look out for roadside fruit and flowers as you drive down country lanes?, or do you pop a pair of scissors in your pockets on that leisurely Saturday morning walk?

Well the later is my mum, always an opportunist when it comes to free plants! A good majority of her garden probably came from sneaky snips of cuttings and seeds taken from fence lines around my hometown! 

This mostly, embarrassed me tremendously, as a kid joining her on these walks....in my eyes it was stealing back then, but now that I'm older and wiser I see how it actually was rather clever of my mum, after all money was hard to come by being a single parent to three, though despite this she was still able to full fill her passion for gardening without spending a penny.

And that brings me to now, where I find myself searching the roadsides for freebies of my own.  Down in the Mt Ruapehu, where we last lived, is where my fruit tree seeking began, I knew every roadside apple tree there was on the country road between home and the boys school, though it took me two years to get over the imagined humiliation I felt for picking the apples! And now up here in the Winterless North, I have done the same thing, I'm always on the lookout for something on my numerous trips on our country roads, I guess you could call it another one of my past times.

Currently there's Peach trees nearly ready for picking, the last of the roadside Roses are finishing their bloom, which means Rosehips come after, and numerous flowers that have naturalized themselves amongst the long grass.....but I never stop unless Mikes with me.
Yesterday however I thought it was about time I changed that, who cares and 'Why not?'
I've said those last words to myself a lot lately, and it made me stop.  After all I was on the way home with only one child and I wasn't in a hurry to get back!   Slow down Laura!

So I picked some free flowers, and even pulled a few bulbs too! It was so freeing not care about the cars that drove past, and thanks to having plastic bags in the car ( for car sickness ), newspaper from the mailbox that hangs around, and water for the cars leaking radiator! I had just what I needed to keep them alive on the way home! I even had scissors, though I think I'll pack a pair permanently as I don't want to make a habit of using my sewing scissors!

Next on my list, is the Peaches, and then a bunch of Sweetpeas! And maybe I'll pack a spade too?!

So what about you? do you share the same passion for foraged goods?

My Appointment Baby Cardigan - 2/52 Things I've Made 2015

This little cardigan is my latest finish for this year!

It all started last year many months ago with the intention to be one of those quick and satisfying baby knits I enjoy!

But instead it was the knit that kept me busy at every hospital appointment we had in the last few months of 2014....it would come out every time I had to sit and wait and even got its own fan club in the doctors office!

I was told by one lady that I must show them

 all the finished product in the new year! hehe 

I love people getting enthusiastic about other peoples creations!!  

Talk about making me feel special!

So now its finished, and there's another appointment tomorrow, 

I'm wondering if I should pack it for show and tell?

Pattern: Lucille by Courtney Kelley

Knitted in: Shepherds 4ply Baby Merino

Recipient: A soon to be born, family member in the UK

 Background Fabric for: A soon to be dress, to accompany it!

City Gym Shorts - Slightly addictive! - All the things I made in 2014

A big thanks to Leonie from Kiwi At Heart for introducing me to the City Gym Shorts pattern by The Purl Bee!

I had been watching via Instagram, all of the different creations that Leonie had been sewing up for her girls, and in December I decided to give them a go for myself!

It started with the vintage floral sheet......

 then I added the gingham for the binding....

 and to top it off, a Rouleau tie.

 Since watching a number of episodes at my mums each weekend of The Great British Sewing Bee....loving it!! ( But we are now TV free ), I've been inspired to create and throw in a few old favourite techniques, and I hadn't used a Rouleau tie in a while.
in fact I'm quite tempted to take part in this challenge this year.....but more on that another time!

After that pair, I cut out two more pairs for her and two more for me, though I only managed to sew up another one before the Christmas rush. 

However, I'm so glad I did as I have got so much wear out of these!

Plus the size is bang on! I made one size larger than my hip measurement to account for my shapely derrière! hehe, and its perfect! 

My pair was made from a op-shop fabric find, as to not waste any good material...its the first place I find in the second hand shops! 

and with that success, I'm now keen to get the other pairs sewn up, as these are so comfortable to wear around the garden, and I just love to look at my little girl running around in these cute retro style shorts!

Ahhhh this girl, always with an apple in her hand!

So if you ever considered making some, I give the pattern a big thumbs up.  They have a lovely simple construction, apart from the binding being possibly a bit tricky for a beginner, the rest is plain sailing! 

Yellow striped Cricket Cardigan - All the things I made in 2014 Catchup

Now that I've personally committed myself to blogging a bit more frequently I thought its about time I showed you some of my creations that I made in 2014!

Lets just say most of 2014 was a family year of bonding! Not much time for anything else, and 2015 is looking a lot more brighter!

Moving onwards and upwards, but not forgetting all the lessons I've learned and of course the pretty creations I amazingly actually managed to make! I present one of those creations.  This sweet striped cardigan for my little girl!

 I don't know where the idea came from, but I just was yearning at the time for a yellow striped sunshine cardy!

 After knitting another striped cardy previously, which I'm yet to share...oops! Probably should have shared that first! Ohwell.....anyway it was that one, that got me started with the stripes and the glorious wool!! Knitsh Merino 4 ply! It knits up with the most beautiful drape! It's my favourite 4 ply and the colours! oh glorious! yes twice said because it really is!

  So I had my wool, but I just needed to find a, 4ply, Child's, long sleeve cardigan pattern, that fitted the bill! 

Easier said than done....there is a lot of 8ply patterns out there, but not a huge amount of straightforward 4ply knits! Just saying.....let me know if you know of one! Please...

 But I did find Cricket by Dandiliongirl Designs on Ravelry, It had some sweet details, like the stitch pattern across the shoulders and the pockets

and it allowed me to work my striped pattern...well apart from the pockets.....that took a bit of brain power to figure out an alternative to the construction.

 The buttons are a vintage set from Mikes grandmothers button jar (which I now own ), so I get what I get.....I may change these so that it closes probably all the way down this winter.....as I can't say I'm happy with how my button band turned out.  But otherwise I love how the yellow and gray semi solids knitted up together.....a bit of sunshine for those winter days

Oh and PS: Those goats are much bigger now! Gosh I love my goats! As does Lil Miss!

Joining up with my Favourite Regular 

 Leonie at Sunshine x 3 and Show and Tell

A Vintage Rehash of the Pillowcase dress! and 1/52 Things I made

First off, Helloooooooo! Its been awhile!

Second off....lets just get straight into it! Shall we? I've got a lot of catch up to fit in, haven't I?!

So just before Christmas I was inspired to see how much fabric I could use out of one pillowcase......re invent the pillowcase dress? Since Vintage pillowcases are a lot easier to find these days than sheets....well from my experience! And at 50 cents to a dollar each, its a great money saver as well!

So here's my version of the pillowcase dress!

Yes I know I added extra fabric....so technically its not all from one pillowcase....but in my defense I had to cut two bodices (after I stuffed up ), so my options were a bit slim...plus my little girl is 5, so one pillowcase would be stretching it a bit!

But honestly I love how this turned out, right down to the gingham skirt band! Which was just by chance that I had it in my stash and it added such a lovely touch!

 

The blue, is silk, also from my stash, and had been sitting around for awhile, so I thought why not? It teamed perfectly with the floral pillowcase, it was like it was meant to be!

 

The pattern I drafted by her measurements (hence a twice cut bodice) with a vintage style.....I just looove this back line on her!

She looks so sweet running around after our poor ducks! and walking down through our establishing food forest!

Love this photo of her in the long grass with her daddy in his bee suit in the background! 

And thank goodness I got photos of her in it before she was let loose amongst the goats! Shes quite a grubby Lil Miss, she gets right in the thick of it when she wants too! Oh and the earrings are of her own styling....shes recently found my mums old clip on earring collection!! 

Joining in with Clare at Green Valley Crafts

for 52 Things I made!

and Show and Tell with Leonie at Sunshine Leonie!