Townmouse

Owl Halloween costume

As in previous years, the children and I got into the Halloween spirit.  I carved some pumpkins, put some orange balloons on our fence and got our bowl of treats ready on the hall table. Halloween is big in our neck of the woods, because our streets are full of young families.  And the children in those families aren't going to pass up the opportunity to amass a large quantity of free sweets.

I borrowed some inspiration from Pinterest.  As you can see, this costume idea is by no means my original design.  But I happened to have a pretty selection of owl coloured fabrics and I couldn't resist replicating it.

I made a little feather template that was 4 inches wide and 5 inches long.  I grabbed a handy Townmouse tee, set my machine to zigzag and got to work.  This little outfit took about 30 minutes to construct.  The owl eyes were cut out of my very handy patternmaking card and stuck to an old pair of sunglasses.

Teamed with some grey leggings, Adelaide was good to go.

Now I think it's time for a bowl of pumpkin soup!

Townmouse t-shirt and bodysuit clearance sale

Here's an offer just for my lovely blog readers at present.

I'm clearing out our garage and want to get rid of my remaining stock of t-shirts and bodysuits.  I've created a little Big Cartel store.

So if you want to pick up some lovely quality, pure cotton tees or onesies, now is your chance. I don't have a huge amount of stock left in certain sizes so grab them while you can.

The more you buy, the cheaper they get, and I'm shipping anywhere in the world.

Adelaide wears a tee to bed every night as a pyjama top, as well as on most days.  For those of you handy with fabric (as a lot of my blog readers are) you may like to add your own embellishment to these tees and onesies.  I've called my Big Cartel store The Blank Canvas - because these tees and onesies make a perfect blank canvas.

So think Christmas stocking fillers, affordable gifts for your children's friends, pyjamas.

And the Townmouse bodysuits make gorgeous gifts for newborn babies.  Stock up and keep a few in your sewing room for when your friends have bubs.  I have many, many customers who use my bodysuits as their go-to gift for friends' bubs.

This offer will be sent to my mailing list later in the week, so I expect the stock will diminish quickly at that point.  Quick, go, follow this link.

A winter shirt

It's been a long while since I've done any dressmaking.  This is my first for the year.

This is one of my favourite Townmouse winter top patterns. Adelaide has worn this a lot in other fabrics and sizes.

This is a pretty Lecien fabric I bought a while ago.  Adelaide has cardigans in red and blue which will work well over this top.

Simple crochet scarf

There was plenty of down-time at Three Hummock Island in the evenings.  While the family chilled out in front of the fire my fingers were busy making this.

It's a very simple pattern, inspired by this image.  The pattern for which can be found in this book.

I didn't have the pattern so just winged it.  Three chain, one double crochet/treble crochet, three chain, etc.

I found some cute little badges for Adelaide at the Red Hill Market on Easter Saturday.  It helps make the scarf a little more interesting.

The yarn was a Rowan Amy Butler wool cotton blend.  I think it would be more cuddly in a pure wool or cashmere. But this was all I had on hand when we quickly packed to go away.  Perhaps another one is in my future.

Quick children's pyjamas

There are two things I have a lot of in my studio: t-shirts and fabric.  Put the two together and you have a pair of children's pyjamas in no time at all.

Corrie has been making pyjama pants for her little ones.  She inspired me to do the same.  This pattern I use for the pyjama bottoms in my range.  The pants are super easy.  I did away with the side seams to make the making that little bit quicker.

I whipped up these pants in under 8 minutes.  Yes, they're that quick.  My tip is to stitch the waistband elastic into a circle before you sew it into the pants.  That way you don't need to pass it through the waistband channel on a safety pin (like most commercial patterns tell you to).  Simply fold the top of the pants over the elastic to form the waistband channel, enclosing the elastic as you go.  This way is a little harder to master, as you have to wrestle with the elastic a little, but it's super quick.

Adelaide is excited about her new pyjamas.  After this little try-on this morning she laid them out on her bed all ready for this evening.

A year of crafting

The year just passed was a very busy one in our family.  There was less time for crafting than I'm used to.

There was more dressmaking than quilting.

Adelaide has been the main beneficiary of my sewing endeavours.  

Here's to a productive 2012 for us all.

Last stitching for 2011

Before we packed the car and headed for the beach I just had to sew one last-minute skirt for Adelaide.

It was prompted by the Christmas Eve purchase of these cute grey shoes from a French brand newly available in Melbourne.

So while Adelaide slept and the boys and Will were out of the house I pulled this pretty grey Lecien fabric from my stash.

Adelaide approves and the skirt was happily worn with her new favourite shoes.

Henri is very handy to have around when photographing Adelaide.  He keeps her distracted long enough to get a good shot, and always obliges with a smile.

One more Liberty sundress

Thankfully Christmas has come upon us in a rather stress-free fashion this year.  Not churning out Townmouse orders until the last Christmas mail has certainly helped.

The only moment of panic was when I went to turn on the larger of my two ovens this morning to cook turkey for 10, only to find it non-responsive.  I had visions of driving to my mother's with a basted turkey on the passenger seat.

The crisis was averted when 11 year old Max asked, "What does 'Auto' mean?"  I'd set the clock the other day and, when pushing buttons randomly, had set something awry.  Thank goodness for that.  Max was congratulated for saving the moment and was rewarded with free reign to eat the chocolate Christmas baubles on the tree.

Well, he'd had tic-tacs for breakfast, so he was on a roll.  Why not eat chocolate before lunch.

This Liberty sundress was perfect for our hot and humid Christmas day.  I made this on Christmas Eve while we waited for the boys to fall asleep before putting the presents under the tree.  The dress will come in handy for January at the beach.

I also made a little bikini bottom in my favourite fabric.

There is a matching sunhat in the works too.  That I plan to finish on Boxing Day.

I hope you and your families had a lovely Christmas day.  I, for one, am very much looking forward to a slower pace over the next few weeks.  Enjoy the last few days of 2011!

A Christmas dress

I picked up this pretty Yuwa fabric the other day.  I'm always a sucker for a fabric with pops of red.

I've been meaning to make this dress style for Adelaide for ages.  I think this style is cutest on two year olds so I was keen to make it for this summer.

That pop of red always looks cute with red shoes.

Adelaide seems happy enough in her new dress.  Surprisingly she let me photograph her which is a rare thing.  Normally I only get the back shots as she makes a quick getaway.

Of course I got plenty of those too.

I dropped my beautiful portrait lens the other day.  While it is in for expensive repairs I'm having to settle for average photos with my standard lens.  Very frustrating and can't wait to get my favourite lens back.

Sewing plackets

I'm not sure why, but I love sewing plackets.  

There's something about cutting right through the middle of your garment, and then putting a neat little placket over the top to make it alright again.

They're fiddly, and require patience.  I use Liesl's excellent instructions from her Jump Rope Dress (as my own patterns come without instructions).

I'm not sure if this is a nightie or a dress.  It is inspired by this top.  I will have to wait to see it on Adelaide before I decide.

I'm not that happy with the sleeves.  I think I'll have to redraft them so they go all the way around the armhole - more like the top that inspired this one.  I'm not very good at drafting sleeves.  I might have to drag out an old patternmaking book for a bit of guidance.

Until I perfect the sleeve, I can see this is going to be a nightie.  

Oh, and the fabric is a Lecien print from the "Princess Rose" collection.

See more creative endeavours over here.

 

More Liberty sundresses

It's official.  I have an all-time favourite Liberty.

This Liberty in the Tatum print has enough pink to satisfy Adelaide, and enough blue to keep me very happy.  So a win-win, which is why I have another few metres of it in transit from the UK as I type.

This dress is a Townmouse pattern from the last few summers. (You can pick it up on sale in other fabrics here.)

This is my contribution to Adelaide's summer wardrobe so far.

Let's see, there's this linen sundress from a few ranges back.  I kept the sample that my little muse wore in the photograph. There's yesterday's flutter top, a sundress with flutter sleeves from a few weeks back, a wrap skirt and coordinating t-shirt; and there's even a pair of Oliver + S Puppetshow Bloomers hiding at the back in a blue spotted fabric.

There they are.

I must say, it is so lovely to have reduced my workload this year. This is why I wanted to be able to free up some time - to enjoy sewing for my children before they are too grown up to appreciate what I make. Please excuse me if I overload you with frivolous Liberty creations. There's a lot of pent-up sewing in me that needs to come out. (There's also a sizeable Liberty stash that needs decreasing.)

I even made something for myself last night.  That will have to wait for another post as I haven't hemmed it yet.

My first cloth doll

With Christmas coming up I had the idea that I'd like to make Adelaide a cloth doll with its own wardrobe of clothes.

Inspired by Fiona's fabulous Hop, Skip, Jump book, I pulled out some fabrics and set to work.

I used the Poppy doll pattern, which I received from Fiona a long time ago, but never got around to making up.  It's a lovely pattern with very easy instructions for the first time doll maker.  Next time, I think I'd like to try these pigtails.

Anyway, here's my first attempt.

I'm not sure what Adelaide is going to think of this miss.

To me she looks like she's just had a tooth extraction and is still sporting cotton wadding from the dentist.  I'll have to get out my long embroidery needle and work away at those lumps of stuffing in her face.

The doll's top is made from some Liberty scraps from a recent top I made for Adelaide.  I wonder what she'll think of matching outfits with her dolly.  This fabric looks ever so pretty with the little Jacadi hot pink cardigan that is also pictured.

And now that all my Townmouse stock is nearly sold I have moved Adelaide's wardrobe into the armoire in my studio.  I'd much rather look at this pretty selection than the remains of the Townmouse stock, as I've been looking at that since last summer.  We can use the extra storage space in the children's bedrooms these days, so the armoire is a handy alternative.

When I tidy out and straighten up the whole armoire, I'll show you a wider view.