Solo craftiness: Frilly tunic

On our amazing crafty weekend recently, we did so much cool stuff. One project was sewing some little girls clothes from patterns we bought on an etsy shop called Too Sweets Patterns - http://www.too-sweets.com 

I made this one for my friend Bec's baby Mabel, and it looks exquisite with her blue eyes.

This pattern had little ruffles along the armholes and a beautiful lined bodice. It was meant to have a ruffle at the bottom too, but I decided that would be too bulky over her nappy so I left it off.

The patterns are simple and easy to follow. Beware that they seem to run a little on the small side, so be sure to check your measurements and perhaps make it using a generous size for your little one.

Merry Christmas Mabel!

Solo craftiness: Bathroom cupboard

It's been a while since our last post. Amanda has been busy with her beautiful new baby, Jess has been battling morning sickness, and I have been deep in a bathroom renovation, so we've temporarily lost our crafting mojo. Don't fret however, as we have an entire weekend of kid free crafting coming up soon, when we can make up for lost time, and then some.

In our new bathroom, I wanted a shelf or cupboard behind the toilet to hold some toilet rolls, cleaning stuff, and bits and bobs. But pretty shelves are hard to come by. 

Eventually I found this old medicine cabinet in a junk shop. It even has an hilarious poisons information sheet still inside the door. They advise burnt toast and very strong tea as a cure all for most things.

The cupboard was painted cream in a shabby style, but I thought I could make it better with some high gloss enamel in duck egg blue to match my floor tiles.

I used three coats of oil based enamel (apparently this is better in damp areas), and the results are great. A new decorative handle and voile! Pretty bathroom cabinet!

You can see from the photo that the bathroom is not quite finished, but I think the little cabinet will be just perfect.  Kate

Project 11: Fabric Letters

In August last year, our little family of four headed to the United States to visit some friends.  I had a list of shops to visit but highest priority was given to Jess's suggestion of Anthropologie - temple of bohemian clothes and gorgeous homewares.  It became a bit of an obsession as we hit numerous shopping centres to kill time or escape the heat, clocking up about 6 stores in our 3 weeks abroad.  I wanted to bring something back for Jess as a thank you for introducing Anthropologie into my life so she scored a fabric covered lower case "j" for her wall and unable to stop at one, the kids earned a letter each too.

The more I looked at those letters hanging on the wall, the more I wondered how easy they would be to make.  There are a few sites that tackle the task but this one seems to be the best.  After a fraught visit to Spotlight, we had the cardboard letters (no lower case letters available sadly), wadding and various material pieces ready for a night of crafting.

Kate used leftover material and binding tape for her "L" and "J" which will stay in the family home or find their way into the present box.  She worked as fast as the wind as usual and made it look all too easy!  Jess and I were determined to replicate the Anthropologie letters so after applying wadding and front material, we laboured at the stitching before attaching the edging.  This did lengthen the whole exercise considerably but I was very happy with the final result - a "R" for my sister-in-law's birthday. Last I heard, Jess was still toiling on her beautiful "B" - will post a pic once the masterpiece is complete!

They are fiddly and using the glue gun is a hazard for your poor fingertips but I do think they make a very personal, decorative present - so choose your recipients wisely!

Amanda

Project 10: Rainbow Fabric Baskets

I am not sure in what order we did this! It seems so long ago. Do I say that every post??!

I fell in love with these baskets after reading Denise Vanderlugt's book "Where Rainbows Live" and was glad to have a chance to make some of my own.

We used plastic shopping bags, cut into strips for the structure. We used strips of fabric and wrapped and threaded them around the plastic using a darning needle. It takes a couple of rows to work out the tension, too tight and you can't poke the next row through, too loose and the basket will collapse on itself. I recommend keeping your colours together for a little bit of order. 

We didn't finish any on the night! A few days later, Amanda turned one into a shallow open basket for keys and I have one as a lidded basket. I have started another that I am planning on giving as a present, although as always I tempted to keep it and start a collection. As for Kate, I think she tempted to also keep it as an open basket but is undecided. I will have to check on her progress and get back to you. Jess

Project 9 - Lacquered Boxes - Take Two

We've done these boxes once before, and found them so easy, quick, yet incredibly beautiful and effective - we just had to revisit them. 
Inspired by the arrival of a friend's precious baby girl (welcome Mabel Abigail), we started making one as a baby gift, but then went on to finish six more in an evening. 

The highchairs and kids' stool were the perfect drying racks for works in progress.
Amanda made two in boys colours. The one for her husband with a map of London streets where they used to live is particularly special. There was a lot of cackling as we theorised about what he might decide to store in it.

Jess and I were deeply grateful to Amanda for doing the gruntwork by shopping for the many boxes at Ikea whilst heavily pregnant. Amanda, we salute you.


Kate

Crafty Friday for Sale: Botanique 2012

Brisbane folks, we currently have selected items from our blog on sale as part of Bazaar Botanique at the Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens from the 4th-15th July.  Swing on by the Richard Randall Studio if you are in the neighbourhood!

And if you are keen for a double dose of Botanique, the fashion parade of wearable art by Brisbane designers is on Tuesday 10th July at 7pm.

Solo Craftiness: Lacquered coasters

On a Monday night not too long ago, my sister in law was staying and we were twiddling our thumbs after dinner. I mentioned the magic words "Mod Podge" and we were off, experimenting with some MDF coasters I had lying around.  I raided my card collection and cut this delicious painting of pomegranates by Brisbane artist Raquel Redmond to size.  After several layers of Mod Podge and then a final coat of acrylic sealer, the coasters were ready to support in style a tall cool drink, or piping hot winter warmer.
Amanda. 

Project 8: More dresses for gorgeous girls

The dresses Jess made for her girls a while ago were so lovely we decided it was time to revisit them. We whipped up a couple for some friends plus a few extra for our own girls. They are quick to sew - under an hour - really cute, and comfy to wear.

They have the sweetest little pockets using contrasting fabric.

 This red and white spotty one below is using a fine winter corduroy, and it has little gathered three-quarter sleeves.

Kate.

Project 7: Lacquered storage boxes

I found this box at Ikea ($39 - above) and thought it would be the perfect storage for the hair related paraphernalia that overwhelms your bathroom when you have two daughters - clips, hairbands, headbands, school hairbands, ribbons, combs, brushes, nitcombs.....you get the picture. And after our previous success using Mod Podge on the trays, I thought it would probably work on these boxes too. And it did. Really well.

We bought a few beautiful sheets of wrapping paper and also had lots of odd bits of paper already in our craft ammunition. We simply traced the shape of each drawer onto the paper and cut it out. A coat of Mod Podge first, then we stuck the paper on carefully and smoothed out the bumps, and gave another coat of Mod Podge on top. It dries really quickly and you can build up the strength of the surface by applying several coats. You can also add an acrylic waterproof sealer if you plan on storing the object in a damp bathroom or other water exposed area.

Amanda made a four and six drawer one for each of her kids to store their treasures, and they are just beautiful.

I am just rapt at how easy this was, how effective, and how beautiful the finished product is. I have mine in my bathroom next to my new curtains and they look gorgeous together.

And despite this being my genius plan to tame the hair related carnage at home, I keep finding my one year old standing on a stool and pulling out each drawer to systematically empty their contents over the floor. Bah!!!

Kate

Solo craftiness: pretty curtains

For four years I have been looking with hatred at the brown mouldy shutters that were already in our bathroom when we bought the house. They clattered every time a breeze blew and looked awful, but the bathroom was so daggy that I guess I just got used to them, and never quite knew what to replace them with.

Then recently we stayed at beautiful Basils Brush (basilsbrush.com.au), a house in the Byron Bay hinterland and I was completely inspired by the gorgeous retro furnishings done by the owner, Kitty. She had made some cute cottagey curtains in some of the rooms and I thought they'd be the perfect way to cheaply and easily replace the terrible bathroom shutters.

I found this cute floral gingham fabric during a harrowing trip to Spotlight with all the kids, and it really only took me an hour or so that night to sew the curtains. I added some little pintucks along the top half just to add some interesting detail. I also left a good size edge along the top hem to create a ruffle when the curtains are drawn back.

I got some clothesline-type cord and little hooks at the hardware shop and it was a really easy job to hang them up. Now I'm in the mood to do a few more windows - how many vintagey cottage curtains is too many in one house? Mmmm....

Kate

Project 8: Painted Plates

Painting can be a tricky beast so when I came across this project on A Merry Mishap that involved paint pens, I was excited.  Surely it would be easier than mastering a paintbrush!  And for the most part it is easier thanks to Pebeo Porcelaine pens.  I tracked them down at Spotlight while Kate went on a mission to IKEA to source a variety of plates.

Inspiration for our designs came from book covers, Islamic Art books, Marimekko and even a children's colouring in book!  It was hard to take that first step in committing paint to porcelain but steady hand Kate was the bravest among us.  In no time at all, she had created three quirky plates featuring trees, flowers and a yellow bird.

Jess tackled more intricate lines designs and they really tested the perfectionist in her!  She discovered quickly that you could wipe off the paint easily before it dried or scratch it off later on down the track.  Her hypnotic designs certainly catch your eye!

I explored the world of ladybugs and pea pods for my plates but hit a creative wall when it came to the large brown platter.  It was only after the girls had packed up and gone home that I finally settled on a starting point.

We each took our plates home and, after letting them dry for 24 hours, we baked them for 35 minutes in a 150°C oven.  We learnt a few things along the way - the thicker pens give a more consistent colour than the thin pens, some colours are too dark for filler - so next time we plate up, it will be a breeze!

Amanda

                                 

Project 7: Yarn Block Printing

After an epic week involving too many sick children we rallied for Crafty Friday. I am so glad we did. These yarn blocks worked so well!

We were inspired by Modern Parents Messy Kids. And then all we needed was a trip to Eckersleys at Milton, some acrylic paints, nice 300gsm paper, different sized wood blocks, some yarn and jute and looked what we whipped up.

Amanda gave wrapping paper a go, using similar techniques and also using the ends of cardboard rolls and brown paper. I will make sure she gets us some photos to share. Now, to bed! Jess