Quite a bit of sewing-related activity...

The second week of school holidays saw us up and about, still coughing but at least able to move... and sew.  Even the play-date visitors got roped into sewing.

There was embroidery followed by machine stitching.  The girls made their embroidery into little cushions (which I forgot to photograph). 

Once again, my heart was warmed to the cockles as I listened in to the instruction going on at the sewing machine.  My little sewing teacher turned the speed right down on the machine and was gently encouraging her friend (who'd never used a machine before) and praising even the smallest of achievements.  The novice was very nervous, so they eventually worked out a "you do the pedal and I'll steer" arrangement. Teamwork.

Then my girl pumped up the speed and confidently sewed flat-chat around the edge of her cushion.  I'm beginning to think that it might be time to upgrade the Mini Elna already.

Yesterday, we had an outing to Ballarat via Bacchus Marsh.  I had to do a bit of a pattern-stockist road trip, so we decided to make a day of it.

At Eureka Patchwork, I did a fair bit of fabric-fondling, especially in the "special" room where all the best fabrics are.  I loved these textured Japanese cottons.  Almost edible.

The wee girl spent about an hour, sifting through the button box at the end of the half-bolt aisle.

She filled a bag of buttons for her and one for me.  Can you guess which one is hers (below)?

We met up with Annie and her beautiful selvedge quilt there.

It was a bit exciting to see so many of the selvedges that I'd sent to Annie, put to use in such a beautiful quilt.

We had a lovely afternoon, hanging out with Annie and her family - the small girl playing with the cats and drawing pictures, me chatting with Annie and playing with her sewing machine - and then we came home via a visit with my parents. 

I appear to have come home with a goodly portion of the $15 bargain room at Eureka Patchwork.

Did you know that Eureka Patchwork stock the full range of my patterns and hardware?   Hopefully soon, they'll be online as well as in the bricks-and-mortar shop.

Another bit of holiday fun for me, was to see this 60% scale of my Draped T-dress made by Anna, who was pattern-testing the shopping bag pattern for me.   When she mentioned that she'd like to make one for her 5-year-old, I got a bit excited and printed out the scaled-down pattern for her.  Isn't it cute?!



To finish off our sewing-week, there was a bit of collaborative book-writing....

After the smallest collaborator wrote the table of contents, she thought it best if I do the writing and she illustrate (and dictate). 

It was all about speed and efficiency. She's definitely a creative director and not a technical grafter, my girl.

And when I finished writing, she tactfully asked, "Do you think anyone will be able to read your writing?"

Gotta love her.

Next week, I hope to have my work brain back on.  The combination of flu and lots of work-day parenting has meant that there has been a lot of fuzz and frazzle and very little straight-thinking for the last few weeks.  Back to normal programming soon.

Been sewing.....

It's quite theraputic....rewarding.... I should do more of it....

I made my Carry All in Saffron Craig's Imaginary Flowers range.

It has a flap and a belt tie detail on the bag, and I made a tie on the back as well.

The lining was kept quite simple, with a zippered pocket and a compartment pocket. The bag closes with a magnetic snap. And I finally found the perfect zip for the leather and wool Large Slouch. In fact, I had to buy a box of assorted zips to find this one, so we now have a few of these lovely "ring-pull" numbers in our LONG ZIP bundles..... I'm quite fond of it.... and must remember that it is a display model (not to be used and trashed by me).
A also made another Draped T-Dress.... This time, in HALF-scale.... (Yes, that's a pen near the base of the stand).

And.... just because it amused me....I made a half-scale Mod bag.

Hopefully there'll be a few more new samples to pack in my luggage to Sydney next week....

Ain't no oil painting

It's been a while since I could turn heads.... but now, thanks to Photoshop, I can cut off the grey and wrinkly bits, smooth over the general turkey-neck area and turn myself into a watercolour fashion illustration.
Who'd a thunk I could be anything more than a beret model..? With my height (or lack thereof), nobody would have picked me as a fashion illustration... but here I am....

...poncing about on the cover of my new Draped Dress pattern. I've lined up some pattern testers (thanks to Facebook and Twitter and no thanks whatsoever to Blogger, which wouldn't let me log in for over 24 hours) and I should have a finished pattern by the end of next week. (All going well).

Throw your name into the pot here (that'd be the comment box) if you want a chance to win one. (Perhaps as a consolation prize if you missed out on winning a copy of my book in Jodie's or Cath's giveaways...?).