Make do and mend

Pup2 has started full time school. This means a pump bag is needed for PE kit. In the good old days I would have just gone out and bought one. However changes in home circumstances has made me stop and think. I have a sewing machine.......why not repurpose something else for the job.
An old v shaped pillowcase I had been given by a friend was perfect for the job and luckily matched some spare ribbon I had.

Now my sewing skills aren't the bees knees. I am not the sort of person who can whip up a dress in 5 minutes flat but even this took me far longer than it should have :o

 

Never mind, 'tis finished and ensconced on Pup2's peg at school and best of all it cost me nowt :)

Run, run as fast as you can

According to a load of Facebook status updates last night Christmas has started as the Coca-Cola advert was shown last night. Actually it's started as I have finally completed another WIP (work in progress) and this has been hanging around on my dining room table for far too long.

So sewing the mouths wasn't my strongest point but I am secretly chuffed that despite a significant number of years going by I have remembered how to blanket stitch.
My mum now wants two to hang on her tree too. So one WIP ends and another begins LOL
I got the shape from a Sizzix Die cutter I bought. I cut out the shape from cardboard and then drew round this on the felt and hand cut it out. Could technically use the die cutter but it cuts out various bits from the body too which I didn't want.

Run, run as fast as you can, you can't catch me I'm the Gingerbread man *




* I hate gingerbread. If the story had been about a custard cream I'd have been in heaven ;)

Taggie Blanket.

A very lovely friend is expecting her first, very precious child. I've wanted to make something for her and a taggie blanket seemed the perfect gift.

Ribbons were pinned, facing inward, onto the top of the right side of the fleece.

Stitched the ribbons and then lay the other fabric, right sides in, ontop.

Having stitched round I left a 3 inch gap to allow the blanket to be turned the right way.

And voila.......slip stitch the 3 inch gap, give it a quick press with the iron and there is the taggie blanket just ready and waiting for baby to arrive.

Sorry one last pic as I am completely enamoured with the rainbow of ribbons :)

A catch up.

Wow it's been a week since my last blog post. Oh dear must try harder ;)
So here's what's been going on at Chez Bitsy.

At the start of the year I was given this rather sweet little chair. It had belonged to an elderly neighbhour who'd sadly passed away and it had been hers when she was a little girl. A gorgeous wooden childs chair with a lid for a potty. The pups love it however the cushion for it was rather old and lumpy so time to make a new one.



Considering I've never made a cushion in my life I am rather pleased with this :) Used the discarded cover as a rough template and some tweaking and trimming and voila a pretty little cover for my pretty little chair.

Forgive me Husband for I have sinned! I wee shopping trip to Hobbycraft!

Some LED faux tealights, battery operated. Just what I need in time for Halloween pumpkins......can't be doing with naked flames and small pups!
A polystyrene ring for me to attempt a bauble wreath for Christmas.
Jingle bells. We love the Polar Express at Chez Bitsy and I have a dream of making a jingle bell for the pups the same as the boy recieves as the first present of Christmas from Father Christmas. Just hope they are as excited as I am.

Fake snow. I am soooooo gonna regret this BUT they had a bowl in Hobbycraft and I had a wee play. Goodness it was a wonderful sensory, tactile feel. Stuff the kids this one's for me. The best thing is you just add water and after the water has evaporated you can sweep up the powder and do it all again. The gift (to myself) that just keeps giving.

These I am so in love with they are already adorning the mantlepiece LOL Sadly the picture doesn't do their shiny gorgeous-ness* justice. I know some are sniffy about not having matching Christmas decor eg the stuff on the tree has to be a colour scheme and heaven forbid you have coloured light <faints in horror> Well actually what I love about Christmas IS all the different colours, so it's coloured lights and a mish mash of assorted baubles on our tree. Husband insists on white lights outside so that's my only concession. The pups have been threatened with pain of death firmly told not to touch them and with my fake tea light effect they look lovely. Can't wait to use them for their actual seaon.

I am in the process of a few Christmas prep things......if I get my butt into gear I might even be able to show you my makes before the actual event arrives.

*I have no idea if that is indeed a real word but hey I like to speak my own language ;)

I can see clearly now.....

I have my very first home made item of safety clothing. Sad I know, I bought the material cheap at Birmingham Rag Market and thought "I'm not paying £3.50 for kids high viz vests off Ebay when I can make them myself". Next time I have such an idea please give me a kick and tell me to pull myself together. The cost of mine is probably around £2 but when you factor in the time it's taking to make and the fact that mine don't have the reflective strips on.......well probably not worth it. But hey ho you make decisions you think are best at the time. I have the material so I might as well use it.

Made a paper pattern and used that to cut out the fabric.

Stitched the side seams and shoulder seams.

Added a load of black bias tape round the edges (the arms holes were a pig to do!) and voila a high viz vest. Perfect for spotting my charges amidst a throng of excited children at the park.

Will I cause a wave of fashion inspired by the Bob the Builder look? Of course, these vests are all the rage don't ya know ;)

Bounty.

No not the revolting chocolate bar (as if you could lounge on a beach in tropical temperatures eating something like without melting) but a generous gift.

A gift of some fabrics I bought yesterday. The lilac fleece and allsorts fabric (which is just totally fabulous) is going to make a wee present for a pregnant friend shhhhhhhh don't tell her. The red rose fabric is going to become a maxi dress for me. The high viz yellow (sorry but I just LOVE that colour....I know I'm mad) will become high viz vests for kids to wear. When I am taking several kids to the park in holidays it can be pretty busy and these vests stick out like a sore thumb. Besides why buy them when I can buy the fabric for £2 and some black bias binding and voila MSE vests. The last fabric (cream with purple on) might become something for me or for my mum. Man at fabric stall wanted rid so gave it to me for £5, bargain.

A gift picked from the garden yesterday. Yep that's a courgette that thinks it's a marrow! Sadly my veggie patch hasn't provided quite the bounty I predicted. Peas were ravaged by green fly and never recovered, I was late germinating courgettes and complete lack of bees delayed pollination. Broccoli has been a bit disappointing (florets pictured above were the best and even they are yellowing a bit) but I do have some super savoy cabbages taking over. Still life is what you make of it and if the veg has struggled a bit I can only blame myself as I was so late germinating everything.

School holidays, a gift to come next week. I know everyone groans at this and even I thought all the time off at Easter was too long but thinking about it I shall have the beautiful bounty that is the school holidays with my pups. I have made a list of things we're going to do and I am rather excited.

So when I sit and think about it my mind map to remind me of abundance is working. All around me I see plenty. Plenty of laughter and giggles. Plenty of love and affection from family and friends. Plenty of good food. Plenty of projects to keep me entertained. Now I am not saying all this to be smug but it's easy to take things in your life for granted. So I am stepping off the hamster wheel just to appreciate what I have.

Party Preparation.

So come next Monday it would have been 3 years since Pup2 was squeezed out (thank goodness for gas and air ;) ). Anyway as with most things I don't need much of an excuse to celebrate so given her age we're holding a little garden party at home and inviting some friends and their children round to indulge in some pass the parcel, pin the tail on the donkey (or in this case stick the chameleon on the Rapunzle picture - those of you without little girls will be unaware of the fun that is Disney's Tangled film) and lots and lots of sugary stuff with a bit of carrot stick thrown in for good measure.
So to decorate I have the ubiquitous balloons but I also have a small love affair with bunting. It started a couple of years ago when a friend had a similar garden party and had bought some hand made bunting to hang off the fence. I was entranced. It was so pretty and cute and well..........so pink so I have always wanted to have a go at making some. Now I have my trusty old sewing machine it was now something I was capable of making.

As I am inherently lazy doing a lot of interfacing, hemming didn't appeal so pinking shears came to the rescue.

Sewing it took about 40 mins as there was miles of it. OK I exaggerate but it felt like miles at the time!









Terrible picture I know but I couldn't find somewhere to hang it to take a picture!

One of the party activities will be the kids decorating the cupcakes I baked with Pup2.

I have 4 packs of 4 icing pens AND sugar strands. I dread to think of the mess at the end of that session, I think weather permitting this will be done outside.

Next on the list of prep is making the birthday cake. I shall be making this with my mum so expect lots of cross moments (as perfection rears it's ugly head) but lots and lots of giggles too. It's just like making the Christmas cake all over again, in July. Pics of the cake will follow next week.