PJs, shorts and another apron

Hmm, mysterious post title that, I wonder what I'm going to show you?

Clem has a habit of begging me to make him things out of such ridiculously adorable fabric that I am powerless to refuse. Check out those little lions. On Japanese cotton lawn. Oh, I suppose a second pair of summer PJ pants won't go astray.

And then, the Heather Ross Briar Rose frog pond shorts. It wasn't until I looked at this photo that I began to question the placement of that log on the front. It's just a log, and I will think no more of it.

Both PJs and shorts were made with my go-to pattern for Clem-pants, from Japanese Pochee magazine. Alas, he's now in the biggest size!

Styled with his pyjama top this morning, and a froggy hop.

 And he wanted me to take a photo of him wearing Dadda's childhood fire hat. It's made from that really sturdy seventies plastic and is in amazingly good shape.

Lastly, here's an apron I whipped up this morning as a gift for my boss at the job I recently left. Australian readers will probably be familiar with the 'map of Tassie' reference and corresponding placement on the apron. Let's just say it suited my boss's sense of humour very much. Inspired by the Sew Liberated Gathering Apron (in this post), I made it with a great big kangaroo-style pocket so it should actually be quite useful for her, as well as silly. Maybe good for gardening.

The apron is made from a souvenir linen tablecloth I've been hoarding for a few years (plus a bit of plain natural linen). I've been tempted to make myself a skirt from it but I'm not sure I could exactly, you know, wear it with pride. Apron - much better idea. And hard as it can be to make the initial cut into prized fabric like this, I'm always happier to see it put to good use rather than languishing in my cupboard. Yay for stash-busting gifts!

- Jane x

a 12 year old! (and a very insistent 5 year old)

Well this dear glowing face turned 12 last week. Charlie is much loved by his youngest brother, who insisted on taking his own pocket money to Haighs to buy Charlie some chocolate as a gift.

Charlie loves to draw and I bought him 'Drawing and Painting Imaginary Animals' by Carla Sonheim which is a simply delightful and inspiring book. The bedroom he shares with Jasper features some fabulous wall cracks that, as the book demonstrates, can be wonderful starting points for all kinds of illustrations!

He also asked for, and received, more Tintin books. I think I have talked him into letting me cut and style his hair like Tintin for Book Week at school this year :)

Charlie is a happy soul, enjoys his own company and doesn't ask for much. Which is fortunate really because he has two very squeaky wheels for younger brothers. Clem has been pestering me incessantly for new pyjamas ever since he laid eyes on the fabric he is wearing above, in our shop. And so, during quiet moments at the shop, on Charlie's birthday, I found myself sewing pyjamas for Clem (sorry Charlie). He put them on as soon as he saw them (after school on Friday, in the shop) and wore them non-stop until mid Saturday afternoon. Pestering + appreciation = happy Clem + happy Mama. And a happy 5 year old means a happier whole family, really.

The printed knit is organic cotton/spandex by Lillestoff and the stripe is some Farbenmix from my stash. Top pattern - Ottobre Best T-shirts, legs from Growing Up Sew Liberated, a rough combination of size 2 width and size 4 length with added seam allowance and cuffs. I just love soft, stretchy, forgiving knits! And I do wish I could rock a pair of stripey leggings like he does.

- Jane x

Sunny days, sweeping the clouds away

Another fairly random update, including a little sewing and a lot of sunshine.

Last-minute Christmas gift sewing for two nephews. (I eeked out these lion/tiger pants and Clem's, almost identical, from just one metre of fabric. How satisfying.)

 The junior albino Ugandan soccer team. The shirts were Christmas gifts from Andy's sister Sharon who lives in Uganda. Cousin Ori, far left, was recipient of the lion/tiger pants.

That, friends, would be a grass-seed caterpillar. You might have believed me if I'd said it was a real live haggis or something, mightn't you? It was a gift to Clem from my sister, and is the wonky-cute combo of grass seeds and potting soil in a piece of pantyhose, with a face. Clem added gravel and dirt embellishment in its water, to help it feel at home.

 Boxing Day at the Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens with friends.

 Much, much swimming in my parents' pool. Clem is becoming very confident without floaties.

 Apricot and peach.

 Proof I was there, pool-hair and all.

This dinner-plate size sunflower is growing in my parents' garden. They gave us seedlings from the same batch and ours grew about 30cm high with flowers about the size of the palm of my hand. The unintentional bonsai garden strikes again.

 Summer freckles.

Sibling relations have been mostly positive but school holidays bring our fair share of frustrations and squabbles. It's not all pretty pictures around here. But this is still a really beautiful and mostly relaxing time of year.

This is my last sewing project of 2012, a scrap-tastic quilted cushion cover. Even the batting was pieced from scraps. I've never quilted a cushion cover before but it was rather satisfying, like a really useful mini-quilt. I know my fabric combinations are a bit odd. I don't always have the best eye for these things but I don't like to over-think them. As with all cushions around here it was unceremoniously slumped on the floor within about fifteen minutes of hitting the couch.

It's a pity you can't see the bug better but on Clem's hand is a Christmas Beetle, on Christmas day. Andy and I call them 'the ubiquitous' because many years back we looked up the meaning of 'ubiquitous' and in the definition was the example 'the ubiquitous Christmas Beetle'. Really? Are they everywhere, or seeming to be? Do tell, people, please! Do you have Christmas Beetles and do they - like these - only appear around Christmas?

Happy new year! (Charlie and Jasper just saw in their first ever midnight turn-of-the-year!)

- Jane x

The last few weeks in photos

I have to touch on the horrible violent event of last week, just to acknowledge it as I post my daily normal-ness here. Sigh. Surely some things must really change? We can't just become numb or put it in the too hard basket can we? It's been occupying my mind a lot. Anyhow. That's not why I'm here right now. Moving on (here, now).

For twelve years in this house we managed with a bathroom that was horribly ugly and became more broken and leaky and damp and nasty until we had about four plumbers standing around looking at pipes and saying it was, really, not worth investigating and mending any further. Hello, dear bank lender....

Now we have a nearly-finished bathroom that is just so luxurious in comparison, despite being only 2.1 x 2.1 metres square, and sure beats the heck out of 'washing' ourselves in the laundry sink as we did for several weeks. It's fabulous. And I have wanted one of those telephone-shower things in the bath for as long as I can remember.

We've picked strawberries and made jam. Clem's drawing and writing has taken off like a rocket since he's been at school. Um, including a lovely picture of 'farmers' on the wall by his bed. And spelling Jasper 'JasB'. He has been running a shop out of his bedroom for a couple of weeks, selling us back our wine collection and his toys and books in exchange for handfuls of buttons. Cute as that may sound, he has been driving us all nuts on the behaviour front at home. We have researched more strategies that include a lot of clear, consistent (and firmly enforced) rules, calm in the face of tantrums, encouragement in self-help skills and chores/responsibilities. It's coming along.

I have sewed a bit, including the 'shorts' (longs) for Clem from Cloud 9 organic Ed Emberley lions and tigers, which I have loved for ages. Also, a dress for me that you can hardly see in the pic above and I really should devote an actual post to because although it's incredibly simple it has been in high, high rotation in our speedily warming summer.

Charlie's been sewing. We have Wanderer caterpillars. A friend and I have been working very hard to set up a new business (more on that, I hope, soon!). You know. Life. 

I hope yours has been safe and happy.

- Jane x

my new creative muse

This is my brother's newborn, little Curtis, photographed Sunday morning at less than twelve hours old.

Aaahhhh... I haven't been to visit again since we've all been a bit sniffly-coughy here, but I keep looking back at the photos because they're just so delicious and calming.

That image puts so much into perspective. (That, and a workmate's story about her teenage son's ingrown hair... somewhere... that had me pretty much curled in a ball under my desk today in hysterics.) Oh sorry, Curtis, to spoil your newborn pristine-ness with that. I don't think you care much. It's not all glamour when you've just squeezed out of someone's nether regions and require others to tend to all your bodily functions, either, is it?

Moving right along... why oh why didn't I sew when my babies were this small? It's so completely, ridiculously satisfying and uses just the smallest scraps of fabric.

I was totally inspired by Inder's recent baby-pants-a-rama sewing spree and set about downloading one of the patterns she used and making some for Curtis. And that was so quick and satisfying I made another. And that may not be the last.

I knew I'd been saving those small pieces of beloved knits for something! Internets, I love you.

(Bamboo fleece with Spoonflower knit trim, Lilofant knit with unbleached cotton rib trim from a bunch of stuff given to me by lovely ingrown-hair-story workmate.)

So, dear Curtis, I really hope these fit you, and that your mum and dad like them, because I'd really quite like to sew more. And see you wearing them. And have a cuddle. And hand you back when you make that scrunchy red poo-face. Welcome to the world.

- Aunty Jane x

purple

Clem has recently declared purple his favourite colour. And I have pounced on the opportunity to sew him some colourful clothes.

Purple velour is not easy to photograph! It sort of soaks up the light. Anyhow, this is the Farbenmix Yorik Hoodie pattern in Nicky velour. I probably should have made the next size up but I thought that the purple phase might be over by the time he grew into something huge. The velour is just gorgeous and 90% cotton as opposed to the completely synthetic and inexplicably expensive stuff in my local fabric shop.

The pattern instructions were in German?/Danish? but there's a visual step-by-step on the Farbenmix website and with a bit of concentration it wasn't too hard to work out.

The hood is lined, what fun! I chose - what else - some leftover Spoonflower organic cotton knit.

I bought one metre of the velour and had enough leftovers to make a couple of silly hats (based roughly on one bought for our big boys years ago), which are very soft, stretchy and cosy.

Actually before the purple hoodie came the purple tracky dacks.
I'd had some bamboo fleece in my stash forever but it was a natural cream colour. I winged it with my standard Clem-shorts-and-trousers pattern and added a ribbed waistband that contains wide elastic.

Then I dyed them using the stovetop method with regular Rit purple dye.

Result: great colour, saggy crotch! I didn't take enough off the top of the pants (which is normally a fold-over-to-make-elastic-casing type) before adding the waistband. Plus, the fabric is stretchy.

A bit of unpicking, chopping and re-sewing and the purple trackies are in business. Perfect for Easter-egg hunting:

 And jumping in a muddy pond.

Not sure if the colour is fading or if they just look paler next to the vivid hoodie.

I'm all excited about sewing with velour now. Just got a bunch of bamboo/organic cotton velour samples in the mail from here... only all conflicted about the enviro aspects of bamboo fabric production. Easy plant to grow but apparently not so easy to turn into fabric fibre. Never simple, is it?

I am currently struggling with another Farbenmix pattern for myself. Will. Make. It. Work.

- Jane x