Dino Tails!

Hi friends! Hope you are all well. I am feeling quite chipper myself after waing up from a relaxing 2 hour Sunday afternoon nap! Nothing beats a relaxing afternoon nap I say!

I have been thinking more and more on my sewing/crochet/knitting projects I am doing as I plan on launching my business in around 6 weeks. I am thinking on working just on Facebook initially, to keep it simple so that when I go into have my baby and bring her home it will be manageable, then launching via a website later on. To that end, I have been experimenting with patterns and looking at what I love to make and what I love to do to include in that.

I have also been thinking seriously on having classes as well. I think it will begin with crochet first as I have had alot of interest from people about running something. I am thinking they will be casual "Crochet and Chat" session where you can work on a project you would like to complete and I can help you/tech you the stitches etc. I would love it to be a place where you can also chat, hang out with friends and generally just enoy yourself. I myself go to a sewing night every Wednesday and I just love it. I am learning alot of new techniques and get to make the projects that I want, not to mention the coffee, cake and chats half way through the night!

Anyway, they are my thoughts, if you ae interested in the crochet sessions, just drop me a note and let me know. I have had lots of interest from girls in the Blue Mountains, Penrith and Windsor - so maybe there might be one in each place?????

This weekend I did get to do some sewing and focussed on some of my "dramatic play for kids" ideas and patterns I haven't been able to get to. I ended up making these cute dino tails...

Fun for dress ups! Velcro waist band so kids can put on and off themselves!

I have loads of fabric that will need to be made into these. I love the bright colours and contrasting spots/stripes!

The straps that go around the waist and can be adjusted for the size of the child. It would also be really easy to make longer straps for a bigger child.

I also have this one ready to go but ran out of stuffing..back to the shops after work tomorrow!

Fun hey!

I am pretty sure these will go into my shop when I open it, possibly for about $18.

If you are interested in these for your little ones before I open my shop, dont hesitate to send me a message and I can do one before that time.

Hope you all have a great week! I am on the countdown now, 6 weeks left till maternity leave! wohoo!

Ciao

Bella

xx

Owls and Hats!

Hubs and I arrived home today from a wonderful Easter long weekend away with my family. The weather was exquisite - clear, blue sunny skies, the afternoons breezy and relaxing and the company top notch!
While away, the nights were very quiet so I had time to get into some hand stitching and crochet. I normally shy away from the hand stitching kind of work and use my machine, but I actually found I enjoyed it! I also found some time to complete two more crochet hats (which are way too cute!) Here are some pics:

This is my gorgeous niece Indianna..I made a crohet hat with brim and used a string of silk flowers I had on hand to decorate the top and give it the girly look..

I am loving this cute little hat on her!

Ok, now for my hand stitching!

A cute little boy and girl owl...

I am really loving pinks and reds at the moment!

I also tried my hand at this cute little owl hat...

Size 1-2..cute hey!

Ok that's it for me now, I've got a million things to go and then off to work tomorrow! (I am totally counting down - only 2 and a bit months to go and then I am off work to go have this baby! Yew!)

Ciao friends

Bella

xx

Tiny Hand Rattles...

A miracle has occured today! The SUN is out! Yes that's right....after days and days of rain, it felt so good to feel the warmth of the sun on my shoulders. I spent the morning with my sister at some local fabric sales and scored some bargains, such pretty florals and spots - I can't wait to start sewing!

I did try out a new pattern recently for the cutest little rattles. What I love about these is the handle of the rattles are perfect for tiny hands, they almost fit right into the palm of baby hands. I love them!

Cute little bear and monkey!

They have the sweetest little faces and so easy to hold onto for little hands!

I love the monkey...so cheeky!

Colour combinations are pretty endless really...These rattles were made for little boys.

Do you like? I think they are cute!

Here's to hoping the sun stays around for a few more hours this week!

Have a great week friends..

Ciao

Bella

xxx

Play Bags

Yesterday while shopping with my sister, we found some great second hand toys in the local opportunity shop. One in particular caught my attention, a full dinosaur play set complete with faux rocks, trees, dinosaurs - enough to set up a whole dino land! I grabbed it for $5 thinking it would be great for work and future kids.
It came in a plastic container (as do most modern toys) and age and use had made the container damaged and bent out of shape. Once I got the toys home, I soaked them in disinfectant and put them out to air dry. Then, I got to work making a cute bag to store all the toys in.
This is what I came up with:

I added a cute little dinosaur applique on the front, so you know what is in the bag, and helpful when kid are packing away their own toys, the dino toys go in the dino bag!

Easy drawstring top...

One of the best things about these bags is that they could easily be hung on the back of a door to keep the toys out of the way. If you had a rack with 4 hooks across the kids bedroom, I can imagine you could hang 4 bags like these and have some storage up off the floor! This is hung on the back of my bathroom door, but you get the picture.

These bags are great for most toys but especially those annoying "little peices" sets like lego, duplo etc. All together in one bag!

With a good wash and cute new bag, old toys are made new!

I can imagine I will have bags like these everywhere when my kids make their appearance! Would be great even for storing in toy boxes.

Have a great week friends!

Ciao

Bella

xxx

Welcome to the New Girls!!!

I recently got a new pattern which I simply had to make! I made it in two sizes, one for big girls and one for the toddler girls...

Aren't they really sweet?

The little red head (who reminds me of Strawberry Shortcake, minus the pink) comes with a big yellow headband and bow...

I love their cute little collars...

I added lace to one skirt and rick rack to the other...

cute little shoes....

I would love to hear what you think of them....would your girls/nieces/little people love one like this? I always like to hear what people think of the different patterns I use...

You can find the pattern on Etsy....the name of the seller is "AllDolledUp"...

Have a great week!

Ciao

Bella

xx

Christmas Sewing

Over the last few years I have become a last-minute girl. Not in all areas of life - most things I am sickeningly organised - but when it comes to hand making gifts for people, I often over-estimate how much time I have and grossly underestimate how much I have to do!
It's almost Christmas Eve ( a mere few hours away) and I have a crochet top still to seam but I HAVE FINISHED cute little outfits for the beautiful little ladies in my life - aka my nieces....
I decided to make patchwork skirts and matching tops for them - comfortable to play in but pretty enough to be more than a nomal outfit. I wanted them to have something different and handmade is the only way to ensure that they have something beautiful and they don't look like every other 3 year old dressed like Dora (no offense Dora!)
Enough chatting, here we go!

Vintage crochet peice topped with a crochet dusty pink flower...

4 pretty skirts for 4 pretty girls....

Matching top and skirt for 6 year old...

"Cherry" themed outfit for 2 year old...

I love these colours...prettiness for the 1 year old...

Pretty purples and paisley for the 3 year old....

pretty fabric rose...

That's it for now....hubs is practically breathing down my neck waiting for his turn with the laptop (hehe). I will endeavour to get shots of the girls in their outfits over Christmas cause these photos just don't do them justice!!!

Have a blessed and Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

Ciao

Bella

xxx

A New Twist on a Old Fashioned Item...

I have recently been on a bender of buying retro/vintage sewing patterns...Yep I love 'em! One of the patterns I bought had a really cut head scarf for girls aged 2-10. I decided to whip one up but as soon as I started I knew there was going to be no "whipping" - it was tedious and time consuming and required far too much work for such a small item. This is the one time I actually preferred a more "modern" approach and decided to go with a tutorial for head scarfs I saw on a blog ages ago (sorry I can't remember which blog, I only remember it roughly and had the idea "roughly" in my head!)

Anyway, the method I used was soooooo simple (think making 4 of them in 20 minutes - yep that easy!). The colour combinations are limitless and you can add as much frill and frippery as you like, or none at all if that is your fancy.
I made a combination of different sizes and it allows you to use different colours of fabric as the scarf is meant to be reversible - that is, you can wear it either way (duh!)

I used my uber cute niece Marlee as my model and managed to catch a few shots when she wasn't running, climbing, jumping or trying to take the camera off me so she could take a "pitcher" (aka picture!)

Perfect for running and playing, to keep hair out of eyes and to keep you at the top ranks of cutest kid in the playground. For real.

This week is going to be mega busy! I have hubs sick with man flu (let's not even begin to discuss!), busy week at work and the rest of the silly season's events! Deep breaths everyone!

Have a brilliant week. Make sure you stand under some holly and get a big smooch! What else is that green stuff good for???

Ciao

Bella

xx

The cutest pants you have ever seen!!!!

I had so much fun working on this week's sewing post. I bought a pattern a little while ago from Pink Fig Designs and excitedly cut the fabric out but life got busy and I didn't get back around to finishing it till this weekend. It was finally done and with an impromtu visit from my sister and her little one, we were able to get some pics!

The pattern is called the "Bella Pants". Aren't they gorgeous!!!

The pattern calls for plain pockets, however I thought it would be cute to add some detail

with the crochet flowers and motifs

I love this pic. Even though the surroundings are messy and not pretty, the eyes

say it all!!

The colour combinations for this pattern are limitless! I can alo imagine changing certain aspects of the pockets, perhaps adding cute little pockets on the back instead? The only limit to making these pants cute is your imagination!

The pattern was fairly easy to follow with great instructions and pictures. Definitely a win!

Having a gorgeous niece to photograph finishes it off nicely I say!

Have a great week!

Ciao

Bella

xxx

I'm Back!!!

What a full on couple of weeks it has been!! To start with, I contracted a mild case of shingles (who knows where that came from???) then the computer packed it in, then to top it all off I got a infected wisdom tooth removed - bad move by the dentist - which made me really sick. I am starting to feel somewhat normal now, back to about 60% and hoping to be fully recovered by the end of the week!!

So, after multiple trips to the doctor, a few day off sick from work at a time when I really couldn't be off and a new laptop later, I am back!!! I have been resting most of the weekend, not really able to do too much without totally exhausting myself, hoping to feel much better as I really need to go to work tomorrow.

In spite of all this, I have lots going on in my creative little world! Alot of projects are half-finished at the moment but will hopefully be done in the next 2 weeks. I do have a few things to show you today however!!!

A week or two back, I finished my "Grandma Bunny"....

I wasn't too sure how the embroided glasses would turn out, but I am pretty happy with how "grandma-ish" she looks!

Complete with apron...(I actually cut this bit of fabric from a vintage apron I bought a while ago..)

Tied at the back...

She is so cute don't you think???

I have bought a few pattern books of late and I cannot wait to have the time to get started! My favourite is a Japanese pattern book filled with pages of clothes for women (yes I am actually going to make things for myself!!) and I love every page. This is the book...

It is also the season for my favourite flowers! We have ou first hydrangea blooms!

They aren't the colour they do turn in mid summer - a really beautiful blue but they are a great start!

Here's hoping this week is a better one - and that whatever you are doing, it is filled with memorable moments.

Ciao

Bella

xx