Two little peasant tops

Well here's an achievement for little me - two sewing projects finished in two days. And what makes it such an exciting achievement, you might ask? Two more items of clothing sewn by Mummy without any need for a zip or button hole! Do I need be so fearful of such things? Please tell me that once I try and do it alone I'll wonder what all the fuss was about!

After seeing many little peasant tops and dresses in my blog travels, I've been wanting to make a couple (or maybe 4!) I considered trying a tutorial, buying a pattern online or just making one up when I found...........a neglected pattern in my plastic pattern box - Simplicity 5695. It's actually a pattern for little dresses but I just missed the gathered frill off the bottom to make a top.

I didn't have enough material for two complete tops but the different sleeves serve a very useful function!

The girls are happy they can both wear this floral as they just loved it. Everyone else is happy because they know that rubies are red so - pink sleeves Ruby, green Hannah. Mummy is happy cause she used up more scraps!

   

And the added bonus? It seems that with a pretty new flower top that 'sticks out like a dress' we are happy to wear our jeans.

But now there's a challenge. I have two older girls asking for a peasant top, but this is a size 2-4 pattern. Will I be able to make it in size 7 and 8 without ending up with some very wonky lines and shapes???? A job for another day.

In the meantime, Sarah and Alice have their own treat this weekend anyway. I'm taking them to the ballet at the Theatre Royal on Saturday night to see The Nutcracker. Dressing up with Mummy and being out late for a special night will keep them very happy, I think.

 Here's hoping you all have a lovely weekend too.

Summer sewing

Well the girls and I are off on a little adventure today. No doubt there'll be some serious peace and quiet for Daddy.

 Here's a little of what I've been up to lately - some summer sewing for my big girls. Thanks to Corrie at Retromummy I've been able to make up her sun dress pattern that appeared in Notebook recently. You can still get the pattern on line and it is sooooo easy!

The girls both asked for a swing top first, and they've worn these with a white top underneath and jeans and they look so sweet.

Soon they'll be wearing them on their own with denim shorts - very cute.

The purple floral was material from my Nanna's stash. She made mum a long sleeved 'blouse' back in the 80s with it. Round, self frilled collar and little mother of pearl buttons. You can't quite see the material of the ties - a patchwork style floral/gingham from Spotlight - but it complements the floral so well.

Sarah then wanted a dress in the same pattern. She chose the green trim for the ties. The girls love being able to contribute their own ideas to our sewing. Wearing something they were involved in gives them such a buzz.

Well, there's one more load to hang out and some packing of the car to be done. Have a lovely weekend. Here's hoping it will be a good one for you all.

x

Weekend wonders

A busy but lovely weekend - lots of fun for all our girls

Alice went to Parliament House for a Guides reception, met the Premier, had a chat with him and then ate and enjoyed lots of his food!

Sarah was at her Guide unit's camp Saturday and Sunday and had a ball. They made tables out of sticks and rope at the beach then used them to eat their lunch from. Both girls enjoyed a Guide day on Sunday also, cooking damper on sticks in the campfire. Apparently the hole made by the stick is then filled with jam! Yummmm!

The twins got to wear their new skirts on Sunday and picked flowers after church for the dinner table.

The simple things

I just love the concentration on Ruby's face here - arranging the forget me nots and lavender sprigs in her hand!

How wonderful to find such delight in the simple things!

x

A treasure from Great

Well, dear readers, it's Tuesday again, so I thought I'd share something special with you today for Clare's Tuesday Treasures. Make sure you have a look at the loved belongings of everyone else who joins in - I know I love seeing such priceless things being treasured by others.

Now before you think I've been crocheting a new blanket into the wee hours I'll reveal that this is not my work. Firstly, I can only do one stitch and this little blanket is quite the sampler!

When I was about 18 or 19, my grandmother and I thought that it would be nice if her mother, my great grandmother, crocheted a little blanket for me to put away for 'later'. Great Granny jumped at the chance to get her hands busy, and so the boy/girl wool was purchased and work began. There were no immediate plans to start a family of course, but I was thinking ahead to such a time, I guess. Now at this time, Granny, affectionately known as Great, was about 91 or 92, and still a very keen crocheter. This is what she came up with - I'm sure I've counted at least a dozen different stitches running from one side to the other. Sadly, Great, otherwise known as Alice Victoria, passed away in 1995, aged 93, so this was no doubt among one of the last projects she finished.

To think I am now crocheting my own blanket, albeit a much simpler version, 15 years later! Maybe one day I'll be able to do some of the fancy stitches that Great Granny did. One thing for certain is that Great's blanket is not going anywhere.

x

Guides and apples aplenty

Another busy week is wrapping up and I have a decent list to get through today. We've had family visiting, dinner out for me, Daddy out singing in a concert and again in an eisteddfod, Sarah in a piano duet at the eisteddfod, Alice having an xray on her sore neck (which was all clear) and an evening with the pastor from our new church. Throw in all the usual weekly activities and you've got a full diary!

We've had the lawnmower at the doctor, as well as my sewing machine (but at a different doctor!). In it's absence I've been learning to use my mum's machine which she kindly brought south on the weekend. The twins should be in a new skirt each by Sunday.

This weekend is all about Guides for our girls. This afternoon Alice is heading to Parliament House for a reception with the Premier to commemorate the centenary of Guiding in Australia. She was chosen from her little guiding group so she's very excited. How is it she is old enough to eat canapes and drink chilled orange juice with the Premier, and not need her mum or dad? When did she get so grown up?

Sarah is off on a Guide camp tomorrow at the Guide Hall so she is very excited. I need to get out that list and start collecting all the goodies she needs to pack. Alice is off for a play date tomorrow with one of her lovely friends from school.

Then on Sunday all the Guide groups are spending the day at the Hall for a 10/10/2010 'Flying the flag' day so Alice will meet up with Sarah and have the day together. Wow.............I think there'll be an early night on Sunday for a few little people here!

Friday has become the day for our fruit and veg trip to Merediths at Margate. The prices and largely local produce are terrific! I picked up some overripe bananas for 50c so the twins and I are making our favourite banana cake. Royal gala apples were $1.50kg, bananas $1.50kg, pears $2.00kg and 1kg bags of carrots $1.95. I also grabbed this box of granny smith apples for $2.50 - there's heaps in there so I'm pulling out a few apple recipes this weekend. Should be fun and yummy!

Have a wonderful weekend, whatever you may be doing.

I'm off now to get through that list!

x

Granny progress

Spring has officially begun? Well it seems winter has been extended here in Tassie - there was more snow on the mountain and surrounding hills this morning than I've seen for a while. Snow on Mt Wellington is a regular thing, but snow on the grassy, tree-lined hills towards Huonville means it's very cold!

And so working on my first crochet blanket has been no big ask. It's big enough to keep me nice and cosy while I'm making it even bigger. Today it covered the twins and I for story time which was part of the plan. I think up to another 10 rounds and I'll be happy. This view of the blanket gently draped over the bed, however, is misleading.

Now to be very honest with you. Let me show you what happens when I lay it out flat. Do you like the slightly fluted edge of the last few rounds? Well, people, I don't think a press is going to make it sit flat. 

I'm guessing that it's caused by a variation in my tension. It seems that so often when there's a problem on my sewing machine Mum and Dad say it's the tension that's causing the problem. Why is it always the tension?????

So I have two questions for those of you who can crochet with your eyes shut. Firstly, is this a common problem when doing a giant granny square? And is that the benefit of sewing little granny squares into a blanket to avoid a wonky, wobbly shape? My other question may not be so easy. How on earth do I keep the tension consistent and end up with a smooth, flat blanket?????? I hold the wool the same way all the time and try very hard to hook with the same tension on the wool.

Having said all that, I doubt I will often have my blanket laid out flat for all to see! Once it's folded on the end of a bed, or snuggled with on the sofa, the wavy edges won't really be noticed now, will they?

Oh, and please don't judge me on my wavy, fluted edges!

Here's hoping you're finding time to work on a project or two as well.

A taste of Freycinet

School holidays this week saw us head to Coles Bay on the East Coast of Tassie. We had the generous offer of staying in a house whose owners were away. Their daughter and her family are good friends of ours so we decided to go at the same time. With 9 children between us, the kids had a ball! The property has a house and cabins so there was plenty of room. Pity we couldn't all have stayed for longer. This is the view of the Hazards in the Freycinet National Park from our cottage.

Then there was lots of this: (ignore the shadow!)

And plenty of this:

The girls were even brave enough to get wet twice on Tuesday, at two different beaches. The morning saw nine children wading and paddling through the water without their trousers. Needless to day, despite our suggestions to stay in the shallow water, they ended up with a few pairs of wet panties! Things were a bit more civilised, but still a bit cold, in the afternoon.

The rest of us were happy to watch -

The next day was all about sight seeing and walking some of the great tracks through the national park.

Sleepy Bay was just gorgeous - calm and sheltered. We could have spent ages there.

And then the walk to the well known Wineglass Bay - that is, the Wineglass Bay lookout. With lots of walking in the morning, and then setting out at 2.40 in strong winds, making it to the beach was expecting too much of little legs. This was taken after an hour or so of climbing a great track, but with many steps -

The last time we did this walk was on our honeymoon, and we made it to the beach that day. Wow, life has been busy with these gorgeous girls since then. Taking in views of a coastline like this made our little trip very worthwhile.

And yes, at night there was plenty of card games, reading and crochet happening. It's keeping me warm as I hook now!

Hope you can enjoy a little getaway like this one day soon.

x