the fruits of my labour

I recently bought this set of decorative fabric hoops from Aunty Cookie’s Etsy shop. I cannot tell you how happy these hoops make me every time I look over at them. It’s rather embarrassing to admit, but I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve bought something for the house that is purely aesthetic and not at all utilitarian. Unless you count pot plants. Which are kind of utlitarian anyway, if you consider their contribution to improving the indoor air quality. Anyway, I love these fabric hoops and I love that they come from someone working not too far from me. I think this is the start of many more Etsy and aesthetic-driven purchases for the home.

As I mentioned in my previous post, we’re moving. This will be the tenth move of my life so far and my seventh since I first left home at 18. I know that some people move all the time and for many, this would be no big deal at all. But because I’m such a homebody, it’s a big deal to me. And I’m sure that because we rent and have to move so often, it’s why I never really make our house feel like a home. It’s like because it’s never really my home, I don’t really want to invest myself too much in the home. Also, renting makes it hard to make the changes you’d like to make and it gets hard ( at least I find it hard) to keep adjusting your setup every time you move. Who knows if/when we’ll ever own our own home, so maybe I’ll just have to get over it. Maybe I’ve started to. We’ll be moving in a couple of weeks (we found somewhere acceptable) and although it’ll be painful, I’m kind of looking forward to the fresh start, especially as we have done a lot of decluttering and intend to do more.

What I do know is that wherever my family is, is my home. Corny, but true.

So two weeks ago I attended my first Brown Owls meeting. I wish I had an exciting excuse why ifor why it’s taken me so long to report back, but it’s just the usual day-to-day stuff, as well as my feeling a little under the weather. I won’t mention the actual weather, I’m trying to ignore it.

Anyway, I very bravely joined Brown Owls, and as a Sixer, no less. It is something I was much more likely not to do than do, but I am so glad I did do it, as I had a great time. I spent most of the night chatting and laughing with lovely ladies, getting nowhere fast stitching my name to be appliqued onto my Brownie uniform, which hopefully will be somewhat more flattering than my first Brownie uniform! I have made absolutely no progress since then, but I plan to get onto it before my next meeting. I met lots of lovely new people, including Amy, who helped me learn a new stitch (stem stitch - thanks, Amy!), Cath, Justine and Nichola, who were at my table. Many of the people there have blogs, some of which I have been reading for some time and some I have now subscribed to and will now also read instead of attending to the various household chores that await me.

I’m looking forward to my next meeting, where hopefully I will finally learn to crochet!

Replacing: a stained and fusible interfacing covered old one. Inspiration: this one. Fabric: Japanese quilting cotton from Spotlight, plus part of the old one. Wrinkles, shoddy sewing and poor photography: all me.

At last I have finished something. After weeks of feeling really frustrated about not getting any projects started or finished, I’ve finally completed the first part of Isobel’s birthday present. Actually, I finished it last week (I think it was last week; the days have been such a blur for me lately. Actually, I think they always are.). Anyway, it’s done and I’m happy. It’s a birth announcement pillow, based on the Happy Birthday Pillow project in Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts, a book I bought myself with a Christmas gift card. The centre of the pillow is printable fabric on to which I printed Isobel’s name, weight and date of birth, in colours coordinating with the patterned fabric. I then backstitched around each letter and number. That was definitely the most time-consuming part, but it was pretty easy and gave me a great excuse to park myself on the couch and watch TV. I like TV, but I hate having nothing to do with my hands while I watch it. I do like to be productive.

According to the book, this project should have taken me only four to eight hours. It took me longer than that (I think, but I wasn’t counting the hours), but that’s all me. I’m so slow, and whenever I do gain some speed I seem to make more mistakes, so it’s probably best to take it slowly for now. The book, however, is beautiful and full of really inspiring projects and excellent information. I can’t wait to try something else from it.

But first, I need to finish the other, far more ambitious, gift for Isobel. Then there’s all the other belated gifts I need to make. I’m going to catch up, right? Slowly, but surely.

It was Isobel’s first birthday on Tuesday. Almost unbelievable (to me, anyway), but true. I so clearly the remember the moment I first saw her, and the joy, not to mention the relief, I felt at her arrival. I can still feel her skin against mine as we snuggled and slept under the covers in the hospital in an effort to raise her temperature. (Ironically, Melbourne was experiencing a heatwave at the time.)

But a year has definitely passed and we have all grown to know and love Isobel as a beautiful, strong, delightful and life-loving individual. At the same time I can distinctly remember life before Isobel, but cannot imagine our family without her. She brings joy to us all, and I dearly hope we bring joy to hers. Before I had children I never realised how much of a personality babies display and thought they were all pretty much the same. Both Elliott and Isobel have categorically proven me wrong and thrilled me in the process.

We celebrated Isobel’s birthday two weeks early on New Year’s Day when we were in Tasmania with my family. Here she is in all her early birthday party finery:

That’s not her wine, by the way. Here’s the cake I made:

It’s an adaptation of Nigella Lawson’s Strawberry Meringue Layer Cake, using blueberries instead of strawberries. I wanted something fairly light and summery and not too much for a baby (her first taste of cake!). Well, it didn’t seem to be too much. I think it got her approval:

Then last Sunday we celebrated again in Melbourne with Mum and a few of Chris’s family members. We had a lovely barbecue (using the barbecue Chris and I gave ourselves for Christmas), followed by cake and homemade ice cream.

Here’s Isobel reigning messily over her birthday lunch table:

And here is the cupcake “cake” I made:

Thanks to Anna for the photo. And thanks to Chris for all the shots of Isobel (I think). The above photo also shows a glimpse of the number one biscuits Elliott and I made together. Both the recipe for these and the cupcakes come from Nigella Lawson’s How to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking, which I find invaluable, especially when it comes to children’s birthdays.

As usual, I had grand plans for Isobel’s gift from us. She really doesn’t need anything at the moment, but I decided to make her some things. We haven’t actually bought her anything. And I haven’t actually made anything for her yet, but I figured this is probably the only time we can get away with a late present. I’m pretty sure she’ll notice from here on in and she may not be all that understanding. Not that birthdays are just about the presents, but do kids really believe that? Anyway, she got lots of other lovely things from other people and I’ll be showing here what she eventually gets from us, as I make it. Don’t worry, though, I have started and I’m raring to go.

It’s hot. Really hot. It reached 41.2 degrees at 5:30 today and apparently won’t drop below 30 until some time tomorrow afternoon. I’m just trying to do as little as possible until then. Which is pretty frustrating given I want to act on all my usual New Year good intentions. I might be able to muster up the energy for a little sewing, but so far since we got back from our two week holiday to Tasmania for Christmas and New Year, I haven’t felt able to get stuck into anything. Not sure what that’s about, as there are so many projects I am dying to complete. The heat certainly doesn’t help. Neither does the fact that the place is a mess, but we are working on that, with more Freecycling, plans for more eBaying and the discovery of somewhere to take our excess recyclables (mostly cardboard boxes). One day we’ll be sorted and clutter-free!

The fact that I’m writing this post is a good sign, as this is one of the things I’ve really wanted to do, but have struggled to bring myself to start. Maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on myself (yes, I should), because I also began, and have been nurturing, this sourdough starter since Monday:

I tried this once before and somehow stuffed it, and I thought it might be the same story this time, but it seems it might be OK, although obviously the heat has made it almost explode. If all goes to plan, I’ll be baking a loaf on Saturday morning, so hopefully I can report back with good bready news.

Despite the heat, Isobel has been continuing as normal. Last night she pulled herself up into a standing position for the second time that we’re aware of (the first time happened on holiday), much like she did tonight:

As you can see, she was pretty pleased with herself. A few minutes after Chris took this photo, she managed to make her way over to me, taking a few tiny, hesitant steps, while tightly gripping the bed. It was wonderful, but I cannot believe it is almost a year since she was born. I still clearly remember being heavily pregnant in the heat and giving birth to her during a heatwave, as though it was yesterday. But she’s not the tiny, helpless bundle she once was. She’s been commando crawling at the speed of light, taking on the role of the our second vacuum cleaner, which we obviously need, for no matter how often or thoroughly I clean, Isobel always manages to find something on the floor to put in her mouth. I don’t really understand how kids can decide they don’t like lettuce, for example, but are quite happy to eat whatever crap they find on the floor. Having said that, Isobel eats almost anything, which makes life easier for us, as does the fact that she may be one of the happiest babies who ever lived. She has such a radiant smile and beautifully big and shiny eyes. And unlike before, I now know how to make her laugh. Guess that’s what happens when you get to know someone.

Elliott, who is now three and a half and is very proud of this fact, is, of course, still developing, and he hasn’t stopped delighting us. He seems to be going through a “learning spurt” or something at the moment. In the last couple of months or so, he has become obsessed with numbers, letters, how to spell words, playing music, building, creating, pretending, drawing, painting and finding out how things work. It’s both exhausting and thrilling to be around him. We’re going to have to start hitting the library and/or the Internet more, though, because (surprisingly!) we don’t know everything and he seems to want to know everything! A very encouraging sign. Even if it is a little awkward to give an answer to, “How was I made?”, just as we’re tucking him in to bed. These kids certainly keep us on our toes!

As I enjoy stating the bleeding obvious, I have to say it’s been a long time between posts. There are plenty of good reasons for this (of course!), but I’ll try no to go on about them too much. Suffice to say that between our suddenly busy social calendar, sick kids and sick Chris (nothing serious), a trip to Warrnambool, sewing, knitting, and lots of other things I’ve forgotten, helping to make the whole time a blur, I’ve found it a bit hard to find the time and energy for blogging. Which is a real shame, as I really want to be able to use this blog to chronicle this busy (but fun) time of our lives. Part of my problem has been that I really want to make some improvements to the layout and presentation of the blog, but have so much to learn before I can do that. And then I spend a lot of time reading other blogs, mainly craft ones, feeling both really inspired and really inadequate at the same time.

But what I need to do, I think, is just soldier on and make improvements how and when I can. And aim to post almost every day, even if it’s just with a few words and/or a photo. We’ll see how I go.

Right now, of course, it’s that time of year when there’s a million things to do. It’s comforting reading other craft blogs and discovering I’m not the only one who has unrealistic expectations about what can be achieved at this time and who at times feels overwhelmed by the number of things that I need to do and would like to do, and the small amount of time there is in which to do them. Like others, I just need to accept I can’t do everything (especially with two small children who need lots of attention), that I should enjoy what I can do and make this time about family, friends and fun. There’s so much I want to make, though!

Here’s something I’ve made. These were a gift for a friend’s new (ish) baby. A soft baby cube, using this great tutorial found via Nested, two bibs using the pattern in Amy Karol’s great book and a fabric card inspired by the pattern in Denyse Schmidt Quilts. (Yes, I bought some craft books. Very exciting!). This was a fun project and I hope to make more baby gifts soon. In fact, I have to, as there’s a baby coming next month. One that I’m aware of, anyway!

I hope some of the next few posts can cover some of what we’ve been up to in all this time. Now I’m off to hang out some washing, hopefully spend a few minutes on my next craft project and try to get over the fact I was too slow to get hold of Clementine for Isobel’s first Christmas. I had my heart set on it, but now have to try to find a similarly beautiful handmade doll, if possible, and I’m not sure it is. Not necessarily to play with (Clementine would have just been for show due to small parts), but something special to admire. Oh, well, I just hope she’s gone to a good home.

How cute does Isobel look in this dress? OK, you don’t have to answer that (not that you were going to), I know I’m biased. I also know I’ve gone a bit crazy on the kid shots lately. But how cute is the dress? This was mine and it has a matching bonnet and cardigan. I’m not sure who made it, probably Mum or Grandma. Was it you, Mum? Whoever made it, it looks as though it was finished yesterday, not 30 years ago.

I love the fact that something created in another place and time, can find a new life in some other place, some other time. And I love that I can share things like this with Isobel. I never had a preference for a son or a daughter in either pregnancy, just a healthy baby, but it is nice to be able pass on things, mother to daughter. Sure, I can pass on all sorts of things to Elliott, maybe things I won’t or can’t pass on to Isobel, and I have and continue to do so, but I guess clothing and especially handmade clothing, is one of the most intimate things a person can share, so it seems extra special to me. Who knows, though, maybe if Mum had given me all these old clothes of mine when Elliott was a baby, I might have put him in a dress. That’s the great thing about little kids: they’ll wear whatever you tell them to. Usually.

I would like to think that something I make for Elliott or Isobel is treasured and used by another generation. I have a feeling that more and more people are going to start to value the handmade over the mass-produced. I know I am feeling that more every day.

I must say, I’m pretty pleased with myself. I bought a pattern (Kwik-Sew 3126), chose some fabric, followed the directions and lo and behold, here is the first article of clothing sewn by me (aprons don’t count):

Pyjama pants for Elliott. They’re not perfect, but I’ve realised I say that about everything I make and that perfection is really not that important much of the time. I mean, I’ll always strive for it, but I’m going to accept when things are good enough. Besides, it’s kind of nice to see the little imperfections; they’re the mark of things made by hand and with love. Because let’s face it, things that are mass produced are seldom (if ever?) made with love.

Most importantly, Elliott loves them. I didn’t make a top to go with the pants (the pattern includes two styles of top to go with them), I’ll probably try that next time. Instead, I’m going to embellish, probably with applique, a plain white t-shirt, a la Blair of Wise Craft.

I know it’s just pyjama pants, but I’m really pleased and this exercise has been a real boost to my confidence. I discovered that elastic isn’t half as scary as I thought it would be!

More sewing news in the coming days, hopefully. It largely depends on how many consecutive hours of sleep Isobel gives us!

Well, that was an unexpected delay, but here I am after some technical difficulties and other impediments to blogging, like tiredness, kids and life in general. Not that I am complaining about kids and life. Without them, there’d be nothing to write about, right?

Anyway, the little sewing project I mentioned a while ago is finally finished and without further ado, I shall unveil it:

It’s an apron (I like to state the obvious) for Chris and I’m pretty happy with it. Excuse the creases, but I couldn’t get a photo of it before Chris used it, which I’m not complaining about, as it means he must really like it. It’s linen and it feels lovely. I was very much inspired (as I so often am) by the aprons of Amanda of SouleMama, who uses a lot of linen and makes a lot of (beautiful) aprons. I have no idea if the linen I used is like what Amanda uses, as there seems to be many kinds, at vastly differing prices, but I got mine here and I like it. I have more and intend to make an apron for both Elliott and me from it.

I didn’t use a pattern, I just traced an old apron of Chris’s and just kind of made up the rest as I went along. At times I felt I was crazy, as a sewing novice, for doing this, but then usually I would tell myself I was being an idiot and it was just an apron and it really couldn’t be that hard. And it wasn’t. I’m certainly not saying it’s perfect, but it works as an apron, I learnt a few things and it wouldn’t have been perfect if I’d used a pattern anyway. Nevertheless, I’m expecting an order of sewing books to arrive from Amazon any day now, and I think they’ll help me feel more confident. Or completely overwhelmed and out of my depth. One of the two.