{Sewn} Handmade Home Decor

I love filling my house (or ‘feathering my nest’) with handmade things – be it things made by others or stuff that I’ve made.

I find it pretty satisfying to sew some new cushions and feel like you’ve ‘freshened up’ the place, rather than forking out for a new sofa, or other big ticket item. You can re-use some old cushion inners, buy some old cushions to recover from the op shop, or steal some off your Mum (as I did!)

A while back I made these cushions (and then promptly forgot to blog about them!) You may recognise the ‘arrow’ fabric from the applique in this project.

I made them in an easy envelope backed style and used some furnishing fabric I found at Spotlight.

Another thing I made quite a while back was this table runner. It seemed a bit silly to dedicate a whole blog post to it, but I know my Dad will be extremely excited to see something that I made using some of his curtain fabric ….

So there you go Dad – that’s for you! (I hope you still read my blog?)

Have you been sewing anything recently?

x

Joining in  with Show and Tell

16/52

“A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014."

Isabelle: Continuing her trend of sleeping photos! Today this little dog took herself off for an afternoon nap after much fun on the bouncy castle and getting her face painted at our church’s Easter service.

Pipi: Mmmm… Pipi likes chocolate!

Noah: Helping paint our Easter mountain (see below). Noah did a great job of getting the texture of the grass just right.

Joining in over here.

For the rest of this year’s weekly portraits (one other so far) see here

And for last year’s portraits see here

Happy Easter, friends! He has risen. He has risen, indeed!

x

{Sewn} Lua Sleep Sack

Now that you’ve been sucked in by the photos of my cute baby, let me tell you about this awesome Sleep Sack I made, designed by An of Straight Grain Patterns. (As a side note, if you haven’t already had the pleasure of visiting An's blog you really should, there you will find beautiful sewing, fabric giveaways and more cute kids!)

It was perfect timing when An put out the call for pattern testers for the Lua Sack , as I was thinking about buying Pipi a sleep sack (we’re just entering Winter here in the Southern Hemisphere and Pipi kicks ALL her bedding off at night!)

I really love the design of the Lua Sack with it’s side zip and optional piping detail.  This pattern is awesome, so clear, I loved the multipurpose pattern pieces, helpful instructions and sizing is perfect. I made the 6-12 month size which fits Pipi (at 11 months) perfectly. The pattern also comes in a Newborn- 6 month size and 1-2 years.

When selecting fabric I wanted something that would co-ordinate with the quilt I sewed Pipi while pregnant with her. With this in mind I chose a lovely grey and white chevron fabric for the outside and a mustard floral for the lining. Both are quilting weight fabrics which I bought from Spotlight. The batting I used was leftovers from the aforementioned quilt which is a lovely bamboo. I had the perfect amount left over too, so I guess it was just meant to be! Fate, if you will!

I have a bit of an irrational fear of sewing zips and button holes (mild exaggeration, although I do try and avoid them if I can – which is silly); so I was very happy with how they turned out in this project, especially the zip. (Don’t tell anyone but it’s only the 3rd time I’ve sewn a zip!)

Check out how those chevrons match up (fluke! But I’ll take it!)

I’m so happy with how it turned out that during the day when Pipi isn’t sleeping I’m also using it as a decoration in her room and during the night time it’s doing a great job of keeping my wee one warm. The temperature has definitely dropped here in the last couple of weeks!

If you’re keen to buy a copy of this PDF pattern for yourself it’s a great time to buy it! The pattern will be sold for (USD)$6, but the code LUALAUNCH gives you a $1 discount, meaning it’s $5 at the moment. You can buy it here.

Also joining in  with Show and Tell & Sew and Tell Saturday

Jenny x

PIPI GRACE – 11 months

I look at these photos and I think ‘woah! I need to iron that quilt!’ – Talk about wrinkly! Well that and how cute is that baby? And yay I’ve almost completed 12 months of these photos!

Pipi really is a happy wee girl. She continues to be smiley, giggly and bubbly and only really gets grumpy when I don’t feed her as quick as she’d like (the girl can eat!); or if I take too long to get her out of the cot (but when I get there she is sure happy to see me.) I’m very lucky that she is happy to go to anyone, is dealing with teething well (8 teeth and counting), and still sleeps so well. She’s still breastfeeding, but I think the other two were into it at the same age – Pipi, however will stop feeding to try and eat a piece of toast I’m eating!

Pipi has been almost walking for so long! And is pretty good as pushing her little wooden trolley around. She’ll get there when she wants to.

I sure do love this little critter!

Check out the previous months' posts here.

x

15/52

“A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014."

Noah: My sweet boy. This photo was snapped while Noah was 'modelling' for me last week. When I ask him to smile on cue I usually get a very funny big cheese where he bares all his teeth like a crazed baboon! I managed to get some more natural shots by asking to say ‘hippopotamus!’

Isabelle: Sleeping on her couch after kindy with her art, favourite blankie and her thumb.

Pipi: This is a happy face! I love my squinty, happy Pipi!

Joining in over here.

For the rest of this year’s weekly portraits (one other so far) see here

And for last year’s portraits see here

Jen x

{Sewn} Hexi pocket cardi (KCW April 2014)

After getting my creative juices flowing while sewing Noah’s arrow top, yesterday I began sewing up this cardi for Noah out of an old merino tunic of mine and some other scraps of fabric (for more on fabric used, see below).

Then we had a power cut! And word on the street was that it might be a long one, possibly all night! I think I was more concerned that I couldn’t sew, than the fact that I couldn’t cook dinner! Anyway, after an hour or two of no power it was restored and we were able to turn on the lights and my sewing machine! This was the fruits of my labour: this hexi pocket cardi.

Cue a gazillion photos …

 

Some how I managed to bribe the boy to let make take some photos before school this morning.

I used darling cardigan pattern by Owly Baby – it’s a pattern I’ve used a few times before for Noah (as seen here – gosh my sewing and photos have improved since then!) Technically it’s a girls pattern, but I love me a boy in a cardi!

As I mentioned before the main fabric I used was some grey merino from an old tunic of mine. As you can see from the picture below I kept the side seams of the tunic intact so that saved me a step and I also used the tunic existing hem. I didn’t quite have enough for sleeves so I used some cotton jersey fabric that I had in my stash, black ribbing and some fun hexi fabric for the pocket. I’m really happy with how it turned out and Noah loves it too, it’s so snuggly!

Kid's Clothes Week has a bit of a theme this time (it’s first ever theme) – and it’s ‘mini-me.’ I reckon that restyling one of your old garments for your child fits with that theme… What do you think?

What are you sewing/ making at the moment? Are you joining in with KCW? Post a link if you are!

Jen x

{Sewn} An Arrow Top (for KCW April 2014)

It’s no secret that I LOVE Kid's Clothes Week – the seasonal challenge to sew at least an hour a day for your children. I’ve joined in a few times before and love the international community of creatives, the challenge and the inspiration of the whole thing.

I knew that it was coming up and intended to be really organised and involved, but things don’t always work out quite like you plan (much like my make it up as you go sewing fail that I experienced yesterday – if you follow me on Instagram you will know what I mean….and it got worse when I tried to fix it!) Anyway, despite not being as organised as I planned,  I hoped to make a couple of things for my kids this time around – especially Noah, who I haven’t made much for recently.

Today I made Noah this arrow sweatshirt. It was a really easy sew as I used a raglan tee pattern that I use literally ALL.THE.TIME;  the Acadia Tee… The most recent occasion being when I sewed these tees for my girls.

I’d not used it for a heavier weight sweatshirt before, but I think it turned out really well.

In terms of fabric I used a nice warm stretchy grey sweatshirting fabric from Spotlight (it’s nice and fleecy in the inside, perfect for the upcoming Winter here in NZ). The neckline is made of some black rib knit I had in my stash and the applique was made using some left over fabric I used for cushions – see the black and white cushion Noah’s lying on? Spot the arrows? And for the cuffs I used some bits of fabric my friend Kate gave me that she used to make these cute leggings the other day.

I’m not sure how much more sewing I’ll get done for KCW but I’d love to make some more things, we’ll see!

And also joining in with Show and Tell 

Jenny x

Are you joining in with KCW? Doing any sewing at the moment?

Craft Supplies Wholesale–A Giveaway

Update: This giveaway is now closed. The winner is Talia Christine. Congrats Talia!

...

I recently stumbled upon Craft Supplies Wholesale and I instantly began planning creative projects. This sudden outburst of craft planning stemmed from the same reason that I shouldn’t be allowed alone in a fabric store and why Pinterest has the potential to waste so much of my time – when I see pretty, I get inspired.

I’m sure a short browse on www.craftsupplieswholesale.co.nz will do the same to you!
Here are few ideas that I had after being inspired by their products…


… You could using use the alphabet stamp set to do some fabric stamping, and maybe even personalise a project as I did on Pipi's quilt.


… You could buy these craft daily pegs (pictured on the left) and use them to help with organisation around the home. Whether as a handy reminder of upcoming appointments as shown in this idea from Pinterest on the right; or you could glue magnets to the back and stick on the fridge as a creative chore chart or for meal planning.

With Easter coming up you could do one of the MANY washi tape Easter crafts that Pinterest has to offer! Craft Supplies Wholesale  has a huge selection of washi tapes to choose from (92 listings to be exact at the time of writing this post); including this trio of floral tapes pictured on the left. I think I might make some washi tape Easter cards with my kids this year, like these ones I found on Pinterest (pictured on the right.)
As well as washi tape, stamps and the like Craft Supplies Wholesale also stock many other products including bakers twine, ink pads, gift tags, envelopes and bags, ribbons and lace, buttons, stickers etc!
Craft Supplies Wholesale is a great website for those needing to gather supplies for wedding decorations, pretty gift giving and children’s birthday parties, and so much more! They are great for the hobby crafter, and those with little crafty businesses. And of course for those in business or those wanting larger amounts of supplies, the Wholesale section is well worth a look. The already great prices are made even better by the fact that Craft Supplies Wholesale offer free delivery (within NZ) for orders over $60!

Now that I have your interest, I bet you would like to know how you could win a $35 voucher to spend at Craft Supplies Wholesale !?!
Here’s how:
Visit Craft Supplies Wholesale and comment back here on this blog post with what you would spend your $35 voucher on, if you were lucky enough to win. This is the mandatory entry. (Please include your email address if not linked in your profile)
Additional entries can be earned by following this blog (please state how) and by sharing this giveaway on your choice of social media. Please place separate comments for each entry.
This giveaway will close on 25 April 2014 and is only open to NZ residents. If the winner can’t be contacted within a week a new winner will be drawn.
Thanks a bunch to Craft Supplies Wholesale for making this giveaway possible!

Good luck all x