pil's pegs

Well, i needed a washing line to hang my fancy pants on, but i wanted something a bit more fun...lil'pil assured me that she could hook me up with some fantabulous pegs...she wasn't wrong!

They were all painted and then accessorised with random stuff that she found at the bottom of my craft box.
My favourite is the cloud one...i <3 painted clouds!!!

And i love the way there are little pairs of pegs for each pair of pants! Minimalist they are not!!

So they suit their purpose perfectly, hanging all my underwear out with pride!!

This is about the time when my neighbour started getting interested, looking out over his balcony at me.

I think he was a little confused, but seemed genuinely disappointed when i brought them back inside again!! Maybe he was going to request a personalised pair!!

fancy pants!

If you were a pair of pants (ie knickers, not trousers from the US) what would you look like?? I had a go expressing our family in "pant-form" and it was super-fun!! I just sewed the fabric onto thin card to keep it stiff for hanging! Quick and easy!

First up is my dad (hence the male Y-fronts lol) He loves surfing and the sea so we went for that theme. Please note, i have no idea what underwear my father wears, but he definitely should wear something like this.

As for my mamma...she was a secretary in a school and we always teased her about what naughty secretary minxish things she should be getting up to. Please note: my mother is actually a saint who lives in a bubble and genuinely didn't understand what we meant by "naughty secretary minxish things"...made it all the more funny!


Then the 3 girls...it was too difficult to stereotype each of us into just one pair...so we chose for a number of things that we love...

...motorbikes!...

...combat style...

...leopard print and cowboys!...(in particular Kid Rock(AAAAAAAAH!) and Travis Tritt)

...disco and peroxide!

Try it yourself...it is sooo much fun!!!

emotional elephant

So i made this little elephant out of this beautiful vintage fabric that i had, thinking that he might be a good present for any upcoming babies (Note: i speak of upcoming babies conceived by other people, sorry mamma!)...i left him a bit baggy and loose, because it suits the vintage feel....but...is it just me or does he look....

...depressed????

Seriously...its like we're having a baby Dumbo moment or something (that time when he's outside the mama elephant's barred prison trailer...i bawl, seriously...i mean, full open-mouthed, spasm-y sobbing....gets me every time). He certainly has got the ears for the part...lol

But really...look how sad he is!! I don't think i could give this type of thing to a baby...it would be a bit of a downer, and they spend enough time crying, right?


Even the little stuffed bird felt he needed cheering up...

Look elephant, dry your eyes!.......go get some icecream and marshmallows or something...that always cheers me up....and take the bird too...i'd never noticed it before, but his quiet stoicism is bringing me down too! eeeek...better make that 3 for icecream and marshmallows.

pouches!

This is a pretty generic craft but i just had to reference the really cool tutorial that i used. They are great little pouches and it is really easy to amend to fit whatever you want to store...the great thing about this pouch is the fact that it is fully lined and my heart is so happy by the lack of internal straggly threads and seams.

The tutorial is great because...while it is a pretty simple craft, getting the order of the pieces right when sewing all together is a giant headache...i usually end up with the lining on the outside, or with no gap to turn it through...or the zipper stuck upside down or caught between the lining and outer....aaaaah! i'm getting stressed just thinking about it!!

scrappy stitched pillow

I think recycling is important and so i have 3 bins in my craft room...1 for paper, one for scrap thread, wool and material (i rarely put material in this one as i try to use every last square inch of my fabric!) and 1 for un-recyclable stuff!

But then...what to use the material scraps for? They don't give an even-fill so they are not much good for soft toys or anything....(while i was considering this problem, i was shifting about in my chair trying to get comfy... wriggle.. wriggle.. hmm.. wriggle.... OOO... a comfy cushion!

Look at the bumpy stuffing! O well my derriere doesn't mind a bit...you see, it's so toned that i don't feel the bumps...ahem....more like i just squidge down over the bumpy bits...it'll be flat pretty soon, believe me!!!

Since noone was going to be seeing it but me, i decided to practise my free-motion applique quilting on the sewing machine....yes well, you can see how well that worked out for me...i think i should attend a class or something...i don't seem to be improving on my own!!!! groan

Crafts at Drumboughil

Well i took a craft workshop at the weekend far away in a really beautiful place called Drumboughil. They have fabulous facilities and a great crafting group...i was so jealous, i would love something like that near me!! They were making crafts using a couple of my patterns from the blog, i was so delighted the way everything turned out!

..

Crochet tools wrap...and a glasses pouch, what a good idea!!

Most others made a little notebook holder/organiser wrap and their colour choices were really fun!
Everyone improvised with the pockets and added different sizes.
Improvisation and customisation is what craft is all about for me!

This last one wasn't finished when photographed, but it is coming on well!

Some of those quilts in the background were crazy-detailed!! With free-motion quilting in the shape of branches and leaves...WOW I'm impressed!!

It was a really nice group, I really enjoyed the day!

Others made sun visors...

Look at the little icecream on this one!! CUTE!

This is one happy crafter!

What a great excuse for a day of crafting!!

nuts for nutcrackers

Well the long-awaited day arrived and i got to see the birthday present that SuperD has been working on in the loft all those nights....and it couldn't have been better.....a NUTCRACKER!! (i am obsessed by these things...i have to try and keep my collection kindof spread around my house so i don't look like a crazy weird obsessive collector)

He's in the full uniform of the Italian Military Police the Carabinieri.
Every single piece is hand carved and shaped (or sewn, in the case of the cape...thanks Mum..he would not have made such a good job of that!)

I can recognise all the little pieces of faux fur and leather and wool and ribbon that have been going missing from my craft room for the last few months!!

Check out the tails on the jacket...SuperD sweated and bled over that (literally!) And little heels on the shoes...cute!

The little belts and buckles are all hand-made. I love the little sword..ha!

Every cord and button was researched to retain historical accuracy! lol Thanks D, you are both insane and talented...i <3 you!

And here he is giving orders already, maybe it's my influence rubbing off on him (the tongue cracks me up...lol)...i wonder what to call him....

home sweet quilt!

Quilts are hard to photograph!!! seriously...these photos were the best of a bad bunch but hopefully you get the general idea!

I made this quilt a number of years ago when i was a student. Since I was (inevitably) poor, the squares are cut from a curtain material samples book that a friend of my mum gave me. They actually make great quilts because usually the patterns or colours match in some way and.....and well, they're free, what can i say?

I LOVE customisation and the time of making this quilt I was trying to buy a house. It was a deeply frustrating process as I was convinced that I had found my dream house, in my dream area, and I really believed that God had confirmed to me that I would live there...a few days before the handover of the keys it all fell through...

I was disappointed but to be honest I felt more perplexed, because I was convinced that God had told me that I would live there...in fact he continued to confirm it to me even after this, with different verses from the Bible, which I decide to put my faith in and keep believing!!! You'll see those verses embroidered around the edge of the motif...(you see where this is going dont you?!)...well anyway, I just carried on making the quilt and believing that it would come to pass at the right time....it did of course.

The house next door to the original one went on sale a year after and I bought it the same day. It's a perfect mirror image of the first house so all the furniture that i had ordered fitted perfectly, just the other way round!! lol

So here is a close-up of the house-of-spoon (i think it's actually nicer than the first house, but then...i'm biased!!).

The verses that I had been believing in over the year of waiting are embroidered around the house motif...
...and also down the edges, (I ran out of curtain material squares!!)

I think it is a good idea to reflect hard times and good times in the things you make, because they really begin to mean something to you and help you remember what you've learned....in my case...HAVE FAITH and HAVE PATIENCE (groan...im still working on this one!)

I've kept it in the hotpress for ages and I just got it out at the weekend as we have one of our italian nephews staying with us...it was nice to remember...maybe I'll use it more often.

get out in the garden!

Well in these days of sun-shine and giant-weed-growing it is definitely a pleasure to be out and about in the garden. My garden isn't big and yet i never seem to have my tools nearby...usually i am balanced with one foot on a rock and the other against the fence...reaching for an errant branch to tie it down, when i see another little twig sticking out of the trunk which was certainly not invited to grow in such an uneven, straggly way and is crying out to be snipped....and when i glance round looking for my magic pink snips....they are usually sitting miles away on the pic-nic table....groan!

But no more!!! Welcome garden-apron!!! Everything organised and in its special labelled place...and all is right with the world!

It actually hurt a little bit, putting the dirty tools into my lovely clean apron!! lol Haha...these little plastic tie thing-ies are never around when i need them!! Go garden apron!!

This little "il giardino" label is not just there to cover a bit of the seam where my little sewing machine friend "hiccup-ed" and ruined the nice straight line...o no, it is also super-useful to thread my ipod earphone cord through so it doesn't keep falling into the plant pots im trying to fill.

The letters were stamped in fabric ink and then heat sealed with the iron for permanence.

And this is to give an idea of scale when you put it on. I made it with the pattern for the peg bag in an earlier post, and then just added more little pockets etc

I made it quite wide so that the heavier trowel sits at the side of the hip, and therefore doesn't hit my leg when im trying to walk!!!

Weeds and scruffy branches beware!