New nativity!!

I've wanted for a very long time to make an advent calendar for the run up to Christmas, but was always reluctant to start because i could never decide on what type to make!

 

This year I finally bit the bullet and went for the nativity and pockets design!

Each day has a pocket with a sweet and a character inside.

  

Look at them all poking out! lol!  

 So each day you have to add another character to populate the nativity scene.  I made the little charcters from felt and put poppers on the labelled spaces in the stable...because it wouldn't be mine if i couldn't be in complete control! lol!

I layered on the numbers and freehand embroidered the numbers, before cutting away the red fabric to make the shapes. 

And of course I made Mary and Joseph match! Lol!

blouse for the babysitter

So my fabulous mamma is now baby-sitter in chief down at grandma's nursery and is working so heard that she's wearing out her favourite outfits!  She gave me one such pathetic article which had actually got holes in it, but she was still wearing it, it was so comfortable!  So, like a phoenix from the flames I chopped it up and used the pattern to make a brand new one of the same size and shape.  I even used the interfacing from the old blouse in the new one, just to pass on a little of the soul of the shirt she loved so much!! Lol!!

Happy Christmas Mamma!

Danny the Scamp

So Rocco-the-Rascal wouldn't be complete without his partner in crime and mischief, his "big" cousin Danny-the-Scamp (as his mamma poog calls him).  This time with his neater blonde hair but with equally uncontrollable arms and legs, ready to shoot out and grab anything within a 5 metre radius.  I made them into fridge magnets for Grandma's fridge so she doesn't miss them too much at the weekends when they're not with her...ahem...fat chance of that!!!

Rocco the Rascal

So with all the little felt characters i've been making in hospital, it only recently occurred to me to make a personalised variety.  Complete with spiky blonde hair and crazy moving arms and legs, i give you Rocco-the-rascal , as his zia poog calls him!

 

baby braces??

No, they're not in fact!!  They are more strings for the dummy/pacifier/soother/life-saver.  Rocco likes to suck and chew them so much that I need to keep replacing them, and replacing the poppers...how does he manage to break them every time??  He has no teeth yet??!!

Colourful Calendar

So with all the appointments and visits that i've been having for the baby, i've needed to start a week planner on my magnetic notice-board.   So just to brighten it up a bit, i made magnetic days of the week and dates. 

They are just stamped on fabric with fabric paint and then stretched around a cardboard template with a little bit of padding.  Made in the same way as the previous magnets.  

All i need to do is switch the dates each week and mark in the appointments in wipe-able marker below them...easy!

Nikolai Nutcracker

So i had always wanted to make a nutcracker (i love them in case you hadn't noticed) out of fabric and thought that it should be really easy to use the paper piecing method for hand sewing.  So i made a paper version first and then cut it up to make a pattern.  

 

Isn't he hilarious?  He looks a bit sad though..or maybe nervous!  It's the down-turned eyes i think.  (i actually have only just noticed that i haven't given him a nose!! ooops!!) His hat is also a little askew at the top.  I have since put a plastic disk cut of acetate sheet in there to make it nice and flat.  

Attaching the hair and beard were my least favourite thing...they needed to be trimmed so there was fluff EVERYWHERE!!

I did some freemotion embroidery on the jacket and boots just to add detail.  

I also make the belt tight so it would give him a waist...but everytime i let go....he breathes out, sticks out his belly and it goes back to this!!! 

I'm not 100% happy with him...i think he'd be cuter if he was shorter and fatter...but he's good for a first go.  If you fancy making one too you can find the pattern here.  

pebble-patterned carpet protector

Having made my nappy bag and made it huge...it is absolutely perfect for these early days when i'm carrying everything around with me for the baby...however, it's not so great when im heading out for the day and need to carry with me only the essentials.  So my sister-in-law bought me a little travel changing bag for just such moments and while it is perfect...the changing mat is decidedly white and boring....you see where i'm going with this.

Enter mini travel changing mat.  I made it the same way as the larger version, but this time used a pebble-patterned table protector. 

 

It is silly of course but i hesitate every time before plonking him down onto it because it looks so hard and uncomfortable - all that cold hard stone!!lol!

Hospital sewing mark 3

So following on from the little dolls i sewed in hospital when i was in for the birth...this time when i was back in with Rocco for his operation, I brought another kit with me!  These are so easy and quick!!  I think i'll have to design some little customised ones and make up the kit myself - wouldn't that make a fun present for a crafty person??

Baby's 1st uniform!

So my bambino has enrolled in the best creche in the country while i'm at work...yep, Grandma's house!! He and his big cousin (who is a whole 6 months older - oh!!) are the sole pupils and are spoilt rotten all day long, no doubt!

So i decided to make him a little uniform, with the Grandma's Creche crest on it of course!  To make the crest i used freezer paper then fabric paint....it has the 4 most important things that make it Grandma's Creche...heart for much love, stars for lots of fun, z's for naps and a banana...well...because...you need to know my mum really!  She believes that bananas cure all ills. 

Then free-motion script at the bottom...easy-peasy!

freemotion monogramming

i really thought i'd blogged these, but it seems i haven't yet.... i did some monogramming on a set of towels i dyed for us to take away in the camper.  This will mean that when im drying my face with my nice orange towel, i know im not going to get a mouthful of aftershave (from superD's green towel) or of baby slobber (from Roccino's yellow towel) and Grandma and Granda can avoid all of the above with the addition of perfume from mine!!

Car-tivity mat

So it seems that the bambino doesn't like to travel in the car, cos his chair faces backwards and he's just left staring at the blank back of the seat...seems like it's too boring.  SO i decided to make him a little activity mat that he could look at while we're traveling. 

The holes at the top are for the pins of the headrest and they're off-centre so that the seat belts don't get tangled.  I made the tree with lots of buttons so that i can put on little birds or pieces of fruit or whatever, so that it will always be different and won't get boring for him.  I did flowers for the first batch...although i'm thinking they're a little girly...seems i can't help myself!! The tree has SuperD's and my initials engraved in a heart...it's hard to see in these pics..

And here it is in situ.  The bottom of the mat just reaches the foot of where his little car seat is mounted.  The first time, the reaction was fabulous...he started to cry as i lifted him in and then....silence...his little eyes just staring at it....RESULT!!! Now i wonder how long this will last??

Leave your macho at the door!

Poog wanted some pretty cushions for her bed and had this great Paris motif fabric and matching rose print. 

 

We made piping from some (very narrow!) satin bias binding which really was a bit of a headache because it was so fragile and slippy!!

  

She also choose some ultra-girly buttons for the closure...i wonder what her husband thinks of it all??!!  See?....little pink lips and crystal hearts....now those are some uber-girly cushions!!! lol it seems that Jo is man-enough to manage!!

 

Labour craft 2

So i mentioned before that i was in hospital for a full week...well i obviously needed to send out a call to poog to bring me something more to craft...all she had was another little felt doll kit that i'd given to her in her christmas stocking!!!  

As before, i was soooo glad i had something to keep my hands busy and the two little dolls turned out to be my little mascots in the birthing suite!  Bonus! lol!

Labour craft 1

So unfortunately due to complications before the birth of my bambino, i had to stay in hospital for a week...yeah, i know!  Talk about boring!! It was also really unexpected so i had no time to arrange a craft to keep me occupied.  Luckily i had packed in my labour bag a little felt doll kit, just in case i had a long labour. 

I was really glad of it...especially because there really was nothing else to do, and everyone else in the ward was so bored to death that they kept coming over to see how i was getting on...i would've had a full craft class going if i'd brought more kits!!

washable is the way forward!

This particular craft is so addictive!! Yep...that's another set.  I'm just making more so they can match the items of clothing that i'm wearing them with, if you get my drift.  That kind of thing makes me smile.

new baby pirate

Apologies for the awful pictures...i really am getting worse, but i just haven't got the time this morning to set the scene properly!!  I also could've ironed the quilt before snapping but...i haven't the time at this moment!!

So my best friend has just had a little bambino too, and she's decided that he's going to be a pirate when he grows up.  His room has been decorated with scenes of treason on the high seas.  Well i had agreed to make a quilt to match...but i had to make it in a huge hurry as he arrived 12 days early!! Eeek!  And being the leave-it-to-the-last-minute person that i am....well i hadn't started and he'd arrived!!  So, i made the quickest quilt ever, holding my baby in one arm...hence some dodgy stitching in places!! 

I didn't have time to do free-motion quilting over the whole background...so i did some little wave crests here and there to keep the layers together.  However, it does make the top layer a little bit puckered looking, so i probably wouldn't recommend doing it like that again...better to start in good time and quilt the whole lot uniformly!!!

 And on reflection the compass should definitely be smaller. 

In saying that however, i do love the little ships!!!

Cushioned camera case

So with the arrival of bambino, we got a little mini video camera to capture all the fun.  Weirdly enough it didn't come with a case and we couldn't buy one the right shape either.  I didn't want a big bulky thing...just something to cushion the camera and protect it when i throw it in my handbag. 

I put a little strap on the side to hold when squeezing the camera in and out...because it is quite a tight fit. 

I just used a velcro closure so that you don't have to apply pressure to close poppers and there's no hard button to apply localised pressure either!

Done and now my camera is handbag-proof!

mel's nelly

So to match little Mel's chair sewed a quick wee elephant that is baby-friendly.  

Be nice to him - he's got attitude..see??

All ready to gift!

caro's mini chair

So my cousin Caro has also had a bouncing bambina on the same day as me!! So i thought i'd make her a little matching baby chair for her nursery.  

I just used the same shape of foam for the little cushion.  

And then i just added her name to the corner.

The back just has an overlap so i didn't need to take the time to make a closure....craft time is pretty restricted at the minute!!