a green life

Blogs are the most wonderful sources of inspiration, and the people behind them are so generous sharing their ideas and creations. There is such joy in the simple act of doing something we love for others or for ourselves. I visit certain blogs for baking, craft, design and sewing ideas.  I love to read these blogs for their beautifully-staged photographs; the children's crafts that never seem to generate actual mess and that turn out picture-perfect every time, the happy, smiling children dressed in perfectly tailored handmade clothes, the neat-as-a-pin homes.  I know it is all smoke and mirrors, but for me, following these blogs is a form of escapism.  However, the blogs I return to are those that have a unique voice and it's their authenticity and honesty that draw me to them.  This is the reason why I love to read a green (and sometimes blue) life. Susan writes from the heart. Sometimes her message is confronting, but amongst all her turmoils is a woman who is trying to lead the best life she can with her family and carve out a small business too.

a green life's ethos is very simple; clothing and toys for children made using vintage and upcycled items.  Here are some of my favourites:

Sus has pretend play covered with these cool capes, cuffs and masks:

All photos from a green life

Or be regal with some doily crowns:

This marble set is a nod to the simpler past, which is exactly why I love it so much:

It's no secret that I love the vintage aesthetic, so I was always going to be a fan of hers, but I am proud to say she is a friend in real life too.

When she listed some old biscuit tins stuffed with new and vintage trims and notions, I leapt at the chance to buy one for my daughter.  It is hidden away at the moment waiting for the right time to gift it, but here is a sneak peek at its contents:

Would you like some awesome sauce to go with that? You can purchase one of these for yourself in Sus's Felt store and she is currently hosting a giveaway on her blog, so you can discover her handmade and thrifted goodness for yourselves.

Round cushion

Remember the deep blue velvet remnant I bought at Fabric-a-brac?  It's now a cushion. I'm full of original ideas. I did think about making a cape for Aimee since she's quite into role-playing at the moment, and I think there might be just enough left to make her one. That's for another time.

There are plenty of round velvet cushions on the internet. They're so preeetty (if you're into that kind of thing), but I often wonder about them being dust-catchers, and housework and I are mortal enemies. Guess I can just flip it over to the un-dusty side until I am forced to do something about it.

Psst, did you hear about the corduroy cushions? They're making headlines.

The cushion adds a bit of "Hello" to the couch, but I'm thinking it has found its spiritual home on the chair I painted a few months ago. That's if I can prise it out of Sienna's paws, since she has lain claim to it. I'm always happy to know that the girls like what I'm making. It's validation of an afternoon spent trying to sew the surprisingly difficult buttons onto it.

I would normally use the self-covering button kits that you can get in craft stores, but I really didn't want to have to go and buy some so I made use of what I had here. I figure you know already how to cover your own buttons, but here is a pictorial* of what I did to cover them:

* Brought to you in conjunction with one sad-looking cutting mat.

Degree of difficulty: The hardest part was attaching the buttons using a standard sewing needle rather than a longer upholstery one. As the saying goes, craft waters never run smooth (or something like that) and my achilles heel this time was that the back loop on the second button snapped from the strain. Of course, there were no other buttons in that size in my button jar so I have just tacked the button to the cover to keep it in place until I can get to the craft store to buy a replacement
Time taken: 4 hours
Result: At just under 40cm, it's a great size as a cushion for a couch or bed. If I were to make another one for the seat of my chair, I think I would make the gusset half as deep.

Show me the bunny

Here is my first ever embroidery that I was working on last week, hanging in its 22.5cm hoop:

Thanks to a helpful suggestion from stitcheranon (love the Irish, so), I opted for a satin stitch to fill in the balloon - and what a difference! I considered unthreading the long and short stitches that I filled the balloon with initially, and I am pleased that I decided to keep that stitchwork underneath as it conceals any gaps between the longer stitches.

I used a whole skein of red embroidery thread though; that's a deceptively guzzly little piece of embroidery work right there.  It was very quick to stitch, taking just 10 minutes to do.  I really like the overall effect that it gives to the balloon and it's now my favourite part to look at. And stroke occasionally.

You may recognise the illustration that I traced and enlarged on the photocopier. It's a sweet Sarah Jane drawing found in her Balloon design that's part of her Children at Play collection, which is another of my absolute favourite fabric lines.

I'm a bit of a font geek, so if anyone wants to know what it's called, it's modelled on the Sue Ellen Francisco typeface.  For the benefit of those new to embroidery, like I am, I used a split stitch for the words and a backstitch for the rabbit and balloon string.

My plan is to gift this to my sister to hang in her son's nursery to act as a kind of subliminal message to him, as in drift off to sleep, buddy. Or else. It's always a bit of a presumption that she'll like what I make. I guess, we will see, won't we?


Degree of difficulty: Easy
Time taken: 2 days - would have been much less if I hadn't unthreaded the balloon stitchwork the first time around
Result: Obviously, I need practice, especially when it comes to making nice neat, even stitches around curves but I can see how addictive this craft can be.  Uh oh.

Currently...

It's been one of those weeks where life gets in the way of crafting. I'm still tinkering away though, and wanted to show you what I have been up to over the past few days.

If you have not yet found the Matariki Crafting linky, there are still a few days left to submit your winter-theme projects for a chance to win some wonderful prizes and find some inspiration for future projects, as I did with Max's embroidered pillowcases and the stitchwork on Lisa's beautifully-made garments.

Other than the cross-stitch cushion that I made, I have never embroidered before. This was an opportunity for me to learn some more basic stitches. "It's like colouring in with thread!", announced the enthusiastic tutor on the Youtube video. Great! I am pleased to report that it is like colouring in, just in extremely s-l-o-w motion. I don't think I have the patience to do this on a large-scale project, so I am glad I chose a relatively small pattern.

Please tell me that the back of the embroidery work is meant to look like roadkill? It's paining me to see it all look so rough back there.

I was around two-thirds of the way through filling in this balloon and decided the stitches looked too uneven. So, I unthreaded it all - which took aaaages because of navigating the minefield of tangled threads on the back. Now, I am nearly back to the point where I was a day ago - hurrah!

In other crafterly news, I am also slowly whittling down my yarn pile.

I'm not looking at those tails. I'm not.

And that, my friends, is a wrap. Tune in next time when you will hear Doctor Bob say: "I'm feeling a bit ruff".

More hotness

Don't say I didn't warn you. Sewing machine and overlocker are back in operation, hurrah!  It was refreshing to sew for a change although I snuck some more crochet in there, I just couldn't help myself.

Lisa of Big Little emailed me a very handy hot water bottle template, and I discovered that they are quite addictive to make even though I managed to make my covers quite wonky. Go me! Maybe it was because I was working around my children and not able to fully concentrate on what I was doing when I sewed, or maybe it was because I don't like using pins to hold everything in place as I sew and the fabric shifted. Anywhoozle, these are the results.

Upcycled merino jersey. I kept one of the original tags; it has the care instructions on the back of it which someone might find useful. Not very exciting, I know, but it is very warm and that's the whole point of making them.

Raspberry wool fabric with soft pink wool crochet detail. I used You Go Girl's crochet edging pattern to embellish the back opening. The crochet motif is the same as the one that I used on my earlier hottie cover. This is my favourite cover, I hope whoever receives it will love it too.

It is such a miserable day here, the lighting is not very good to take photos, but here is my little bundle that will be posted to Lisa shortly. If you want to join in, all the details you need can be found here.

Ra-ra hottie covers

Matariki Crafting, hosted by Juliet of Tartankiwi, will shortly be heading into its second week. This is an opportunity to get inspired by some winter-themed craft projects and ideas, some of which *gasp!* don't even involve a sewing machine, crochet hook or knitting needle - which I think may be a sign after what has been a very unsuccessful crafting morning here.

It started out with so much promise. All three children were out of the house for six hours and the day stretched out before me.  I had set up my overlocker and sewing machine the day before to maximise this precious time. What happened instead were machines that ate my fabric and broke their needles.  I hadn't got around to replacing the needles from the last time the overlocker was used, so sewing has ground to a halt.

All I have to show you are the covers I made yesterday for the Hottie Project, which were actually test runs but might indeed be the ones I send by default *eyeballs overlocker and sewing machine*. I had a play with an old terry towel bathrobe and used some store-bought pom pom trim, but found the end result to be a bit thin, small and underwhelming. The hottie that's nottie. So, I added a crochet motif but it still feels a bit meh. It's the New Zealand X Factor of hottie covers.

I went looking for a string of oversized pom poms yesterday to ramp things up a notch The Voice Australia-style, but there was nothing available, so you just know I had to go and make my own. They didn't take long to make, probably half an hour. Love pom poms. They're like spots in 3D. When my husband asked if I was actually seriously for reals going to use them, I knew I was onto a winner. I shall not be responsible for your child still being awake in bed at 10pm because they are having fun playing with their hottie cover.

Give me an H! Give me an O! Give me a T-T-I-E!

The little things

Growing up at the foot of a mountain, hot water bottles were a regular feature in our household during the winter months. I remember with not too much fondness the rubbery texture under my feet as I jostled it around to warm up the cold spots in my bed, the sound of the water sloshing inside - and being woken in the night when my feet strayed upon the cold, dead mass at the foot of the bed. Contrast this with my children, who have not even seen a hot water bottle in their young lives.

As I sit here in the relative warmth of my home, surrounded by my creature comforts and with my girls all sleeping soundly in their cosy beds, I am grateful for all that I have and my mind is turned towards an initiative that resonates with me so much as a mother.

It is the right of every child to feel warm, to feel safe, to feel loved. With the aftermath of the Canterbury earthquakes still continuing to affect so many families, and with the knowledge that many of them face another bitterly cold winter ahead, Lisa of Big Little, together with Catalina's Cottage and Sophie Slim has started a campaign to warm the feet of the children of Christchurch and the hearts of their parents.

Called the Hottie Project, the aim is to make hot water bottle covers and supply them to those who need them. A simple gesture with so much significance to those it reaches. I am joining in using a template Lisa has kindly supplied and I will share the results of my effort with you later. For now, it just seems more important to help spread the word.  Even if you are a non-crafter, which is probably unlikely if you are reading this blog, there are ways in which you can be involved; please contact Lisa.

Let's help fill winter with a little more cheer for some of these children and show the families in Canterbury that we care.

Fusion blanket

Relief.  This blanket has been months in the making. I am just so glad to have finished it. Kismet may have been at play; I had just enough blue yarn to blanket stitch and crochet borders around the fabric squares and stitch them all together.

This one was my interpretation of a blanket made by And the Little Dog Laughed.  Where the profit margin is in that blanket, I'll never know. Truly, the asking price is worth it for amount of time it would have taken to make alone, let's not even mention the cost of materials.

I started making my crochet blanket using a bobble stitch. It took me nearly two weeks to get the central colours to the size they are, and because of the blanket's slow progress, I lost interest in it, and put it away. Bad mistake. When I pulled it out again, I could not remember how to make the stitch so instead of a bobble, I ended up with a flat weave on the pink and grey borders.  I didn't mind how the combination looked, so I chose to continue with it.  You can view it in its unfinished state here.

Then it was time to work on the fabric squares. Selecting the fabric was easy. I love Aneela Hoey's collections, I used her Little Apples fabric in my quilt and when her Walk in the Woods line became available, I bought some charm squares. At the time, I had no project in mind for them, but this blanket seemed the obvious choice. The colours complement the yarn and give the blanket the snuggly, wintery feel that I was looking for.

Sewing the blocks together was not difficult, just time-consuming as I handstitched the openings closed.  I guess if I had thought it through, I could have made the seam allowances bigger and then machine topstitched the openings down once I had turned the squares out the right way. You should know me by now, I like to make things harder than they need to be.

Using my wool needle, I blanket stitched around the outside of each block in 1cm increments. They probably could have been spaced further apart. Then I packed them all away and didn't touch them for over a month. I guess I was struggling with how I was going to attach them to the blanket.

Somehow, and I can't believe it happened, the number of stitches I used and the v-stitches I crocheted seemed to work out and putting them all together was actually easy in the end. It took 13 hours to crochet the fabric squares to the edge of the main blanket using a flat-braid technique.

There are fusion blanket tutorials out there, and I think if anyone is considering making one for the first time, it would be wise to refer to them, if only for the sake of your sanity - unless you are like me and unwittingly embark on projects without a pattern because you are blissfully unaware of the potential difficulties.  That's always fun, and is, I guess, by definition, crafting dangerously.

Degree of difficulty: It was pure luck that this blanket came together relatively easily. This was a true sliding doors project - if I had chosen a different stitch to attach the fabric squares, made the fabric squares smaller, or even made the main crochet blanket any size other than what it ended up being, it could have resulted in a very large headache.
Time taken: Two months
Result: You would think that because this blanket combines both yarn and fabric, two of my most favourite-est things in the world, I would be thrilled with it. However, that tired, smug-looking child (but mostly tired) in the photo above was how I felt by the end of this project.

Linking up with Show and Tell and My Creative Space this week.

Seventh Sphere

Comments left by readers can reveal quite the treasure trove of talent, can't they? I have discovered some very talented craftspeople over these past few months, some with lovely small businesses quietly going about their lives and who I think really deserve to be taken notice of.

One of those people is Bel of Seventh Sphere. Although she did not win my latest giveaway, I clicked on her linked name in her comment (because I'm nosey) and discovered she designs and makes really gorgeous purses and bags, big and small. She is from Wollongong (loving that place name!), Australia and when I emailed her to tell her how much I loved them, we arranged to do a swap. I may have got the better deal.

She received some fabric that I have had for a few months and was looking for a way to destash, and she said, Destash is Wollongong's transliterated name, so off it went across the ditch.  Her beautiful coin purse arrived soon after, which was destined for one of my daughters, but I love it so much, I'm keeping it for myself. Now, every time I open my bag, I have a little bit of Aussie sunshine coming out of it.

Photo from Seventh Sphere Etsy shop

The purse is a great size to hold my loose change although Bel makes them in an array of sizes, including ones to fit credit cards too.

The purses are all handmade, lined, and have a secure clasp closure.  Some are made from vintage fabrics, others from contemporary new fabrics, and you can be sure there will be something there to suit everyone's tastes. Shipping is very reasonable too - $4.00 for shipping to New Zealand - that's cray-cray!

Here are some of my bag picks, but really, I had a hard time choosing.

A highland sling *snort*:

Photo from Seventh Sphere Facebook page

Or some paisley, perhaps?

Photo from Seventh Sphere Facebook page

Dude.  I know.  But don't take my word for it, go and check out her Etsy shop.

Oh, you're still here. You're probably looking for a link to her Facebook page. Now, go on, go and check her out.

Throw your arms around me

Apologies for the delay in announcing a winner of my giveaway, I've been busy composing a post to let down the masses gently. It's been great connecting with people the world over; I received comments literally from the four corners of the world and I cannot believe how many respondents came from here:

and Washington State.

I had a nice lesson in geography too.  Be nice to the people who live in the armpit of Florida. A lovely person lives there.  Someone who now owns 15 fat quarters of Red Letter Day.

Congratulations Kelli, I have emailed you for your postal address.  Living in the armpit is pretty sweet now, isn't it?

To the rest of you, let me console you with a rather tenuous link into New Zealand Music Month (yes, I know you'd rather have the fabric).  This great Australian song is a cover version performed by New Zealanders Tim and Neil Finn and I love it because it sends a message that even though we all come from different places, music (and fabric) can unite us all.

When the world comes calling

***GIVEAWAY CLOSED***

Here is the proof that I am always the last to know things.  I just discovered that Sew Mama Sew is hosting it's 10th biannual Giveaway Day.  There are some pretty amazing giveaways happening on crafting blogs all around the world this week, and I want in, baby!

If you are new here, hello and thanks for stopping by.  I'm Leanne, a proud Kiwi, fabric hoarder and a lover of most things related to sewing, crochet and DIY.  I have been having fun these past few months documenting my crafting journey and discovering like-minded bloggers along the way.

I'm a bit late to the party, but I know you won't mind and I hope you like what I have to offer you.

The winner will receive 15 fat quarters of Lizzy House Red Letter Day fabrics.

If you are a Lizzy House fan like me, you will know that this collection is out of print and some colourways are very hard to find.  It took me over a year scouring the internet to find all of these fabrics, such is my dedication.

THE BORING BITS:
Please leave a comment below telling me where you are from.

There is no requirement to sign up to my blog, but if you would like to, new followers are always welcome and of course, as an added bonus, existing and new followers will gain an extra entry. Since I will be using a random number generator to select a winner, please leave a second comment letting me know that you follow.  For a further entry, feel free to share my giveaway on your own blog (if you have one) and let me know that you have done so by linking to it in a separate comment.  So, that's a possible three chances to win for very little effort - howzat?

This giveaway is open to international readers.  It will close at 8pm on Saturday 11 May 2013 (NZST) and a winner will be drawn randomly shortly thereafter.  No-reply commenters, please leave your email address in your message, otherwise I will have no way of contacting you if you win, which will make the both of us very sad. If I do not receive a reply within three days of making the draw, I will choose another winner.

And in case you were wondering about the random music video, it's New Zealand Music Month, so feel free to play some Kiwi sounds while you're leaving me a message and you might even spot some scenery from your own part of the world in it.

Thanks again for stopping by my blog, and good luck to you all.

Tic Tac Toe cushions

Has anyone else noticed that their children's levels of undesirable behaviour generally escalate the least child-friendly the setting they are in?  McDonalds - perfect table manners.  Restaurant - doing snow angels on the carpet.  We don't go out much.

This is my not so subtle homage to the classic game that I break out with my daughters anywhere they've got their whinge on.

The fabrics that I used for these cushions were remnants bundled together in coordinating colours on the $10 sale table at ES Design.  Because it was next to impossible to see exactly what I was purchasing, what I ended up with was a bit of a lucky dip.  Some of the fabrics were fantastic and had a retro feel like the Sanderson Dandelion clocks that I used for our lounge cushions.  Others were fabrics and prints that are not typical for me to use, and because I absolutely hate wasting material, it has been a good experience for me to work with different textiles and see what I could make with it all.

The Tic cushion is an orange wool fabric cross appliqué on green linen:

The Tac cushion is a linen print. Yes, I know there should only be one 'o' but I took some creative liberties:

Finally, the Toe cushion is also first attempt at cross-stitch using green linen as my base cloth.  See, my crosses get a little teeny-tiny in the bottom left. I had to take care not to create too much tension with my thread otherwise it would distort the linen:

All of the cushions are backed in a floral linen and have zip closures.

Time taken: 3 days
Degree of difficulty: Standard cushions are very simple to make.  The cross-stitch cushion was more challenging.  I have a newfound appreciation for people who can cross-stitch neatly. Before I started this project, I thought it would be quite easy.  It wasn't.  Maybe it was my poor choice of base cloth and thread, or maybe I should have chosen a more simple shape to cross-stitch for my first attempt. Or, more likely, I'm just total rubbish at needlepoint...
Result: Stalemate. 

Meet Brad and Ange

This is their untold story.

He first laid eyes on her one evening.  He was from a different class, being cut from more expensive fabric.  She was made from an upcycled pair of cotton pants, but he loved her sense of style:

Although she came from the wrong side of the fabric stash, she knew how to play the game and was very hard to get.

Beware of the cat

What could he do to win her heart?

Then, he had a lightbulb moment:

They travelled the whole entire backyard together.  What fun they had!  He loved her sense of adventure.  She loved his mean set of wheels.

Soon, so very soon:

Any similarity to rabbits living or dead is purely coincidental.

Happy Easter.

Patchwork change mat

Still too scared to try actual quilting, I carried out a small-scale project on my sewing machine to try out topstitching through several layers of fabric.

Each square was roughly 13cm square (charm square size) that I handcut from my scraps and once I sewed them together I topstitched 5mm around the edges of each patchworked square.  I added criss-crosses on the white squares to give a little extra detail to it.

This baby change mat is backed with the same navy stripe that I used to bind it.  Handsewing the binding is much less time-consuming than a full-sized quilt (obviously) so I finished this in a few hours.  It's heading to a new home this week with the merino top.

Degree of difficulty: Easy
Time taken: 4 hours
Result: There is something very classic about the colours and stars and stripes, although a predominately white top may not be a practical choice for its intended purpose...

Batman merino top

This project was brought to you through a comment made by Sara, introducing the letter B for Batman. And Broken.  I was inspired by my very own little superhero, Renee, who fractured her arm in two places at school last week and went three days before it was properly diagnosed.  She's one very tough cookie.

Making this top involved a series of firsts for me - my first time using an overlocker/coverstitch for the majority of the project, my first time working with merino, my first time having to convert the machine from an overlocker to coverstitch and my first time doing appliqué.

So, I sat down in front of my shiny new overlocker, turned it on, and waited for a few seconds to see if I would automatically turn into this a-ma-zing seamstress, but nup, I just make more expensive mistakes that are really timeconsuming to undo.  Or impossible to fix.  Like the fact that overlockers cut off the seam allowance.  That I hadn't allowed for.  Ahahahahahaha...ahem.

It took me 4 hours to convert my Huskylock S21 to the coverstitch function and an hour and a half to change it back to being an overlocker.  An improvement, wouldn't you say?  I shall conquer this machine mountain, you just wait and see.

In my stash was a very small amount of merino in an interesting shade of calf scoury yellow and I teamed it with an old pair of leggings of Sienna's that I had planned to mend (honest!), but it was too good a combination to ignore.  I printed out an image of the Batman logo and used it as my template for the appliqué.

This merino of questionable colour is quite soft to the touch and would be so warm to wear so it seemed perfect for a baby's top.  Here are the leggings, enjoying their new lease of life as sleeves:

Constructing a garment using an overlocker was quite different for me in the sense that I needed to work backwards and coverstitch the necklines and bodice and sleeve hems first and then overlock the side seams together.

Sewing merino was also interesting as I am unaccustomed to working with stretch fabrics and found unrolling the edges of the merino as I overlocked a little fiddly but I much prefer using my fingers to guide the fabric through than pinning the garment to within an inch of its life.

This top is destined for another friend who had a little boy a few weeks ago.  I'm sharing this project over at Sewing Barefoot.

Time taken: 1 day
Degree of difficulty: Mastering my overlocker will be a work in progress, making the garment is very straightforward and I enjoyed appliqué so much I will definitely be trying it out again
Result: Even though I heavily criticized the colour of the merino, I really do like it.  I hope the top fits otherwise someone in this house might have a very well-dressed doll instead.