Japanese Flowers

can I just say that I never cease to be amazed at the beauty of the crochet Japanese Flower. The are whimsical and sweet and the possibilities are endless. I have been itching to try them, but always thought they were too complicated. However Revlie has this lovely Tutorial to get anyone started and Sue (who made those beautiful pink flowers in the picture underneath) explains the variation that I like the most in great detail here, so no more encouragement was needed :-)

I have bought the yarn - I know I know ... breaking my 'no more buying yarn' fasting for Lent -, but it was so beautiful and there was no guarantee that it would still be available in those colours after Easter. It is a cotton/acrylic mix thus giving it the clean edge I think is necessary for this kind of crocheting.

I have been looking for a project and the coming winter provided me with the perfect excuse - a scarf that consists of 2 rows of flowers for my little daughter. I initially only bought the purples and white, but then went back and got the pinks and aqua as well. It just increases the amount of different combinations and I can't wait to get started.

the blanket that started it all

Over a year ago I had found some interesting looking yarn and I was at a loss of what to do with it. There are only so many scarfs you need in Brisbane and my son had wondered whether I could make him a big cuddly blanket. Well, it certainly is big, in fact it's so big, I had to lay it on our queen-size bed to get it all in, but he LOVES it.

I started with the panel in the middle in double crochet ( UK treble I believe). Even after all this time, I still love all the different hues of colour that are in the centre. I do have 4 balls of that yarn left in blue that I am trying to think what I could do with it that would do it justice. Hmm, maybe a scarf :-)

After the panel was finished, I added the black stripes on each side and then on top and bottom. In order to break up the solid black I wanted to try a treble V-stitch or rather a W-stitch, but I found that the holes between each stitch were too large. I ended up adding an extra straight treble in between each stitch and I think it turned out very nicely.

After searching high and low for a soft green yarn that would go with the shades of the centre panel, I finished everything off by adding a mostly green border around it all. It took a while, mostly because I took big breaks in between, but I did complete it by Christmas, so all was well. My son is thrilled with it and says 'it's like a big hug from me whenever he needs it in the middle of the night'.

THE PLAN to get sewin'

March:        get sorted and organised (read procrastinate) and finish stripey crochet blanket. It might be worth reading the manual of the sewing machine to figure out whether my little machine has any secret bells and whistles. (why you would need bells and whistles in sewin' is beyond me just yet, but I am willing to learn)

April:          attempt to make a pillow and duvet covers for the daughter (who has sadly inherited all boys bedlinen from the son and who'd like something pink or purple) without destroying sewing machine (i.e. learn how to sew straight and how the machine works)

May:           if the sewing machine is still in working order, attempt to make several kids shorts in plain cotton and maybe knits (but no pressure)

June:           assuming all is well, this is the month of girls dresses. It would be a good chance to practise button holes and gathering ruffles etc.

July:            should we have progressed to this stage, a congratulatory feast is in order as stage 2 of the learning to sew is about to commence (she is now gone completely around the bend as she refers to herself with the royal we and in third person). After the debauchery is done, I will attempt to sew plain A-line skirt for myself either with an elastic waist or MAYBE even a zipper.

August:        this month we should concentrate on a, seeing whether the son wants anything sewn for his birthday (you never know, he might) and b, trying to reading the pattern for the Christmas dress

September:   make a top from the top half of the Christmas dress (I found the cutest fabric and although it has different colour flowers on it and it would need to get matched and it'll be a pain, it would probably be worth it)

October:       make a version of the dress with an old white bed sheet. If it fits and doesn't look so terrible, it's would be possible to dye it :-)

November:   make dress

December:   wear dress and evaluate whether to do it all again ever

the Superman Dress

the Superman dress from Cation Designs deserves special recognition of being possibly the most awsome dress ever, no seriously, it tickles me pink and even my husband, who normally smiles indulgently at my flights of fancy, was impressed.

the red sash is optional, but the cut-out in the back is inspired. I will never look at printed children's bedsheets quite the same way :-)

Dresses I love Part 2

After reading the article about red vs blue dresses (coincidentally my 2 favourite colours) I couldn't help but post my first love from SewWeekly.

I bought the pattern even though I have no experience at all in sewing from patterns, but the goal for this year is to learn. It is my favourite style of dress anyway and hopefully it will be my Christmas dress for 2012.

Dresses I love

I absolutely adore JuliaBobbin's Mad Men obsession. Her Peggy Dress is beyond wonderful and a true inspiration for why I need to get much, much better at sewing :-)

I finally made it

yeay ... now I have a place for all my crafty thoughts and plans and ideas ... :-)