Sewing Day!

A friend and I decided to dedicate a day to sewing - the problem was how to choose which projects! The day before, my order of Mono Luna organic cotton fabric arrived from the Modern Organic Fabrics online store in the US, so I had to wash and use it immediately.

I bought the fabric in blue and pink as we don't know if we are having a boy or girl. I decided to start on the blue since I already have two little girls and a mountain of pink - if we have another lovely girl, the blanket will make a gorgeous gift.

The blanket is simply the organic cotton top, folded over the sides of cotton blanketing, purchased from spotlight. I notice that Olives Tree is using the fabric in their brand new range of gorgeous organic baby bibs and quilts for sale on their website.

Handmade cards: Reverse Applique

Although I am not much of a card maker, I love experimenting with gorgeous fabric and cards. My latest inspiration came from Joel Dewberry's book 'Sewn Spaces' which I manged to buy from the book depository in the UK for just $28.25AU with free delivery.

I am addicted to sewing books and have a large collection with more coming - but more from those later! From the book, I made this gorgeous bird reverse applique (template in book) card for a friends birthday. The fabric is from Heather Ross' Far Far Away collection which I had from Modern Retro Textiles.

The idea of reverse applique inspired me to use my tag cutter, from creative memories and babushka fabric from Kelani Fabric to make these cute little cards for two friends who both recently gave birth to baby girls.

Handmade cards and gifts are always appreciated for the thought and effort!

Speaking of reverse applique, I picked up the term from Jesse and Lauren Jung's blog - designers of the botany fabric range for Moda. They used the technique to create the most gorgeous business cards I have ever seen.

They have some gorgeous free applique patterns on the website too, take a look:

Sew Maternity begins...

Now that I am officially on maternity leave, following the sale of my former business modern retro textiles, I am excited to have some time to sew!

Congratulations to Suzanne and all the best with the business!

My first little project to combat the freezing weather in Melbourne is to make heat bags for my two little girls. These were made from the Kristen Doran 'bunny pattern' available at modern retro textiles online store. Instead of stuffing with fibrefill, I have filled with wheat, making them tiny heat bags, suitable for the children. You can buy wheat for a few dollars a kilo at your local produce store. I only heat them for about 20 seconds as my girls are toddlers and any hotter would be a burn risk.

What else is on my sewing agenda? Skirts for the girls, more heat bags, something from the Amy Butler laminated fabric I had to buy, something for me to wear for the next few months and more. Pop by and leave a message! Thanks, Sam