I am Fireman Sam!

I'm on the dress-ups bandwagon again!

While we've all been cursing the copious amount of rain this summer, our little guy has been taking what is usually bushfire season very seriously! What started off as a cute little role play emulating his new hero Fireman Sam, quickly became an obsession. Our house must be called the fire station, our cars the fire trucks, Ollie must be addressed as Fireman Sam or he is a seriously unhappy chappy - even "Mummy & Daddy" has been given the flick in favour of new monikers "Elvis & Trevor"!

Cute at first, but 8 weeks later he is still keeping up the charade and driving us a little nuts at times. Whipping up a mini fireman outfit allowing him to indulge a little in this new world now seems more like mum is feeding his obsession!

This outfit was created without patterns (yay me!) using only existing clothes as a guide to get the sizing right. And it didn't turn out half bad!

The only stipulation from Sam himself was that the jacket had to have two rows of buttons, just like Fireman Sam's. Sure thing.

Reporting for duty, Sir!

Water on!

"I love my shiny buttons"

Crazy fireman dude maybe, but adorable nonetheless!

The yellow strips were cut from an old t-shirt, and the reflectors are simply...wait for it...strips of duct tape! Ha! You can buy the reflective strips in haberdashery stores but I thought this was a cheap creative alternative.  Oh, and because our shiny buttons are purely decorative, I added a couple of little velcro strips to hold the jacket closed.

Success! And its all because of you, big guy...........

Baby Fever! Bibs & Burp Cloths....

Anyone else noticed how many baby bumps seem to be out there at the moment?

One of those little bundles recently greeted the world and I am so excited for my gorgeous friend JM and family who welcomed a precious baby girl just six days ago.

A few weeks back I decided to have a go at a handmade gift for bubs arrival. I found several tutorials on handmade bips and burp cloths and thought these were just delicious so thats what I went with. (And all mummies know you can never have too many of these lying around!)

I picked up a pair of flannelette baby sheets for the front, and used super soft minky for the backing. Here's how they turned out...

Mind the blurry pics here...still in desperate need of photography skills!

...And modeled here by a cheeky monkey

These are super easy and I plan to churn out loads of them once I finish up work in anticipation on my own bubs' arrival - only 11 weeks to go to meet him/her!

The Abba Refashion Challenge!

Yes yes I've been missing in action again but life gets so busy sometimes my lil projects get put on the back burner. If only there were more hours in the day!

About 4 weeks ago a friend of mine cheekily asked for help with some fancy dress costumes by laying it out as a "challenge" - now how could I refuse when its dangled in front of me like that? The theme was rock/pop stars from the 60's-90's so the range was broad and MH & Co. decided to go with Abba so the whole family of four could get in on the fun!

The trick here was getting something up and running on a tight budget, so off to the op-shops she went! Loads of white satiny stuff was purchased at bargain basement prices and I couldn't really back out now.

Here's what we started with....

One ladies blouse...

Another satiny number....

And a lovely (hmm hmm) satin dressing gown 

...PLUS a small stack of typically psychedelic fabric that could have come straight from the 60's!

 

First things first we decided to go with dressing all four the same - MH is not a big dress fan so we went with shirts to be teamed with jeans and topped off with some kick-ass flares and accessories! 

The ladies shirt was chopped down to fit a girl of 4yrs - a simple take-in and alter the shoulders and sleeves to fit. 

The other satiny shirt (of which I'm not really sure belonged to man or woman but was being used to clothe the big guy of the foursome) was already a decent fit so the sleeves were simply chopped a little.

And that oh so sexy night gown thingy was used to make a shirt for my girl MH and a basic tee for the little guy. Off came the lace around the neckline, a few adjustments with length and we were good to go.

Did I mention how scared I was that this totally wouldn't work? I only ever sew for myself so if it all goes horribly wrong its no biggy...but this was nerve-wracking...these guys really needed these outfits! 

And the finished products? See for yourself...

 

Cuteness! Mini Abba-channeling.

 

 Mummy daughter team.

(Just quietly) I love how these flares turned out and the

matching sashes set them off perfectly

 Family affair!

Hmmm...perhaps a couple of decades early for a mullet but these guys definitely rocked it!

Maternity Shorts Refashion

Hellooo refashion! Man I love this stuff, I think its almost addictive.

Any of you ever been left frustrated while shopping for maternity clothes at the sheer lack of variety & "youthfulness" of what's out there? Much of what I've come across would leave a pregnant woman looking like an old maid! Thankfully in summer maxi dresses and stretchy tanks are a saviour, but there are slim pickings in the shorts department for a growing belly. ALL of the maternity shorts I have seen are knee (or just below knee) length, which is no good when you're 5ft nothing as they tend to hang somewhere around mid calf!

So, enter summery yellow thrifted shorts I picked up for 5 bucks. (The colour is washed out in the pics, so much brighter and yummier in real life!)

This was a total experiment but I will definitely be making more of these in the near future.

First step was to remove the waistband and zipper and end up with something like this...

Now, the fly in maternity pants is purely for decorative purposes and doesn't actually function, so once the zipper is removed a straight stitch right over the existing stitching will close it together.

Next its time to attach a fabulously stretchy band to the waist which will act as your new waistband. I raided my scrap stash and used an old white shirt, selecting white so that if I wore these with a white shirt the band colour wouldn't be visible underneath (but you could use any colour really). Using one of my maxi skirts as a guide, I cut a big fat strip of fabric that was tall enough to double over when being worn - you'll see what I mean in a minute - and wide enough to go right round the bump.

And ta da! I am amazed that these actually worked and they fit like a glove. These are one size bigger than I normally wear which is catering for a bit of extra bum & thigh I seem to have acquired this pregnancy. :(

So here's what I mean about the doubling over thing.....

I can wear the band folded down at the moment while the belly is still relatively petite, but as it gets out of control the band can be folded back up for more coverage!

I love these new shorts of mine. So summery and belly friendly all for 5 bucks and about an hour of my time.

Colour blocking anyone? 

Who says maternity wear has to be matronly!?

Super Duper Tool Belt!

Happy New Year everyone!

Its been a crazy couple of weeks what with the silly season and all, but I've managed to slow down and whip up my first creation of 2012.

Ok so I've mentioned before that our lil guy loves all things that roar - cars, bikes, lawnmowers, power tools - so today we're making a tool belt to help him carry his trusty tools around the house. Poor little fella has been crying out for one of these, resorting to stuffing his tool shaped puzzle pieces in his pants!

 

Me thinks these tools need a belt!

This is a really simple idea and yet a fabulous item for a bit of boy role play. I cut two squares of fabric - the same width but one slightly longer that the other - and joined them together at the bottom. The front (shorter) piece will provide little pockets for the tools to live. 

Feeling slightly creative today, I decided to add a little embroidery floss in the shape of a hammer to give it some character. 

Next I simply sewed some straight lines down the front to create pockets, and added this little belt to the top.

The belt came with a pair of jeans and had been sitting in his cupboard for well over a year because frankly I find belts on little kids clothes annoying and unnecessary. I am glad I hung on to it though as it came in very handy for giving this tool belt some boyish grunt! 

Previously homeless tools love their new pad!

And the verdict from the man himself? Pretty stoked! Here he is giving it a whirl....

"Is it for me? Oh, thank you so much!"

Tree Skirt - cos a tree should keep some bits to itself!

Another Christmas post! Well it is only another 9 days (eeek!) so I thought I'd better squeeze it in before I run out of time.

So in previous years our tree has been sitting on three strategically placed place-mats to avoid the legs scratching our wooden floors - not so pretty. So this year I was determined to put those legs into hiding!

I started by cutting out two large circles - one in this super cute owl print and one in a plain calico for the bottom piece. The top will hide the legs while the bottom piece will sit underneath the legs to protect the floor.

Super cute owls!

Then I went about cutting a small hole in the top piece (using a cup as a guide for size), and from this small hole cut a straight line to one edge - in the top circle only. 

Pinning the two pieces together I overlocked the edges including the raw edge created by cutting the line - this opening is going to be where the legs fit in and be hidden away.

Once the overlocking was complete I added some buttons and loops to close up the slit once it was on the tree. These are the least festive buttons you could think of but they were all I had in my stash and I didn't fancy making a special dash to the shops!

Not so festive buttons with ric rac loops

Now the last step - putting it on the tree! This was a bit of a task as our tree was already up and decorated before I made this, so poor hubby had to hold it off the ground while I maneuvered the skirt around the legs. 

Its a little bit bunched up in the pictures because of the whole 'putting it on after the tree was up' debacle but it'll be on first next year and will sit nice and smooth! 

Ta-da! So now these lil fellas will visit each Christmas and I think you'll agree, they are much cuter to look at than these tired old legs....

Merry Christmas everyone!

Maternity Refashion

Its refashion time friends! I love these projects - partly because the hard work is already done for you in the form of an existing garment and partly because its so satisfying turning something reasonably hideous into a perfectly wearable piece!

So today I started with a thrifted dress I picked up for around $5 at the Salvos with the intention of giving it a little loving.

Now that the belly is starting to grow (its amazing how much earlier you 'pop out' second time around!) I am in need of some roomy clothes to accommodate it. Clothes preferably without the ridiculous pricetag that comes with store-bought maternity clothes.

Ok here's what I started with...

A bit potato-sackey! (ok, a lot)

So, I got to pinching in the dress by attaching a strip of elastic under the bust to give it a little shape and to separate the bust & belly areas. But it was still a bit lack lustre...

Elastic pinching! (with toddler running underfoot 

so mind the weird look here!)

So I raided my scrap pile and cut into an old white shirt to add some neckline detail. I simply cut strips from the shirt and played around with placement before sewing it in place.

And the finished product? I love it! And will actually wear it so we have a winner! 

Yay for refashions! And double yay for inexpensive maternity clothes!