Sew La Tea Do - latest sewing projects

I thought I'd share a few of my latest sewing projects with you today.

First up, is a draw string bag I made to hold Will's wooden train set pieces (which usually end up everywhere).


I made the draw string bag from a spare tea towel and some left over ribbon from Christmas wrapping. This is the easiest sewing project you could ever do, so if you're wanting to start sewing why not give this a try!

First up lie the tea towel out flat with the 'good side showing.

Then fold one side over onto the other so the good sides are facing each other.
Then sew along the bottom and up the side, leaving about 1.5" un-sewn.

Then fold the top over and sew along to create the part to draw the string through.
Then choose your ribbon, attach a safety pin to the end of the ribbon and feed it through to create the draw string opening.

Cut and tie the ribbon and there you have it!

The next sewing project is a dress I made on Saturday.
When you think about it, this dress is just a bigger, more tailored version of the draw string bag. I didn't make it from a pattern, just sewed the basic form then took it in where needed.


Don't you love this red and white material! I got it on sale at Spotlight so the whole dress came to about $6!

And here it is on me yesterday. I ended up wearing it with a black belt which looked nice but when I'm having a 'fat' day I'll just wear it without a belt.


I got the next idea from watching 'The Circle' interview with crafty queen Pip Lincoln.
It's a project from her book Sew La Tea Do which I've just ordered online.

Speaking of ordering online, thank you so much to Jane from Life on Planet Baby for her www.Booko.com.au recommendation. It is the best place to find out where to buy your books online. This is now the second book I've order after looking it up on Booko so THANK YOU JANE!

Anyway, here is the Sew La Tea Do inspired cushion I made....

Nice material isn't it!
Where did I get the material from you ask???
From one of Glen's old shirts!!!

And no, I didn't just help myself to his wardrobe, hehehehe. It was a shirt he'd decided to chuck out a few weeks ago but I asked him to put it in my material box as I love the material. So when I saw Pip's idea of making a cushion from a shirt I was like BINGO!

I'm thinking of putting a dark blue square trim around it to finish it off, what do you think?
It's SO simple to make, so watch the circle interview or buy Sew La Tea Do for instructions.

Sew yeah! hehehehe..... get sewing everyone, it's sew much fun and SEWWWWWWW rewarding!

Love,

DIY circus tent

Yay, I just finished it!!!
Last night and today I've been working on a 'circus play/reading tent' for Will and here it is, I hung it from the gum tree in our backyard...

I bought the stripy fabric from Ikea for $14.95 and I had the white fabric in my big box of material.

I got the Hoola Hoop from Targe for $6 and the string/ribbons were already in my sewing box.
I can't wait for him to wake up from his midday nap so I can show him and we can play in it.

I think we will be spending a lot of time reading in our new cosy circus tent!!!

I used and adapted instructions on how to make it from this fantastic book 'Cool Spaces for Kids' which I bought recently.

Better go, I'm off to play in 'my' tent!!!

Have a great afternoon,

DIY Roman Blinds - wish me luck!

This project has been on my mind all year but I have not yet had the guts (or the time) to undertake it. Yes Roman Blinds people, tricky, but maybe not too tricky - I hope!

Take a look as some pretty inspiration so you can get my drift...

Isn't this the happiest looking home office? The colours and the light are stunning, and so are those blinds.

A more subtle room but very elegant and neutral, those grey roman's with the white ribbon down the edge are gorgeous!

These ones let lots of nice light through and really tie all the elements of this kitchen together don't you think?

And do you know a little girl who WOULDN'T want a pink and turquoise bedroom like this one?

Above images via here

Very wintery, cosy, natural looking and you can't go past stripes can you?

So do you want to see the fabric I've chosen? Well this fabric chose me really. I saw it at Spotlight yesterday and it was my favourite in the whole shop by far so I bought half a meter to make kitchen tea towels out of but then when it rang up at $5/mtr as opposed to the $14.95/mtr on the tag I said to the lady 'Well at that price let me have an extra 2mtrs'. THEN she couldn't get get the computer to work properly and gave me the extra 2mtrs at $1.50!
Don't you agree, it was meant to be?

And there it is, stunning right?

So it might take me a few weeks to get started (find the time) but I will do a little 'how to' post when it's completed. I've got a great book which has 'how to make roman blinds' but I've lent it to a neighbour down the road so if I don't get it back in time I've found a great online tutorial which looks just as good as my book's instructions here.

Have any of you lovely ladies out there made roman blinds before? How did they turn out, is it hard... no, no, actually don't tell me that!

Have a lovely day,

Latest sewing project - Will's (Mummy's) Bean Bag

A few weeks ago I bought this blue and white octagonal trellis fabric to make a Bean bag for Will - or should I really say for me! You see I spend half the day lying all over the floor reading books, playing with toys, having Will rumble on top of me so I thought I might as well do it in style and comfort!

I managed to get the sewing machine out and finish the bean bag on Sunday night and then we went and bought the beans for it yesterday. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and I think Will is too!

I made the bean bag in a long rectangle shape rather than the normal bean bag shape as i needed it to be long enough to lie all over but I also gathered half way along one length so that it has a natural curve when you push all the beans to the bottom so that Will can use it as a chair too.

Here are some action shots!

So much fun! Oh and here are some bean bag tips a lady outside Kmart told me when I was walking out with my big bag of beans. She told me to fill the bean bag in the bath so the beans don't go everywhere (fantastic tip). And she said that if the bean bag does open and the beans come out then suck a stocking part way up your vacuum cleaner then vacuum them up and then you can take the stocking out with all the beans inside. Fingers crossed I won't need to try this last tip but nice to know in case.

I hope you all have a great Tuesday full of fun and excitement!
Take care,

Getting crafty

I was really sad when I discovered a permanent stain on one of my favourite jumpsuits of Will's that I was given as a baby show present. He always looked so cute in it and it's made of organic cotton so is very soft and cuddly. He has almost grown out of it anyway so I thought that I would re-purpose it for something special.

So during his afternoon nap today I made up this little soft kitty toy for him.
I had some left over wadding from when I made the blanket for his nursery and lots of buttons and embroidery thread in my sewing box.

I'm quite happy with the way it turned out even though it's not perfect and I haven't shown William yet but I'm sure he will like it.

I'm glad that I didn't just put the outfit into the rag pile, now I can treasure it forever and remember Will in his outfit even when he's a big boy. (I'm a sooky mumma aren't I).

I probably wont be blogging tomorrow as I'll be busy being a surrogate Grandma for my niece and nephew. They are have 'Grandparents and Special Friends Day' at their school tomorrow and I am very honored to be their 'Special Friend' for the second year in a row (as their Granny and Grandpa are in Sth Africa).

Last year when I was doing the class room tour in my niece's classroom her teacher was asking the kids to say something special about their grandparents. When she got to Megan she said 'Do you want to say something about your Aunty?' and Meggy said quietly 'Just... that I love her'! OOOOoooooooooooo, my heart exploded and I nearly shed a tear right there in the 3B classroom.

So I hope you have a great day tomorrow!