i have news

I thought my only news would be that these wrap dresses are good for maternity wear too.

I was hoping in secret they would wrap generously enough and they do. 

Here's Adelin roadtesting the size 10's for me.

My son thought she looked pretty good too.

But the other very new news is that our daughter, Zjahlii and her hubby are expecting a boy!

Were all taking a deep breath.

little

Here is the freshest shot of our daughter in law and new grand-daughter!

She suits being pregnant dont you think?

Does anyone know where I can find some nice organic cotton in muted tones to make maternity and babywear? Id like to get my hands on some really soon.

These lovely people will be coming to live with us soon so there will be

a huge re-shuffling at our house to make room for baby.

My sewing studio will be pulled apart and ill be back in the laundry as that room will

become number four's bedroom again.

Weve spent the weekend going through the house and shed and this is just the start.

My studio is sorted due to lots of encouragement from the Mr. I needed it as I was struggling all last week to streamline things.

After much ado about nothing ive decided I need to tackle my mending so ive left it on my sewing table in piles sorted by colour. I hope this works. I intend to do a colour everyday until its done in between some new eskimo jackets. For you ladies who are waiting on these im sorry for the delay in the making. It seems ive slowed right down with everything.

But...im starting them today!

There is also an art workshop happening at our place tonight. We havent been getting to art classes

 lately so are holding our own!

It should be a fun night with close friends.

four bags so far

These are proving harder to get my head around than I first thought. If im not in the right frame of mind to follow my notes then they simply dont work and I spend more time unpicking than I would have thought possible and I get so frustrated with myself. So here are four so far.

 Only one of these will be available in the shop as the others already have homes. 

This one is my favourite and I think its a keeper. After all im going to need a nappy bag.

Dont nanna's need to carry supplies too? Plus I cant part with it as it has taken me way too long to complete and get 'right'.

Something funny happened while I was deep in the process of making these. My daughter told me in quirky code that she was expecting her second baby via the comments section after posting about them. Only I didnt read this because my computer was down.

 She got hold of me by that same night. I was the last to know.

It was a big day in our house as my son and his wife found out they were expecting a girl.

So now Zja and Adelin (my daughter-in-law) are pregnant at the same time.

Their babes will be 5 months apart. Adelin loves the first bag I made which is great as I had her in mind when I started these anyway.

So no wonder I cant focus enough to follow my own instructions more carefully. 

Sometimes ive forgotten to put the pockets on and have to unpick the entire side.

Once I forgot to put the straps on one side.

Did you notice this one has no pocket yet?

So its back to unpicking for me today. Im really hopeful that I have made all of the mistakes that are possible with these and I wont make any more!

Id love to hear your thoughts on which bag is your favourite and whether you like the patchwork look or the plainer check tablecloth bag? Also whether you prefer the outer pocket style for easy to reach items or just an inner pocket?

a first nappy bag

With all the babies seeming to happen in my life, (well two so far) ive decided to do some of these.

 Here is the first sample of my new range of nappy bags.

My daughter has done all the research for me. She had been searching for the perfect size bag,

shaped to fit under prams and well-pocketed.

She scored herself a vintage Samsonite bag at the op-shop a while back and it was a gem.

 Inside it has a separate pull out compartment which fits two nappies plus cream and baby wipes

so im drafting that too,

but making it a bit more roomy just in case.

Perfect for a quick trip to change babies nappy out and about without having to lug the whole bag

to mothers and babies

 as well as making it easy to search for.

They will have side pockets for often used items.

I had intended to have about five by the weekend but because I just booked into a second twilight market this weekend it will cut my production down by a day.

And honestly I dont feel like tackling another one, and I mean full body contact rugby style because

ive wrestled with this one in and out of the machine all morning now. Stupidly I joined the straps to the front and through the lining as well, before putting it together. I thought it would come together faster this way. It didnt. Instead of unpicking the straps ive done the sewers workout.

I wont give in so easily. I need to get these sorted.

Im going to do exactly the opposite to what I just did and see if that works.

distracting

I know this is meant to be a craft blog. Well at least I thought it was...

 Okay, okay..... ill sneak craft in somewhere.

 I simply cant help, in between creative endeavours these last couple of days, to stop and wonder if my new grandchild is going to be as wonderful and crazy and spontaneous and loving and hilarious and interesting and entertaining and theatrical and individual and musical and goodnatured as his father is.

Even if soon-to-be-dad is a bit dazed at the moment.

Hope you have an exciting weekend.

With a bit of craft.

my creative space

Moda Plume

In my creative space today im researching fabrics for some more quilts I want to start. Yes im going to start two more but thats only because I deserve to. Ive been good.

I have been sewing lots of different things this week and have surprised myself how good it feels to be putting the finishing touches on lots of things.

One of these things is Mali's quilt! Yay! Im on to hand stitching the binding on.

So this is what ill be tackling today on and off, and hopefully finishing by tonight! 

I had really been dragging my feet with the quilting. I found that I didnt like it until I was finished..... I wasnt completely liking the stitch I was doing (mostly because it was hard on my shoulders and arms) and then I saw the light at the end of the tunnel as it 'filled up'. Does this happen to anyone else? I suppose it helps if you follow a more traditional approach. Not alot of forethought or knowledge went into mine. Ive only finished one quilt to date, remember.

Im not up with proper quilting terminology and dont know how to explain what I did in the end other than to admit that is was totally randomly stitched in big swirls to finish it off. Ill have some pics up soon as I still have the upload problem. Ive been faithfully taking lots for you. Then later on ill try to do my best to explain the entire process from start to finish in one post.

In other groundbreaking news Ive been informed that im going to be a grandmother again!

Remember the wedding I went to recently?

Yes, thats the one. Well, they have found out they are expecting! Somehow we are not surprised as these two have had their kids names chosen from early on.

Mr TL and I are elated and

we keep walking around smiling at each other.

Anyway thats enough from me for now.

Grab your cup of tea and head over to Kootoyoo

( mines a byron bay chai, thanks for asking)

grandbaby

I realise that ive only recently posted my favourite shot of my grand-daughter. But that was before my daughter sent me this one!

She suits vintage clothing so well and were very pleased about that. Its my truest passion you see.

waiting for baby

I came across this photo of my daughter while looking for something to post. She was waiting for baby to arrive and I got a surprise visit from her and her husband, which was really nice.They live an hour away. In this shot she is trying to hide the yoghurt she is eating because everytime someone has taken her photo during her pregnancy she seems to be eating. Now that I think of it perhaps she just stopped by to visit my fridge and not us afterall!
I think she looks beautiful here and has since had her own daughter, Mali