How to make baby & toddler leggings without a pattern.

This is a very easy-peasy way of making leggings for a small person. They look great and cost a fraction of the brand names!

Step 1. Buy a pair of leggings from the opshop. I found a pair of red and black stripped girl's size 12, for a mere $2. Score.

Step 2. Lay a pair of leggings [preferably] that are the size you want to make, on top of those you have now. Because babies have nappy bottoms, their crotch is about half the length of the pants. In this case, her size 0 pants have the same crotch length as the girl's 12. Check how much stretch is in the original pants and how it compares to the fabric you are using. In this case the strech was 1:1 so I didn't need to adjust. If the stretch in the new fabric is less than the old fabric, then add more length to the crotch area. The same applies to width.

Step 3: Cut out your new leggings. Its best to cut so that the waistband of the old pants becomes the waistband of the new ones, it saves on new materials and also makes the whole thing go quicker. IN the picture you can see I've made the new pair bigger than the old pair. Some reasons for this are that you need to allow enough to sew [seam allowance] as well as to hem on the bottom [hem allowance] I allowed an extra cm on the bottom of the legs and .5 cm around the edge for mine because I am sewing them with an overlocker. I also wanted them to be a bit bigger than the original leggings because she is growing fast and has very long legs for her age.

Step 4: Sew inside leg seams. I used the old seams here so I didn't need to sew them, but if you don'e mae these from old leggings or if you use a larger pair and need to cut them more than I did, you'll need to do this now.

Step 5: Edge the bottom of the legs. If you are using a sewing machine [not an overlocker] do this with a zigzag, or equivalent. You can also turn the edge up and sew it to form the cuff at this point.

Step 6: Sew side leg seams. Ensure that you double stitch the elastic at the top if you cut it like mine. If not, now is the time to make a casing and add elastic. 

Step 7: Put them onto a cute little wiggly baby. She is now crawling and wouldn't sit still for me to take a picture of her. Forward is much more interesting than pause!

There is enough of the old leggings left to make her a pair of babylegs but she's too active for them to stay on, so I'm going to save the off cuts to make myself some leg warmers!

Here are some other baby pants patterns and tutorials on the web.

Free simple baby pants with pattern @ www.make-baby-stuff.com

Baby Leg & arm warmers @ www.everythingyourmamamade.com

Make Baby tights @ www.made-by-rae.com [these don't have to be just for girls, make them a little loose for boys and they're great to keep little feet warm, especially at night]

Man Soup

One our friends makes Pea and Ham soup just the way Andrew likes it. She calls it Man Soup. I have been a little reluctant to make it because of the plethora of recipes out there, not knowing just what to do. Today however, with the chill autumn steeling in, I bought a bacon hock and some peas and decided to make it up based on the different recipes I'd read. This isn't a fancy pants recipe but it is good and unfussy. It tastes wonderful and I think would be very good slow-cooked.





You need:
1 smoked ham/bacon hock
1 large onion or 2 small onions
3 stalks of celery
1 litre chicken stock
2 litres water
2 cups dried peas [I used the no-need-to-soak kind]

How to go about it:
Put the hock, stock and water in a pot. Set water to simmer at a happy bubble. Dice the onion and add to the pot. Leave it to simmer for about an hour. Skim off the fat from the top.

Finely slice the celery and add to the pot with the peas. Stir. Reduce the heat to a very gentle simmer, put a lid on and cook another 2+ hours. Stir it every 15 min or so so it doesn't stick.

When the soup is about done [the peas will have 'melted' and the soup will be thick], lift the hock from the pan, and strip it of all the meat. Most of it is fat and connective tissue, so its easiest to find the meat by using your fingers. Chop the meat into small pieces and return to the pot.

There. Its done. If you want you can blend it a bit or serve as is.

My Place & Yours - Whats on your keyring?

My keyring                                          Addie's Keys

My keyring: Very boring compared to almost everyone that I know. I have an RAA member's keyring so that if I get stuck I can call them to help me! Addie likes to chew it. The big keyring is a wristlet that one of my best friends gave me for my 28th birthday, hoping it would be handy when I had the baby. Se was right, it is handy and I recently taught our craft group how to make them.

Addie's keys: Addie's keys are just uncut door keys and a wardrobe key on a wristlet with crinkly plastic inside and a satin ribbon. She loves it, and it stops tantrums that can ensue when I need to actually use my keys.

Everyone is playing @ Hello Owl. 

End of Giveaway - and the winner is...

It is Monday, the day I promised to tell you who wins the embroidery book.
Four people entered and so I asked my husband who hasn't read the comments to pick a number from 1-4. He said 2, and the second comment was from Elizabeth. So Elizabeth, congratulations! I'll need you to email me your postal address so that I can get this off to you. My email address is pzy001 @ gmail.com


** So now for your questions **

Jodi asked,
"What is your favourite book?"
What a hard question! I find favourite to be a very difficult word. Here are some of my top books. Robyn Green's Chemical Free Home. This book is completely filled with excellent remedies and solutions to all kinds of household problems and has some great tips for health and beauty.

Another of my favourite books is Robyn Barker's Baby Love - its a great baby book, written in a very nurturing tone. It has fantastic information but is relatively unbiased. I love that she constantly reminds us that THE most important thing is that we enjoy our babies. I've written about another great baby book called Sleeping Like A Baby by Pinky McKay here.

My favourite book about sewing is the Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing 1st Edition. It has details on most techniques used in tailoring and dressmaking. It is clear, unfussy and I can read it for hours!

My favourite book of fiction for the past few years has been the Count of Monte Christo by Alexandre Dumas.  Its not a light volume, it is long with intersecting stories woven together. I like that it is Frenchie, and that when I read it I'm transported to their world. Les Miserable would come a close second and for many of the same reasons. I don't feel like I've explained that very well, but never mind.

Elizabeth asked:
"Whats it like in Broken Hill?" Now that is a long and involved story! Broken Hill is a place with wild beauty. Some people come and fall in love instantly like I did, and others just can not understand the place. It has been very isolated until recently. The internet has made a big difference to it's connection to the world. This is obvious in how the different generations behave. There has been a huge culture of 'looking after our own' which can mean imposing rigid rules and extreme exclusion of outsiders. This is changing I think. I have noticed that people from "away" stick together and locals stick together, but the two groups mix only if necessary. There are many quaint shops and the 1950's Broken Hill's hey-day is still thriving in many pockets of the place.

It is a slower life than in the city. It is slower than even the regional centres. The roads are all 50km an hour, to go faster you have to leave the town, but its not like it takes long to get anywhere though. We don't hesitate to drive to Adelaide or Mildura, but we don't like driving the 5km to go "out south" which is the uncool part of town.

Broken Hill has the best stars at night - even in town. The sunsets are incredibly beautiful and the dust storms send us inside with the windows shut, towels under the doors. We have more warm days in the year, but it is a dry heat that is easy to bear [I think].

Esther asked:
Aren't you meant to answer the questions in a blog post on Monday, not now?
Did you know I read your blog too?
Are we allowed to ask more than one question?

Yes, I am supposed to answer them like you said Esther, but I deducted that the question I answered in the comments was a little joke Elizabeth was making about a softie she sewed the other week.

I didn't know that you read my blog too, but I'm glad that you do :)

Yes you may ask as many questions as you want, but I may limit how many I answer  not likely though.

Talia asked:
What's your favourite thing to indulge on when you've got some money to spend?
There are a number of things that I like to spend money on. Patterns, books, lovely teapots, fabric and sewing supplies. My last big indulgence was a ukulele which doesn't actually fit into any of the above!

On being a mummy blogger

I didn't mean to be a mummy blogger. I'm not even sure that I want to be a mummy blogger! I have realised though that I  can not deny that I am.

Why do I care? When I started my blog in October 2003, I was in my early twenties. I was single, a bit funky, did lots of fun stuff and used words like 'dude', 'ta' and used 2 and 4 instead of two, to, too, four and for. I drove a little old mazda 323, did lots of quizes, used a beat-up old PC and studied a Cert IV in Community Services, whilst working as a disability support person. To be honest reading what I wrote back then is oh-so embarrassing, and I feel like hitting the delete button, but I won't.

These days I'm a mum, I'm married, I don't have paid employment. I try to write properly in my posts, but in a lively manner, because I'm still a little bit fun. I drive a family car, use a macbook and read books about babies and sewing. I do fun things, but they're not the things that I would have classed as fun in 2003. I've changed! I keep feeling like I'm not cool [lets face it I never was] original or interesting. Even the other mummy blogs are more flashy, have better photography and are more appealing. I make stuff, but I don't write tutorials. I don't have 100 billion followers, I don't want to sell ad. space. I still keep blogging.

The funny thing is that I like reading mummy blogs! I'm not sure why I feel a cringe about being one? I've heard a bit of derision about them, and mostly I just want to be original I think. The sooner I get over that, the better I'd say [you'd think that by now I'd have figured out that there is no such thing]. Anyway, when I was thinking about writing this, I did a little research about mummy blogs.  Here's what I found out:

• I'm not the only one going through this classification crisis. Can't even be original there! Unperfect Life and NotNigella blogged it first.
• Apparently its a part of the new wave of feminism, at least according to this article.
• There is an Aussie Mummy Blogger group now, it started a week ago and has over 100 members already. In fact it was hearing about this group and signing up that lead to this particular identity crisis.
• Mums [including me] blog because we need to get the thoughts out of our head or something/someone will cop it. 
• We can feel a bit more connected to the world and its nice to know other people are touching poo all day.
• It reminds us that we are still people and are not defined by poo.
• You can blog even while breastfeeding, spoonfeeding, and supervising feeding. 
• Sometimes you can feel a teensy bit in-control of some part of the world even if it is cyberspace.
• Its fun.
• You can practice your grown-up language skills so that when you're at the supermarket or doing something fun like having coffee with friends you don't use words like bum-bum, sleepies and num-nums.
• It is a rapidly growing group (see here) and the good ones are being used by companies to promote their products etc. If they're lucky some of them get really cool stuff.

So, I'm coming to terms with the new classification. My blog is actually better for having a baby in it. I'm better for having a baby [I think, or at least one day I will be].

Lastly here are a couple of the mummy blogs that I like to read. You might like to read them too. If you're a mum and a blogger and I haven't put you here [and lets face it, I couldn't be bothered doing too much linking here bc I'm a bit lazy] please put your URL in the comments.

Diary of a Mad Cow

Living Shell

Little Eco Footprints

Danimezza

Hello Owl

MummyTime

Whilst I was writing this post yesterday, Brenda from MummyTime told me she was writing a post on this topic.  I think that what she has to say is very uplifting and worth a read.

BlogThis -Challenge 42: A film that inspired me...

What film has inspired you, changed you or the way you think, maybe put you on a new path? 


I've met many people for whom films speak to. Usually for me while I enjoy them, they're not profound. No film has changed my life or world view, but one does stick out as taking me on such a journey and the main character's attitude throughout challenges and inspires me.

The 1997 Oscar winning La vita e bella (Life is Beautiful) is this film. I hired it knowing only that it had won awards and that the director made a fool of himself at the awards ceremony by going on and on, saying he wanted to kiss everyone and possibly jumping on chairs, (its still more creepy when Tom Cruise does it!)

As I watched it, I was caught up by the joy of life that the comedic Guido exudes. I don't think that I've ever laughed so much in a movie. I won't reveal the end, in case you haven't seen it, but I'll just say that I was completely unprepared for the dramatic change halfway through. I cried my way through the end credits.  I loved how no matter what cost, he lived for his loved ones. He made very serious things into games without trivialising them one bit, and I felt that despite my tears at the end, life was still achingly beautiful.

Life is, no matter what, beautiful. When I watch this film, I'm reminded to drink deeply of the cup we are offered, and to taste all that is there. Bitterness will be present, but it is never the sole ingredient. Life IS beautiful!!!

By the way, to see what Roberto Begnini, the writer director and actor actually did in that famous speech, click here!

It's my b'day!!

That is right, I'm now 29 years old. The last year of my 20's. I can soon leave behind 'youth' and acquire the mantle of respectability. I've always thought 30 sounds much more respectable than 20 for some reason. That being said, I'm looking forward to this lot of 365 days.

Andrew gave me a modern record player on which to play my pride and joy - Simon and Garfunkle's Concert in Central Park, as well as the set of Handle's Messiah, which have been sitting in a box on the shelf for far too long. Addie [very thoughtfully for a 7 month old] gave me an LP of The Shin's Wincing the Night Away which sounds great on CD and I"m sure will sound even better when I play it on LP. Sadly I can't use it till we get home next week as it needs an amp and speakers. What fun it will be when I do!

I also learned today from this post by CRAFT: that the birthday staple of Fairy Bread is unique to Australia.  I am flabbergasted! Fairy Bread is one of those things that I love even now as an adult, to not know it in childhood is truly sad. Hopefully the Americans who read CRAFT: will feed it to their kids and they too will know great joy.

The rest of my birthday includes some blogging [I think], some eating of Hungry Jacks [Burger King to anyone who isn't from Aust], some opshopping I hope and a fancy dinner with my husband, daughter and kind parents-in-law.  Happy Birthday to all who share my birthday, and happy unbirthday to the rest of you!

Ink Art

It happens to every kid at some time. It happened to Addie tonight when she got into a rubbish bin with an old ink cartridge in it. Her hands are covered in blue. It has faded a bit with some scrubbing and sorbolene, but she still looks a little cyanotic.

Addie in Pictures

Yeah yeah, I'm banging on again about Addie. It's what I do :)

Addie has been most charming this week. She's so close to crawling that its not funny. She's doing very funny little knee shuffles and getting about quite well. Needless to say, until she actually crawls 'properly' we are spending much time watching her every wiggle.

Now for some explanations of these pictures.
1. Addie and her bubba. This week Addie and I were in an opshop where I found about 6 Carebears that I wanted to buy. Addie however had different ideas. She saw a baby doll and leapt forward grabbing it with both hands and immediately putting it into her mouth, making happy squeals. We couldn't get it off her, and it has been her constant companion since then.

2. Addie is eating lots of new things while she hangs out with Nannie and Granddad. In this picture Nannie had given her a piece of rasin toast and Addie gobbled it all up with gusto.

3. Pear is another new taste that Addie has taken to. She is in a stage where she is investigating everything, including her food very seriously. I hope she makes some great discoveries.

4. She's a grubba with Moroccan Lamb on her face and a stripy bib, but she's so very cute in the new headband I made her! I used to think it was ridiculous to put headbands on babies, but well, you know...

5. This was too much fun for me. I tried n a red lipstick that someone was throwing out, and it is just my colour - score. I gave Addie a big kiss and then grabbed the camera before she could smear it everywhere.

6. Picnic in Cobar on the way to Sydney last week. She was in a lovely mood enjoying the sunshine after being hours in a carseat.

7. Addie has a great new trick which she is most proud of. Every time I give her a rusk or biscuit she puts it in her mouth, holds her hands out like a circus performer and tips her head back. She thinks she's amazing, and so do we :)

8. Another picnic, this one with Andrew, his parents and his grandparents - you'd thing she'd be well supervised, but somehow she managed to grab a cream biscuit and we decided to let her enjoy it - just this once.

9. The past month has seen Addie really play with toys and 'read' books. Here she is looking at her little photo album with pictures of our extended family.

Spotlight Blues

There are a few shops that I can't wait to visit when we go to the 'big smoke'. On top of the list is Spotlight/Lincraft. I like Lincraft stores because they are clean and feel nice.

We are staying for a week with Andrew's parents and their closest fabric store is Spotlight, and today after much drama, losing things, finding them eventually, Addie falling asleep, Addie needing lunch, we left for Spotlight. I was very excited.

Now I'm home again a few hours later and to be honest, I wish I hadn't gone. I'm realising that I often feel this way after my Spotlight visits. Part of the problem is that I build up the wonders of the store in my head when I'm stuck in Broken Hill without things that I want and access to fabrics. Spotlight is certainly better in my imagination than it is in real life.

There are some problems with this specific store too. Whenever I go I'm served by a bored, disheveled salesperson, who scrunches up the fabric instead of folding it. Grr. Its always messy and lacking pricetags in the correct places. It just doesn't have a good feeling about it.

I'm usually shocked at the prices of fabric and notions as well. Thread is much cheaper at Spotlight than it is in Broken Hill, so thats something in it's favour, but overall I think I'm better off buying and using the second hand bits and pieces that I find.  Ah well, you can't win them all.

Am I the only one who gets post shopping blues?

I have a Giveaway!

Welcome to my first giveaway!!!!! I was at an opshop today in Sydney and found this perfect condition copy of A-Z of Embroidery Stitches RRP $26.95

I'm quite sure that I bought my copy a few years ago for closer to $40, so I bought this one today as it was a steal, but I don't need two copies! So what to do with it? How will I find someone who will appreciate it? A giveaway seemed to be the answer that I was looking for; ebay feels too souless and choosing someone to give it to myself might cause jealousy amongst my peeps**. So here's what I'll get you to do. Comment bellow in the comments [duh] and ask me a question at the same time - it could be to do with anything I talk about on my blog really, or something I don't talk about and it makes you wonder... but remember my family read my blog so don't ask something I can't answer without incriminating myself [too badly].

Its such a good book this one. Inside the pictures are really clear and it makes scary stitches quite easy to do. I go back to it almost every time I do any embroidery work.

The winner will be chosen by a random draw on Monday 26th April. The questions will be answered in a blog post, hopefully on that day.

** Ok I could be a bit delusional. 

My Place and Yours - where do you blog from?

Usually I blog from home with my macbook and baby on my lap. Lucky for me, my 13" macbook and 7 month baby seem to balance ok on my knee.




Today however, I'm at my in-law's house in Sydney and my macbook is with my husband at uni. He claims he needs it to study. Hmf. Back in my day we used paper and books, but thats another story. The computer in the picture is my father-in-law's rather large PC.{which I'm very grateful to be using whilst my mb is being commandeered for things 'more important' than blogging. Again, I say hmf.}

So where do other people blog from? I'm curious! I will get some answers from going to Hello Owl.

BlogThis -Challenge 41: Shaking Hands

"This week we'd like all of blog this members to seek out another.  One you've never visited, one you don't follow.  One you admire, find interest in.  Write about it on your blog and 'review' it, gush about it, or re-post one of their articles with your commentary.  Be nice!" - BlogThis


Super. I clicked on the blogthis blogroll and looked until an address stuck out. http://www.pinkpatentmaryjanes.blogspot.com  Now you know that I'm generally not a fan of the colour pink, but many of the best people that I know love pink, and so reading I went. At 90 public followers, I think I'm a little slow to catch on about Pink Patent Mary Janes, because everyone else seems to know her! Ok, so here is a bullet list of why I would read Pink Patent Mary Janes on a regular basis.

• She uses interesting language in her writing. I enjoy reading people who use words in ways that make me thing about what they've said.
• She likes frenchy things, which is tres manifique [that pretty much means 'very good', but looks so much more posh when you say it in french]
• She blogs a LOT! There have been 16 days in April 2010 so far, yet she has 34 posts - and its still only morning.
• She has a god variety of topics.
• She likes fashion and food and shoes. I think maybe especially shoes.
• I have not seen a speck of craft on there - I love making stuff, but well you know, it seems so do the rest of the bloggy world, and sometimes its creative overload. Its just nice to see you can have a good blog without needing to make stuff. [no offence intended to all the people who make things, bc I LOVE to read those ones too]
• She has a kitchenaid mixer. I REALLY REALLY want one! These machines make you instantly awesome.
• I like her from what I've read.

So, now you know all of that, I think maybe you should go over and have a read. Also, if you take a trip to Blogthis you'll find more posts just like mine, and possibly some that are better.  

Addie's Dedication -part 3

The most significant part of Addie's dedication was the part where Andrew an I as her parents formally committed ourselves to raising Addie according to the teachings of Jesus Christ as found in the scriptures. To loving and protecting her to the very best of their ability, and asking our community of family and friends to join with us in the task of raising Addie well.

The following is what we actually said:

Before God and these witnesses here,

We promise to teach Adelaide to live a life characterised by faith in Christ, hope for eternity and love for others.

We will strive to live as Godly examples for her to follow.

We commit to loving her and doing the best we can for her regardless of her actions.

For our part in it, we dedicate her life to serving God and the people He surrounds her with.

We commit to pray for he throughout her life, that she may choose to love God with all her heart, mind, soul and strength.

We commit to do these things, and with God being our help, intend to do them wholeheartedly.

We then asked the community of family and friends gathered to add their commitment to our family and child. We asked for verbal affirmation and then invite all who responded to show their commitment by signing a paper that Addie can keep in her box of memories and treasures.

For more pictures of Addie's Dedication, go here. For details of the Godparent role go here. Stay tuned for part 4 - the stuff I made and other interesting things about it!

Addie's Dedication -part 2

Addie's Dedication ceremony last Sunday included the instalation of her Godparents.

Prior to choosing Godparents for Addie Andrew and I had lots of discussions about the role of Godparents and why we'd have them. Interestingly, he has Godparents but didn't feel then need to choose some for Addie, whereas I didn't but wanted her to have someone in that role.

After doing some research into the traditional roles and reasons for having Godparents, we came up with the following which we read out at the ceremony as we asked our friends Tim and Jewels to be Addie's Godparents.

We ask the Godparents to promise to love Adelaide and want the best for her.

We ask you to be actively involved in her life and get to know her as she grows.

We want you her Godparents to be people who love God and let God rule their hearts.

We ask that as Addie grows, you take an interest in her physical and spiritual well being. If necessary you have the right and responsibility to advocate for her, and remind us her parents of our own responsibility regarding our daughter.

If for some reason we are unable to physically care for Addie we would ask you to continue your role in her life and to help ensure that whoever is responsible for her care does so to the best of their ability and that they do the best by her.

For photos of her dedication, see part 1.

My Place & Yours - What do you see when you walk through your front door?

There you have it. This is what you see when you walk in my front door. I love this cabinet, I got it from an opshop for $25. It was originally a wall unit, but I put feet on it and made it a side cupboard.  Inside are my lovely things. Teapots, coffeepots, very old glasses from my husband's grandmother, my wedding bouquet [paper flowers], the wedding cake topper and the moneybox I had as a kid.

The top is messy today. It normally has the clock, 3 teapots and our wedding picture, but today there are some extras. The flowery book is Addie's baby health record, the flowers were given to Addie for her dedication yesterday, and the purple teapot and cups are softies made for Addie by my little sister. Clever no?

As usual, see more front doors here.

Addie's Dedication -part 1

Addie's Dedication was held yesterday at our house. Many of our friends and family were able to come, making it a very special day and quite a fun party! See the pictures below to see what we saw.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

If you remember the 80's and video games!

This morning I grumped at Andrew for hogging the computer, and in return he showed me what he was watching. I'll admit, it was worth the 2 minutes of my life spent watching it. Addie didn't 'get it', wrong generation, but I'm sure you will!

Has it been 7 months?

I forgot until this evening, that Addie is 7 months old today.

She's developed more than ever this month, its amazing! Here's a list of some of the things she's doing this month.

• Eating slices of bread for lunch.
• Refusing her dummy if she wants to be picked up.
• Shaking things like rattles to make noise.
• Scooting around the floor, finding stale pieces of bread and eating them. [Gross!!]
• Making mumma, bubba, dudda, sounds.
• Babbling to herself [and pieces of bread] in her 'udda' sounds.
• Going from her tummy to sitting.
• Rocking on all fours, and moving forward like a caterpillar.
• Getting stuck under everything [see bellow]

Her favourite rattle is this clear tube of buttons [taped shut] from Spotlight. Cost $2.95. Woo!




Addie is such a little camera addict! She was stuck under the couch after creeping backwards, and crying to be rescued as can be seen here. Like magic, as soon as she saw the camera she turned into a laughing smiling [still stuck] baby. Priorities!

You're invited.

These next couple of weeks may get a little crazy. Sunday is Addie's dedication, where we formally commit to doing our best to raise her [etc] instate her Godparents, and 'introduce' her to the family and our community of friends.

My parents are coming down tomorrow, as are 2 of my sisters and 1 of my brothers and their respective spouses. Andrew's parents, and grandparents are coming on the weekend and staying through next week.

Just like any important thing, someone gets left off the invites some how. For our wedding it was the people who organised the catering [they were my friends],  for Addie's birth, no one rang Andrew's dad or brother, and this time one of my sisters didn't find out, as I just learned on facebook.

...............................................

Mum We go to Broken Hill tomorrow! We get to see Tabitha and Adeliade!can't wait

8 hours ago 

2 people like this.

Tabitha Schultz 

Ur bed is made-up. We're ready 4 u!!!!

5 hours ago · 

Sister #2 Wish I could get Monday off cos than I could see you guys too! Woulda helped if I got the invitation before yesterday =P Am I only one not going?

about an hour ago

Sister #1 We told you about this months ago 

49 minutes ago

...............................................

Um. Oops?? I appoloised and offered her lots of Addie hugs when we visit next. In my defence, I have 2 brothers and 4 sisters, so sometimes someone gets left out even though its not intentional!!!

Anyway, I've been driving myself insane trying to get ready for everyone, had a big teary, some yelling, a bit more teary and I feel a bit better now. Now to finish it all before my parents arrive tomorrow.

My Place & Yours - Most useful/used gadget

What defines a gadget? Being too lazy to look it up, I made up my own definition. Plus, I may not like the real definition, which would spoil my fun. I decided that a gadget is something that does a job for you, hopefully more efficiently than you could without it and doesn't require a motor/external power source [gadgets can have batteries in my rules]. This cuts out my computer, sewing machines, food processor... they're all machines, so can't be gadgets. I'm going to shut up now and play the game.

Most Used - Stitch Unpicker. If you'regoing to sew, you're going to have to unpick, its just how the world works. This one is good because it has an easy to hold handle, reducing injury and fatigue to your hand. The other reason this is most used is because I repurpose a lot of clothes, and aain, unpicking is essential.

Most Useful - Food Thermometer. I've had this a few months and it enables me to cook roast meat and pot roast exactly right! Woo!! No more under cooked or dry meats for us. It is seriously the bomb.

Most Wanted - iPod Touch. What you see is my iPod Nano, but I REALLY want an iPod Touch. Ok I really want an iPhone, or iPad but they're not even a distant possibility. An iPod Touch isn't either but its probably more likely than the others. That being said, the portability and long battery life of my current iPod is super-duper, and I love it big long time.

Now what you want to do is run on over to Hello Owl and grab the links to other people's gadgets.

BlogThis -Challenge 39: The Good Deed

How far that little candle throws his beams!

So shines a good deed in a naughty world.

~William Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice,

My good deed goes back 22 or so years when I lived with my family on a farm out of Creswick, Victoria. I was about 7 years old and believed myself to be very clever and responsible.

Walking down the drive, from the worksheds to the house with mum and dad and the other kids, I decided to surprise them by making them a cuppa when they got back. Up the drive I sprinted - it was a fair distance and I figured I could have the kettle boiling when they got in. I was being very kind, very useful, and being a very good girl!

I grabbed the kettle, put it in the sink and filled it with water, put it back on the bench, plugged it in and turned the power on. Alas, instead of finding a happily bubbling kettle, mum and dad walked in just in time to see the kettle spark and ignite, leaving a black and blistered laminate on the bench and burning the Tupperware cups around it. What I didn't know until that moment was that putting the kettle in a sink full of water was a bad idea.

No one was hurt, some things were scorched but apart from the kettle it was surface damage. Mum has never let me forget this. I have been constantly reminded about it, probably in case I ever forget my lesson - I'm surprised that she trusts me to boil a kettle even now.

My good deed, turned out to be less of a candle throwing its beams, and more of a fire scorching the kitchen. I never got credit for 'having my heart in the right place' either. Sigh. For me, getting in deep trouble for something that was supposed to be good, was far worse than things being ruined. Ah the wounds of childhood.

Lovely Albums

The Original Albums

Last week I had some moments of nostalgia printing out 6 months worth of Addie's photos and putting them in an album. We have hundreds of photos in digital form, but I want her to have something to hang onto when she's grown as well. I had to buy an album but I really wasn't happy with what I could find. The best I could get was this pink and green stripy one. I figured it would have to do, until... I remembered that I can sew!

One of my best friends, Heather gave me some short lengths of fabric to make things for Addie and this was the perfect thing for one of those.  I also figured while I was at it I may as well make a pretty cover for her NSW Health Record book too.

Inside the album, showing the elastic

The cover is a rather simple affair, a long piece of fabric wrapped around and sewn. I wanted it to stay secure with use and so I used elastic on the flaps and close to the spiral binding to help it fit snugly, but still be removable.

  Finished! #1 Photo Album     #2 Health Record

The Health record was slightly more complex to make, because I had to make an opening for the plastic flap - its hard to explain, but if you've seen one, you'll know what I mean. I couldn't cover the plastic flap because it would be no good for writing on. So I made a welt opening and it works just fine. 

To finish both covers I used red crossgrain ribbon, so both can be tied shut. They match beautifully now, and I hope that when Addie is an adult perhaps with her own children she can look back at her baby pictures and health records and treasure them.

Possible alternative finishes

I finished my covers with a ribbon tie, but these could be made more elaborate still. Using clear PVC and a walking foot, you could sew a pocket onto the front of the cover to insert a photo or other memorabilia. Pockets could be sewn into the inside flaps of the Photo Album as well for various things, including a CD or DVD of the baby [or person, or event if its not for a baby]. Instead of a ribbon closure, it would be easy to use velcro, or to be a bit more classy, a magnetic closure like used in handbags.

Any of these things would work well making it functional and beautiful. Its a great way to turn an $18 basic album into something far more precious. 

Bubba Keys

Surprise surprise, out of all the fancy toys Addie has been given, my keys are her favourite. If she can get her hands on them, its like me with cake - we're very happy girls! I don't think that they are the safest toy for her though. They're all jaggey and have little nooks with all kinds of dirt and stuff in them.

To address the problem of the keys, I made her a special set. I bought uncut keys from the hardware store. This was actually harder than you'd think because apparently you're not supposed to sell a lot of the keys uncut. So after some explaining about what I was going to do with them, they sold me some uncut door keys.

I made the key fob using keybob hardware I'd bought to make key-fob wristlets. I was given one last year and they are fantastic! I taught my craft group how to do them a few weeks ago and they loved them too. Addie's is a bit special though. I made three loops on hers, 2 of bold patterned fabric, and one is a silky satin ribbon. I put crinkly plastic in one of the fabric loops so that it is noisy for her.

Guess what? She loves it!

Totally Original

I'm so blessed to have a baby that I enjoy so much! What I'm enjoying about her at the moment is how she can be so completely original.

Addie has all these lovely, funny little faces, actions, and noises that she does and each of them are original. I'm sure that plenty if not all other babies do the same things as Addie, but the beautiful thing is that all of these things that she is doing aren't copied. She hasn't really gotten up to the mimicking stage yet but more importantly she isn't self conscious.

Addie doesn't yet think about things like "How does this look to others?", "Is this in fashion?", "Will this make me stand out?" Will this make me fit in?   She is just herself, free from pretence, full of life and totally and completely original. No wonder we love babies so much!