fun times to be sure

Thanks for all your fabulous comments on the last dress, I'm pretty impressed myself with how it turned out.  I actually wore it the other day with some black opaque stockings and a cozy black cardigan so I didn't have to wait until summer after all.  I must admit it's a very snug fit because the fabric doesn't have any stretch to it and I've sewn it with very little ease which was necessary to squeeze it out of a metre of fabric cut mainly because I forgot to add some ease since the previous dress I made from the pattern had some stretch to it.  However it is wearable since it's sleeveless (ie no restrictions to arm  movements) and it makes me stand up straight with my stomach sucked in so it's a good dress for improving my posture too! Winner all round.

So I wish I could wow you all with another fantastic dress but instead I've been sewing a skirt.  In grey.  Hmmm, could be a yawn fest but I'll reserve judgement until I've finished it.  What's been keeping me from sewing is the mounds of washing I've been doing lately since Anna decided to start toilet training herself.  I was hoping to wait until summer when it would be warmer, but she has started demanding to use the toilet and taking her nappy off so I chose to go with the flow so to speak.  She hasn't done too badly so far, just a few accidents here and there when she's been too engrossed in what she's been doing to remember to go to the bathroom.  The fun just doesn't stop coming when you have small children does it?

I did sew a few pairs of tracksuit pants during the week for Anna since she needs some clothes that are easy to get on and off.  But they are too boring to share here, so instead I'll show you a little corner of our loungeroom that we recently made over to make into a reading corner.  According to all the design magazines I've read the key to minimising kid mess in your house is to dedicate spaces for them.  So I turned this corner of my loungeroom:

which really was a mess, becoming a depository for things like the Nintendo Wii box and floor fan.  Now it looks like this:

Ahhh, much better and my little bookworm likes to gather her toys around in a circle while she "reads" to them from a book interspersed with yelling at them "are you listening to me?" and "I told you to sit still" - I'm guessing that's something she's picked up from daycare because I am a saintly mother that never ever would say something like that!

The bookshelf is just the Ribba picture ledge from Ikea which is just screwed to the wall and is the perfect depth to hold several books in a display style.  Because I bought the black one (not realising it also came in white), I tried to cover it up with some bunting made from some unused vintage hankies cut into half to make triangles:

Now I feel like part of the 'it' crowd because every second blog out there features bunting of some sort - it's ultra trendy these days and oh so easy to make.

I bought this very cute cane chair from a lady who told me she'd had it since she was a little child, and the chair is at least 50 years old:

It's in great condition given it's age, except the cream colour paint the previous owner had painted it with has started to peel, so I'm thinking about painting it a vibrant colour.  I'll just add that to my to do list.  It is the perfect height for Anna to sit in.

Above the chair I hung this little print in an opshop found frame:

which is a free download available from here from the Feed Your Soul art project which is a very cool site with loads of awesome free prints.

And to up the bunting ante I downloaded some alphabet bunting from Ruffled blog (another free download) to make the word 'read' on the wall - I just love pointing out the obvious!

Finally, I sewed some cushion covers from some brand new still in the packet vintage sheets I picked up at the op shop a few months ago.  These sheets are so gorgeous, and the cotton so thick and smooth (they aren't made like this anymore regardless of thread count) that I was hesitant to cut them up.  But they aren't quite big enough for Anna's single bed since we bought her a very luxurious pillow top mattress - mainly for my comfort since I've spent many nights sleeping in there with her! Plus I figure this way I get to see the fabric rather than have it hidden away on a bed somewhere.  There's heap of fabric left, so no doubt I'll make these into little dresses and pyjama pants and anything else I can think of.

Thank you for letting me share this little tour of my house with you - I tell you sewing home dec items is far more enjoyable when the outcome is so cute!

To answer some questions in the last post:

SewRedHot: Birkenhead Point Spotlight is the closest to my house but I shudder at the thought of going there because it's small, messy, overcrowded and has the worst customer service.  I usually go to the newish store at Lidcombe which is a little bit further away but I can bribe Anna with a stop at the playground at Bicentennial Park on the way home if she behaves while I shop!  I haven't been to Rockdale for ages, but I'm sad to hear it's not the cavern it used to be.

Gail: I did pop into the Lincraft store in the city to check out their sale, but that place was craaazzzy with the line for the counter nearly out the door.  I decided 50% off their mostly horrible fabrics was just not worth queuing for.

Littlebetty: it won't be too long before Spotlight has a 20% off everything sale, I always wait for their sales too since they're so frequent!