Wednesday, June 29, 2011

What kind of serger to get?

I'm lusting after a serger at the moment, but as much as I want one, I'm also intimidated by so many little threads....

From what is out on the blogs the Brother 1034D is a pretty amazing machine, but has been replaced now. And it's $700.  Eeeeeeeeeeek.

Sad face :(

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Kate's fat cat

After making the original fat cat a second was requested.  This fat cat is not quite as obese as the first fat cat as seen here.  This fat cat has a few improvements, namely better ears, arms and a tail.

Working in felt is quite rewarding in terms of finishing a project quickly, but it can be quite fiddly when sewing on all the features.  I tried using my sewing machine to do some of the applique, but it's hard to make the stitch coverage even.  Then again with practice it could save me alot of time.  This fat cat was getting sewn together in the car on the way to the party.   I like to live dangerously.  (also known as foolishly disorganised).

Actually, fat cat number two is still not even as fat as the real life model.  Mei Ling likes to sit in the centre of the action.  Also known as whatever I am sewing at the moment.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Nursery curtains

Something that has been taking up a considerable amount of time has been the sewing of curtains for the nursery.  We decided to paint the nursery blue, even though we don't know the gender of the baby.  Even if it's a girl, there is no bloody way that room would be painted pink.  Or purple.  Worst case scenario we put some decal clouds up on the wall.  Gender neutral FTW.          
The fabric was in Spotlight recently, and while I hadn't even been thinking about curtains really - the blue dots on the fabric were the exact same blue as the walls.  I'm pretty sure that's fabric stash fate calling right there.  So I lashed out and bought 4m of the fabric, and 4m of blockout fabric.  Which was a staggering $80.  But it was just sooo matchy matchy.  

Anyway...these are the most time consuming tab top curtains you could ever see.  After spending $80 on the fabric, there was no way in hell there was going to be a mistake in the cutting.  Measure 6 times then cut.  Maybe.  It probably didn't need the blockout lining behind it, as I've got a white curtain behind - but  if it helps this baby sleep (when it arrives) then it was worth every cent.  


The curtain rail is the fantastic ikea Hava curtain rail which is super easy to put up (especially when you make your husband do it) and has the double layer of curtain well spaced.  We've used this curtain rod style in a few rooms with the single windows as it's a simple and classic style.  Not a fleur de lys in sight.