I really must get better at this!

So we are nearly up to Christmas and what a wild couple of years have pasted since I last posted on here.

2017 was not the best of years for us as a couple or as a Foster Family. The eldest went home in November, but gave one hell of a year before she left, which was extremely difficult for all of us. Gary wasn't coping at all with the stresses of Foster Care and the issues that came with that responsibility, especially as, apart from our wonderful Caseworker, support from the Agency we were with was limited to say the least. After a month away from the family, Gary was feeling better able to cope, until he actually got home, then it was as if he had never left. This situation had to be resolved and so one of the most difficult decisions I have ever had to make was made. We resigned from Foster Care at the end of 2017, moved out of Orange, NSW, to Northern Tasmania near the mouth of the Tamar River.

Gary found a house for us to rent whilst he was away, meant to be as we had been seeing it advertised on the internet for some months. Turned out the owner was being very picky about his future tenants as he had turned away many applicants before approving our application. We arrived on the 7th January, and then began the most awful 2 months whilst we fought with the Removal Co to get them to deliver our furniture. The first truck delivered a load of the furniture a few days after we arrived, in spite of assuring us it would arrive the same day we did. The rest was supposed to arrived within the week. Unfortunately, we didn't get anything else for two months!! So we had drawers, but nothing to put in them, we had cupboards, but no clothes, we had a kitchen, but NOTHING in it! we had to go and buy clothes, new kitchen stuff and borrow a heap from Gary's Mum and StepDad, who fortunately lived close to where we had settled. It wasn't until we got a third party involved and the Police, both here in Tassie as well as in Orange, that we finally got a delivery date for the rest of our gear. It was a nightmare!, one I hope never to repeat! It took us a long time to get over that stress, but now we can finally enjoy this gorgeous place we have chosen to live.

We are so close to East beach that we can hear the ocean at night! A short walk and we can stroll along East beach or Lagoon Bay. Beautiful places.

I lost my Mum in the middle of 2018. I am still not over it. I find myself wanting to ring her at odd times, or share my sewing with her, she loved to craft, and it makes me sad that I cannot do that anymore. I was booked to visit Adelaide in August and was looking forward to spending some time with her as well as the rest of the family. Unfortunately she passed away two weeks before I was due to arrive. This photo is my Mum with my youngest, Nicholas. He hadn't been back to South Australia since we left in 2008 and he chose to visit with his girlfriend, Sienna, for a couple of weeks in the middle of the year. He got this photo with his Granny, taken by his big sis Rebekah, three days before Mum passed away. Amazing timing and I am so glad they got to see each other again. 

Four of my five children out for a meal. Cassandra, Nicholas, Rebekah and Aimee.

With all the little ones

and Nicholas with his best childhood friend, Brodie. Brodie is older by five months

I have been doing a lot of sewing now that we are retired. No other family members sharing the house means I have taken over the two spare bedrooms for my craft and sewing. This house has some major built ins, which are great, and I have filled them to overflowing with my stuff. Poor Gary, he is relegated to the shed. Mind you, we have two 3X3mtr sheds, which we have joined together and made into a workshop for him. It is well setup and he loves it.

First up in my new sewing is a pair of Embrace Togs from Boo Designs. These are a size 2 which I made as my participation in a Sew- A-Long. I am sending them to my Granddaughter, although I think she might not fit into them til next Summer as she is a tiny thing. First time doing binding, so I was quite pleased with the result

This is a dress I have made for my eldest, Rebekah. It is a Shirtzie Dress by Stitch Upon A Time (SUAT), but modified to be sleeveless. She is getting this in time for Christmas so I hope she loves it.It is hard to make clothes for people when you are in another State! lol

Another item from a Sew-A-Long. This time a pair of Boxers, pattern also from SUAT. These are a bit snug on my hubby, just goes to show you should measure and actually pay attention to those measurements taken lol! he measured across three sizes so I just went with the middle, and I should've graded to suit him. Oh well! lesson learnt for the next pair.

This Dinosaur dress is one of my favourites. Made for Skye, who is now 2 yrs old, it is a Marissa Peasant Dress by Create Kids Couture in a size 12-18mths. The coordinating knickers are Peek A Boo's Chicka Chicka Bum Bums, yellow cotton lycra fabric from Rubyjam Fabrics, Dinosaur cotton fabric from Spotlight.

Another Marissa, I used fabrics I had purchased from a quilt shop in Orange that was closing down and the pink knickers are again a solid from Rubyjam Fabrics.

This dress is just gorgeous in real life. I have used Brindille and Twig T-Shirt Dress pattern in a 12-18mths size. The knickers are again Chicka Chicka Bum Bums in a gorgeous solid from Rubyjam, the floral came from a custom order who is no longer in business.

In this two piece, I have used fabric that I ordered from a supplier that is no longer doing custom orders unfortunately, it is so cute! The top is the Tiny Tulip Top from Patterns for Pirates and the bottoms are the Air Balloon Pants by Puperita, one of my favourite designers.

The fabric for these Air Balloon Pants came from Crafty Mamas Fabrics some time ago.

Aren't these Ooga Booga monsters sew cute!

I now have 5 grandsons and one granddaughter now, another Granddaughter on the way due March 2019 and another baby, sex yet to be determined, due in the middle of next year. I also sew for my eldest daughters best friend's two boys, and for Christmas I have made them PJs as well as other clothes. For their PJs I used Kwik Sew patterns and Movie Night PJ pattern from Sew A Little Seam. Most of the fabrics came from Crafty Mamas Fabrics.

These are going to make my Grandies very happy. Fabric is from Keffyn's Sewing Haven and the pattern is Sunday T-Shirt by Felicity Sewing Patterns. I have made one size 9, three size 5, and three size 2.

For these shorts I used the Side Swipe Shorts pattern from Duck Butt Designs and the fabric is from Keffyn's Sewing Haven again.

As a set they look amazing I think.

Something different. My eldest Grandson, Lachlan, was an owl in his end of year school play. I made the wings using a quilted calico base and corduroy for the feathers. So.many.feathers. !! The Owl mask is a machine embroidery file from The Applique Place as part of their Woodland Animal Set.

Back to the bulk sewing. Here we have eight Tatum Tanks, pattern by Ellie and Mac. I used fabrics I had ordered as a custom order from Sew Unique Fabrics. I made one size 9-10, three size 4-5, three size 2 and one size 12-18mths. I feel like a processing plant! LOL

For winter I made the kids a Hoodie each using Noah and Nele, a German pattern by From Heart To Needle. The pattern was a little difficult to follow as I don't read German, but I was very pleased with the results. I used french terry from Crafty Mamas Fabrics and Wicked Fabrics. The pants are from Made By Runi and the pattern is Harem Pants. The clothes are being modeled by my Masterpiece Doll, Sleeping Beauty.

The kids also got a reversible vest, pattern is Campbell Vest and Jacket by Goober Pea Designs. Corduroy is from Spotlight and the minky lining is from Greenbeans AU. The vests had snap closures, which I forgot to photograph before posting them off, snaps were either from Greenbeans AU or Snaps Australia.

Some of my gorgeous Grandies and their parents. Thing 1 (Lachlan), 2 (Ryan) and 3 (Skye) belong to Chris and Rebekah. The other cutie in the front is Alexander (Xander) who belongs to Aimee.

Things 1, 2 and 3 cleaner and not quite so red! lol

Xander, also not quite so red. They were red to support Lachlan in his School's Sports Day.

My second eldest girl, Emma, with her boys, currently expecting a girl, Logan (inset) and Chase. Aren't they gorgeous?

Well, I still have more things to finish on the sewing table to get  in the mail for Christmas so back to the sewing room I go.

I hope you all have a wonderful week, and I'll be back soon to show off my latest creations

More Sewing

and so to Sew.... I have being doing some more sewing in the last couple of weeks. I have made Lachlan some great pants. These have a folded rib knit waistband which I have never sewn before but I love the comfy feel of the waistband, so I have a couple more cut out for Ryan and another pair for him.

These are from Puperita on Etsy. I love her patterns, so easy to follow and the results are fantastic. She is also amazing to deal with. This pattern is her Nightfox pants sized 18mths to 10 years. These pants are a size 4. The fabric I used is a cotton I purchased from Bugaloo Basics . I also had enough fabric to make the boys some boxers (Steve and BJ) . For BJ I used Fishsticks Designs Boy Oh Boy Boxers. This is a fabulous pattern that goes from sizes 2 to 14yrs which is great. Not many Designers out there in PDF land go up as high a size as this. Steve's boxers came from Hey There Threads, an Australian Designer whose work I love. These were her Basics Collection and are the "short short relaxed fit" option. So many different options with this pattern I am sure I will use it a lot! .

Boy Oh Boy Boxers

Basics Collection Shorts


I can't help myself though, I do love sewing for girls, even if I don't actually have one to sew for. I have decided that my Patti Playpal dolls will be the best dressed dolls around. I love these more traditional style of dress patterns from Olabelhe. My girls wore a lot of dresses and pinafores when they were little and these dresses make me very nostalgic. This pattern is Meg's Dress and Pinafore . It was an easy sew. The biggest issue I had was trying to sew the pinafore and the dress at the same time without reading the instructions properly, my fault entirely, as I topstitched the Pinafore bodice before actually noticing that I hadn't sewn the yoke together on the wrong side properly. So I decided that rather than unpick all that stitching, I had enough fabric left to make a new yoke and do it again, only the right way this time. :)

The bodice of the dress and the pinafore.

Dress and Pinafore front view

Side view

The one thing I would change when sewing this pattern out again is I would leave off the buttons on the pinafore. Both items have 3 buttons on them, although I ran out of room to have the third button on the pinafore once I have sewn on the skirt. The button on the pinafore are unnecessary as it is an open pinny and can be dropped over the child's head without the need to undo buttons. Buttons on both pieces does make for a bulkier back yoke.

Well, I think that's all for now.

Have a wonderful day wherever you are!

How Time Flies :)

Seems like it wasn't that long ago when I last posted here, I come for a visit and see that  months have passed, and not just one or two either.

I have been busy though. We have a new grandson to love and spoil. Ryan arrived on the 30th October and is already 4 months old... where did that time go !! He is the spitting image of his older brother. In fact, Rebekah was showing Lachlan the album I made of his first year the other day and he insisted the pictures were of Ryan and not of himself as a baby. Funny! .

Love the picture of Ryan sleeping on me. Lachlan used to do the same thing when he was tiny. Ryan has so many funny expressions, he is really developing his own personality.

and don't you just love those pics with his Mummy and Daddy.

I have been getting some sewing done. I did a Sew-A-Long with RabbitRabbitCreations with the Piccolo Dress. It is a knit or woven fabric dress with an organza overlay. I chose to create mine in a knit and in a size 12. 

It shall now reside in my cupboard until I find some poor unsuspecting 12 year old to try it on LOL

I also made a Create Kids Couture pattern, Noel, although I did make some changes. I used charm squares for my dress so it ended up slightly different than the pattern, but I love it!

First time making a sash, first time with gathering such an enormous ruffle! But I do love the end result.

Then at the end of November, Lachlan, and his friend Edie, celebrated their third birthdays. Amazing party. It was held in a gigantic gym full of trampolines, foam pits and other gym equipment. The kids had a lot of fun and, as you can see in the pics, so did some of the adults (that is Lachlan and Ryan's Daddy swimming through the foam pit) .

Hanging from a beam above one of the foam pits

Yummmmm! Chocolate cake!

Adorable boy!

THEN.... another huge experience.... we moved.... again!! We decided that we really needed more space than our present rental was giving us. We also had Nicholas and his girlfriend living in a caravan in the backyard as well, and so we needed an extra bathroom. So we started looking. We looked at a few places, til we found the right one. A lot of the houses we looked at were gorgeous, brand new or nearly so... but the one that won us over was the house that appeared lived in, A few marks on the carpet, bumps on the walls, chips in the melamine, that sort of thing. It had blue everywhere... blue and yellow kitchen, blue bathrooms, blue vertical drapes in the windows, but we loved it! One of the requirements for us was driveable access to the back yard for the caravan. It also needed an ensuite (LOVE this) and four bedrooms. This one had the added attraction of a double garage that you could access through the house. Perfect for Gary's trainset. We got the house on the 20th December, with Rebekah, Chris, the two boys and another daughter, Aimee, due for Christmas!! so... the madness began. we decided to try to move as much as we could before Christmas so that we would have enough bedrooms for everyone. Gary and I worked like mad! It was hot work as well but we managed it.

This is hard to share, but I feel that I need to get this down. Christmas Day was wonderful and awful all the same time. It began with ham and cheese croissants and pressies. By lunchtime, Nicholas's girlfriend had lost the plot and was screaming the place down. She had a lot of issues and temper control was just one of them. The police were called and in the end she was arrested and charged with assault... what a terrible way to spend Christmas. It really put a dampener on the day, which was a shame as we had worked so hard to make it special. What pains me the most is that Nicholas still sees her (she is no longer living with us, thank God!) and, as she is so not good for him, as his mother, it breaks my heart. She is a drug user as well and through his stupidity joining in, he lost his Apprenticeship as a Boiler Maker and is now unemployed. Gary and I are trying to be supportive but it is hard when I can see him making such poor decisions.

Back to the move. We had until January the 6th 2014 to be out of the old house, so after the madness of Christmas, we were back to the grind of moving. Gary and I did an amazing job I think, no help from the 18yo, thanks for nothing! ever noticed how much boys love to show off their muscles but are absolutely hopeless at using them! In the end, all done and in time. Sorting out the new place has taken a little while but we are getting there now.

Still sewing, I got to test a new pattern for Funky Friends Factory. The No Sock Sock Monkey. What a lot of fun it was. I made two, one for Lachlan and one for his friend Edie. Then Steve asked for one.... and so I made another one. I also ended up making a fourth, but more on the reason for that one in a minute.

Aren't they cute! Available to purchase so you can make your own little Monkey!

Then... a bit of a halt to the sewing as we were asked to care for another child. Enter BJ to our lives. He is almost a clone of Steve so, as you can imagine, our house is a lot noisier than it was before. Steve has enjoyed playing with another child always available and their imaginations have certainly been working overtime. I seem to spend everytime I am in the car listening to mad car chases and crashes LOL

BJ is only with us for a short period of time as he is going back to his birth mum at some stage.. However, we shall enjoy him whilst he is with us.

And then... more excitement... I got to test this amazing pattern by KidZMoments. I even named this pattern, so doubly great! The Abby Dress is a beautiful pattern and I absolutely adore the back details.

Here is the material I chose for my dress. I made size 3.

Making the bodice with the ruffles

Adding the lining to the bodice

The bodice almost completed. Turned through and now you can see the unique back details of this dress

A closer view of the back bodice

On my new mannequin from Raxs and Dollies (purchased through a fantastic deal on Boo Designs Facebook page) .

Back View

front view of button loops for side closure

back view of button loops

pocket detail, I used my Pleat Maker for making this detail and it worked perfectly!

Attaching the skirt. We were supposed to leave a split in the side seam matching the side where the opening in the bodice was. This was then to be topstitched down both sides of the seam. No prizes for guessing which side I left my opening, topstitched an' all! Exactly!! I had a lot of unpicking to do to correct that mistake. LOL

View of finished front

Finished back view.

I am really hoping to be lucky enough to test Catherine's next pattern, She was wonderful to work with.

Well, I think I have shared enough for one day. I really must get back here more often.

PS Links to the patterns I have sewn or tested are linked on some of the photos.

Have a wonderful day wherever you are!