Monday, May 31, 2010

Barbie's Blue Jacket

I made this bolero jacket for a Barbie doll back in January using a beautifully soft blue wool kept from my childhood. It's particularly nice, and although its a very simple design, it required some fiddly fine work. This is  my post for today's Blue Monday which is hosted at Smiling Sally.
blue jacket modelled by Artsy Fashionista Nikki
the jacket in granny square pieces before joining
The purpose of me making this was to practice making a bolero jacket for myself. That is how all this Barbie thing started. I bought the doll purely for the purpose of practising making real clothes. But as I opened the box, the magic started all over again and I have fallen in love with Barbie once more!


the finished granny square jacket for a Barbie doll
I actually managed to keep my two childhood Barbie dolls up until I was in my early 30s, but lost them in a terrible accident that happened while I was moving around after I left my first husband. Before the 'accident', I used to look at them in disdain, wondering why I couldn't bring myself to throw them out, why was I carrying them around with me during such a difficult time? Now I know why, it was because I was in denial, I couldn't admit just how much I loved my Barbie dolls!  They were in excellent condition and I had hung onto them for 25 years. But after the 'accident' they absolutely  had to be discarded and it's a real tragedy!
a blue  glass find at a recycled market
Yesterday when David and I went to the Rocklea market, we saw a couple of  old Barbies from the 1970s and 1980s amongst the second hand treasures, all with very ratty hair so I didn't get any. Instead we grabbed this really pretty blue vase which turns out to be slightly flawed.

I found an excellent blog devoted to collecting Barbie called "Don't Just Play with Barbie, Be Barbie". The inspiration for this blue jacket I found at Barbie Basics.

There seems to be a real Barbie doll enthusiast community, how fun!!

<3 <3 <3

Highlights from this week's party include

Sunday, May 30, 2010

I Love my Husqvarna

Yes, it is true. I am having a hot and steamy secret love affair - with my sewing machine!

Of course, this does not mean I love David any less, how could I? "He da man!" (pretty much, pretty much). And there is no law written that a happily married woman must not love her trusted sewing machine dearly.

What an absolute treasure my old sewing machine is, and oh so lovely. A much-loved well-worn relic, it always works like a smooth charm whenever I feel brave enough to venture near it. I'm not sure why I don't use it more often, this wonderful refined beast intimidates me with its perfectness. It simply purrs as it glides the seams all my itself, all I have to do is turn it on! But so patiently it waits for me, never pesters me for attention. Just is always there for me when I need it.


And just like a good friend, if I'm making a mistake sewing something the wrong way around, it Knows it isn't the sewing machines fault. So it says nothing, and just keeps sewing, trusting I will see my own error sooner or later. My sewing machine ain't gonna tell me I'm wrong and remains silent. I've known people like that!

This machine came to me second hand by a friend of my mother who I believe didn't use it much, and I didn't realise straight away just how precious this thing truly is.  It's had two services so far, one in Darwin and one in Brisbane, I should try and find someone I trust here on the south side to do it, but I'm a bit nervous about that! We all know how I have 'trust issues'! How I would be lost without my Husqvarna, no other could possibly replace it.


Oh, I love my sewing machine!
/smiffle!

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Barbie's Pink Tea Party


The pink dress I made especially for today's Pink Tea Party could very well be the most beautiful thing I've made so far! I think my Barbie is very pleased to have something so nice to wear to the party today, which is to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of Pink  Saturday and is hosted at How Sweet the Sound.

The vintage doll's cane furniture is the first thing I've ever bought from Ebay about two weeks ago. I remember when I was a little girl some of my friends had these but I didn't, and when I saw them on Ebay I just had to grab it! There was also a four piece lounge set for sale with normal chairs instead of the peacock chairs, but because it was my very first ebay purchase, someone else bid at the very last minute so I lost! I didn't make the same mistake on the peacock chairs though, and got them for $16 including postage. Probably a little on the expensive side for my modest doll collection as I'm not too serious about it, but I do believe the seller when they said this cane set is about 40 years old! I think it's a very special thing.

Using a 2.5mm hook and a small ball of baby pink yarn, I started the doll's dress on Monday afternoon and finished midday Tuesday, so it took less than one day. This is not the first dress I've made like this, although I think it's an improvement on the orignal because it crosses over at the back so you can't see her knickers - if she is wearing any! The Barbie dresses I make are inspired by a dress I've kept and treasured from my childhood which my mother tells me was made by my Nanna Pam. You can't tell when she is sitting down, but you can pinch the skirt to make pleats appear. I am so tickled pink I could manage to make something as pretty as this!

In an attempt to preserve the doll's hair as long as possible, I try and keep it tied up in a little snood. Anyone who has collected dolls knows how synthetic hair can ruin over time. But the pretty pink dress needed it's own hat, so I decided to give making a bonnet a go! I looked on google for images of crochet doll bonnets, but there were not many that I could see. I remember a knitted bonnet I wore as a young child which folded neatly into a square, so I made one up kind of like that. I didn't follow a pattern at all, and used the same stitches as in the skirt of the pink dress.

The tiny coffee table needed a pink doily, don't you think? This is my first completed proper doily and it took me between 2 to 4 hours I think, finishing it last Thursday morning. I used a pattern in a book I borrowed from my local library on Monday called "101 Easy Scrap Crochet Projects". The pattern for this doily is on page 40-41.

This doll's setting would not be complete without a tiny doll's teaset but when I looked on ebay for those I decided they were too expensive. But when David took me to the Salvo's store last Saturday I saw this set for just $1! That was more like it I thought, but didn't notice until I got to the counter that the teapot has been broken and glued back together. Oh well, I don't think Barbie minds! And the tiny teddies don't drink tea anyway. The cheeky things have hidden a big bottle of liquor to sip during today's party, those Party Animals!!! A good thing too, because there is only one teacup!

I hope you enjoyed reading about my special pink tea party!
<3 <3 <3

For more pinkness check out today's special anniversary of Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound.

Highlights from this week's party

Friday, May 28, 2010

A Pair of Tiny Dancing Teddies

I had originally made these for my mum as she collects teddy bears, but I don't think they are good enough! I think I'll try tagging along with a new party today called Look at Me Fridays at It's fun to craft.
a pair of tiny dancing teddies
I probably need to do some serious brushing up on my embroidery skills, their faces are not great, lol! For these teddies I used tiny pieces of recycled ribbon for their bow-ties and some fine yarn with 2.5mm and 2mm hooks. I put my glasses in the shot so you can see just how tiny they are. These are the same size as my first set of tiny teddy bears.

tiny dancing teddies beside reading glasses to size
Yes, their arms are meant to be that way so they look like they are dancing, well that's my story anyway and I'm sticking to it! One arm curls to the front, the other to the back, I think it looks like they are doing the chair dance, not unlike the /chairdance I do when my WoW guild downs a new boss!

/chairdance!

Check out some crafty ideas at this week's party at It's fun to craft.

Highlights from this week's party -

Thanks to Fun to Craft for hosting today's party /smiles!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Simple Brown Handbag

I've quickly made up another chocolate-coloured handbag in case my sister doesn't like the other brown bag I made for her. This is my post for Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage. The materials transformed for this was about 50g of yarn and three buttons. Using a 3.5mm crochet hook it didn't take long at all, maybe one afternoon.

I was speaking to Jen last week and she mentioned she needed a little handbag just big enough to hold a couple of things so I've made another bag a little bigger than the last with a longer handle. This bag has a handle long enough that when on the shoulder the bag will hang down by the waist. I used a simple stitch, instead of the shell stitch I used in the first brown bag which made it a little wonky, so this was quicker to make.

By the way, I found out at the craft group I went to last week that the stitch I've been calling 'double crochet' is American for the UK stitch called 'treble crochet', which is the stitch I used mostly here. I'm thinking I will need to learn both crochet languages so I know the two names for each stitch. There are so many free patterns on the internet that are in American crochet, but my mother and the local craft group use British crochet, so it's best I know both!

Here's to hoping my sister likes at least one of these bags!

So MANY Fantastic Ideas at this weeks party, some day I'd really like to try these ones...

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Women's Creative Centre, Greenslopes and Lifeline Store, Mt Gravatt

Last Wednesday I managed to get myself along to a craft workshop organised by the Women's Creative Centre in Greenslopes. I post every Wednesday to help motivate me to write about getting out of the house. Included are some photos of things I bought when David took me to the Lifeline shop at Mt Gravatt the previous Sunday, like this cute little garden charm we now have sitting on our garden outdoor table.

It was a challenge to even find out about this craft group in the first place, as I've been looking on the internet for a while and hadn't found anything local. I only happened to be told about this group when I asked at the Kingston Butter Factory craft shop if they held lessons. After searching the net for "Creative Women's Centre" I found one short page as part of some listing site which had precious little information, just an email address. So I wrote to the email address and got sent a document that I couldn't read because I didn't have the software. Luckily, David helped me download it so I could read a little more. Last Saturday David drove me out to Greenslopes to see the place, as I wasn't going to go by myself without 'casing the joint' first! I plucked up the courage to speak to two ladies in the shop about going along to a lesson.

The lessons, or workshop which cost only $4.50, is not held at the craft shop but in another room in the shopping centre. It was nervous for me to walk into a strange room with strange people, its a pity they kept the window blinds closed. One lady went to close the blinds because she 'didn't want people looking at us'. I think that's a shame because it makes it harder for new people. I'm really glad I went to the craft group, and it went for two hours which was just the right length of time. I fit right in with my wonderfully perfect cane sewing basket which I got second-hand for an amazing $3 from the Lifeline shop last Sunday.

I learnt a new way of starting and ending my crochet work, which is great. I also talked with the instructor about tension and how to better judge which wool and hooks I should be using for certain projects. I had a go at an Irish Rose and I got a copy of the pattern, which is great. I also talked about the bolero I want to make, ending up changing my mind about which wool to use. There was a lot of inspiration for me to get going on several projects, I just don't know which to start next! I'll be going along again today, taking my patterns and cottons to ask about making doilies and to try and use up my pile of wool ... which doesn't seem to be shrinking yet!

Perhaps I should stop buying new wool??? lol!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Red Hearts of Love

All these photos were taken last Sunday morning. When I saw them in my pictures folder together I realised they were all red so that gave me an idea for a post to join in with Ruby Tuesday hosted by Mary at Work of the Poet!

After a couple of hours of me checking the Pink Saturday blogs and he playing a computer game, we got peckish for some breakfast. We were in the mood for our favourite lovey dovey breakfast, sausages and tomato with love heart eggs and mushrooms!

On Saturday, David took me to a Salvo's store (Salvation Army charity shop). We hadn't been there before and there were lots of bargain treasures to be found, some of which I decided I coudn't bring home. One thing I did grab was this very good toy for developing fine motor and hand-eye coordination in very young children. It's pretty solid, not flimsy, so I grabbed it for $3. In the background you can see a red love-heart bag. I can't remember where I got it from but I keep some Barbie things in it, it's so cute. Also in the background you can see my tiny teddies where they live now, sitting on one of the vintage doll's chairs to keep Barbie company. The doily you can see I believe was made by my great-grandmother, which I hope to try copying one day.

Another bargain treasure we found at the Salvo's store on Saturday were this pair of lovey dovey coffee mugs. We've decided to collect coffee mugs with love hearts on them, as well as other things with love hearts because we are sooo lovey dovey! /awwww... lol! These are probably not so great because the shape means that one is smaller than the other. I don't like the idea that to be in love one person must be smaller.

Our first love heart coffee mugs we bought were these very cheap ones we saw at the supermarket a couple of years ago. We got four, one broke and has been thrown away. That's a shame, I really must remember to keep broken crockery for my mosaic projects I hope to do one day. Two of the remaining three mugs have broken handles, so one is now used as my pens holder by my pc. That's why I'm afraid to use the 3rd mug for drinking as I have a terrible vision of someone spilling hot coffee over them when the silly handle breaks! But they are just too cute to throw away, they are too lovey dovey! When a coffee handle breaks, it can still be recycled into something useful.

I also took a photo of this very cute red chocolate tin. It cost me $5 full of chocolates from Coles online last Valentine's Day. I havent' decided what it will be used for yet, but I'm sure it will turn out to be nice. It's sitting on top of the table my great-grandfather made, which I will do a post about one day.

I didn't realise how many red love hearts I have about my house!
<3 <3 <3

Be sure to check out other Ruby Reds at Ruby Tuesday!

Highlights from this week's party

Monday, May 24, 2010

My Blue Skies


No matter how down I might be, a clear blue sky always cheers me up without fail.

It makes me count all the good things in life and brings a smile to my face!

It was such a stunningly blue day yesterday I just had to take some photographs.

 
I enjoy looking up at blue skies through the leaves of trees.  
The contrast of green against blue is eye-catching. 
I hope you like my blue sky photos 
<3 <3 <3

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Three Small Things - fingerpuppet, granny square, doily

Here are three small things I've made in the last few days, a Teddy Bear fingerpuppet, a cross-my-heart granny square and a lemon doily.

<<< There is no pattern for this finger puppet, it is merely one of my early attempts at making a crochet toy. I decided to pop a little dress on her, along with a matching flower headband. It was after I embroidered her face that I realised she was back the front. Oh well, her backwards legs are hidden beneath the skirt so it doesn't really matter. She is just for practice after all, and was fun to make. You can see her before she was decorated in my Five Tiny Teddies post as one of my early attempts at making a crochet toy. I think she makes a great companion for my Octopus Boy!

>>> When I asked David what he thought I should make next, his idea was for me to make a lovey-dovey blanket for the lounge, one with a heart motif. I've seen lots of square heart motifs so went back to the net for some ideas. One I saw was a cross my heart granny square. I didn't use that pattern, just looked at it for the idea. I think I might have a go at making a granny square all in one colour then out-lining just one of the four hearts in a contrasting colour using chain stitch.

<<< I was feeling brave so was ready to give making a doily another go. I found a simple doily diagram at a page of beginner crochet doilies. I hit a snag at the 10th round so took it to the Women's Creative Centre to see if I could get some advice on it. Apparently my tension was too tight and I need to use a bigger hook, so after we unravelled the mistake we fastened this one off to make a small doily. It's just the right size to put under the phone that is sitting on my piano.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Operation Pinkify!

Oh no, my new phone only came in black, Horror! This calls for an urgent operation to Pinkify right away! First, we needed to find the parts and found them for cheap on ebay!
They arrived in the mail today, so David set to work to operate on the offending black casing. He soon discovered there was a little trick to it so searched youtube for a tutorial.



Buying a pink casing turned out to be cheaper than buying one of the pink phones in the first place! Thank goodness the black is replaced with some cute Pinkness!


Also arrived this week is a surprise for me in the mail that David ordered. What's this? Its a pink gaming headset! Isn't it gorgeous? Now I can be a Hawt Gamer Chick in Pink Style!

The pink microphone is detachable which is good for me because I keep breaking my mics when I have to plug them in the front of the pc and the wires get caught in my chair wheels. It was pretty expensive too, I hope I don't break this one!

For more pinkness check out Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound.

Recommended new blogs from this week's party

Friday, May 21, 2010

Pretty Patterned Beanie with Flower Brooch

This pretty wine-coloured beanie was not planned and has ended up being a small adult or teenager size. I wonder who will wear it?

I had planned for this to be for one of my young nephews, using the craft wool I bought from the city Lincraft store on Monday especially because this is a 'dark colour'. A good thing too, that I didn't need to use the whole 100g ball, the end of the yarn is faulty, but at least it was cheap at just $2. But this wool had such a pretty shine to it I just had to do some special stitch which ended up looking a bit pretty. This is a common shell stitch and is the same as I used on my teddy bear dress. I started the beanie with 7 increasing rounds which is the size for an adult, but the pattern makes its little tight for me to wear. For this I used a 3.5mm hook.

I don't think I'd ever wear a hat with a big flower on it, but this is just begging for one! I had a go at the rose pattern from Crochet Spot. A big thankyou to Rachel for sharing this free pattern on her site, I'm really happy with how this turned out! Because I wouldn't normally be keen on wearing a big flower on a hat myself, I've made the rose detachable by securing it to a safety pin. This way, you can wear the beanie with or without the flower, you could even pin the flower to other things like a bag.

This was really easy to make, and cheap using this wool. Maybe next time I will get some fancier yarn?
<3 <3 <3

For this post I tagged along with The Shabby Chic Cottage for Transformation Thursday! Check it out for some homecrafted ideas.

Recommended Blogs from this week's party.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Five Tiny Teddies

I've been wanting to try making a crochet toy for quite a while thinking it wouldn't be too hard, and I must say I'm pleased with my first set of tiny teddies.
a  family of 5 tiny teddies
I didn't follow a pattern for these teddy bears, and it took me several failed attempts before I settled on a method to use. I had been trying to make the whole teddy in one piece, not wanting to cut, tie in and start new pieces. But in the end I settled on making the head, arms and body in one piece, then adding two legs and the ears afterwards. After I got the hang of it, I started adding the ears at the start while I was making the head. Although I did not follow anyone's pattern for these, I did look at some google images of crochet tiny teddies for inspiration.
practice teddies while I worked out the pattern
These were heaps fun to do and I'd like to make more. The brightly coloured embroidery thread I used for their faces were one of the purchases I made from the Lincraft store in the city on Monday. The ribbons are all recycled from packaging or cut off from clothing (those annoying ribbons you get inside clothes to help them hang nicely in the store but always manage to embarrassingly poke out when you wear them - I cut them off and recycle them).

I think these tiny teddies are just so cute! They'll make great companions for my Barbie doll (you know, the one I have to practice making real clothes on!), to sit with her on my new vintage cane doll furniture.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Flowering Lavendar and a trip to the Museum

In preparation for my solo train trip to the city for an appointment on Monday, I did a trial run last Friday and ended up going to the Queensland Museum alone! This is my post for Outdoor Wednesday which I do every week to motivate me to post something about getting out of the house. Included are some images of my beautiful potted lavender which I'm so happy is flowering at the moment.

It was my first trip alone using the Go Card. As I left the station at South Brisbane, the station attendant looked at me so I asked her if I did the card thing right. Well, that was a mistake! I thought I did it wrong so touched on again, then she exclaimed 'don't do that!'  I told her I was new and didn't know how to use the thing so she helped me to the machine to clear the second touch on. Luckily, I found it funny, LOL!

Travelling on the train was fun, I used to do it all the time when I first got to Brisbane years ago, now I'm really wondering why I haven't been doing it these last couple of years? I thought to take myself to the art gallery but they were closed, and the museum wouldn't open for another half hour so I went to a cafe, got a cappucino and rang David on my new phone while I waited. I spent about an hour in the museum, its fairly small but still good, and because it didn't cost me anything, I bought a little specialist book on local birds. Because no pets are allowed on our complex, lots of different birds visit our garden and I've started looking up which ones they are and thought this book would be handy.
Thanks for listening <3 <3 <3

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Simple Brown Beanie

On the way to my appointment in the city I whipped up this simple beanie on the train. It's 30 minutes there, another 30 back, plus waiting time, so all up it took less than 2 hours.

When I asked my S.I.L. what colours she'd like the beanies for her children to be she said 'dark colours' so I found this nice chocolate colour in my stash and decided to use that for one of them. Washing instructions for the wool is 'drip dry, non-shrink, colourfast, wash in warm water', it's 100% acrylic. For my beanies I start by making 4 to 7 rounds, each round increasing in size, with the 2nd round being 2 for every one, after that every round increases one less stitch than the previous round. Who I'm making it for will decide how many increasing rounds I do. Then I will stop increasing and make rounds the same size until I get to a length recommended by the beanie size chart.

So yes, for those interested in the update, I did catch the train to the city on my own for the first time in a couple of years. Poor David will have to find some other excuse to get time off work now! Yay for me :P

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Beautiful Pink Roses

These are two beautiful pink roses that David's mum Beverly brought from her house. She lives alone near Ballina in NSW, and grows her own fruit, veggies and flowers, including roses, all the while working as a nurse at a local nursing home. I think she said this species is "Tiffany". I particularly liked the fragrance, so I hope we could grow me some of our own! These smelt so beautiful and were so lovely to have in our home, I made the petals into a pot pourri.

Also, outside my front door are some very pretty pinks flowering at the moment. I'm not sure, but they might be a variety of native lilly pilly.

Yay for PINK!
Go to How Sweet the Sound for more details on Pink Saturday.

Recommended ...
Five Minutes Just for Me
Another local blog, this one is a mum who lives here in Brisbane, Australia

Two New Blogs for this week, highlights include a vintage pink telephone and a Pink Princess Suite!
Teacupstitches and A Cottage Muse

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Two Hats for Babies

How did this happen? I do not know, but somehow I have managed to crochet, not one but two hats for babies, how absurd!

I've been trying to make beanies for children for the last two days, thinking maybe my brother's children might need some for the coming winter, but have just been getting the sizes all wrong because I am not following a pattern. I discovered a size chart for beanies yesterday which has helped a great deal.

I have completed just 3 beanies in my life before learning how to read crochet patterns, making them to fit the person who was to wear them. One of them is the blue beanie I made for David last winter, I also made a loose fitting white one for myself to wear on holiday to Tasmania in 2004, the 3rd I made BD (before David) so we don't talk about that. The only beanie pattern I have actually read and followed was on Rachel's Crochet Spot, but I didn't actually finish the beanie! Instead it ended up as a flower in my day of crochet trials.

Now, in the last two days, I have made four more beanies with the wool I bought from Lincraft, including these two that are baby sized! (For these I used a 4mm hook and Lincraft DK yarn in Autumn and Turquoise mixes). They are just sooo cute, I can't undo them to redo again now, how could I? I particularly like the handy hookloop on the autumn one, and the hyperbolic brim on the aqua one, how sweet! But I don't know anyone who might make use of them, perhaps I will get a doll or a teddy that can wear them?

... lol ;-)

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

A trip to the Library and Lincraft

Every Wednesday I plan to post on my blog about venturing outside, sometimes tagging along with Outdoor Wednesday. Today I'd like to include some pictures of a particularly spectacular snowflake bush which is currently flowering and welcomes you as you drive into our apartment's complex.

When I turned up for my Monday morning 'meeting' I was unhappy to report that I had not managed to leave the house for the week, having found an excuse not to visit my family on Saturday as planned. So after the meeting I went to my local Lincraft store, and while I was there I poked my head in the library which is in the same building.

My visit to Lincraft went ok, it wasn't too busy so I was free to potter around in peace, and there was no waiting at the counter, which is a bonus for me. I bought some brightly coloured wool which was on special, I plan to make some children's beanies with it. In the photo you can see my first attempt which is too big and has to be undone. I also bought some new cotton for edging face-washers! They didn't have any white, so I chose a nice lilac-grey. I bought 1.7m of stretch velvet which I plan to make a skirt with. I also paid a couple of dollars for some crochet patterns, knowing I can get crochet patterns off the internet for free, but I liked this particular collection and want to try making the bolero.

I find going to the library a little overwhelming, which I know is silly! I went and picked up some brochures, one is a very helpful map of the local nature reserve which I hope David and I can go to soon before it gets too cold. I walked around the whole library then wondered what to do next so made myself sit down as I feel stupid walking around aimlessly! After I looked through the brochures I noticed some quilting magazines, so got up to look more closely to see if there were some crochet ones but they only had knitting. I then went and had a look at some more information displays but couldn't find anything about the craft group that's supposed to be there at the end of this month. I didn't feel up to asking anyone about it so I left. I hope to go back to the library again soon, it would be great if I could sit in on that craft group in a couple  of weeks.

Wish me luck!
<3 <3 <3
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