Pair of Mango Flowers

Following the African flower idea, I made two more flowers like this. I used some soft acrylic I call 'mango' which is really nice to crochet with.

a pair of 'mango' flowers

Using a 3.5mm hook, I was thinking this flower would go with my mango hat. With winter coming up, this is one of the many things on my to do list! But when I made the white centre with orange edge flower, I wasn't sure it looked so nice, so I made another flower in reverse colours.

I'm not sure either of these flowers look right on my mango beanie, so I'm not sure what they'll get used for. I'm sure to think of something!

My First Mother's Day 2011

Happy Mother's Day to all mums, now including me! David made me pancakes for breakfast with a scrummy berry sauce, and Thomas did his bit by being very cute!

All the beanies I've made so far are too small for Tom, yet it's starting to get cold and I think he needs to wear one. So I made this one this morning, using 100% Australian merino wool and a 4.5mm hook. I usually use the 4mm hook but the bigger hook made it slightly bigger, I also added an extra increasing round. So this hat is a bit on the big side, but he'll grow into it! Now he can keep warm in this cold weather, and I'm feeling like making him some more beanies now I know his size!

Homemade Quilt for Thomas

On the weekend, we got a visit from Nanna and Poppy (David's dad Brian and his wife Freya) and they came with many gifts, including this special handmade quilt for Thomas!

How very special this quilt is, including a lively print of playing frogs and a print of blue hearts. I'm sure this quilt will get some use, probably in the cot as it's a bigger size than a bunny rug. Freya is very good at making lovely quilts. I think they would be too tricky for me to try, whenever I cut material it always comes out wonky. And once you cut it you can't save the material. That's why I like to crochet, any mistakes I make I can just undo and retry. I guess everyone gravitates towards the crafts that suite them the most.

Besides the quilt, Nanna and Poppy also brought a lot of fresh produce from Stanthorpe, including these tomatoes and zucchinis home grown in their very own garden. We've already eaten some in the few days since their visit, but I'm a bit worried that some might waste there is so much! They also gave us several jars of home-made pickles, again using fresh veggies from their garden. It must be so satisfying to eat from your own garden. I know it is and our own garden only has herbs and a lime tree!

They also brought this lovely posey of roses from their garden, now my kitchen smells like roses again! It's a pity they live so far away, it's a long three hour drive one way. Hopefully we'll see nanna and poppy again before too long.

Summer Drinks "Frangipani" Coasters

This is the last coaster set I'll do for now. I guess if anyone else wants one, I'll just get some more cotton and make more! But next time I buy cotton, I'll get some red, pink and purple so I can get different colour combinations. Below is a photo of the colours I used for this gift giving season.

It's fun to think of a name, a scene or season to match the colours and vice versa. I have done this last set because these three colours to me say 'frangipani' and I had enough of these colours left over. When I lived in Darwin there were a lot of frangipani trees about. They would loose all their leaves in the dry season, which is the north Australian equivalent of winter, but it really doesn't get very cold at all. Then as the wet season approaches, the trees would become full of flowers and the smell was gorgeous. Most of them were the yellow and white variety, some had a light blush of pink. And very rarely, there was a deep red variety which didn't seem to grow as thick but had the rich fragrance of a rose and was very special. The blue in this set represents the clear blue skies of the Darwin dry season.

I do not recommended this coaster set for red wine drinkers, as it's mostly white and yellow. If you spill red wine on these, soak in cool water immediately. Here are some more tips on how to remove red wine stains from cotton.

Next, to make some Christmas decorations and practice baking some home-made treats to share as gifts!

Seasonal Drinks "Summer" & "Autumn" Coasters

These are the first two sets of my Seasonal Drinks coasters!

For these ones, I picked seasonal colours for 'traditional' seasons, just due to the ease of what to call them and the colours to choose. Both of these coaster sets have the added bonus of bringing good luck and prosperity to the home due to the circular golden motifs, which represents money and coins.

The colours in my summer set of coasters represent the cool blue of swimming pools, backyard green lawns and lots of orange juice! I found inspiration on google images for Summer colours.

Autumn also had to have some orange, with a little bit of golden and green. Again, I found inspiration on google images, this time for Autumn colours. As often found in collections of Autumn colours, these represent the turning of the leaves from green to golden, to then dull and fall upon the ground, loosing the bright colour as winter approaches ...

Coming next - Seasonal Coasters "Winter" & "Spring"

Colourful Baby Beanies with picot edges

I made the pattern up for these beanies, because I felt like making something cute and quick!

The pattern is based loosely on the Lincraft one I used for the other beanies I've made, but this time I left a space after every increase. I prefer to do this now, so I don't have to count when to increase. Either leaving a space like in these beanies, or a ridge with a post stitch, takes away the need to count every single stitch, this way making them is more fun.

These beanies are shorter than the other beanies I've made, as I skipped the last three rows that would have gotten turned up. Then, for a flourish, I added a row of simple picot to make it pretty. And I don't think these are too pretty for a boy, although I just couldn't help myself but to make a pink one! I guess I might meet someone with a girl who might like it, or I can donate it to the hospital. All the colours except the pink one are pure Australian merino wool which I bought from Lincraft. The pink wool is some really soft, silky yarn my mum gave me ages ago and we're not sure what the blend is as it doesn't have any labels. Each beanie takes about an hour or so to make, and I used 4mm or 4.5mm hooks.

I really should stop making these beanies, in case they don't fit a real baby, I'll never really know for sure until I have a baby to fit one on! That's why I've made these in slightly different sizes, hopefully one will get worn!

Apricot Angora Shrug

The beautiful apricot coloured angora that I got on special from Lincraft has been calling me, so I've turned it into this lovely lacey shrug!

a simple shrug made from imported Angora

I made this pattern up, which is based on another shrug I made. This time I made the cuffs in rounds of 10 rows, then used a new pretty lacey stitch for the body of the shrug. I'm really happy with how the lacey part turned out, and I'm glad I now have this stitch in my repertoire. I used the 'shell trellis' lace stitch on page 95 of a book I borrowed from the library called 'Crochet Basics' by Jan Eaton.

lace detail of my shrug

The pattern for a basic shrug is very simple. I use a fine and hairy wool, like angora or winter warmth from Lincraft, and a large hook (5mm). This makes a very 'loose' stitch. It uses just over 1 x 50g ball of yarn.

An easy guide to making a crochet shrug

1. First Cuff - ch 54, sl st to form circle, make 10 rows of trebles (US dc), check the circle is large enough to go up your arm to above your elbow - I made a ridge on every 3rd stitch

2. Lacey Body - increase 1 every 6 st, use any nice light and airy lacey stitch you like, do not join, turn, make this section about 60cm long

3. Second Cuff - decrease 1 every 6 st, sl st to form circle, make 10 rows of trebles (US dc) - repeat any pattern used in first cuff

folded shrug

Easy and ready for spring!
<3 <3

Small Aqua Doily

This was going to be a drink coaster, but I wasn't quite happy with it and it's now a doily on David's bedside table! The pattern for this doily came from a book I got from a second hand store at Toowong for $11. This pattern is on page 56 and the book is called 'Beautiful Lace', published by Nihon Vogue in 1982. When I finished it, it was very wonky, so I gently ironed it and it came out ok. I do want to have another go at making cotton coasters, or I might end up making some out of plarn.

Today, I was very naughty and bought some new baby wool! I know I should use up the wool I have first. I already have some baby wool in lilac, white, pink and a greeny orange variation. But I was very keen to get some stronger shades of purple and some green to match so checked out Lincraft today as some of the nicer baby wool is on special. It's very naughty of me, but I got some expensive pure Australian wool machine washable baby yarn in bright shades of green, blue and orange.  I was after some brighter colours in really nice baby wool so I can make a colourful and cheery jacket, hat and bootie set, I can't wait to start on that one!

I also bought some cheaper 100g balls of purple and green which I might make a baby rug with, and some alpaca to make another pair of fingerless gloves for David as he has asked for some.

At the rate I'm going, I don't think I shall ever use up all my wool!!!

Four Little Lost Angels

As I was taking them home from the market, I knew I would have so much fun cleaning up these second-hand dolls and dressing them in new crochet outfits, perhaps even with angel wings! In the end I settled on summer dresses complete with pretty bonnets and mary jane slippers. These tiny Kelly dolls are just 4.5 inches tall.

pretty outfits for four Kelly dolls

I first found the little blonde in a washing basket full of toys. The stall holder was busy selling a set of Dora dolls, so when I said I would like the tiny doll, she dismissed me saying I could have it for free. Well, I wouldn't take something so special for free, it just wasn't right! Her hair is in excellent condition, and she even has two near new shoes. I was thinking to give a dollar, but when we looked in David's wallet a 50 cent coin was sitting on top so I grabbed that and pressed it into hand of the man that was helping her with the stall. I think it must have been Karma, because later on at another stall, I saw the three other dolls, all with different coloured hair and all just 50 cents each! It was so uncanny it must have been fate that these four tiny Kelly dolls should meet in this way!

how I found these 4 dolls at the market for 50 cents each

Crochetting some clothes for these dolls turned out to be a lot more challenging than I first anticipated. I made several attempts before I ended up with a dress I was happy with. At first, I did a smaller version of the Barbie doll dress I usually do, using baby yarn, but I decided the result looked too bulky. Later, I made matching knickers for that dress using a free pants pattern I found on an old blog, again using the baby yarn. I made a top using baby yarn and a free ruffle top pattern, but I did not use the right size hook and yarn, and it didn't fit. The problem was, I was using baby yarn when I should have been using fine cotton thread.

At first, I really didn't think I would need to follow a pattern for this project, but I did. I had a little success with a free dress pattern @ Crochet Crafts by Helga, using fine cotton and 1.5mm hook as recommended. But I didn't like the skirt, I thought it was too short so added more rows, which then made the result bulky. Finally, I made a dress I liked using the bodice from Helga's free pattern, but adding my own skirt. Using the same cotton, I made some panties using Helga's free pants pattern,shortening the legs by making just one row of sc. I stitched up the gap at the back of the pants as I don't think it needs a button, pull on pants are fine for this small doll. I then made matching pull on panties for the other dresses I made, one each of pink, green, apricot and yellow. Each dress has one button on the back of the bodice.

matching beach outfits for four Kelly dolls

Because you can't see the panties underneath the dresses, I decided the dolls needed some little tops to show them off! Maybe these outfits can be PJs or summer beach outfits? The tops are just the bodice part of the dress, with every stitch in the bottom frill incr. The tops looked a little plain, so I crochet a tiny heart, clover, flower and sun to attach in contrasting colours to the front, to make them look more fun (hopefully!). The flower is just clusters to form 5 petals, and the sun is a round of 15 trbls, with a 2nd round of a picot in every 3rd trbl. I used the heart and clover patterns explained in previous posts.

Then I made them all matching Mary Jane slippers with my own made up pattern.

Mary Janes for Kelly Dolls by Teena Sutton

using 1.25mm hook, fine cotton

1. ch 7, trb (US db) in 3rd ch from hook, 2 trb, 2 db (US sc), turn

2. ch 2, trb in next 5 trb, 3 trebles in the stitch space at the toe, go round to the other side of the shoe and do trb in ea 5 trb, 1 trb at the heel, sl st in 1st trb of this round

3. ch 2, db in next 2 trb, sk 2 trb, trb in next 3 treble to form top of toe, sk 2 trb, db in next 3 trb, sl st in 1st db  of this round

4. ch 8 to form ankle strap and sl st in 1st ch

after some hair care the bonnets fit perfectly

Finally, I finished the outfits with bonnets, again with a pattern I made up myself. When I found these dolls, their hair was mostly 'fly-away' and a real mess. After shampooing, conditioning, air drying and finally smoothing with baby oil, their hair came up very nicely indeed. The pretty bonnets help keep the hair in place.

Pretty Bonnets for Kelly Dolls by Teena Sutton

using 1.25mm hook, fine cotton

1. chain 10, trbl (US dc) in 3rd ch from hook, trb in ea next 6 ch, 5 trbl in last ch which is the bottom of the last trbl, trb in the bottom of the other 7 trbl, turn

2. ch 2, trb in ea trbl, extra 3 trbl in last trb, trbl in bottom of each trb, turn

3. ch 2, sk trb, (3 trb in next trbl, sk trb, trb in next, sk trb) twice, 3 trbl ea in next 3 trbl (9 trbl), sk trb, trbl in next trbl (sk trbl, 3 trb in next trbl, sk trb, trb in next) twice, turn

4. ch 2, (sk trbl, 3 trb in next trbl, sk trbl, trbl in next) thrice, 3 trbl in next, trbl in next, (sk trbl, 3 trb in next trbl, sk trbl, trbl in next) thrice, turn

5. ch 2, repeat (sk trbl, 3 trbl in next, sk strbl, trbl in next) seven times, each cluster of 3 is in centre of cluster below, turn

6. repeat row 5 except don't turn, ch about 12 or enough to be long enough to form the chin strap, measure, slip stitch into the other side of the bonnet to form chin strap, don't turn

7 (bonnet frill), ch 2, repeat the pattern from previous row, except each cluster has 5 trebles instead of 3, turn

8. ch 2, repeat the previous pattern, except each cluster has 7 trebles instead of 5, fasten off.

Making outfits for these four Kelly dolls was heaps of fun and very satisfying. I learnt more about adjusting patterns for size, and also how to make pants. These are such a joy - but I think they will be going in a box soon. One day I'll bring them out again as a special treasure.

This is my post for this week's Transformation Thursday hosted @ The Shabby Chic Cottage. Be sure to check out fun crafty stuff at this blog party!

Winter Hat Collection 2010

Here is a gallery of all the hats and beanies I've finished so far!

I'm hoping to give some of these to family as gifts, I just don't know which ones they would like so I hope they can tell me! <3 <3 <3

I have already written on my blog about some of these hats, but I'll be posting more in future, explaining how I made them, the pattern and washing instructions for the wool.

[gallery columns="5"]

Dreamy Mango and Cream Beanie

I started this apricot coloured beanie ages ago, and now it's finally finished!

After I made the blue beanie for David about 3 years ago without a pattern, I thought to make myself a warmer one as well. The white one I made for myself in 2004 has too many holes to be warm enough. So I chose three lovely bits of wool that seemed to match, the cream wool has flecks of orange in it, one ball still had the label which said the colour was 'mango'. But I hit a snag and the beanie was turning out too big so I left it aside for a couple of years!

When I recently started working on my beanie making skill in earnest, I went back to this to try and finish it off. I undid a few rounds and started making the straight sides, adding in a rough apricot coloured stripe in the middle to use up the last of that yarn.

This is a very simple beanie made from beautifully soft wool that feels nice on the face, and it's nice and warm too! I think I am ready to get some nicer wool to make more beanies for family and friends!
<3 <3 <3

A Set of Small Purses

This set began with a shell pouch I made for my mum to say thank you for teaching me how to crochet. Now the set has grown to include more purses! This is my post for this week's Transformation Thursday which is hosted by The Shabby Chic Cottage. I transformed a ball of  lovely and soft multi-coloured wool into these purses.

I made the tiny purse without a pattern. I again used the shell pattern for one side then plain for the other so the shape would not turn out wonky. I then made a lid for the purse. I was inspired by the lid on the quick clutch at Crochet Spot but I did not follow the pattern. If I did I probably would not have had to pull it apart two times before I got it right on the third try! I also made up my own tiny button, although I might replace it with a proper button if this doesn't work out. This tiny purse took one morning to do.

I completed the tissues cover over two days without using a pattern. I had been planning to make one with a slit down the middle but then I saw the tissues I had bought for this opened a different way. I made this tissue purse using the shell stitch on the front only and plain treble crochet on the back and sides so it would keep it's shape. I had trouble deciding if I would make a lid for it, but settled on leaving it open because the shell stitch made a nice wavy edge.

I gave these and the matching tiny dancing teddy bears to my mum yesterday when she came to visit. She said she likes the set, and promptly put her pens in the larger pouch to stop them from rolling around in her bag! The tiny teddies fit neatly inside the tiny purse, they were so cute!

Be sure to check out the other things linked in with Transformation Thursday, there is always HEAPS of handy home-crafting ideas which I love to check out!
<3 <3 <3

My Highlights from this weeks' party

• sew star pin cushions or beanbag toys @ Sew a Straight Line


• recycle old jeans and pants into aprons @ Keeping it Simple


• turn a child's t-shirt into a dress @ I Can Find the Time


• make a simple memory game using stamps and wood cutoffs @ A Bit O' Shine

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 ;-)

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

Shell Crochet Pouch

I just made this modest crochet pouch because I thought the shell stitch was very pretty, and liked the multi-colours in this wool which shows off the stitch better than a mono-colour.  I have also started making a brown pouch for my sister because she asked me to make her one, and thought to make the stitch a little interesting so had a go at this shell stitch. Its kind of like this one here, but I did it off the top of my head at the time so it's different.

One row of this shell pattern takes two rows to complete. It goes something like this ...
start with a chain with length equal to pouch width
row 1 - (ch 2, 2 dc in 1st ch sp, sk 2 ch sp, sl st) to end, turn
row 2 - ch 2, 2 dc in 1st ch sp (sl st in top of shell in row 1, 3 dc in sl st in row 1) to end

I wonder if my mum would like this as a gift? She has so many lovely things, its very hard to find nice gifts for her. But mum was my very first crochet teacher. Thanks to her early lessons, I was I able to pick up a few pointers from youtube videos when I started hooking again in recent years. Hopefully she likes my simple gift as a thankyou for all the handicrafts that she taught me. I had several pretty buttons to choose from, and settled on the burnt orange one with a lovely shell-like shine to it.

I hope I get a chance to see mum soon so I can give it to her to say thanks!

Sushi on a Sunday

I love sushi and David has learned how to make it quite well! For lunch, we make 3 rolls with a simple filling of tuna and carrots. Because we have run out of wasabi, we used our very own home-made Awesome Sauce and some mayonnaise. We did try and make our own mayonnaise once, but that was epic fail so we'll have to try that again another day! I'm David's kitchen hand, preparing the carrots, tuna, other ingredients and equipment, he prepares the rice with the sushi vinegar as I'm much more likely to screw that bit up!

David gets creative for the camera by making a pattern with the filling for one of the sushi rolls! He also has developed a deft hand for the trick of rolling the perfect sushi roll /nomnomnom

Making Crochet Rugs is good therapy!

So far, I've made 3 small rugs, as they take quite a while to do, but making them is excellent therapy!

Thousands of dollars can buy you a considerable amount of good therapy, but an armful of wool is a lot cheaper! Its well known activities like crochet and knitting are relaxing, and it's also considered healthy diversional therapy, like other crafty activities and hobbies.

The first rugs I made were a matching pair of lap rugs, which I made to pull over our legs in the winter. They're not too large to catch in the wheels of the computer chairs. I even got creative and gave them names to match their colour schemes. As David loves all things dragon, his is called "Dragons in the Woods", because it had a lot of brown in it. The red represents the fire breath. Mine is called "Roses in the Snow", because it's pink and white, and it's nice to remember flowers during the winter! These ones are made up of 5 round granny squares slip stitched together.

The third one I've made is bigger than the lap rugs, and I just called it a 'therapy rug'. I wanted to make a rug purely for relaxation, and didn't want the added pressure of planning the colours like the other two rugs. It's just made up of random colours of similar ply wool. When one colour ran out, I just chose a new colour. This is one big granny square, so not much thinking required, but the changing of the colours meant it wasn't too boring.

Since then, I've bought $10 worth of wool from lincraft on my birthday last year to make a 'birthday rug'. I am only up to the second ball of wool as I've kinda ran out of steam for that one. Having a big project in progress is good, as you can just grab it when you're watching some boring tv. I've got several projects in progress, starting them seems a lot more fun that seeing them through to the end!

Hexagon Jackets

I saw this baby's hexagon jacket at Crochet Soiree and thought it was so cute and might be fun to try, even though there isn't anyone in particular for me to be making it for!

white hexagon jacket

I didn't follow a pattern, just made a couple of hexagons and joined them together. The orange and blue one was my first try, which wasn't quite right but I thought it might do as a toy's jacket. I covered an old button with the blue wool. Then I did the white one, which fits on my big teddy. I think it looks rather pretty with the pink buttons which I haven't decided to attach yet or not.  I've been feeling a bit blue the last couple of days to be honest, but I don't feel like I'm allowed to express my opinion, even on my very own blog that no one actually reads! Go figure.

hexagon jacket for a toy

Out with the Old

Tomorrow, being Valentine's Day, is an extra special day this year. Not only does it fall on a weekend, which only happens once or twice every 6 years or so, it also falls on the start of festivities for the Chinese New Year!

So today, in preparation for the special day tomorrow, we are baking as much as we can in advance, then we will be cleaning the house together! /awww isn't that romantic? Yes, I could have cleaned the house yesterday when David was at work, but that would not have swept away any bad luck from this year that came into our house today (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!).

It's a Chinese tradition to clean the house the day before the New Year starts, to sweep away any bad luck from the previous year. This helps the new year start with a fresh clean beginning, allowing any good luck to flow into the house during the festivities. In the very least, the floors should be swept and mopped, perhaps cleaning a window and the loungeroom ceiling fan may also take my fancy. Lucky charms, like this coin I hang facing my front door, help bring happiness and wealth into the home, as do round golden coloured fruits like oranges, favoured for their resemblence to gold coins.

Tomorrow, we will be celebrating all day, with romantic themed foods, some with an Asian flavour like fried rice and fish cakes for our evening meal. Reminding ourselves of the importance of our romantic relationship is sure to attract much good luck into our home for the new year ahead!

Simple Tube Top

I just whipped up this cute little top using some material that caught my eye when I was at Lincraft last week. The weather is so hot and muggy here right now, this is just what I need for wearing around the house as a boobtoob with my pretty aqua blue skirt!

I really liked this print of Japanese fans so just got half a metre, not knowing what I would make with it, although I did think perhaps I would make a little cami. The grand total cost of this top was $4.49! I didn't have any orange thread which would have been best, but this emerald green thread worked just fine, it's good to have finally found a use for it! I don't ever remember buying green thread, it must have come to me along with some other coloured threads. I already had the elastic in my kit and that's all I needed to make this.

I simply sewed up one side of the half metre fabric forming a tube. Then I made a pocket along the top to thread the elastic through. I cut 10cm off along the bottom to form straps which I've decided not to use. Then I sewed a fine hem along the bottom. This has got to be the simplest top to make. It might look it too, unless you find some really nice material like this silky look print, and at less than $4.50 its not bad. This simple tube top is fine for wearing around the house, seeing as I don't have a strapless bra because this thing is unsuitable for 'outside' unless I get one!