Alexander 'the little' turns two

Today is my little man's second birthday. I can't believe it has been two years since he arrived into our lives and changed it forever. The hardest two years of our life - but also by far the most precious and rewarding. Words cannot begin to describe how much we love this little guy.

His main present was a quiet book I made for him out of felt - he is playing with it already but the pages are still loose. I need to sew them together into a book before I share all the pictures with you (here are the Very Hungry Caterpillar pages which are a particular favourite). It gives me such a sense of satisfaction watching him play with something I have made from scratch.

Happy birthday my gorgeous Alexander! I can't believe how much you have grown this last year, and the amazing little person you have turned into... You are definitely my favourite son!

Amigurumi love

I need to stop spending so much time on Pinterest. But what's a crafty mum to do when she is feeding an infant in the middle of the night? Browse Pinterest for inspiration of course. I confess there is a tiny part of me (a VERY tiny part!) that gets excited about getting up at 3am so I can look at Pinterest. The problem is there are too many great craft ideas and my project list is not getting any shorter these days...

Anyway, yesterday my husband was talking about a crochet elephant which was his favourite childhood toy.  So imagine my surprise when later that night I was Pinterest-ing - and I came across one! So I clicked on the board - and discovered... the world of amigurumi.

Just look at these.

And these.

How cute are they? I am hooked! I have always had a soft spot for Japanese animal characters - just love their distinctive features.  And I have been crafting for years, how did I not come across amigurumi before?!

So I looked into it a little bit. Amigurumi is the Japanese art of crocheting small stuffed animals and dolls. The word is derived from a combination of the Japanese words ami, meaning crocheted or knitted, and nuigurumi, meaning stuffed doll. There are literally hundreds of free patterns for amigurumi animals and dolls on the web, and loads of supercool ones also for sale. I simply have to brush up on my crochet skills to have a go at making these little cuties. I used to crochet as a child,  mainly doilies and doll blankets in garish colours. But I am hoping it's like riding a bike and it will come back to me!

So I leave you with some more amigurumi wonderfulness (Elvis is my favourite). Links to all the amigurumi on this page are on my Pinterest board here.

Have a great day!

A day for romance

And just in time for Valentine's Day,  my tags for the tag-a-long are complete - ta-da!

The drawing came from a vintage Whitman colouring book, published in 1949. I adapted it though, the original drawing had the little girl and boy holding hands (how evil of me to separate them).

In keeping with the romantic theme of the day, I completed these tags whilst catching up on the first two episodes of a BBC period drama called The Paradise - which just started showing on Australian TV. I am hooked, but then again I am a hopeless period drama addict. It's about Britain's first department store in the Victorian era - full of beautiful dresses, frilly stuff and luxury goods to appeal to the ladies. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it. Nobody does period drama quite as well as BBC does.



In other news I submitted my gingerbread house tutorial to craftgossip.com and it got published! And the next day a tutorial I guest-wrote for another blog also got published (links to both are on my Facebook page if you are curious). To say I am chuffed is an understatement. And the best part (other than the massive jump in traffic and loads of lovely people discovering my blog ofcourse) some of you have left me comments! Actual comments, in the posts. Thank you! Now I feel a bit less like I am just talking to myself here. :)

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Month of love

February is a month of love for me. It's Valentine's Day soon and my little guy's birthday soon after that... The funny thing is, I feel like a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to Valentine's Day. My husband and I don't really celebrate it. We do make a bit of effort with silly little love tokens - but no sweeping grand gestures in the form of giant bouquets or candle-lit fine-dining or huge boxes of chocolate truffles (I know, I am SO missing out).  However, my crafty alter-ego goes all gooey inside and adores all things pink and sparkly and lovey-dovey at this time of year! So I simply had to make something to satisfy her - so here it is, a little linen heart.

I was going to write a tutorial on how to make this heart but it is really simple, so I will just tell you quickly now. Cut two heart shapes out of linen. Print out the word "LOVE" in big bold letters, then cut each letter out of different fabrics (or for a more authentic hand-made look just free-hand cut the letters). Applique the letters onto the front piece of linen (I hand appliqued these with a blanket stitch but you can use a sewing machine), and embellish with a running stitch around the letters. Put the back and front of the heart together (right sides facing) and sew with a 1/4 inch seam allowance, trapping the hanging twine/ribbon at the top and leaving a 1 inch gap on one side. Cut off excess seam allowance with pinking shears, turn inside out,  stuff with filler, and blind stitch the opening closed. Easy peasy.

So Miss Gooey inside me satisfied, I thought that was enough Valentine's Day crafting for this year - until I found out that Amy from Nana Company and Kristyne from Pretty by Hand were running a Valentine's Day tag-a-long. They did this last Christmas and I found out about it too late to join in, so I couldn't not do it now! Here's a sneak peek of the fabric tags I am making for it - so cute.



Until next time then - when I shall be back with my finished valentine tags... In the meantime, I leave you with my pick of Valentine's Day inspiration from Pinterest. Have a great day!

1. Heart bunting pillow 2.  Valentine's Day pom pom flowers 3. Fabric tag 'Love' 4. Hugs & Kisses valentine banner 5. Felt valentine lollies 6. Hanging heart with buttons 7. Rice Krispie valentine lollipops 8. Floral design 9. Patchwork heart 10. Crochet heart garland 11. Valentine macarons 12. Valentine's wreath 13. Valentine's Day cupcakes

Feeding the chicks

Life has been hectic as usual. In between looking after two kids and making bibs for customer orders, I somehow managed to find some time to complete the "Feeding the Chicks" embrodiery. I decided to put her in a frame for now, until I can figure out a permanent home for her (at the centre of a pillow perhaps?). The pattern is by Tasha Noel and available in her Etsy shop. I really enjoyed stitching this little picture. In fact I think I am addicted to Tasha's patterns as well as her fabrics, I may have to do a few more. ;)

She has been done mainly in back stitch. But I have used satin stitch for her shoes and the flower on her bodice, lazy daisies for the bows in her hair and the little chicks' collars, long and short stitch for the poles, and french knots for the seeds. 

I am also very elated to have shipped off my first batch of customer orders - it's all become very real.  I gift wrap each bib individually, as a lot of people are buying them as presents. I am a little bit in love with these cute gift tags I made for them, an idea I picked up from Pinterest (isn't Pinterest amazing?). Great scrap buster idea too.

This week the postman has really spoilt me. He brought not only a big parcel of clothes for Alice, but some Etsy fabric too! This is the best thing about online shopping, the pleasure of opening parcels :) The outfits for Alice were from Plum, and I am especially smitten with this little blue floral number (didn't I say I am partial to blue florals for girls?). She is still too small for it, otherwise she would have modelled it herself. Soon, I promise.

And just look at the fabrics in this bundle. I have a few favourite Etsy sellers, but every once in a while I discover a new one and I have to restrain myself from buying their entire stock. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love every single fabric in this bundle. A lot of these will feature in my second bib collection, coming soon.

Tutorial: Tracing An Embroidery Pattern

I recently posted a picture of an embroidery I had been working on (the centre of the baby quilt with the Mother Teresa quote).  A few people have asked how I traced the embroidery pattern onto the fabric. My technique is dead simple, but very effective. I have tried many methods using different tracing materials and I must have spent a fortune on all kinds of expensive fabric-tracing pens. Finally I found a method that produces consistently great results and all you need is a window, some sticky tape, and a $3 pen!

Those of you who follow my Facebook page will know that I am currently embroidering Tasha Noel's 'Feeding the Chicks' pattern for her, as she needs a stitched example for her Etsy shop. Tasha is one of my favourite bloggers and the designer of the Simple Life fabrics I raved about a while back.  I thought I would use this as an opportunity to share my tracing method with you.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

STEP 1. Print out the embroidery pattern and tape it on to your window.

STEP 2. Cut your fabric and tape it on top of the pattern. (I recommend that you cut the edges of your fabric with pinking scissors to minimise fraying. Especially important if the embroidery is complex and likely to take a long time! I was being lazy here.)

STEP 3. Grab your miracle pen! This is a children's stationery pen called Pilot Frixion and about $3 from the supermarket. I am pretty sure they are available not only in Australia but US and Europe too. It is the best invention ever, and SO much better than any other purpose-made fabric-marking pen out there (water soluble, air dissolving, chalk, I have tried them all). It's not only dirt cheap but also marks exactly like ballpoint (crisp and clear), but apply a bit of heat and it magically disappears, never to come back! Hence the name 'Frixion' - you can rub it on paper with the eraser on the back, which generates heat and removes the marks. So after finishing the embroidery you can iron / steam it, or even better, give it a quick blast with the hair-drier, and voila, all the pen marks are gone!

STEP 4. Trace the pattern onto your fabric, holding the fabric nice and taut with your other hand.

STEP 5. Remove the fabric, stretch it on an embroidery hoop and stitch away. And don't forget to peel off the sticky tape from your window! :)

I just had to do it...

Set up a Facebook page that is. Another opportunity to link with my followers via social media. And it will be the perfect medium to give quick updates on what I am working on when I haven't got time or enough material for a blog post..

I have been told I should also get a Twitter and Instagram account for Down Grapevine Lane. I think I can safely say that's not going to happen (ha! famous last words!). OK, Instagram maybe, I will look into it. I still don't get it, but some trusted friends are telling me it's the bee's knees and perfect for craft blogging... But Twitter a definite no at this stage. If I spent all this time managing and updating social media (and the blog!) I would have absolutely no time to do any sewing! Crafts time is already super precious with two kids under two...

Anyway do come and visit my Facebook page if you would like to keep abreast of what is happening in the Down Grapevine Lane world... You can get to it via the top right button in the menu above.