Tuesday Snapshot- Stitches & Chocolate

So this is my Tuesday. An absolutely massive box of exquisite Laurent Meric's Cacao chocolates and a stunning summer dress for the Tinker made by... yours truly!

Sometimes I need to stop and pinch myself when I think about how lucky I am to have such lovely friends. For the past four days my good friend and sewing guru Theoreticgal has been my house guest. She came to Sydney laden with gifts for the Tinker and all manner of awesome sewing gadgets for me as well as a pattern and some fabric to make the little dress above.

She did a lot of hand holding to get me to make the dress and it turned out brilliantly. I will do another post showing you more detail and telling you how we put it all together. Theoreticgal is quite the house guest. Not only did she have to endure my crazy Griffon Bruxellois dogs as room mates but she had to eat my food.

Last night courtesy of a gorgeous mutual friend with connections to Australia's number 1 restaurant, I made dinner with a kilo of the most amazing ocean trout. I thought I'd whip up a yummy fish pie with Monday being my meat free day as per our new diet. Anyway I made a complete mess of the meal and it ended up being a plate of gruel.

For my most generous and most gourmet friend I served up a plate of gruel. It was a disaster, a funny one in retrospect but a disaster none the less. What went wrong? I have no idea. It tasted fine but the consistency was a nightmare. Lately all of my cooking pursuits have ended in tears. I think it is a sign. So from today forward I am on a cooking strike bar the food I make for my Tinker. Luckily I have my box of amazing award winning chocolates to sustain me for a few days until I hire a full time chef or perhaps invest in a truckload of 2 minute noodles.

Jammies

A quick post showing off my latest bad sewing experience. I know you are all just on the edges of your seats now knowing that another masterpiece from the couture house of Stepford Dreams is about to be revealed...

My friend Cathy who is incredibly talented and clever gifted me with a gorgeous sewing pattern for a pair of baby pyjamas from Oliver and S. I had been on the hunt for a kimono style PJ top pattern for a while and Cathy came to the rescue. She said it was such a great pattern ,really good for the beginner.

Shame I'm no ordinary beginner. I am someone who no matter what I do, just cannot sew. Yet here I am like the nerd that keeps asking you out on a date still making these "special" little sewing creations.

It took hours of yelling at the machine, ripping bits of paper, throwing scissors on the floor and generally acting like an ignorant bull in a china shop for me to complete the PJs for Tinker. Not to forget the countless emails and text messages sent to my Cathy and Theoretic Gal.

They are as wonky as all get out but the little bunny still wears them. God love her. Someone somewhere is looking down at my poor unfortunate child hoping that I lose a finger or have some other accident so I will never be able to make her any more clothes especially when she hits an age where it is so uncool to wear daggy mummymade stuff. Poor kid.

First the red hair now my sewing. Does she stand a chance in the playground?

Anyway here are some pics as promised and as you can see all T wanted to do was undo the snaps.

My Very First GIVEAWAY

After a rather feisty discussion about "leashes" I am pleased to announce something fun-Stepford Dreams' very first prize giveaway. I know I announced it ages ago but we have been getting it all organised.

I spent ages trying to come up with a prize that somehow reflected my funny little blog and I decided it had to have something to do with the domestic science that is housewifery and it had to be something pretty and it had to be something handmade. Don't worry it is nothing I've made. I'm not that cruel. That would be a boobie prize.

I was as pleased as punch a while back when I found Heather one of my lovely readers who has an awesome blog called Bebe & Alice and a fabulous Etsy Store by the same name. I love how every single thing she sells is a beautiful handmade treasure reflecting Heather's love of re-using and recycling gorgeous things. Heather says:

Each item that I create is unique. Since each item is primarily made from recycled, vintage and repurposed materials I am restricted in making repeats. The beauty in that restriction is that I am always creating unique items for unique people! I am energized and inspired by other artists that enjoy piecing together the past, present and future to create their art! My favorite type of design is Rework, which uses unwanted clothing and turns it into a stylish fashion piece of entirely different nature.



My gorgeous giveaway is this pretty Bluebells Half Apron below:

About it Heather says... Something about this apron makes me feel like I finally arrived at the dream farm I've imagined since i was 11 years old. The color is dreamy, the fabric is soft like the down of the resident goose and the design came straight from my great grandmother's hope chest.

It seemed the perfect choice for my first giveaway and I really hope you love it as much as I do. There is something lovely and wholesome about pottering about in an apron while you debate whether watching 2 episodes of Teletubbies in a row will ruin your child's IQ or whether you can pretend not to see the dog wee on the floor while you finish your last sneaky piece of store bought brownie that you pretended you made. This apron is perfect for the Stepford Dreamer in all of us.

To win all you need to do is check out Heather's store and leave me a comment below telling me which item you like best and why. I will put your names into Tinker's hat and she will pick the winner. If you choose to come over here and bribe her with a biscuit then so be it. I will be like an Balinese gaol guard and turn a blind eye.

Winner to be announced on Friday. x

Crafty Corner

Just a quick note to let you all know you can sleep easy tonight. I finally made something kinda cute for my Tinker.

Until now every sewing project of mine has been a mish mash of naive ambition and the sewing skills of a gnat.

Well, thanks to my lovely friend Wynona who gifted me with a pattern kit from the very wonderful Little Fish Big Pond and the generous sewing books and supplies from Theoretic Gal, I managed to make something she can actually be seen in at Playgroup tomorrow. Complete with a skivvy and matching tights- because it is rather chilly here right now.

Step back people, an amazing piece of fashion history is being rolled out of the showroom. Here it is, my masterpiece dress for my little ruby haired girl:












I hope everyone had a great weekend and a not too painful Monday. Anyone get up to anything exciting? Probably the most thrilling thing that happened for me was hearing my very clever 16 month old count to ten, and ask me "papa like work?"... so perceptive my child.

Miss Polly Had a Dolly Who Was Sick Sick Sick

My Tinker's favourite little song and unfortunately my poor Tinker is the sick dolly today. She hasn't been herself for about a week now but no temperature or anything just not quite right. She turned into a newborn last night and was up every few hours. Poor little thing and this morning she coated me in a thick blanket of vomit. Me and the couch that I recently had steam cleaned...


I was chatting to an old friend this morning. We haven't seen each other for at least 10 years and she now lives a gorgeous life in the Caribbean. She is out here visiting family and we are going to catch up. I can't wait. While I was talking to her on the phone this morning the poor Tinker climbed up onto my lap and calmly deposited about a litre of spew all over me, wiped her mouth on my shirt and climbed down to finish playing with the shape sorter. I had been folding the towels while I was talking so I used a face towel to wipe down the couch and managed to juggle the child, the phone and the cloth to catch the second deposit in a Tupperware container the Tinker uses to carry her shapes.


I said to my friend- oh she has just vomited all over me. She said "Oh my gosh do you have to go? Are you ok? I can't believe you are so calm!". Tinker was happily playing with the shapes, I removed my pants, started spraying the Preen and continued my conversation. I guess it is funny when you think about how nonchalant you become when you have a child. Spew shmew, doesn't gross me out anymore. 10 things at once? No worries. It becomes second nature doesn't it? Not much panics me now. Except of course finding the right preschool but that is a post for another day.

We don't have a great deal on today. I am visiting my friend at the chemo ward and I'm hoping to finish cutting the fabric for a gorgeous baby PJ pattern my friend Cathy bought for me.

Speaking of sewing, I have finally made the two little cushions for Tinkers red chair. I decided against buttons and zippers and went for a pillow case closure because it was the easiest option for talentless me. It turned out ok. Not great but ok. Here is my first born child modelling with the cushions on the nursery chair.




I am 95% finished sewing a little dress for the Tinker but at midnight I discovered one of the two ribbons was missing so I now need to buy a new pair before I can complete that as well. Bugger. I will bore you with photos of that once it is done.

Now... onto a more serious topic. How to get the eau de spew off my couch? I'm opening this up for suggestions now. There must be an easy way. So far all I have done is clean it with Preen for Carpets and the stains are gone but the smell, oh the smell. Help!

Feeling crafty?

*image from clothkits.co.uk*

Thanks to a comment by one of my new readers "mom seeks life " and the lovely Wynona from Ivy Designs who found the link, I thought I'd do a quick post about Clothkits.

This cute little pair of overalls (aka dungarees for the Brits) could be yours, all you need to do is buy the kit and follow the instructions!

What a fab little gift for someone who likes making their own things but doesn't have the creative talent equal to the likes of Wynona. The kit comes ready for you to get sewing, or as the site says you can buy them ready made (but that would be cheating now wouldn't it?)

I love crafting kits! I'm hopeless at cutting and I need to be spoonfed when it comes to sewing or I go off on very very ugly tangents. I really enjoy making things for my little girl, because she is so young I can get away with dressing her in my creations before she realises her Mama is a dork and the clothes I make are wonky!

Anyway thanks again Wyn and Mom Seeks Life for mentioning Clothkits.

Find them here:

http://www.clothkits.co.uk/traffic-dungarees-p-91.html

Edited to add an Aussie link thanks to Miss Rosie:

http://www.larkmade.com.au/products/clothkitstrafficoveralls.html

I think I may develop an addiction to Larkmade. What a great online store, thanks again for the heads up, 5 mins into it and I have already broken my online shopping ban. I bought two kits, nobody tell my husband!

Have a great Sunday. xx

Back to School

I have found a one day sewing class for complete beginners. It goes from 10-2pm on a Saturday and I have enrolled myself.

I am awfully excited about it and as usual my expectations are unreasonably high. I really hope I can leave the course with Project Runway worthy sewing skills... ok so I'll settle with just knowing how to do a zipper.

The class isn't on for a month so until then I am going to ignore my sewing machine lest I ruin anymore beautiful pieces of fabric with my hideous clumsy sewing.

Just imagine, I may get so good that I want to do this to my arm:

http://bitsandpieces.us/

No, actually that will never happen. I don't like tattoos.

Inspiration

I am very lucky to have such clever crafting friends because looking at their handiwork always inspires me to try a little harder. Granted, my stuff still turns out wonky but the thought is there.

This week I am feeling particularly inspired. My gorgeous friend Kylie is known for her amazing cards and beautiful baby things and her eye for All Things Lovely she surprised me with a most generous and inspirational gift. This book here:





I plan to read it next week while I am on holiday here:






We are off to Bangkok and Chaing Mai, our first proper holiday since our homeymoon and our daughter's first trip abroad. Look out everyone else on our plane, this kid is LOUD!

When I get home, I will be ready to get back to my wonky sewing adventures and hopefully now they won't be as wonky because my incredibly talented crafting friend Theoreticgal has gifted me with THE most amazing sewing kit:



Just drooling over her amazing creations is inspiration enough, in fact it was she who really enncouraged me to give sewing a try in the first place so this incredibly thoughtful and generous gift left me absolutely speechless. Inside the beautiful vintage style Singer sewing box is a bunch of essential items as you can see she even sent along a quarter inch foot and some beautiful quilting squares. The very beautiful and much sought after Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones will certainly become dog eared after I make my way through each and every pattern.

I really am very lucky to have so many inspirational friends, I just wish my sewing did them justice!

Stitches

So there are plenty of things one can master without bothering to enrol in formal lessons. Cooking, I think, is one. Sewing, is not.

Well not for me anyway. I am an absolute dunce and even when I think I have made something half decent it only takes me a minute to either see an awful fault in my latest offering or I happen to stumble upon something one of my friends has made. Seeing the work of my fellow housewives who sew really reminds me that sewing is just not one of those things you can fudge.

It was December 2007 and I was extremely pregnant, extremely hormonal and as high on idealism as I've ever been. My husband asked me what I might like for Christmas. -A sewing machine, I answered. For what? He asked. -For sewing, darling. But you can't sew. -I know. So will you use it? He asked. -Oh yes, of course. The only reason I can't sew is that I don't have a sewing machine. Oh ok, I'll get you one then.

So he did. Days later, our tiny girl had arrived. It was about 40 degrees in the shade, we'd just moved into our new house. We had no airconditioning and about 65 million boxes to unpack. I figured once the house was sorted I'd be able to switch on the machine and whip up some dresses for my daughter, new curtains for the windows and maybe a dress or a skirt for myself.

Seriously.

Months later I unpacked the machine. My mind boggled. So I went straight for the manual. Not much better. Must be the sleep deprivation. Surely it is the baby's fault. I'll try again tomorrow. Nope, still no luck. So I called up a sewing machine shop and paid $40 for a grumpy old lady to show me how to thread the machine, how to switch it on and how to change the needle. If I wanted to actually learn to sew I'd have to enrol in a course and she didn't run courses anymore so that was that. I went home and whipped up a blanket. When I say "whipped" I do not mean for you to imagine any sort of efficient, successful outcome. No, it was pretty shonky.

Since then I have tried to make a dress for my daughter, a number of very wonky soft toys for friends' babies and I have even attempted to mend a shirt of my husband's. Every single thing has turned out badly. I've seen a few online tutorials, I've even unpicked my own clothing to get an idea how things are out together. I just can't do it!

Fine motor skills do not come easily to me. I think I am clumsy, also I am impatient. Either way, I need some serious sewing help. I keep trying to psyche myself up. I remind myself of the many years I spent at university, of my so-called intellect, of the millions of uneducated simple women folk who have been able to sew since the dinosaurs... still, I cannot master this skill. It is time to find a course.

Today I made a doll for my best friend. She isn't very well and needs some cheering up. So instead of flowers or chocolates I have my idealistic hat on for the day. I am a housewife dammit. I should be able to cheer friends up with freshly baked cookies and home made dolls. I have created a home made chemo companion. Her name is Polly and she is very very wonky. She is made of pretty materials so that is one good thing. She also has one of those "cancer bands" like Lance Armstrong. That's got to work in her favour. Other than that, she is another piece of evidence to support my argument- I need to do a course. "Husband, darling... the only reason I can't sew is that I haven't done a course."