Christmas Sewing: Molly's Present

I've been super busy today trying (and failing) at Christmas shopping. I spent hours at the shopping centre looking at toys and books for my niece, DVD's for my dad and my sister and brother and random crap for my boyfriend who has everything and wants nothing, but who I'm still required to buy a gift for. In the end I walked out with nothing, headed to the nearest fabric store and decided to make some presents for people because crap these days is too expensive and things like present shopping give me major anxiety!

After wasting heaps more time looking at all the pretty colours and patterns at Spotlight I came out with a few pretty good things :)

Unfortunately, the fabric for Molly's present which I meticulously planned in my head before going into the store was quite expensive, but I didn't like any of the other fabrics for what I was making and by this stage I was getting really hungry because I stayed at Jakes house last night and he didn't have any good breakfast foods, so I just payed the ridiculous price and left.

Here is one half of Molly's present. The other half is cut out on my ping pong table ready to be sewn, but I've had enough of doing things for now so it's not getting done til Friday. I love the summer colours of the fabrics - can you see why nothing else would do? Plus, the other half of the present is a reversible dress and these two fabrics look so perfect together! I still have to stitch around the bird and give him an eye but I'm really happy with how these have turned out so far :)

Have you done your Christmas shopping yet? Or are you planning on making gifts for your family and friends like I am?

Lavender Pillow/Bag Tutorial

Okay, so this is something which probably doesn't need a tutorial, but I was making some today and thought I would share one anyway. They're a great stocking stuffer or complimentary gift and are great for beginners to sew. Plus, they make everything smell pretty, and that's always a bonus! :)

You will need:

• Dried lavender 
• Scraps of fabric
• Embellishments (optional)
• sewing machine and basic sewing notions.

Method:

1. Cut your scraps of fabric into small strips or squares of fabric, depending on how big you would like your lavender bags or pillows to be.
2. Embellish your fabric if you wish to do so. I find it easiest to embellish first because then you are working with a flat, single layer piece of fabric, rather than a sewn up bag or pillow. You can either machine stitch or hand stitch your embellishments on - I tend to do a combination of both.
3. Fold your strips in half right sides together and sew up each side to make your bags and hem the top. If you are doing lavender pillows, place two matching squares right sides together and sew around three edges to make your pillow, leaving one edge open for stuffing. I like to use my overlocker to sew projects like this because it is quick and easy, and makes a nice, neat edge which wont fray. If you don't have an overlocker, that's fine though - you might just want to zig-zag stitch next to your straight stitch to stop the edges of your bag or pillow fraying, and you can double fold the hem of your bags.
4. Turn your pillows and bags the right side out. To get the corners to look nice, poke a knitting needle or pencil into them to push them out.Stuff pillows with dried lavender and seal the opening by slip stitching. If you are making bags, simply half fill each bag with dried lavender and tie a ribbon around the top to secure.

Now you're done! Wasn't that easy? 

If you're wondering where you can get dried lavender, it can be bought from some health food stores and craft stores or you can dry out the dying lavender buds off a bush in your garden! I used a mixture of store bought and home grown lavender today, both of which were given to me by my Nan. Dried lavender from the store looks much more consistent and is more grainy than lavender grown at home. That is why I mixed mine together - I didn't want some pillows to be grainy and others to be nice and fluffy! I think my bags and pillows turned out great!

The woes of blogging with iPhone.

Ever since my town copped a massive storm a few weeks ago, our home office has been torn apart, waiting for the arrival of new carpet. This means no computer. This means, all my blog posts are being done on my iPhone or in quick two minute snatches while I'm at my boyfriends house. This means that they're definitely not up to their usual standard and for that, I deeply apologise!

Not having a computer is practically killing me! I hate doing things on the small screen of my iPhone and I hate not being able to properly edit blog posts and photos! I can't put in links, I can't arrange where I want the photos to go, I can't even put tags on my posts because my iPhone won't publish them if I do and it's driving me mental!

Please grin and bear with me until I get my computer back! It shouldn't be much more than a week now until our office has carpet and normal life (and blogging) is restored. In the meantime, in sorry you have to put up with these not-quite complete blog posts and I'll have to think of some killer post ideas to make up for it when my computer is back up and running!

Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix

For all you northern hemispherians out there who are coming into the colder months - here is my hot chocolate mix recipe. The hot chocolate that you make with this turns out deliciously chocolatey and aromatic, and topped with marshmallows it's a real treat!
Even though it's summer here in Australia, I have still been enjoying this hot chocolate mix, and I sent some to Sheryl in the Gift Exchange. I'm yet to see if it works for iced chocolate but I'm sure it won't be long til I try!


Ingredients:

¾ cup caster sugar
½ cup cocoa
½ cup milk chocolate chips
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Method:
Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Put in jar until ready to serve.

To serve:
Warm milk on the stove or in the microwave. Add 2-3 tablespoons of hot chocolate mix to each mug and stir. Top with marshmallows.

Handmade Gift Exchange: My Gift To Sheryl

So, Sheryl sent me a photo of what I sent her in the gift exchange (since I forgot to take them myself before I sent the present) and here it is:




Sheryl had told me she likes pastel colours and shabby chic decor but I was so stuck on what exactly to make her. I wanted it to be nice but to be completely honest I wasn't very confident in my sewing skills!

Eventually I decided it would be nice to make a ruffle cushion cover with alternating fabric and lace ruffles. I wanted to make it pastel green and white or a fabric which had roses on it but I couldn't find anything under $20 a metre that I liked of this description so I finally settled on pastel blue instead and I actually absolutely love the way it turned out!

I ended up having to make a stuffed cushion rather than a cushion cover due to a hole in the edge of the blue fabric I bought which I had to cut around making what was left of it too narrow for a cushion insert by just two centimetres. It still turned out nice and postage wasn't much more expensive in the long run for the complete cushion than it would have been for the cushion cover, so I had nothing to complain about other than the fact Sheryl wouldn't be able to take the cover off to wash it.

I made the little lavender pouch to go with the cushion out of leftover fabric and some dried lavender my nan gave me. I love the smell of lavender and these pouches are great in your car or in a drawer to get rid of bad smells. I also made Sheryl some hot chocolate mix which I will post the recipe for later. I added mini marshmallows to the top of the jar and put a Christmas label around the jar for decoration. I've been really enjoying the leftover hot chocolate mix and mini marshmallows! Soo delicious!

I'm a goof!

I'm such a goof! In all the fervor of trying to get my gift exchange present finished on time and sent away, I completely forgot to take photos! Hopefully Sheryl will take some for me and then I will be able to post about the gift I sent, and write up a little recipe ;)

Handmade Gift Exchange: My Present From Sheryl!

Last week my present from Sheryl, my Handmade Gift Exchange partner, came in the mail. Here it is, and I must say I could not be more delighted with it!

Somehow, Sheryl cottoned on to my innate love of baking and tea because look at the gorgeous embroidery she has done on the pockets and front of my apron!

She also added little choccies to the hand towel she made me (how cute!)

I saw her post about the hand towel on her blog and I told her I loved it, I never would have dreamed she was giving it to me.

Thank you so much Sheryl for the beautiful gift you have given me. It has been such a pleasure getting to know you and I appreciate all the work you have put into this present so much! I hope you like your present, which I know has just arrived. I wish I had a picture of me wearing the apron but I haven't had anyone around me to take one yet, and I'm sorry about the lateness of this post, but I am still without a computer after the storm wrecked the carpet in our office (our computer is all pulled apart and all over the house at the moment) so I have had to wait until I got to my boyfriend's place to use his.