Cushion Covers!

I received my "In Stitches" this week! It is eye candy indeed but Amy Butler's instructions were as I anticipated really detailed. I decided to not start with any of these new patterns and complete what I had intended to start MONTHS ago.

I bought this fabric last year from Ikea intending to make 3 matching cushion covers for the lounge room. I am a disgrace, it has taken about 4 months to get 3 zips that are the correct length for them. Not having anymore excuses ... I decided to bite the bullet. Actually I did indeed have one last excuse - I have no zipper foot for my machine. I spotted a low shank zipper foot on Ebay but I have not bought it yet! I decided to plough ahead. It has been about 14 years since I sewed a zip to anything! And I had forgotten how to do it properly, therefore the first one was a bit of a disaster. But Mick said it looks awesome... he properly ignored the big obvious bad stitching for the zip.



The before cushion covers are 3 ugly pastel covers. One is aqua, one purple and one yellow. Blahhhhhh looking and very old as you can tell from the ugly yellow one above. So I measured them and added 3cm for the seam allowance and prayed that I can figure this out without having to unpick anything. I get frustrated and hate unpicking anything, much to my grandma's disappointment - she's a perfectionist.



I cut out 3 cushions at the same time. It is kind of hard doing it sitting on the floor when I am this huge. Mick had to come rescue me by picking me up off the floor :)
These cushion covers are SO EASY to make. Of course the hardest part is pinning the zip and sewing the zip down without a zipper foot. But it took 30 mins once I figured it out, that includes pressing the seam up, sewing the zip and flipping it inside out. I am loving the new bold colour. And they finally match!!

Also on the baby booties front, I have located fusible web from Lincraft in Greensborough. Next week will be pouch baby sling weekend plus a pair of matching cotton booties perhaps!

Little Bear Booties

I wondered if I was over ambitious in attempting to sew these little baby booties after a LONGGG hiatus from the dusty sewing machine. But I could not resist ordering the patterns off PreciousPatterns - preciouspatterns.etsy.com
They looked so so cute and absolutely adorable compared to the plain mary janes. So at the first attempt, I decided to make the baby bear ones instead of the plain mary jane ribbon pattern that I bought as well.


I made the mistake of assuming that fusible web was the same as fusible interfacing. Instead of sticking the lining to the cotton drill material I used for the outside, I had to rely on top stitching them together. I think I will use both felt for the lining and topside in future as it is softer to handle. So this is what it looked like after the top stitching stage. I thought my crooked stitching created quite the cheeky bear. Mick was running in and out trying to clean the house and help me with the little bears. At this stage he was cooing about how adorable they already looked.



The bear ears were handstitched onto the head. I did not think my machine could take all the layers. Top stitching the ears were the most difficult part of the exercise. They were too small to turn so I had to stitch one stitch, leave the needle in the material, lift up the presser foot and turn the ear. Mick was really excited at this stage and said it was the cutest little thing he had ever seen. By this time my finger hurt from handstitching and forcing pins into all the layers of materials. I persisted on as he was really enthusiastic!



Correction on the above statement, the hardest bit was sewing the soles to the tops of the shoes. I had to enlist Mick's help in pinning the soles ready for the machine as my fingers were hurting so badly from pinning earlier. Some parts of the sole was not stitched down to the body but I went back and handstitched them together. The above is my final result. My bears are indeed lopsided and cranky pants. If you look at PreciousPattern's shop you will see their sample pieces that are so cute and loveable! But as you can tell my finishing leaves much to be desired! i am sure that Pork Chop will forgive Mummy for shoddy work. I am now looking forward to making some more booties! Perhaps the ones that are larger sized next time. These bear ones were for 0-6 months.

Nesting

Wow I am actually blogging, this will be hard for me. I have lost touch with the magical world of html codes, fancy scripts and really cool graphics. Pork Chop is my little unborn baby that has brought out the babyzilla nester in me. Pork Chops loves weddings but I have skipped the Bridezilla fever. My attitude towards our indeed beautiful wedding was - I do not care Mick just decide something. Pork Chop however, has managed to create a nesting monster mum. This includes a sudden love for homewares, home decorating and a crazy fever of wanting to sew and sew and create little things for him. So far, my failure in creating a baby room for him has been guilting me. Efforts into the baby room includes Mick 130%, Ling -30%. Ok so I painted about 3% of the walls. I think I have overcompensated by wanting to create lots of lovely things for him as keepsakes.

More than 7 months ago, it was wedding planning, pole dancing in 6 inch heels. Still with some resistance to flat shoes, I killed myself one night by wearing 4 inch heels out and about. To say the least, this is a big surprise to myself. And I am enjoying each kick and each day when I look down and I see my belly growing.



Because of this sudden fever, I have just ordered Amy Butler's In Stitches and cannot wait for the arrival. I will post a review as soon as I receive it! Snowy is in her huggie bed and I have yet another tiresome hospital appointment. It was ultrasound yesterday, hospital appointment this morning, run to work and back to the hospital for the classes. Sad face emoticon please.