Sewing (& Waiting) for Baby

Rainy Monday Greetings dear friends & readers

Last weekend I came across my scribbled list of all the things I wanted to make for my soon-to-be-born grandson, 
& flew into a bit of a panic

Verrry little time ...... still lots to make !!!!

When my friend Sally gifted me the gorgeous Peter Rabbit fabric above, I immediately knew I wanted to make a Baby Bag & then fill it with some handmade goodies

A quick google search for diaper bag patterns & I came across this one here that I really liked .... a decent size & not too fussy.

The bag came together quite easily - I tried to use what I had on hand & not have to purchase anything.

The green polka dot was a perfect complimentary lining fabric & I had lots of help from a certain quality control officer to ensure my measurements were all accurate !!!

The bag is fully lined & you can add as many inner pockets as you like

I purchased a few baby care products from my supermarket to tuck into the pockets.

The one change I made was, instead of using fusible interfacing for the bag I used some thin wadding I had - I find the fusible interfacing too rigid & prefer the wadding which is more pliable.

Of course - a label to complete the bag.

Recently while on an outing to Rotorua I popped into Spotlight & purchased some flannelette on sale
While chatting to the lady as she cut my fabrics for me, I asked her for some white towelling please to make bibs.
She leaned ever-so-slightly across the counter & whispered to me "go over there to those bins, buy a white bathtowel for $5 - its much cheaper & thicker than the towelling & you will get 6 big bibs out of one towel"

I was so very grateful & after a wash, it certainly did come up thick & fluffy
Another quick google search for free bib patterns & I used this simple one here

Bibs still waiting to be ironed

Whilst filling the bag with gifts - including the blanket & wheatie I made Here, I decided I wanted to make a little plastic zipped pouch for putting any wet clothes/nappy's etc into

I used the pouch gifted to me by my friend Claire in this post, as a guide

The pouch is fully lined with the plastic - the tiny Peter Rabbit print just seemed the perfect match for the bag & the cute animal bias binding came from my local woolshop

front of pouch                                                                                                          back of pouch

Frequently on my trawls through the Op Shops I come across half rolls of wallpaper for 50c - this pale blue was one such find.

I used it to sew up a giant gift bag to sit the Diaper Bag in with all the smaller parcels wrapped inside it

Ready & Waiting & now we just need baby boy to come into the world !!!

In my last post I mentioned how I had visited my friend Elaine right in the midst of a de-clutter
This tray below was one of several items that came home with me ....

I gave it a paint with my cottage cream wall paint, then I lightly sprayed the cane part of it as I find this gives better coverage than brushing ever does
My plan had been to find some pretty floral paper serviettes & then mod podge the flowers scattered over the tray
However, I had neither the time, inclination, nor funds to go traipsing around trying to find just the right paper serviettes .  .  .
 .  .  .  so the tray sat abandoned for a week

Yesterday whilst rustling through a drawer, I came across a lovely piece of scrapbooking paper - pretty vintage squares which I cut out & decided to display as a bunting across the tray
I mod-podged them on along with a small flat vintage lace to "string them together"

I was thrilled with the result & now just have to decide whether the tray is going for sale in the Cottage .  .  .  or going on display in Julie's house!!!!

Thank you so much for your entries into my pincushion giveaway & your lovely comments you left me.
I am not drawing this til the end of the month so you still have time if you would like to enter.
You can leave me a comment on my last post, or on this one here letting me know.
Finally dear readers, although we are full swing into autumn here now, my lovely planted suitcase is still flowering merrily away on my deck - it has done so well this year

Lobellia & Impatiens (busy Lizzies)

Wishing you suitcases overflowing with flowers this week
With much love & friendship,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0

Three Little Upcycles & A GIVEAWAY !!!

Greetings dear friends & readers

Goodness .... those last two weeks flew by in the blink of an eye !!!

I had a fast trip down to my Mums & then helping my son & (very pregnant) daughter in law to shift house - the days just disappeared in a blur

But there have been 3 little upcycles take place here at Threadbear

The 2 wooden items above were from my dear friend Leeanne & I honestly can't remember where the Watering Can came from .... no doubt some Op Shop bargain bin !!!

The wooden pieces got painted 'Cottage Cream' as I had decided they were destined to become pincushions.

The rusty little watering can got sanded & then painted outside as well as inside .  .  .

.  .  .  .  then I decided to mod podge some small crochet motifs onto the side of it

I gave it an ever-so-slight sand to distress it a teeny bit.

My original intention had been to plant it with some baby's tears - but I kept looking at it thinking how lovely it would look filled with soaps ... so I did just that & packaged it up along with a facewasher & a lavender pouch

All cellophaned up & ready for sale in my Cottage.  (now Sold)

The wooden pot with the scalloped edge got filled with wadding & a top made from some Tilda fabric 

I then mod podged some vintage flower motifs onto the side of it & lightly embellished with some tape measure braid

I made a new padded top for the wooden stool with Tilda fabric, & added some gauze flower braid & ribbons

A selection of pins completed the two upcycles

Giveaway details :-

Yesterday was my blogging birthday ... yes 5 whole years of blogging !!!! 

5 years of listening to my rambles .  .  .  .  I think you all probably deserve a medal !!!!

So I thought to myself .... would you like to win one of my pincushions perhaps??

Here are the details of my Giveaway :-

- You can choose any pincushion you would like to win.

- I will post anywhere in the world!

- Anyone may enter !

 All you need to do is leave me a comment in the comments section below

If you should have any trouble doing this, then you may email me at stitchedbyjulie@hotmail.com

- Along with the pincushion of your choice, I will make up a small parcel of soaps, Tilda tags, a Tilda Peg fridge magnet & some choccy treats.

- I will draw the winner at the end of March

- There will only be 1 draw for one of the pincushions.

- Just choose which pincushion below you would like - No. 1 or No. 2

Simple enough I am sure.

These early Autumn days have been so lovely weather wise ... it is enjoyable to sit out on the deck & paint my little upcycle projects.

I always have company of the 4 legged variety who supervise my painting endeavours ...but sometimes get a little weary too 

Miss Pippi is so pleased her banana box is back on the table after being tossed in the shed during one of my white tornado's cleanup sessions  

Recently after visiting with Alec, I called to see my friend Elaine on the way home to deliver some worm tea.

My timing was absolutely perfect because ....................

Elaine was right in the midst of a de-clutter !!!!

Amongst a whole boot load of 'treasures' that I came away with, was this box above

I wasn't sure what to do with it for a few days until I decided it might be a good holder for all my knitting needles . . . .

How absolutely perfect !!   Thanks so much Elaine 😉

I look forward to sharing with you friends, what I have done with some of the other treasures from Elaine.

I hope you have a lovely week ahead - be kind to yourselves & to each other

I hope you will be enticed to enter my little Giveaway

With much love & friendship to you all,

Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0

Choosing an old fashioned kind of life .................

Sunday Greetings dear friends & readers & Welcome to March !!

"Oh Julie you are such a Granny with your old fashioned ways & your repairing & recycling of just about everything!! "

These are the words my Stepdaughter has said to me on many, many occasions over the past years . . .  even long before I became an actual Granny!!

Though they were often not necessarily spoken in a kind way - for some reason her words never bothered me

You see my Stepdaughter lives a fast paced city life, in a world that is black white & monochrome, everything is shiny, new & disposable.
 Whereas I live in a far, far slower paced world, filled with muted tonings, chipped cracked timeworn patinas, make do & mend.

She would no longer wish to be a part of my world, anymore than I would want to be a part of hers.

Her words echoed in my ears repeatedly this past week as I spent time knitting cotton dishcloths & making homemade laundry liquid, happy in my world. 

When Mum came to stay at Christmas she presented me with this large jar filled with grated soap ends.  

"You can do something with this" she informed me "you'll have a recipe tucked away somewhere"

I remembered a recipe I had come across in Rhonda's books & sure enough "homemade laundry liquid" appears in both books

I had all the ingredients on hand & spent a pleasant morning making up a 10 litre bucket full

I didn't think mine was going to thicken for some reason so I sat the bucket in the bath overnight .... 

by morning it was a good consistency & ready to pour into bottles

The Mr had a large collection of heavy glass decanters he had inherited somewhere along the way ....

As they were tucked away in a box, I felt they would be perfect filled with some of my liquid laundry detergent - I thought they looked most attractive & will keep the plastic milk bottles filled ready for use as the mixture requires a decent shake before using in your machine.

As I was knitting away this week I realised I had not purchased a commercial dishcloth for about 5 years now.

At the start of each year I give mine a good cull & take the thinner, worn ones to use as cleaning cloths . . .  this gives me a good excuse to knit up a new batch

This little bag came home with me this week .... 50c from the Church Op Shop ... I thought it would be perfect for carting my knitting around & plan to embellish it with some of the doileys gifted by Sue in my last post

After knitting some darker coloured cloths, I am keen to try out these lovely new pastel shades next .  .  .

This vintage wool blanket fell out of the sewing cupboard last week & gave me the inspiration to make a blanket for my new grandson - due later this month

As Nicole plans to use a Moses basket I thought a pram sized blanket would be ideal.  I had seen a cute rabbit applique in an old Cath Kidston book "Patch" I had been browsing some months ago.

I had some soft blue wool felt on hand that just fit the bill perfectly.

It was so enjoyable sitting blanket stitching the wool felt rabbit on, then lightly stuffing in behind to give him a bit of puff .  .  .

.  .  .  after I had finished the rabbit & carrot, Pippi very kindly tested it out for me to ensure the blanket had adequate softness & squashability !!!
Thank You Miss Pippi  (I think)

Though my original intention had been to bind it with some wide satin ribbon - after coming across this gorgeous range of fabrics in my local patchwork shop Darling Little Dickens - I decided to back & bind my blanket with that

I lightly quilted the top blue part of the blanket & added a row of satin hearts.

From another fat 1/4 of the same fabric range I made a Wheatbag to keep babies bed warm when he is not in there

I tossed a small handful of lavender in with the wheat to make it smell extra nice.

For all those lovely readers that commented & emailed me last week regarding the kitchen towel dresses - these next 2 photos are to show you them "in situ"

Hanging on the oven door handle

Opened right out on the floor !!!

As you can see, they are double-sided.  So No, preferably Not for little girls to wear as I fear it could be just a teeny bit draughty !!!!

Have a wonderful week ahead dear friends,

Thank you so much for stopping by today - your visits are so appreciated

with much love & friendship to you all,

Julie & the furry ones x0x0x