A whole lotta sewing!

Hello Friends
Life has been quite busy lately, in a productive sort of way.
It started off with sewing my caravan curtains. (of which all 12 drops are done!Will do a post on that with a before and after when I put them up)A vintage quilt (still need to do the padding and backing).
From there things progressed to doing some clothing alterations. After first sorting through my cupboard (as I do every season-packing away the winter clothes and digging out all the summer things again.)I came across a skirt I never wear anymore and had a brilliant idea to turn it into a dress for my daughter.

 

I couldn't believe how easy it was. Since the skirt was shirred already and fitted her perfectly around her chest, all I had to do was cut some of the bottom off, make straps, sew the straps on, make a new hem and TA-DA!! Brand new dress for her! She loves it!

I then found another skirt I sort of liked but didn't wear too often cos of the nun-length. The sort of odd length that ends below mid-calf.(hence "nun" length) I am not against long skirts, in fact I like them. But I think nun length is very unflattering (on me that is).
So I cut quite a bit off as I wanted it to be knee-length and then with the excess I cut off, I made ruffles and sewed one along the back of the skirt, coming up around the front. I then took the other ruffle and made it into a sort of ruffled flower and sewed a button in the middle. I love how it turned out! It is 100x better than the original ever was!


 

From skirt alterations to actual sewing clothes from scratch!
Now, let me start by saying, I cannot make clothes!! I can make blinds, curtains, cushion covers, quilts, etc but I don't know how to sew from a pattern. I really wanted to make myself and my daughter a pair of cotton PJ pants. I wanted something pretty and floral for myself and just couldn't find anything in the shops that fitted my "style". I'm not fond of tight fitting PJ pants, I like them elasticated, easy to wear and breathable! I also wanted something light for Spring. Fleece is just a bit too warm now that the weather is getting warmer. 

I began searching on line and came across a tutorial from Ducky house.(click on "Don't get out of bed pants") Perfect! I went and bought half a meter of gorgeous material which was only R32 ($3.80 or £2.30 (150cm wide)Which is a bargain considering a pair of PJ pants could cost me anything between R100-R160 ($12-$19 or £7-£11). I even made a pattern first like she suggests in the tutorial! So proud of myself! my very first pattern!

 

 The pants were so easy! I couldn't believe I actually did it!




 

This morning, I whipped up a little pair for my daughter, it literally took me an hour from making the pattern for hers to finishing them! If, like me, you haven't sewn pants before, give this tutorial a shot, it is really easy and there is nothing to be afraid of! hee hee.

I also made a top, and did a tutorial on it! I will post that in a bit! xxx

Mary Jane

I've started on my vintage quilt for my caravan (aka "MaryJane") Mary Jane needs much TLC and I went and bought the fabric finally to make new curtains for her. I am so excited! The curtains at the moment are a navy blue and off-white stripe and attached to the caravan itself! So silly! Who doesn't take their curtains off to wash?!



So I am dismantling the pelmets and battens, removing the dreaded curtains and putting my own sweet little creations in that I can merrily take off and wash when ever it suits my fancy!

I'm also in the process of hunting down some vintage wall paper to beautify the inside of the door. Other plans are to install a black and white checkered floor, rip out one of the cupboards (bottom and top) for more floor space and cover our shelving we made last year with some oil cloth. So lot's to do and all to be done by December as we go away for 10 days sometime then and I want a spiffy new caravan interior!

See my caravan pinterest board if you like-I've been collecting images of caravan interiors for inspiration.

I will definitely take before and after photo's of her, as she gets her make over and be sure to post pictures of my makes and renovations!

I went to a baby shower on the weekend. I made this sweet and easy bibs for the baby.



Here is the 4th download in the free paper series from Joie de Vie.

The actual kit has 8 papers (and much prettier than the freebies!! )You can get it here.
PS. The papers names/numbering are a little mixed up (if you haven't already noticed!), don't worry about it, once you have all 6 free papers, you can rename them. Sorry about that! I assure you though, you get the paper shown in the preview each time. It is just the numbering of them I got a little confused with!

Here is a little page I Did with it

This paper is in the kit and is one of my favorites! I think cos it has a bird in it and roses and a antique map of France, all my favorite things! The Journal card is available in my shop too. Great to use in your scrap booking lay outs! (only for personal use). They make great printable's too!

And for a little incentive, you can use this 5% off coupon code to get the kit!
enter code: JOIEDEVIE5 at checkout.

Weekend Picnicking

It's almost time for regular picnic's again! I cannot wait, it's my favorite time of year. The weather is warming up and allowing us to venture outside with picnic blanket and basket in tow.

Friday we went to our local nature reserve. A favorite of ours, for it's tranquility, beauty, and relaxation. A time for the kid's to run wild and free in a relatively safe environment. A blanket under the shade of the newly sprouting oak trees, cucumber sandwiches and strawberries and of course a bit of crochet! (what picnic would be complete without it?!)

I am loving the teeny, tiny little flowers of all colors: purple, orange, peach, yellow, white and blue peeking out of the grass. I think I took a gizzillion photo's again as teeny, tiny flowers are one of my favorite to photograph! I love lying on the grass and seeing how close I can get or what perspective my camera will capture at such an angle.

Oh and I had a haircut. Layers...a bit short (although still long) but I like the free feeling of it, floaty. Makes a change.

Here is the next installment of Joie de Vie-freebie number 3.
Download here.

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to come back for freebie 4-6 this week! .

Rosette Shirt tutorial

Hello!
It's Friday again!
The weeks fly by!

I thought I would share with you a little tutorial.

I love to alter bought shirts, give them the "Bonnie" touch. Make it feel my own.
It's nice to know nobody has the same shirt as you!

Here is what you need for this quick and easy tutorial:

a plain shirt in the color of your choice. (go for the really cheap ones, I picked this one up for R30 or $4.32)

scissors
needle and thread
sewing machine (not necessary, but ideal)
contrasting fabric
little bead pearls (not necessary but a nice touch).


1. The first thing you are going to do is cut strips of your fabric about 2"(5cm) wide and about 30cm in length (11.8"). Cut as many as you are making the rosettes.

2. next fold the fabric in half and then tie a small knot as close to the end as possible.

3. Thread your needle and tie a knot at the end. Sew through the knotted fabric part from the outside in and again from the inside out. You want to almost each time you do this, go in and out right next to the same hole, so that you are not seeing any thread each time.

Now you are going to start twisting the fabric and as you twist you are going to wrap it around the knotted part and sew a stitch to hold it in place. One twist, one stitch and keep going round and round in this manner.




You can see it starting to take shape.

Once it is finished, end off with a knot and cut the thread.
Now arrange all the rosettes on your shirt and see how you want it to look and simply sew on. I just sew in a circle or a square shape with the same color thread.
And here is the finished result!



And here is one I did in turquoise.


I like this one, remind me of sugar coated cookies!




And I finished this one in a trim made from the same fabric I used for the rosettes.

Well I hope you enjoyed that and have a fabulous weekend!

The last of the cushions

So I finished up the last of the cushions for my lounge...






And that completes my sewing for the lounge for now!

Next project: Dining Room wall
I have 6 of 25x25cm wooden blocks screaming at me to "embellish" them somehow.


A friend of mine made them for me and I don't want to take them down, I like the idea but after close to 5 years now, I need a change...
The following ideas have popped into my head...


-a scrap page on each
-a photo on each
-cover with pretty contrast fabrics.

Then I go blank...


Can you offer any suggestions?

Who says cooking can't be done in style?

Once I get into the swing of things I normally exhaust myself on the same "subject" before getting bored and moving on...
Take for instance my latest love for sewing...Done the cushions, and have now moved onto some aprons that are going into my ETSY store. (cos I am too lazy to put them in my shop!).

I love making Aprons. You can see some I have made here.

I use a collection of fabrics normally rose-inspired, very feminine, pretty, spring-feel to them.

This one I crocheted a little flower on it. It has a pocket to store your recipes and wooden spoon! (hee hee) and two little birds I hand cut and sewed on.


see, the pocket is deep enough for a A5 little book.


And it has a crocheted edging on it too.
I like my aprons to be unique and won't make two the same.

Then there is this one...Made from a Stuart Graham fabric (love his fabrics!!!) The same fabric behind the dress.
Also a hand cut bird sewn onto a pocket.
Tied with a satin sash.


Again, the pocket is deep enough to hold a recipe book (A4) and a spoon!! (or a whisk, whatever you fancy!) The top has some pretty vintage inspired lace.

The entries for my giveaway are flooding in. You can Enter *HERE*
You can find these Aprons in my ETSY store. (only two!)