baking and making with my family of 9
yes time for another giveaway! I’m so busy looking after little mr chicken pox (who looks like he’s been taken from a page of a medical journal) that there has been no time for sewing or showing you beautiful things I’ve been making…
All done! Thanks ladies for entering…keep an eye out for next week’s giveaway!
Its been a while since I’ve stocked cute canvases but they are just made for little library bags. No lining required, sturdy but easy to sew and best of all…..
done in no time and ready for Keira to take down to the library for story time! But that will just have to be next week as we’re housebound with chicken pox (Finn this time). So there’s nothing else to do but bring the cubby into the loungeroom……
and play house! Hours of fun!
now that its warming up, I can sew at night time in the back room and not freeze to death! So last night I whipped up a few things…..a simple linen skirt, less than half a metre does this little skirt in no time!
a french apartment skirt or the barbie skirt as keira likes to call it as the little ladies look like the barbie logo…this is actually her favourite!
and I turned some pre-shirred fabric from last summer into a quick dress for keira! she loves it and I know its just a poly/cotton fabric that won’t last too long in the wash but its so cute and pre-shirred is a huge time saver for me! Oh her dear little face in this picture…
and then I did some store housekeeping, adding some new patterns from this lovely lady, tweaking prices and today I will list the entire range of far far away to purchase individually! no small feat I tell you!
we are having the warmest weather at the moment so it was the perfect timing to finish off a pile of dreses I’d been working on….
I’ve also found the sunniest spot in the house to photograph finished items for my blog…..an unlikely spot, the twins wardrobe!
awww thankes everyone for your nice comments. I did make the pattern and sized them up myself checking on other little girls that my sizing was correct! and yes I’m hoping to do a new market in december and february along with my fabrics! good guess!
is it the weekend already? Can retro daddy mind my little ones and let me do some sewing
So many ideas with all the lovely new fabrics in store today
oh and magazines…I just want to keep it all to myself!
better wait till the weekend and till then get back to my home duties!
Free new fabric pieces in every order received this week!!!
yes aren’t I lucky to have such ‘helpful’ little ladies around the place!
It will be a while before they are up to cutting and packing but for now they love to get involved in things……
new fabrics will be in the store at 9pm tonight!!!
that would have to be lemon delicious! I had some lemons hanging around and decided to whip up one of my all time favourite desserts! This particular recipe comes from another aussie classic, an Australian Woman’s Weekly cookbook…..but I do have it memorised, so sad I know.
3 eggs separated
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice and 2Tbsp lemon rind (I used 3 average sized lemons today)
1 cup milk
30g butter, melted
1/2 cup SR flour sifted
extra 1/2 cup caster sugar
Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Beat egg yolks and 1/2 cup sugar till thick and creamy then add in butter, milk, lemon juice and rind and the sifted flour. Whisk egg whites until soft peaks form then beat in extra sugar. Fold into lemon mixture in 2 batches. Pour into greased ovendish (I used a 6 cup round dish) or individual ramekins. Place in bain marie ( I use my lasagne dish half filled with boiling water) and bake for about 50 minutes until cooked. Serves 4 but generally serves 2 adults in this house!
Now mine is looking a little golden and its either because I used raw caster sugar or because I was bathing babies and left it in a wee bit too long. Either way it was delicious…..
I decided to substitute white chocolate into my famous brownie recipe, tweaked slightly and I love it! Its deceptively light to eat but not so light on my hips I fear!
200g white cooking chocolate broken up
100g butter cubed
2 eggs
1/2 cup caster sugar
2/3 cup SR flour
Melt chocolate and butter (I do mine in the microwave for 2 or 3 minutes on medium). Add in sugar, eggs then flour mixing gently after each addition. Pour into lined square cake tin and bake in 170 degree oven (slightly less if you’re fan forced) for 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave in pan to cool (if you can wait that long) and slice.
I needed a quick project last night as my knitting was getting too complicated for my tired brain. For this project, you’ll need a ball of cotton, I found some sugar’n’cream in my stash and a US size 6 crochet hook. Use a size smaller hook than the band says to get a nice tight washcloth.
Ch 40 or whatever you like to get the size you want then ch3 to give you height for your 1st row, skip the next ch and then dc along your chain. Turn and ch3, skip next ch and dc along row. Keep going always doing your dc into the back loop of your stitch which gives you a nice ridge in your work. I did sc all around the square to finish it off, weaved in the ends and I was done in 2 hours.
Keira loves it!
what a week in my mailbox…….a book I’ve been dying to get my hands on and can’t wait to read tonight when I’ve caught up on all of the washing 2 sick babies make (I knew Finn was next)
a sweet dress I know I’ll get a lot of wear out of from here! really light and perfect for summer, resisting buying one in each colour as its so comfy and hides my bad bits
and a sweet pattern from a sweet lady with some extra sweetness! I’m already almost finished the back and am loving the pattern….I’m making it in bendigo cotton and it will be perfect for keira this spring/summer.
so much nicer than bills and junk mail! Ok back to that washing and fabreezing of the couch……
LADIES I GOT MY BURDA AT BORDERS IN CHATSWOOD, LOTS OF COPIES THERE. ITS ALSO AVAILABLE AT HUMPHREY’S IN MANLY AND THE NEWSAGENCY AT WARRINGAH MALL. The current burda magazine (june/2009) has me very excited about some summer sewing…..a party dress perfect for christmas time
a fresh and summery shirt dress
sweet skirt
bermuda shorts to relax in
and summery pants (perfect for my 5ft height)
and there are also kids patterns too….looks like I’m set, now to find the time to whip them all up but it might keep me from doing some serious damage here.
and in store news..check out my new clearance section! I have 60 bolts coming this year, gulp, so better clear the decks to make room!
that is all this little cardigan needs…a little blocking on the bands and some very sweet pink buttons. This is the February Baby Sweater from Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitter’s Almanac and I think its my all time favourite baby knit…..adorable!
modelled by a barbie coathanger and toddler’s dress I made from my precious (and too small) cath kidston stash. I made this to take to market, when I was going to do a local market, then I never got my act together but now I hear there is a new market coming to sydney so maybe I will take it to market!
miss tillie is out of action and covered in spots but she will model this little number when she is back on regular modelling duties.
cutting into my very small and very precious cath kidston stash is hard to do…but I managed to do it….
this is for tillie…..I’m going through a bit of a cath kidston stage again so have ordered japanese fabrics that are very cath kidston inspired and will be here just in time for summer sewing!
here she is, going through her moves and getting ready to start ballet classes today…..
its all very exciting as my sister and I started at her age and danced till our university days….mind you she did go on to study it professionally after school and had the talent and body shape for it!
So actually I just hope my little miss enjoys herself and has fun with her little friend Ivy.
She wanted to wear her little uniform (yes that darling little skirt is part of the uniform) all day and I had to bribe with tiny teddies to get it off and hidden away….
ahhhh isn’t it lovely to have little girls…….if only for ballet classes!
when a babycino and some warm banana bread makes your day
and going to the ‘flower shop’ is a big adventure…..we had another visit yesterday and this was her choice to bring home and plant
and this was one of mine…..a very pretty azalea with a touch of pink…retro daddy has an exciting afternoon of digging up the garden beds!
Quite a nice arrangement I think….mind you I am inside dealing with one twin down with chicken pox and another on high alert!