I made this

I made this, before I started my craft blog. A stuffed monkey for my nephews birthday. I had never made anything like this before, and was nicely surprised at how easy it really was to make.

I got the pattern from the lovely, and very helpful, Pauline at Funky Friends Factory.

Here is a photo of the monkey, flat, before he was stuffed, and before I put on his face.

Now Abbey wants one.....and of course, it has to be in pink, her favourite colour.

Gingerbread

Last week Abbey and I made gingerbread biscuits. She had so much fun, and kept insisting "I do it myself" at every step.

They were very yummy, and only lasted a few days in our house, although we were very generous and gave many away to friends and family.

I love gingerbread. But not really crunchy gingerbread, I like it a little soft.

This is the best recipe I have ever found. By adjusting the cooking time, you can make soft or harder gingerbread to suit every ones tastes. This recipe makes about 40-50 biscuits, depending on the size of the cookie cutter used.

100g butter

200g (1 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar

250mls (1 cup) treacle or golden syrup

2 eggs, lightly whisked

600g (4 cups) plain flour (I used 2 cups wholemeal plain flour/2 cups plain flour)

150g (1 cup) self-raising flour

1 tbs ground ginger

1 tbs ground cinnamon

1.5 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1. Place the butter, sugar and treacle/golden syrup in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool slightly.

2. Combine the butter mixture and eggs in a large bowl. Sift the combined flours, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and bicarbonate of soda over the butter and egg mixture. Stir until well combined.

Turn onto a lightly floured surface (or a large sheet of baking paper) and gently knead until smooth. Shape into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 1 hour to rest.

3. Pre-heat oven to 180C and line your tray/s with non-stick baking paper.

4. Divide the dough into 2 even portions, roll out one portion on a lightly floured surface (or a large sheet of baking paper) until approximately 5mm thick. Use cookie cutters to cut out your shapes. Decorate with small chocolate buttons at this point, or with icing after they have been cooked and cooled down.

5. Bake for 5 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Enjoy!

Applique

Last week I added the blue dinosaur applique to a baby singlet for dear friend Nell's baby Patrick.

Abbey liked it so much, she wanted one too. I let her choose which dinosaur she wanted, and was lucky to find a brand new, spare white t-shirt, in her size, in my sewing cupboard (hoarding can be a good thing!)

Now what can I make next?

Christmas Shopping.

Don't think I am mad, but I have been busy Christmas shopping this month. There are a few reasons for this. Chris's family all live in the UK, so if we want to send pressies sea mail, and save money on the postage, mail has to be sent before September. The other reason is we are expecting our second child in September. I don't fancy having to complete Christmas shopping later in the year with a newborn and Abbey. So, thanks goodness for Internet shopping!

My favourite website at the moment, for original, locally made gifts, is:
http://madeit.com.au/
I have found some amazing presents on this website. I can't show all my goodies, as most of them are pressies, and some gift receivers will easily know which ones I have chosen for them.

I absolutely love the gorgeous creations by Lou of Buttons by Lou Lou.
The cup cake fridge magnets are a pressie, but I can't say who for. How cute are they?

The lady bug head band is mine (all mine!)


I found some gorgeous pencil cases from Odds & Blobs

Jessica from Odds & Blobs custom made me some gorgeous notepads too, all to be pressies for certain special people.

18 months in the making.

Yay, it has only taken me 18 months to finally finish Abbey's bedroom curtains. I am so chuffed. I hope to get on with some "fun" sewing now the "practical" sewing is finished.

Sewing the curtain backing, I used clothes pegs instead of pins. I did not want to put any holes in the curtain backing material.

Material from Clegs sale last week.

I picked up a few remnants from the Clegs sale last week. I want to make a skirt for me with this black, red and silver bonded lace material. I got two pieces of this material, so could also make Abbey a skirt too, still not sure if it is "too old" for her or not. I will have to have a think about it.

Abbey is obsessed with pink - it is certainly her favourite colour, so I could not resist the pink shantung - not sure what I will make out of it yet. I love denim skirts, so the denim remnant will probably make a lovely skirt for some one. I just like the look of the check material, no inspiration on what to make with this yet. I also got some small pieces of purple and red fleece, I am sure I will make some more baby hats with this material.

I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to change the broken needle on the overlocker. I am well impressed that Janome overlockers and sewing machines all use the same needles, this makes it much easier. The overlocker is still not 100% - I have threaded the machine twice, and it is still skipping stitches. I will have another try today to get it working properly - I still have Abbey's bedroom curtains to finish. As I have been away from sewing for so many years, it is like I am re-learning everything all over again. All adds to the fun!

One little set back.

I was all set to have a few hours of sewing ahead of me on the Queen’s Birthday holiday, but within 5 minutes of sewing, I had (somehow) managed to snap one of the overlocker needles. I dashed out to the local spotlight store, but they had no Janome overlocker needles, because they don’t sell Janome machines. I was very disappointed, as I was in such a mood to sew. I was finally sewing the hems to Abbey’s bedrooms curtains – a project, I am embarrassed to say, I started 18 months ago. I will toddle off later today to the local sewing centre and pick up some new overlocker needles.
I was still in a creative mood, so I found another, older, project to work on. When I was pregnant with Abbey, in early 2006, my mum and I knitted some purple and turquoise squares, to make a baby blanket. All the knitted squares were finished before Abbey was born, but I never managed to sew them together to make the blanket. I guess it did not help that Abbey was born one month early.
I am still a knitting novice, and can only knit in a straight line. I hope to learn to knit better, one day soon, and I am fascinated with crochet too.
Here are some photos of the knitted squares, and the soon to be completed blanket.