Lots of little people

There are so many precious little people in my life at the moment. You know, other than the ones I made myself.

And there are boys everywhere. My first nephew, Leo, and little buddy Tristan are almost 1; my very talented sister-in-law recently produced another nephew for me; and a long-time friend is due in October with another little bundle of blue.

Other than all of the cuddles and smiles, baby boys are a fun excuse for me to use the fabrics that aren't pink or covered in cupcakes :P

This series of bibs was a necessity. I HAD to have this fabric- Humpty Dumpty, what's not to love?! And I just happened to have the coordinating fabric and ribbon lying around.

I made 2 large and 2 small bibs. I have made a lot of bibs lately, so I am getting pretty quick and my top-stitching is pretty neat. I ordered a bunch of coloured press-studs in multi colours, so I should have one to coordinate with any project (I do so love it when things all match).

I just had to share, cause I was so pleased with how they came out- both the sewing and coordinating of fabrics. Very satisfying.

Love Gubby xo

A special something for a special someone

My littlest person turned 3 on Easter weekend. With my committment to handmake gifts this year, I knew the gifts I made for my own family had to be super-special.

So I put it out to the facebook community and got some great ideas. In the end I decided on a baby carrier- she really loves dolls and soft toys at the moment.

My very creative friend at Stitch'd lent me a pattern and I found a super-cool set of fabrics at Spotlight.

I had to unpick and restitch a few things that I wasn't happy with and when I make it again I will add some card/plastic in the base and some kind of stiffener in the sides so it holds its shape better.

It is the first gift I have made with such love and effort for any of my girls, so I was a little nervous, but I think she's happy with it :)

Love Gubby xo

Pin doctor

So, as you know, after many years of firmly refusing to venture away from paper crafts, I developed a recent and fairly serious obsession with sewing.

On the plus side, there are an endless number of new projects available to me now that I can handle fabric, as well as paper. On the downside, craft stores only used to hold 50% worth of temptation for me. Now when I go to Spotlight, the WHOLE store is a source of temptation. And its worse than just the fabrics themselves as I have not had much time to stock up on fun sewing tools and gadgets, so there's so many things I NEED to look at and consider.

One thing I have been working without is a pin cushion. I bought my pins on a plastic wheel and have been just placing them onto the table beside me as I sew and then carefully putting them back into the wheel when I am done.

Its time consuming and... to be honest, not very pretty! And what better use for my new sewing skills, than to make myself a tool to make my sewing easier.

This one I made for myself, using some Amy Butler remnants I had from a previous project. I love it- its big and colourful- pretty and practical- my 2 favourite things :)

When I took up sewing, my amazingly talented mother-in-law let my rifle through her old stash- she doesn't do much craft these days, but is very capable! She showed me the pin cushion she made when she was in primary school (and the history student in me was super excited :) that was really too small to be practical. So I determined to make her a replacement (the little turtle pin cushion will hang around for posterity, but a new larger pin cushion was needed for practicality).


 And then when I showed my sister-in-law she looked impressed so I thought perhaps she would like one too.

(the tutorial is available at Better Homes & Gardens)



I had also seen a really adorable pin cushion idea, using a frame. I picked up a frame for $1 at the local op shop and put together this one for my other super-talented sister in law. This is much more her style and I was really pleased at how it turned out. This one is fun too, cause you can use it lying flat or prop it up with the stand at the back- just like a photo frame !(tutorial at Spin Cushion)

I am so enjoying the ability to make myself pretty things. I love being able to see something online and have a pretty good go at making it.

Hope your weekend has been as productive as mine.

Love Gubby xo

Confessions of a sewing addict!

Well, its official. I am heavily addicted to sewing.

I love it. I love choosing fabric. I love finding fun patterns. I love when I make something for the first time and it works... perfectly!

My most recent feat is burp cloths for my cousin's baby shower. She doesn't know the sex of the baby, so I went with generic, colourful fabric.

I purchased the terry towelling at Spotlight off the roll and pre-washed it all- didn't want flecks of white towel all over my sewing room.

They are all straight lines (my preference in sewing ;) but they look really effective and, of course, they are super-practical- when it comes to babies, there is always an excess of fluids!

I was going to post this a few days ago before I remembered that it was a SURPRISE baby shower (it was her last trip over from Perth for my uncle's 60th- Happy Birthday Uncle Kevin- before bubs arrives, so we had to make the most of the opportunity ;)

She was most impressed, as were her crafty friends- one of whom makes modern cloth nappies for a living- so I felt pretty chuffed :))

Back to the sewing machine.
Love Gubby xo

A little something for my special someones

I found this sweet little purse tutorial online. The description said it was easy and I was looking for something I could make for my sisters and girlfriends for birthdays this year. I wanted it to be pretty, but still practical- I am a pragmatic girl when it comes down to it!

Turns out, it wasn't quite AS easy as I had hoped (though to be fair I have only been sewing for about 3 weeks ;), but after my 3rd try I am happy with the result (the other 2 are usable, but there are some small issues with stitching not being straight or edges not lining up). And I can make 2 purses in an evening, so that makes for an effective gift :)

Thanks to my many crafty friends for their help and advice- this sewing gig really is still so new and there is so much for me to learn. But I am having a lot of fun doing it.

Here's the result:

The coolest thing is that the mouth of the purse is made from pieces of metal measuring tape, so it closes over, but is easy to open.

See the original tutorial (and about a million other gorgeous sewing projects) at:

Now I just have the tragic task of going to Spotlight to choose more gorgeous matching fabrics ;)

Wish me luck!
Love Gubby xo

Sew much to blog about

I recently wrote about my foray into sewing (the sewing puns will end soon, I promise). My first attempt was the dinosaur playmat.

This is my next major project. I will be making these for the 1st birthdays (the many many 1st birthdays) that we will be celebrating this year.

Its a simple drawstring bag, but I am getting a little fancy with the casing (also learning new words, thanks to my amazing MIL) and hoping to get a little fancier with the letters and other detailing as I learn more.

At the moment, I am mostly trying things that involve straight lines and then I might move onto more adventurous projects.

Love Gubby xo

Let it sew, let it sew, let it sew...

This week I borrowed my delightful mother-in-law's sewing machine and began my foray into sewing.

The last time I sewed anything was year 9 textiles class- I made myself a bag and a pair of black pants. I used the bag and wore the pants, so I can't have been that bad... but its been a while!

The first item I made this week was a lot of cutting aand sticking, as well as some sewing.

Its a dinosaur playmat that I found on the lovely Serving Pink Lemonade blog. There are step by step instructions and a template there.

But here is my attempt:

The main construction requires double-sided iron-on applique on felt- iron the pieces on and sew on a back panel.

I love this, as its flat and light, so I can post it to overseas and interstate friends. And its great for travel- chuck the mat and a couple of small dinosaurs in your bag and you have a portable play set for the kids.

More sewing to come....
Love Gubby xo