Tissue paper pompoms

Tissue paper pompoms, originally uploaded by Hazelnutgirl.

I finally tried the famous Martha Stewart tissue paper pom-poms for Hazel's party and they're surprisingly easy! If you're looking for something that makes people ooo and ahhh and pay you lots of compliments for very little effort, these are your answer. I used 10 sheets of tissue and ended up having to cut the curves for the petals a few layers at at time because otherwise the edges had a rather chewed look from the scissors struggling with the thickness. I thought the pointed ends were most effective, but the round ones were cute and possibly more suited to a kid's party?

The party went very well, despite an extremely violent southerly change that swept through Auckland about half an hour before the party started. I haven't seen it rain that hard here for ages, and our street flooded across the sidewalks and up onto lawns despite having the drains redone a couple years ago. It was exciting!

I bought the cake btw, before anyone offers me compliments on it! I also ordered macarons from the same shop because I've always been curious about them - and now I actually do understand why people go a bit mental for them.

I was quite fond of the goodie bags too. They were meant to be closed at the top, but the stickers I bought to go in were too big so the tops had to stay up, which in the end made them look a bit prettier I think.  All the invitations and tags and stickers were made up with a set I bought at mygraphico, I'm a bit of a convert to buying a clipart file and doing it yourself now! I'd seen these exact same images used on invitations from a site that specialises in customised invitations and I was going to use those until they wanted to charge me upwards of US$40 to mail 10 invitations, envelopes and thank you cards, which was more than it cost to buy them. The mygraphico file was $5 (and it's on sale now of course!)

My life on Instagram

Recent Instagram photos, originally uploaded by Hazelnutgirl.

 1. Untitled, 2. Winter violets, 3. Local watering hole, 4. Low Tea, 5. Lucy, 6. Living room DIY chaos, 7. Party supplies, 8. Hazel's family tree homework, 9. Magnolia buds, 10. Swimming lessons, 11. Fairy wands, 12. Just opening for the day

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

I told you Instagram would be the only way you'd know I was alive this week! I'm done with wallpaper stripping but have to head straight into Hazel's party preparations! I can't wait for Monday when the plastering starts and the only thing I can do for a week is sew at the kitchen table!

AMQG Challenge

AMQG pillow challenge fabric, originally uploaded by Hazelnutgirl.

The first challenge for the Auckland Modern Quilt Guild members has been set - a cushion - and I'm really excited! It's my first challenge so I don't know exactly how open to be about what I'm thinking of doing or not - are people all secret-squirrel about their intentions or generally open? I'd love to share how I'm going (I almost typed journey there but that would have been more than a little pretentious, I can't believe the word even entered my mind! And that I'm sharing it with you!), but I'm competitive enough not to want to get pipped at the post because I shared too much. Not that I really think that would happen to be perfectly honest, maybe I'd just like for it to be a surprise?

Anyways, this is the fabric we have, I don't know who the designer is or anything, it's not on my bit of selvedge. We have a fat eighth and we have to use at least half of it, so can enter two pillows if we like. I have some of my fabrics already and at least one pattern in mind - and it's not due until the 1st December, so I have heaps of time. Perhaps I won't even leave it till the last minute!

It's going to be so interesting to see what people come up with, there is such a diversity of people in our group; we vary widely in age, experience and taste. I know at least one person who was focusing on many of the same FQ as I was when I grabbed some after our meeting, but I bet even that doesn't mean our cushions will be at all alike!

It's a Plus finished

Finally finished up my It's a Plus cushion cover, the front has been languishing while I tried to find the time to do the back. The quilting was simple but time-consuming because the plusses were so small, I went around the inside of them and around the inside edges of the negative linen spaces. The original pattern in 'I Love Patchwork' had a length of ribbon sewn in so I did the same with some I'd recently bought at the Daiso shop on Queen Street. I don't think it's the best quality as it's frayed a bit, but then why I thought it would be for $3/m I don't know! I made sure I photographed the good end so you can all admire how well the piecing was going before it suddenly wasn't.

I love the back very, very much! I got the idea from seeing the back of the front quilting, and it turned out really well. I replicated the pattern grid by drawing it on the fabric with water-soluble pens and then marked out the pattern again by cross-hatching the appropriate squares.

I quilted the same way I did the front. It's really hard to get a decent picture of it because it's so subtle, but I particularly enjoy the puzzle-like look it has and the small intersections between the plusses. They remind me of roads.

The great wallpaper panic

So it turns out that the wallpaper in both rooms has to be gone by the day after Hazel's party, which is about two weeks away, and the skirting boards need to have the stain taken off as well. I'm heartily sick of this already and the spare room wallpaper is only half done. Wild, flailing-of-arms panic! I haven't sewn anything for ages either, I'm beginning to get twitchy. Stripping wallpaper is a great way to get to know your house's dirty little secrets, like the cracks that have literally been papered over! I found where the old door used to be in the spare room, and a rather distressing patch of mould just off to the right of the photo up there. Yeesh.  And the old wallpaper that had only been peeled off in patches, and the remains papered over. Now there was some really classy prep-work!

What I have been doing instead of sewing for relaxation is playing with Instagram, so if anyone is on there I'm hazelnuts. I can't figure out how to post a photo via Instagram though, perhaps it has to be done through Flickr and I keep forgetting to turn that setting on.  I seem to have more photos of Lucy than anything else, though I cleverly managed to fit in my slippers and quilt here:

And I got all arty with this shot:

It seems kinda fun, but I need more peeps in my neighbourhood!

Instagram photos might be the only way you know I'm alive for the next week or so...

My get out of jail card

The next time I get in trouble for something, be it as minor as not hanging out the wash, or slightly larger like not doing my taxes on time, I will simply say "well I'm sure I'm very sorry but did you know I sewed a bathing suit?" and the person will apologise profusely and leave me alone.

I used the pattern in Ottobre 3/2009 and amazingly, Hazel was size 116 for all the measurements, instead of just height and a smaller size for everything else. The pattern's not perfect, if I do it again I'll curve the front legs a bit higher and make the bum less high-cut and more covering.  I had to put in a bit more of a waist, I guess she's not as straight up and down as she used to be! I added the ruffle because her old suit had one and she thought that was the best part of it. The fabric came from Global Fabrics and I'd love to have a bathing suit made from it too, but that would be a bit naff. I ended up making the stripes run horizontally, despite the fact the bows are now sideways (am hoping it's not that obvious) because the stripes were too wide for such a small item, it's obviously scaled for adults.

It was surprisingly easy to make - I'd been imagining the fabric snagging or running or stretching, but it was lovely to work with and very tolerant of seams being unripped or changed. It's fully lined which makes it a fairly robust garment! The only problem I'm having is with the seams on the straps, when Hazel tried it on the double needle stitching broke and unraveled. I've had the problem a lot on very stretchy things like the bottom of leggings, or tshirts, and I don't know how to stop it. I use wooly nylon in the bobbin, I alter the tension, everything I can think of short of getting a cover stitch machine! Suggestions gratefully received. I'll zigzag and hope that works, though it's been just as prone to breking in the past too. I was particularly nervous of doing the leg elastic but it turned out fine. This video was very useful, although I couldn't get the fabric to roll over the edge like he does, I think the two layers were too thick. The legs look a bit wavy but when it's on they're fine - possibly a skosh too tight but she's not complaining so I'm not going to point it out!

Felt flowers

 

I've been having a great time making these flower brooches recently. I was inspired by a flower on Pinterest. It has a more realistic centre with stamens and that, but I like the buttons.  I seem to be in a bit of a rut with the aqua with red dots fabric though, I just couldn't find anything that seemed to suit the red better last night, though I feel sure there should have been something.

They're super-quick to make and a great way to use up scraps of felted sweaters etc. The red one is made from regular commercial wool felt though.

Anyways, the red one went off to Hazel's teacher on Friday because it was her birthday as well as the last day of class before the 2 weeks holidays. I think Hazel and Ms. Nicholson both need it! Ms. Nicholson is a lady after my own heart, her favourite colour is red and she has a fine taste in shoes and boots - we actually have the same pair of red shoes (which freaks Hazel out no end).

I'm going to have to find the camera user manual and find out how to shoot photos in RAW, I'm so sick of the reds blowing out and I gather that can help. I don't think it helped that it was raining when I took these first thing this morning. Of course, shooting in RAW won't prevent the camera focusing on the deck rather than the flowers...



I'm about to start stripping wallpaper in the spare room (where I have my computer) and the living room, so things may get a bit quiet around here for a few days while I battle with the paper tiger and the dif and the incredible mess it generates. We'll leave the walls bare and rough-plastered for awhile, enjoying the French Provincial Farmhouse aesthetic until my parents have been and gone, and then will have everything plastered and then we'll paint. Can't wait! We had a very brisk program of house renovation before Hazel was born, but her room was the last thing we did - not coincidentally!

Speaking of which, her birthday is fast approaching too, so hopefully I can get in a couple posts about what I'm going to do. My grandiose plans are very rapidly being whittled down to reasonable proportions, which is bad for blogging but good for my mental well-being!