Quilted hottie cover finished and on its way

I got an email from Lisa of Big Little the other day reminding me that as soon as school's back in session next week (we're on school holidays at the moment), kids in Christchurch will be getting the hottie covers that were made as part of this year's Hottie Project.

For my contribution to the project, I used Adrianne's awesome quilted hottie cosy tutorial but must confess it didn't go as smoothly as it should have. When I first sewed it up, it was way too short to fit a hot water bottle inside. No doubt, I either used the wrong seam allowance (very possible), I didn't tape the pieces together properly (could be) or TDSH didn't print the pattern at the full size (highly likely). I thought I'd have to start all over again, but I took a stab at splicing in a new strip of fabric, batting and lining into the already quilted cover and it totally worked! Love it so much, I just might have to make another one for myself!

With school holidays on at the moment Abner and I have been galavanting around town and having a great old time. We've gone skating several times, hit the art gallery to play with 150 000 pieces of Lego, discovered an awesome new inflatables place in town, gone to a few plays and a few movies, enjoyed countless cups of coffee and even took a train ride with a bunch of friends. We've also tried our hand at cheese making and are quickly becoming expert loom band makers (managed the starburst pattern on my very first try! *fist pump*)

The weather has even been cooperating for the most part (a rarity in Dunedin). I managed to spend two whole days last week in our yard getting it all tidied and ready for spring. It's the middle of winter and I was gardening in a t-shirt! I even had to mow the lawn! Let me remind you that it's the equivalent of January back home. Can't say I've ever had to mow the lawn in January before.

Abner even lost her first tooth today so it's been a memorable holiday all around.

Whatever you're up to these days, I hope you're all having as much fun as we are!

DIY: Draft snake

Living in a 100+ year old house has its advantages. Drafts are not one of those advantages. Case in point: my studio door. Look at that gap...Look. At. That. Gap...did I mention it's an outside door and that's sunlight you're seeing?! I'm pretty sure a small child could shimmy their way under that door.

Well, maybe it's not that wide, but look, I can almost completely fit my hand underneath. Running the heater is pretty much futile if you have a gap this size under the door. Mostly I huddle by the warmth of my iron in a vain attempt to keep warm while I'm out there. Today, I could see my breath!

Making up a few draft snakes has been on the to-sew list since the day we moved into this house. It wasn't until the past week that I finally got the job done. Just in the nick of time - we've already had one snow day.

Already, we can feel the difference though, so it's totally worth it. You can heat your house all you want but if there's a draft, you're just wasting your time and money.

The fabric I went with is an organic cotton that's a bit heavier than standard quilting cotton. I've used rice to fill the draft snakes and was shocked at how much each one holds - 13 cups for the one in the studio! I've nearly gone through a 10kg bag of rice just making three snakes!

With this design, one end closes with Velcro so the snake can be emptied and washed if needed. The Dear Sweet Husband had the pleasure of accidentally stepping on one in the house and the Velcro busted open spilling rice EVERYWHERE. Might want to keep that in mind if you make your own. Here are the instructions if you want to take a stab at it:

Materials:

• Fabric cut to 11" by the width of your door plus 3"
• 5-1/2" strip of Velcro (at least 1/2" wide)
• Rice...oh, so much rice! You'll probably need 13-15 cups or so.

Steps:

1. Fold one of the short ends of your fabric over twice making a 3/4" hem. Press. Stitch the folded edge in place.
2. Find the centre point of the hemmed short edge by folding your fabric in half length-wise. Mark the centre point on what will be the inside of the snake.
3. Separate your Velcro strip and pin each half just to either side of your mark. Stitch in place.
4. With right sides together, align and pin the edges of your fabric. Stitch along the short and long edge (obviously, not the hemmed short edge).
5. Turn the snake right side out and fill with rice.

Wiksten Tova all finished and so am I!

Ahhh, Wiksten Tova pattern...how I have coveted you for so many years (like, two whole years) and finally, on this, the last day of Selfish Sewing Week you are done...you are mine! You took longer to sew than all of my other projects combined and I didn't think we were going to make it when on the second to last step, I realized I'd sewn the left arm on upside down (yes, yes, I did), but we got there in the end. You're a little drapier around the neck than I'd expected, but this is Dunedin and I'll be wearing a merino underneath for most of the year so I'm sure it'll all work out. I love how comfy you are and that you cover all of my lumps and bumps very nicely without making me look like a house. Perhaps you will be lonely being the only Tova in my closet. I think I will make another one to keep you company...but first I'm going to take a little break from sewing...OK?

Sewing up a storm and then some

Behold just some of the patterns and fabric on my list to sew up this coming week during Selfish Sewing Week. Lots of prep work going on around here to try to help me juggle my sewing ambitions with the fact that Abner is on school break and I'm in hand-over mode at work as the editor I've been filling in for is back from maternity leave.

I've had a blast playing editor but it will be nice to hand the reigns back to a professional. It's like every day for the past nine months I've been worried that someone will wise up and figure out that I'm a complete fraud. This must be how con artists feel - constantly worried that they're going to be found out.

This week is also a big one as a certain little girl turns six! Our tradition is to go out for dinner to the restaurant of the birthday person's choosing. Abner has already informed us she's choosing McDonalds. High taste, that girl! We've got a party to plan as well for next weekend. Since our new house is so tiny (there's really no other word to describe it) we've opted to rent a hall nearby. The kids can run amok all they want and I don't have to worry about my couch getting covered in chocolate and broken chips. It's a win-win situation.

Other than that, we're trying to keep busy seeing friends, going to movies and just have a little fun during the second week of term break. Hope you're week ahead looks just as fun-filled as mine!

Finished custom cross quilt

My list of projects to sew has reached epic proportions. Truly epic. I blame it mostly on the fact that next week is Selfish Sewing Week and I have big plans to participate this year...a few tops and a dress or two ought to keep me busy. I'm looking forward to the new additions to my wardrobe!

This lovely new house of ours is also inspiring me these days. I've done so much sewing over the years, but you'd never know it looking around this place. I've started a special list of project just for our home...a custom-fit bathmat for our crazy tiny bathroom, a set of new napkins, a cushion for the bench near the front door, a pillow for the couch to name just a few. It's a lot of work, but I know I'll enjoy busying myself away in my little private workroom out back...which reminds me, I still need to share some pics of the new space!

But before I can tuck into all that fun, I had to clear one last custom order off the list: the custom cross quilt I started last month. I had it all finished up and delivered last week. Turns out it was just in time! I was told the baby it would be given to was due in May, but as babies are wont to do, it arrived early! Still don't know if it was a boy or girl just yet, but I do know the new mum is loving the new quilt. Man, I love doing custom work!

Thank goodness tomorrow is a holiday and I have some vacation days coming up at work so I can get on with the next wave of projects. Looking forward to sharing more with you soon!

The one with the stylish firewood carrier

While the rest of you up in the Northern Hemisphere are all "Ooooh, look at the pretty blossoms!" and "I finally got to spend the day in the garden." and "See ya later snow!" the rest of us down here in at the bottom of the world are gearing up for winter. At least, those of us in Dunedin - the land of very little insulation and no such thing as central heating - are.

With the wood burner in our new house, we've got ourselves a load of macrocarpa to get us at least part way through the winter. We've got a few stacks going on in the backyard and had been hauling it into the house by hand as needed until this past weekend when I made this - the most stylish firewood carrier you ever will see.

I grabbed a classic denim for the main body of the carrier and used hot pink polka dot and gingham for the sides and trim. I even managed to find some matching neon pink thread....like 3000 meters of it (you're going to be seeing a lot of hot pink on this blog from here on out!)

I opted for sides even though most carriers don't include them; I wanted to make sure logs weren't going to shift out of the carrier and onto my toes!

Considering I made this whole thing up as I went, I'm pretty damn pleased with the result. It's cute, it's durable and it actually works. A complete success!

In other news, I got myself a smartphone a few weeks back and I've now joined the rest of the world on Instagram. Look me up over there, or follow along on good ol' Facebook.

Quilted tea cozy for a cause

The lovely ladies of the Northern Artery Arts Collective have a wonderful fundraiser planned for next month. The group is putting on a tea party event on 17 May and will be auctioning off tea cozies made by local artisans to raise funds and awareness for the Otago Community Hospice.

My contribution to the auction should stand out - I hope! Who doesn't love a little bright neon pink?!?! I used a soft grey oakshott cotton on the outside and lined it in a fairly heavy weight neon pink fabric. The original plan was to do a little freestyle cross-stitch design on one side, but I had to abandon that idea when I couldn't find the right colour of embroidery floss. It totally turned out to be a good thing, because I am in love with plan B! I marked out a few random straight lines in chalk and stitched over them in neon pink thread. I love, love, love the finished look even though it wasn't at all what I was aiming for when I started.

I don't know the exact when and where of the auction next month, but I'll surely post the info on the Milkybeer Handmade Facebook page once I get the details.

Tutorial: patchwork doorstop

Today I'm sharing a sweet little patchwork doorstop tutorial over on imagine gnats as one of Rachael's new contributors.

I am loving how these turned out and think you should all give the tutorial a try. You'll learn a handy technique for piecing small squares and it's probably the only time you'll get to make a trip to the pet store to finish a sewing project. [Read the tutorial - it will all make sense. Trust me.]

Seriously, aren't those colourful little x's just too cute for words? The monogrammed version I made for Abner is doing its thing holding our lounge door open as I write [and doing a mighty fine job I might add.] The little heart one was made specifically for the wee little girls who live across the road from us. I'm told the younger of the two has taken to sleeping with it each night. Say it with me now....awwww!

Our first visitors!

My parents arrived for the first visit to Dunedin last week. The trip has been planned for months now so it's always been in the back of our heads as something to look forward to in January. It's kind of strange that they're actually here now...the visit is finally happening in real life! We've been running them ragged showing them around town and seeing all the sights along with them. So far we've hit Larnach Castle (it's not really a castle by European standards, but it's still pretty cool), Cadbury World, the art gallery, Otago Museum, Toitu, the eco sanctuary, and about a dozen other places I've already forgotten (thank goodness we had four cameras covering the action!) It's been a great visit so far, but we're all pretty tired by the end of the day.

As tired as I am in the evenings, I've also had an incredible hankering to do a little sewing. Stumbling upon Imagine Gnat's infinity scarf tutorial the other night was just perfect. In less than ten minutes I had my first scarf whipped up. It still doesn't feel like a proper summer here yet (note the 'yet', I am still hopeful at this point - that won't last much longer, I'm afraid) so this light little scarf has been put to good use already. My mom and I popped into a fabric shop that was having a big sale today and picked up fabrics to make five more...I may be a bit addicted to these scarves!

Personalized patchwork Christmas stockings

These personalised patchwork stockings were recently shipped off to a customer back home in Canada. Today I got a lovely email with the sweetest thank you from the buyer so I know they arrived safely and I'm in the clear to share these pics here on the ol' Milkybeer blog. I'm so incredibly pleased with how these turned out and so is the customer!

The design is based on the DIY tutorial I posted a few weeks ago [still plenty of time to whip up your own before the holidays!] but with a layer of batting added to the back and a cuff and cross-stitched names added to the top. The customer chose the fabrics from a wider selection of options I photographed for her to choose from. We decided early on to go for a monochromatic colour scheme on each one and I love, love, love how it turned out. Not a Christmas fabric in the bunch, but don't they look festive?!

I plan to add stockings to the shop for next Christmas season as custom order items. They will be available in a range of colours (at least these three) and could be personalised or left plain. If you're a super keener and know that you would like to order some for you family for next Christmas, drop me a line at heymilkybeer[at]gmail[dot]com. The cut-off for ordering will likely be early to mid-November 2014.

Also, may I just say how weird it is making stockings and getting ready for Christmas in the heat of summer? It just feels so bizarre. Guess I'd better get used to it though!

Stripey love

This is one of my favourite pictures of Little miss Abner. It was taken a little over one year ago when the two of us did a mommy-daughter road trip while TDSH was away in a little place we'd never heard of called Dunedin for a job interview.

One of the many reasons I love this picture is that cute little tank top she's wearing. We both love that top. It's been a go-to in all seasons for the past couple of years. Sadly, it's getting a wee bit small these days and will soon be retired and sent to friends for their little girl to enjoy. Before passing it on, I used it as the inspiration for a new top that should fit Abner for many years to come.

I used the same knit black and white stripe fabric I used on my own stripey top a few months back and traced around the original top adding a few centimetres here and there to increase the size just a bit. The finished top is perhaps a bit too big at the moment, but that hasn't stopped Abner from wearing it several times in the past couple of weeks. She reminds me almost daily how much she likes wearing her mama-made clothes. I will keep pumping them out until she tells me to stop!

The heart (the kids call them 'love hearts' here...I don't know why) was painted on with many, many layers of iridescent purple fabric paint (chosen after much deliberation by Abner herself). I used tape to mask out the heart shape. It worked pretty well but it did bleed through in a couple of spots. Abner assures me this doesn't bother her one bit - phew! She had such a hard time waiting for all those layers of paint to dry! My little girl is many things, but patient is not always one of them (I wonder where she gets that from?!)

I still have another hunk of that stripey fabric left - just enough for another kids' project. What do you think I should make with the last bit of it?

The thing about craft books

The thing about craft books is that you can never have too many. Am I right? I picked up these two recently on a whim and have been enjoying thumbing through both. I find craft books so inspiring. The projects are always stunning and seam so...attainable in all their glossy glory. I mean come on, they make it look so easy, all perfectly lit, beautifully styled, professionally photographed and, well, complete.

In the Liberty book, I'm particularly liking this Mad Plaid Quilt. I've been struggling with quilt designs lately, and I find the simplicity of this one very appealing.

Ditto for this Seashore Baby Quilt. It reminds me of one of Denyse Schmidt's designs from a few years ago. Sigh. Everything looks so pretty done with Liberty fabrics, doesn't it.

I pretty much bought the Makery book based on this Cuckoo Clock project. A fabric clock? Yes, please!

I've also had my eye on the Hand-carved Rubber Stamps. I'm pretty sure I could figure out how to make these myself, but it's always good to learn from those with more experience. Crafty authors are so good about including helpful tips alongside the basic instructions.

On a somewhat related note, I've made up a few fabric bookmarks which will be on sale at the Northern Artery Christmas Market on November 30. Have you seen these before? They just slip over the corner of your page(s) to mark your spot in a book. Yet another great scrap-busting project.

Rainy day pillowcase-style dress

Don't you love it when you finally get to cross something off your to-do list? This dress was one of those things for me. I bought the fabric something like four months ago always intending to make up a dress for Abner. Perhaps it's the raindrops on the fabric reminding me of rainy Vancouver, but I think it is just the sweetest fabric. The other day, I wound up chopping into it and using some to make a wee skirt for a little friend's birthday. Luckily there was enough and motivation leftover to whip up this little pillowcase-style dress. Here are some quick instructions if you want to make your own:

DIY Rainy Day Pillowcase Dress

You will need: fabric, thread, 3/4" elastic, double fold bias tape, scissors and a marking tool.

Cutting
For this dress, you’ll use the full width of fabric from selvedge to selvedge. Determine how long you’d like the finished length to be; then add 2 1/2" to that measurement and cut the fabric that length from selvedge to selvedge.

Side seam
Fold the fabric in half, with the right sides together, and align and pin the selvedge edges. Stitch the pinned edges just outside the fabric's selvedge edges (i.e. you don't want the selvedges to show once the dress is turned right side around). Press the seam.

Hem
Fold the bottom edge 1/2" to the wrong side and press all the way around. Fold the edge 1/2" again creating the hem. Press. Edge stitch along the folded edge to secure the hem all the way around. Press.

Armholes
Place the fabric flat on your cutting table with the wrong side out, the hemmed edge at the bottom nearest you, and the seam running along either the right or left side (it doesn't matter which).

Measure and mark a spot approximately approximately 3" in from each side edge along the top of the fabric. Measure and mark a spot approximately 4-5" down from the top along each side edge (one will be on a fold, the other will be on your stitched side seam). Mark a curved line joining the two marks on each side to make the outline of the armholes. Cut along marked line.

Neckline
On both the front and back of the dress, fold down the top edge 1/2" to the wrong side. Press. Fold down the top edge 1" to the wrong side once again and press to create a channel for the elastic.

Cut two lengths of elastic slightly shorter than the distance between your child's armpits. You can use one of their t-shirts to measure if your child doesn't want to cooperate.

Thread your elastic through the channel using a safety pin. Make sure the elastic does not get pulled into the channel at either end. Use pins to secure both ends in place even with the edges of the fabric. Stitch them in place staying fairly close to the edge of the fabric.

Ties
Cut approximately 30" of double fold bias tape for the each tie. Fold each length in half to establish the middle point.

Align the middle point of the bias tape with the centre of each arm hole (where the side seam is on one side and the fold is on the other). Pin the bias tape in place with the dress fabric simply tucked into the centre fold of the bias tape.

Stitch the bias tape in place using a zig zag stitch. Be sure to keep the dress fabric securely in place within the bias tape, especially at the elastic ends which are a bit harder to sew over. Start and finish your stitches just past either edge of the dress (i.e. don't zig zag the full length of the bias tape, just where it contains the dress fabric).

Finish the dress by tying knots at the ends of the bias tape ties.