Buttons

I bought some buttons from an online store called Jack O Bindi, they are self cover buttons and they are a lot of fun. I have made Christmas presents.....

Hair ties, I think 3 or 4 of these smaller pigtail sets will go to my husbands cousins little girl (the closest thing my kids have to a cousin). The rest.....I don't know, maybe a local market?

And fridge magnets. I really like these. I made sets of 4 and bought some little tins from the reject shop to put them in, a reasonably priced gift, that is handmade and practical....well I think anyway. 

Kitchen Tiles

I just realised I never put photos up of our new tiled splashback. Now it is nothing spectacular, in fact it is quiet plain, but it only cost us $40 which is great when you are on a super tight budget.

It looks great, well I think so, and it takes us one step closer to a finished kitchen.

The rangehood needs to be hooked up and the cover put on, a powerpoint needs installing and we are getting a built in microwave (when we can) to finish the oven tower unit. Oh and bar stools, we really need some bar stools. I really like white stools....I like the look of these and the wipe'ability of metal is appealing...

The price tags are not always as appealing.

DSi XL Roll Up Padded Case

DSi XL Roll up Padded Case

So what do you think? I love it, it's the first draft of my pattern so its not perfect but I am very happy that it turned out pretty much as I imagined. Here it is empty...

And here is from every other angle...

 Closed

I used my KAM snap press for the closure. The fabric is Amy Butler Midwest Modern.

 Unsnapped

I used one fabric for the outer and inner main part, and another fabric for the flap and pockets. I used 200wt fleece for padding.

 Open

I needed to make the game pockets and pen holder a little tighter, they work but I would be more comfortable if everything was really snug.

Side View

I don't think when its all rolled up that there is much chance of things falling out but when opening it I feel the games could slip.

Thanks again to Tracy for the link to her DS Pouch, it was very helpful to see how you made yours. http://madquilter.blogspot.com/2009/02/nintendo-ds-pouch-tutorial.html

I want to make...

I am living out my childhood fantasy of owning a Gameboy...well almost a Gameboy. Finally at the age of 30 I have bought myself a Nintendo DSi XL.

As child I wanted a Gameboy for years, I was desperate, every Christmas and birthday I asked for one...but I never got one.

My little sister got one, after she went overseas with our mum and her dad (big sis and I were teenagers and got left at home), I was seriously devastated and I obviously still have issues so please don't laugh ;).

I got 2 games with the unit, Toy Story 3 and James Cameron's Avatar. I have played both, and they are OK but would really like tetris, lol.

 I also got headphones, an extra stylus (so 3 all up), a USB charger (that is more design than function) and a plastic hard case.

I chose Bronze as when I laybyed it they only had that or burgandy.

I want to make a little bag for it so if I decide to take it places with me it wont get destroyed. Also I would like to keep all the accessories with it in one place.

I guess the requirements would be a firm fitting, padded bag with pockets for accessories. Also a little sleeve to store the games in, for such little games they come in pretty big cases, lol. Might start taking some measurements now.

ETA...and link from the beautiful Tracy who designed a pouch for her standard sized DS. She has a tutorial on her blog which will be a great starting point for me. http://madquilter.blogspot.com/2009/02/nintendo-ds-pouch-tutorial.html

Keeping Secrets

I have discovered recently that it can be hard to keep a secret, even one that you never intended to be a secret in the first place.

In March I got pregnant, it should of been a joyous thing, it should of been a happy time, but it wasn't. My husband was cranky and I was feeling scared more than excited (although yes I was a little excited). We were using contraception and not planning anymore children.

With all the kids we didn't share our pregnancy news with everyone until we were 3 months along, and we treated this just the same. Although I told my big sister and a good friend....and during the stress of what followed I turned online for support.

I felt sick for about 2 weeks, and then it stopped and I had some spotting. I knew in my heart that things weren't right but didn't really want to believe it. I went in for an ultrasound and the dates didn't match up, there was only a sac, no baby. I was booked in for a scan a week later, I had more spotting, I felt like my heart was breaking.

That was one of the longest weeks of my life.

The follow up scan confirmed that the pregnancy was not progressing, I had what is called a blighted ovum. The next night, my miscarriage started, like my heart now accepted what my body already knew. I was 8.5 weeks pregnant.

The miscarriage was horrendous, so much blood, clots so big I found it hard to cope but I stayed home and tried to trust my body. This continued on for 2 days after which it slowed down. I went to my Doctor and was told that the bleeding should stop after a few days. Little did I know that this process was only just beginning.

On my 30th birthday, a week after the miscarriage started, I was back at the Doctor, I had a clot stuck in my cervix and needed a D&C. You would think that this would be easy to get, but no, I was a patient in the public health system and unless I presented myself to emergency I would have to wait. So I waited.

4 weeks after my miscarriage started I had my D&C. My big sister drove me to the hospital while my husband stayed at home with the kids. I was scared and emotional but by that point I just wanted it all over, it had been 5 weeks since I had known for sure that the pregnancy was over. I had been bleeding on and off for that whole time, dealing with the emotions of things being in limbo....I was over it.

Once the D&C was over I bled on and off for about 1.5 weeks and then a few days later got my period. Then things were, well, "normal" again. Except for me, I found it very hard to deal with my emotions.....I still do.

When I got pregnant I saw a baby, instantly for me I saw the end result. I am not sure if I am still grieving or truely depressed, I cry almost everyday. As my EDD (Christmas) comes up I feel my heart breaking all over again. I think I want another baby, but making the decision to have another baby is a hard one, my husband is not keen, we already have 4 and struggle sometimes.

I want so bad for this not to be my last experience with pregnancy, I want a positive memory to erase the ones I have right now. I want a baby, but in saying that, do I want another child?

We still have not told family and most of our friends what we went through......and now after all this time how would we bring it up. My husband can forget, but I can not. Maybe one day, when thinking about it doesnt make me cry I will be able to tell them.

This is me...or is it?

Do you wear makeup? I don't. I don't have the talent for applying it, nor the time or general inclination to paint my face every morning.

My little sister got married on the weekend and I was one of 6 (yes 6) bridesmaids. So for the first time ever I had my makeup done by a professional. I also had my hair styled for the first time since my wedding 7 years ago.


I took this photo myself, and yes I overexposed it and tinted it to make it look better. I could barely look at myself in the mirror, it felt a bit weird, you can't tell by this pic but it was quiet bronze where I am generally a very pale person.

I spent 2 nights away from the kids, first time ever away from my youngest overnight. I missed them so much, even if they do drive me crazy sometimes they are so important to me. I feel short of breath without them.

A Skirt for my Daughter

I wanted to sew something yesterday, I just had no idea what. So I sat down surrounded by my fabric boxes and sorted through looking for inspiration.

I came up with a few different solid coloured knits, some pretty wovens and an off cut of soft denim.

I drafted my own pattern, it simply has 2 rectangles and sews together easily.

The first was my attempt at a newborn skirt.....gosh its been a while since I had a newborn and the skirt ended a bit big. This one has a rolled hem and when I sewed the woven on I stretched the knit to meet the gathered woven to make it able to stretch more, iykwim.

The next I made for my 6yo Daughter, I love the combination of red, blue and white. For this one I didn't stretch the knit to meet the woven so it has less stretch in the waist area.

I added some buttons for decoration and TA-DA, a cute skirt. It really uses very little fabric so is quiet economical. Of course there are options for more tiers or simply a longer skirt section.

Thanks for reading.