A dress or two in a jiffy

The holiday season is truly at our front door. Most of us are scrambling to sew the last few stitches on our handmade gifts. I've got a neat and quick tutorial for a dress that will take you from cloth to completed dress in about half an hour.

I am talking about that tutorial I promised in this previous post for the pretty little dresses Amelia and Emily were wearing.

How to make a dress during this silly season.

1. Rush to cloth shop to buy pre-smocked material. Beware there are so many choices. Be steadfast and pick one that jumps out at you and escape the shop before you get distracted by other potential craft projects that you really don't have time for.


2. Instead of struggling with a wriggly toddler, measure off one of her dresses.

3. Remember to add 1/2" seam allowance. Because I don't have a serger or a overlocker, I often sew french seams to ensure a neat finish. This is how you do it.

Sew the wrong sides together.

Snip off excess fabric at the raw edge. Press seam open and then press seam again with right side of the fabric together.

Sew another seam encasing the previous seam within this one.

4. For bottom hem, turn under 1/4". Press and then turn another 1/4", press and top stitch. I added a decorative stitch at the bottom hem for some interest.


5. Cut lengths of material to sew ties for the dress. As I was making a halter sundress, I cut two lengths of material and made two strips as ties and attached them to the top of the dress.


4. Add some buttons, if time permits.


AND voila, done! To save time, create two dresses at once for efficiency and double the cuteness.

all you need is some openness and creativity

This post is for all those who work in the conservation of built heritage and the often feeling of frustration and loss.

Check this one out! The Urban Outfitters Corporate Campus in Philadelphia's Navy Yard designed by Meyer Scherer & Rockcastle. The completed work saw four dilapidated buildings turned into these really light filled spaces full of creative energy. Notice the bright industrial yellow!

This is another to add to that list that you show people with little imagination for large open warehouse/powerhouse type spaces.

All images below from Arch Daily.

WARNING: blog post not suitable for vegetarians

We had this really yummy dinner the other night with fresh fish. When I mean fresh, I mean fresh. Like alive-just-before-going-into-the-frying-pan fresh.

So after finishing our dinner, the kids went to look at the restaurant's aquarium where they kept the fish meant for the table. We pointed out and explained which fish we just had for dinner and the kids were fine and in fact, said "yummy!"

While Zach was still watching the tank with catfish, a man from behind the aquarium wall caught one out of the tank and swiftly killed it. Zach exclaimed, "Oh shit! I thought they were pets!" He explained that he had thought the fish in the other tanks were for eating and the tank with the catfish were pets.

Poor thing!

Extraordinary Mondays - the day he loves her the least

You'll have to forgive me if I don't prattle on today. I'm still exhausted. This weekend has been a marathon for the whole "village." Correction, these past three weeks have been a marathon. The preparation for the bridal shower, the lead up to the wedding, the putting together of the bride's survival pack, the wedding itself and then the next day almost mandatory family gathering of both families.

'Nough said. Picture time.

The ring bearer

Introducing the ring bearer for Tina's wedding:




Preparations are underway. There is a production line at her house to finish off all things "wedding". I've got a painting underway to dress her living room wall in time for the wedding photographer. How many more sleeps? FOUR!!!

Extraordinary Mondays - Duties of a Matron of Honour

What a weekend! The weather was lovely (instead of the yucky hot weather we had all week) and the sun was shining, the birds were chirping and some ladies of Perth were cooking up a storm!

All for Tina, the bride-to-be, and her high tea bridal shower. It was held at the Old Tea Pavilion at King's Park and the ladies came as instructed, dressed to the nines and armed with food, LOADS of yummy food, and recipes for Tina.

Here's how it went in pictures.

The bride-to-be, Tina.

The extraordinary scrumptious food!

To crown it all, the gorgeous Dolly Varden cake Tina made.

It's that mad time of year

It's that crazy time of year again. You know, the end of year crazy.

This year has been compounded by a wedding. As matron-of-honour (please please let me still fit in the dress!), I am throwing the bride-to-be a bridal shower high tea. I've spent much of my waking kid-free hours sewing and making stuff. It would have been a much grander craftier affair had the following not occurred:

1. Amelia developed tonsillitis.
2. Shelf from cupboard I was moving fell on my toe resulting in god-almighty cry, blood, almost passing out, nausea from shock, swelling, bruising and hobbling.
3. Zach developed tonsillitis.

All in that order.

So, bridal shower is now much less of a crafty affair. I've made the colour coordinated cloth napkins (all 50 of them, mitered corner and all. I used the tutorial here) but just can't bring myself to doing the next step which was to embroider a quote on it. I have the tea cups but have lost the strength to continue on with the water slide decal. It's amazing how much a sore toe can impact on every aspect of your life! Big BUMMER! But I'm sure the high tea will be fun which is important. I did make the mandatory hen's night veil. Full of tulle, flowers and feathers. I'll show pics later once the celebrations are over.

I did want to share with you the matching dresses I made for Amelia and her cousin, Emily. These dresses are really easy peasy with the smocked material you can get in your textile supply shops. I'll put together a tutorial soon.


Enjoy the rest of November and try not to stare at the unshaven men around. Support Movember.