The Smith Crew

I bought some fabric the other day to make Ezra a tag blanket - it’s so cute!! And he seems to be pretty impressed with it

Folded up (reverse has little cars on it - can’t really see them in the photo tho)

Jer had another trip away this weekend, so time for another project! (and yes I am slightly insane, I really shouldn’t have set such a huge goal for such a short time period, and over a weekend too - craziness! ….) Crazy Clarks had some bookshelves on sale for $29.95 instead of $59.95 that matched one we already had so I thought I’d try and get some more of them and find some funky fabric to cover the inside of the backboards with.

We went to Ikea on Saturday (Brianna and Ellia enjoy the playcentre there, only there was a big wait because it was full so we had a few dramas trying to sort that one out!) I found some fabric and bought 1.6m of 150cm wide figuring I just needed 1 drop of the fabric to cover each backboard…

Then onto the book cases…. Greenslopes had one in stock (we were driving past on the way back from ikea) then I decided to try Brookside as it was on the way home too (I was hoping to get two of them for that price). Brookside had “3″ in stock, only once she bought it out i realised it wasn’t the same thing (for starters the original price was $79 not $59) … I figured the one I already had would match the one already at home so decided I’d get it anyway.

Roll around monday morning and I open the box from Greenslopes… it’s broken! So we pack it back up, pack all the kids up and head back to brookside to swap it. Now we have two matching ones! (pity it required that nonsense)

Dad came around to help me put them together (well actually he came to put up a mirror in the bathroom but was kind enough to help with the book cases as well).

The book case I was expecting to buy had a single back board… only these ones had a piece that slid in between each shelf and the one above it… which meant I didn’t have enough fabric! I didn’t have enough to do each one and have enough hangover to go around the top and bottom a bit for the sliding in. So in consultation with dad we decided to leave the bottom ones uncovered.

Anyway… long story… this is what we ended up with - i really like them!!!

Now all that’s left is a trip back to ikea to buy more fabric for cushion covers… oh, and to fill the book cases!!!!

I’ve been wanting to get a trolley for a while for when we go out - rather than having to drag multiple bags around… finally did it this week! (of course I choose to go looking when there aren’t any in stock anywhere …. even tho for the last few years I feel like I’ve seen them everywhere - and funky ones too!!!).

So I got the $15 bargain from Woolies! Plain black, tragically boring! After some inspiration from a fellow baby-wearing addict Mel (http://pimpmycart.blogspot.com) I decided to get sewing!

Stupidly, I forgot to take before pics… just imagine ‘booooring!’ … but here is the ‘after’.

Closeup of pocket on flap. Originally the flap had rounded corners, I chopped 4cm off the bottom to square it off and re-did the binding.

I added a loop of elastic to the flap and a button on the back to hook it over for when I need it to stay open (It was a pain trying to get things in and out of it at times yesterday with the flap in the way)

I also added a knitting needle (it was skinny, the right length, strong but light and not being used ;)) into the front seam to help it have a bit more shape and stay open. I just unpicked an inch or so of the front seam and pushed it in then sewed a bit around the edges to keep it in place

Yay for granny trolleys!!! I love it!!!!

Now to make myself a wallet to match…..

Brianna made a bag for one of her friends today … First time at the sewing machine! (Mummy helped guide a little and did the pedal, but she did all the rest.) She took the photos too.

I made this mat today for Ezra. We have been putting him on the floor on various quilts we have around the house, but I wanted something a bit more ‘purpose-built’ so this is what we have now:

I stitched around most of the big circles on the fabric - and to be honest the stitching is horrendous… I used the ‘freehand quilting’ option on my machine, and figured it’s one of those things that takes a bit of practice (also don’t actually have the right foot attached, but hey, it was fun!) It has a waterproof backing, which is why I didn’t stitch through all layers just the wadding and top layer (the PUL on the back wouldn’t be quite so effective with holes all through it! ;))

I made this mei-tai for a friend a few weeks back. I also made another one yesterday for a swap I was a part of, but can’t post pictures of it until the person I sent it to receives it

Modelled on my duct tape dummy with a doll