Birthday present ideas

From Rhythm of the Home

My project this week is P's birthday presents.  I really love the idea of a felt playmat for her, and maybe the toys that go with it.  But I'm not sure about getting her another set of toys/playthings.  Would I be better to give her things for the dolls and toys she already has?

What do you think? I could do some more felt food, some clothes for her dolls and that sort of thing, or I could go all out with the playmat.

Baby's bonnet

One of my Christmas presents this year was a bonnet for my sister in law's daughter.  It was a simple (and I think awesome) gift.  I used another bonnet I already had as the pattern (although I may create a pdf pattern and tutorial, because I really like them).  You can see from the above picture the shape of the bonnet.  I cut out two pieces of material, and overlocked them together, with the straps sandwiched between them.  Leave a gap and turn the bonnet right side out, and then topstitch around it.

Place buttons on the bottom corners (the bottom part of the wonky t shape), and button holes on the curved edge.  Then simply button the sides together, and bonnet!

 Modelled by the accommodating Kiki.  The one I made fits about 3-6 mo up.

The bits of wool around Kiki's legs are 'undies'.

Selfish sewing

My project next week is to make myself a top. More from the Simplicity 9502 that I made this blouse out of.

I want this to be my go to top pattern, one that I can whip up knowing that it is going to fit me properly.  In order to do this, I need to make some alterations.  This time around I want to make it smaller.  I cut a size 10 last time but this time I'll be cutting the smallest size that it comes in.  I'm also going to alter the back to be a zip rather than button opening (although I'm actually going to put the zip in the front this time).  For this incarnation I'm also putting in a centre front seam because I need an easy access top for feeding C.  And finally I want to alter the neckline.  I had always assumed that because I am small chested, I didn't look good in a low neckline.  But recently I've worn a couple of tops with a lower neckline, and I've realised that actually a low scoop neck or square neck line really suits me, so I'll also attempt to lower the neckline on the pattern.

I'm not trying to do much am I? I also really want to check the placement of the bust darts when I'm finished to see if they are in the right place and the right depth for my next attempt.

Undies for P

One of the Christmas presents for P were some more undies.  I didn't really have enough stretch cotton material at home, so off to the Hospice Shop I went.  I got all of the above for $4, and in the end I didn't use the striped t shirt at all and still got 4 pairs of undies out of the material.  I was specifically looking for some that had some cool logos or patterns on them, and the pink trike just jumped out at me.

I used my underwear tutorial,

And I love the way they turned out.

And P was pleased with the results.  I love that she was still happy to receive undies from Father Christmas.

Felt food swap

 Here are the lovely felt food that I received in the swap I took part in in December.  We got some very cool pizza slices with cheese and felt bits to make our own pizzas with.

 Very cool sushi.  This also came with a pair of chopsticks, and a little fish soy sauce bottle.  I couldn't find all the other cool bits that came with this because P and J were too busy playing with them.  I did catch J frying the fish on her toy oven the other day.

 A family of gingerbread people,

And the cheese, tomato and lettuce to go with the bread.  Check out A softer footprint for other photos of the swap (plus fabulous sentiment that I entirely agree with).

The girls loved all the felt food that they got from Father Christmas, it was the (happy) surprise hit of their Christmas presents.  I got such a kick out of how much fun they had with all their food.  It really does show that kids don't need fancy, or expensive toys, or ones that 'do' heaps of things.  The joy of making their own food from these simply crafted toys was wonderful to watch.

Weekly projects

21/01: Selfish sewing
28/01: P's birthday presents
  4/02: Nappies
11/02: Advent calendar
18/02: P's birthday presents
25/02: UFO's
  4/03: Selfish sewing
11/03:
18/03:
25/03: P's birthday presents
  1/04: Winter sorting/sewing
  8/04: Knitting
15/04: Birthday prep

This brings me up to P's 5th birthday, and my return to work.  I'm pretty sure I'll be busy trying to readjust to working, and P to starting school, so we'll see how things go after April.

Bloggy goals

I've already posted about my overarching theme for this year, but I do also have some blogging goals as well.

1. Finish my 12 in 2012 list.  I'll get there, eventually.  I'm not concerned about this at all, which is fabulous.  Not too long ago I would have been very upset that I hadn't managed to complete this in 2012, and probably never finish it.  But I'm pretty okay with it now.
2. Sew more for myself.  Apart from a maternity skirt,  I didn't sew anything for myself last year.  I have a couple of patterns I'd like to make, especially a top, skirt and pants, and hopefully the sewing will also be transformative. 
3. Publish some more knitting patterns
4. Continue making handmade things for the girls

Transform 2013

So what are your plans for this year?

I don't do resolutions as such, but last year I chose a word to represent what I wanted to achieve, and my word was 'present'.  I wanted to be more present in my interactions with my children, and looking at the way I interact with them now, I think I'm doing a fairly good job of being more present with them.

So what's my word for this year? Well this is a shaping up to be a year of big changes for our family.  We will hopefully be moving house, P will turn 5 and start school, I'm going back to work, J is starting kindy, and my last baby will turn 1.

I'm not very good with this kind of change, and it has left me feeling unsettled.  I tossed up between a few words to be my guide this year, words like 'change' and 'peace', but ultimately I decided on 'transform', for both our year, and for myself.