My Creative Space

How on earth do you make an 11 month old sit still for photos? Every time Maya sees the camera she lunges for it. It makes taking photos of her very difficult. Actually it makes taking photos of anything with her nearby very difficult!

Just get a look at those tiny but terrifying teeth!

Anyway back to the creative stuff, I crocheted this sleeveless jacket for her on the weekend.

It was inspired by a top I saw someone wearing on tv and inspired by Leonie’s wrap.
It’s another ... one made without a pattern. I simply crocheted a circle and “added” a couple of slits for armholes.
I made a prototype with calico first to get the right size for Maya, then started hooking from the centre, ending with a scalloped edge and finished off with a wooden toggle button (raided from Khye’s threading beads - he’s most upset and wants me to take it off - I’m hoping he forgets about it).
I love it and now I want to make one for myself!

I’ve also been joining my triangles this week.

What’s happening in your creative spaces this week?

Front Page News!

Look what arrived in my letterbox this morning.


Local newspapers delivered! Yes, yes I know, not that interesting, but with the very unreliable delivery service around here it is exciting for me. But what's even more exciting than that is the article about the Sugar and Spice Children's Market on the front page!


Ali spends a lot of time and hard work organising this wonderful market full of gorgeous handmade things for children. And she donates all the profits from the market to local charities. The first market back in June was fantastic with a great atmosphere. You can read the article here.


And if you look closely at the photo, you can see my spunkee owl softie tucked into one of the cute dresses hanging in the background and the colourful softie Ali is holding is another spunkee special!


The next market is on September 12th at St Ambrose Hall in Woodend. I won't be a stallholder at the September Market (I am hoping to have a stall at the December market), but I am looking forward to visiting and browsing and no doubt buying!

My Creative Space…

…has been very busy this week. First up, I made two pairs of desperately needed jammies for Maya. They are made from vintage flannelette sheets. I’ve been searching the oppies for jammies Maya’s size but found nothing. Now I’m glad I didn’t ‘cos these homemade jammies are soooo much nicer – cosier and prettier than anything I could have bought (Sean doesn’t agree with me though). Yes I did make them a bit too big, but hopefully they’ll last longer.

Next I made another something for Maya. A little skirt made from an appliquéd and embroidered tray cloth. This is so totally inspired by the very inspiring Kate at Fox’s Lane and the gorgeous white tablecloth pants she made for Pepper. It is a little stained already, but with Maya still commando crawling, I’m sure there are many more stains to come. Now I have to try and find some non pink clothes in her wardrobe to match!

Lastly, there was yet another something for Maya. (Thank goodness I have a girl I can make pretty things for!) I made the dress for her dolly. I didn’t have a pattern, just kinda made it up as I went along. I really wanted to make a short sleeved dress to cover the white cotton of her soft squishy body, but that was way too difficult, particularly on such a tiny little dress. My sewing machine couldn't handle it. I guess it just looks like a white t-shirt underneath.
She has such a beautiful face doesn't she?
And I finished dolly’s cardi.

That’s all for now!

More creative spaces over at Kootoyoo.

Wordless Wednesday

More Wordless Wednesdays over at Faith, Hope & a Whole Lotta Love.

Shadow Shot Sunday

A few Sundays ago, we visited the Melbourne Museum to see the new dinosaur exhibit. And boy were there some fantastic shadows!

I love the tangle of different coloured shadows from this crocodile looking dinosaur.




This is a blue whale skeleton - apparently it's a small one!

More slightly less scary shadows over at Hey Harriet’s.

My Creative Space

It’s Maya’s first birthday in a few weeks and I’ve been preparing her present. We are giving her a dolly who is in desperate need of some cute, warm clothes and I plan to make them. And ‘cos I couldn’t leave my crochet hooks alone for too long, I started dressing her with this little cardi. Using the purple wool left over from Maya’s top and armed with the “Reader’s Digest Complete Guide to Needlecraft (1980) and a cardi Mum crocheted for me when I was a baby, I began crocheting without a pattern. I had intended to crochet it in one piece, but I started at the bottom edge and then it all got too hard when I reached the arms. So I started another piece from the neck edge and stitched the 2 pieces together. It was certainly a work of trial and error with lots of unraveling and lots of recrocheting!As you can see I still have to tie in the loose ends and sew on the buttons, but I think it has turned out well. Just in time to keep poor dolly warm in this miserable Melbourne weather.

Now I have to work out how to sew a dress to go under the cardi…

More creative spaces here.

Shadow Shot Sunday

Maya's birds in the gorgeous winter morning sunshine.

More shadows at Hey Harriet's.

My Creative Space…

… has waved bye bye to the crochet hooks (temporarily of course) and warmly welcomed the scissors and sewing machine back again.

I’ve been cutting out these woolly squares,
and transforming them into these soft rattle balls,
which have been very much loved by Maya!
I have also been admiring these gorgeous vintage sheet fat quarters that arrived recently and matching them with my existing collection. Thanks Ange for a great swap!

Where’s your creative space at this week?