fanbloomingtastic

Help! I've created a sewing monster (or, passing skills on to the next generation)

Melchett has been off school for two days now.

She hurt her foot dancing too energetically to the theme tune to Despicable Me (lyrics appropriately "I'm having a bad, bad day, it's about time things go my way"). She did some sort of kick and landed hard on the side of her left foot.

She took a day off school last week and resting it seemed to make it better. But by Tuesday night this week, it was too painful to walk on again. We called the doctor to make an appointment but the earliest they could see her was this afternoon at 2pm.......so in the meantime, she's been stuck at home, bored, fed up at missing her friends and not able to move around well on her own.

It sucks.

But over Spring Break, I taught her to sew.....prompted by Sew Weekly's Mena teaching her daughter Penelope.

She designed a top she wanted to make on her own (we watch way to many episodes of Project Runway and Fashion Star together for our own good), she chose a sheet at Goodwill (charity shop) she wanted to use, she cut out pieces (I helped her interpret what the pieces would have to look like to make her design), pinned and sewed them all herself.

She was helped by Luca Brasi, as is traditional in my Sewing Lair:

And here's the finished top, and her hurty foot:

And since then, she's been looking and looking for her next project....until last week (before the accident) she spotted a teddy bear pattern for sale in Hidden Treasures (our absolute favourite charity shop).

So to stop the onslaught of "I'm soooooooooo booooooooored"s whilst she's been off school, we've started making a teddy. Luckily I had some fun fur in my stash. But I've created a sewing monster ;)

(Sorry about the atrocious quality iphone pics).

But actually I don't mind (even though it means that at the moment I'm not getting any sewing done on this week's Sew Weekly Childhood challenge), I'm glad I'm passing on skills others taught me and giving my kids something that hopefully will last a lifetime. It's why I've taught them to cook (and especially bake), and why I taught them to knit (as well as teaching loads of other kids and grown-ups to knit in schools, groups and adult education classes).

Hopefully, in years to come, Melchett will have cute pics like these of her kids:

Well, that's if she has kids and nieces and nephews as mad as mine ;)

Update:

We haven't got the results back yet from an x-ray, but Melchett is now on crutches... though racing around on them thrilled at being mobile again.

Fingers crossed we won't find out it's broken tomorrow.... although we can always make more of the teddy.

My week: good news, more sickness, a red dress, a beautiful red car, an Oscar watching update and a tease about a movie-related outfit

Just as Mr D gets better enough to go back to work (we got the all clear from the specialist yesterday, he does NOT have cancer as was suspected....woo hoo!), I get a call from Goth Child's school that she's ill and needs to come home. And when I arrive at school, the nurse wheels her to my car in a wheelchair! So that rather decides that this week's Sew Weekly challenge (we're on an Oscars theme this week, anything inspired by any movie that's ever been nominated for an Oscar) needs to be made from stuff in my stash whilst I look after a poorly teenager rather than going out fabric shopping. This is probably a good thing.

But before Goth Child got ill she took these wonderful photos of me in last week's Sew Weekly challenge creation....the theme was 'Red'.....do you think we nailed it?

 

 

 

 

If you want to know about how I made this dress from a Simplicity 2444 pattern and some of the tweaks I made (plus a few more silly pics of me) check out my Sew Weekly post here.

The red theme was to coincide with Valentine's Day and you know how much I adore my car Hartley Pipkin....and now we match! Actually I need to decorate him for the school run this afternoon for Valentine's Day. If you haven't seen pics of how I decorate Hartley on my tumblr Absobloominglutely here's some of the past 'make-overs':

 

 

As for progress on Tempest's 2012 Oscars Watchalong (see here for the full list of 61 possible movies to be watched that have nominations in this year's Oscars), my aim was and is still to see at least 30 of them, and I had hoped to include within this all 9 nominated for Best Picture. Although I'm not doing too badly with all things that have happened in the last few weeks, I'm mainly watching ones that can be rented on iTunes, are available for instant streaming on Netflix, HBO Go and on the tv On Demand. I've so far watched 16 and blogged my thoughts about 8 of these. I shall keep on....and my percentages will improve next week when all the Shorts get released On Demand and on iTunes...I think that's on the 21st. I seriously want to get out to see some of the Best Picture nominees perhaps at the end of this week or next week but I suppose that's dependent on the health of the family ;) Oh and I've got an art masterpiece class to teach in school this week....we're looking at symbolism in medieval tapestries.....that should be fun with Melchett's class!

Aaaaanyway, better be getting on.....I've also got to get my head around this week's Sew Weekly Oscars challenge (anything, inspired by any movie ever nominated for an Oscar). I made a quick dress yesterday that I planned to work some magic on. Unfortunately it looks like a very unflattering surgical gown. I might have to have a rethink. I did however score some seriously lucky accessories for my planned 'creation' at Hidden Treasures, one of my favourite thrift shops last week........can you guess the movie that's providing my inspiration?:

 

You'll just have to check back next week to see if you guessed correctly. Which means I'd better get back to sewing....eeek.

Wey Hey! I made it onto the front page of Sew Weekly

Happy, Happy Tempest :)

 

 

 

 

And I can't tell you what joy it brings me that my pic is on the same page as the words "trashy diva". Oh yes, that's me :) Well, actually it's not me, it's a pic of a gorgeous leopard print dress by Trashy Diva as part of the 'Make This Look' section of the Sew Weekly website...

...which is actually what the SW contributors are up to making this week....not necessarilythat particular look, but finding a garment/outfit we like the look of that we could buy and making something inspired by it.

My something is coming along, though not finished or 'perfect' yet and I've made it complicated as per usual by Tempestifying it. I'm learning lots from it though and this is a good thing.

OK, I'm off back to sewing and dancing a little dance....

I might be back later today (or probably tomorrow) to show you how I'm getting organised to keep up with the Sew Weekly 'weekly' challenges. We'll see.

Until then, because I'll disappear from the front page, here's a direct link to my post on Week 2's challenge garment - my Great Big Threatening Button shirt.....also now know as the Sycorax shirt ;)

 

 

 

Sew Week Challenge Wk 3: Made This Look (Tease)

I'm busily sewing my Sew Weekly Challenge Wk 3 creation but here's some teases for you, let's see if you can work out what the finished 'thing' will look like...

Here's something that's inspired me:

 

 

 

 

And this is a designer who's inspired me this week, Luella Bartley (who sadly folded her label in 2009). I love her Spring 2010 collection in particular.

This is a picture I took out of our car window that chucked in some inspiration too:

 

 

 

Here's the band I've been listening to a lot making the 'thing' (yes, there are various elements of inspiration here):

 

 

Got to admire anyone who gets away with rhyming 'tree' with 'holadee'.

Obviously with pulling out my Altered Images (and early 80's pop....Haircut 100 swoon) mixtape, I've been playing this one a lot too.....(big hints dropped here for the thing):

 

 

It's very hard cutting material out when you're doing Claire Grogan 'bad dancing'.

And obviously I've been doing lots of this whilst thinking up mad creative ideas:

 

 

"I'll start and you just join in when you feel confident enough".

I'd like to think I have 'natural ability' :)

OK, better get back to sewing.....

You can see why I love this place can't you...

 

 

SAS Fabrics, Tempe - a total Aladdin's Cave for sewers or sewists or whatever the correct word is. I'm pretty convinced this place is actually like Bellatrix's vault in Gringotts - touch one piece of fabric and they multiply!

But I can see me spending quite a bit of time there this year - because I'm a pretty novice seamstress I can't bring myself to buy fabric very often at other shop's $8.99s and upwards. Here, if you can find it, and they have a big enough cut, you can get all kinds of stuff from less than half the price of other stores.

I have to find some kind of outfit to make that can use some of these:

 

 

 

 

And there's even better bargains in some bins, only 25c a patch, including a Tower Bridge one for the holey knee of Melchett's jeggings:

 

 

 

 

At the back of the shop are heavy fabrics for upholstery and curtains plus rolls of fake furs in every colour under the sun (got to use them some time). At the front of the shop are rolls of classier fabrics, taffetta, organza, silks, satins, chiffons, velvets, sequinned, embroidered etc. that I'll also have to brave getting cut for future sewing projects:

 

 

 

 

I was in button heaven the other day looking for inspiration for this week's Sew Weekly Challenge (I hope to post links to what I made tomorrow):

 

 

 

 

I could show you similar long-stretching aisles of sequin appliques, ribbons, all kinds of haberdashery (notions).

Considering everything, I think my haul last week from visiting was pretty restrained for me:

 

 

 

 

The only thing is, once I've published this post I'm off there again......I need 5 yds of indigo denim and something to make some elegant/dressy curtains for our closet (all will be revealed later this week....and next week.....trust me, I used to be an accountant).