Sew much time, Sew little Fabric

2011-12-24T09:09:00.005+11:00

From my family to yours, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and heres to a wonderful New Year!

Cheers and big hugs Paula

The year that was 2011

2011-12-20T21:01:00.000+11:00

Wow What a Year!

Thats got to be the understatement of the century!

I have gone from being on a disability pension and in a wheelchair (I thought for the rest of my life) to starting my own business, having one last surgery and getting out of my chair, and then working a few days a week at an awesome fabric shop!

It not all been good though, I have had too many deaths in the family and many ups and downs in my marriage, but all in all, I think that this year has been one of my best ever!

I have 4 amazing children who make me smile everyday and a job/hobby that has gotten me through some tough times! I hope your year has been a good one and that the next is a winner for all of us!

Anyway, onto the show and tell. I have had a fantastic few days in my sewing room, I have made sooo many gorgeous gifts for my babys and just couldn't help but try a few on my baby girl.

I fell in love with the Bubikini from Little Bird Designs and so I am making them for all 3 of my girls and my neice as well, sooo cute! Unfortunately I had run out of the polka dot fabric, so the ruffle on the top was a bit too thin, but still cute.

Sorry about the flash, but this is one of my favourite pics of the year. My Hubby and Bubby watching telly last night, the only way it would be more realistic would be if Daddy has his bottle next to him too ;)

Heres my baby boy, his favourite thing is to put a sock on his hand and put on a funny voice, the cheapest puppet you've ever seen tehe. It's funny how the Sit Me Up Donut has taken a major roll in our house this year. All the kids love it and somehow the insert just never stays in it, they love sitting in the middle or reading in it, or Emmas favourite new thing is doing Belly Flops onto it :)

But a great way to finish the year is with, I think my best work yet! This one has been months in the making from tiny little sketches to a full single bed sized sensory quilt.

Tummy Time is my newest pattern and is heading to shops as I type (thanks to Pattern Press of course). Tummy Time recieved a huge reaction at the Australian Quilt Market and I'm just so proud of it.

As most parents will know, we are encouraged to lay our babys on their Tummys for a little while each day so they can strengthen their necks. To make this more interesting for little ones, the 'Tummy Time' quilt has lots of different textures for them to play with.

Buttercup the Kitten has a faux fur chest and tail, Madeliene the Sheep is made from chenille. Mr Toucan has a flappy 3D wool felt tail. Ralphie the Elephant has suede feet and ears, as well as a flappy ear, Ted the turtle has metalic spots while Denis the Duck has a minky wing and a squeaky toy and finally Pickles the Puppy has a 3D tongue that is also crinkly.

I hope you like my newest pattern! Wow who would have thought on the 1st of Feb this year that by the end of the year I would have released 9 patterns!

The kids are screaming so I best go, but I hope that you have an amazing holiday season and whatever you do I hope you are safe and happy!

Hugs Paula xxx

AQM and a trip to Tocumwal

2011-12-06T11:26:00.001+11:00

I have had a crazy few months! As well as working on a new pattern (pictures soon) I took a quick trip to Tocumwal to visit my dear old Dad. Dad has Leukemia and has had a tough few months with Chemo so we thought a visit with his girls would be the best medicine.

Heres Poppa with his best girl, my Molly.

We had a great time in Toc, we went Koala spotting and got so close to them it was fantastic! Chloe also had a ball in Nannas garden, she loves picking flowers and putting them in her hair.

Another reason for the trip was to head down to the Australian Quilt Market in Melbourne.
I had a fantastic time even though I had no kids with me for the first time in 7 years, I missed them terribly! The Pattern Press Stand that Helen and Melissa set up was so fantastic! I had so much fun talking to everyone, new and old friends, a fantastic weekend!

Heres my section of the stand, almost all my samples made the trip and they looked fantastic I think.

One of the highlights of the weekend was heading out for dinner on the Saturday night with some of my favourite designers. The cameras all got pulled out when it was desert time. Natalie Ross was there, a big fan of chocolate as you can see ;)

Helen was a good girl and settled for a wafer from her daughters desert :)

Melissa Grant and Gail Pan shared their chocolatey Orange yummyness.

And me, well I just had a Hot chocolate, so no pictures of that :)

After having trouble getting my car started tehe I finally got back to Tocumwal on Sunday night and remembered oops the girls had been invited to a birthday party for their new friend Alice. So I whipped up a cute little party dress for here from some of my favourite new fabric that I had scored at the AQM. The lovely designer is Tammie from 'Buddies Coirner'

The dress I sort of made up as I went along, but I got the bodice pattern from here.

The Fabric has such a high thread count that I raw edge appliqued the flower without even using any fusible webbing... I'm in love with Tammies fabric, can you tell :)

Finally I decided, no more work and we had a great time, we went sight seeing and visited some more new friends on their property, they had this massive tree on their property, which takes about 12 people stretched with their arms out to reach around it!! My Dad is over 6 foot tall, so can you imagine how big this tree is!!

What a fantastic week we had! Hope you have a great one too!

Hugs Paula xxx

Winners

2011-12-05T12:32:00.001+11:00

Oh dear, I have been feeling soooo guilty, It has been forever since I mentioned my new pattern giveaways and I haven't had 2 seconds to get organised to announce the winners.

I have finally drawn the winners though and congratulations go to:

rosewendy said...

I am a follower. I love the Kids sewing book. It looks bright and fun- a great way to interest young people.
wendyhatton(at)yahoo.com.au

Quiltin' Sandy said...

Hi Paula I am a follower. Your patterns are really lovely. :0

So Ladies send me an email and let me know which of my patterns you would like (You can choose from any of my patterns not just the new ones) and I will post them out ASAP.

I will hopefully find 5 minutes to get back here to fill you in on the excitement of the Australian Quilt Market in Melbourne last weekend. OMG it was awesome!

2 new Patterns and a giveaway!

2011-11-02T09:24:00.001+11:00

I'm really excited to announce that after quite a break from pattern writing, I am finally 'back in the saddle' and have finished another 2 patterns that will be available from next week!

One of the things I have enjoyed most since I started working at My Patch in Milton is teaching! It has been so much fun for me to pass on the little hints and tips that I have picked up along the way and to be able to encourage people who what to, but have never sewn before.

With that in mind I have created my 'Beginners Quilt' This quilt is a great place to start for people who want to try 'Patchwork and Quilting'. I have really tried my best to make this pattern extremely detailed and have included diagrams to make patchwork 'achieveable' for everyone!

This pattern will guide you through a Bordered 4 Patch and a 9 patch. It will teach you how to strip piece, how to nest seams and lots of other tips and techniques along the way.

I have also made this quilt in a Jelly Roll and it is lots of fun to make! I hope you like it!

I have also been teaching kids in our School Holiday Workshops. I've been working with kids from 7 to 13ish in the workshops. They have inspired me so much with the desire to learn and so I have put together my first ever little Booklet.

Ready, Set, Sew: A Kids guide to Sewing has 5 Fun Projects for kids! This booklet is designed to grow your childrens skills and their Love of sewing!

We start with a Needlebook to store your favourite Needles, we then move on to a Pin Cushion Bracelet. The pin cushion is also removeable too so your little one can wear their bracelet anytime! Another project in the booklet is an Owl Canvas, a great decoration for thier bedroom, theres also a personalised cushion and finally a gorgeous little Dolly Quilt.

I hope you love my new designs as much as I do! I think they would make fantastic christmas presents for anyone who is interested in learning to sew!

The easiest way to get one of my patterns is to ask your local patchwork shop to order them in from Pattern Press.

OK so here is your chance to win one of my new patterns! All you need to do is follow my blog if you don't already and make a comment on this blog post. Don't forget to leave me a way of contacting you if you leave a no-reply comment. Don't forget to tell your friends!

I will draw a winner on Friday the 11th at 9am Sydney time. Good Luck!

Happy Stitching!

Hugs Paula

Finally something to blog about :)

2011-10-06T19:09:00.002+11:00

My little man celebrated his 3rd birthday at the start of the month and since the very first time I had seen the Oliver + S Book, 'Little things to Sew' I had wanted to make him the gorgeous Explorer Vest. I finally got around to it and I'm just sooo happy with the result!

Jack is a huge fan of pockets as most little guys are, so this one was a perfect project for him.

I found the pattern really easy to make and the result is just too cute!

The hat looks down right gorgeous too :)

Happy 3rd Birthday little man, I adore you xxxxxx

Hugs Paula

2 little birds

2011-09-11T16:25:00.001+10:00

My Dear Daughter number 2 was invited to a birthday party this weekend and I decided it would be nice to make her friend a pressie instead of buying just another piece of plastic, so I got busy and made her one of the gorgeous Melly and Me patterns, Hooty and Tweet.

What I didn't know was that she was an Owl fanatic and her bedroom is totally decorated with little tweeters :)

I decided to make a few extras for the shop, so Hooty and Tweet will be heading to their new home next week.

I cut up some kits as I was cutting, so if your interested give us a call at the shop next week. My Patch Fabrics 02 4472 2471 or have a look at our Ebay Shop.

Hugs Paula

Cake Pops!

2011-09-09T15:08:00.000+10:00

I have had sooo much fun today!

I little while ago I stumbled upon the Bakerella Website and just fell in love with the gorgeous Cake Pops, after all what is better than gorgeous little cakes? Little cakes on a stick of course!

So I ordered the book and waited patiently for it to arrive. Then I got the book and realised I couldn't buy the candy melts where I live, so I ordered 'lots' from an online cake decorating shop and I was finally ready to get going. But of course I'd forgotten to order some lollipop sticks. hahaha
The cake pop gods were against me, so back online and finally this morning the sticks arrived and I was champing at the bit to get going.

So I head into town to buy all the little bits to decorate my cake pops, I was going to make little pigs, so I bought every miniture lolly I could find!

I crumbled up my cake and added the icing, then rolled them into balls, but of course I was too impatient to let them chill for long enough and my first attempt was less than perfect ;)

hahaha, not quite the perfectly smooth cute little balls I'd seen on Bakerellas website or in her book, so I put my cake balls in the freezer and sat down to have a proper read of the book (rather than just looking at the adorable pictures).

I decided to forget about making little pigs and just try and make nice smooth cake pops with sprinkles and this is what I came up with :)

I realised that my candy melts were too thick and I freacked out a little when I thought I might have to go back to the shop for some copha, but thankfully the magic lady Ms Bakerella said you can subsitute some vegetable oil, I knew I had some of that in my pantry, so a few teaspoons in the mix and I was off and running. Or really off and dipping :)

Ohhh they are so much fun to make, but the kids just got home from school, so I'm sure my little pops wont last for long. :)

Hugs Paula

Big Sale!

2011-08-23T09:30:00.000+10:00

Today I bring great news!

Val is the owner of the shop I work at a few days a week and she has been on a buying frenzy since we opened, so much so that she has forgotten how much she ordered and now the shop is totally overflowing! Seriously she had to take some fabric home because ther was absolutely no room left for the stock.

Anyway this is great news for you because we are now having a storewide 20% off sale! That means you'll get 20% off even the new fabrics, we just got in some of the most gorgeous Riley Blake and Robert Kauffman fabrics! There's the Laminate fabrics, Anna Maria Horner, Amy Butler, just about everything thats new and fresh! There's also heaps of flannel that has an even bigger discount, so give Val a call today on 02 4455 4087.

I've also gotten into the spirit with my Beautiful Big Bras Ebay shop and I'm making everything Freight Free!! So head over to my ebay shop and grab a bargain this week! So click here to shop now.

Have a great week,
Hugs Paula

Blackboard fabric mini Tutorial

2011-07-27T15:43:00.000+10:00

I think it must go back to my childhood, but I just love Blackboards! I always have I don't know why, so when I discovered blackboard fabric some time back, let me tell you I was a happy girl :)

I've had a little bit for some time and I've been wanting to do a canvas blackboard for ages so when some of the new Riley blake fabrics came in to work last week I just couldn't help myself!

I used a 45cm square canvas that i got at the cheap shop and a Metric fat quarter of the tree fabric for the background. I also used some leftover batting which was about a FQ size, a second co-ordinating novelty fabric, some brown fabric for the trunk and about a 6" strip of blackboard fabric. If you can buy a fat Quarter, that would be plenty! I also used a small amount of fusible webbing (Vliesofix)

I first just drew a really simple tree trunk shape on the paper side of the fusible webbing. I used the pattern on my fabric as inspiration, don't get stressed about it, just a big simple shape is fine! Iron the webbing onto the brown fabric and cut the shape out on the drawn line.

I layed the background FQ on top of the canvas and centred it (I just eyeballed it) I put the tree stump a bit up from the bottom of the canvas frame. I carefully lifted the FQ and took it to my iron, trying not to move it and ironed it in place. I'm not overly fussed about it being perfect, but you could take more care if you like.

I then took it to my machine and machine blanket stitched it in place. If you don't have a blanket stitch on your machine a satin stitch or even just a zig zag is fine. You could also just hand stitch it if you want.

Now onto the precious blackboard fabric! Yeah!! I got a marker, I actually used a purple gel pen because it showed up easily on the back of the fabric and it was already on my sewing table ;) I traced around 3 circle shaped objects that were in the room. They were a small plate, a DVD Disk holder and a cup. You could do any shape you like.I cut the circles out and took them to my project.

Tips on Blackboard fabric: I really don't know what its made of to be honest, but it looks like a vinyl and it really does not like the iron or pins!! So if your fabric is a bit curly try not to worry, you are stitching it down and it won't matter. If its really wrinkly, turn your iron down low and just swipe over it really quickly. If you iron it for too long it will go shiny and won't behave properly later. Let it cool and if you really need to, do it again. You must let it cool between each swipe or it will melt and be a big mess on your ironing board.

If you use pins on it, you will have a permanent hole in the fabric, and ironing is out so using any fusible fabric is pretty much out, so I just used a liquid glue. I tried a glue stick, but mine was a bit dried out and didn't work well. I had the runny glue, so I used it instead. I just put a dab around the circles and stuck them into place. You really don't need much, its just to hold it in place while you stitch it.

I took this to the machine and did a blanket stitch all around. Remember to take it really slow because you only get one chance at this! Each stitch puts a whole in the fabric, this is why I like to use a really simple shape like a circle, I have also done stars and squares would work too. I haven't tried stitching through it by hand, basically because I think it would be a challenge to get the needle through. If you want to though, go for it :)

I also ironed some fusible webbing onto the back of some cute little novelty fabrics and fussy cut them out. I ironed them onto my background and pinned my top to the batting and just raw edge appliqued them in place. I think next time I would use a fabric that is more contrasting, because they got lost a bit on my background.

Priming the blackboard fabric: I have read that you need to 'prime' the fabric before you use it or the first thing you write on it will be there forever. Basically you need to turn your chalk sideways and rub the chalk all over the blackboard fabric so its totally covered in chalk. You then rub it out and your ready to go. I generally use a damp cloth to remove all the chalk and it works for me, but you can test this on your scraps if you like.

You can do a bit of free motion quilting if you like then just staple the finished project onto your canvas and your done.

If you are interested in a kit for this project, email me and I will let you know how much it would be for the fabrics. The canvas would be a bit hard to post :)

Have fun and remember to email any pics if you give this a try.

Hugs Paula

Stitching Therapy!

2011-07-24T16:04:00.000+10:00

I really have been trying to get back here and update my blog, but life just seems to be so busy all the time.
My patterns have just gone crazy (thank you so much to everyone who has bought a pattern) and my work at the shop My Patch is so much fun, but even though I only work 2 days a week, I am finding it so hard to stop and take a breather. I'm sure you know what I mean :)

So it was a bit of a forced break for me this past week when I was back in hospital yet again for some more surgery on my knee (this was surgery number 4). Anyway, things went well and hopefully it looks like this is that last one! YEAH!! I'm a bit slowed down being on crutches so I've found some time to do a bit of stitching for therapy :)

When I was at the Sydney Trade Show a month or so back, I spotted this beautiful Block of the Month project, designed by my awesome publisher Helen Stubbings of Hugs and Kisses and Colourque fame. So when I knew I was going to be in hospital for a few days I prepared a heap of blocks to take with me and I actually got a lot of it done!

The project is a Wallhanging designed to be like the samplers of old that our Mums and Mums Mums used to make when they were kids. I thought It would make a really nice heirloom project to leave for my children, to commemorate my love of fabric/stitching/Quilting. :)

It includes all the important dates in my life, like my birthday and marriage date.

Some Needleturn which I'm soooo happy with!

And some lovely poetry. There's also lots of 1/2" hexagons which I'm really enjoying doing!

So there we go, I have finally shown you what I've been up to.

Oh I nearly forgot, in my spare time ;) I've started selling some Plus Size Bras on ebay :) I got a bit tired of frumpy and plain and boring bras, so I went searching and found some really gorgeous bras and started importing them.

I think I'm on a winner because they are selling like hotcakes and I just put in another order, so there will be more to list in about a week. So if your interested head over to my ebay shop, Beautiful Big Bras theres nothing under a 16C.

Hugs Paula xxx

My Sydney Trip and Prize winners!

2011-06-28T10:15:00.000+10:00

Last week my mum, my baby and I headed up to Sydney for the Trade Show and Quilt Show at Darling Harbour. We were so luck to have a family friend at Kirrabilly to stay with and therefore had the most amazing view! On our last night we headed up stairs to the top of the units and OMG! The view was just breathtaking!

This is my favourite shot.

Can you imagine, we were so lucky to stay at their amazing home, so Auntie Julie and Unncle Charles Thank You!!!
The trade show was great! We got to see some amazing products and meet some fantastic people! A little bit of Quilting industry star spotting was a highlight too ;)
This is part of the Pattern Press stall which housed all my designs! Mine are on the left of the chair. It was so great to see it all together.

At the Quilt and Craft Show along with the amazing quilts, some of my favourite things where these new ribbons by Kaffe Fassett. Just gorgeous!!

Heres another shot of the Harbour, it was just sooo stunning!

Anyway we had a heap of fun and spent waaayyy to much money, but thats all part of it right? I picked up some awesome new products and I hope to find the time soon to do some reviews on here for you to join in the fun.

I also was very slack and forgot to announce the winners of my new patterns. I've done the draw and Congrats to Nadine and Rita! I will be in contact ladies.

I hope you have a great week and will be back soon with some new (or new to me) product reviews :)

Hugs Paula

My 2 new patterns available soon and a giveaway!

2011-06-14T12:49:00.001+10:00

I'm so ridiculously excited :) I have finally finished my next two patterns and they are being printed as I type. Yeah!

As you may have guessed I'm a huge fan of the Sweetwater girls, I love love love their fabrics and purely out of coincidence I have made up my first new pattern using 2 of their ranges. 'Pure and Sunkissed'

This is my first quilt pattern and I'm so proud of it! It is call the 'Love is all around' Quilt. This quilt is designed for every mum or grandmother who I have heard say "They just grow so quick!" I wanted to design a quilt that was fun and cute for a baby, but was still suitable for a toddler, teen and even adult, so this was what I came up with.

This is the boy version and is a cot quilt size, but is easily 'upsized' by increasing the size of the blocks! I used 2 Charm packs for this quilt, but you could easily make it with 2 layer cakes for a huge quilt!

I also designed a girl version and decided to make this one in just 2 colours, I really love how this one came out and as we backed it with flannel this quilt is soooo cuddly!

The 'Love is all around quilt pattern' will be available from Pattern Press and your favourite quilt shops in the next week, depending on the volcanos and how it affects distribution.

My second new pattern is just so much fun! My kids love to count down to everything! They countdown to Christmas of course, Easter and birthdays, so I decided to design some toys that make counting down so much fun!
So here it is, the 'How Many Sleeps - Countdown Cubes' Pattern.

First up of course who doesn't count how many sleeps there is until their Birthday? ;)

And of course Christmas,

Heres the Easter block with a cute little egg with bunny ears!

I love the Halloween block, but for those of us who are very patriotic, I'll be putting up a free design for Australia Day soon, so if you don't celebrate Halloween you can just replace this block with the free Australia Day block.

Its always fun to count down to holiday time,

And finally the ultimate countdown is to the New Year!

As well as being fun, these blocks are really educational, teaching kids number recognition and how to count backwards.
I'm also really excited about the 'How many sleeps - Countdown Cubes' because they are my first pattern that will include iron on transfers of the embroidery designs. How cool is that!!

To celebrate I think we need to have a giveway!, So if you would like to win a copy of either of my new patterns, just leave me a message on this post and I will draw a winner when I get back from the Trade show in Sydney next friday the 24th of June at 9am. Don't forget to tell your friends! If we get lots of entries I might give away some of my other patterns too! So tell everyone you know :)

A huge thanks goes to my Mum, Lesley! Without her, neither of these patterns would have been finished! She is so amazing, her embroidery skills are out of this world, and is always quick to offer her 'unpicking skills' when I make a boo boo ;)
She also helped piece the quilts and did a fantastic job of quilting them too. So Thank you Nan, Your the best! Check out her ebay shop for gorgeous Batiks!

I hope you love my new designs as much as I do!! Remember to ask your favourite quilt or fabric shop to order in my patterns from Pattern Press.

Hugs Paula

With 4 kids, how do you find the time?

2011-06-06T18:41:00.000+10:00

I hear this question on a regular basis, so I thought I'd show you :) This is how I get most of my machine work done.

Emma just wasn't happy this afternoon, so she helped me finish, rather almost finish my next pattern.

I have 2 new patterns being launch at the Sydney Quilting expo, and photography is due on Wednesday, so its busy busy busy around here :)

I had another exciting day last week when I hosted my first workshop! I was rediculously nervous but the ladies were awesome and did a great job on my softie patterns. They were too shy to have their pictures up here, so Sue took a picture of me. eeek, I'm not usually this side of the camera.

It was so much fun and the results were fantastic!

Hugs Paula

Lots of stitching and a giveaway

2011-05-23T18:54:00.000+10:00

Last Saturday I took my beautiful Mum in to work and we had a brilliant day finishing off some quilts we were making for the shop. This is one of them, Designed by Zan Taylor this is the Alpha Beezy Quilt lots of applique but this is a really great fun and pretty easy quilt to make!

I've been telling you about the kids school holiday workshops that we are holding in July, well this is one of the projects that the 7 - 10 year olds will be making. Its a little pincushion that is also a bracelet. The kids can take the pincushion part off if they like and can just wear the bracelet.

They will also be making this needlebook, they will learn to gather ribbon to make a flower, they'll be sewing on a button, they'll do some hand stitching and will even have a go on a machine! Should be a fun day!

These are both of the kids projects, perfect for beginners too, they give you a taste of lots of different styles of stitching, we'll be putting kits together soon.

Valerie at My Patch (my work) is having a giveaway on her facebook page. If you'd like to win 4 Fat Quarters of my favourite range, Sunkissed by Moda, (the fabrics I used in the cushion in the picture) head over to the My Patch facebook page and click 'like'. When we get to 65 likers Val will do the draw.
Don't forget to tell her I sent you :)

Hugs Paula

A sneek peak and the kids workshop project

2011-05-18T10:54:00.000+10:00

I have been working away and have almost finished my next pattern, YEAH!!!

So I thought I'd give you a little sneek peak.

Huge Thanks goes out to Nan (my mum) for doing the amazing embroidery!! She is so incredibly talented!

I've also been working on the kids workshop projects, this is what the 11 and ups will be working on.

I made this gorgeous little cushion with the amazing Sweetwater range from Moda. I am so addicted to this range and I think I really need to make a quilt for my bed with this range, it is just so stunning.

Anyway if you or your kids are interested in joining in a workshop on the school holidays give Val a call at the shop on 02 4455 4087.

Hugs Paula

PS. I'm looking for some test sewers of my next pattern. If you have young kids (0 - 2) could you please email me or leave a comment on this post with the age and gender of your kids and I will get back to you soon with the details. paula.storm@gmail.com

My first Workshop!

2011-05-15T17:19:00.001+10:00

I'm so excited and also totally terrified at the prospect of hosting my first workshop!

On June the 2nd in conjunction with My Patch Fabrics in Milton NSW we will be having a Softie workshop where you can choose any of my patterns and we will take you through the construction and more than likely finish the project of your choice.

I'll be giving you hints and tips to create successful softies, not just my patterns but others as well, you can even make a Sit Me Up Donut if you like, so if your interested please give Valerie a call and book in on 02 4455 4087 or email her, the cost is $40 plus pattern and materials. There is limited spots, so please book early :)

Another exciting piece of news is I will also be hosting a school holiday program for kids! I'll be working with the kids in two serperate workshop sessions. The first with younger kids 7 - 10 year olds and the second with 11 and ups using their machines. I'll be posting pictures in the next few days of the projects we will be making. The cost is $25 and includes requirements.

We have stacks more workshops going on at the moment too, Sheena Chapman is hosting a Kaleidoscope workshop on May 21, just email Valerie and she will send you a workshop programme. Or join the My Patch Facebook page for regular updates.

Hugs Paula

My Babys 5th Birthday Hello Kitty Cake.

2011-05-08T20:45:00.000+10:00

One of my gorgeous baby girls celebrated her 5th birthday today, She just adores Hello Kitty, so I had a bit of a google search and found a cake that I liked, I changed it a bit and this is what happened.

Emma adored the Fairy bread :)

Chloe and her 15 friends yes 15, had an awesome day!

The cake didn't last long though, isn't it always the way, you spend hours and hours decorating and in minutes its gone.

Happy Mothers Day to all the mummys out there, I hope you had a more relaxing day than I did :)

Hugs Paula

Sewing and spending :)

2011-05-06T19:41:00.000+10:00

It's been a long while since I last posted, but it's because I have been extremely busy. What has kept me the most busy is my new job at Val's shop in Milton NSW, called My Patch Fabrics, (also on Facebook) I absolutely loooove that I can grab a pattern and some fabric and just get sewing with no designing decision pressure!

One of my favourite patterns at the moment is from 'One Red Robin', the Baby Chibi dolls are just too cute!! I've been wanting to make them since the day the shop opened and I finally got to them this week, what do you think?

I love the little lady bug buttons in the shop so I added one to the flower on my girl Chibi.

What else is going on, well my Mum who I told you about a few weeks ago is now selling Baby Gap clothes on Ebay as well as the hand embroidered t-shirts. This embroidered Owl shirt is one of my favourites!! The stitching is very very well done, what you expect from Baby Gap and at just $12.50 its a bargain! Luckily I get mates rates :)

My sister also has an ebay shop with stacks of Baby Gap Pyjamas and clothes, she has also just gotten in some wall stichers, We had a birthday in my house yesterday and my 2nd born was very pleased with 2 gorgeous pairs of pj's and some gorgeous heart stickers for her bedroom!
The love bird jammies are my favourite!

Jack looks sooo cute in this outfit! It has a really nice weight to it, with the shirt over the top of the suit (they are attatched), just beautiful quality and they look adorable with jeans!

This outfit though is my absolute favourite!!! My little supermodel looks so rediculously gorgeous in this Carter's outfit! I'll try and get a picture of her in it, just adorable!

Anyway, back to the sewing room for me, I have so many projects on the go, I just need to finish one and I'll be happy :) wishful thinking I think hehe.We are working on some new patterns for kids sewing classes at the shop, got to get to them early ;)

Hugs Paula

My big news!

2011-04-22T10:07:00.000+10:00

I hinted at some really big news a week or so ago on Facebook and the time has come to spill the beans :)

I was contacted a couple of weeks ago by the extremely talented Helen Stubbings from Hugs and Kisses, shes the creator of Colourque. Anyway she is also the owner of Pattern Press.

Pattern Press is the distributor of patterns by amazing artists like Monica Poole of Moonshine Designs, One Red Robin, and heaps more! Anyway Helen offered to distribute my patterns for me!!

Can you imagine!! Anyway I laughed and cried and was shaking for hours!! Before I replyed rather quickly with a big fat YES! :)

So the last week has been filled with redesigning my pattern covers and instructions which will now be in a booklet format, I think this will be great for people like me who constantly loose pages of patterns that I'm working on.

So heres a look at the new covers:

The next piece of exciting news is that Helen will be taking my patterns to Spring Market in Salt Lake City next month! I'm just so overwhelmed with how quickly this has all happened, but really really happy too :) so back to the sewing room to stitch up some more samples...

So keep a lookout for my patterns in your favourite shop, and if they don't have them ask them to contact pattern press, The patterns aren't up on their website yet, but can be ordered by emailing the Pattern Press team orders@patternpress.com.au or by phone on +61 362787507.

In other news I started my new job at My Patch fabrics in Milton yesterday, it was sooo much fun, how can you get paid to work in such an amazing shop!! I was totally exhausted at the end of the day, but it was a heap of fun too :)

Hugs Paula

My Patch Fabrics Grand Opening!

2011-04-09T14:58:00.002+10:00

Ok get ready for a marathon post with tons of pictures!

One of my gorgeous friends who also happens to stock my patterns is Val, Val has been running an ebay shop for some time but has also decided to take the leap into a Bricks and Mortar shop. YEAH!!!

My Patch fabrics opened its doors this morning and it is AMAZING!

Located at the top of the hill in Milton NSW, My Patch is choc full of the most beautiful fabrics patterns and samples!

These chairs are so beautiful! I just love the fabrics!

Here my Twiga the Giraffe pattern in yummy Amy Butler Love fabrics

I was getting a bit artsy with my new camera hehehe, this is Heather Baileys Effie

My little supermodel hard at work :) Emma is sitting in Vals Sit Me Up Donut Sample.
How cute are those fabrics! Also available in pink shades.

This is Val.

I nearly bought this pattern(sorry this isn't on the online shop yet), but I went with this one from 'Make it Perfect' instead
(I love Toni's patterns), I'm going to make hats for the whole family :)

This is a tower of Fat Quarters folded in triangles. I want one of these instead of a Birthday cake this year! ;)

Heres my Sammy Seahorse Pattern made up in the Sunkissed by Sweetwater fabrics, I love these sooo much! I have some meterage of these, might just be a new pattern coming out in these soon :) The swirly print in my absolute favourite!

Heres another arty pic. This quilt is amazing! the hand quilting is soooo gorgeous. I'm not sure where the pattern is from but Val you did an amazing job on it!

A big basket of yummyness (I don't care if thats not a word hehehe it fits)

Heres Val, my Mum Lesley and Emma who we put to work immediately! ;)

This is Dot Swoope (right) who brought in the first quilt top to the shop for show and tell, Dot made this amazing quilt at a workshop run by Val and taught by Sheena Chapman. This quilt is made without a pattern and is totally freeform! It is just stunning! Well Done Dot!

Here's the display with my patterns and samples. I must admit it brought a tear to my eye when I saw that my patterns where alongside my idols Melly & Me and books by amazing artists like Amy Butler, Heather Bailey and Material Obsession! Thanks Val!

If you want to contact Val, her shop number is 02 4455 4087 or check out her shop on ebay.

One last exciting piece of news, Val offered me a job! Now to decide, do you think I could cope with being around amazingly gorgeous fabrics, patterns and samples all day long and being able to sew when I'm not busy.... hmmmm such a tough decision ;)

Hugs Paula

My clever Mummy! Get your shopping fingers ready :)

2011-03-29T16:10:00.001+11:00

I have a very clever Mummy! She is my rock and is always there when I need a hand or advice or a shoulder to cry on, basically the best mum in the world. So Mum has been busily stitching and decided to give ebay a shot to sell some of her work.

Heres Emma, the usual perfect super model, modelling one of mums gorgeous T-shirts. The shirts are pre-made, but mum has hand appliqued these gorgeous little cupcakes and Teddy Bears on them.

It says 'My Little Cupcake'

This one is my favourite! The teddy is just gorgeous and I love the ribbon on her head.

These shirts are gorgeous too with the big ruffly (no idea how to spell that) neck. She has these varieties up to a size 2, but she has more coming so if you are after a bigger size, just let her know! Theres is also some cute Giraffe shirts for older kids.

She also has these gorgeous book covers, that include the notebook too. Go and have a look at the pink one, I just might have to pinch that one ;) or at least get her to make me one hehehe hint hint mum!

And these are the coolest thing, if you know a card player they are an awesome gift! They are really good to help teach kids to hold their cards or for people with arthritis who have trouble holding their cards. We like using them too because you can easily put your hand face down and you don't have to keep faning your cards out every time you pick them up again.

Anyway if you want to have a look, this is Mums shop there is also some japanese friendship dolls and even a Magoo softie made by me :) So go and check out how clever my mum is! She is a perfectionist and you won't believe how cheap her prices are!

Hugs Paula

Oh I almost forgot, I have some awesome new stockists of my patterns, (check out their shops at the links on the left,) and one of them has just started a new swap, its for a zippy purse, so why not whip up one of my humbug bags and join in! Click on the picture and it will take you to the spot where you register. Hugs P

My New Camera!!

2011-03-22T17:47:00.000+11:00

As some of my net friends know, I have been saving and saving for my dream camera for quite some time, so when I finally scraped together the last few dollars I needed for my new camera I was just so over the moon!
My new baby arrived this afternoon and I just can't stop playing :)
Here's Princess:

My Super model:

Oh and I have done a little stitching :)

Have you caught the Vignette bug yet? This is the Stitchery in Leanne Beasleys new magazine called Vignette. I decided I didn't have the time to commit to the full quilt, but I really wanted to stitch something, so the 'pin board' project seemed perfect.

I love the design and its been so nice to do some no pressure sewing for a change (plus I've been very crook and my brain was not working well this week, apparently you can develop Asthma at 35, who knew).

The cosmo threads are just a dream to work with, I love them and I have been using it for some time now, but If you haven't used Parlan to back your stitcheries, I highly recommend you try it! Its like stitching through butter, is super cheap and I don't know if I'm imagining it, but my threads seem to tangle less. I get mine from Under the Mulberry Tree, the link is at the top of my blog under stockists.

I'm sure I'll be back soon with more pics ;) until then, have a good one.

Hugs Paula

20% off Sale

2011-03-21T13:33:00.000+11:00

Lets have a sale for absolutely no reason at all :)

simply enter '20PERCENTOFF' in the checkout on my etsy site and funnily enough you'll get 20% off all the patterns in my store. Inluding all my new patterns! (doesn't include quilt)

Happy shopping :)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/sewlittlefabric

Oops forgot to mention, the sale ends Friday the 25th at noon. Thanks everyone for your support!

Sit Me Up Donut free Insert Pattern

2011-03-11T19:41:00.000+11:00

As you know, I recently started publishing my own patterns. The most popular of these by far has been the Sit Me Up Donut, modelled here by my gorgeous girl Emma.

When I made this pattern I always had the intention of making a round cushion to fit inside it, so that as your kids grow they can still use the donut, So today I got busy and made up my insert and even got time to write the pattern too! (wonders will never cease) :)

I got the cushion finished this morning and each child who has walked into my house today has headed straight for it. :) Jack had a great time 'reading', I didn't have the heart to tell him the book was upside down hahaha.

Anyway as a thank you to all the amazing people who have bought my patterns I have put together a free PDF Tutorial for you, you can download it from here.

Just to let you know my insert looks a bit bigger than the donut. This is because the stuffing in the donut has compressed a bit from everyday use, the insert will level out too over time and will be even with the top of the donut.

I'll be putting together some of the pictures that I have been sent of others donuts too, so if you have already made one, please send me a picture I love looking at each and every one!

My blog is also getting a bit of an overhawl in the next few days, so please come back often :)

Hugs Paula xxx

New Patterns available now!

2011-03-07T10:55:00.002+11:00

I'm very excited because today is the day that I have released my new patterns.

First up is my Pin the tail on the Donkey Wallhanging Game.

My kids have had so much fun playing with this game, its definately not just for birthday partys! They love putting the blindfold on and spinning each other around.

The Donkeys tails are actually weaved together. My girls have had a great time weaving the donkeys tails, but they also used the same technique to make friendship bracelets for their school friends!

The blindfold also has little ears, so cute.

Next up is Twiga, Twiga is the Swahili word for giraffe.

The Twiga pattern also includes the pattern for a baby twiga chew toy. These toys have been my biggest seller at my market stall. Babys just love to chew on these little cuties. Their legs and neck are the perfect size for babys to grab hold of.

Why not make a whole bunch! They make great baby gifts!

Twiga has legs that stay upright, so they won't splay out to the sides. He is just adorable with cute little ears and horns.

All my patterns include full size pattern pieces and following my Sew Little Fabric motto, I make sure to not over estimate fabric! I hope you love them as much as I do!

Patterns are available now from my etsy shop or visit some of my awesome stockists! The list is at the top of my blog on the left hand side.

Hugs Paula

Owl Softie free Pattern/Tutorial

2011-03-01T08:44:00.000+11:00

As you may have heard the City of Christchurch in New Zealand has been devestated by an earthquake which caused such sadness and loss of life. So when I found the blog post from 'Kiwi at Heart' collecting Softies for the kids of Christchurch I just had to be involved.

I have been wanting to make an Owl Tutorial for ages so this seemed like the perfect reason to get in and do one, my hope is that you might make one or two for the kids.

So here we go, this is my Owl, I've tried desperately to come up with a cute name, but alas I can't think of one... any ideas?

Anyway if you'd like to make one you will need:

Fat Quarter of Main body fabric (you will probably get at least 2 owls from a Fat Quarter)
scraps of fabric for the wings and eyes
Wool felt for his beak.
Vliesofix
Stuffing
General Sewing Supplies.
Pattern pieces Download the PDF here

Directions:
Trace the Owls wings, Eyes, Pupils and beak onto the Vliesofix and iron onto your chosen fabrics.

Trace the Owls Body onto folded fabric and cut out on the traced line so you have 2 pieces. This is what you will have, plus an extra back piece.

Overlapping the eyes slightly, iron all the pieces onto the front of your owl. The wings should line up with the outside edge of the green fabric, but the eyes should be in at least 3/8" so they don't get caught in the seam.

Take this to your machine (or you could do this by hand) blanket stitch around all the raw edges of the appliques.

Once you have finished your applique you can either just place the back piece on top of your finished front and stitch around the whole thing leaving a gap for turning through between the wings at the bottom, or you can add the centre gussett, I'll explain this at the end of the tut. Reduce your stitch length to 1.0 and make sure you use polyester thread. Cotton will just break as soon as you stuff your owl.

You need to snip into all the sharp points so the owl will turn through nicely, take the top off the ears like in the picture, this will give you nice sharp points. Make sure to get close, but not too close when snipping, you don't want to cut through your stitching.

This is an owl without the centre gusset using minky on the back.

If you want to add a gussett to make your Owl like the Blue one at the top of this Tutorial, cut out the 2" x 22" strip and carefully stitch it all the way around your softie being careful not to pull it too tight. Start at the bottom of your owl and leave at least 1" tail. You can pin it all the way first if you like, but its not necessary on the first side. When you get close to the where you started stop and stitch your tails together, like you would join the tails of binding on a quilt. Finish stitching the seam.
Repeat this step and join the back of your owl, but this time pin the piece into place. Leave a 2" hole for stuffing and stuff and ladder stitch the opening closed.

I hope you understand all this and I will try and get pictures of the gusset making stage, but unfortunately my camera battery died and I wanted to get this up as quickly as possible,

Hugs Paula

Teapot cozie and Kindle Cover

2011-02-26T10:18:00.001+11:00

It really has been a hectic few weeks trying to get my patterns finished, so over the last few days I took some time to do some 'fun' sewing, (as opposed to work). My sister celebrated a big birthday last week and so I made some pressies for her.

Tracey is a huge Tea fan and had been given a gorgeous Teapot for christmas, so of course she needed a tea pot cozie. I looked and looked for patterns, but I just couldn't find anything at short notice that was both modern and funky and practical, so instead I modified my Teacup Carrier pattern to create this.

Considering I was working from measurements and didn't have a teapot to test it out with I'm really happy with it.

Tracey also got a Kindle recently and wanted me to make her a pouch to protect the screen when she puts it in her handbag.

I went searching for patterns and was largely influenced by this tutorial, but I used a timtex type interfacing and pellon instead of cardboard to make it stiff like a book. and I used hat elastic for the straps to hold it in. Mainly because I didn't have any 1/4" black elastic, but it actually works because it doesn't obscure the keys.

Back to pattern writing now.... Oh and there is sneak peak pictures from the pattern cover shoot for my next 2 patterns over on my facebook page, just click on the facebook link on the right sidebar.

Hugs Paula

More New patterns

2011-02-23T20:42:00.000+11:00

Next week patterns 3 and 4 will finally be out! Yeah! It has been a long few weeks, but totally worth it. Heres a sneak peak at number 4. I can't wait to show you the finished project, just a few more days I promise :)

I am also hugely excited to welcome another new stockist of my patterns! My Patch Fabrics is run by the lovely Val who lives just up the road from me, Thanks so much Val! Drop by Vals Ebay shop for the latest fabrics from all the top names. She has also talked me into doing a workshop, very nervous about that :) dates soon!

And finally tonight I'm going to go and spend some time stitching up a pressie for my beautiful big sister who had a big birthday yesterday, some fun, low pressure sewing! A new kindle cover, pictures and maybe a free pattern if it works hehehe

Hugs Paula xxx

Another Tease :)

2011-02-12T20:20:00.004+11:00

After some very long hours at the design table and sewing machine I am almost ready to release my next two patterns.

Heres a sneak peak at one of them.... Meet Twiga!

Hugs Paula xxx

PS. If you want to see more pictures, head over to my facebook page.

The Quilters Stash

2011-02-09T14:05:00.003+11:00

I was very excited this morning to get a text message from Sue at the Quilters Stash with a picture of her new display! I stitched up a Sit me up Donut and Sammy Seahorses for Sue and she stuffed them and I'm sure shes waiting for some little ones to come by the shop for a little sit in her donut :)

We used fabrics that Sue has in stock now, so give her a call if you are interested in a kit! 02 6386 2133.

Thanks Sue!!!

Hugs Paula

My patterns are in shops!!! and Winners!

2011-02-07T16:01:00.006+11:00

I am so unbelieveably excited that my patterns have been picked up by several shops and they are now available both online and in stores.

First up is Perri of Stitches from the Bush Perri has an online shop and has given an amazing discount on mine and other big name patterns, so check out her shop and blog!

Also Sue from The Quilters Stash in Murrumburra in NSW. If your in the area stop in to Sues shop because she has a Sit me up Donut and a large and small Sammy Seahorse sample in store, so you can have a touch and play with them too! Take your little one for a test ride in the donut, I'm sure Sue won't mind. hehehe

The quilters Stash: 330 Albury St Murrumburrah 2487 or call her 02 6386 2133.

And just a note as some have asked, the Squeaky toys and Rattle inserts that I used in the donut, can be bought online from tomni design which is mainly a scrapbooking shop, but she has a great range of Toy inserts. I used the Rattle inserts and the Round squeaker toy inserts listed here

And now it is time to announce a winner or 2!

The winner of my Sit me up Donut pattern is....... SandyN, Congrats Sandy!

and

The winner of my Sammy Seahorse pattern is ..... Robyn *U*

Thanks Ladies for entering and I will be in contact to get your addresses.

Time to spill the beans and a giveaway!

2011-02-01T12:31:00.000+11:00

Since I first started sewing I have always wanted to make up my own patterns, my Mum says that even as a child I would not use a pattern, I would just start cutting and see what happened. So over the last few months I have been getting together some of my favourite projects to make into patterns with the hope of selling my patterns on a larger scale.

Therefore Paula Storm Designs was born:

I have started with 2 of my absolute favourite projects! First up I would like to introduce you to my Sit me up Donut with detatchable Patchwork rattles and Squeeky Toys. My baby girl, loves to sit up, she really doesn't like laying down, so I needed to come up with a way for her to sit up on her own. This donut is high enough so that she can fall backwards or forwards or sideways and she can still get back to a sitting position on her own. It is also heavy enough that it doesn't slide around on her. It makes for a very happy munchkin and therefore a happy mummy :)

She can also grab her rattles and squeeky toys and because they are on an elastic cord, they don't fall down or get lost and she can always grab hold of at least one of her toys. They are also detatchable, so you can put one on babys wrist and they can take them where ever they go.

Next up is my cute little seahorse. Sammy is about 40cm tall and just looooves cuddles! She is a great mummy and loves to share her babys with other babys who love to have a chomp. A boy version is also included with different shaped eyes.

Baby sammy is perfect for little ones as her face and tail is just the right size for bubs to grab hold of, and the tags make for fun chewing.

My patterns are now ready to go and if you are interested in ordering Wholesale, please just leave a message here or send me an email to paula.storm@gmail.com and I will send through the details.

If you would like to order the patterns retail, head over to my Etsy Site and you can buy them there.

Or as a celebration of my first ever paper pattern release, I'd like to give away a few of my patterns, so leave me a message if you would like to win one and let me know which pattern you'd prefer! I'll be drawing a winner on Monday the 7th of Feb at 9am. Aust Time.

A few quick thanks, Thanks to my mum for her invaluable and unwavering support! To my Nephew for taking some amazing pictures on a very hot day, and especially to my husband and family, for putting up with me over the last few months :)

Big Hugs Paula xxx

PS. If you'd like to see some more pictures head over to my Facebook page, new pattern releases will be there first too, so click on the like button on the right sidebar, for regular updates.

What could it be?

2011-01-30T23:43:00.004+11:00

The last few weeks have been very busy and intense! I will spill the beans in the next few days, but in the mean time another little tease :) and no Scottish Nanna, no more babys for me hehehe.

My precious super model at the end of a very busy and hot summers day!

Any more guesses?

New Melly and Me patterns!

2011-01-30T18:59:00.000+11:00

I was absolutely elated recently to be offered the opportunity to test sew Mellys new 'Sew Little' patterns! As regular readers know, I am obsessed with Melly designs! She is also an amazing and lovely person. So I jumped at the chance to make not 1 but 2 of her newest creations!Jack absolutely looooves his Mini Mover! As you can tell he was very excited about his 'shirt' as he calls it :)Emma was not as impressed, but eventually she came around to being my perfect little super model lol.

Isn't Melly so clever!

Hugs Paula

Just a tease :)

2011-01-28T14:12:00.001+11:00

Something big is happening next week!! Can you guess?

Queensland Flood Appeal Auction

2011-01-20T08:19:00.000+11:00

As i'm sure your aware by now many of us bloggers are holding Auctions to raise money for the people in our devistated state of Queensland.

The stories of loss and also courage have ripped our hearts out.

Toni and Carli at 'Make It Perfect' have done an amazing job of putting together this amazing auction, head over here to read more about the floods.

So to do my bit I have put together a baby gift set. To be included in the auction are a Dolphin softie, a Seahorse Baby Tag Toy and a Giraffe Baby Tag toy. This auction is for the actual toys, not the patterns.

You can take your choice of colours, (The green dolphins are made using Minky) I will even make a custom toy for you in your choice of colours if you like.
The Dolphins are made from 'Melly and Me's' Dee Dee Dolphin pattern. Dee Dee is a large toy, while the tag toys are approx 8 1/2" tall, perfect for little hands.

These tag toys are made from my own pattern that I hope to get out in the next few weeks.

How this auction works:

Bidding will start at $25
You can place your bid by leaving a comment on this post, making sure to include your email address and the amount you wish to bid. Please make sure it is higher than the previous bid.
Your Bid must be in whole dollar increments
This auction is open to everyone, however $20 will be charged for international bidders postage. Australian bidders will not be charged for postage.
The Auction will end at midnight on Monday 24th Jan 2011.
At the end of the auction I will contact the winner. The winner will pay their money directly to the Premiers Flood Appeal and send me proof of payment via email.
I will then post out your softie package to you.
Thanks for participating and Happy Bidding.

Lets raise as much money as possible!

Flood Appeal Auctions

2011-01-12T09:58:00.003+11:00

Having lived in Queensland for about 1/3 of my life I am absolutely devestated by the news of the flooding and losses of such wonderful people.

But as a mother, I am an absolute mess! The news of a teenager giving up his life to save his brother has just wrecked me! I'm in my own puddle of tears!

As a pensioner I can't afford to give as much money as I would like to, so instead I am going to join in an Online Auction appeal, started by Toni of Make it Perfect fame.

In the next day or so I will be putting up a group of items that you can bid on with all proceeds being directly paid to the Premiers Relief Appeal.

If you can please join in and have an auction on your own blog. These people have lost everything and some people don't even have a pair of shoes! Can you imagine it! Head over to Tonis blog and grab the link.

Block Fail! :)

2011-01-10T20:03:00.004+11:00

Have you ever saved a really special or favourite piece of fabric that you need just the right project for, then finally used it and had it backfire? lol

I had this gorgeous spotty fabric that I just loved!!! I only had 1 fat quarter left and so I didn't want to waste it. Then I thought I'd found the perfect project!

I was involved in a swap group last year and did a gorgeous block for one of the ladies. It was a kitten that I just fell in love with. She had such a gorgous personality. So when I started a new swap this month, I decided that I must redo this block for my baby girl.

What was the problem you ask? My delightful puddy cat has a severe case of the chicken pox! lol Big hugs Paula xxx

PS. I found the picture on a colouring in page here.

Humbug Bag - How to insert a Zipper tutorial

2010-12-13T17:59:00.017+11:00

100 posts! Yeah!

This being my 100th post I wanted it to be something special, so a tutorial it is! take 2 ;)

Just to be clear, this little bag/purse is not my original idea! A friend told me how she had been making them for her market stall, so I thought I'd give them a go. There is tons of these type bags out there, this is just the way I have put them together.

I thought they were one of the cutest things on the planet, so I decided to make some for my market stall. The only thing I didn't like about them was the way the end of the zipper bit was a bit raw like in this pic. I overlocked it, but I just thought that if my kids were playing with it, they would have it wrecked in no time. So what to do?
I tried a few different things, like the normal way of leaving a turning hole in the lining fabric, but it just meant that I would have to hand sew it up later, and that defeated the purpose of a quick super simple pattern, so back to the drawing board.
We were out at dinner when my daughter showed me a little purse her grandmother had bought her and it had the zipper inserted in a curve shape, so you actually only use 1/2 the zipper!
Such a clever idea! So this is what I did.

By the way If your scared of trying to insert a zipper, this is the absolute perfect project to start on! There is no zipper pull to get in the way, so its perfect to build your confidence on, its just like sewing a seam.

Anyway, lets get started, here's what you need:

1 x 6" x 8 1/2" main fabric
1 x 6" x 8 1/2" calico or plain fabric for the lining
1 x 6" x 8 1/2" wadding or iron on pellon, its a small piece so iron on isn't 'essential'
1 x 9 1/2 x 2 1/2" main fabric, for the handle
1 x minimum 14" zipper DO NOT use a metal Zipper!
General sewing supplies
Zipper foot for your machine

Some zippers can be a bit tricky to get the zipper pull back on, but I found this brand extremely easy, Especially with the technique I'll explain later. It's funny because they were in a discount bin at my local fabric shop, 50c each! bargain!
Ok first up grab your scissors, not the good fabric scissors though! I have 2 pairs of scissors on my sewing table, a pink and a purple pair.

Pink is for Paper! Is my mantra. Makes it easier to remember.

I use pink for everything other than fabric!

Anyway using your s#*t Scissors, cut both ends off your zipper, pull the zipper pull off and discard one side of your zipper, you can buy extra zipper pulls to use this side later on, but you only need one side for this project.

OK now I have made these bags 2 ways, one with the handle inserted in this step and I've also added it at a later stage, it gives a different look. I prefer the look of putting it in later, but I am using some pics that I inserted it here. So read the rest of the tut and you decide which look you prefer.

Take your 9 1/2" x 2 1/2" piece and fold it in half lengthwise with right sides together. Stitch it together using a 1/4" seam , then turn it the right way out and give it a good iron.

Now take your wadding and lay it on the table and place your outside fabric on top with the right side up.
Now fold it in half like in the picture. You can insert the handle here if you like. Sew along this edge only!
Repeat this step with your lining fabric and then turn it so the seam allowance is sandwich in the middle.

Now take a deep breath cause its time for your zipper :)

Take your lining fabric and push it into your outside piece until your 2 seams are right sides together.

You need to pin your 1/2 zipper in between your 2 pieces like this.

You need the teeth part on the inside.

Guess who just found the super macro button on her camera ;)

The actual teeth need to face your outside fabric (in my case the unicorn fabric).

This picture is of the back of the zipper.

Put your zipper foot on your machine and line it up like this

See where the little intend is underneath the zipper foot, this is where you rest the 'teeth' of the zipper.

Take your time and stitch all the way around the zipper. Go slow over the seam, theres lots of layers there and we don't want any broken needles!

Depending on how long a zipper you used you want to trim a little bit off the ends now, but make sure you leave one end longer than the other, it makes it easier to get the pull back on, and don't cut too close to the edges, just like this.

Now you want to put the zipper pull back on, thread it onto the long piece first, then put the other side of the zipper into the pull and give the pull a bit of a jiggle from side to side as you shut it.

The ends of the zipper will be uneven, but thats ok, we will trim that later.Make sure the zipper is on the right way! (ask my why I'm reminding you about this)

Don't close your zipper all the way yet. Leave it open about 1/2 way.

Now give yourself a pat on the back, because you just put in a zipper! Not so hard was it? This is where I like to put in my handle. you want to open out your purse and flatten it so your zipper is in the middle of the open end. I put my handle in the very middle under the zipper.

(sorry about this pic, still working out the macro picture taking hehe) Stitch this seam using about a 3/8" seam so your sure to get all the layers. Remember theres even more layers, so take it easy and you'll be fine.

If you have a serger (overlocker) finish this seam. If you don't use a small zig zag stitch on your machine and trim the end.

Now turn your pouch through the right way (through the zipper hole) and your done!

This is the way I like my strap.

The picture of my daughter at the top is the other way. With the strap added at the start. Now go and grab your camera and send me a pic!

Aren't you clever!

I hope you enjoyed my incredibly wordy post, sorry bout that :)

Instead of a humbug bag though I want to call mine a 'pub pouch' I recon they'd be great to take to the pub with just a key card, license and change in. Maybe in a different fabric though hehe.

Hugs Paula xxx

*Edit* I have changed the way I do the handles, look here for an add on to the tutorial.

Winner!

2010-12-08T17:27:00.002+11:00

As promised I have done the draw for the yummy fabric and Magazines and the winner is..........

Number 18 = Jeannie, the Dogs and Cranky cat
hahaha, congrats Jeannie! I'm sure you'll love the fabrics!

Merry Christmas, Hugs Paula

My first Favourite things free tutorial list!

2010-12-06T14:19:00.008+11:00

I spend all this time searching for tutorials and find so many I like, so of course I bookmark them, but then I can never remember what the bookmarks are, so I decided that I would do up a list of some of my favourite tuts with pics. I will be doing this regularly from now on, so check back if, like me you are a tutorial fan!

My first favourite things list is of gorgeous decorations and christmassy things.

First up is this awesome take on an old paper folding technique: This one is done using felt,but I made up my own using fabric. If you want me to do up a tut, let me know and I'll tell you how I did it.

Next up is the wonderful Gail Pan, she has about 9 of these wreath type embroideries on her blog. My embroidery group did up a charity quilt using these stitcheries, but we did them in Hexagons.
This was my Hexi that I did after my last knee recon.

Gail also has this super cute stitchery pattern for free.

I've wanted to make a tree skirt for years but just never get to it, this one is cute and uses up scraps! I've got plenty of them, so this goes on my list :)

Here's one I thought the kids could help with. How cool would it look instead of tinsel, (I'm not a big fan of tinsel on my tree) or as a garland with chrissy cards hanging on it.

Next up is somepaper projects. These would look equally good in felt though, or by fusing fabric together.

How cute is this basket! I think it would look great with little choccys or nuts in it, or evenas an easter project. This project is at the bottom of the last tutorial, so just scan down to the bottom.

How effective do these look! Maybe a set of 3 of these will be my centre piece this year.

These are so cute! They are so Me! I love the idea of having a new colour scheme. So why not citrus! Very Australian I think. After all, Snowmen wouldn't last 5 minutes in my yard at christmas, and anyone in mittens would be classed as a fruit loop in my neighbourhood hehe.

And finally, my absolute favourite blog of all time! Sewmamasew has a list every year with heaps of free tutorials evey day in November! Grab a cuppa thoughbecause you could be there for a few hours! Then once you've gotten through this years list theres always the 3 previous years lists :) Like I said, you'll be there for hours! :)

Oh and I nearly forgot, here's one of my own. These are my favourite christmas treats! Apricot balls! You can also make up the mix and spread it out in a slice tray and drizzle them with chocolate. Yum! and less time consuming than rolling up all the balls.

Well thats it for now, but I'll be back over the coming weeks as I find more tuts and make up more of my favourite things lists.

Don't forget my christmas giveaway too, look at the last post for details.

Hugs Paula

Oh and leave me a note if there is anything that you want me to look for in particular for you? I loooove reading comments and like a puppy, I respond very well to praise ;)

Giveaway Time!

2010-12-05T15:11:00.003+11:00

I love christmas So I thought I'd have a little giveaway as my gift to you!

I've been making some changes and decided to add some of my handmade items to my etsy site instead of just selling patterns, and I've created a facebook page!

So what do you have to do to win my giveaway? Easy peasy, click on the 'follow me' button and then on the Facebook 'Like' button, leave me a comment and your in the draw!

But what will you win I hear you ask?

Well I've put together 5 of my favourite Fat Quarters from the Eva by Moda range, Plus two of my favourite Christmas issues of Handmade and Patchwork and Stitching magazines!

I will be drawing the giveaway next Wednesday the 8th (my time) because its the eve of my birthday and its always better to give than receive :)

I've also been doing a heap of looking at online tutorials lately, so come back in the next day or so and I'll have a list of my favourite christmas project tutorials!

Hugs Paula

To market we will go

2010-12-04T21:28:00.005+11:00

So I decided that this little sewing habit of mine might actually be able to help pay for christmas :) With that in mind my gorgeous mum and I got busy and made up a heap of things to take to our local markets. Heres a few pics....and heres some of the other bits and pieces. I will also be listing some stuff on etsy, heres some of the bits I have at the moment. As a christmas special, check out my facebook page for a discount code to use in my etsy shop.

This is Lionel Lizard, the Camo Gecko :)

I love his little feet!
These little cuties are my Babys favourite toy! She can easily grab their legs and necks and just loves giving them a big chomp! :) She's a piranha! hehe

These are Dee Dee the Dolphins, Of course designed by Melly and Me. The green ones are made using Minky, soooo soft and yummy, My girls keep saying they hope they don't sell, so they can keep them. lol little do they know, mummy has some stashed away for christmas ;)

Have a great week :)

Hugs Paula xxx

Mr Magoo

2010-11-26T12:35:00.005+11:00

Have I told you recently how much I love Melly and Me ;)So I was at my local (patchwork shop) and I really was just going in to find my mum! Really I wasn't going to spend any money! I promise! But then of course I see the pattern for the gorgeous Magoo and how could I say no??

I'd been admiring the gorgeous Magoo on Melly's website for ages and so I had to buy it, Didn't I??

How could I make just 1?

I just love their patterns so much! So easy to use and it only took me about 4 hours to make all three Magoos! Awesome!

Now all my munchkins have a Melly and Me Softie. Molly has Bubbles the Unicorn, Chloe has Bella Boo the Bunny, Jack has Melvin the Moose all from the Kaleidoscope Book, Cousin Leah has Leo the Lion and now my precious Emma has her choice of Magoo's :)

The others can sit on my book shelf and wait for a new home. They give the best cuddles! Those long arms stretch right around my neck. Love em!

Snowman Softie for christmas

2010-10-26T13:40:00.009+11:00

It's not long now until Christmas!

If you've been reading my blog for a while you may know that I absolutely loooove Christmas! I also Loooove everything made by Melly and me. I have been making heaps of stuff by Melly and Me over the last few years and went through a real softie stage for a while last year. I was so inspired by Melanies patterns that I made my own softie. This gorgeous little Snowman.

I just love how happy he looks, anyway I have decided that as my little gift to you this year I would like to offer you the pattern for free! So head on over to my freebie blog and grab this free pattern. I will only be leaving it up for free until the end of November (then he will be for sale), so grab him now, Oh and don't forget to email me a pic or pop one on the flicker page if you decide to make your own.

Merry Christmas!!

Hugs Paula

PS. Melly and me are releasing 2 new fabric ranges!! How excited am I!!! Also check out the new Monkey pattern, all I can say is OMG is that the cutest thing ever!

Leahs Apron

2010-10-22T18:00:00.007+11:00

Well hello again, it has been too long since my last post, but with 4 kids including a 3 month old and a very boisterous 2 year old, my blog was put in the too hard basket for a few months. Sorry about that :)

Anyway, I have been busy sewing too and have been making some new designs to hopefully take to our local markets and make my fortune! hahaha maybe some pocket money :)

Hopefully some of these little cuties will sell well. This is one of my kids size hand puppets. Sorry about the quality of the pics, but as usual my computer is playing up and so I had to take these pictures on my phone, upload them to facebook and then copy them over here using my mums computer. arrrg Computers and me not fun sometimes. But then I wouldn't be without them :)

Anyway, do you like her dimple :)

My neice is having her 4th birthday tommorow and she was telling me that "In my dreams I got a pretty pink apron" how precious! So of course I had to make that dream come true. A Frilly Pretty pink apron covered in unicorns, perfect for a precious 4 year old. This is my Chloe modelling the apron.Would you be interested in a pattern?

And finally today these are some cubes I made to display some smaller cubes that I hope to sell at the markets. I just love the pink and brown fabric!I will try to get some better pictures soon I promise :)

And finally I will end with a question, do you think I should list my puppets on Etsy or sell them from my blog? I was planing on charging $15 for the small ones that are perfect for 4 to 16 year olds and $20 for the adult size ones. I would love some feedback... Enjoy your weekend!

Hugs Paula xxx

Make it Perfect's Uptown girl Jacket

2010-08-05T15:56:00.004+10:00

I haven't really had a huge amount of time to sew lately, but I did get my girls jackets finished! Here's my little miss in her jacket, It is made with some super cute denim fabric that had the flowers already embroidered on it! I love it! I also made one for Molly, but she threw a tantrum when we were trying it on her so it went in the cupboard for a few days as punishment hahaha. I hope this lasts, that they love the clothes that I make them so much they can be used as leverage hehe.
Sorry about the pic, my camera battery is flat and so I took it on my new phone and copied it from my facebook page! Ahh technology, don't you love it! :) Please excuse the rediculously messy sewing room in the background, thank goodness you can only see the bookshelf :)

Sean's Pics

2010-07-20T16:34:00.005+10:00

I have been a little bit busy lately so have only done a little bit of sewing and I've started a punch needle project but I haven't had the chance to take any pictures, so I thought I would take the opportunity to show off my extremely talented nephews awesome photography.

Sean is my eldest nephew, he just turned 16 and has a passion and an eye for photography. He has recently started a blog so if you would like to see more of his pics, head on over here. Just keep in mind he is 16 and the odd swear word slips out :)

Sean is a surf junkie and most of his pictures are of the surf and his friends, some of whom are quite well known in the surfing world. Occassionally though he takes pictures of other things, this is one of my favourites:

Sean also likes taking portraits of his little cousins, here are all my babys:

MollyChloeJackAnd Emma

What a lucky mummy I am!

I will try to take pictures tommorow of the gorgeous bag I made for Chloes' first day at "little big school" (she is starting at the preschool tommorrow which is located at her sisters big school hehe). It is the mushroom bag from the Melly and Me book 'Kaleidoscope'. I think I have a thing for mushrooms hehehe. I absolutely Love the book and have made more things out of it, than any of my other books. I made Melvin the Moose, Bubbles the Unicorn and Bella the Bunny. There is pictures here and here, anyway, While I was looking for the web address for Melly and Me, to get the link, I found that Melanie has just made up a pattern by 'Make it Perfect', it just so happens that I just bought a pattern from them the other day to make a jacket for my girls, I really should get onto that before winter is over :).

My newest creation!

2010-07-08T20:54:00.003+10:00

She has finally made her entry into this big world.

Emma was born last Friday a perfect 6 pound 12 oz. She is of course absolutely gorgeous and dispite a little time spent under lights for jaundice, everything went really well.We are finally home and although very tired, as is of course to be expected, we couldn't be happier! Thanks everyone for all your beautiful messages!

Hugs Paula xxx

It's Baby Time!

2010-07-01T23:06:00.003+10:00

Well tommorow is the day! I'm so excited, but a little apprehensive as well. Anytime you go under the knife its a little scary, but the thought of holding my little bundle of joy in my arms will make the last 9 months well and truly worth it!

There's nothing like leaving things till the last minute and that was me today. I still needed to make a new nappy bag for my little girl and I had been looking at pretty much every single bag tutorial on the internet and ended up going with this amazing tutorial! It is one of the best tut's I have ever used and would have been more than happy to pay for the pleasure of using this awesome tut!

I only made a few little changes, I decided that I didn't want velcro on the pockets because it just gets in the way sometimes. I also decided not to divide one of the inside pockets (the back one) into 3 sections because I find sometimes you just need a big pocket.

I think the only other things I would do next time is put a heavier interfacing like timetex in the base, so it stands up better on its own, and I would put interfacing on the inside back panel as the zipper tends to weigh it down and it droops when its not full. Other than that I am just soooo happy with my bag! It even goes with my Amy butler Weekender bag that I use for my never ending hospital trips

I'd love to know what you think!

With that I will sign off for a little while and will be back in webland next week!

Hugs Paula xxx

What should these become?

2010-06-25T17:05:00.003+10:00

I gave you a sneek peak the other day of some more of my little tweeters and when I finished stitching them I thought I should give you another look.

My idea was to combine some old fashioned crewel type embroidery with applique in a new funky way. Then I threw in some pencil shading just for fun :)

The original plan was also to make this into the front panel of a bowling type bag to use for toiletries, but having finished the embroidery I'm not so sure.

Now I'm thinking a needle case or a book cover or something similar.

What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts....

On the baby front,my Blood pressure is still up, but we are trying to make it to 38 weeks so its bed rest for the next week. Ho Hum, lucky I have a comfy bed :)

Till next time,

Hugs Paula

More Baby fun!

2010-06-24T14:48:00.004+10:00

I have been having such fun in my new sewing room!

Its an incredible mess with stuff everywhere, but I can wheel myself around and get to everything that I need. It's so great to be able to just walk in or out whenever inspiration strikes.

Thats what happened this morning, being 38 weeks pregnant I haven't been sleeping much and so when I was lying there trying to sleep this morning I decided that I wanted to add some applique to the white t-shirts that I bought for baby Emma. I also decided that I needed some pants to go with it. So when I got up, this is what happened.....

I am soooooo happy with them! It is the first time I have made my own pattern and have it be successful. Yeah!!

The pants are simple elastic waist pants and I'll have to wait till Baby Emmas arrival to see how they fit, but they measured up to a 000-00 next to some of the 'store bought' pants we have.
I sent a picture of them off to Victoria Thorpe the editor of my favourite magazine 'Handmade Magazine' and she loves them and wants to publish them in the Kids Issue thats coming up in a few months time! How exciting!!

I made some little sandals to go with them, but I'm not too sure about them. They are pretty cute, but need a bit of refining I think. (I'm not game to show you a pic yet :)

On the baby front, Emma may be making an earlier appearance than expected. I went for a check up yesterday and for some reason my blood pressure was through the roof (147 / 98). I had pre-eclampsia with both my other girls so she may have to be born earlier than next Friday. Another check up tonight will see the Dr make a decition. So If I'm a little quiet in the next little while, I'm sure you'll understand why :)

Baby needs a new pair of shoes!

2010-06-21T16:45:00.006+10:00

Could these be the cutest thing you have ever seen in your life?

One of my favourite pass times of late is spending hours proweling the Etsy website looking at anything and everything. A few weeks ago I found these adorable little baby shoes in the sweet pea pattern etsy shop and just fell in love!

A few nights ago I was once again drooling over these beautiful little shoes and thought, 'Why the Heck not' and so I bought the patterns!

I chose the 3 for $12 option and when I emailed the lovely Cheri and told her I was having my 4th baby, I think she took pity on me and threw in an extra pattern for me! Cool hey!

Anyway, I told her I would do a bit of a review of her patterns and so here goes....

Let me start by saying I am a self taught sewer. I learn as I go from trying new things. One thing I have had trouble with is following the patterns from people like Butterick etc. so when I first did a quick read through I was a bit worried because it was written in such a professional way, especially the cutting guide, I was worried I wouldn't be able to follow it.

I must admit that my first effort was not perfect (when is a first effort ever perfect) but once I decided that I would just follow the tutorial one step at a time, the pattern was incredibly easy to follow.

I guess the problem I have is that I'm a quilter, not a dressmaker and certain things like a 1/4" seam are a given for me. In fact I find it hard to do anything else, so when I see things like draw a 1/4" stitching guide I just skip over that and move on to the next step.

What I learned with these patterns though, was that if I just do each step as it is written and don't try the old 'I know a better way of doing that', It works out perfect ever time. Funny that :)

Anyway onto the pictures, These are my first attempt. As I said I did have a few problems and one was miss reading the pattern and using fusible web instead of fusible fleece (ie. Pellon). This caused me to have to have the seams showing on the inside of the shoes, as once I ironed the top seam it had fused the top and bottom fabrics together and so I couldn't open it back up to hide the seams, but in the long run I think it was an O.K. effort for a first go.

I sent Cheri an email and told her of my mistake and she adjusted the pattern with the different wording, we both assumed that different countrys call them different things. How good is that! Some people can get very touchy when you offer constructive criticism.Cheri did suggest having a trial run of the pattern, but of course, me being me I just jumped in. :) I still like these Mary Janes and just want to add a little button or bead onto the tab for an added cute factor.

So Lessons learnt I moved on to the second pair and again made the Mary Janes pattern (I'm very stubborn, I have to get them right :)) This was my second attempt.I chose to use ribbon this time and am thrilled with the results! This time they are reversible as the first pair should have been, Yeah! The only disapointment is I prefer the pink and brown fabric I used in the first pair. I will definately be making another pair of these.

Next up was the Kimono Shoes (I chose to do these two first because I didn't have the elastic I needed for the Bella and seamless crib shoes). I found this pattern so easy to follow after my success with my second pair of Mary Janes.

My only critisism of the patterns is that there is a bit of wasted fabric using the suggested layout, again though I think this is because as a quilter I hate throwing any fabric away. :)

I think next time I will adjust the way I cut out the pieces to minimise wastage, but as I said before, if you decide to buy these patterns, follow it word for word the first time, or make just one sample with muslin or calico, so you 'get it' first.

I absolutely love these kimono shoes and I'm going to make another pair with polar fleece on the inside to use as slippers, nice and warm for my new cherub.

The beauty of Cheris' patterns is that each one comes with heaps of different size options, so I can remake these shoes as my angel grows. They go up to a size for 18 month olds.

Now I just need to make some matching outfits :)

I made the spotty ones to go with the spotty bibs I made the other day, they look so cute together.

I was going to give you a sneek peak at a new birdie project I started today too, but this post is already very long... oh why not, just a pic for now though. ;)

A bit obscure but just wait. A bit of embroidery and all will be revieled!

Early Bird Christmas Crafting & a new quilt!

2010-06-19T18:16:00.005+10:00

My dear friend Judith from Creative Studio is inspiring us all to get organised for Christmas early this year, what a great idea huh! The challenge is going to be heaps of fun with prizes galore and amazing inspiration, not just for sewers, but for paper crafters and knitters too!

One part of the first challenge was to create a project with 2 fat eighths of fabric and any embellishments you like, these aren't technically christmas pressies (although they could be) I decided to create some new bibs for my baby, who is due to arrive in just 12 more sleeps! Yeah! I've been a bit slack with making new things for this baby, so the challenge was just what I needed to get motivated!

I was also inspired by Judith and all her birdie talk to sit down and do some sketching yesterday (something I haven't done for wayyy too long). I decided that I wanted to applique some birds on a new quilt I have been working on and as a test run I put a few of these little cuties on the front of the bibs. I have never done this type of machine applique before, so it was fun to get in and have a go.

Sorry about the quality of the pics, it was quite dark when I finally turned off the light in my sewing room :)

Another part of the challenge was to create something fluffy and cute with 1 ball of wool.

I had some chenille wool in my stash and so another baby project was created. The pic doesn't really do this little bunny justice. He is soft and cuddly and the perfect comforter for my new angel. I decided not to put eyes or anything on it because of the dangers of such embelishments for newborns, but I think she will love it. The head is actually stuffed with the leftover wool. Cool idea huh! I got the idea and pattern from here. From memory I think you have to be a member to get the free patterns, but it doesn't cost anything and they have a massive range of free patterns available.Finally tonight a quick sneek peak at my new quilt that I'm working on. Made with the Moda charm pack 'Hushabye' Which I absolutely love!! I decided that I want it to be a bigger quilt, so I got on etsy and ordered some more fat quarters to add another border or two. Anyway in the blank squares I am going to applique some of the birds I was talking about and maybe some hand embroidery in the white borders. I'm hoping that when this one is finished it might be picked up by a magazine. Fingers crossed.Anyway thats all for tonight, but get on over to Judiths Blog for heaps and heaps of inspiration, theres links to stacks of free tutorials, so why don't you join in the fun!

My new Bathmat and a new library bag

2010-06-12T13:53:00.010+10:00

Well what a productive morning I have had! Not only did I finally finish the bathmat that I started last week for my new ensuite, I also finish my big school girls Library bag. Only a term and a half late. :)

I couldn't be happier with both though! The bathmat I made using up scraps of some adorable Robert Koffman fabric I had. I can't really call them scraps, I had a fat quarter pack and have really only used a few bits from it. I still have a stack of it left, but no idea what to do with it.... Oh well, no rush I suppose, it's been sitting in my stash for probably a year already. :)

I backed it with a towel as I have a habit of slipping over on wet floors and it also makes it wash really well. (was highly influenced by this awesome tutorial)

I didn't want to just turn it through though, I wanted to bind it, I just couldn't decide which fabric I wanted to bind it with, so I cut up a heap of bits and pieced them together for the binding and just love how it came up. I put the white Quilters Muslin in to break up the colours a bit. Hubby was complaining I always make everything girly, but really there's only a little bit of pink, and hardly any flowers at all ;)

Mollys Library bag came out great too! Thanks to Nan for all her help! I had 30cm of these 2 beautiful fabrics that I only just discovered are Amy Butler, She is the best designer!! Anyway, We cut them into 6 1/2 inch strips x the full length of the fabric and joined them using french seams. (I just did a quick search and there's heaps of tuts out there, if you don't know what they are. Just google French seam tutorial)

I also made the sides using french seams, This does away with the need for a lining as there is no raw edges to hide.

With the top, we folded over about an inch of fabric, leaving the selvedges as they all lined up perfectly. We then made 4 button holes down about 7/8" from the top, 2 on each side for the cord to go through and folded over the top again (about 3/4" this time so the button holes are on the outside) and stitched it in place. Then threaded 2 pieces of rope through and made knots in the ends.

Finally I made a pocket for the front, which was really so I had something to put her name on. I used a plain piece of matching fabric and used vlisofix to iron on the letters. I had been wanting to try raw edge machine applique for ages, so thats what I did. With right sides of the pocket together I then did a quarter inch seam around the edge of the pocket leaving a gap at the bottom. I turned it through and did a double row of stitching at the top, and attatched the pocket to the front of the bag.

Easy Peasy! But best of all, Miss Molly Loves it!

Long Time, No See....

2010-05-29T17:36:00.004+10:00

Well it has really been a while but I have decided that it might be time for me to get back into the creative world of stitching, cooking and blogging :)

My health is still not great and I am still in and out of hospital (and back in a wheelchair, maybe for good) with my pesky knee, but on the exciting side, we are due to have our 4th baby on the 2nd of July. Yeah!!
We are expecting another little girl and are getting really excited now that the date of my ceasarian is getting so close. Here is a pic of our little cherub, she is laying on her back and the pic is a profile of her face and her beautiful little hands.
I don't want to sound like I'm whinging, but just to update you on everything, I was back in hospital late last week for a few days and have been given a weekend pass to come home and be with my babys. I miss them terribly when I'm away and the hospital I have to go to is about half an hour away (our local hospital doesn't have a maternity section) which makes visiting hard for my non-licenced hubby. Anyway, I have to go back on Monday morning so I can see all the specialists, Occupational Therapists, Physios etc.

Just to make life really interesting we have also just moved house :) Our old house was just a little too cozy for our growing family and when we were offered assistance to move into a house more suited to my disability, we jumped at it! Even though the timing was less than perfect. hehe Anyway the new house is fantastic!!! It's so HUGE I can manouver my way all around the house in my chair, and can even get into the kitchen again, something I have really missed! I've even enjoyed stacking the dishwasher :) But the best part is our new 4 bedroom home has enough bedrooms for all of us and I even get to use the study as my new sewing room!! Yeah!! I had to forfeit the formal dining area as a mancave for hubby, but worth it I recon :)

I must admit that for the last 6 months or so I havn't even picked up a needle or a drawing pad as some pretty harsh comments from a particular person robbed me of my passion for sewing, but I think with my new sewing room and the hope that my medical problems might just about be under control, it is time to get back into my beloved hobby.

Anyway enough of that and time for some pics, My gorgeous cherub #2 turned 4 at the start of May and requested a Fairy Toadstool cake. She actually wanted a heart cake to start with, but silly me convinced her that that was too easy and we should do something a bit fancier, yeah good idea Mum! ;) Anyway on the morning of her party I started icing the cake at 9am and 15 minutes before the party started at 2pm, I finally washed the last of the food colouring from my hands. Nothing like a bit of pressure to start a kids party hahaha. Anyway, here is what I came up with, admittedly I did steal the idea from a kids party book, but instead of using Marsipan (yuck!) I used royal ising on the bottom of the toadstool and for the fairys etc. and my favourite butter icing for the top. It was delicious!!

Thers was 5 different coloured fairys all around the house, just adorable and my Chloe was just exstatic about it, I was pretty pleased with it too.

She just loves fairys and princesses, (of course) and so we had a dress up party, Chloe's cousin Leah (on the right) just happened to arrive in the same dress, oops :) But they looked so gorgous they could be twins.

So anyway I should really go and get organised, it's back to the unpacking of the house and repacking for hospital. So until next time, night night.

My First published design!

2009-11-10T09:14:00.005+11:00

Can you believe how excited I was when I received my latest issue of Handmade magazine in the mail yesterday? My first project to ever be published is in next months issue, so I excitedly turned to the back page just to see if I got a mention for my prjects and low and behold there is the most gorgeous photo of my countdown cubes! I literally started screaming! hehehe

My little man got quite a shock to see Mummy and Nan bouncing up and down with excitement :)

I took a quick piccy just to show you. My fellow Gumnut Judith Tetley also got a mention, so now the countdown begins till I get my hot little hands on the next issue! I'm so excited! Can you tell? :) To explain the project, there is 3 cubes two have numbers so you can countdown from 32 days until - Your Birthday, Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Australia Day and Our Holidays, My kids are constantly asking how many sleeps till this or that, so now we can countdown to more than just Christmas :)

Cherub #2 also just loves stacking them up and knocking them over again. Little man also likes to use them like a pillow :) hehehe Have a great day! I'm still up on a cloud!

Big News!

2009-11-06T13:23:00.006+11:00

Well where do I start?

It seems the last few months have passed by in the blink of an eye!
I'm just trying to hang on and enjoy the ride :)

My designs have been accepted by some of my favourite craft and quilting magazines, so I will soon be a published designer! How exciting! I can't wait to see my projects photographed and my name on the pattern sheets! That will be a huge thrill! My first prject will be coming out in Decembers Handmade Kids special. Quite ironic really because.....

My husband and I are expecting our 4th baby! This will be our final cherub so we are really excited if not a little nervous at the thought of 4 little mouths to feed and educate, but I know there will be no shortage of love under our little and continually shrinking roof.

So to celebrate I am following Jenny of Elefantzs' lead and will be having a 48 hour sale on all my patterns! The sale will begin today and will continue until the end of the weekend Aus time! Maybe its a bit over 48 hours but you get the idea! :)

As part of the sale I am launching a new pattern! My new arm chair caddy! This caddy is so quick and easy you could whip it up in no time! This one is a complete machine project so you could have it finished today! I used the gorgeous and oh so bright Robert Kaufmann fabrics, but would look just as gorgeous in any colour scheme!

I am also launching my new pattern Blog! Paula Storm Designs will be the place to find all my free and for sale patterns. All my patterns at this stage are emailed to you as a PDF File. If you would like to receive a paper pattern just email me and I will see what I can do, but I have found that it is so much quick and more convenient for my customers to receive my patterns this way.

I hope you enjoy the new look and Low prices for the next few days!

Hugs Paula

Problems downloading BOM?

2009-11-02T08:19:00.003+11:00

I have had a few people mention that they are having problems downloading the files, we have found that in most cases the problem is that you need to visit ADOBE for a free update of the latest version of Adobe Reader.

Part 3 Lifes a Hoot

2009-11-01T19:12:00.010+11:00

Well it is time for part 3 and guess what! I'm on time! Yeah who'd have thunk it! (One of my dads favourite sayings)
So without further ado here it is with one of My favourite sayings, 'No day is so bad that it can't be fixed with a nap.'Here's a close up of mumma Owl.

It's a little hard to see in these pics, but bubby owl is asleep, while Mumma Owl has one eye half open, watching her little chick.

Click here to be taken to my site where you can download part 3.

How are you going with the BOM? I'd love to know and of course piccys are very welcome!

Some questions for you...

2009-10-25T11:47:00.004+11:00

Well what a surprise I got the other day when a beautiful email found its way to my inbox. It constantly amazes me that I can sit here in my little house with my comfy little quilt over my knees (yes really :)) and have people from all over the world buy my patterns and then love them so much that they change them to suit themselves!
Jutta from Germany made these awesome Tea Cup Carriers. I just love the way she changed the second one. That African fabric is just stunning! Don't you love it!

What Have I been up to? Well even though I have been really quiet on my blog, I have been tearing my hair out trying to get my to do list done. I have 2 advent swaps to get finished, a pattern to write for my free pattern for the Gum Tree designers blog and I have been commissioned to do lots of projects for Express Publications. They are the makers of Handmade magazine, Patchwork and stitching magazine and Country Threads among many others.

I am so excited and can't wait to see my first project published in the Handmade issue that hits the stands in December. Keep an eye out for it.

What else have I been doing, well I am about to start on the free projects that my sisters from under the Gum trees have offered so far. I think I will make two of each so I can give them in my advent swap, I've also been drawing a few new things for the magazines and wishing my voice would come back :) I lost my voice a few days ago and actually its not been too bad. I haven't got the head cold, just no voice, so I have been able to sit down and get some stitching done. Unfortunately it is all secret at the moment so no pictures just yet. :) sorry hehe

A few questions for you:

What are you up to at the moment?

I'd love to know what you like to receive in your advent swap... do you like all handmade stuff or supplies or chocolate? This is my first advent swap as part of the Australian Yahoo group SCQIS... so I'm a bit nervous and want to get it just right.

till next time, hugs P xxx

New Pattern & Hug Swap

2009-10-18T14:09:00.002+11:00

You may have noticed the new Pattern on my sidebar, a few people have been asking me for the sewing machine pattern that I made using my spring garden stitchery, so I have finally gotten my act together and typed it up for you :)

I've also been meaning to post about this for ages but kept forgetting, so here it is, my gorgeous Mug mat and Mug wrap that I received from my swap partner Dolores from True Blue Canadian Isn't it gorgeous!

New Flickr Site

2009-10-16T08:36:00.004+11:00

I have been very slack lately with my blog I'm sorry. Since coming home from hospital I have just been enjoying being with my Cherubs.

Anyway, I have set up a Flickr site, because a few of my loyal readers have been showing me what they are doing with my designs. I can't tell you how much this excites me to see that people have liked my little drawings enough to print them out and actually stitch them up! Or better still, have spent a few hard earned dollars and actually bought one of my patterns.

If you have used any of my pattern I'd love you to put a pic up on the flickr site.

The address is http://www.flickr.com/groups/sewlittlefabric/

Maggi of To dream to stitch has been very busy and has whipped up these little beauties!Maggi has an awesome blog and is very inspiring, so check it out!

Don't forget a new design will be available for you on the Among the gum trees blog on Monday. Have you made the first 2 yet? Judith and Joy did such a great job on their designs didn't they!

Anyway I must go, the girls have to go to dancing lessons and I have missed so many of their classes that I really want to go with them today, so remember if you have made any of my designs I'd love for you to put them up on my Flickr site, or just email them through to me and I will do it for you. paula.storm@gmail.com

I Love Mail! Gumnut Babys and a Canvas work Pincushion

2009-10-09T20:27:00.006+11:00

I'm sure by now you have heard of the Gum Tree Designers and the Among the gum trees blog, if you haven't you must have been hiding under a rock! These 8 other women that I have joined are the most generous, genuinely caring beautiful people I have ever met! As an example This is what turned up in the mail for me a little while ago, just because she saw some fabric that she thought I would like!!

I was recently commissioned to do a version of my tea cup carrier for 'Homespun Magazine' Yeah! Super excited! Anyway its for their Going Green issue and so Dawn found some beautiful 'Green' fabric and she thought I'd like it so sent it to me, but not just that, this amazing little tin full of beautiful buttons! I love then they are so cute! Thanks Dawn, I Love You, sis!Other stitching news I drew up and stitched out these 9 cute little gumnut babys, theres a story behind it I'll tell one day, but I'm having a hard time trying to decide what to put it on.... What are your favourite projects that you love to make?

And finally today, I promised Hubby I wouldn't be on the puter this weekend, oops :) You may remember I went to a Sewing day a few weeks ago and this was one of the projects we did, I finished up while I was watching the Rugby League Grand final (trying not to cry ;))
I just love it, thanks for the pattern Fiona. Fiona is my Embroidery groups Leader and a lovely Lovely person. Her blog is here. If you like embroidery, Fionas Blog is so full of inspiration, you will need another cupper!

I'm Back & Lifes a Hoot Part 2

2009-10-07T19:34:00.006+11:00

Thank you soooo much to everyone who has sent such kind messages, prayers and wishes! I am finally home from hospital and hopefully don't have to go back! Yeah!

Although the views from my rooms weren't too bad. This was the view from my room in Batemans Bay....

And my view in Sydney :) Not bad huh! If you've got to be in hospital, it's not a bad view to have :)...Anyway onto the really important business, I must apologise for Part 2 of my BOM Life's a Hoot being a week late, but as you can imagine it is a challenge to update a blog when you computer is at the Drs and so are you :)

Without further ado, here is part 2 and I promise part 3 will be on time next month!

Have you started yet? I'd love to know. Oh and I hope you remembered the 1st christmas giveaway on the Among the gumtrees blog. Judiths Christmas gift bag is just gorgeous!

I'm sorry the BOM file is enormous, I've had no end of trouble trying to fix it, so maybe a long sleep and fresh eyes will find the problem, but I wanted to get this 2nd part up tonight.

*Update* I have finally got the PDF's working. I have been working on it since 9am and it is now 4pm. (I'm glad I didn't stay up last night to fix it) A whole day gone and not 1 stitch! Such a pain. Oh well I hope you like part 2. My pictures aren't the best but anyway. (Can you tell I'm a bit over part 2 :) Oh well thats life. Let me know if you are still having problems and a big thanks to the girls who let me know about the problems!

Hugs Paula xxx

Among the Gumtrees Prize winner!

2009-09-27T20:30:00.006+10:00

First off I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who sent their warm wishes to me and assure you that I am fine, My leg has had an external fixiture on it for 3 months now and it is time for it to come off. I have a mild infection in one of the pin sites, which is why I was admitted to hospital early.

Just to prove that I am fine - I managed to talk the Dr into letting me stay home on the first day for my sons 1st birthday party and just had to have some IV antibotics before I went home, then of course my stitching day was on the 2nd day, so I talked him into letting me go to that, I just had to have some more Antibioltics in the morning and was admitted that night. So anyway, all is fine, I am just counting down the days until they will send me to Sydney to have my metal removed :) yeah!

Now as I mentioned yesterday I will be away and hopefully in Surgery on the day that I am supposed to draw the winner of my Among the Gum Trees competition so I decided to draw the prize a couple of days early. I truly appologise if you didn't get a chance to get your entry in, however I'm sure you understand my dilemour.

I am soooo happy to announce the winner of my competition! She is a massive fan of Christmas and even has a blog dedicated to it! Funnily enough I was just looking at her blog last night! (I was hunting around making sure everyone deserved their 3 entry's hehe) Amazing! Anyway without further ado I announce the winner is 'drum roll please'

'SHAKERWOOD PRIMATIVES!'

Congratulations and thank you for entering my competition! I will be in contact soon!

And now, Until I'm back from Hospital I will say so long. Remember take a look at my fellow Gum Tree Designers blogs if you are after a good read! All their blogs are listed on the left side of my blog.

Hugs Paula xxx

I'm off to Hospital again...

2009-09-27T18:55:00.002+10:00

Good evening my friends. As I type I am sitting in my hospital bed stressing out about the competition I am holding for the launch of the Gum Tree Designers Blog.
I have decided that in order to be fair to everyone who has already entered my competition I will draw my winner tommorow morning. Depending on my ability to access a computer (I am borrowing my mums laptop tonight so I can post this) I was concerned that I may be in an operating theatre on Wednesday. The day of the draw.

So there we are, if you have not yet entered my draw for the Annie Downs prize pack, head down this page a bit and you will find the post. Leave a message and you will go in the draw.

Thanks so much to everyone who has left a comment! I am blessed.

Hugs Paula

Dawn's Giveaway!

2009-09-23T22:05:00.004+10:00

One of the best parts about being involved in the Gum Tree Designers is seeing how generous and caring these woman are!

For absolutely no reason other than hopefully to sell a few patterns to you their loyal readers, my 8 dear friends are giving away amazing prizes and wonderful patterns for you to use.

Today I want to tell you about Dawns giveaway, check out this amazingly generous bundle!

A 'Millies Market Day Bag' pattern by Janelle Wind,

1/2 mt (.45yd) of blue floral fabric,

2 fat quarters 1pink spots, 1 blue allover paisley,

3 skeins of DMC vareigated thread,

1/2 doz vintage wooden pegs,

2mt (1.8yd) of blue ricrac + a few little surprises!

Drop by Dawns blog and enter, you've got nothing to loose! Make sure you stick around Dawns blog is a great read, so pop the kettle on and head on over for a look!

Melvins New Friends

2009-09-21T20:13:00.004+10:00

I have had a non stop day today of sewing! I'm heading back to hospital in a week or so and I wanted to make my kids some toys to cuddle while I'm away. I have to go to hospital in Sydney to see the only specialist who is game to operate on me. I saw a number of other specialists, but they didn't have the confidence to be able to handle my injury. Anyway, last time I was only supposed to be away for 5 nights, and ended up being away for 5 weeks.

Anyway, thats all fine, I'm actually looking forward to this surgery because it means I am getting my leg brace taken out, so this is a good one. Then it's the hard work of learning to walk again.

On to happier things, here are the baby's I made for my Baby's. Once again they are from the Kaleidoscope book by Melly and Me. You can find their links a few posts down about Melvin.

So without further ado, I introduce Bubbles the Unicorn...And Bella Boo the bunny rabbit... She still needs a flower in her hair and a pretty dress, but I'll get there :)
I wanted to offer a tip, you probably already know this, but I like quilting because you can make beautiful things without having to use patterns. I like being given a measurement and being able to cut it out with a rotary cutter and ruler. So when I was supposed to cut out template plastic for the patterns for these toys I though, I need to find another way. So I got out my freezer paper and traced the patterns and then ironed them onto my chosen fabric. It made life soooo much easier! I could move the pattern and fabric around without worrying about moving the pattern and messing it up. I can also use the paper again, and it is so much cheaper than template plastic. So here they are together, Bella Boo and Bubbles :)
Aren't they just adorable!

Cheryls Giveaway

2009-09-20T21:00:00.003+10:00

Just a quick one tonight, I have had a very busy day making some friends for Melvin :)

but I wanted to share with you some info about Cheryl's giveaway! I know they just keep coming don't they!!

Cheryl is an amazing lady and she is so generous with her giveaways, check this out, if you win you will receive 2 Willowberry Designs patterns - 'Christmas Treats' and the 'Sampler Embroidery Folder', a bundle of gorgeous vintage print fabrics in muddy mauves and pinks, laces, buttons and other bits n pieces of mushy stuff that's just lovely to look at....

She will even personalise your very own needle book. Thats not all though the little inset photo is the embroidered front panel.... and she's sharing her Aviary stash with you. That's huge!! So go on, click on her button and go and check out Cheryl's giveaway! Someones got to win it, it might as well be you!

Melvin's pants and Another Giveaway!

2009-09-19T13:21:00.011+10:00

Well thanks to the many suggestions I decided that Melvin just had to have two pairs of pants :) Of course he got his red pants and DH sacrificed a pair of his fav holey jeans for the cause, so here he is in all his glory! :)

I still think the red looks better,

and hubby did admit that the denim ones need more red on them, but I think he still looks gorgeous! I had a house full of people over last nightto watch Parramatta win the Rugby League, (yeahhhhh, go the eels) anyway there was 5 kids in the house and everyone of them had to have a turn playing with him, so Softies it is for christmas! Excellent, thats easily organised!Onto the fun stuff, Vikki of Sew Useful Designs is another of my fellow Gumtree Designers and as part of the launch she is offering an awesome giveaway.

Vikki is offering you some patterns and books from some of her favourite Aussies. Up for grabs is a gorgeous pattern by the ever-popular Bronwyn Hayes of Red Brolly Designs. Next up is a fabulous book by Tracey North of I Luv Country and finally a pattern for a Sampler needle case by Lynette Anderson-O'Rourke. Vikki has even included the house button for this project.

You'd be crazy not to enter so get on over to Vikkis Blog, Sew Useful designs and get your entrys in.

Just scroll down to the post 'Are you ready for a giveaway' Vikki has an awesome blog so spend a bit of time there having a look around, it really is worth it!

Sewing time with Melly and Me

2009-09-17T21:01:00.007+10:00

The last week and a bit has been so hectic trying to get everything ready for the launch of 'Among the Gumtrees' that it was really nice to slow down today and get a bit of sewing done!

I bought Melly & Me's new book Kaleidoscope when it first came out some months ago and have been dying to make my little man the adorable 'Melvin the Moose'. I haven't quite finished him yet, so he is still 'noodie rudie' and is in need of some little overalls.

I will get to them tomorow I hope, my hubby and I are still argueing about whether to give him Red overalls (my choice and very cute) or Denim overalls with red patches, any suggestions? Anyway I thought I'd give you a sneek peak. (sorry about the pics, but it's late here in Aus)

This is the first softie I have ever made, so he's not totally perfect and I really learned the value of clipping those curves, but I'm really happy with him. I can see my little man walking around dragging him by his antlers. :) By the way my LM is very small for his age, so Melvin is pretty much the same height as him heheheMelly and Me have just released a new pattern for Leon the Lion, He is so cute and my niece is totally obsessed with The Lion King after seeing the stage show in America earlier this year. So with her birthday coming up next month I think Leon is my next softie project :)

No 1. neice is having a simba party for her 3rd birthday, Any ideas for party games would be most welcome :)

Till tomorow when I will tell you about another giveaway from one of my fellow nutters, Nighty Night.

UPDATE: By the look of a few comments I mustn't have made it very clear that Leon the Lion is a pattern by Melly and Me and I have just ordered it from Fabric Patch

Also Hubby is very disappointed that there are not more votes for Denim :) He thinks you guys are bias and is considering banning me from blogging. As if he ever could hehe.

Over 110 Followers and Vicki's Giveaway

2009-09-16T18:50:00.006+10:00

I am filled with an overwelming sense of gratitude! I have more than doubled the amount of people who are now following my blog! I don't even mind that I had to bribe you to do it. hahaha

Katrina was my 110th visitor, that meant that I had double the amount of followers since the Launch of Among the gum trees. I don't think any of us nutters (is that the correct english, my dad would be horrified hehe) expected this reaction! It is simply incredible, so I felt so happy that I sent Katrina a copy of my Busy Bees Tea Cut Carrier PDF. I sell it in my Etsy store and it has been quite popular, so I hope she like it.

Onto the other exciting news of the day, have you been to look at my fellow nutters blogs? I will be telling you about each and every one of them every couple of days, so don't think you have to enter each one today, we are giving you until the 30th of September to get your entries in and the winners will be drawn on the 1st.

Today I would like to tell you about Vicki's Giveaway over at Tozz's Corner!

She is being very generous and is offering a huge pile of prizes. You could win 5 beautiful FQ's, and a christmas table mat that sounds unreal! Vicki made it with cinnamon inside, so when you put a warm casserole on it, you get the lovely scent through your home, how good does that sound. You'll also recieve a pin cushion that Vicki made. To top it all off you will receive 2 Aussie magazines, one of them is the cushions and bags collection, I have that one myself I have made two of the bags in it, so trust me you won't be disappointed!

So thats it for me tonight, I hope you have had as much fun as we have over the last few days and keep coming back for more!

Giveaway to celebrate the Gum nuts!

2009-09-16T08:41:00.006+10:00

To celebrate the lauch of our wonderful new site, Among the gum trees, by the 9 gum tree designers, each of us are having a giveaway!!

There is 9 amazing prizes on offer from quilt kits to gorgeous patterns and so much more!!

So what will I be offering you my lovely readers? Well as we have a rather Aussie theme happening here I thought I would offer you some patterns from my favourite Aussie designer Annie Downs of Hatched and Patched fame! Annie is an amazing designers who combines stitcherys with applique and quilts and wool felt and any other technique you can imagine. So first up is this gorgeous Quilt pattern of Annies Christmas strippy quilt.Isn't it just gorgeous!! I will also include in my little prize pack a pattern and fabric kit of this adorable Chickadee pincushion! This includes pretty much everything you need to make an adorable wool felt pincushion! I am going to have to get one of these for myself, It's just too cute!Anyway here is what you have to do to enter, easy really, you've probably already done some of it. I would like you to become a follower of both mine and the Among the gum trees blog, if you do this you will get 2 entries. For another entry all you have to do is put our button on the sidebar of your blog. Sorry if you don't have a blog, but we have to draw the line somewhere.

Anyway thats it! 3 chances to win! When you have done all that just pop back and leave me a comment telling me how many entries you are entitled to and your in! (keep in mind there is 9 of us, so we will be checking!) :)

Heres our button and the link to attatch to it

http://gumtreedesigners.blogspot.com/

Good Luck!

Oh and don't forget that my Lifes a Hoot BOM started yesterday, I'd love to know what you think, just click on the free patterns button to be taken to my freebies site and download the PDF's

Oh what fun this has been, was it worth the wait?

Thank you everyone for your comments I read each and every one and love looking at your blogs, I really have to turn this computer off at some stage today, my family think my laptop is permenantly attatched to my knees :)

Today is the day!

2009-09-14T19:07:00.019+10:00

Well the day is finally here!

We are so excited to announce the launch of our brand new blog Among the Gumtrees!

In a (gum) nut-shell, this it’s what we’re all about:

We are a group of Australian designers who love to share, so we will regularly offer FREE designs for you to use for your personal use. Aren't we nice :)

Among the Gum Trees is the brainchild of Jenny of ELEFANTZ, who has brought together nine established and emerging designers to offer something new and exciting to the world - their own original designs – free of charge!

Free of charge?! Are we mad?! Well, no we’re not insane, but we do affectionately refer to each other as “the nutters”, and we look forward to sharing our designs, our news, and our ‘nutty’ journey with you through the gum trees!

Starting on Monday 5th October and each Monday for the next eight weeks, there will be a FREE Christmas-themed DESIGN for you to download. (feel free to grab this button for your blog).
Then after Christmas, we will be giving away a free design just for you every month! You will get a free pattern from each designer, in turn. So, one free design every month for you to use for your personal use, but thats just from the 'Among the gum trees blog', become a follower of each of our blogs because we regularly give away free patterns, just because we can. :)

So if you want to check out our new blog you will get a quick run down about each of us, and if you click on our pictures you will find a full profile about each of us, so you have lots of reading to do today, you can also check out our blogs by clicking on the buttons on the 'Among the Gum Trees' blog.

As well as the free designs, you will also receive monthly news from our 'Head Nut" Jenny and notification of all new for-sale pattern launches. The only thing we ask of YOU… is to please spread the word! Let’s see how far those gum nuts can fall from the trees!

Because we are a generous bunch of nuts, we are EACH HAVING A GIVEAWAY to celebrate the launch of Among the Gum Trees. And you can enter them all! But because we have become so good at teasing… we will be launching our giveaways tomorrow!!!

So in the meantime please start spreading the word and add our ‘Among the Gum Trees’ and 'Christmas Freebie' button to your side bar of your blog!

Part 2:

Now onto the other exciting news from me today, I am launching my Block of the Month, 'Life's a Hoot'.

My BOM will work much the same as most others in that my designs will go up for free in the first month and then will be available in my etsy shop if you miss any. The difference with my BOM is that I want you to have time to finish your project in time for Christmas, so the first block will only be up until the end of September, with block 2 coming out on the 1st of October.

'Life's a Hoot' is a 4 part BOM and so you will get the last piece of the puzzle on the 1st of December, so if your a quick worker you can be finished in time for christmas. You will have finished a really cute wallhanging with 4 Owl Stitcherys! Here is what 'part 1' looks like..

I can't wait to see what yours looks like!

Just click on the photo to be taked to my site which is home to all my free patterns. There you will find 3 files, Part 1, is your embroidery instructions and some helpful tips for beginners, you'll also find the pattern and your fabric requirements.

I'd love to know what you think, so leave me a message. If you are interested I will also set up a Flicker page for all the 'hootin good projects' hehe.

So was it worth the wait? Grab a coffee because you've got soooo much to see today! Don't forget to come back tommorow for my giveaway!

Exciting News!

2009-09-14T18:51:00.004+10:00

OK, it's not the news your all waiting for, but my little man took his first steps today!

Even though this is my 3rd bubba, it is no less exciting that first time!

That other news is not far away now, less than 24 hours to go.

Big announcement!

2009-09-09T19:09:00.003+10:00

Ok Ok I've made you wait long enough!

But I still can't tell you what is going on :) sorry... hehehe Don't you just love secrets!! I sure do! I can never normally keep them, but I must keep this one!

Anyway, what I can tell you is the 'Life's a Hoot BOM' will be launched on Tuesday the 15th Aussie time

There will be another pretty big thing happening on that day too! There is a countdown in the side of my blog. I wonder how many of the countdowns you can find in the blogging world, just for fun of course!

So there you go, I have given away one part of the secret! Told you I'm hopeless at keeping secrets ;)

BOM Button - Life's a Hoot!

2009-09-08T17:26:00.004+10:00

Ok so here it is! The button for my free BOM which is not far away now! Just .... more sleeps!

I would really love it if you would like to put this button on you blog!

Blogland is going 'Nutty'! It won't be long now and all will be revieled! Don't forget to click the follow button so you will be one of the first to find out about the big news! Trust me it's Big!

I Love Happy Mail

2009-09-07T20:13:00.006+10:00

A few days ago Jenny of Elefantz gave a plug to the shop Bella & Vintage My Credit Card will take a little while to forgive me! :)

My bonuses for renewing my Homespun and Quilters companion Magazines also arrive today. What a fantastic mail day!

I bought three gorgeous patterns and 8 yards of stunning fabric, I'm so excited and the packaging was just stunning! She even included a thank you card. I highly recommend you check out the website. Absolutely fantastic service and to receive your order gift wrapped is an awesome little surprise. With my Homespun renewal I recieved the Scisseroo scissors. I've been wanting them for ages, and a Ironing/Cutting mat, I've also wanted one of them for ages I'm one happy girl today!

Do you see the little Turtle on the cover of Homespun, how gorgeous is that! Just another project to add to the christmas list, my 3 year old will go nuts for him. His little legs and head both retreat into their shell! Just gorgeous!

Tommorow I will be giving you the new button for my BOM, Not too long now, just ...... more sleeps and all will be revealed! :)

I started this cutie yesterday and finished her up today. We have finally gotten a new bookshelf for all my magazines, so I 0f course started filling it up with my little stitchery's :)

Tease, Tease, Tease Its so exciting :)

2009-09-06T20:28:00.006+10:00

I actually got out of the house over the weekend, Mum and I went for a drive to my favourite fabric shop to pick out some fabrics for the BOM.

Here's just a little teaser for you:

Hope that wets your appetite, and gets you excited about it.

"Give me a home among the gumtrees" sorry that songs just been going through my head for days :)

Ok so the BOM start date is not too far away now, still a surprise because it will be launched at the same time as..... oops I forgot, it's a secret hehehe.

New look!

2009-09-04T19:44:00.003+10:00

I have decided to have a change, the black background of my blog was getting a little hard to look at. :) I hope you like the new look!

I also have some exciting news! I will be starting a free BOM (block of the month) very soon. Make sure you hit the follow button so you don't miss the start. This will be a fairly quick one so you may even have it finished for Christmas. This will be a perfect project for anyone who is new to quilting, patchwork and embroidery, and for the more advanced a nice quick project which is perfect for a lovely gift.

More details in the next few days so stay tuned! :)

Oh yeah and check out my boys! Go the eels!

Free Embroidery Teddy hug pattern Hug Swap

2009-09-03T18:00:00.007+10:00

Ok So following on from yesterday, as promised here is the second embroidery pattern for the Hug Swap. I had so much fun designing and stitching these up and they were so quick to do! I had them finished in 1 day each!

And here they are together all finished and ready for me to send off to my swap partner. Oh I forgot to mention yesterday, I have always avoided Metallic threads like the plague because they shread and are generally just a pain in the neck to use, but I wanted the fairy wings and dress and shoes to sparkle so I gave it a go, one little tip I have is to use a massive needle! I used a needle which is about the thickness of a tapestry needle, but it has a sharp point. I don't know what size it is I'm sorry because I got it in a pack, but the pack was a Milliners needle pack sizes 3/9 and it was the second or third biggest. It does make big holes but as long as you don't need to unpick your stitches, you should be good because the holes close up enough to be invisable when your finished. I hope that makes sense and I haven't confused you greatly.

All this giving has put me in the giveaway mood, so I'm thinking about doing a free Mystery BOM. What do you think? Do you want it to be a mystery or would you like to see the whole project first? The other question I have for you today is would you like it to be put into a quilt, a wallhanging, something else or just the Owl designs so you can do what you like with them?

Also on a really happy note, I got an email yesterday from the editor of Handmade Magazine and my Sewing Machine cover that I designed and made for Jenny's August Challenge will be featuring in the Mothers Day issue next year! Yeah!! I'm very excited! I also have my first project coming out in Handmade in December's Kids Special! I'm feeling a bit special *BG*.

Till next time, Hugs P xxx

Hug Swap Free Embroidery Fairy Pattern Giveaway!

2009-09-02T19:46:00.007+10:00

I have decided to join Jenny of Elefantz in her Hug Swap!
You can find all the details on Jenny's Blog, just click on this picture!

It's a fantastic idea and so I decided to design my own patterns for it and offer them to you for free. The first of my designs is a little angel, who works in the Hugs Department, which of course is always open. As this design is for Jenny's swap and she loves her roses I decided to put a few of them in too. This design is for the gorgeous little Mug Hug that Jenny and Vicki from Tozz's Corner designed for the swap. Jenny has a full tutorial with photos on how to make it on her blog.

I have another pattern for you tommorow for the Mug Mat, I just have to finish the stitchery. This time some gorgeous litle teddy's, so make sure to hit the 'follow' button so you don't miss out on it. These patterns will only be available until the end of the swap and then will be available from my etsy shop.

I hope you enjoy my freebies!

Hugs Paula xxx

Sewing Machine Cover

2009-08-31T13:08:00.007+10:00

I Made it! YEAH!

I hope that I made it in time, but I have finally finished my Sewing Machine cover for the Elefantz competition

I have been trying to get this project finish for sooo long and today I'm sitting here with a big grin on my face, because I finally have that sense of achievement!

I'm especially proud of myself as I had to teach myself how to use my left foot to sew, and my quilting lines are really quite straight! Surprise Surprise! hehehe

I sat at the sewing machine most of the day yesterday, to get it done. It was really uncomfortable as you can imagine with my leg the way it is, but I had to take my mind off things, because both my Mum and my Husband were stuck on the other side of the bushfires on the south coast of NSW in Australia. Thank goodness my hubby got home safe. Mum decided to stay up there until it was safer to drive home. They were stuck in Ulladulla and we live in Batemans Bay.

Anyway, here are my pictures for the competition, just click on them to be taken to Jenny's blog, there are some awesome entry's in the competition to give you some inspiration.

Do you like the whole I made for the handle? I was quite impressed with myself! hehehe I really really really want the win the book!! :)

Thanks Jenny and Cheryl I would never have finished this if it weren't for your competition!

A new Applique Cushion by Bareroots

2009-08-30T09:22:00.004+10:00

I have been very slack with posting lately, but it seems like I have a dozen things on the go and just never seem to get anything finished! It is very frustrating, because I love that sense of achievement I get when I finish a project.

I have been trying to turn my Spring Garden pattern into a Sewing Machine cover (I changed my mind) for Jenny of Elefantz' competition and with two days to go, I don't think I'm going to make it unfortunately, I find it very difficult to sit at the machine for any length of time as you can imagine.

Are you like that? Do you get a real buzz when you finish something, but feel down when you don't get anything finished? Maybe I need to spend a day making pincushions so I feel I've acomplished something.

Anyway, here is the cushion I finished yesterday. It's from the Bareroots book Pretty and Cozy. I don't like how the red heart shows through the white heart, next time I will reverse applique the white heart. Also the pattern has a severe lack of photos, making it a challenge to follow the pattern at times.

Free Felt Scissor Keeper Pattern

2009-08-18T11:43:00.003+10:00

Ok I have finally finished it! Just click here and you will be taken to my download page with all my free patterns. I'd love you to leave a message if you download any of my patterns and let me know what you will be doing with them!

New free Pattern for a felt scissor keeper coming

2009-08-15T17:39:00.006+10:00

Well it has been quite a while since I last posted, but the reason is I am finally home from hospital! Even if it is only for about 6 weeks, before my next surgery. This was my last day in hospital, the reason for my big smile. I have the big brace on until everything has a chance to heal. The Drs want it on for up to 3 months. It will have been 6 weeks on Wednesday, so I'm halfway there.

Anyway this is what I have been working on. I'm doing a swap and my blocks are going to be for a picnic rug, so I thought what better theme than 'Teddy Bears picnic. This teddy will be in the middle of a spring garden. More pics soon I promise.

On to the freebie. As you may remember I ordered some wool felt from The Home Patch recently. Along with some gorgeous patterns and kits to keep me busy in hospital, I bought some wool felt 6" squares to make my own creations. This Aqua colour just spoke to me and I had to do something with it immediately! So some quick sketching and a little stitching and I come up with this....

I will try and scan the sketch tomorrow and get it up on the blog for you.

But then again, we are having a birthday party for my big 5 year old tomorrow, so it may be the next day. I have to instruct my darling husband how to plug the scanner back in as I am unable to move easily. Hopefully this won't cause a Divorce! hehe

Summer Garden and a lovely Giveaway from Jenny!

2009-08-04T12:55:00.007+10:00

Guess What! A new summer garden stitchery is on its way!

After you all went so crazy for my spring garden stitchery I have started working on a summer one!

I'm trying to come up with an Autumn and Winter, but I'm have trouble trying to think of flowers that bloom in those seasons (I'm definately no gardener). Any suggestions?

In the style of Jenny of Elefantz Here's a sneek peek.

Speaking of Jenny, she has just released a Gorgeous new stitchery range on her etsy site and is having a giveaway on her blog! I bought her new christmas range of patterns this morning and she sent it to me within an hour and a half!!! Fantastic service! Thanks Jenny. Check out this gorgeous little collection, you could win this just jump on over to Jenny's site!

Wool Felt Kits by Annie Downs

2009-08-03T12:06:00.004+10:00

I'm so excited, I've been wanting to mess around with wool felt for ages and so I got onto The Home Patch and ordered these.

Hubby just called and they arrived this morning! Yeah Looks like I'll be making christmas Baubles this afternoon. I also ordered the little pincushions, the lamb one, a ladybug and a chicken, I also got some extra wool felt so I can do some of my own designs (look out for some more freebies soon). I'm so excited, as I mentioned I just love Annie Downs designs.

Free Embroidery Applique Pattern Spring Garden

2009-08-02T16:47:00.003+10:00

Ok friends here it is

It is a very rough pattern, but as so many of you wanted it, I didn't want to make you wait for me to draft up a better copy, so it is just a pencil drawing, but I'm sure you can figure it out.

I used 2 embroidery threads throughout and the stems are worked in Stem stitch as is the tail of the bird and the second flower, the swirly one. For this I used an opalesent thread from DMC, while the dragon fly and the running stitch inside the last flower is worked in Rayon. It just gives a bit of shimmer when the sun catches it.

The embroidered flowers at the bottom are just lazy daisy stitches with the pink one having two rows, the first longer than the second and the middle filled with french knots.

So there you go, I hope you all love it and please send me pictures if you do use it, it gives me that warm fuzzy feel to know that people are enjoying my art.

hugs Paula x

Cushion it is!

2009-08-02T15:24:00.004+10:00

Wow I am overwhelmed by all your lovely comments!

I will definately be sharing my pattern. I have sent my pencil drawing home with my sister and she will scan it for me, and after she emails it to me I will clean it up for you and then put it up as a PDF.

I'm so gratful to Jenny for sending you all over, I have been a fan of her blog for quite a while, so to feature on her blog makes me feel all funny inside. You know that feeling you get when you feel like a little school girl! hehehe I feel very special, thank you Jenny. After all she was the inspiration for my stitchery. I really love the way she combines applique with embroidery, (Annie Downs does this too, another of my favs) so this was my first attempt.

You all have been so kind that you have inspired me to give it another go, so stay tuned for another pattern soon! all your ideas for projects has my brain swimming with ideas! Lucky I brought my sketch book to hospital.

I really love Judith's comment about it reminding her of 'spring' so thats what it will be called. Coming soon, 'Spring 2' or maybe 'Winter' or 'Summer' or 'Autumn'.

Thank You all, I truly appreciate ever single comment, you have all made my day!

Hugs Paula

Oooh by the way, because I'm in hospital for a little while longer, I have sent 'Spring' home with my Mum, she is going to make it into a cushion for me, so hopefully I will have pictures in the next few days.

Free Sleepy Cat Embroidery Pattern

2009-08-02T11:16:00.004+10:00

Yeah I have finally worked out how to put up my PDF patterns for you, so you can download them for free. I blogged a while back about this little pussy cat cushion, it has a secret pocket. I was going to sell the pattern on etsy, but decided that I have received so much help in the way of free tutorials and the like that I need to give a bit back to the blogging community. So if you like this, please feel free to download it from here and of course please let me know what you do with it! I'd love to see pictures!

I might add a tutorial when I get out of hospital. I have the instructions written, but I don't have any photos. Do you want the instuctions without photos for now or would you just rather wait for a proper tutorial? let me know in the comments. :)

Heres a picture of the secret pocket, sorry about the pic, this is from my old camera.

Please leave a comment if you have the time, it really makes my day to find someone has left me a comment, and it lets me know I'm on the right track of what you want from my blog.

Star Chrismas decoration / Ornament mini Tutorial

2009-08-01T11:51:00.006+10:00

I had some fun yesterday whipping up this cute little star decoration. I think next time I'll use 2 threads of DMC though, the embroidery is a bit too hard to see.

I forgot to take a picture of the back, it is also a red star, but I left it blank except for the running stitch around the outside. I'm going to embroider the year, or my name, or I'm thinking about using it for an advent swap, so I might put some details of that on it. As you can see, I'm still very undecided.

This is how I made it:

I drew a star on template plastic and cut out my template. I used this to cut out two red felt stars and I just eyeballed cutting out a white star 1/4" bigger, but you could use a second template or even a cookie cutter, your choice.

I embroidered a lazy daisy flower with a swirly stem, two lazy daisy leaves and some french knots in each point of the star.

I attatched seed beads in a rough star pattern in the middle of my star using sewing thread, It is much stronger than embroidery thread!

I took my blank red star (if you want to add a date or name it is easier to do that now) and attatched it using running stitch to the white star. Make sure it is centred! Before stitching down the top point, add a loop of ribbon to hang your star. I added a few quick stitches with my red sewing thread that I still had threaded from the sead beads, before the running stitch went through both the ribbon and white star.

Next I took the embroidered red star and attatched it in the same way, using a running stitch but make sure your needle only goes through the top red star and the white star! You don't want a double row of running stitch to come through onto the back.

And thats it! Easy peasey!

What should I do with this?

2009-07-31T11:08:00.007+10:00

So I've been working on this for sometime now and am finally at a stand still. I just don't know what I want to do with this cute little embroidery. Actually its not so little about 12-14" Wide x 10-12"high.
I'd Love some ideas, and I think I will put the embroidery pattern up as a freebie if anyone is interested.
If you want me to put up this and other free patterns, just leave me a comment!

Any ideas would be most appreciated and if I get an idea from you guys that I like I'll make up a tutorial too. Sorry I haven't got an iron here, I'm very embaressed about the state of this...

Hugs P

*UPDATE*
Hi Ladies, Due to poular demand I have put the pattern up here. Please keep commenting, I love to hear suggestions for future projects. Go to the main page for more project ideas!

Hugs Paula x

My Mushrooms, embroidered christmas Decorations

2009-07-30T20:54:00.009+10:00

After posting the link for the little mushroom house pin cushion / decorations I thought I should show you my effort. Isn't it cute! and So much fun to make!

I made this one in my hospital bed between physio and all the other that you endure in hospital and it only took me 1 day, so really easy too!

I must admit, Mum did do the machine stitching for me. I have brought up most of my stitching equipment, but I think the nurses would be a bit miffed if I brought in my trusty Janome. :)

Ooh I wanted to mention too , the hexagon I showed you the other day, and again above, was actually designed by Gail Pan, who is amazingly talented! Check out her blog for some free patterns, just beautiful. She's offering a free BOM. Don't miss out it's stunning!
I just checked Gails Blog to get the link for you and I see that she is releasing a book! I'm very excited, I have been a fan of her work for quite sometime, Check out the cover here!

I also forgot to tell you that I gave my sister my credit card yesterday and asked her to go and buy me a decent camera, I'm sick of the quality of photography I've been subjecting you to. This is what she came back with! As you can see from the above photos, I've been having fun playing, but I really should get the manual out and read it. hehe.

I've been going on about being in hospital, so I thought I'd better show you why. This is a picture of my brace that is on my leg. It is worth $26,000 AUD would you believe! It is to support my knee while it heals. You can find the full store here. It will be left on for at least 6 wekks and as long as our prayers work and I don't get an infection will be on for up to 3 months. The surgeon says I will probably never work again, but hopefully my knee will be more stable. All I want is for it to be strong enough for me to be able to take my kids to the beach next summer. Thats my goal! Anyway, this has got to be my longest post ever, but I wanted to show you a picture of my DH and my baby boy, this is one of the first pics I took with my new camera.

Anyway it is getting late, so I best turn off the light before the nurses start giving me funny looks. :) The other night when I was still stitching together my hexagon at midnight I was getting some very interesting looks from the night staff, wondering what on earth I was doing. hehe

Hexagon Embroidery

2009-07-29T23:26:00.003+10:00

I have had a little bit of stitching time today between Physio and other things (I made it up and down the two steps in Physio 3 times! Only a few more times and I might be able to go home!).

Anyway, it gave me the chance to start and actually finish a hexagon, it is part of a quilt that my embroidery group is putting together to raise money for cancer research.

Fiona from Peaceful Threads put together the pattern and supplys for us, and we just had to stitch up our hexagons. I hope you like it. I think it came out great, especially for my first hexagon.

Mushroom Magic

2009-07-27T10:51:00.004+10:00

Hello I'm finally back in my Town, not home yet, but I was flown back from Sydney last week and am now at least able to have visits from my baby's. The hospital I'm in, is only minutes from where we live. Yeah!

I've been unable to take pictures of what I'm working on because I don't have a camera here so I thought I'd share a pattern I've found online. Aren't these the cutest thing you've ever seen!

Click on the picture to be taken to the free pattern and tutorial.

So you may be wondering how I'm blogging from my hospital bed, well, my Darling Hubby, went and bought me a pre-paid wireless broadband thingy, so I just plug it into my laptop and I feel like I'm a bit normal again. At least I can check my emails (I had over 660 when I finally got back to my computer hehe).

So thats all for today, but thanks so much to everyone who left messages and sent emails, it really lifts my spirits on the hard days!

Hugs Love P

Off to Hospital I go

2009-07-02T06:36:00.002+10:00

Hi all,

I'll be a bit quiet for a while as today Jack and I are heading off. We are starting out at a sleep school for Jack, we just had our last nights sleep together :( Then we are heading up to Sydney for my knee recon. (we will be squeezing in a visit to the Thimblelady's shop before hospital, Yeahhh.)

I'll see you all soon!

Happy Stitching!
Paula x

Sew much time, Sew little Fabric

The year that was 2011

AQM and a trip to Tocumwal

Winners

2 new Patterns and a giveaway!

Finally something to blog about :)

2 little birds

Cake Pops!

Big Sale!

Blackboard fabric mini Tutorial

Stitching Therapy!

My Sydney Trip and Prize winners!

My 2 new patterns available soon and a giveaway!

With 4 kids, how do you find the time?

Lots of stitching and a giveaway

A sneek peak and the kids workshop project

My first Workshop!

My Babys 5th Birthday Hello Kitty Cake.

Sewing and spending :)

My big news!

My Patch Fabrics Grand Opening!

My clever Mummy! Get your shopping fingers ready :)

My New Camera!!

20% off Sale

Sit Me Up Donut free Insert Pattern

New Patterns available now!

Owl Softie free Pattern/Tutorial

Teapot cozie and Kindle Cover

More New patterns

Another Tease :)

The Quilters Stash

My patterns are in shops!!! and Winners!

Time to spill the beans and a giveaway!

What could it be?

New Melly and Me patterns!

Just a tease :)

Queensland Flood Appeal Auction

Flood Appeal Auctions

Block Fail! :)

More humbugs following on from the tutorial

Humbug Bag - How to insert a Zipper tutorial

Winner!

My first Favourite things free tutorial list!

Giveaway Time!

To market we will go

Mr Magoo

Snowman Softie for christmas

Leahs Apron

Make it Perfect's Uptown girl Jacket

Sean's Pics

My newest creation!

It's Baby Time!

What should these become?

More Baby fun!

Baby needs a new pair of shoes!

Early Bird Christmas Crafting & a new quilt!

My new Bathmat and a new library bag

Long Time, No See....

My First published design!

Big News!

Problems downloading BOM?

Part 3 Lifes a Hoot

Some questions for you...

New Pattern & Hug Swap

New Flickr Site

I Love Mail! Gumnut Babys and a Canvas work Pincushion

I'm Back & Lifes a Hoot Part 2

Among the Gumtrees Prize winner!

I'm off to Hospital again...

Dawn's Giveaway!

Melvins New Friends

Cheryls Giveaway

Melvin's pants and Another Giveaway!

Sewing time with Melly and Me

Over 110 Followers and Vicki's Giveaway

Giveaway to celebrate the Gum nuts!

Today is the day!

Exciting News!

Big announcement!

BOM Button - Life's a Hoot!