the maidenhair tree

Monday, January 17, 2011

Crafty Auctions: Queensland Flood Appeal

There are so many fantastic people out there wanting to help!
And making beautiful items to auction for the appeal.
Here is the master list of lovely stuff!!
I intend to make a pair of Felted Robins to add auction, so stay tuned!
In the meantime: here are some wonderful picks at auction!
Anna's stash!

Felted Jumper Arms
Poppy Bean and Bloss raffle

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Respite from the Terrors of Environmental Madness.

The end of 2010 seemed a blur- I tapped into the atmosphere of frenzy and buzzing of frenetic activity around me, and even in the moments when I couldn't even think what I had to do, I felt rushed and stressed! Terrible.
So, jumping into the station wagon and driving 10 hours east into a remote beach in a National Park was just the cure for the dire state I found myself in. To my salvation, there were no shops, phones, mobile reception, or many people, and we pitched out large the in the dark, and collapsed into slumber accompanied by the serenade of irrepressible crickets!
The rain came, the hail, the little ladies soent their tent bound days reading and drawing in peace, seeming to also sigh relief at the chance to breathe out! Even young Mr P, the baby boy, seemed at peace.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Flooffy Cat Bloomers: Slightly Tutorialish

IN the tradition of making handmade gifts for all birthdays the Chicken's are invited to, I stayed up rather a bit late making a pair of Flooffy Cat Bloomers.
The first pair I ever made was about 7 years ago, when Chicken 1 played "Whiskers on Kittens" in a "My Favourite Things" play at Kinder. These are still squeezed into regularly around here, even though no-one is quite a size 4 anymore.
The slogan around our house at the moment: "Flooffy Cat Bloomers: everyone needs a pair!"
I took a few snaps so I could make this post a wee bit instructional.

1. If there isn't any Fake fur, or even, at a pinch, felted jumpers about, one needs only about 40cm of fake fur fabric. and some lining fabric. I used some cotton fabric I picked up years ago at an op shop.

2. I used this old pattern from Butterick, but the size only goes up to 3 years, so I kinda cut a very big seam allowance and made each piece longer, and it kinda worked!

3. Next, I cut out four pieces of fabric (2 in fur, 2 in lining):

4. I then sewed the right side of lining to fluffy side of fur, leaving the top (waistline) open, and then turned inside out. I then sewed around the edge with zig zag (love zig zag!), joining the top edges by zig zagging at the edges.

5. I then placed the fur side together and sewed up both rises (that is curvy edges).
Then I turned inside out, and matched the sewn edges together, and all of a sudden, they looked like shorts! (Wouldn't you know it, I got so excited I forgot to take a photo of this stage!).
The you turn inside out again, and sew up the crotch. (I like to sew down the seams of the crotch with a wide zig zag.)

6. The sew down the top of bloomers about an inch, leaving a bit of a gap so you can slip in the elastic.
Thread elastic through with a nappy pin, and sew the two ends, then slip inside and sew over the hole.

7. The turn pants inside out, and sew elastic straight onto the inside of the leg opening, stretching the elastic a bit so it gathers to create the bloomer effect!
8. THE TAIL! Cut a long piece of fur, sew into a tube, turn inside out and sew onto the bum of bloomers!!

Fini!
Give to birthday child and watch the pussycats run off into the sunset tails a-bouncing...a great quiet moment of victory for handmade!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

"Even a River Can Drown"

My gorgeous very, very loyal and wonderful friend Beth Knights is making a CD.
In fact, she has pretty much recorded it all and almost ready to make the actual CDs so people can have her gorgeous voice at the ready by their cd players at all times!
She also has a gig at Peat's Ridge Festival this year, and would love to have a CD for folk up there.
Very exciting, and lovely for the world, as her music is beautiful, captivating, authentic, stirring, beguiling and...well, you get the idea!
There is a wonderful website/initiative called Fundbreak, which helps artists rally financial support for their projects. Beth has her CD project up for support through this website, and it's kinda like pre-ordering a CD too. I think it's a wonderful idea! A very democratic Arts Grant!