Handmade birthday extravaganza

I was very fortunate on my birthday to get given two amazing handmade gifts; a set of gorgeous cushions and a cushion sash from Kae and a lovely set of sewing caddy with drawstring bag, pin cushion and scissor and needle purse from Lyn. Here they both are. Thank-you so much!!





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Ermintrude's purse

Happy birthday Emma Z. with a clutch purse made from heavy Florence Broadhurst print cotton lined in khaki linen (bamboo quilting) and grosgrain ribbon detail with vintage recycled button decoration. I hope you like it!


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Juliette's clutch purse

Juliette's clutch purse in linen with inset grosgrain ribbon and japanese linen print lining. Matching coin purse inside. Pattern made from scratch using devine inspiration and illustrator.












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Sophie's fairy wings

My little neice needed some fairy wings to match her fairy skirt Em made her. Here she is wearing them on Easter Sunday during her very first Easter egg hunt! I made it out of foam and silk lining which I hand painted with acrylics (if you can afford it, I recommend fabric dye instead but it was too expensive for me!).


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Tree stump door stop

Apologies for the big gap between posts. Here's my latest creation- a twist on the earlier log door stop- a vertical tree stump door stop in cord and felt. Stuffed with pebbles (from our wedding) and fabric scraps. Fingers crossed they like it!






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Babushka doll purse - the back

P2210003, originally uploaded by sarah-may.

Here you can see the back view - with the zipper. PS. I'll be giving it to Kristen on Tuesday so shhh! till then.

Babushka doll purse for Kristen

P2210005, originally uploaded by sarah-may.

Kristen and I both love Russian nesting dolls. Kristen gave us a set of Babushka measuring cups for the kitchen for our wedding. It was her birthday last week and I felt inspired to carry on the babushka tradition and made her a little felt purse. I drew the illustration on the computer, printed it out and used it as a pattern. The eyes and cheeks are created with Copic markers but the rest is layered felt. I was aiming for a less traditional doll but it came out super traditional, oh well! Next time, maybe a glam metal doll? I hope she likes it!

Final punk themed sling

For Joe, this one is Ramones themed and is my surprise favourite! I stitched a Ramones badge onto the pocket (love the almost baby talk similarilty) and the fabric is dark charcoal with black skull and crossbones and black contrast back. This is a real don't mess with me or my baby punk-rock sling!! Btw, we used a bag of oranges in these shots as we have no bubba to use in these photos!


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Marimekko themed slings

I've always loved the bold patterns of Marimekko fabric but could never afford it! I found this amazing pattern at tessuti in the city, still expensive but not a patch on the real-deal! Lined in red cotton with matching pocket, can be worn either side out. I made two of these in two different sizes for Al and Pru.


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The footy themed sling

For Mark, the AFL enthusiast. In his team colour of red. (swans of course!) I added padding on the shoulders and hips for comfort and tapered the sling at shoulders. I also added a lined pocket for emergency nappies or toys and added a d loop for the dummy, toy attachments. I hope he likes it!


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A weekend of baby slings

I'm currently experiencing a baby boom in my friendship circle. Luckily, I mastered the baby sling or papoose last year for my brother in law, when I bought one for my sister and he mentioned whilst it fit her well it was much too small for him to wear, so I created a pattern to fit him perfectly. This also sparked my husband's brilliant plan to create 2 slings per baby, one for the Mum and one for the Dad, custom fit of course! Sadly, I was the pleb on my own design project as he proudly art directed both boy's slings, choosing themes and surpervising fabric choices. They turned out amazingly well, and here they follow....


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Cute chocolate from Krispian

Wouldn't this brighten up your day too?

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Lisa's purse

This was a present I whipped up for Lisa. It features some gorgeous cotton print from Japan (gosh they have such pretty fabric there) and orange cotton I recycled from ebay purchase of vintage fabric in the UK a long, long time ago. The cute buttons were recycled from a mixed bag my sister bought me from "The button guy in Maroochydore". Imagine if all you sold was buttons? Nice huh? And the whole thing is quilted on bamboo batting with a velcro closure. Got to love the orange polka-dot bias binding!

Someone's else's hand-made cheating present

Ok, Ok, I said I'd hand-make everything - but someone else handmade this one. Its a gorgeous kimono print bib and baby wrap by Sallymac bought at the Young Blood Designers Market at the Powerhouse museum. Its so darn cute I couldn't resist!

P and J with log!

Here's the proud recipients of Door log! Present 1 = success!

The Ghost of presents past - Kae's sweater

This was a sweater (bolero style) that made for Kae for Christmas. I customized it with Alanna Hill style decoration; velvet ribbon, crystals and bead-work on the buttons. Without the Alanna Hill price tag! Great for sweaters that are a bit boring. Years ago I embroidered an old sweater from Vinnies with gold thread to jazz it up when I couldn't afford a new one. Thanks for the photos Kae!

Pear pin cushions

This is a supplementary present for my Mum. I was recently chatting to her and she mentioned that she can't find her pin cushion (I suspect foul play by the envious needles!) so i decided to make her one.

Mum's bag - finished!

At last, I finished Mum's bag! It's Japanese 100% cotton print outer with grosgrain ribbons, inside is lined with purple cotton drill. I added a hand-made brooch to the top corner to give it a bit more sparkle. I hope she likes it!

Present 2 - Mum's bag in progress

This is a progress shot of a reversible beach bag I'm sewing for Mum's birthday from Japanese print and purple cotton drill. I hope she likes it?!





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New fabric!

I was walking past tessuti fabrics in the city today and was drawn in by the shiny, red "on sale" sign. The sale was sadly, only 10-20% off but the fabrics were gorgeous! A bit expensive, but worth it. Here's a few peeks at my spoils....


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Log close-up

logo-closeup2, originally uploaded by sarah-may.

Here's a close up showing the snail and the leaves and the free-arm sewing stitching "bark" effect.

Draught-stopper Log

log, originally uploaded by sarah-may.

Friends Pru and Joe have recently bought a new house in Leichhardt. In honor of this stupendous occasion, I have crafted a brown cord log shaped draught/door-stopper complete with felt leaves, lichen and snail. We sacrificed Liam's old cords to a good cause. I hope they like it! (pattern from Sewing Green)

A New Year's Resolution

I think as a well-heeled country, we have too much stuff. So much stuff that we don't know what to do with it so we build bigger houses with more rooms to put our stuff in. All that stuff uses up our precious resources. So I decided to give the planet a rest. Late last year, I had the idea to to reduce my spending on consumer goods and try to hand-make or recycle gifts for a year. I like to call it "slow gifting". Instead of buying something, I would take the time to make each person something special and unique for themselves. I got given a great book from Kae for Christmas to kick start my year of hand-made or recycled gifts; Sewing Green. Thanks Kae! Stay tuned for the results of the first craft project... One branch door-stop in brown cord made from Liam's old jeans. Who knows, it could all end in tears as friends and family beg me not to make another badly knitted scarf and to return to store-bought gifts, but it should be a fun journey.