Materials
Pattern for Bird, Wings
Paper Scraps or Pieces
Sewing Machine with Heavy Duty Needle
Thread
Buttons
Ribbon Scraps
Scissors
Glue
Lollies!

Step 1
Cut out 50 bird pieces (make sure that you cut 25 one way and 25 going the other way) and 25 wings

Step 2
Cut 25 x 10cm/4″ ribbon lengths

Step 3
Cut out 25 orange beaks and assemble the birds, wings, ribbons, beaks and lollies so they are ready to sew.

Step 4
Take two bodies, tuck a beak in between the two sheets at the same height as the point of the tale. Fold a length of ribbon in half and tuck it in between the two sheets on the top of the bird’s head.
Sew the bird together, tucking a lolly inside before you finish.

Step 5
Glue a button onto the bird. Glue a wing onto the body.

Step 6
Take a black marker and write numbers 1 – 25 on the wings or you can use stickers, if you like.

Hang up your birds on a string or on the tree. All ready for 1 December.
Sorry I don’t have a pattern for the birds or wings but they are really easy to draw freehand or google one.
Enjoy!
Mia
xxx

I got out my huge collection of vintage dress patterns today just to look at them. I love looking through them. They range from the 1950’s to the 1980’s. My favourites are the mini dress patterns from the 1960’s. I love the illustrations, I love the patterns themselves and have used many of them to sew with. I even love the smell. Unfortunately, my kitty Calvin thought it would be nice to eat them. . Here are a few from my collection….

And yes, the things I have promised are still coming. We got very sidetracked over the weekend with horse riding, dinners out, movies, walks in the sunshine and a trip to the markets…
Mia
xxx

The Finished Product
This is a really quick and easy project. Em and I had a spare afternoon and finished two dresses in under and hour and a half. The only fiddly part of this project was adjusting the position of the tshirt on the singlet so that it sat well. I’d love to see this project using a colourful rocker tshirt or tie-dyed shirt and a wildly coloured singlet under. Let us know what you come up with and we’ll put them up here ok.

Materials
1 singlet top to fit
1 Extra large tshirt
Sewing machine (we used double needles because it makes a great finish on knit items), thread, scissors.

Step 1
Cut the tshirt down both seams from the neckline to the sleeves.
Step 2
Fold these under and pin them. Hem the edges. We sewed around in a u-shape using double needles (not necessary though).

Step 3
Try on the singlet. Put the tshirt on over the top. Pin the front neckline of the tshirt to the front of the singlet. We pinned it about 12cm/5″ from top. Spend some time adjusting it so that it sits right and looks flattering on you. Pin the back neckline of tshirt onto the back of the singlet in the same way.

Step 4
Try the ‘dress’ on with a belt and make sure that it still falls well. Adjust the pins until you are happy with it. Make sure that the sleeves turned inside out are at the same place as pockets should be.
Step 5
Take off the dress and sew the top neckline of the tshirt onto the singlet where you have pinned it.
Step 6
Sew the back neckline of the tshirt onto the singlet where you have pinned it.
Step 7
Turn the tshirt inside out the sew the sleeve holes together to make pockets (pretty clevery huh?)

That’s it! How could it be easier to make a cute little dress? If you are making it for winter buy a long-sleeved tee instead of the singlet and do the same thing. Pair this with a cinched belt, tights, boots and a gorgeous coat. Lovely!

Enjoy!
Mia
xxx
PS Our advent calendar should be completed by tomorrow! All going well. And pompoms and still coming!

The finished wreath

Materials
I bought a foam Christmas Wreath from a local craft store
Pins (with plastic heads)
Normal Pins
Now I just used anything in my ENORMOUS (taking over the house enormous) stash – Feathers, chain, leaves, buttons, fabric scraps, ribbons etc…

Step 1
Just take fabric scraps in bright colours (make sure they have some colours in your Christmas theme). Rip them up into strips about 5cm/2″ wide and wrap them around the ring, securing them with the pins. Do the same with ribbons until you have covered the whole wreath in fabric.

Step 2
Using the pins with the plastic heads, secure little groups of buttons at similar intervals over the whole ring. You could use anything here – beads look great, sequins, studs, whatever you have.

Step 3
To make a ribbon for the top of the wreath, take a 1m length of thick velvet ribbon (improvise if you don’t have any). To make the looped ribbon, fold it in half then make the three loops starting with the largest, until you have used all of that side of the ribbon. With a needle and thread, sew the loops together in the middle. Do the same to the second side and sew them together with tacking stitches.

Step 4
To Finish this ribbon, cut a small length of the velvet ribbon and wrap it around the centre of the bow. Secure it by sewing it at the back of the ribbon. Now you have your centre piece for the wreath.

Step 5
First tie a piece of ribbon around the wreath, long enough to hang it up with. Then take your looped ribbon and pin it onto the wreath. Pin it under the folds of the ribbon to make the pins invisible. Now take some chain and string it around the wreath in loops, securing each one with a plastic-head pin.

Step 6
Cut as many little bows you want out the same coloured ribbon and tie them. Make sure you cut the ends into a v-shaped to give them a more finished look. Arrange them on the wreath and use pins to secure them. At this stage I took feathers and leaves and pinned them behind each little bow.
Just keep going until you are done. Now you have a wreath that you can easily re-do for next year…
Mia
xxx
PS Little birdies coming soon and an easy advent calendar……

Today I finished one of the projects I’ve begun. I made this Christmas wreath. I am having a love affair with bows. I find it hard to think of a bow I don’t love. Little girls with bows in their hair make me so happy. Bows on Christmas trees look lovely. Bow rings are just gorgeous. Big bows on wrapped presents make them so special. I love bows so much that when I went to my year 12 ball (prom) I had long hair and I got the hairdresser to sculpt my hair into a bow on the back of my head – the style took him over 2 hours to complete and it was awesome.
Anyway, today I decided to make a pile of bows into a wreath for Christmas. Tomorrow I will post a little how-to on this wreath. But for now, enjoy the lovely bows that inspired me…






Source: weheartit

Ever since my vintage lace doily shopping trip I have been so inspired. I have made a few things so far and am still whipping up a tutorial (sorry it is coming I have just been very busy on other projects). For now, don’t you just love these creations made using doilies??

And unfortunately the day is far too beautiful in sunny Perth to stay inside so I think I will take a rollerblade around the Swan River or maybe a trip to the beach..
Mia
xxx
Source: Etsy. weheartit

It is fabulous +++ to not be working on a Tuesday and instead trying to start on the next hundred projects and get this blog really up and running again. There’s so much to do, how do I ever fit in work anyway?

What a lovely day! I spent the whole morning thrift shopping, or rather, hunting, for lace doilies. These are precious, precious, precious. And many things are going to be made out of these beauties. Can you believe I bought them for 50 cents each? I felt like I should grab them, pay and run back to the car before someone realised the mistake and took them back. Apparently, people do not value the hundreds of hours spent making these, the intricate patterns, the confusing arrangement of bobbins, all colour-coded and waiting to be weaved into the design. I do! When I was a child, grandma would sit for hours in summer with her lace-making on her lap, in the air-conditioned front room of her house and I would sit and watch her. Mesmerised by how she knew where and when to weave each bobbin.

I got this whole bunch at three different stores for about $5.

And as an added bonus, I found these lovely cross-stitched table runners (also ridiculously cheap). These will turn into something new also. Give me a few days and I will be able to make up my mind. I had one idea on the way home….. then it turned into another …..now my head is spinning with all my treasures and the possibilities.

And I found this gorgeous photo here. More pom-pom love. It has given me another idea. Maybe our favourite horses, Storm and Roman should have pom-poms for Christmas? I am sure they would like them a lot!
Now, I have so much to do and I don’t know where to begin…
Mia
xxx

I can’t believe I am already writing about Christmas and thinking about it. Seems just a day ago when I was making my New Year’s resolutions and holidaying in Denmark.
This year I am loving pompoms. I am in the middle of making a tutorial for you all. I will have it up soon. But for now, enjoy some pompom inspiration.

I think that my presents will look a little like this, this year. So cute (via bleubird vintage)

Miss James of Bleubird Vintage has come up with this lovely pompom wreath. See how it is made here…
Here is a good tutorial for making pompoms. I promise it’s completely addictive.
Back with more soon…
Mia
xx