Pay it forward.

I'm sure that a fair few of you read Fii's wonderful blog and have seen that she's doing a pay it forward. I'd decided last night that I would do my own whether I was chosen for hers or not.
So here it is!

The rules are simple:

I will make a handmade gift for the first 3 interested people who comment on this post. I have 365 days to do it in...You must have a blog to join in and be willing to do the same for three other people...

I will leave this open until Sunday night (that's the 25Th) and if by some miracle I actually have more than 3 people sign up and show there interest, I'll use a random pick of 3. It does say that you have a year to send off. But I'll most likely do it this weekend or the next, and send my goodies out ASAP! I'm very sorry, but I'm going to have to restrict this to people living in Australia only. I'd like to include everyone, but I just don't have the cash for international mail at the moment. Sorry!!

Just comment here and I'll email out to those who got picked on Sunday night, or Monday morning.

Hope everyone is having a fantastical week!

-Jemma

The reveal.

This post has been a long time coming for me, and I'm very excited to show my creations off now!

I actually made this for my sister months ago, and it's been sitting in my linen closet just waiting for a home. It was very tricky as my second quilt, and it's a bit "special" if you look at it too closely. But I love it and I'm very proud of it.




The thing that I like the most I think is the binding. I used the lovely Fii's tutorial from her blog. And the result is ace! It makes the whole thing look about 100% better I think.



My mum just started working again after a few months off in between jobs and I made her this bag from the always favourite Bend the Rules sewing. It was quick to put together really and I think it's turned out pretty nice. I really like the fabric. One question though. Does anyone know what flannel facing is? I interpreted it as wadding, but I'm still not totally sure.



And lastly here are some litlle zipper pouch make up bag thingys that I made for Damien' sisters. We tucked a few choccies and a gift card in them all. They turned out cute!

Did everyone else give and recieve some nice handmade gifts? I'd love to see!!

-Jemma

Passport Protector

As I said before, two of my very good friends are leaving for a 3 month trip to Europe next weekend. I wanted to make them a little going away present that would be helpfull while they're away, and here's what I came up with!

I got the adorable tutorial from here. It was super easy to follow, and already for an Australian sized passport.



I added a little (shakily) embroided panel on the front with the girls names for a little bit of extra personalisation and for my first bit of proper embroidery by myself. I think it looks good!

The top stitching is a little special because this was the first time that I had done any sewing with clear vinyl and I don't have a teflon foot or anything fancy like that. After I'd done a few centimeters I remember a tip that I read about putting a bit of tissue paper over the top of the vinyl when sewing it. And it worked a treat! The only problem being that I only had decorated paper, that wasn't exactly see through. I know what to do in the future though.



Well, hope you like. I know that I'm super pleased with this one. I'm going to be making the second one tomorrow night with the same fabric combo, but in reverse.

- Jemma

Thank you!

Or Live from my new Laptop it's Thursday night!

So, it's been a very exciting day for me today! This morning my bright new shiny laptop arrived at work. In the specified delivery time and everything! My boyfriend has done a bunch of fancy things to it, and now it's all up and running and nice. Any suggestions for stylish laptop bag/sleeve suppliers? I was thinking of making something, but I'm a little nervous leaving the safety of my laptop in my not so crafty hands. So suggest away!

I was lucky enough to win a give away from the lovely Liz over at Bowerbirdz. And it was waiting for me when I got home tonight. Which was very exciting. My package was of some totally gorgeous vintage flower style buttons. All very pretty and great colours. I'm itching to get something going to highlight there beauty, but I'm just so tuckered out at the moment after going back to work. I'm hoping to get alot done this weekend. I want to at least baste the quilt top that I started many moons ago. It's all Japanese craft fabric, and I'm not really seeing it anywhere in my house. But I think that it'd be some nice practice at least. I'm still not really getting the hang of cutting everything exactly the same size. So it might be a little skewed. I've actually just now had the idea of a Christmas giveaway, for someone who's house decor it might work better with. That gives me a good time constraint too!

Well, enough yabbering for now :)

-Jemma

A quick clutch

I whipped up this little baby last night to take out. Once again it's the pattern from Bend the Rules Sewing, just altered to make it how i wanted!

I wanted to reinforce it a bit so it would be easier to hold, so I popped in the piece of plastic that comes at the bottom of those green enviro bags. Worked a treat! It's nice and bendy, but sturdy too! I'm thinking about taking the ric rac off and putting in some plain white cord though. I think that maybe there's a little too much going on?

I got loads of compliments on it though. One of my friends even asked me to make her one. As her 21st present! That's an easy, fun and cheap solution to the problems I have with choosing good presents for people that aren't my mum or sister.

I've been busy with a big project recently. But sadly, it's a secret one. So no posts about it till after Christmas! But it's a doozy, I promise.

Hope you're enjoying the nice weather if you're here in Victoria!

- Jemma


(Please excuse my chubbo arm and smelly looking t shirt. I wanted to give a good size reference!)

Brown Owls and Holidays

I've already had a largish gap in posting, oh no!



Last night I went to my first ever Brown Owls meeting! It was awesome fun, I had my first experience with embroidery and it went very well I think. We made a little sausage dog CD envelope and I love it.

As of yesterday I am on Holidays from work for 2 weeks, and I'm mega excited. I haven't had a break in over a year. So this is very nice. I celebrated my first day by going to 8 (!) various patchwork shops in the Hills around where I live with my sister and mum. It was a great if very very tiring day.

Since Jess is only here from Sydney for a few days we're making the most of it, so today we're getting back into it and going to Amitie, Patchwork on Central AND Ikea. I'm tired just thinking about it.

I've just now put myself down to join "This is..." and I'll also hopefully get lots of crafting done next week. So expect some good photos.

I'm off to Lorne tomorrow for a few day, so wish me luck with some nice weather!

- Jemma

My Little Purse

This a little bag/clutch purse thing that I made the other week. Again from the wonderful Bend the Rules Sewing.



It was an adventure in lining, but I think that it worked out good.



I originally made it to put my makeup brushes in. But I made a mistake when I was cutting the fabric and it was too small. But after I finished I found that it fits my DS and iPod perfectly!



So it all worked out great and I have a little case for my gadgets in my handbag.

Hope you like.

And, here's a little preview of something that I've been working on.



-Jemma

Beau's Quilt

Here are some pictures of my first ever quilt! It's going to be a Christmas present for my nephew Beau. When he gets it he'll be just a few days shy of 1 year old.
The pattern and instructions are from Amy Karol's "Bend the Rules Sewing". I didn't really follow a pattern or anything like that. I just read her instructions and then made it pretty much the same, but to my own sizes. A.K.A Random. I just made enough of the strips until it looked right to me layed out.



The part that I had the most trouble with was the binding. But that was mostly because the ironing was so damn boring! And it was a struggle to pin it all on and do the corners since I was pretty much just winging it.



I like how it's turned out. Wrinkles and all, I'm just so proud of it! My very mean boyfriend told me that it was a bit gay, because there's flowers on it. But I think that it's just right for a baby. And I've had other unbiased opinions telling me that it's fine. He's just jealous of my talents! (And the fact that I still haven't made him a single thing since getting my sewing machine 4 months ago)



And lastly, just because she's the namesake of the blog, here's a picture of Amity with the quilt in my very messy lounge/sewing room.

- Jemma