Dressing Up!

The boys were invited to a good friend's fairy princess party last week and were very keen to dress up, as long as it wasn't anything fairy princessy!  My suggestion of going as Prince Charming(s) didn't go down too well either, so Superman and Batman were it.  The boys were gifted a Superman and Batman costume awhile ago and have since outgrown those, but still want to dress up as them whenever they can. 

I decided it would be pretty easy, and fairly inexpensive, to make them some capes, instead of buying a whole costume, with the thought of applique-ing a couple of t-shirts with logos to match.  The capes were made using the pattern in Meg McElwee's Growing Up Sew Liberated, I just omitted the hood on both capes and did a reverse scallop pattern on the bottom of Batman's cape.  Those points took some time to turn out, but I got there in the end!  

Of course I left the tees till the last minute and headed to the shops to buy the plain tees the afternoon before the party, but fortunately stumbled across some ready made tees for just a few dollars more than the plain tees!  I relaxed my never-buying-licenced-clothing rule this time and bought them before I could change my mind... The boys had a great time at the party and are loving dressing up whenever possible!

The Pyjama Sweatshop!

Not really but I have churned out four pair of pyjamas for the boys over the last few days and that's about all I've managed to achieve.  Of course when I went to dig out my Slumber Party Jammies pattern, I couldn't find it!  So I had a look through my other patterns and books and decided to try the Goodnight, Sweetheart pattern from  Sewing For Boys...

I really just wanted a basic long pant pattern as they've outgrown the last one I used, so I omitted the faux fly detail but kept the cuffed legs as I love that they can be let down to accomodate future growth spurts.  As it happens, I ran out of navy thread so dashed to the shops for some, taking Mr 3.5 with me, who then spotted some fabric he wanted made into pyjamas too, and I spotted a dinosaur print cotton for Mr 5, who is obessed with dinosaurs right now.  And that's how I ended up making four sets of pants and buying more fabric instead of sticking to the stash busting plan!

The only way to make these two normally very active boys sit still long enough for a photo is to turn the TV on!  An extra special treat before they're dressed for the day!!  Below is the cuff detail I'm loving, which is only sewn up at a couple of points so once they're let down you don't end up with needle holes the whole way around...  Not that I think the boys would notice, but I will appreciate it when I come to letting them down next year - or sometime before then!

And the stash busting is going surprisingly well, apart from the addition of the fabrics for the other pyjamas... so stay tuned for some more pics of the stash being reduced.  I'm also hoping that along the way I can try some of the hundreds of tutorials and ideas I have pinned and so achieve the whole 'two birds, one stone' thing!!

Accessorise.

I love me some pretty accessories, and as I wear lots of dark colours and non patterned clothes, I love brightening it all up with a great necklace, scarf or hair accessory.  Lately I've been noticing and pinning lots of fabric or yarn wrapped bangles, see how pretty they are!

1. Hand Wrapped Bangles from Cut Out & Keep

2. Pastel Bangles from The Glossy Queen

3. Martha Stewart's Textured String Bracelets

4. Fabric Bangle from Three Sisterz

Then, just the other day, my IRL* crafty {and all round lovely} friend Jess, posted a tutorial on her blog too... go and check it out, she's done great step-by-step pics. I actually had all the bits to make one up as it's been something I've wanted to try for so long and Jess' post gave me the final push I needed to actually do it.  A few things I did differently: my fabric glue dries really fast so I didn't have to peg the ends, and I didn't leave any uncovered sections of bangle - it all comes down to personal preference though.  And that's the really great thing about making your own...you make exactly what you want!

Sadly today's grey miserable day makes for dull pics!

I must say I'm pretty happy with the end result, and can't wait to make some more... I wonder if my fabric glue will hold on some acrylic bangles I no longer wear, or some skinny metal ones?? Might have to experiment once the boys are tucked up for the night!

*In Real Life

Pause.

In case you hadn't worked it out yet, things I have been slowing down hugely lately.  That's not to say that there aren't a gazillion more things to get done before this baby makes an appearance, but the reality of pregnancy third time around with my pregnancy-hating body has meant something had to give.  I really didn't think it would happen this early but my market involvement has been put on hold until after this bub is out.  Online stores will remain open until early August and if you're near the ACT you can always pop into Shop Handmade to stock up on IndigoElephant goodies!  I'm still sewing, but sadly cannot manage the many hours of making required to fully stock a market stall.

That said there are some great markets coming up that I would've loved to be at!  First up, The Bluebird Market is on this Saturday 2nd June in Leura quickly followed by  Handmade Canberra on Saturday 9th & Sunday 10th June at the National Convention Centre.  If you're looking for something to do those weekends, these two events would be fantastic to visit!

Cleaning, Clearing and Tidying Up!

Yes that's right, I'm in full nesting mode!  I wish I had this level of motivation more often, but it feels fantastic to be getting rid of things we no longer use, have outgrown or are just broken but shoved in a corner to be dealt with later.  To be honest the one room that I haven't gotten to yet is the sewing/storage/soon-to-be-baby's room, or rather, I've done a couple of partial clear outs but have so much on the 'to sew' list that it's hard to completely deal with everything in there.

So this week, once my back recovers from the effort required to clear out our wardrobes, I'm finally getting around to making some more pyjamas for my boys. 

I've had the Make It Perfect Slumber Party Jammies pattern tucked away for some time now, as well as some fabric that has been pre-washed and ironed but left sitting in the 'personal sewing' pile.  It's time to begin the stash busting...I'm off to trace out the sizes I need!!

Instant Crafty Gratification!

I woke this morning feeling yuck... snotty, tired, achey and wishing I could just roll over and return to the land of nod.  But Friday is generally our home day so the boys had to be dealt with, washing had to be done with a forecast for a 28 degree day, and I had to pee (again)!  We've had a very quiet day, and despite having a mountain of IndigoElephant stuff to do, I just needed a break - but still wanted to do something a little bit creative.  Enter the Washi Tape Magnets...

These are so super easy, there's a detailed tutorial over at Twirling Betty, but basically you peel off the details on those plumber's/electrician's magnets that keep appearing in one's mailbox, stick on some washi tape, cut it out and trim the ends to look like they've been torn... Or as I did, just use the pinking shears to trim the ends! And you're done.  Then you can stand back and admire them on your fridge, or wherever!  Mine are holding up the pic of that other little collaborative creation in my belly, who as we speak is kicking up a storm in my right ribs and left hip!

Super Busy!

Do you sometimes have a week or so when you feel like life is spiralling out of control?  And you start resembling one of those little mice on a wheel... Going round and round but not really getting anywhere?  That is sort of how I'm feeling at the moment, with pregnancy induced aches and pains limiting what I can achieve despite the brain running ahead with elaborate 'to do' lists.  Honestly my brain is in serious nesting mode but the body just can't keep up, so much that the Mister said my sewing room is starting to resemble something from Hoarders (again)!

Enjoying the dodgem cars.

The weekend was a celebration of Mr IndigoElephant's birthday and we had a very full weekend with a school fair on Saturday, a celebratory birthday dinner, Auskick for our big boy, church and a birthday lunch in amongst a few essential things that need to be done regularly (man I hate not having a dishwasher!!).  And as an extra special present for the Mister, he had the privilege of putting together flat pack bunk beds for the boys!

Making sure it all fits in the box before wrapping it up!

So yesterday was spent catching up on neglected housework and putting together some stock for Shop Handmade in Canberra.  Now Monday is over, the week is happening and I'm hoping to make some headway on my current 'to do' list.  Wishing you all a wonderful week, whatever might be keeping you busy!