Liberty Fabric Shopping In Melbourne

I was SO jealous that mum got to go to Melbourne last week! She spent time with my sister for her birthday, and they filled a WHOLE day driving around Melbourne visiting fabric shops. I know mum was on the hunt for Liberty of London fabrics and so they targeted Amitie Fabrics, L'uccello, Patchwork on Central Park... and unfortunately missed out on visiting Tessuti - but she got more than enough gold to keep us going till her/our next visit ;o).

First they went to Amitie Fabrics in Gardenvale. Mum said this patchwork shop was "beautiful"... I think her words were "heavenly!" actually. The range of Liberty of London fabrics was gorgeous (online here) - and they had Jen Kingwell quilt kits (online here)!!

I've had my eye on this Green Tea And Sweet Beans quilt pattern for a while - because it's stunning!! AND because I think it would be a great, fun way for me to learn a range of quilting techniques all in one quilt - especially the bee hive (don't know the technical term yet ;o). I can't wait to get started.

Here's a picture of the pattern book and some of the fabric packs mum got from Amitie Fabrics:

Green Tea And Sweet Beans Quilt Pattern Book by Jen Kingwell

5" square Liberty of London charm packs from Amitie Fabrics

These Liberty of London squares are great for patchwork, appliqué and even small sewing projects

Great little Liberty scrap bags from Amitie Fabrics

As you can see, the scrap sizes were quite big and the print range exciting!!

And I have to mention this stop on the trail that I think was mums favourite. Mum gushed about this shop, L'uccello Vintage Haberdashery, saying it was a "beautiful step back in time". She said "it was like a museum" or "an Aladdin's cave of vintage stuff". As opposed to the regular craft shops with quilts on the wall and regular quilting tools for sale, L'uccello was a small shop jam-packed with vintage goodies. It was an experience.

Liberty of London fabric from L'uccello, Melbourne

There are so many beautiful prints to play with now and I can't wait to get stuck into them!!

 

Hide And Seek Owls In The Bush

"She'll never find us... we blend in perfectly, right?"

These little owl critters were so much fun to make! I love working with felt and couldn't resist this patttern when I saw it in Handmade Magazine because Isla LOVES the kids tv show Giggle and Hoot! Of course, I had to make two to keep each other company - and they don't look anything like Hoot or Hootabelle... I was busy watching and being inspired by the adult tv show Mr Selfridge and the gorgeous era of bow-ties and top-hats... but still, they are owls and they are super-cute and Isla loves them. So mission accomplished!

Ready for cutting

I picked the bright and fun Liberty of London Macleod print for the bodies, and I got the felt, including the felt flowers, and thread from my local Spotlight. And I made a cute bow-tie and added running stitch detail to the wings to make them look more like wings?!

Ready for stitching

They were initially destined for Isla's bedroom, but I thought they might enjoy first going back to the bush and playing a little game of hide and seek with Isla!!

"She definitely won't find us up here!"

"Just stay still and she won't notice us..."

"I think she's coming!!!"

"aaaaaaarghhhh"

That was fun, and they got lots of cuddles on the walk home. Now it's time to find a new home somewhere safe, where Logan can't find and try to eat them!

 

Isla's Liberty Party Dress

Isla's party outfit ready to go.

We wanted to make Isla something beautiful to wear to Nanna's 100th birthday party on the weekend. So, we picked this cute Polkadots & Summer dress pattern by Fig Tree & Co. We had the pattern in the 'to do' pile and we thought it would be really simple and pretty, and it looked comfortable. Next, we decided on the Liberty of London fabric print Archipelago, because it was perfect mixture of class and 'little lady', and a matching 100% cotton in a lovely peachy coral colour from Carols of Midland.

The pattern and fabrics ready for cutting.

I love the Liberty fabric binding, and the fabric flower adds a pretty accent.

We added a fabric flower to hide the clasp closure.

To shorten the dress a bit, we added a pleat - it worked really well!

The finished dress!

This was a simple looking dress that ended up looking really special I think, and Isla loved dressing up for the big party.

Party girl!

 

Nanna's 100th Birthday Present - a Liberty Motif Cushion

 

This was such a special project for me - to make something meaningful for my great-nanna for her 100th birthday this year. As you can imagine, she has had a lot of birthdays and doesn't really want for anything these days. But we still like to get her little things to celebrate and show our love for her. I rack my brain every year and choose things like comfy shoes or a pretty shawl... comfort is the main thing we want for her. So, I thought I'd make her a cushion for her back. I know it's not completely practical and she probably won't want to use it in case she damages it. But I knew she would love it because I made it myself.

So here's how I went:

I picked this Liberty of London "Rock and Roll Rachel" print because Nan would love the colours and I loved the paisley motifs.

I cut out the motifs and ironed them to 100% linen ready for stitching.

I satin-stitched around the motifs to add colour borders and definition; and I added some french knots for pretty detailing.

Then I stitched on a linen rosette and sewed on the Liberty fabric backing.

Hand-stitching the closure was a big job because the cushion insert was jammed in there to make the cushion really puff out!

The finished front showing the top flower motif and the 100 to celebrate the special milestone.

The rosette really stood out once the cushion was stuffed!

I backed the cushion with complete Liberty of London "Rock and Roll Rachel" fabric - it was SO soft and pretty!

Present time!

Nanna's handmade birthday present stash with her congratulatory plaque from the Pope!

This last picture was a 'montage' of the special birthday gifts handmade by me (cushion on right), my mum (quilt at the top), and my sister (painting on the left). We are a crafty bunch, aren't we?!

 

Another Nappy Bag? Why Not?!!!

OK, so the question is how many nappy bags does one mum need?

Well, let's see. There's one for every day stuff like nappies, bottles, snacks etc. And there's one each for 'overnight stays'... and there's one for toys and books.... Can you ever have too many bags? Am I over-justifying? Is that even a word?

The bottom line is that I needed to upgrade to something bigger. With two bubs, there's twice the nappies and bottles. And I was carrying a separate bag of books and toys for Isla. So, mum and I came up with a bigger bag to fit everything. We made the outer pockets bigger on the sides to fit water bottles. And we made large patchwork zippered pockets on the front and back to store bits and pieces I didn't want the kids playing with, like my phone and the car-keys! Inside, we made a bigger pouch to fit the nappies and wipes all-in-one. And there's still heaps of room to fit bottles, food, toys and even magazines and games.

Fabric stack ready for cutting

I wanted colours that weren't too girlie so that my husband wouldn't cringe when asked to carry the nappy bag :o) So when I was in Calico and Ivy recently, I hunted through the reds and found the perfect combination. And we went for a navy outer and mustard inner - both from Carols of Midland, in Midland.

I love the scrunchy side pockets

Inside pockets and detailing

Patchwork Pocket

And room to spare!

Photo-bombed again!

Now let's see how much more I can squeeze in there!