Old sheet - Refashion Apron

Old Doona cover that my daughter has grown out of because it is pink and she hates pink.

Is now a Pinny for me.

 

Lots of fabric left over so I need some more ideas.

Cheers 

Melanie

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My friend does Art

And if you live in Canberra or are near there this week you can see hers and other artists works at the address below.

Opening night: 6-8pm 18th March
Meet the artist morning: tea 28th March
10.30am till 12noon
Venue: Front Gallery, Wattle Street,
Lyneham. ACT
Dates: 18th – 29th March
Open daily: from 10am till 10pm
Contact: Barbara van der linden 0417888 586

I wish I could be there.
Wishing you much success and enjoyment A'isha.
Cheers
Melanie

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My Creative Space This week

My Creative space this week  is covered in one of my most favourite things ever.

Fabric

A tiny snapshot of a boot load of remnants donated to nunde to be used in bags instead of ending up in landfill. Rescued from a curtain business, all new and all awaiting endless design possibilities.

 Thank you Debbie - The new and improved Market Coordinator for The Old Cheese Factory Crafters Market. This is such an awesome gift.
More deliciously creative chicks are here

Cheers
Melanie

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P.I.P.S Craft group Tuesday

What a busy busy day Tuesday was.  The morning was taken up with PIPS, our projects in progress craft group and our Crafty Leader brought in our first group project of the year. We were even sent home with homework which has to be presented at the next meeting where we will assemble it. It is kind of a patchwork/wall hanging/xmas/quilty thing. More info when I have read the instructions again:)

And then my baby turned 9. I guess he isn't a baby anymore. Mum made the cake and this year its all about football with the youngest. Pity about the choice of team he picked.......

The cake was delicious!
Thanks Mum

Have a good one girls!

Cheers

Melanie

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Ripped refashioned Doona cover Tutorial

After finding many old doona covers, origins unknown, I have decided to put them to use because theyre  either too old to give away or too pretty to want to part with.
Because I hate waste and useless things I am converting them into something useful. This is my first sheet project of the year.

Ripped Sheet/Doona Knitted Bathmat

Ingredients

One old queen size doona cover OR top and bottom queen size sheet set.

Sewing machine

The ability to rip

Size 3  knitting needles and/or Size 3 circular needles

Any size crochet hook

Method

Remove frills, edges where there is thick seams and press studs/velcro.

Start playing the Old Devo "Crack that whip" song in your head but change the words to "Rip that Sheet"

Cut at 3 cm intervals a 1 cm deep cut along the top edge of your doona then start ripping the strips.

RIP THOSE SHEETS

If you had both top and bottom placed perfectly when you snipped the 3cm intervals you can rip both top and bottom at once.

RIP THEM ALL TO BITS

When finished ripping gather one and of each strip to keep them organize and from getting tangled.

JOIN THOSE STRIPS

Sew strip ends together (I used and overlocker for this bit but any stitch will do)

ROLL THEM INTO BALLS

Roll into 1 massive ball ( the kids love helping with this) or 2 slightly massive balls. If you have 2 balls remember that you will have to drag your work to a machine to sew the last strip of the first ball to the first strip of the second ball.

KNIT THOSE STRIPS

Now cast on 36 stitches onto the smallest needles you can work with. I used long number 3 needles to cast on then transferred to circular needles size 3.
Row 1 till the end is knit one purl one. length varies depending on your preference or sheet strip quantity.

NOW MAKE YOUR BATHROOM MAT

Cast off and thread remaining strips through the edges of the mat using a crochet hook.
Bath Mat measures 38cm x 68 cm and is 1 cm thick.  That's pretty darn thick ya know and its worth it when you feel how yummy it is on your feet.

To make it larger you could use more sheeting but my aim was 1 discarded Doona Cover with minimal scraps and I  am pretty pleased with the result.

If you make one please share your results and methods if it was different.
Oh and because it is so thick, allow plenty of drying time after it becomes wet:)

Have fun and  

RIP IT....RIP IT GOOD!!

Cheers

Melanie

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My Creative Space

More like "My Self Medicating Space"
I still feel crook. I'm not sick, just unwell and my hip,shoulder, back, head and right pointy finger hurt to pieces. Very Odd indeed! That's whats making me feel sick. I will go see a doctor if it is still like this by the next "My Creative Space"

On the bright side though, I got to prescribe myself some eye candy and medicinal nutrition to make myself feel better. I am busting to cut this pattern out but that requires bending over argh. I am sure I can improvise and find a non bendy over way to cut it because I want it made and I want it now:)

Check out the zillions of other crafty chicks on Kirsty's List

Cheers

Melanie

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Saving children with my sewing skills

Yeah that's right. True story!
Today my son told me of a tragedy about his mate who was playing with another mate and he got his jacket pocket caught on something and ripped the top of  his pocket right off and some of the side. "Mum you gotta sew it up for him, his mum cant sew and she just bought it for him mum and she is gonna go CRAAAAZY Help him mum, he is really scared"
Now Im thinking, wow if she is that crazy I dont want to mess with his brand new jacket, what if she goes crazy on me? But then I thought on this...

Do you  remember when you did something wrong as a kid and you were filled with dread about telling your parents. It was probably something so silly but as a kid you think its the end of the world and you may as well just  pack your little running away from home suitcase and leave? Every kid dreads making their mum mad even though, and lets face it us mums are push overs, we never stay mad long.
So with that thought in mind I went out the back and sewed it up with invisible nylon thread so she doesn't notice a color difference, just in case there is a possibility she is crazy.

While I was out there I got productive to make up for yesterdays lull and made 4 more cotton dish clothes and tea towels. Total cost for them all $4.00 Now to sanitize them before use. Yep, I am feeling pretty pleased.

Then I got an idea. 
I have this stupid little machine that I paid 50 bucks for. I think you can buy them for 10 bucks now. It is complete rubbish to teach a kid to sew on and I am not throwing it out because, well, it cost me 50 bucks. Now I am dismantling all of the unwanted external moving parts and modifying the bobbin winder so that its not so chinsey(spelling). I have modified the cotton reel holder, not seen in picture and it now has a vintage bamboo chopstick attached to it to hold larger reels.

So today I feel like a bit of an extreme crafter. 

I saved a boy, saved money and saved a piece of junk from landfill. 

Yes, I am handy hear me Roar!!

Before I go a really important to me question.

Where can I buy large over locker reels/cones of pure cotton?

Cheers Girls

Melanie

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The dreaded Lurgy

I have absolutely no idea what that is but I think its a term my mum used when I was a kid for when you catch a cold or feel sick. It sounds dreadful anyhow and I reckon it chased me down and has made me feel a little crook.
Instead of heading off to P.I.P.s today to hang out with my crafting buddies I went back to bed after school drop offs were done.
I reckon part of the dreaded Lurgies nature is to make sure EVERYONE calls you when he visits. Thats OK though because I got up and have been doing light duty cleaning and now I get to craft.
Im tired but can't sleep anyhow so why bother trying right?  Last week us crafty chicks piled into Julies big ford fairlaine and cackled our way to Boronia where Theo's was having a craft sale. Oh man, we were in heaven! Check this out.

They were .30 cents each.
BARGAIN!
I have no idea how to embroider but oh well! What a bonus, underneath the cotton are some embroidery magazines that our Crafty Leader bestowed on me. I will have to show you her work one day. She is a spectacular embroiderer.
So anyhow, I missed out today and I bet they had fun. I would like to think its a little more fun when I am there. Of course, everyone like to feel special:)




 Today is a great day to finish my rag rug. I had to redo some bits because I made them too thick which made it unworkable on small needles. I will show you soon, it is awesome and so so soft.
 Hope you are all having a fabulous day and to all you Melbournians, isnt this cooler weather fantastic? Rain for 3 days!! Oh My, aren't we lucky?
Cheers ladies
Melanie
xox

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Patty Pan Passion

Strikes Again

I Just cant help myself.

My collection grows ever bigger and I love love love making everything and anything out of them except cupcakes.

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Homemade dishwashing powder

I have been on a cleaning frenzy lately and because I have developed some weird desire to wash the dishes by hand I didnt realize we were out of dishwashing powder.

What was I to do?
I had dishes everywhere, the 50 plus chicken ornaments needed dusting and my idea of dusting is throw everything waterproof in the dishwasher. And trust me, I have enough knick knacks to fill it up.
I was filthy dirty from cleaning and didnt want to change to go to the store. It was a dilemma I tell you!
So I did what any other modern housewife would do!
I googled  how to make homemade dish washing powder"

A few million pages came up but the recipe was basically the same. I left out borax, essential oils and the ever senseless suggestion to RINSE first. Um NO, how about scrape into a bin, compost or dog dish...... 

After reading a few complaints from folks who found it didnt work, my conclusion was it was their dishwasher.

Basic Recipe 

2 cups of Bicarb Soda

1/4 cup citric Acid

1/4 cup salt

For each load use 1 heaped tablespoon. Put it in your normal tab dispenser.
This mix gives you 2 weeks worth for a large dishwasher and I fill mine to the max with dirty dishes.
 

You can add borax and essential oils and I have made detergents using these before but borax is poison so I stopped storing it long ago.
If you want to add borax just replace 1 cup of bicarb with 1 cup of borax.

For shiny glasses fill your dispenser up with white vinegar.

It cost me 5 bucks to make and it works girls. Its no better or worse than the other stuff off the shelves, it works and its made of natural ingredients.

If your dishwasher isn't working that great then I suggest Googling  "How to clean a dishwasher" and  pull that baby apart.(only if you are confident in doing this step) I did and I was amazed where those scraps my kids never scraped were stored up under the grates, in the blades, everywhere.

Well, now that I have shared that revelation with you I will get back to it. 

Have a great weekend, even if you are doing housework

Cheers

Melanie

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Blog Signature

 

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Very Odd

It appears that when I google via various browsers that my site shows  the message "warning, this site may contain malicious software" any ideas? Ill have to google an appropriate questions to get it fixed. I cant have my blog being all malicious and stuff now can I?

Please let me know if you can advise/inform/enlighten me on this problem
Ta very much
Melanie

UPDATE

After following the procedure as recommended by several, it was found that I had NO MALWARE on my site according to a scan run by googles suggested company. Thanks Google for having me spend hours looking for suspicious coding on the links you said were infected yet there was NOTHING. Yes I am a little bit bitter lol and relieved, I have my blog back. Phew. I realized just how attached to my blog I am.

Cheers all and thanks so much for your help.

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