Pinterest Challenge - Fabric Baskets

Continuing on with the sewing theme for my Pinterest challenge I choose this Fabric Basket tutorial for my challenge.

I already had the perfect fabrics in my stash - they are a heavier weight than a regular fabric, which I thought would be great for this project.

And here are the results

This size is the small one from the tutorial finished dimensions 5x6 inches base, 8" high - I used the Ikea Fredricka fabric and interfacing too. Lined in a red cotton from my stash.

The second basket I made in the large size - finished dimensions 6x7 inches base and 8" tall. This fabric is also from Ikea and I used Pellon 809 interfacing in this one and it stands up so much better. Pink cotton lining from my stash.

And just to try a different method I followed this tutorial to make this fabric basket, but I made my own size up. Finished dimensions are 10x5.5 inches, 8 inches tall. Fabric used I bought in Australia, it is a heavier weight cotton and perfect for this project, I decided to line the inside with felt and I really loved the results.

I added a quick oilcloth bag to the mix, lined with hessian/burlap and I added a sturdy woven strap as a handle.

and lastly, see the little rainbow basket (front left in photo) this was made following this tutorial and is probably the most sturdiest fabric basket as it is stitched on all four sides - but I would say the only downside to this is it uses a lot of fabric (15x15") to create such a little basket (5x5")

All in all each basket did not take long to make - I already have one in use collecting fabric scraps, Ruby has her eye on the Ikea Fredick fabric one (front right), the blue giraffe one will be going to a friend as part of her baby gift and the oilcloth one will get used for our garden.

This was a quick and easy project perfect for organizing.

You can find me here on Made By You Monday - Skip To My Lou
And check out some other great projects

I've already picked out this weeks challenge I'll be knitting some washcloths

Handmade Gifts

I love sewing, knitting, baking and just generally making things, so I wanted to share why I love giving handmade gifts and why I love receiving them.

A handmade gift isn't just made - it's created through a series of small personal steps, a lot of thought goes into the gift and the person receiving it.

It's about spending hours choosing the right pattern/item to make for that special person

It's about selecting the perfect fabric/yarn/color/recipe for that special person

It's about thinking about that person and what they like, what are their favorite colors, what fabrics do they like or you think they will like, what do they like to eat, wear etc

It's about going out shopping or online to buy the perfect materials you need to make that perfect item

And then, when all those steps are in place, it's about making that garment/item - every stitch is knitted/sewn/made/baked with love.

Every step is carefully executed and if it's not quite right, it is unpicked or redone until it is perfect and ready to give.

And why I love receiving handmade gifts is for the reasons above - the time, effort and thought that is put into each item blows me away every time, it's not just plucked off a store shelf and paid for, it's made and given with love and I take great delight in this.

Here's a very small selection of my our handmade gifts that we've received over the years

Hand knitted by Auntie Joan - one of my mums best friends, she knits in her sleep I am sure. Joan knitted this gorgeous cardigan and booties for Ruby which Ruby came home from hospital in - I still have it to this day and plenty more of Joan's hand knitted items we still have - check out that cloth nappy!!!!

And look at this beautiful shawl that we received for Ruby from Grannie when she was born too - it's just beautiful and I'm only showing a quarter of the size there.

Here are some of the gorgeous cardigans Grannie has knitted the girls - look at how beautiful they are

And a very small selection of the hats Grannie has knitted us over the years which are still going strong and used so much.

And it's not always clothes we've received, my gorgeous friend Lesley made this cross stitch for Ruby when she was born, we've got personalized bunting up in the girls bedroom made by Lesley too. 

And we've received so much more which we love, use and are grateful for.

I am thinking this year I may do one handmade present for everyone for Christmas, but I'd better get started soon as I have a lot of thinking to do.....

Do you like making and/or receiving handmade gifts? what are your thoughts on them?

Last's Week Pinterest Challenge - Dribble Bibs

Sewing the bibs and burp cloths for Tilly's Preschool Benefit got me looking through my Sew Baby pinterest board, which gave me the inspiration for the pin I chose last week to execute.

I decided on this pin and this pin (as they are nearly the same) for last week's challenge and I had the perfect fabrics for it.

I mainly chose my British inspired fabrics for this challenge, as along with some bibs and burp cloths these little dribble bibs will be making there way into my Etsy shop at some point in the near future.

The other fabric I chose to use is a gorgeous blue beetle bug car print - it's a Japanese fabric made by Kokka and again I'm making a baby bundle up, not for my shop though, instead this will be a gift.

All backed in a soft polar fleece - I chose fleece over flannel as it is thicker, and over terry toweling as terry toweling is a little bulky and can be a bit scratchy. Fleece is nice and soft, absorbent and dries very quickly.

I also chose a velcro fastener, which I find works well with bibs of any kind.

You can see the difference in the sizes between the two dribble bib tutorials.

The dribble bibs on the left are the Bundles and Buttons tutorial and the ones on the right the How Does She tutorial.

I loved this little project, the little dribble bibs were quick to cut out and sew - which makes this a great project to do if you don't have a lot of time and a great way to use up some of your fabric stash.

I didn't have my usual camera at hand so I decided to instragram this post instead, I hope you like it.

And before I go did I mention I accidentally ordered some fabric last night from Hawthorn Threads (I love this fabric shop) - I absolutely adore the Children At Play collection by Sarah Jane for Michael Miller and I have finally ordered the Balloon in Aqua and On Parade from this gorgeous collection and I can't wait to get sewing with it.
 
Now to decide on this week's challenge - just another good excuse to keep pinning.

And find me here on Made By You Monday - Skip To My Lou

And see me here on Show & Tell Tuesday - I Have To Say

Sewing & Knitting for Our Preschool Benefit

We had our Preschool Benefit on Saturday night, it was such a great night and I donated some handmade bibs, burps cloths and hand knitted cardigans for the silent auction.

It all started when a lovely friend of mine Anna, suggested I should donate something to the Auction, the seed was sown and I thought it was a great idea. But what could I make and donate,  after some thought and not having that long to make the items I settled on making a set of bibs and burp cloths one for a boy and one set for a girl and then a hand knitted baby cardigan each too.

I've got to say I powered ahead with the burp cloths and the bibs, and really enjoyed making these.

 

The hand knitted cardigans took me a lot longer than planned, the first cardigan I made was the Debbie Bliss Ribbon Edged Cardigan (without the ribbon) in a beautiful dusky purple color so pretty for a girl and I found some lovely rose buttons to match too. Here's my Ravelry link

I had more trouble deciding what to do for a boy, suddenly the weekend before the Benefit was upon me and I knew I had to get started, so all last week I slogged it out, I ignored the housework, the kids, everything, I spent hours sat knitting - but did managed to watch the whole season 2 of House Of Cards whilst I knitted bonus - such a great series I loved it

I knitted the Debbie Bliss Argyle Cardigan (without the Argyle bit) - here's my link to my cardigan on on Ravelry

And talk about cutting it fine, on the day of the Benefit, the cardigan was dry from blocking overnight, but I still had the buttons to sew on, but I did it and by lunchtime everything was made, ironed and ready to go, phew I did it.

And the great news is they got sold that night at the Benefit, I was so pleased as the money goes towards our fantastic Preschool and I was glad I was able to contribute to a fabulous night too.

From The Travelling Chaplins to Billy Bobbin

I've been umping and arghing for awhile now about changing my blog name to something that reflects more of what I do (being the crafty diva I am) and to compliment/run along side my little Etsy store.

It was such a task to come up with the name for my Etsy store, I just couldn't decide until my dad blurted out how about Billy Bobbin and I loved it, I loved it so much I ran to the computer and I finally signed up for Etsy.

With that in mind, and after a lot of procrastination and playing around with my blog, I thought why not, just do it and be done.

So it's official The Travelling Chaplins is now Billy Bobbin.

This will be my crafty little blog with a few family moments in between and of course the odd road trip, after all we aren't really travelling anymore and we will be here another couple of years for sure, due to Mr C scoring a promotion here - well done Mr C it is very well deserved.

So without further ado let me introduce you to Billy Bobbin

And please follow me if you wish

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/11810319/?claim=8sq6uwws3q2">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Pinterest Challenge

I love Pinterest, do you? I have so many boards and pins I thought it was about time to give myself a weekly challenge and make/bake/sew/knit/complete/do at least one pin a week starting last week, so on Wednesday, with both kids at school, I picked this pin to start off my weekly challenge

I'm making some burp cloths, I usually make this style when I make burp cloths but I love the simplicity of this style and decided to give this one a go, I also wanted a quick and easy project too.

I had the perfect fabric in my stash, backing sorted, I went with a fleece backing as my local fabric shop did not have chenille.....and before I knew it I had these little beauties made.

I cut out all the rectangles and fleece backings in one go, then proceeded to sew them and topstitch them, it took me about 2 hours all together to make 9 burp cloths.

It was a very productive afternoon.

These burp cloths will be going in a little baby package for a silent auction at Tilly's pre-school on Saturday complete with matching bibs and some will be making their way into my Etsy shop.

And now to start thinking about this weeks challenge....

Kids Clothes Week - A Week in Review

Day 1

Picture this it's -2f outside, the wind chill makes it feel more like -24f, school and pre school are closed, hubby is home, we're tucked up inside staying warm and to me it's the perfect sewing day so I manage a little more than a couple of hours hiding away in my sewing room I'm so pleased.

I got quite a bit achieved on both skirts and finished off after I made 8 buttonholes - 4 on each skirt.

Day 2 
I have to admit nothing was accomplished today, instead, as the kids were still off school due to the very cold temperatures, we camped out at a friends house all day and had lots of kiddie fun and adult conversions.

Day 3

I decided to get cracking and make up for no sewing yesterday, Tilly is at lunch bunch on a Wednesday so I get an extra 2 hours of play time, so after a few household jobs, and Radio 2 on the Sonos (listening to Simon Mayo Drive time after all it is 5pm in the UK when Simon is on) off I go, before I know it I've got one skirt very nearly finished (minus the buttons) hooray, but I did lose track of time and had too quickly text a friend to pick up Tilly from Pre-school -oooppps

Day 4 
I managed to get another hour in and I am well on my way to finishing the second skirt.

Day 5
So sad I did try but I didn't quite make it into my sewing room today

Day 6
What a day I managed to get several hours of playtime in my sewing room, the snow outside was steadily falling so I took that as my cue to go and hibernate in my there and finish off both skirts completely.

I made 8 buttons to go on the skirts, out of the fabrics I used for the skirts as I just couldn't find any I was really happy with, these though I love, but not the sewing on part boo to that.

Once the buttons were on and the skirts ironed I was very very pleased with the results, as two were the girls.

I love the style of the skirt and the added kick pleat at the back - perfect.
The pattern was super easy to follow and once I mastered the first skirt, the second, I whipped up much quicker.

Oh and an adult size in the this pattern would go down a treat as I want one too.

Tilly's skirt is the red/blue one and Ruby's is the other one - both fabrics are Prints Charming - my favorite Australian Fabric Designers.

Ps no Day 7 = after all it was the Superbowl final