Little Cowpokes update

Slow and steady just like a cowpoke, is how this hand applique has been going. 

I've used hand blanket stitch and a couple of decorative stitches to create fringing and dimension on the cacti.

Borders next.

I'd really like to get this one done and sent to Mum for quilting. Wish me luck!

 

Two hats and a shirt

What's this? A matching hat?

Yes. It's true, it's maybe a bit cray cray, but what am I going to do with this leftover fabric otherwise. I'm almost 50, and maybe starting to think that I don't need to save fabric anymore, but I need to use it, so that I can keep  buying more!

Another woven badge/sticker on the front, and voila!

Here's another hat I made for the kiddo (Tula Pink fabric), and he's also wearing a Halloween shirt I made with glow in the dark print from Spotlight.

This kid doesn't have school uniform. So he can wear whatever he wants. Now that I've put the pretty plastic snaps on his shirts, this is what he wants to wear. 

And he has a number of hats. I don't think Toy Story is his favourite, but that's not matter. There has to be one for a kid not to worry about getting muddy!

 

The Bunny Elvis shirt and some Australian animals

I went with the kiddo's school class to the Billaboong animal sanctuary. It was my first time going, even though I've lived here in Townsville for 9 years now.

The kiddo is wearing the Bunny Elvis shirt, Fabric by Missy Rose.

Wombat points its bum at us.

Cassowary is behind a tall barrier, they are dangerous!

Koala is awake for a change.

The kiddo sits with the turtles.

A very hot, but successful day. The children fed the kangaroos, and watched an enormous croc jumping out of the water to eat meat.

 

The Full Woody suit

 I'm not sure if the title of this post is very PC for kids clothing. "The Full Woody" suit. Eep.

We went out to the bush for a family bbq/picnic. The kiddo wanted to wear his new suit, even though it was dusty AF. This is why all his clothes need to be so washable and wearable!

They look amazing! Not at all like pyjamas. Right?        Right.

I love the kiddo's crocs. He doesn't have a uniform at his school, these are the best shoes for him at this time. They scrub in the shower. Doesn't matter if he gets them wet, or muddy or wears socks.

Multi generational learning here

Flavoured with a little bit of thoughtfulness from the kiddo. He loves to give me flowers.

Toy Story boy shirt

One of our supermarkets was giving away incentives to make people shop there. This year, the prizes were stickers that are woven/embroidered in nature. 

For this Woody shirt, I stuck on the Pizza Planet motif, then stitched it down, so that it would last through the beating kids clothes get in dirt, and subsequent washings.

There are the silver buttons from spotlight. They have none left in silver, I had to buy bronze next.

I have fabric for shorts as well. Bring on the zoot suit!

 

Tiger shirt

Here we go! Just needs buttons. The kiddo likes snap buttons, I need to buy some more from spotlight, and maybe even see if I can get them at a better price. 

The big metal snaps don't always hammer in well, can dent, and can be tricky for little fingers.

Does it look like pyjamas because it's a light colour?

Hmm.

The next outfit will be this yellow cat suit. I've decided to make it as his special performance outfit for his first drums concert.

Yes, I bought it on sale, I have 2 metres of Tula Pink cat fabric from the Curiouser range. Just love it!

I'm going to make a kids shirt wardrobe!

 

The story of how I started sewing a lot

I love to sew. There was a time I didn't have many clothes, but Mum had fabric in her cupboard and a sewing machine, so I sewed my own.

Of course Mum used to make our clothes when we were very little. Back in those days it was much cheaper to do that. And I guess over time she collected large "remnants", end of bolts and such and popped them into the cupboard.

The elderly lady next door also sewed. She made everything. She was always making aprons. She made her own undies. Even bras I think.

I remember the power of creating my own clothes I loved in 1988 (year 9), and I was hooked. It started with pleated shorts, made from black and white stripe fabric, that fastened on the side with a hook and loop type closure.

After that I made myself another two pairs of shorts, from scraps in the cupboard, and in 1989 (year 10) my Christmas and birthday gift from Mum was a sewing course in knitwear. Maybe you heard of it? KnitWit. I absolutely loved it. At age 15 I was the youngest in the class. I made my own collection of clothes as we progressed through the 8 weeks of the course. Mostly in navy, white and a touch of red. And I made a cropped swing jacket in mustard yellow. Oops. (I now know to use earrings and hair accessories in those funky fashion colours, and make my jackets classic navy).

So that was when my sewing journey really started... but also kind of ended... at the end of year 10, Mum said it's time to get serious now and which maths and science was I going to do. Sigh.

I bought half a metre of this tiger fabric from Fabric by Missy Rose. It's a beautiful quality cotton fabric for clothing that holds its colour, doesn't pill, feels soft, 

There wasn't quite enough fabric to make the shirt, so I used a bit of leftover cotton doona cover from the bushfire charity quilts of 2020, and cut as pocket and collars. 

I've also appliqued a tiger onto the pocket to give some congruency.

My old Dad used to call his shirt pocket his front office. And now my son, who never got to meet my dad, loves a front office too.