Testing times

We're rapidly racing towards the end of another year.  I know it's a cliché, but what happened?  Surely last week it was Christmas Day; then wasn't it just a few days ago that we farewelled our daughter and son-in-law on their great overseas adventure?  Throw into the mix various meet-ups with dear friends, a meeting or two with my quilting group, a few lunches with my brother, and now you're telling me that we're less than a month away from Christmas.

I know it's close to Christmas because I'm busy, and that's usually the sign.  When I was the age of my grandchildren the space between one Christmas and the next was a whole lifetime, and now in my dotage it's like stepping onto a roller coaster.

Pattern: Tie Dye Diva

And there have been testing times, but good testing times.  Tie Dye Diva has to be my favourite PDF pattern platform, because I know how thoroughly all Jen's patterns are tested before they are released to the public for sale. For this reason I was delighted to be included in the testing team for the latest patterns, the Ringmaster Top (above) and pants (below).  

Both garments were thoroughly tested by the team for sizes ranging from 1 to 10 and after many adjustments, they were released to One Thimble, an e-Zine which is packed with wonderful articles and many PFF patterns.  

The theme for One Thimble's current issue is the circus and my house model (who happens to call me Grandma) enthusiastically entered into the spirit.

Pattern: Tie Dye Diva

Not to rest on her laurels, Jen then asked her team to test her latest pattern, Garnet, again in sizes 1 to 10.  The pattern can be made as a dress with knit top and woven fabric skirt and collar, an all-knit dress, long or short sleeves, knit top and separate skirt.  Oh, and the full circle skirt can be made with one fabric or with panels.  Quite a lot packed into the one PDF pattern.

   

With the warmer weather approaching, I chose the dress option with short sleeves to test.  Although the skirt fabric is geometric, it worked well cut as a full circle.

I rarely sew with knit fabric, but this pattern takes all the worry away and with such clear and helpful instructions, it was an easy sew.

It even passed the tree climbing test.  The pattern is now available at Tie Dye Diva's website and you can find it here. 

And now I am super busy getting out orders before Christmas.  All made-to-order items will close next Friday 4 December, as I cannot guarantee that they will reach their destination in time after that date.

There is a two week turnaround on this adorable Christmas dress, sizes 1 to 8, but I do have it currently in stock in size 3.  It is available on my Etsy and MadeIt shops. 

Christmas skirts have been popular this year and I do have a limited number in stock ready to ship, but they are selling fast.

My Christmas Tree garlands are flying out the door and they make the perfect gift for those who you may find difficult to buy for.  They are particularly popular as teacher gifts.

What am I doing here?  It's back to the machine before I find myself heading at a dazzling pace towards Christmas 2016.

It's coming

What's coming?  Spring of course.  On a day like today there's no denying it.

Almost overnight buds have appeared on shrubs and trees.

Gardens are shedding the last of their camelia flowers to make way for fresh azalea blooms.

Jacarandas are turning golden yellow before dropping their foliage in readiness for Sydney to be brushed with a haze of purple.  I know this glorious weather won't last and winter will return in its last desperate bid to hang around.  But in three days it will be spring, wonderful spring.

August has been such a busy and eventful month, with three family birthdays just as a start.  Our ten year-old granddaughter was selected to present the ball at the opening of the Netball World Cup game between Australia and England before a crowd of over 16,000 (images taken by an excited mother).  She couldn't take the smile off her face and at the end of the game she was presented with the ball signed by the Australian captain.  Australia won that game and went on to win the World Cup against New Zealand.

Ten days ago we drove our daughter and son-in-law to the airport as they set off on a four month adventure around England, Ireland and Europe.  Maz's painting, They Never Saw It Coming, had been selected out of over 850 submissions as a finalist in the Mosman Art Prize 2015 which opened on 25 July.  Somewhat belatedly Tony and I visited the gallery a couple of days ago and were delighted to see that the painting had been sold.  We were able to pass on the glad tidings to Maz as they landed in Dublin.

On the sewing front, I was on a self-imposed deadline to finish a quilt for my granddaughter.  She is at the horse-crazy stage and her mother bought a quilt kit from No Chintz which I was only too happy to put together.  I sewed the label on the back on Wednesday morning and by that evening it was on her bed.  She loves it, thank goodness!

One of the FaceBook pages I follow had a sew-along last week.  It involved a pattern which I had bought a few months back and had not got around to making, so it was the perfect opportunity to join in.  It was a fun project and I was very happy with the result, so much so that I will be working on a similar style for the upcoming summer range of Hot Fudge which will be available soon in my Etsy and MadeIt shops.

To round off the week I made this skirt.  It's one of my favourites and is so easy to wear.  I made it in size 10, but it's available in limited supplies made to order in sizes 5 to 13/14 in my shops listed above.

So much for August.  Hurry up September, I am totally over winter.

Hot off the machine

My frenzied activity at the machine today can only mean one thing; our moving day is looming large.  I know I should be packing boxes and culling the mountain of magazines, but I felt the urge to sew today and now I feel so much better.

Last week our granddaughter came to visit with her two younger brothers and she took a shine to a pair of shorts I had asked her to try on.  Naturally, they went home with her and they looked so lovely on her that I felt the urge to make up the design in another fabric.

Summer will be here in a couple of weeks, or so they say.  That means holidays, trips to the beach and lots of outdoor activities.  So I selected some seaside fabric and made them up in a size 8.

The pattern is by Brownie Goose and I love the design details, such as the buttoned tabs at the cuff.

And the faux pockets.

I love them coupled with a red peasant top.

The shorts are ready to ship in size 8 here, or they can be made to order in sizes 1 to 5 in limited numbers, as it's the last of this particular fabric.  The peasant top can also be ordered through my store.  

But hurry - my granddaughter's on the prowl ...

Secret # 1

Can you keep a secret?  Well, I've been sitting on two of them for a couple of weeks now and I've been very, very good.  At last I can reveal one of them here and the other will have to wait until later in the day.

Images: Justine Whiting

Eleven days ago I was lucky enough to be selected as a pattern tester for a new design by Tie Dye Diva.  There were over 250 applicants, so I felt a little chuffed to be one of the 22 chosen.

The Coral Dress and Top is the first in the new Diva Collection and it's a really versatile pattern.  I made the dress length in size 9/10, using mainly Kaffe Fassett fabrics which had been sitting on my cutting table waiting for the appropriate inspiration.  I tend to drool over Kaffe fabrics and procrastinate, but their time had come to be cut.

The bodice is completely shirred, making it so easy to fit all body types.

It's the middle of winter here in Sydney, so my model (who also happens to be my granddaughter) kept in perpetual motion to ward of the chilly temperatures.

What a trouper.  Mind you, she had just returned from a week in the snow, so she considered the Sydney temperatures to be fairly mild.

I will be featuring the dress in these fabrics in my Etsy and MadeIt shops towards the end of the month.  If you would like to pre-order, details can be found on my Facebook.  

Tuesdays

I love Tuesdays, because it's the day I run off and play with my quilting friends.  That's the way it was for the many years we lived in Queensland and so it continues here in Sydney.

This week we had a special visitor, Maru of Material Girls Down Under who brought along lashings of fabrics, notions and all sorts of quilty things to tempt us.  I didn't really need any more fabric, but my eyes lit on two half-metre pieces of the most adorable soft pink fabric adorned with little chicks and they somehow followed me all the way home.  It happens to me a lot.

This is my flavour-of-the-month pattern and I knew it would work beautifully with the chicky fabric.  

The bow is detachable, so it can be removed before the dress is laundered.

Sadly, there was only enough fabric to make one dress and it's ready to ship in size 12-18 months here.

The first Saturday of every month gives me a double dip at quilting when the Sydney SCQuilters get together at a local watering hole.  It's always fun, noisy and full of laughter.  You can take a look at our antics here. 

 By the way, the pattern for this dress is by Tie Dye Diva and they are having a sew-a-long commencing tomorrow (Monday).  

You will be making a sailor dress and if you would like to join in you can read all about it in the Tie Dye Diva blog post. There are two versions - one in girls' sizes and the other for babies. It should be great fun and you will learn so much. 

On the other hand, you can let me do all the hard work and buy it from my Etsy shop. or my MadeIt shop.

It can't be May already

We had our last drive to the Royal North Shore Hospital today for hopefully ever.  Tony finished his cardiac rehab on Monday and the participants were summonsed this afternoon for a final debriefing.  I guess passing out parades are not a good idea for cardiac patients, so instead they had a general report and pat on the back for completing the course.

Life is getting back to normal and it's good to see Tony finally returning to his old self.  It also means a little more time for sewing!

And it couldn't have come at a better time.  

Ever since I was a pattern tester for this gorgeous skirt by Jen Hagedorn of Tie Dye Diva, I have become a fan of her patterns which are always so clear and concise and the designs are adorable.  While I do create my own designs, sometimes it's lovely to work on a well-crafted garment designed by someone who is top of her game.

This pop over pinafore for babies 0-24 months is among Jen's latest releases.

It marries so beautifully with another new release, a baby peasant dress.

They go together hand in hand so perfectly.  

I will be listing them on my Etsy and MadeIt shops in next next day or so and am working on yet another Tie Dye Diva release which should be finished in a short time.  Wait until you see it!

These delightful sailor shorts are by Brownie-Goose Patterns and are now available in my shops.  

It's good to be back sewing a little more regularly and even better, it's wonderful to have the patient looking so well.  By all accounts the second half of the year should be a whole lot better than the first.

New beginnings

It's Autumn here in Sydney ... apparently.  Someone forgot to tell the Nasty Weather Pixie because we are blessed with the most glorious days.  Beach weather.  In another hemisphere Spring has sprung and before long our beautiful weather will leave us to start on its trek north.

Images: Boutique Baby Photography

 And of course that means that Easter is on the horizon.  

Dress available here or here

At Chez Fudge we have our own new beginnings, with Tony slowly but surely making progress from the disastrous first couple months of the year.  He will start on rehab (cardiac, not the more interesting drugs or alcohol) in about a week.

With life more or less back or normal, the much neglected sewing machine has had a bit of a workout in preparation for Easter party clothing and decorations.

Baby's Party Dress available here or here

This fabric combination had been sitting patiently in my stash waiting for the right design.  I knew immediately that I had found the answer when Tie Dye Diva released a new pattern for babies 0-3 months to 18-24 months.  It was exactly what I had been looking for.  I usually work with my own designs, but since I was invited to test one of Tie Dye Diva's patterns late last year, I have fallen in love with them.

At this time of the year I sell my bunny garlands which are not only suitable for Easter, but also for children's bedrooms, baby shower gifts, birthday parties, etc.

I was contacted this week and asked if I could make one in more pastel shades for the customer's little girl's bunny party.

Sometimes we need simple suggestions to set us on a different course, and I am so glad that this lovely buyer made her request, as I am really happy with the result.  It will be on its way to Florida in the morning and I really hope the little girl loves it.  I have added it to my Madeit shop here and will have it available in my Etsy shop in a day or so.

Bunnies on Vespas available here or here

What could be better for Easter than bunnies on Vespas?  With balloons.  

Available here or here

To celebrate Tony's homecoming, we were taken out for brunch this morning and our granddaughter was wearing this swing top which I made for her a short while back.  It's another Tie Dye Diva pattern and she loves wearing it - so cool and comfortable.

So it's happy times ahead ... new season, new beginnings.