Beautiful Belle

One of my closest friends has two gorgeous kids. They are both older than mine (12 and 14 years) but have always been the most lovely friends to my children. I treasure our friendship with their whole family.

This week was Isabelle's grade six valedictory. After much searching for a dress that was just right for a twelve year old, and without any luck, Heather asked me if I could make it. Given that the design was so simple, I agreed. Heather chose the fabric, a beautiful beaded silk voile from the Cloth Shop in Ivanhoe (if you live in Melbourne and have never been to this shop, you MUST go). It was just perfect.


With much trepidation of my sewing and pattern alteration skills, and the help from another dear friend (Charlotte's mum), I began. I was very nervous throughout the dressmaking for three reasons: It was such beautiful fabric, I was sewing for someone else and my gorgeous girlfriend is a little, ahem, particular, shall we say!

But in the end it all turned out and Isabelle look like a Grecian beauty. I made a flower to match which was beaded with orange beads, subtle but pretty.

Doesn't she look beautiful.

Food at Our House

Things have been pretty good at our dinner table, of late: Here is a little taste of what we have been eating:

BERRIES
We skipped school on Friday and went berry picking. It's becoming a bit of a summer ritual in our home and we usually do it on my birthday, but as I was a little pre-occupied this year, we went a week later. We came home exhausted with full bellies, and heads ready for the pillow.

PIECE DE RESISTANCE
Whenever I have an abundance of berries I cook this dessert, an impressive favourite from an old delicious. Three layers of meringues (in graduating sizes), piled up with berries and a mix of whipped cream, greek yoghurt and rosewater. So good!

MY OWN
And with all of those egg yolks leftover from the meringues, what to make, but mayonnaise. I put this in the same category as homemade chicken stock; so simple (at least with a Kitchenaid it is), ten times better when homemade and just why has it taken me so long to make my own? Last night it was mixed into boiled dutch creams and puy lentils and served with roast chicken . Oh man!

ALL HEART
Also, our own. We have loads of beautiful cabbages ready for picking. Steve planted our winter vege garden this year and went a little overboard on the cabbages. By spring they had grown some lovely leaves, but no heart. Doubting that they were going to heart at all, I pulled out quite a few to make way for our spring/summer plantings. Boy, am I glad I didn't pull them all out! So with our own cabbages, and our own mayonnaise, tonight's salad, which was coleslaw meets Waldorf, was out of this world.

The Icing on My Cake

I have been blessed with some beautiful girlfriends in my life. Girlfriends who I can share almost anything with, who help out in time of need and add so much depth to my life. They bring me many happy moments and add a bit of sparkle to my days. They are the icing on my cake.


My cake, of course being my husband (he actually said he is the cake tin, holding me together), my children and my faith, but those girls are the sweetness on top. Their laughs and love mean so much to me. This year I decided that on my birthday I would give back to them. Hence, my little morning tea.



I have never really done anything like this before, a party to say thank you to all of them. But it has been so enjoyable and I do recommend it. I have made lots of special treats, filled the house with flowers and written a card for each of them. I also have a little present for each of them to take home.


It is going to be a fun day.

Turning a Blind Eye

After re-reading a post like the one I wrote yesterday, with those photos of my house looking so lovely, I could find even myself believing it is all so perfect...until I look around the corner into to our playroom/study.

So how can I have some areas of the house so lovely (most of the time) and leave some to look like a bomb (most of the time). I guess it is my blind eye. There are some parts of my house that for my own peace of mind I have to keep tidy and clutter free (the entrance hall and the TV cabinet, for example). It is a direct correlation to those areas and my brain...and I like a clutter free brain.

Some parts of the house, my laundry and playroom, I can just ignore. Which is kind of good for my sanity becuase in a house of three kids you cannot have it all tidy, all of the time. So as long as a I have a little bit of lovliness to cast my eyes on (and photograph for my blog!) I can manage to keep pretending that the rest is all so perfect. I guess that is the balance that makes most of us tick.

So,for a dose of totally untouched reality. Just to make you smile.



Aaagh!

Re-arranging

I spent a good portion of yesterday morning moving things around my home, re-decorating you might say, in a minor way. I haven't taken the time to do this in such a long while. But, I have motivation you see, becuase on Friday I am having a little morning tea for my girlfriends. And I want everything to be just right.

I started by moving the blue plates off the entrance wall. They now sit on a wall beside the kitchen.


I then re-arranged things above the TV cabinet.

And then the entry. I plan on filling a vase with some bright pink lilies and the Amy Butler fabric ties the pink, green and brown in perfectly.


Whenever I am arranging my special pieces around the home I am always inspired by the beautiful tablescapes that Anna shares on her blog; Absolutely Beautiful Things and her recently launched website; Black and Spiro. The way she mixes colours up is so amazingly and of course her love of blue and white china is a passion I share.

Speaking of china, I have been getting all of mine ready. I am so looking forward to this morning tea and will do a little show and tell with more details on the day.

3 Tops :: Part3

The last top. View D of the Simplicity pattern. Made from a beautiful viole that my girlfriend bought from a recycle fabric shop in Mornington, Victoria. It has a little silk in it and sits so beautifully.




I cut the sleeves in a little more than the original pattern and used the same piece front and back. I didn't hem the top as the fabric already had a lovely selvedge on it.


The top isn't as sheer as the photos show. I just loved the photos with the light shining through, it emphasises the pattern.

Procrastinating

Tonight I am selling my wares at our kinder market night and I still have few things to get ready.

But the kids are all home sick.

And last night Steve brought me home a new toy. It is a little distracting.



I am not in anyway a gadget person and am feeling a little overwhelmed with this surprise. I thought I might hop on Apple's app store and see what there is to download. Well, where do I start? Any of you crafty girls out there with an iphone that can point me in the right direction? What are your favourite apps?

Maybe I need to look for an app that can make bows.

Note: the kinder market night is in Blackburn so if anyone would like to come along, just email me and I will send the details. tmmorris@bigpond.net.au

Who Needs a Lawn Mower?

We could call him Edward Scissorhands.







Before my girls went to school they used to drive me wild with their crafting mess. For always was the playroom floor covered in tiny bits of paper from the cutting and pasting. I kind of hoped when we had a boy that his mess would be different. But, with his good fine motor skills, I guess it is no surprise that he loves the scissors almost as much as his sisters. I am happy to say that he takes his cutting outside, most of the time.

3 Tops :: Part 2

The second top.

I absolutley love this pattern! Simplicity 2586. I had to buy it online as it is not available in Australia. I have done quite a bit of tweaking in every version I have made (of course), but the base is good.


The pattern gives several options, but not one with straps. For this top, I just took a pencil and drew in a suitable line and then traced the pattern. The pattern also has a high neck on the back but I just used the same pattern piece for front and back. The other change I made is that I did not shape the body,instead I just cut it straight down.


It sits really well across the back and the front. It is such an easy to wear, pretty top. The cotton voile is from Lincraft! I loved it so much I went back and bought the rest of the roll and have since made a couple of nighties from it. The nighties are also very sweet and only took an hour each to make, start to finish. That's my type of sewing!

3 Tops::Part 1

So, as I said the other day, I have been doing a little sewing. I have made three tops, a couple of nighties and have another dress cut out. And almost all of it is for me! That certainly makes a change.



This is the first top which I sewed a month or so ago. I traced the pattern off another top, which I loved. It has a couple of simple but nice features: the wide neckline (almost a boat neck) and way the shoulder seams sits just over the shoulder, not centred. This is accentuated by the two different fabrics, both from Darn Cheap. The front is a lovely soft cotton sateen and the back is a knit. The colour in the photo below is a little more accurate.



All of the loose tops this season are very easy to sew and this one was no exception AND I actually wear it!