.May Cool Shops! Sweet Birdie Blue.

Hello to our newest Cool Shop, Sweet Birdie Blue!

Sweet Birdie Blue is a bright and cheerful store full of funky, 1970's-inspired handmade clothing and accessories.  If you're into retro, you'll love everything at Sweet Birdie Blue.  

The lovely Trace sent us one of her 1970s Rainbow Ponchos for review.  It is super soft and warm and bright enough to cheer up cloudy winter days!

At Sweet Birdie Blue you'll find a eclectic range of unique clothing for your little girl.  
The My Deer Dress features vintage patchwork, tie dyed tops, a bit of crochet and some applique.

The Sweet Birdie Blue Custom Photo Keepsake Dress gives you the option of having any photograph printed onto the skirt of this cute peasant-style dress.

 

Here's another cute poncho...Bubba 1970s:

Trace creates some beautiful crocheted jewellery also, such as this Roses and Butterfly Necklace:

 The Blue Bayou Headband:

And the very pretty Springtime in the Daisy Field Necklace:

Make It Perfect readers can save 10% on all orders from Sweet Birdie Blue's Etsy store with free postage within Australia!
(10% off ends 16th June.  Use discount code "makeitperfect".  Free postage excludes crochet ponchos and blankets.)

Important Sweet Birdie Blue Links

Etsy Store

Facebook Page

Blog 

.Thermomix Cooking - Chicken and Vegetable Pie.

Nothing goes down better than a hot pie on a cold night.  This mixture makes a lot - if there is too much filling for you, pop it in the freezer and take it out for another time.  Or make individual pies and freeze the ones you don't eat.  I didn't write down exact quantities, but anything goes with a pie...you can follow the basic method for any fillings really.  You might want to alter the amount of water/cream you add at the end depending on how much sauce you want your pie to have.  

Chicken and Vegetable Pie

1 onion
2 carrots
1 zucchini
50g olive oil
frozen peas
frozen corn
500g chicken breast, cubed (make sure the cubes are chunky as they break down during cooking time)
150g water
1Tbs TM vegetable stock concentrate
150g cream
3Tbs cornflour

Place onion, carrots and zucchini into TM bowl.  Chop on speed 5 for 4 seconds.
Add oil and cook on 100 degrees, speed 1, for 4 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients.  Cook on Varoma temp, speed 1 for 20 minutes.  
If sauce is too runny, add a little extra cornflour and cook on Varoma temp, speed 1 for another couple of minutes to thicken.
Place pie filling into puff pastry lined pie dish.  Cover with another sheet of puff pastry and bake in 200 degree celsius oven for 20 minutes or until pastry has puffed and is browned.

.Things I'm Crushing...HOUNDSTOOTH.

It all started when I spotted some finely dressed ladies at the grand royal wedding on television a couple of weeks ago.  They were wearing beautiful pink and white houndstooth jackets.  I've searched high and low for a picture of them, I thought this one was it, but on closer inspection I'm not sure that it is houndstooth after all.  Never mind, they started something.  And right now, I'm crushing houndstooth...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Classy, huh?  

(All image sources - and more houndstooth images - can be found on my Houndstooth Pinterest Board.)

.Tombily gets warm.

Wow!  Winter has really struck with some force this week.  Talk about cold old days and lots of snow on the mountains.  Lucky for us, our house was designed to be super warm without the use of too much heating, so we are always nice and toasty inside.  The problem is, we don't get rugged up enough when we leave the house because I don't realise how cold it actually is outside until we are in the thick of it!

It's been awhile since I last made a Downtown Boy jacket and was a nice change to sew something small.  Tommy is now nice and warm, ready for our winter outings.  

I made him a size 1 as he is still little (but turns 2 next month!) and there is plenty of growing room for winter and maybe even next year too.  My preferred insulation for making both Downtown Boy and Uptown Girl jackets is quilt wadding.  I do specify using Pellon on the pattern cover, which is fine, but lately I have been using quilt wadding and am really happy with the warmth and snuggliness it gives.  Plus, it feels a little less synthetic than Pellon.

The exterior jacket fabric is one of my favourite prints.  I've used a heap of it before and had to re-order for the jacket.  (The only place I could find it online was Duckcloth, but it looks like they've sold out now too!)  And yep, besides the scarlet door, it does match the front of the house.  Not intentional, but obviously showing my love for the charcoal, white, green combination!

I had intended to release this pattern in big sizes (6-10 years) for winter, so while I was in the right frame of mind I got to work yesterday and started nutting out the up-size.  Should only be a couple of weeks and I'll have it ready for anyone who is wanting to sew it for their big boy this winter!

SUPPLIES:
Make It Perfect, Downtown Boy pattern
Jennifer Moore, Monaluna, Hip to Be Square in Steel
Robert Kaufman, Pure Organic Solids in Chartreuse

.Hemmed.

You know what I dislike about new jeans?  The fact that the hems are always 4"-5" too long for my legs.  Sooo annoying.  I also don't like hemming them because it means that I lose the original hemmed edge which, in my opinion, is the part of the jeans that gives them character.

A couple of years ago I started hemming my jeans using this tutorial and have never gone back.  Works a treat, the original hem is retained and it only takes a couple of minutes.

I've had these jeans for 2 months and every time I put them on think to myself that I need to hem them, but end up tucking them under and make-do with falling down folded hems.  I don't know why it took me so long to get around to doing - 5 minutes out of my morning and they are done!

I was reading a bit about altering clothes last night and discovered that a bad-fitting pair of jeans is most likely a result of too long hem!  Long hems push the fabric back up the leg, causing lots of bunching up and making you look bigger than you actually are!  Makes sense when you think about it, don't you think?

I'm feeling pretty happy today...I have finally finished that promised boy pattern!  It is being tested at the moment and photos will be taken over the weekend so if all goes well I'll be able to share it with you next week.  I'm looking forward to the release, it has taken a lot of time and effort to put together and I know that it is going to make a lot of sewers with boys very happy!

.The long awaited Easter PJs!.

 The Easter PJs were a little slow in the making this year around.  And then it took me another couple of weeks to photograph them!  I was waiting for an unrushed morning to capture them jumping on the bed in the lovely morning light...as if that is going to happen!!  We work with what we have, so after bath tonight it was a quick line-up on the green wall.

 

 

I made myself work solely from the stash.  The stash is getting a bit out of control.  It is pretty much choc-a-block full now and I have more fabric on order.  I'm ready to admit that I do have a fabric purchasing problem, the real problem is that there are more lovely fabrics being released in the next few weeks and I'm not sure I can say no...looks like I just need to do some more sewing!

SUPPLIES:
Make It Perfect, Slumber Party Jammies Pattern
PJs in first photo - from Left to Right:
David Walker, Oh Boy!, Dinos on Blue with Robert Kaufman, Unknown trim.
Michael Miller, Tweet Tweet, Birdcage on White with Tanya Wheelan, Darla Rose, Picnic in Damask trim.
Dan Stiles, Marine, Sub Stripe with Dan Stiles, Marine, Urchin Forest, Daylight trim.

.Thermomix Cooking - Marble Cake.

We rate this marble cake pretty high.  The recipe originally came from a cooking magazine and I adapted it to the thermomix.  Very quick and easy, lovely and moist and stays fresh for days.

Marble Cake

180g butter
1 tsp vanilla
220g sugar
3 eggs
300g self-raising flour
160g milk
1 Tbs vinegar

3 Tbs cocoa
Pink food colouring


Place first 7 ingredients into TM bowl.  Blend together on speed 5 for 1 minute.
Divide mixture into three portions.  Place two portions in small mixing bowls and leave the third in the TM bowl.
Add cocoa to TM bowl.  Mix on speed 5 for 10 seconds.
Add a few drops of pink food colouring to one of the extra bowls.  Stir through.
Alternately drop spoonfuls of all three mixtures into a greased and lined loaf pan.  Continue until all mixture is used up.
Create marbled effect by swirling a skewer back and forth through the mixture a few times.  Tap pan on bench to evenly distribute mixture.
Bake in a moderate oven for 1 hour - check to see if it is cooked, it may need an extra 10 minutes or so.
When cold, ice with pink icing.

.See you at Darling Harbour?.

Are you planning on going to the Craft and Quilt Fair this year?

 

They are run all around Australia and New Zealand - the next one is in Perth from the 18th-22nd May.  I was contacted by the Craft and Quilt Fair team earlier this year to see if I would be able to give presentations on my patterns at any of the fairs.  Obviously I couldn't be at all the fairs so have decided to attend the Sydney and Melbourne fairs.   

Sydney is just around the corner - coming up on the 22nd-26th June.  As far as preparation goes, I've booked my flights and that's about all!  So, if you are planning on visiting the fair at Darling Harbour next month, make sure you pop by and say hello.  I'm sure I'll  be super nervous and have no idea what I'm going to say, but hoping to make it a casual environment where I can share more about my patterns with you and would love to spend some time chatting and answering any questions.  

At this stage, I'll be giving two presentations a day but will keep you posted on times and other details.  For the rest of the time I'll be keeping my friends at Kelani Fabric company, working as a staff member on their stand.

Kelani have an awesome selection of fabrics and patterns and I'm excited to be a part of it all - so if you find it hard to choose fabric for patterns or want to come by and ask for a bit of advice, you know where to find me!

I'm really looking forward to the fairs, I don't have much of an opportunity to meet face to face with people who buy and use my patterns so this is the perfect opportunity for me.  If you live in Sydney or will be in the area next month, make sure you come and say hello, I'd love to meet you!

And if you attend any of the other fairs, I've sent a showcase of pattern samples off that will be on display in my absence so if you want to see any patterns up close and personal, go and have a look!

.May Cool Shops! Two Little Aussie Birds.

Welcome to our newest Cool Shop! - Two Little Aussie Birds...

Two Little Aussie Birds is a lovely online sewing pattern shop based in Canberra, Australia.  Owned by Crystal, she is always on the lookout for new patterns and offers them at great prices in one convenient location.

I was smitten by the range of embroidery patterns by Penguin & Fish and have been having fun with "F" Fox and "L" Lion.

 It's actually been a long time since I sat down and tried my hand at a bit of embroidery and found it very relaxing.  I'm not sure what Mr Fox is going to end up on - either in the hoop as a bit of wall art or perhaps on a bag, t-shirt or skirt for a special little fox-loving girl I know.

Two Little Aussie Birds stocks a large range of sewing patterns from both Australian and overseas designers.

Melly & Me:

 Make It Perfect:

 Penguin & Fish:

 The Janelle Wind Collection:

Now is the time to stock up on some of your favourite patterns - Two Little Aussie Birds is offering 10% off storewide for the month of May!
(Offer ends 31st May, use code "PERFECT" during checkout.)

Thanks Crystal - just in time for some winter sewing!

Important Two Little Aussie Birds Links:

Shop

Twitter

Blog  

.Young Women Personal Progress Prints.

In my church we have a wonderful program for the Young Women (girls aged between 12 and 17) called Personal Progress that helps them to gain self-worth and a stronger relationship with their Heavenly Father.  The Personal Progress program is a lot of hard work and takes effort and determination to accomplish.  I have seen many girls (including myself) complete the program though and know that it really helps them to become a well-rounded and confident individual.
  
Recently we had a training meeting for the Young Women leaders in our area and I made some prints - one for each of the values in the Personal Progress program - for the leaders to do what they like with.  (Thanks to a quick "how to" from the lovely Leanne!)  I thought that I'd share them on my blog also as I know there are many member of my church that visit here and perhaps they might be useful to you?  Feel free to do what you like with them - decorate your YW room, give them to the girls for birthday presents or use as part of lessons, use your imagination!

I personally like to get my prints printed professionally as a photograph but you can print them out on your computer just as easily.  All you have to do is click on each image below, and it will come up in a big size.  Drag the big image to your desktop and it is ready for you to print or use how ever you wish!  Hope they are helpful to someone out there.

 

 

 

.Looking for a last minute Mothers Day gift?.

Mother's Day is on Sunday and I've got a few special offers to make gift buying easier for you...

Purchase a copy of my book here and receive a free upgrade to Express Post!

(offer avaliable within Australia only and ends Thursday 5th May at 12 noon or until stock runs out).

Receive free postage on all Citrus Pop orders when you spend $25 or more!  Avaliable in both Madeit and Etsy stores.

(offer ends Tuesday 3rd May at midnight)

 

And if you don't need to buy something for Mum, maybe you should just treat yourself!