.Cool Shops! HOOKED ZPAGETTI.

It's been quite awhile since my last Cool Shop blog post.  I've got a great new one for you tonight though, have you heard of Hooked Zpagetti?

I was first introduced to Hooked Zpagetti when I was at the Craft & Quilt Fairs in Sydney and Melbourne earlier this year.  There were people walking around everywhere with these great big cones of chunky yarn and I was intrigued!  After a little questioning and was directed to the Hooked Zpagetti stand and after seeing some of their funky creations, I guess you could say I was hooked!!

Zpagetti uses offcuts of latest knit fashion material and makes a chunky yarn ideal for crocheting and knitting.  The yarn is avaliable in a huge range of colours and designs.  The number one draw-card for me was that because the yarn is so chunky anything you knit or crochet with it is going to be a FAST project!

You can quickly and easily make handbags, soft toys, cushion covers, scarves, bowls, baskets and other home ware items with Zpagetti.  I was immediately taken by some lovely bowls they had displayed on their stand so grabbed a couple of spools of yarn, a pattern and bamboo crochet hook and was set!

Being a novice crocheter, it did take me a few tries to get used to the weight and elasticity of the yarn and to work out exactly how big I wanted my bowl to turn out, but once I had everything sorted out I had TWO bowls crocheted in under 2 hours!  So if you think you can't crochet, don't be scared to give Zpagetti a go - it really is simple.

First off, I made a fruit bowl for the kitchen bench - love the rustic, earthy feel the crochet look and chunkiness of the yarn gives.

I had a bit of yarn left over so started on a second bowl, it ended up a decent size and at the moment is housing eggs!

I couldn't believe how cheap the cones of yarn are - $17.95 and you've got yourself two funky bowls!  These would be great to give away as gifts, and don't have to be used in the kitchen...pop them anywhere to attractively store odds and ends.

I'm enjoying mine in the kitchen at the moment though...

Here's a pic of the Hooked Zpagetti stand at one of the Fairs...they have HEAPS of colours to choose from.  There was also a gorgeous big floor rug on display at the fair, would love to make one of those...or some big floor cushions...or maybe a big round pouffe...

If you would like to try your hand at a bit of Zpagetti (and you really should!) then order now because until the 7th November, all Make It Perfect readers will receive a 10% discount on all orders placed through the Hooked Zpagetti website!  Use the code "Makeitperfect" during checkout to activate the discount.

Hooked Zpagetti Links:

Online Store

Facebook

.Shout Outs.

I've got a few fun things to share with you today...

First of all, have you heard about the Premium Mothers Retreat being held in Sydney early next year? 

The retreat sounds amazing and is sure to refuel worn out Mothers with loads of inspirational presentations and workshops.  Early bird rates are avaliable until 18th November, then prices will increase by 20% so hurry and book now!


Next up (and this may be of interest to local peeps....) 

Inspire Handmade Market - a funky market full of lots of cool handmade goodness, going to be held in March at Deloraine Primary School - I'll be there with some bits and pieces for sale...will talk more about it as the time draws closer, but for now - if you are interested in having a stall at the market, contact The Handmade Team ASAP as tables are filling up fast!


And for anyone looking for an easy way to learn a new craft, check out Emily Falconbridge's Fabulous Felting course!

Learning something at home is super convenient for busy people...I like it 'cause it means I can stay in my jammies and do things at my own pace.  I've never tried wet felting before, it has always intrigued me though!  I especially love those rugs made of hundreds of little felted beads...so cool!

.A new toy.

Both of these items have been high on my wish list for a long time.  And I finally got one of them!!!

 

But which one, you ask?

All will be revealed :)

P.S. What big ticket items have been on your wishlist lately?

.Run, Noah, Run.

Today I had the honour of joining with hundreds of other people in saying goodbye to my cousin (and dear friend) Lisa's son, Noah.

Photograph from here

Noah was born with hydranencephaly (you can read his story here) and he has been a fighter from the day he was born.  His life expectancy was 2-4 years, but this little boy showed the world what he was made of and lived for 10 wonderful years.  Surely he was living, breathing, and his heart was beating for the love his family showed for him.

Lisa with her four boys - source

The last week has been emotional as we have joined together with the King family to mourn the loss of their sweet boy.  Today it was a privilege to be among those who united to celebrate the life of Noah King.  Noah was an amazing little boy who taught life lessons to those around him without ever saying a word.

Through Noah, I have learned that your worst fear could actually become your greatest blessing.  That every single person living on this earth is of great importance and deserves the love of those around them.  I've had the blessing of watching those I care for go through difficult times whilst still remaining optimistic.  I've learned that Heavenly Father places angels like Noah on earth to remind us to slow down and smell the roses and make the most of every special moment we have with those we love.

Noah's balloons

Noah's funeral today was perfect.  A true celebration of an angelic boy who was a gift from God, sent to earth for 10 short years but will be remembered for eternity.

During the funeral service, Lil (who, for the last 6 months has had an obsession with talking and asking questions about death and dying) drew pictures of Noah, his Mum and his Dad.  I love Noah's wheelchair legs and I'm not sure why Aaron looks like a caterpillar!!  Towards the end of the day, Lil also declared that "today is the best day ever!" - and she was right...today was the PERFECT way to celebrate the life of a PERFECT child.

Those who know Lisa well, will at some time or another have had a jab at her about taking a gazillion photos of absolutely everything!!  Today I learned that one can NEVER take too many photos - Lisa, you keep snapping away.  Photographs are memories and memories last forever.

Photograph from here

Run free sweet Noah.  'Till we meet again.
x

.Oscar Is Six!.

 

Friday marked the 6th birthday of our big boy!  Hard to believe we have been muddling our way through this parenting business for 6 whole years now, we are so proud of our practical, fun-loving boy!  Oscar has been Lego-crazy for a few years now, so we decided on a Lego-themed birthday party for him and a few of his little buddies from school.

I made the invitations using some Lego Minifigure images from this blog (really cool, ready to print memory game here if you are interested) and printed them out A5 size on cardboard...(feel free to use these images if you want to use them for a party - I know Lego is the flavour of the month for many little boys out there!)

Front of invitation

Back of invitation

I'm a bit of a sucker for these message banners and made another one to surprise Oscar when he woke up in the morning...(I've got a LOT of scrapbook paper that I don't use much anymore and feel happy putting it to good use!)

The decorations were simple, aside from the banner, I blew up a handful of balloons and made some funky Legoman Kirigami shapes using a template from here.

 

The party started right after school, so we started with some food and milkshakes...

(not sure if the other mothers want pics of their kids on my blog!)

 

We had a few games organised, but after playing pass-the-parcel and pin-the-hat-on-the-lego-man, the boys were more interested in playing outside - kicking the balls around and jumping on the trampoline so that's what they ended up doing! 

After a run around outside, they came back in and each made a mini pizza for dinner, then more playing outside while the pizzas were cooking.  Then it was time for pizza and singing happy birthday and CAKE!

You'll know by now that my birthday cakes are very maker-friendly...I've had enough stressful moments in the past with elaborate cakes not working out how I imagined so like to keep it low-key now! 

Oscar was happy with cupcakes, so cupcakes it was!

I did jazz them up a bit by making cupcake wrappers using leftover paper from the banner and this template - thought they looked super cute and a nice change from regular cupcake liners that never look very nice once the cake has been cooked.

The cupcake toppers were made using the same images from the invitations.  If you want to use these toppers yourself, click on the link below to download the document.  I printed two copies of 12 toppers and laminated them, then stuck them either side of the stick so that there wasn't a "back" side to the cupcakes.

Click here to download Lego Man Cupcake Toppers

 

And after the action-packed afternoon, all that was left to do was to blow out the candles!!

Happy Birthday Oscar J!!  We hope you love every moment of being six and can't wait to do it all over again next year!!! xxx

.Tshirt Dress.

Dresses are still a big deal with Lil.  And she has HEAPS!  The problem is, they get washed and then put into the ironing basket ready to be ironed...and I am not ever good at keeping on top of the ironing.  So her cupboard is usually pretty scarce when it comes to dresses which does not make her a happy camper!

When I was making a new round of Basic Tees for the kids, it dawned on me that a tshirt style dress could be the answer to our problems.  No need to iron and very low maintenance!

This dress was a lot of fun to make, I didn't use a pattern, just quickly drafted something up and it worked a treat.  I did make one mistake...cut a lower front neckline on the back piece - duh!  I didn't have enough fabric to cut another back piece so filled in the gap with a scrap and left raw edges showing.  I quite like the accidental detail it creates at the back.

I decided that 3/4-length sleeves would be more practical for our spring and early summer.  Not quite warm enough every day for short-sleeves and means that we don't have to bother about layering long-sleeved shirts underneath.

 

The dress was initially a little nightie-ish looking so I added a MASSIVE flower applique to the side - using raw-edge applique on knit fabric.  Now I'm in love and dreaming up other colour/applique combinations!

 

Imagine massive cherries, cat faces, speech bubbles, the sun, letters, shapes...yup, there are going to be many more of these popping up for summer!

And little brother had to get in on the action with our photoshoot....

SUPPLIES:

Gitta Knit Stripe in Purple/Hotpink

Gite Knit Solid in Kiwi

Stella Knit Solid in Lilac

.A sad ending.

Please remind me never to make a soft toy for my children again.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when presented with these victims.  Time of death...usually an hour or so after the kids go to bed.  They have no toys in their bedroom so when they aren't ready for sleep and still have a bit of energy to kill they start playing with their softies.  What starts off as a game ends in somebody getting hurt.  

 

My children aren't usually destructive, I promise.   They tell me they are too strong and weren't even playing tug-of-war very hard.

 

All I could think about was the hours of time I put into sewing each one of those little critters up, with visions of them being passed down as family heirlooms to children's children.  I'm not sure if I can be bothered patching them up - is it really going to be worth the effort?!

 

This is Giddy Up - all stuffing removed.  He was in REALLY bad shape...

 Sorry Magoo, Mrs Perkins x 2 and Giddy Up.  My children will never be trusted with a softie again.

.The Honey Blouse winner!.

Who's the winner of a copy of The Honey Blouse - hot off the press?

It's you - Jane!!!  Congratulations :) 

Let's try that again...the lovely Jane has already purchased a copy of the pattern for herself! 

Second chance draw goes to Natalie!!

.Nani IRO Lap Quilt.

I loooove double gauze fabrics...if you haven't sewn with them before, do it.  They are super soft, slightly textured and have that "look good when crushed" look about them (great for people like me who don't like to iron!)  When I saw this great project over at The Purl Bee last month, I knew that it wouldn't be long until I had a go at sewing one myself and look what I made in just 1 1/2 hours on the weekend!

This lap quilt measures about 1m x 1.5m - not very big, but just right for popping over your lap to snuggle down and watch a movie or read a book on the couch.  Also great for a quick and easy baby quilt.  It is lovely and soft and after a few washes I know that the snuggle factor will increase as the quilt softens even more.

As a quick and easy quilting method, the quilt is sewn together with small bar tacks (or short zig-zags) every 7".

I'm thinking a lap quilt for every member of the family may be in order over the next little while...this one is already in high demand!

My lovely double gauze fabrics came from Kelani fabric, and I used wool batting between each layer.

SUPPLIES:
Nani IRO double gauze, Saaaa Saaa Stripe in Red
Nai IRO double gauze, Pocho White on Soft Grey