Slinky Laguna leggings

Another couple of things out of the UFO tub! These are panne velvet leggings made using the Farbenmix Laguna pattern. Panne velvet makes such great leggings....it's stretchy, recovers well so there are no 'knees', it's warm, comfy, feels very "slinky" (so I'm told lol) and it looks really cute. Can you tell I like them? :D The only issue I have with the panne velvet is the waist elastic tends to roll over and over inside the casing, so to fix this I have stitched the elastic in 4 places......over the casing and through the elastic at the back, the front and at each side. I'm actually pretty happy with this method as one of my gripes about handmade is the loose elastic turning over inside the casings, but I have had no luck with overlocking the elastic in (as you see on store bought pants/skirts). I find the overlocking method permanently stretches the elastic so that the waists are then too big and it's such a pain to re-do. I think I'm going to do all my elastic waists using this method from now on. It makes for less fiddling later when the clothes are being washed and put away. I also found the Laguna leggings pattern was a bit generous so I didn't add seam allowance and this made them a bit more fitted.

So this is not the most exciting creation ever but it is one thing out of the UFO tub. It's just a simple little nightie. I used some horse rib knit that I bought from the US. I know I should buy Australian but I have to be honest and say that the US knits are nicer than what I can buy here and even with the shipping it's a whole lot cheaper to buy from the States. I do have quite an enormous stash of fabric now so I shouldn't have to buy anything for quite some time. The pattern is a Kwik Sew nightie pattern that I picked up in an Op shop for 50 cents. Bargain! I can't remember the number but I can dig it out should anyone want to know. It's easy peasy and has become my go-to pattern for nighties.

55 litres of UFO's

So here it is..........this is my UFO tub......all 55 litres of it!! Now, if I'm going to be completely honest, there are more UFO's lurking about the place. There's the Burda skirt I started when I was 18 and couldn't finish as when I was 18 I wasn't as clever as I am now. Only trouble with that is I'm not as thin now as I was when I was 18. Still, I'll finish that skirt one day. That skirt reminds me of Uluru......when I was 16 I went on a school trip to Uluru and I was too scared to climb to the top. I felt like a failure. But I was terrified of heights and I just couldn't do it. So, when I was 26 I went back to Uluru. I had to conquer my fears and overcome my defeat....and I did it. I was still terrified and in sections I inched along on my bum (not a pretty sight and really embarrassing when the german tourists kept offering to help me lol) but I did it. I won. It was the greatest feeling. I'm nearing 40 now and it's been a very long time since I was 16 and terrified of being blown off the top of that great big rock. It's been a long time since I was terrified of all the pleats in that Burda skirt pattern too. It's been a long time since I went back and conquered Uluru. These days I have other things to worry about and as I approach 40 I'm thinking about how I don't want to carry the fears and failures of my past into the next half of my life. I want a new start, I don't want to procrastinate anymore. I want to be strong, happy, wise and loving. I want to follow my dreams and have no fear of failure. I want to have fun. I want to be the best version of myself that I can possibly be. So, this tub of UFO's has become the physical manifestation of my procrastination and it has to be completed. I also need to find that Burda skirt. I know it's here somewhere........and when I'm done I will feel like I've won. Like I'm ready to move forward and onto better things. I'm really looking forward to seeing the bottom of that tub!

Blue chenille pants

I love chenille pants......these are baby sized and I have used a little fish print in a quilting cotton for the pockets. I also used the fish print to bind the hems. I am a little disappointed with my pocket placement...they're a little high up. I do wonder if there's some kind of formula for pocket placement or if it's just trial and error?

DH calls these dunny rug pants as he thinks chenille belongs on the toilet floor......men!!!

I have issues.

I love fabric.

I love patterns.

I love designing.

Now this is all good.............but...........

I really don't like sewing.

It's not that I don't have a nice machine, I have two in fact. I'm a very lucky gal in that regard. It's just that the sewing part take so loooooonnnnnggggg!!!! And I have sooooo many ideas running around in my head. And sooooo many cut projects waiting to be sewn up. And sooooo many patterns screaming for attention. And soooooo much fabric calling 'pick me' 'pick me'.

It's a problem.

Now, if I were a rich girl I'd be able to pay someone to do my sewing while I cut and played with designs and fabric and patterns all day.

But I'm not rich. Sigh..........

So I have to get real and try to control my mind. But it's not easy. It's nearly impossible in fact.

Ah what the hell..........I'm off to play with my patterns and fabric and I'm not going to look anywhere near the 'to sew' pile neat my machine!

Which of course means I'll have no nice pretty pictures of finished things to show here for a while yet. Unless of course you want to see my UFO's lol.

The giveaway goes to.......

I was inspired by Tas to find a creative way of choosing my giveaway winner after she let her kitten 'chews' her raffle winner. I thought it was cute and funny and lets face it, I lead a fairly sheltered life and I need all the amusement I can get :D

Since it's been so darned hot here I figured I'd let the fan do the work for me........I put all the little bits of paper on a plate and sat them in front of the fan and 'whoooooosh' off they all went! I figured the one that flew the furthest would be the winner and that was Handmade Handgrown who's name landed at a distance of 118cm's :) So could you please send me the address you would like me to post the pattern to?

Now I would have shown you a photo of my highly sophisticated setup, but alas my card reader is still in hiding.........

Thank you to everyone who entered and thank you also to those who've decided to follow my blog. I guess that means I'll actually have to do some posts now lol. But really, this has been fun and I hope to do it again soon.

A giveaway.......

I really dislike New Years Resolutions. Every time I make one I instantly want to break it. It's just like every time I've gone on a diet.......all I can then think about is what I can't eat and it makes me want it all the more. Ice Cream in particular.........mmmmm.......ice cream.....

Anyway, back on track :)

This year I looked at my enormously growing stash and realised I have more patterns and fabric than one little ole me needs for an entire lifetime and I felt overwhelmed. Sewing is more than my hobby, it is my passion and my outlet but I honestly spend more time trying to invent clever ways to store things than sewing - so it's time to make some changes. The other thing I did was I bought a pattern and then realised I already own that one....that was my final wake up call. If I don't know what I have, then I have too much. So this is where the New Years thing comes in........and if anyone is reading this, this is where you come in :)

The pattern I bought is the very cute Farbenmix Flora. It's new and unopened and I will post it anywhere. I do have a photo but I have sadly lost my card reader......so when that appears the photo will appear lol.

I will draw this giveaway (using some technical method like randomly picking from scrunched up names in a tupperware container) say........at the end of the month.

So to be in the draw please leave me a comment. You don't need to follow my blog or write a blog post about it, but if you want to spread the love then that's nice too.

Oh and the resolution thing! As I said I don't like them - so instead, this year I am going to 'aspire' to be more giving and this is my start :)