ROADSIDE RAINBOW

Justin and Jarvis had a very fun craft afternoon, all that was needed was

one road side find, add some of Jarvis's cheap poster paint, and we have one very happy rainbow loving boy.

Jarvis is now on the hunt for the perfect bedside lamp to add to his new cupboard. He requested a rainbow salt lamp? Umm okay.

BUBBY'S NEW OLD DINING TABLE AND FOUR CHAIRS

Tamkia, I guess now that she is almost 21 and about to move out with her partner I should stop calling her Bubby? Tamika and Guy have very little belongings, so Guy has been on the hunt for cheap bargins via Ebay and Gumtree. He found a dining table and four chairs cheap, so it came to rest at my house until they move.

The dining table and structure of the chairs are nice. However, Tamika hated the fabric of the chairs. Fussy girl didn't like the colour of the fabric or how it was worn.

So a quick trip to Spotlight and a purchase of three metres of curtain/upholstery fabric was made. (Three meters is needed as I have another upcycle project for them I am doing)

Almost done. Only thing that is stopping me I am short a couple of screws. Hmm sounds like a lame joke Justin would tell. I have swapped the original screws over for longer ones.

The other thing stopping me is my inability to lift my arms…. Ahhh the agony of stopping breastfeeding. But that is a whole other post. 

THE BOY IN THE ALPHABET PYJAMAS

Yesterday, I managed to get some sewing done. I went to Spotlight this week and they have flannel on sale at 40% off. I let Jarvis pick two; he picked this lovely cream fabric with an alphabet print, plus a red with a white star. So as modelled by my assistant blogger, typing the old fashioned way, Jarvis has new pyjamas.

I finally did something with a floral dress I have had for ages. I held off cutting it up from a dress, as the dress was cute. But not only being way too big for me I knew with my olive skin that the colours would look all wrong on me. So yesterday it got the chop. The waist band is not perfect, as I had to use the fabric in the top of the dress to create it, there are seams around the band. It sits a lot fuller around the hips on me than on the mannequin. So I am happy with the end result. 

I also got some cushion covers made, which I will post about later with images. But for now it is back to the garden. Seeing it is International Day of the Woman. You can hear me roaring in the backyard, I am the one, mowing, whipper snipping and chain sawing. I will tame that garden. It will become a place that produces food rather than just weeds. 

VINTAGE TABLECLOTH SKIRT

I finally fixed my sewing machine. Well, I think I have, bar for a slight issue with tension all is good. Oh, and the fact that after pulling it apart and cleaning it, I have one screw left over. Hmm not sure about that left over screw. Shall I just pretend it does not exist?  Or pull the machine apart once again?

To take the machine for a good test run I made this skirt out of an old tablecloth. I am not one to normally cut up a beautiful vintage tablecloth; however, this had a lot of stains and holes in it. So I did some creative cutting and vola... I have a new skirt.

On a side note, how hard is it to take “selfies” and not feel like a complete idiot. Any advice?

Plus I could have called this post, “Being photo bombed by a naked 14 month old Boy”.

Not looking at the camera does not help in making you feel like less of a poser.

How pretty is the fabric?

Hey Mum, why is the camera on a tripod? And Why are you not taking photos of me?

 Hi, here I am presenting my butt to the world.

Shall I run at the camera? That will get your attention back on me.

Fine, how about a sneaky bum shot?

There were so many more photo bombs by Jarvis, but front on. So, there we have my new skirt and my naked son!

10 MONTHS OLD

I could write for ever about the things that Jarvis does, however, this month I will write about all of the things Jarvis does not do. Jarvis still does not roll over or crawl. He gets stuck like a turtle on his back, until you stand him up. Then he is off, shimming against walls or hanging onto stuff for support. Jarvis does not walk slowly; he is always in a hurry.

Jarvis does not like to wear clothes; it is a struggle every time to get him dressed. If he cannot be naked, he will settle for no pants.

Jarvis will have a bath and stay in until he is a wrinkled prune. But he will not get out of the bath without tears. The same thing happens when we take him swimming.

But the main thing that Jarvis does not do, ever, is sleep alone. He will sleep in the car. He will always sleep in my arms, or curled up against me. Or he will sleep beside Justin.

At first he slept in the bassinet in our room, but now every night he sleeps with us. Jarvis has never slept in his own room. He has not even slept in his cot in our room. Even after I went to so much effort to make or refurbish everything in his room. We even painted his room and it is a rental!

Cots are just for playing in.

Jarvis has not got two upper teeth, just the one, so he looks like a hillbilly.

OK, so that is not Jarvis and it is not my photo (cannot find original source to give credit to), but I cannot get a photo of Jarvis's tooth.

So all of these things that Jarvis does not do, but I would not change a thing from his sweaty sleep head to his smelly feet. Alright I would change his stinky feet, but I just love him more and more each day I will take those feet, even when I wake up with them in my face each morning.

The "Man Cold" t-shirt

It has been a hard week, Jarvis not only got his first tooth, he also got his father’s “Man Cold”. So with two sick grumpy boys in the house not much sewing got done.

I did manage to recycle one of Justin’s t-shirts

Into a t-shirt for Jarvis

I cut up Justin’s t-shirt along the seams and used one of Jarvis’s t-shirts as a guide. I cut the shirt a bit big as I wanted to keep as much as the pattern as possible.

Everything was a bit of a guess; and I have not hemmed the edges of the neckline or the bottom of the shirt. It has been through the wash once and seems to be holding up ok.

But not bad, considering my fear of stretch sewing and lack of pattern.

Jarvis is in his "Beetlejuice" chair which I recovered as part of his whole room make over.