I blame the internet again!

I’ve finally had a chance to fiddle with this gorgeous fabric from Julie (from Rainbow’s End studio). I’ve actually finished these leggings now – pattern is from the Sewing Clothes Kids love book, Rivera.

And I also bought some printed homespun for a skirt for Ruby as well. She could wear these together or seperately.

With the precious left-over homespun, I’ve made a couple of pads. Because these fabrics are all hand-printed and dyed, you won’t find them again – so grab one if you want it. I promise you won’t be disappointed with these gorgeous prints!

I’ve also listed a bunch of pads (including a few of the rainbow pads from the Gossamer Dreams stocking) at the store – I cannot seem to get that pic to stay the right way up!

The internet has been playing up at the Picanini household, making all sorts of things difficult. The internet has just been one of many things that is turning life upside down lately and not making it easy.

 

Big Butt Baby pants 6-12months

 

I’ve been busy for this month’s Gossamer Dreams stocking – “After the Rain” is the theme.

Rainbow skirt 18 – 24 months

 

Fortunately, my lovely Bernina is one of the few things keeping steady and going smoothly. Sewing this Rainbow Redondo Skirt (by Studio Tantrum for Farbenmix patterns) was a pleasure. It topstiches beautifully.

Rainbow skirt front

I’ve almost had my beautiful Bernina for a year now. I am truly in love!

 

This was a really fun theme to work with, and I just wish life hadn’t been as hectic as it has been lately cause I had so many ideas but just not enough time.

There are some absolutely AMAZING things available this month, so make sure you stop by for a look. It opens at 8pm AEST, but the products are now previewing.

Poor Ruby’s leg (and foot as a result of walking funny) seem to be getting worse. And I think the non-stop last month has taken it’s toll on Finnlay, which has made him tired and crabby. Unfortunately, this has led to problems at school again – which is a shame, because we were seeing some improvement.

Fortunately, we have been having a bit of fun outside of the home recently. I hope all the mummies out there had a wonderful Mother’s day? I spent most of the day away from my darling children, as Dh had a conference for 3 days in the Gold Coast, and I was allowed to tag along. I managed to find my eldest for a brief lunch together on the way back home (we went to the Cafe at the Natural Food store in Forest Glenn – absolutely delicious food!). We got home at dinner time. We’ll have a  do-over next weekend, when the kids can burn some toast and bring it to me in bed like a real Mother’s day!

The weekend before that, our family went with a group of friends to the Bunya Mountains. There were heaps of kids (I think it was 25 from 7 families), and they all seemed to have an absolute ball. Each of my children had someone their age and gender to play with – this doesn’t often happen!  I’ll post some more  pics and info about that another day, cause it was heaps of fun.

And the weekend before that, Dh’s parents flew up from Sydney for 5 days on a last minute whim so that was a fun and busy time as well.

As much as I’ve enjoyed the last month, I’m looking forward to life settling down a bit for a couple of weeks now.

And there’s a secret surprise Mother’s Day stocking over at Gossamer Dreams. There’s still some gorgeous things left there! Sorry I couldn’t tell you my special blog and facebook readers, but I was sworn to secrecy till the store was open for business today at 1.30pm.

I made these stretchy pants (they’ve sold already!)

and some yoga/pilates mat bags for this stocking. I had planned to make some special pads like last year, but life has conspired to leave me running out of time to get them done. You’ll see them in the store shortly – they’re made from some special fabrics.

I have also made and added some new pads to the stores (though I decided to close the clothpadshop store for this month as I’ve just got so much happening).

Something for the fans of vampire books and movies…

There’s been alot happening in this house for a while with the children. We had an paediatric appointment at the end of the holidays for Finn down at the Sunshine Coast. While DH and I weren’t convinced that there was something to worry about, it was an (expensive!) sigh of relief to hear it from “an expert” that we didn’t need to worry about these things.

We were just starting to relax until we got a diagnosis 3 days later for the reason Ruby has been limping for the last month. She has Perthe’s disease. We are greatful that this condition isn’t life-threatening and she will eventually recover.  I’m trying to focus on these things despite the fact that I know she’s devestated that she isn’t allowed to do ballet or gymnastics, run, ride her scooter, jump on the trampoline (or anywhere) for an indefinite period of time. She’s finding it hard not to be able to run around with her friends at school, and she’s also in quite a bit of pain despite being on frequent anti-inflamatory pain-killers.  It’s very frustrating that even in the private health system, we won’t have more answers till we see an orthopaedic specialist till the end of July.  My rational self tries to focus on the positive, but as her mother, I really feel for her having to deal with all this – she’s already “different”  and excluded from some things due to her gluten, dairy and tomato free diet (I have to take special food for her to parties and there’s always lots she can’t eat), and this just makes it even more so. That makes my heart ache for her.

So this heavy hearted conversation was the reason I’ve been avoiding blogging. Sorry to be such a downer.  Hopefully we will have alot more positives to on focus again soon!

is not the only thing I ever write on this blog, but here we are again a week later.

Long time blog followers may remember that a couple of years ago, I started making hot chocolate sticks for the teachers for Easter gifts. Guess what’s happening in the kitchen right now on the 2nd last day of term?!

Prep teacher and teacher’s aide are both getting a bottle of wine as well, as they’ve worked extra hard this term with Finn.

I’ve also been making gluten and dairy free lamingtons, and chocolate crackles for a party at the school this week. The library is having a week long party celebrating the 30th year anniversary of Possum Magic by Mem Fox. I used this delicious sponge cake recipe and then I think it was 100g coconut oil, 100g icing sugar, 100ml boiling water (maybe a little more or less) and some cocoa to make the chocolate topping. This did not taste like it was GFDF, which is always a plus.

I’m also working on some OSFA pocket nappies,

and I can’t wait to make something from this beautiful  fabric I picked up from the lovely Julie from Rainbow’s end.

What can I say – I got so absorbed in all that I was doing that I forgot to post about it!

I’m still working through a good number of pads and liners – I’m loving these vibrant purples and pinks! Next up are some blues, blacks and reds.

Did you see the pad mandala I put on the facebook page?

Here’s a close up of it.

Mandalas keep coming up in my life at the moment. I read some time ago that drawing and/or colouring them can be very theraputic and relaxing, and I’ve been looking for things to help with anxiety in life while we’re going through the change of circumstances we’re in at present.

Part of the issue we’re having with Finnlay at school at the moment is anxiety that he’s been going through as a result of the massive changes that come with school. He has always displayed tendancies toward anxiety, but because there hasn’t been too many things that have put him out of his comfort zone in his short life, helping him deal with his anxiety hasn’t really been an issue we’ve had to face often. And of course, having to pick up a hysterical child from school (which we’re now avoiding by having shorter days…which seems to be working so far) doesn’t do much for my own anxiety levels at 3am or any other time.

Be prepared for more mandalas!

I’ve been busy cutting for the last couple of days. It doesn’t look like much, but I’m only showing you the pretties. Each pad and liner has 2 core layers and the petites have a layer of PUL, so it’s a lot of cutting. I do it all by hand with scissors, and the pads are quite fiddly as the core layers are small curves.

Both stores are quite low in stock of liners and petite pads, so I’m trying to make some more.

My littlest fella hasn’t been settling in to school as well as we’d hoped, so he’s mostly doing 1/2 days (which is unusual for QLD – preppies normally do a full day) to hopefully transition into being at school slowly.  3 trips to school a day and only half a work day each day has meant this year hasn’t been as productive as I thought so far.  But Finn will grow up soon enough – he’s not 5 till June. So we have a little more time by ourselves together till he gets there.

Today is the day that we internationally celebrate the achievements of women. Today I celebrate the fact that we have a woman prime-minister (I’d be just as celebratory if it was Julie Bishop or another prominent woman in another party!), and Governor General. I celebrate the fact that my daughter, nieces, future grand-daughters, female friends and myself can choose any profession in Australia that we wish to be involved in, according to our abilities and interests. I know the playing field still isn’t completely level, but we’ve come a long way.

I also reflect on the fact that women in many other nations are still struggling for  such basic issues as a right to live (selective abortion and infanticide of girl babies), and a right to an education.

One issue interfering with many girls continuing their education beyond puberty is a lack of access to menstrual products. As someone who makes and sells cloth pads, this is something I can do something about!

Over the years I’ve contributed toward various “pad drives” to get these products to girls who need them to continue with their schooling. But I would like to do something ongoing, and came across the organisation Days for Girls last year.  Their specific mission is to make sure that girls in developing countries have the menstrual products they need to keep going to school and work – to give them a chance at equality in their societies.  They’re always looking for more volunteers, people to donate, and even just supporters (they also have a facebook page – liking them is a great way to help spread their word).

I’m doing a little bit of sewing for them, and am going to try and get a local chapter set up this year.

And now to the giveaway…

Tell me about your ideal cloth pad. It could be something you’ve already got, something you’ve seen, or better still, something in your imagination (self cleaning LOL?). And of course, you need to tell me why it’s ideal!

Winner could possibly win their own ideal pad (if it’s a bit way out but not too difficult to achieve). I will post 2 regular sized pads to the winner. *Regular being the standard & curvy pads.

I will leave this competition open till the end of this month and will draw it shortly after.

 

 

at first a WIP Wednesday post.

Instead, I was finishing and wrapping presents till 11pm last night for Ruby’s birthday today.

Then it was going to be a birthday post, with gorgeous, highly styled pictures of the 70+ cupcakes I made today, and the amazing fruit birthday ‘cake’ I did. But I only just got them all finished in time to race out the door and get to Ruby’s class before the bell rung for 2nd break. Of course, in my rush I forgot to take pictures!

I did manage to get some pics this morning of the present opening.

Time estimation isn’t one of my strong points. I ALWAYS under-estimate how long something will take me!  Anyway, I think Ruby had a great day today.

Happy 7th birthday my darling girl!

 

Sorry to appear and then disappear again…gastro has been doing the rounds at our house, and it hasn’t been one of those rapid 24 hr things unfortunately.  Hopefully we’ve seen the last of it!

This was supposed to be a WIP wednesday post, but I’ve been having issues with getting photos to load on this site, as well as some rather serious lap-top issues.

I’ve finally finished this dress (in the pic taken on Wednesday it was yet to be topstiched in  places). It’s a Modkids pattern – Frida dress. I made this as a little summer dress for Ruby, and of course finished it in time for the last day of summer. Gah! It should still well and truly fit for next summer as well though. It’s made with the delightful Far Far Away Princess and the Pea fabric (designed by Heather Ross). The print shows the Princess on top of her huge pile of mattresses.  I love her whimsical fabric designs!

I’ve also got a couple of other projects on the go. This is a night set for me – Tap pants and Cami. I found this pattern some time ago, and thought about using it to make something for mum’s for the Gossamer Dreams stocking earlier this month. Tap pants are a vintage style of underwear worn early in the 20th Century (I think the 20′s?). But I subsequently decided to focus on kids this time. This set is actually almost finished now – again, the photos were taken on Wednesday and it’s come along quite a bit since then. Fabric is a lovely and soft cotton lawn.

And finally, I’m cutting out pads trying to get some stock in the shop for the Cloth Nappy Hunt which starts today, as well as some for another little project I’ll share about another day. I’ll be back soon!

It’s been quite a busy few months since I last blogged, and I won’t get into all the details about it right now cause it’s loooooong  The biggest news is that I no longer have a little one at home! Finn started school on the January 30th, which is the end of an era for me (my eldest is 19!). So it’s been a big step for him and for also me, which hasn’t gone as smoothly as I would have hoped.

Finn’s first day of school

But the reason I’ve decided to come out of my little cave to let you all know that I’m stocking at Gossamer Dreams tonight, alongside a host of other very talented ladies. The theme is Vintage Fair and there are some divine things on offer. It opens tonight at 8pm AEST (not daylight savings time), and only for 24 hours.

I had a really hard time narrowing down what 4 kinds of items I was going to do, so I think you’ll probably see a lot more of what was going on in my imagination for this theme in my store shortly.

I accidentally cut out the small rather than the larger size when I was making an example for Ruby to wear for modelling purposes, so this is a little on the small side and will go in the shop shortly. I’ll have to make her another!

 

This is a much nicer pic of her than the one of her with her brothers squinting (and without her pirate tooth that she lost later that week LOL)

Oh, and I’ve also drawn the winner of the $50 gift voucher (a couple of posts below this one). Winners have been emailed.

I’ll be back soon I promise!