Sewing late at night, but grateful for every bit of income that comes in. A friend gave me three jackets of take up, and I'm trying to do a really good job... coz they look really flash!!

She also wants me to reupholster a couch for her. I told her I couldn't afford the nightclass fees and shes offered to pay for my nightclasses. So that's cool. I imagine it will come off the price of upholstering her couch, but fair enough! So looks like my work is going to be very varied, which is cool. I like variety! 

And tomorrow I'm going to be trying to finish that big wall, before the bad weather sets in. Yup, still not finished yet! My van back door handle broke and in the end I had to get a new part in because my van is getting too old to get second hand parts. Poor thing! I'm going to need a new one eventually, but how? I'm really gonna have to trust God with that one!

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And we're still hanging onto summer here in NZ. Starting to get a bit chillier though...

Gift of a Maori cloak for the new principal at our daughter's school. (They asked me to signwrite the words. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of that)

And a tshirt I made Catherine's aunty from one of her old ones and screen printed a little Samoan design onto it.

And I've always been convinced that God healed me of Schitzophrenia in 2008, but I'm still on the medication, so it's not really much of a testimoney is it? ("It's the meds keeping you sane, not God!!!").
So I'm slowly coming off them. From 7.5 mls down to 5 now, and slowly down. And if you think it's risky,1. I'm going off them slowly for that reason and 2. When you know youre well, well, you just know. 7 years on the same meds and still as sick as hell. God comes into my li fe and BAM! I never felt like this during that time. Meds make some difference but they don't heal you. So time to put my money where my mouth is... I'll let you know how it goes. (Another 6 months and I'll be off them completely).

So weve been up to the bach again for another couple of days with friends. Well be going up with different friends next week too. Funny way to do the holidays I know, but things just seem... different this year.

So this is me taking a picture of Catherine holding a crab and me standing at a distance paranoid that if I act scared shell throw it at me. The things that go through my mind some times... I don't know!

And this is the friends who came up with us. Catherine is showing Joe the crab she found. Isn't that great? That's how youre sposed to spend your childhood I reckon.

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And the little boy walking up with his Mum is Brycen. He is turning 2 on Sunday and this is what I made for him.

Little bean bags filled with rice and lavender. He LOVES trucks and cars... diggers etc...!

The illustrations are sewn on with a sewing machine.

I'm not his Aunty, but they are Loas and they call all adults Aunty, or Uncle out of respect...

Another couple of lovely days up at the bach these holidays. We have friends up there at the moment, and I we will be going back up with a few other friends in need of a break soon.

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And look what I found at the second hand shop for $3! My very own cabbage patch kid. I always wanted one of these, and then when I became a parent and saw the price tag I totally understood why I never got one! 80 bucks for a kids toy!? You have to be joking! Well, I have one now anyhow. Yep, mine all mine. Catherine can babysit it, but it's mine.

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And I decided to splash out and buy myself a smart phone. Who would have thought I would love it so much? I can't afford internet on it, but even texting is fun! And I made this little cover for it last night.

So now that it's official on facebook I can say my best friend, Teresa... is having a baby! That's a billion times more exciting than I can express.

It was also her birthday yesterday, and I made her these! Little onsies!

I love this pattern and I love the fact that I can make custome coloured onsies instead of the usual blue, pink or yellow kind in stores.

Pattern can be found here.

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Here's my sign I've been working on...

Getting there!

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And finally getting back into the garden again! So I can turn this

into this!

That's the plan

So I thought I'd put this in a separate post incase the people googling "Cheap Lip Balm Recipe" read this.

This is for my blog friends really.

So I went to WINZ on Wednesday, and they basically told me I have to be working 20 hours a week or my benifit gets cut. Now I'm self employed, doesn't that count for anything? I asked.

Nope. Doesn't count sorry.

You have 4 weeks to get back to us. Work or study or we will basically decide for you.

So, at first I was in a big huff. I was all for selling all my stuff I'd only just finished collecting for my flat and moving back to Mum's... but since I can't stand not having my own space I was actually seriously considering pitching a tent out the back!! "I'm totally gonna get on the news" thinks I. Drama Queen I know.

Basically my reasoning was if I can just cut my expenses right down they won't be breathing down my neck. And I didn't want to give up my business. 

But you know how I am with that... I've quit my business like 5 times now. 

Long story short....

I decided to skim the job section in the paper and I came across an article on a volunterr sewing organisation which I thought was cool.

Then it hit me. I love sewing. I should learn to sew on an industrial sewing machine and get a sewing job.

It would be perfect and it's the only type of job I actually like the idea of doing. 

So I looked up some courses and there's one down the road from me! I have savings to pay for it without a student loan (It will be the last of my savings but it may be worth it) WINZ will be off my back for 6 months which gives me more time in my flat... and I like the idea of becoming a good sewer!

So that's the agenda! Might not happen till next year, but that's the plan!

child's Singlet (Vest) Free Pattern

This is a singlet I made for my eight year old daughter. I think this pattern would do for anyone between age 7 - 10.

I made7 of these this winter and I actually made her wear 3 of them at time! Overkill? Well, this is the first winter she didn't get a bad cough so I think it did the trick. I managed to make these out of merino blend which made them extra snuggly.

The free pattern can be found here.

The pattern DOES NOT include the ribbing. For the ribbing (edging around the neck and sleeves) just cut some lengths of fabric 3 cm wide for this.

Making this singlet is pretty straight forward, but I will put a few instructions up just incase.

Cut out the back and front pieces from the pattern.

Sew along where I have marked with the pink dotted lines.

If you havn't overlocked the edges of your fabric you can do a French Seam.

Since it's knit fabric don't worry about ironing it.

 Basically what you do is sew the edges together, turn it inside out and sew down the side again, catching the raw edges inside the seam. 

It's quite bulky this way, so you might just want to overlock / zig zag or just leave the edges raw.

The neck and sleeve edging is NOT in the pattern. Just cut a length of fabric 3 cm wide for this and cut off what you need as you go.

There are better ways to put ribbing on than the way I did it.

(I have given a link below for a good tutorial)

The way I did it was to place the right side of the fabric to the inside of the singlet then sew it to the neck opening,

Then I flipped it over and tucked in the bottom and sewed it down around the neck edge.

Sorry, not too detailed , but there are already great tutorials on ribbing.

There's a great one here, with a cool free baby onsie pattern from Shwin&Shwin

And Janet contemplates life again

Started working on some more bags. I'm trying out a smaller sized this time, think I've done enough of the big ones. Think the school holidays kinda got me out of the routine of making them so I'm slowly getting into it again. (Had a few signs jobs in the mean time to keep me busy though).

I also have an appointment with WINZ (work and income) next week and somehow I have to convince them i AM working... even though I don't seem to make much money. Prayers appreciated.

Or should I just go out and get some dead end job I don't enjoy? Am I just kidding myself with this work from home thing? I've never really been that successful with it. And am I trying to live a dream that's not really for me? What IS my purpose? Apparently everyone has one. So what's mine? What am I here for? (oh the imponderables!) And is money the assurance that I'm doing the right thing? (The old question,... does money = success?)

And what is the meaning of life?? , haha, jokes. (But really, what is it?)

Were into our second day of school term again , but we had a really good holiday in the last 2 weeks. First we visited Teresa at her new home in Whangarei...

...then stopped off at Dargaville to visit the Lappins, old family friends.

In fact it was so good I've hardly been on Facebook at all since I got back. Just can't be bothered with it. I mean after being around this, who would want to??

And check out the beach on their doorstep. 

It goes that far in either direction.

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But one thing about being back. I'm trying to perfect applique for when I make Catherine dancing costumes... so I practiced on a Super Hero cape for our church Light party.

And after basting it on (thanks for the tip Peg) it worked out really well! Actually I'm really pleased with it, and it only took two evenings, which is ok... worth the final outcome.

Bohemia!

Like my new skinnies? They were $5 jeans I got from the Op shop which were bootlegs I sewed down the side. Instant skinny jeans. And you see my pointed foot? I always do that to show I did Irish dancing for 10 years, like, yeah-boi, I still got it... but really, I got cramp just taking that photo.

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And spring is here in NZ, and our garden is bushy and beautiful. Some would say "overgrown"... I'm choosing to see the glass half full today and admire the daisies growing up in the middle of our vege patch.

And I just saw the weirdest thing before I came here. You can't really see it but there's a guy on the footpath jogging along... with a beer in his hand! I guess he's not jogging for health reasons then?

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And after crooning over the Moon to Moon blog I went to the Op shop and got myself some beautiful 70s pottery. It's my favourite type of decor and reminds me of smokey folk gatherings from my childhood. 

Maybe I should have put some kind of photoshop effect on these to make them more Moon to Moonish..

and what about this one?

Does it look like that photo I showed you? I went to Mums and picked up an old sheet I bought from Trade Aid years ago and pinned to my wall above my headrest.

Well, maybe if I had made my bed first!

Zipper pouches

As you can see I've been a busy little bee and made some pouches. (They are in the shop now)

I've made some larger ones too, but shucks! it takes almost as long to upload them as it did to make them!! Ok, maybe not, but Ill be uploading the rest soon I hope.

For a little sales pitch, these are great! I have a couple of these I use for things like earrings when I go away, and a little one for hair pins and hair ties... like so...

More Bags!

More Tie-dyed, screenprinted bags in my ETSY shop. These are selling at $20 US. Have yet to decide on one price for all...also want to make 20 of these in total then make some smaller bags. A friend from church wants to do a little craft market at our church next year. Would be fun!!