Old meets New

My mum upgraded her digital camera recently, and passed on her old one to me. On it I found some photos of her trip to the UK last year, including this cool one.

Triangles

A WIP for one of my sisters, based on a Denyse Schmidt pattern, using chocolate handkerchief linen and a MoMo Wonderland print.

Four

A bit wobbly looking, and very lumpy and bumpy, but recognisable as Lightning McQueen (I think so, anyway!).
All a bit last minute, really. Ollie decided this afternoon that he had to have a McQueen cake for his birthday. As soon as he hit the sack, I got crackin' in the kitchen.

Currently it's safely hidden away, ready for the big day tomorrow!

King Ollie

It's all the rage wearing your crown low over your eyes.

Silky blue pantaloons are a must have item, too.
The outfit was well received by his princess girlfriend. They even had a big kiss and cuddle at the end of the party. Sooo cute!!

FYI the crown is a slightly modified version of one found here.

The Royal treatment

Ollie's off to a dress-up party on Sunday, and has asked to be dressed as a King. His robes are coming along nicely - just need to elasticise the neckline, and maybe make it a little shorter. Pantaloons are next on the sewing list (I'm modifying a pair of men's silky boxer shorts), then I'll make a him a felt crown to wear. I've bought him some white stockings to wear under the pantaloons.

I can't wait to see it all complete! And I hope he doesn't have a problem wearing the stockings...

Adjustable Side Release Buckle Tutorial

My son's birthday is fast approaching and I wanted to make him a camera bag with adjustable strap and side release buckle (for safety reasons). I had all the hardware I needed in my stash, so I assumed it would be a quick and easy sew.

In fact, it took me most of the day to make it - many hours of which were spent sitting on the couch trying to work out how all of the pieces needed to be threaded with the strap. I searched my house high and low, but could not find anything with a similar strap on it to copy! I googled it, hoping for an online tutorial, but found nothing suitable.

In the end I worked out something that I'm happy with - so here's my tutorial!

For the purpose of this tutorial, I have used a 20mm side release buckle and strap adjustor (bought from a fabric chain store). I have also made my own strap using a fabric that coordinates with the bag this strap will be attached to. Alternatively, you could purchase webbing or tape to fit the size of your buckle. I made a linen/cotton blend strap that measured 18mm wide by about 1.5 metres long.

Please note, I only used one of the strap adjustors pictured above.
Thread strap through the smaller of the two openings on the buckle.
Folding the end over to neaten, sew a fabric loop to secure the buckle. Cut the strap to the desired length.
Attach the end to your bag. I have inserted the end of the strap between the outer and lining fabrics, then sewn them all together.
This next part was the confusing part for me. I may have done this incorrectly, but it worked for me (any suggestions here are welcome!).

Looking at the photo above, I started threading from the left hand side.

Holding the strap adjustor by the tab, insert a length of strap through the opening furthest away from the tab, then back through the opening closest to the tab. Feed a bit of the strap through.

Thread the strap through the buckle insert piece next.

The same end now needs to be threaded back through strap adjustor to secure to the bar furthest from the tab. Please refer to the photo above.
Folding the end slightly to neaten the edge, sew the end close to the strap adjustor to secure it.
It should now look like the strap pictured above. Cut to desired length, then attach to the other end of your bag. Finito!

I hope you find this useful. If you find any glaring errors, please leave a comment and I will amend the tutorial as needed.

Please feel free to link to this tutorial on your blog, and send me a quick line to let me know.

I've become such an inconsistent blogger, haven't I? If it weren't for the quilting bees I joined, who knows when I might have found the time to blog again....

I have been kept pretty busy with a 6 week stint of work that finished on Tuesday, as well as school holidays, and lots of drama when my car broke down 110km's from home! It's a long story, involving a very dodgy tow-man/mechanic and a week with no car. I finally got to pick the car up on Friday, sweet relief!

Anyway, onto the sewing! The following block is a big one, measuring 18.5 inches square. It's made for Belinda from the Beehive. She's making a quilt for her son, who likes aeroplanes (hence the one in the centre of the block, found in my stash). The pattern she's using is from Material Obsession, the Retro Starburst quilt. I look forward to seeing it when she gets all the blocks - I've had real difficulty visualising this one (having not seen the book myself).

The following two blocks are for Brioni of Bee Addicted 3. She sent a heap of yellow scraps, along with the unbleached cotton, and requested wonky stars floating on the unbleached background.
I've not made wonky stars before, so didn't get too adventurous with the design. I did try to mix up the centre squares a bit in an effort to use each of the fabrics she sent.
All posted today! Which leaves me set to sew birthday gifts for the mother's group kids, most of them turn 2 or 4 in Sept and Oct, and I'm a bit behind!