retromummy

little mummy

2009-11-09T08:01:00.006+11:00

Keira loves to call herself little mummy and is becoming very protective of little tillie. She has no trouble pulling or twirling Finn's hair to make him cry but loves her little tillie and wouldn't do that to her!

here they are wearing little outfits made by mummy over the weekend. Tillie has a little liberty dress that I finished with some vintage lace from that garage sale and keira is wearing a little skirt I made from new fabrics in the store!

sweet dress

2009-11-07T12:29:00.007+11:00

As soon as the new fabrics arrived I knew I needed to whip up a little dress for my litle miss.....

so easy and so cute...Keira accessorised it nicely with gumboots, 7 or more hairclips and a denim jacket for playgroup yesterday!

And this morning she is loving her new nails as retro daddy treated us to our nails done while he did the groceries.....nice!

I am also loving all of your embarrassing moments....you must read through them if you need a little laugh today!

my most embarrassing giveaway

2009-11-06T12:53:00.001+11:00

I think it's time for another giveaway but I want you to work for it. I've gone deep into my personal vault of embarrassing stories and am asking you to do the same. You need to fess up, tell me the MOST embarrassing thing that has happened to you and I'll let retro daddy pick a winner....who will choose 12 fat quarters from the fabrics in my store!

Ok so here is mine.....before children I was a city girl for 10 years, a credit analyst working in securitisation for big investment banks. Long days but I'd try to get to the gym in my lunchbreak a few days a week. I'd keep my shoes in my bag and put new clothes and towel in each day.

On this particular day, it was just after 12, super busy at the nice city gym I went to....I got dressed into my gym gear, grabbed my handtowel, started on the treadmill and flung my towel over the handrail. There were rows of treadmills and I was smack bang in the middle. The treadmill was moving and all of a sudden a flash of white went past my feet....what was that I thought. I turned around and there on the floor behind me were my undies!!!!!! Yes they had been the clean pair wrapped up in my towel! I swiftly turned off the machine, quickly picked them up and put them in my handtowel on the floor and got back to my workout before putting them back in my locker.

I was so mortified and also hysterically laughing afterwards that I couldn't tell my colleagues till the next day and even then I was crying with laughter. It truly is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to me.

Now its your turn........winner takes all so it's totally worth outing yourself!!!! Entries open until next Sunday 15th November and for the same period I've taken $2 a metre off all the new fabrics in my store...happy shopping!

fabric sneak peek

2009-11-05T21:13:00.007+11:00

what a drama....my huge fabric order was delivered to the wrong address today (thank you to the nice man who popped down to tell us....too big to fit in his car so retro daddy had to drive out to collect it!!!!!!!!!!). Luckily I wasn't trying to sneak it into the house!

Anyway, I'll be up with the birds and natural light tomorrow morning to photograph and get it all up in my store....all 22 bolts of it! And wait till you see my giveaway...all revealed tomorrow!

group hug

2009-11-05T13:54:00.010+11:00

I thought it was time for a photo of my little ones....they love it when we have a big group hug so I thought that would be cute! thinking and doing are two very different things (and no child was harmed during this photo)

I tried and tried ... I even tried blueberries to distract them but tillie just smooshed them into her jeans and they were too distracted for the camera.....

After 10 or so photos like these I just called it a day!!!!!!! They are so very cute but oh so very active!

a dress for mummy

2009-11-03T15:19:00.007+11:00

It is hot hot hot here! So I decided to whip up a quick summery dress once the babies were finally down for their nap! This is just the perfect dress to pop over swimmers or wear to the beach and took no time at all.

I used over a metre of pre-shirred fabric from spotlight (last years range I'm afraid). I was hoping for a strapless look until I picked up the babies and realised I'd be putting on a show for everyone without straps.....so added some quick ties and I was done! So comfy and am wearing it now....and as promised me in it!

all good now

2009-11-02T07:43:00.010+11:00

Phew, I've had to apologise to my lovely sewing machine. I said such mean things to it on saturday afternoon when it wasn't sewing for me. Turns out after I tried to fix it internally I put the bobbin case back in all wonky and that made things worse.

Thank goodness its working and we're friends again! And here is a sneak peek at my sewing room almost done. Its actually 2 adjoining rooms with its own little ensuite for toilet breaks. I am loving the brightness of the room but once the door is open I hear 2 little scrambling babies hurry in.....can you see that little head down there!

another dress for sunday

2009-11-01T10:34:00.010+11:00

uh oh I'm setting a dangerous precedent of making new dresses for keira to wear every Sunday! I used a vintage pattern (Style 2652)

vintage inspired quilting fabric and my mum's very vintage machine because mine totally packed it in yesterday and isn't working!

Keira loves her new dress and doesn't want to take it off, always a very good sign! And Finn wanted to get in on the action too!

Best of all, I used a zipper as called for by the pattern. Those vintage patterns love to put a zipper in the back of dresses and rather than make ties (which I would normally do) I put the zipper in!

thank you everyone for your lovely comments on the dress! There is no prize for best dressed little girl at mass but I'd like to think if there was one she'd win. I'd also like to think if there was a prize for getting there early with 3 children under the age of 4 I'd win that too!

trick or treat

2009-10-31T21:17:00.006+11:00

Well halloween has been and gone for another year. We make a big fuss here about giving away the lollies and I'm happy with halloween as long as we can keep this little arrangement. Keira picked her own outfit, a toss up between cinderella or a christmas fairy.

We had lots of lollies to hand out and a steady stream of visitors to our door.

However, after a few too many of the 'scaries' coming to our door, Keira lost interest and insisted that only the nice fairies come to visit us and no more scaries. I'm just glad she's happy to hand out the lollies!

one for the boys

2009-10-31T06:30:00.002+11:00

Ok the good news is 22 bolts of cosmo cuteness should be at my house by the end of next week! I can't wait to share them with you! The bad news is that I'm still waiting for Flower Sugar and Grandmothers Garden to arrive and have no date advised......patience Corrie, patience!

But then the good news is that this new fabric bolt arrived today, taupe with red, white and blue, so perfect for boys. I'm thinking some cute shorts and a bunting for my Finnie! In the store now!

hello kitty cuteness

2009-10-30T08:36:00.006+11:00

I moved craft rooms over the weekend (I'm not ready to show you yet as I'm still tripping over things) but in the process was discovering lots and lots of cute little craft things I've picked up in Japan, still wrapped in plastic and waiting to be used.

So I consulted Keira and we made little brooches with hello kitty buttons....an extra large yo-yo, a little button and a little brooch is all you need. Sadly the little pack is now all used up but someone has accessorised their outfit for playgroup just perfectly.

And someone is looking very tired because they stayed up late and wouldn't go to bed last night!

counting is fun!

2009-10-29T08:35:00.009+11:00

I made a quick batch of keira's cookies with 1/2 cup of smarties yesterday (most delicious)....and of course was asked by keira for a little plate of them.....but she didn't eat them, oh no she spent a looooong time organising them, counting them, re-organising them...

and after what seemed like hours had passed, she finally started to eat them! And after all that fuss I made over Keira being given worksheets at pre-school, I say who needs a worksheet to learn counting when you have smarties!!

dreaming of gingerbread houses

2009-10-28T06:37:00.009+11:00

Oh dear, I can't stop thinking about this super cute gingerbread house in the latest issue of Crochet Today. The issue hasn't made it out to Australia yet but don't you just love it!

so cute and deliciously sweet without a calorie in sight! I'm wondering if I have enough time (or the skill) to whip it up before Christmas as I haven't stopped thinking about it and its cuteness! I might need my mum, queen of crochet, to step in!!!
Picture source Crochet Today

in love with Love

2009-10-27T07:42:00.003+11:00

as soon as I saw the sneak previews of Love by Amy Butler, I knew what I wanted...and I wasted no time in acquiring 4 yards to keep me going for a while. I just love these designs and on a navy background, well I'm in heaven!

I've found it hard to get navy quilting fabric for myself but this is a winner....I'm thinking a simple sleeveless top with ties and a skirt for myself and a few little dresses for my little misses too.

honey, I shrunk the dress!

2009-10-26T14:58:00.010+11:00

This morning I found out some lovely friends gave birth to another daughter! Nick and I met fresh out of uni on the same grad program many many years ago and his gorgeous partner loves my sewing.....

So, I shrunk my dress pattern to teeny tiny proportions and whipped this up while my babies napped......I used the new atelier akiko gauze and the binding was made with another fabric in the range that unfortunately never made it to my store (sorry, it was just so lovely).

I think the colours are perfect for a new baby and I'm thinking some cute matching bloomers and I'm done! Minus the bright yellow coathanger which was the smallest I had to hand!

bloomers and bargains

2009-10-25T18:09:00.012+11:00

I haven't made bloomers since keira was a baby but now that tillie is moving everywhere I thought it was time to whip up a few....I used a vintage pattern and it is soooo much easier if you hem or decorate the legs before you sew them up (why didn't the pattern say that!). I was on such a roll whipping them up.....and then I ran out of elastic.....

and I've added more bargains to the clearance section of my store....we're nearing the end of october and my new fabrics should be here very very soon so I'm quickly clearing the last of the old stock out.....expect free fabric in your orders too!

A little retro dress

2009-10-25T07:15:00.004+11:00

One of the many lovely finds yesterday was a japanese craft book from 1984....in english! Oh what a difference to have english directions. So I grabbed some new fabric and whipped up this little twirly dress for church today

The pink is oh so pretty and girly and of course very popular with keira...she even stayed up late just to try it on. The only problem with all that gathering of fabric is the loose threads someone needs to vacuum up off the floor

a gorgeous garage sale

2009-10-24T08:59:00.015+11:00

Wow, I am just home from the most gorgeous garage sale I've ever attended. Where to start......there was the smocking pleat maker in its original box that I almost walked past....

the box of ric rac

the overflowing boxes I bought of vintage lace, crochet trims and broderie anglaise including this dear little deer trim......

the overflowing bag of patterns...this is one of my favourites, I'm thinking a sweet Christmas Day outfit for Keira...

the crochet pattern books

and a modest pile of pink and patchwork fabrics including this gorgeous floral.....

I parted with $70 and secretly think the lady was glad to see the back of me as I was like a woman possessed! There was a rival mummy there but she just wasn't fast enough for me and my honed eye but she did get some real gems of patterns before me! We were trying to be civilised over the pattern box.....ok time to breathe normally again.....

cute new fabric

2009-10-23T13:32:00.005+11:00

3 little lonely bolts of fabric arrived today.....up in the store now

and yes I have a special night out tonight...I just found out my gorgeous husband organised my sister for babysitting and dinner reservations at a fancy nearby restaurant......what a surprise, what a husband!!!!!

five years

2009-10-23T00:00:00.004+11:00

wow has it really been 5 years since we got married! We look so young when I look at the pictures....

where has that time gone.......and didn't I marry a handsome man?

We had such a beautiful wedding day....

the most beautiful clear sky after a week of rain, a little catholic chapel in the Rocks with family and friends,

and a beautiful reception overlooking the water...it was just a perfect day and we never stopped smiling.

I do know we'll have many more anniversaries ahead of us.............

new stock

2009-10-22T09:34:00.006+11:00

no....its not fabric I'm afraid...we're still waiting, patiently! But I've added 15 new books and patterns to the store today .....

will let you know as soon as the new fabrics arrive on my doorstep!

tillie's koko kimono

2009-10-21T07:02:00.005+11:00

ta da...all done! This was a very easy knit but I've become such a convert to seamless knitting that it took a bit of time putting it all together and doing the i-cord ties....but its cute and sweet.

Koko Kimono pattern from this book, Harmony yarn in wisteria from here, model from my house (ha ha).....

This is the largest size and I would definitely make this again in the smallest size for a new little bub too! It just needs a little wash and press but I'm off to enjoy the day and take a break from knitting......

And thank you for all the cookie love yesterday....better try a few more recipes from the book as there are no more cookies left!

raspberry rings

2009-10-20T09:19:00.011+11:00

so its tuesday and I went to the cookie jar to find it empty.........which can only mean one thing....retro daddy found them last night! So I got out my CWA cookbook and found an easy new cookie recipe to try....raspberry rings! The best thing about this cookbook is that it uses ingredients you are guaranteed to have at your house which is important when you can't just pop out for something!

Raspberry Rings
1 1/2 cups sifted plain flour
1tsp baking powder (recipe says 1/2 tsp bicarb 1tsp cream of tartar)
1/2 cup sugar
2Tbsp butter
1 egg beaten
milk
raspberry jam

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar and rub in butter. Combine egg and enough milk to make a stiff dough. Roll into flat sheet and spread with raspberry jam. Roll tightly and cut into 1cm pieces. Place on lined baking tray and bake in 180 degree oven until nicely brown. Delicious!

easy advent calender

2009-10-19T09:05:00.004+11:00

Don't you just love the advent calender in this months BH&G....I think I can do this before December 1....

a perfect dinner

2009-10-18T05:23:00.004+11:00

mmmm............homemade quiche with a green salad and crusty sourdough.

I followed the recipe for quiche lorraine from this book and it was such a success...I haven't made pastry for years but it was soooo good and we were all impressed! Just ignore the 225g of butter and all the cream that went into it and you're fine!!