Ribbit Free Knitting Pattern

Ribbit Free Knitting Pattern via Spud & Chloe

My daughter just loves Frogs. I came across this free knitting pattern for such a cute little frog .. now if only could knit!

How to appliqué Baby Bibs

It has been a busy sewing week and one of the activities that has occupied me, has been my appliqué bibs. I first started to do some appliqué when I was making some rainbow pack bags earlier in the year.

I cheat, because I buy the bibs pre-made. In the beginning I was making bibs, but I wasn't getting much enjoyment out of that ... so I had a bit of a play with interfacing, pellon and the zig zag stitch.

Instructions, how I do my appliqué:

1. I generally iron the material I am using and then iron light interfacing onto the back of the material.
   
2. Then I draw my image freehand onto the back of the interfacing with pencil, be it petals, a star or love heart and then cut out the shape with sharp scissors.
   
3. I then iron on some Pellon (double sided interfacing) around the edges and then press the shape onto the bag or bib where I want it to sit. You don't have to use the pellon across the whole back, just the edges. Using double sided means that I don't have to negotiate pins when I am zig zagging around the outside of the shape. However if you don't have any pellon, use pins and sew carefully. With pins I generally sew a straight stitch around the shape to secure it and then zig zag.
   
4. Then set your machine to zig zag or blanket stitch. Sometimes I go twice around to make sure that I have all the raw edges of the material secured. But after a few bibs and adjustments I know what the settings are and I only go around once!
   

Here are some sites to check out to do with Applique. It really is easier than it looks!

• Pellon
• Halloween Applique Quilt or Wall Hanging
• Cat Applique Patterns (purchased pattern)
• All about Applique Blog
• Craftzine has a great Applique tutorial
• A gorgeous blog on Applique and Quilting (my next step)
  

Home Spun Threads and ideas

The one thing that I seem to be good at is coming up with ideas to fill my days ... via Whipup.net I came across Home Spun Threads Patterns and Tutorials, not a good thing to look at just before school break! In particular:

1. I'd like to have a go at the Kimono shoes, just need to work out the right kind of fabric to use. The firefly booties look cute and I should have known about them before the earth hour party that we went to at Beky's.
   
2. The hanging Tote looks like a great idea for when you are collecting mail for someone .... you could just give them the tote to fill while you are gone complete with pockets for contact numbers etc. We are currently collecting mail for the next door neighbours and we have hung behind our door an old paper bag ... these look a lot better!
   
3. Need to have a go at making a wallet one of these days with all my funky fabrics! Now that I have a new delivery of D-Rings ... I could do something interesting.
   
4. Wrist rattle looks like an easy warm up sewing task. with the right backing it could instantly transform itself into a wrist pin cushion.
5. Patchwork placemat reminds me that I have to make a PVC lined placemat for Tori's place at the table .. and the floor ... and the wall.
   

Too many ideas not enough time!

But with so many ideas on the net, why do I feel an overwhelming need to have the physical book in my hand? The new Meet me at Mike's book has just been released and I am looking forward to eventually getting myself a copy. There is also a cute one out called Softies (and I think Softies part two!), and I lust after the Amy Butler books that I don't have.



There is just something about sitting there with a nice cup of tea or coffee and flipping through a well designed craft book with a notebook beside me sketching ideas. Surfing on the net is good as well, but I find that when I am online, I tend to be multitasking Reading a book for me tends to be a singular task only.

The Fez

A few years back, I developed a Fez pattern for my Year 7 class. The "house" that I was in at school had the Fez as it's symbol. So each year we would get the Year 7's to make their own Fez and then they could wear it at all the "house" functions. It is quite a simple pattern.

Last Saturday night there was an occasion for my husband and I to use the Fez pattern again. My husband braved the hording crowds at Spotlight South Melbourne to grab some red velveteen and some tassels and on Friday night we proceeded to make the legendary Fez. Normally I would use black tassels, but there was none left ...


Photo's of our fez making in front of one of our favorite cook books, Saha by Greg Malouf. The event that we were off to was a Middle Eastern evening at a friends place and the food was absolutely divine!

So I thought that I would upload my Fez pattern to the interweb for all to enjoy!

• Free Fez Pattern Part 1
• Free Fez Pattern Part 2

The pattern is quite simple and can be made more sophisticated using different materials and construction methods. The pattern needs to be on A3 size paper and you can adjust it by changing the size of the pattern. It's not perfect, but enjoy anyway! And please, if you use it, post a picture for me to see!

Crafty blogs worth further investigation ...

There a handful of crafty blogs that have sucked my time away over the last few days. Which is a pity, as I have a number of projects that needed to be done yesterday!

Making it Fun: This blog is tied to Michael Miller fabrics. High quality quilting cottons that are a delight to work with. There are a collection of free patterns and tutorials on this web site as well.

Stardust Shoes: Another wonderful crafty blog, with lots of ideas and pointers to free patterns.

The sky is pink: A maryland mother of six (yes six). Lots of entries on crafty things for kids and handmade kids clothes.

Quilting Arts Stitch Magazine has some free skirt patterns to download in PDF.

jcaroline: Another crafty mum and her sewing adventures. In particular, I want to make one of these for Tori when she learns how to properly play with cars. I just have to find the fabric first! I'd better shoot Lynn at Patchwork on Central Park an email to see if she can get it for me. If you haven't made an effort to get down to this patch working store, you need to know that it is worth the effort. Beautiful fabrics, beautiful range and Lynn is a wealth of knowledge.

As you can see I have been bitten by the quilting bug. I am working on a piece at the moment as a present and enjoying every moment of it!

Quilting Goodness

I have finished another two blocks for Tori's Quilt. Only 60 to go! I am trying to use fabrics that I already have and that I have used on other sewing projects. So it will be nice and colourful for her and a pile of early Konstant Kaos memories for me!


In my quilting travels I came acropss the PK Fabrics home page, they make the moda quilting packs. They have a section of their web site that has free patterns on it. Some nice quilts to select from and some nice ideas for future projects.