Product testing 101

Yo mums (and dads). You know feeding babies can be messy. And you know the worst possible mess EVER is created by that most deceptive fruit, the seemingly innocent banana.

Not until after that first time you feed your bub solids, after that little smear of creamy pastel yellow sinks in to your little one's freshly laundered white bib and turns like an evil death cloud into horrid manky brown ugliness that cannot be removed for love nor money, do you realise the curse of the banana.

WHY I ask you are all bibs white? Or light pink? Or yellow? Or other stupid colours that show a stain for every little spat-out morsel of your lovingly prepared gruel?

Go into any Kmart or Target store and your choice is  pretty much white or white. So, I am offering an alternative to this nonsense... BLACK bibs. The most sensible colour. Apart from looking quite chic, the black bib shown above has been road tested by Holly using half a banana. She smooshed it in an ever so ladylike fashion all down her front and into her hair. This pic was taken after it came out of the wash... SUCCESS!

Watch this space. I'll be making a stack with pretty bias edges soon!

Thanks stranger...

The lovely Miranda from Howdy Stranger has kindly included my 'Switzerlove' shabby fabric brooch in her sweet madeit finds post... thank you!

The Howdy Stranger studio is based in Newcastle and I see Miranda has listed some handmade markets in her local area on her website... perhaps a good excuse to go and stay with my dad & stepmum for the weekend one time in the near future?

Dad experienced his sea change a few years back and left Sydney for a ramshackle old miners hut on The Hill, with vines growing through the walls and mould in the rafters. Sounds crappy, but he's a builder, and a visionary one at that. Dad bought the worst house in the best street, and with a view of Nobby's beach and millionaire neighbours, he pretty much single handedly transformed a dump into an amazing three level pad, mixing the heritage listed ground floor elements like sandstone walls and original floorboards with ultra modern slick entertaining areas. Salvaging the majority of convict bricks from the original home, he paved the back courtyard to form a lush little outdoor area, and replaced the entire back wall of the house with glass louvres on all three levels, which is heaven when the afternoon sea breezes come through.

It's a pretty awesome place and dad, being the thoughtful bloke that he is, created the whole bottom floor to be self-contained for guests, and we are yet to take him up on his regular offers of 'come up and stay'.

Craft markets you say? That's all the impetus I need to get off my backside and organise a weekend to crash at their place! Plus I really need to spend an entire day pounding the pavement on Darby Street, finishing with a coffee at Goldbergs.

Fabric of the month: Bunny Bender

Just because I have a thing for bunnies in incongruous situations... I'm loving this fabric by milktooth available via Spoonflower. She's also got an etsy shop.

Because even bunnies get hammered sometimes.

Hide and Seek and ye shall find

Ususally I would have to moan and bargain and cajole and blackmail and pout to get my husband to agree to go to 'a craft thing' with me, however this weekend I have an excuse: it's my birthday, dammit, and we are going to the inaugural Hide & Seek market.

Organised by the lovely Aloma, this market promises to fill a gap in Sydney's handmade market scene, catering to the West and surrounding areas which have previously been bereft of pretty handmade baby stuff.

I am looking forward to it both as a customer and a potential future stallholder... hopefully pork chop will be on the attendance list for a later date this year... watch this space!

Blog love

Check out Jem's lovely blog at Mummy Jembelina... she is a fellow madeit seller who makes the cutest knitted pants for bubs, and she has just featured my doily garland in a madeit finds post.

Thanks Jem! xo

More doily garlands on the to do list soon! I have just picked up some beautiful blue and cream striped bias tape, some in a light coffee colour, and some sunny yellow too, so more pretty garlands are on the way!

Enjoy your week peeps... I am enjoying the last few days of being 28, and the last few days of being a full time stay at home mum. As of next Tuesday I will be gainfully employed as a part time graphic designer. I think this is a good thing, but I really don't know. There's lots of conflicting emotions going on in my brain right now...

It doesn't rain, it pours...

In the last seven days, I have:

- Got a job (yeah a real job, with a payslip and colleagues and everything)
- Been offered a small feature in frankie magazine 
- Been to a Play School concert
- Made beautiful potato-stamped wrapping paper with my little pork chop
- Inherited a stack of fabulous retro sewing patterns from my Aunt
- Been given Jack Johnson tickets for my birthday (thanks Richie)
- Had a wonderful hubby give the kitchen windows a fresh coat of paint which looks awesome. Yes, that would be him in the photo, letting the two year old climb 12 feet up a ladder to 'help'.

On the flipside, I have had a little girl with bronchiolitis (some sort of horrid phlegmy precursor to pneumonia), had 29 hours sleep (in 7 days - I worked it out - that can't be healthy), had to resign from the job I was on maternity leave from *insert guilt here*, had to steel myself for sending my little boy back to daycare *insert MAJOR guilt here*, and made the decision to stop breastfeeding *insert remaining guilt here*.

However, I have still managed to get a bit of sewing done. I've made a fang bunny for a friend, and there's also a new guy in store... Barf is green and gold and full of cuddly sparkly goodness. There's a sweet little girly tag blankie in pastel paisley, and another one to come in white, pink and purple. I've made two bibs for Holly, from fabrics that will hopefully hide manky brown banana stains, and if they stand up to rigorous testing by my messy little girl then I'll be making some for the shop. In BLACK. The most practical colour for bibs.

Phew. That's a lot of stuff going on really isn't it? I need a hammock, a coffee and a good book, a sunshiny winter day, peace and quiet, and a crochet granny blanket to keep my tootsies warm....