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Three things (thanks Hop Skip Jump for the idea) from the last few (bitterly cold) Adelaide weeks.

1. There is a little bit more warmth in the sun today, but I finished my new coat a few weeks ago. From this pattern, fabric from here, inspired by this polka-dot coat pic on this post by all buttoned up.

2. A winter radish.

3. This cool softie fabric from new-to-me Australian designer Saffron Craig. Very cute. But this will challenge my softie making skills to their limit. Just not good at softie making.

… my grocery bag. I have a thing about those green ones. Are we solving a problem or creating a new one? Anyway, they are unstylish in the extreme. So I like to make my own. But making grocery bags is a bit boring if you have to start from scratch. So whenever I find a vintage teatowel I fold it in half, sew on a couple of drill tape handles and bingo! They are big enough to fit stuff in but not too heavy when full, and easy to chuck in the wash when they get grubby. Is there any end to how useful vintage teatowels are?!

Sometimes sewing clothes just doesn’t work out. I have been admiring sweet round collars lately (like this one) and thought the op-shopped dotty fabric I found the other day would be perfect for a top. But it just wasn’t. Too sheer, my breast-feeding bust too ample, the collar too large and dorky in an I-can’t-pull-it-off-even-on-a-good-day kind of way. Just wrong. Maybe I can salvage it. Unpick the collar and make it narrower perhaps. Try it on again post baby-feeding.

I went to an op shop I haven’t ventured into before yesterday and found this stack of lovely muted fabric - a polka dot voile, some plain grey denim, some prairie-girl floral and a funky print. Perfect for making five-minute tops and tunics from my Japanese pattern books.

And I bought a craft book (1974) that has patterns you can enlarge on a photocopier (or trace off if you were working in 1974, I suppose, before photocopiers were around that much. Or were they?!). I like the little coat with a round collar. And the ric-rac art smock on the cover is sweet.

More overalls for Miss Milla. (Fabric again from Miss Matatabi.) The pattern I use is vintage. Belonged to my Mum. I’ve made it a lot of times, a lot. Both the overalls and the skirt-overalls. It works beautifully and fits from about six months to a one year old. I’ve cut the pattern down for younger babies too. And overalls are perfect for older babies - a bit of extra warmth around the middle, easy to move around in, and not too troublesome for nappy changing. Milla might need a denim pair as well …

I made these overalls for Miss Milla yesterday, from new brown corduroy and using a vintage pattern. Ben described them as Over-The-Top. And yep, I could see that as soon as he said it. I got the lovely textured and aged-looking Bambi fabric from Frances, here. I think these overalls represent where I could potentially go terribly wrong with my sewing for the girls. This is the kind of thing I’ll be punished for dressing them in when they are teenagers. Got to pull myself back from the edge of too cute to be cool …

And browsing Burda this morning, I want to make this dress, it looks like my kind of five-minute project.

And thanks for your supportive comments on my Radio National confession. Did everyone hear Life Matters last week on how you think your kids make you happy but they really don’t at all? So funny. I don’t think I really wanted this suspicion confirmed. 

Things I like today, this morning, right now:

1. When my daughter says mundane/funny things like, ‘Mum, sometimes I bite my tongue. Does that happen to you?’

2. When my baby sleeps for three hours in a row and I get to finish some bib presents for a plethora of new baby boys, a way overdue nightie for Asha (she’s been going around in wrist and ankle freezers for far too long), and a new tunic for me in this funky op-shopped fabric.

3. Radio National. Not so embarrassing now that I am in my thirties, but something I kept quiet in my twenties. I’m completely addicted to news and people talking about interesting stuff.

4. Firelighters. Using twigs and newspaper is more satisfying and all but when you live in an old cottage and it’s the middle of winter and the fire’s gone out in the morning, who can turn down a blazing fire within seconds?

5. The Hollowmen. I managed to stay up to watch it last night and thank goodness it was good and funny. Such high expectations. Love political satire/drama. It’s almost been long enough since I last watched every episode of The West Wing to start watching it all over again from the beginning.

6. When the baby learns to clap her hands. Real sweet.

Thanks to Chloe aka The completely cool and not geeky at all (except in a good way) Vintage Detective for the tag. To be honest it would have been far easier to name Six Things I Don’t Like this morning so it’s nice to notice there is some nice stuff going on too.

I”m too shy to tag six other people so I’m just going with my friend Kristy at All the Tiny Things.

I’m sure that’s not an original post title. My Lotta winnings came yesterday from the wonderful Leslie. I never win anything, so I am super super happy with this. Gonna make some genuine Lotta patterns from genuine Lotta fabric I think. And also break out my Gocco, as I promised!

There isn’t anything much better than handmade from friends. These rainbow hats were made by my friend and yoga teacher Samantha. She ‘free crochets’ and these are the perfect-fitting results. They kept heads very warm on our wintery walk to the letterbox this afternoon. And are half of a trade. My half is an A-line corduroy skirt that is in the works. Gonna be hard to match these though.

Miss Milla’s pretty pleased with hers. How cute is that lacy pink edging?!

But might not be. This is a skirt made from a tablecloth I found in the Yankalilla op shop on the weekend. It’s long and wintery and I’m liking the subdued colours at the moment. I had my stitches out yesterday which was yuk and owie but I”m on the mend. Now I have a finger splint that Asha is hoping I won’t still have when she goes to school. Me too. How embarrassing.

Also embarrassing is when you buy some of these nice leafy Target pillowcases and then put them on the roof of the car while you kack-handedly strap 2 x children in. And then drive away. When child says from the back seat, ‘What’s that beeping, Mum?’ I say confidently, ‘It’s not a car beeping at us.’

You win some, you lose some.