Okay okay so I know that none of you have particularly been awaiting this moment with bated breath but it’s a big day for me! The ever lovely Amanda from KitschyCoo kids asked me at the end of February to test a pattern that she’d designed. “Sure,” says I, “No problem.” Hmm. It’s only six weeks later and I’m finished…

This was the first KitschyCoo pattern that I’ve sewn. I also have a coat pattern which I’m hoping to sew up before Christmas, but I’ll admit happily that my novice sewing skills really put me off even though when I flicked through Amanda’s instructions it all looked straightforward. I shouldn’t have worried. In the end, the actual construction of the entire garment was done in less than an hour and believe me when I tell you I’m irritatingly meticulous and therefore slow. The one thing that held me up was that no matter how hard I tried I could not master the buttonhole function on my sewing machine. TURNS OUT that’s because I’m missing a vital part from my sewing machine accessories – namely a buttonhole foot. Doh!

Anyway. This jacket (which is fully reversible by the way) has been semi finished for over a week and yesterday Kat came to visit and whilst Bob kept us supplied with tea and cake Kat did it for me showed me how the buttonhole function works. So! I’m proud to unveil my version of the KitschyCoo matinee coat.

Side one -

Side two -

Erica absolutely loves it. It took a bit of bribery with a new nightie to get her to take it off! I’m extremely happy with the way it’s turned out and I’ll be making another one very soon so that she has a spare when this one is in the washing.

We also owe a wee thank you to Sam from Incy Wincy Stitches. You might remember that in this post I’d mentioned the first hat and booties set was going to Sam and in exchange, Sam sent up the gorgeous blue bag that Erica is clutching in these pics. It’s a crocheted clutch and was filled with hair bobbles and slides for Erica which she was just thrilled with. All in all, a very happy wee girl yesterday – just look at that smile! (She was actually laughing at Nairn and Findlay who were hanging out the window shouting to her)

So what do you lovely lot think? A passable first attempt at following a pattern?

In other news I’m looking for a little bit of input from you lot. It’s Erica’s 2nd birthday in less than two weeks, then Findlay’s 8th birthday five weeks after that. I’d really like to make each of them a handmade gift but I’m looking for suggestions. What are your go-to handmade gift ideas for children? Or as a parent, what would you really be happy for your child to receive?

Posted under for the kids, recommendations, sewing

Yes loyal readers, it’s me back with another spur-of-the-moment decision that has my husband rolling his eyes and my children weeping into their porridge!

Yesterday, I decided that since my lovely husband had gone into the city with our son and the eldest was off to his Dad’s for the weekend I would take the opportunity to bake. I honestly believe that nobody in the world bakes like me – I use every clean utensil in the house – and destroy the kitchen in the process!

I used Nigella Lawson’s recipes from How to be a Domestic Goddess and decided that what the family needed were a nice batch of lemon raspberry muffins. Alas, despite having an oven thermometer to make sure they were at the correct temperature they fell somewhat flat. Next time I think I’ll break the raspberries up a little but it seems a shame since the large chunk of juicy raspberry was what made these muffins so yummy. Ah well, they don’t look that much but they were certainly demolished quickly enough! These are #4 on my “50 things in 2009″ challenge.

So after my bake fail which I solely blamed on my rubbish oven, I decided to have one last shot and make my Dad a birthday cake. My Dad really isn’t a sweet tooth so I went with a Victoria Sponge instead of my usual chocolate confection, and again relied on the ever wonderful Ms Lawson for the recipe. I have to say, in all my baking attempts I think this is the item I’m most proud of. It was light, fluffy, delicious and came out of the oven evenly baked. I am so very proud of this cake! Somehow it also managed to feed eight adults and two children with leftovers so it was deceptively large too. This was #5 in the list.



Of course, in the process of making Dad’s birthday cake I managed to make my food processor go on fire. Being the able housewife (haha) that I am, I am laying the blame solely in my kitchen and have therefore decided that I need to rip out my kitchen, knock down the wall, rebuild a wall in my living room to half it in size and enlarge my culinary space. Oh, and I’m investing in a range-style cooker too. This is in addition to growing a baby, parenting three unruly children and attempting to finish unpacking (we only moved in 2.5 years ago). I think I might be kidding myself a little

I’ll leave you with a photo of the person who really came out of yesterday the best – my hubby reminded me that I wasn’t allowed to lick the spoon when I finished with the sponge batter because I’m pregnant and raw eggs are a no-no so my daughter helped me out. She looks pretty happy doesn’t she?

Posted under baking, with the kids

I’ve done it again

I’ve signed up to FlyLady to try and get some order in my house.

For those of you who have never heard of FlyLady before today, it’s a relentlessly cheerful American site packed full of hints and tips to get your home organised and is supported by a mailing list. The mailing list sends up to 20 emails per day to inspire you to get up and at ‘em. With snappy catchphrases and merry mnemonics the help is definitely there if you can take it seriously. My inner feminist is screaming out at how gender-specific the concept is, but with many satisfied users the idea clearly has merit. So we’ll see if I make it to the weekend without unsubscribing from the mailing list!

Tonight’s little anecdote comes courtesy of my lovely hubby. We’re trying the baby in a bed tonight for the first time since we’re going to need her cot in a few months for her sister or brother. Hubby went to check and make sure she was in bed, stuck his head round the door and looked faintly surprised as he confirmed that yes indeed, she was in her bed with her duvet over her…

… until he picked the other child off the floor and almost herniated a disc. #2 has gone to sleep in the baby’s bed (in which I suspect he is tall enough to touch the headboard and footer at the same time!) and she was asleep in the middle of the floor curled in a ball with the duvet around her. I suspect it’s going to be a long night!

Posted under family, self-sufficiency

Well, I promised a post about guinness cake which hasn’t materialised, and then I promised a post about chocolate beetroot cake which also hasn’t materialised. I would like to assure my loyal readers that the reason for this is not that I am a fatty who has eaten all the pies (or cake, as it would be) but in fact, this (with apologies for the dreadful photography):



#2 had chickenpox two weeks ago and I honestly thought the baby was going to miss it. Alas not. The photograph was taken with my phone which explains the atrocious quality but it barely shows how bad she is suffering with it. She is miserable and feeling sorry for herself whilst I blame myself for sending her to nursery in the first place. The ironic thing is that up until this point I was against the varicella vaccine* because I thought chickenpox was just a harmless childhood disease but I think I’d prefer the 10 seconds pain from a vaccine than the days of unbearable itchiness that the baby is putting up with.

Needless to say I had great plans for over the weekend that haven’t been realised due to playing nursemaid so I’ll make an effort to update during the week.

*It’s worth noting at this juncture that I wholeheartedly believe in the UK vaccination schedule. Every one of my children has had their recommended vaccinations and will continue to do so because my belief is that as parents we have a responsibility not only to our children, but to continue the herd immunity for other children who may not be protected from the vaccines. That said, I happily respect the stance of those parents who choose not to vaccinate if they have educated themselves from both perspectives.

Posted under family

Wow. Three months since I last updated? That’s a terrible lack of dedication on my part, and for that I apologise. I have still been cooking and crafting but life has got in the way recently. Our daughter has been sick again, which has involved more stays at the hospital but she seems to be on the way up now and in fact celebrated her first birthday last Sunday.

Of course, no birthday is complete without the token gaudy birthday cake. I’ve seen these rainbow cupcakes on many of the blogs I read and even though I’m terrified of additives and colourings, I had to make some. Instead of making cupcakes though I made a whole cake. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a good picture of the original cake so I had to make a duplicate just to post here.

Happy Tuesday cake!

It’s a standard victoria sponge recipe which I split between five bowls, each of which was coloured with a different dye then spooned it randomly between two cake tins. Sandwich it with raspberry jam and a little cream cheese frosting before icing the outside of the cake with the remaining cream cheese frosting and decorate with smarties and buttons.

I can provide recipes if desired, just let me know.

It’s good to be back!

Posted under baking, family, for the kids

I hinted in this post before Christmas that our daughter was ill. I tried not to make a fuss about it too much at the time, but what actually happened was our doctor had a panic as she wasn’t gaining anywhere near enough weight. She then became quite ill and refused to eat and we ended up in hospital where the doctors there told us that they suspected she had cystic fibrosis.

She had a sweat test and because she is so small there wasn’t a good enough sample to do the test. Unfortunately as they also blew all her veins trying to take blood, we had to wait from the beginning of December until last week to have the test redone.

Her results have finally come back showing that in fact she doesn’t have cystic fibrosis. The relief is just of a level that words can’t articulate and it wasn’t until we got our news that we realised just how many friends, family and mere acquaintances have been hoping and praying for us. So from all of us, thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.

Posted under family

My baby daughter has lots and lots of cloth nappies, what she doesn’t have is wraps. I had bought a load of fleece last year with great intentions of making my own wraps but I’d never got round to it but yesterday, we ran out of wraps and I ran out of patience! This was the end result.

I unpicked a pair of cheapy leggings that fit her well, this was the most time consuming part!

I then tacked the pieces onto my fleece and cut them out. Note that the remaining fabric is balanced on my legs and the box next to the table to prevent the fleece from stretching before it was cut.

1. Once the parts are all cut out, tack the middle sections together and stitch those down to where the crotch will be.
2. Then stitch together two of the outer leg seams.
3. Fold and tack the waistband, then run the seam. Thread your elastic through the waistband and tie it off tight enough that your trousers will stay up. Either stitch the elastic ends together or tie a knot.
4. Tack and stitch the other outer leg seam
5. Tack the inner leg seams and starting at one foot, stitch up one leg and across the crotch. Use the backpedal and go back across the crotch before continuing down the other leg.

You’ll be left with something like this:

Which fit like this:

I’ll be the first to admit these aren’t the neatest FO I’ve ever done but I’m happy with how they’ve come out

Posted under for the kids, sewing