I has a craft room!

Well, to be fair, it's a multi-purpose room.  It's a sun room, computer room, the kids play room & tv room, and it also has a fold-out bed!  You would be forgiven for thinking that this had to be one ridiculously sized room, but it's not.  It's a bit cramped, but I don't mind.  I finally have my very own space, with my own desk.

This was the room a few days ago:

And this is the room now:

My desk!  It's nothing special but it is certainly a step up from the dining room table!

We thought this warning on one of the storage boxes was amusing.  I mean, that is what we bought it for, but when we got home we managed to find a more appropriate use for it.

To celebrate I made this dress for Katherine.

I've had the flu so my brain power isn't what it should be.  Not sure if it was just the pattern or if it was me, but I just could not follow it.  About half way in I chucked the instructions away and did it my way.  I think it still turned out alright though.

Sew with a plan

While browsing the web for inspiration, I came across a new concept (new to me anyway) which really appealed to me.  It's called "sew with a plan" (SWAP) and basically it involves planning a season's wardrobe up front, with a small number of co-ordinating pieces that can be worn with each other, so you don't end up with a wardrobe full of clothes that don't go with anything.  This is kind of what I had been doing anyway, I just didn't know there was already a name for it - although in all honesty, planning is all I have been able to do since we moved as I haven't had access to my machine.

So anyway, I already had some ideas planned for co-ordinating outfits for Katherine's winter wardrobe.  BUT I really struggled with the SWAP concept of only having a base of 10 or 11 items.  This may work for adults, but I just think kids need more clothes - in Winter especially, where if we are layering, she could be wearing half of those items at any one time!  So I've decided to break it up into separate Autumn and Winter wardrobes.  I've got about a dozen items, give or take, planned for the Autumn wardrobe, and a few ideas for Winter too.  I'll make the colours similar so that her Autumn stuff can carry over into Winter too (a couple of basic long-sleeved tops, and some long pants which will do for both seasons).

Yesterday I cut out the first couple of items.  A tunic to be made out of this cute purple check fabric, and a pinafore made out of this retro heart-print brown and pink fabric.

I was also excited to receive my first ever copies of Ottobre Design in the mail yesterday!  Can't wait to try out some of these outfits!

Yesterday was also Valentine's day.  We ordered in and had pizza, but I did make some scrummy choc fudge self saucing puddings, as a special treat.

My mini-bloggers!

It doesn't matter which way you slice it...

This is one scrumptious snack.

The sewing machine is still missing in action, so I've had to turn to baking to keep myself (and Katherine) amused. I did manage to do some tracing the other day but this wasn't as exciting for Katherine as it was for me.

So today we made some chocolate slice. You can get the recipe here. This is such an easy recipe. I remember mum used to make it all the time for us when we were kids and now it is one of Katherine's favourites too.

See?

Disclaimer: Although Katherine is clearly in her pajamas, please note I did not feed her chocolate slice for breakfast. I mean, seriously, what kind of mother would do that? These photos were taken after lunch :P

Well, this is the first post in my blog!  We're in the middle of a heat wave in Sydney at the moment - it is ridiculously hot - so the blog title seems apt.  At the moment there's really nothing to blog about, as we've only just recently moved into our new place and we're still in the 'unpacking' phase.  I don't even know where my sewing machine is (gasp)!  Of course, that didn't stop me from heading down to Spotlight yesterday to pick up some fabric for K's winter wardrobe.  So far I've only really done Summer stuff for her - dresses, easy peasy skirts etc.  I think I'm going to have fun with the Winter clothes - coats and jeggings, stretchy tops, tunics and pinnies.  One of these days I'm going to stop collecting fabric and actually do some sewing!