Baby stuff

One of my buddies from undergrad had her first child back in late November. I had originally planned to make a blanket, and thought I had three weeks to spare... but then the little boy decided to come early. And my overlocker decided it didn't want to play nice. So no overlocker, no time... but thankfully my sister-in-law-to-be stepped in with this adorable bunting pattern:

I chose to make B which turned out to be exceptionally quick and easy and I made it in a couple of hours, and it was a hit with the new parents. I was tempted to make C, just so I could laugh at my friend's baby looking like a turd (it's supposed to be a carrot, but it looks more like a turd to me). I do think D is kind of cool, I might have a go at that in the future.

I also made these two little shoes for him as well. Quick and easy and cute and adorable. And well received.



... and isn't he a cutie?

Gaming Pants go international

One of Gib's best high school buddies left for Canada last year with his awesome Canadian girlfriend (and they are now engaged too... look what we started!), but while they were still here we used to regularly catch up to play Star Craft and other games. So before they left, as their bon voyage present from us, we awarded them both their gaming pants, for their tremendous gaming efforts.

Gib's friend in Canada, boldly and confidently displaying his gaming pants

We also awarded Gib's cousin, a long-term dedicated gamer around these parts, with a pair of blue pirate print gamer pants, complete with skull and cross bone patch on the pockets. Gib's cousin, however has been a little less bold in his pant wearing, ever since driving home one night at 3am after a good Diablo session with Gib. A policeman pulled him over, breath tested him and asked him to explain what all of the computer equipment was in the back of his car. He explained that he'd been playing computer games at his cousin's house.
"Do you always go to your cousin's house wearing your pyjamas?"
"Umm... well, they're not actually pyjamas. My cousin's girlfriend made them for me. They're gaming pants."
At which point the officer looked him up and down, burst out laughing at him, and sent Gib's mortified cousin on his way.

The Engagement Party

Our engagement party: a beautiful day, shared with beautiful people, eating delicious food and vegging out. I can't think of a better way to celebrate!

It has been almost a month since Gib and I celebrated our engagement with family and friends. It was the perfect day: Fine, sunny, 26 degrees. We were out in one of our favourite parks, and everyone was either vegging out in the shade or playing cricket or frisbee or whatever took their fancy. So often at birthdays/engagements/weddings the kids get bored (I do too!) so I delighted that the weather was nice and everyone could do whatever they felt like.

However, leading up to the party, I decided I wanted to wear a pretty dress. At the end of a long day of no-luck-shopping for a dress and feeling kind of desperate, I popped into Lincraft and actually found - quite to my surprise - a fabric that I liked (for a number of years now I have hated Lincraft's range of fabrics, but they are my closest fabric shop, so I was truly impressed!). And then there was a sale on patterns. And then I found a pattern that I liked and it had my favourite word: EASY. It was New Look pattern #6557, and I made D, the yellow one. It was indeed easy to follow, and I even learned how easy it was to insert an invisible zip. I love how it tells you how to adjust the pattern to fit your measurements. I would happily make this dress again. Including the pattern, it came to a total of $50 exactly to make.

Here is an action shot of me in the Engagement Dress, while playing tug of war (Beth vs. Gib). Except the rope broke. I think there will have to be a rematch at the wedding...

My absolutely wonderful cousin, Louise, did an AMAZING job at catering all of the sweets, which you can see wrapped in clingwrap next to the cake, below. Every year she makes the most spectacular Christmas treat hampers, so I asked her if she could do the catering for our party. She went over and above the call of duty on this one, and made biscotti, mini cheese cakes, shortbreads, lady's fingers, mars bar slice, meringues, lemon tarts (ohmygoshamazing), lemon slice...!!

I made our engagement cake. I am so sick to death of chocolate cake, everyone has chocolate cake (apologies to any chocolate cake lovers out there), so I decided to make a carrot cake. You can see Gib in the background threatening to cut the cake with his bare hands.

Recipe for Carrot Cake

And before I forget, here is the recipe I use for Carrot Cake. Taken from my absolute favourite cake book: Family Circle's 'Making Beautiful Cakes' (p. 12). This recipe is brilliant, so smooth, and it smells and tastes fantastic.

150 g self raising flour
150 g plain flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
200 ml vegetable oil
230 g brown sugar
4 eggs
125 ml golden syrup
500 g grated carrot
60 g chopped walnuts

- Preheat oven to 160C fan forced.
- Line the base and sides of a 10" tin with baking paper, including 2" collar around the top (although I used a star shaped baking tin!)
- Sift together the flours, spices, and bicarbonate of soda in a large bowl. Form a well in the centre.
- Whisk together the oil, sugar, eggs and syrup. Gradually pour into the well, stirring into the dry ingredients until smooth.
- Stir in the carrot and nuts. Spoon into the tins until 2/3 to 3/4 full, giving preference to the cake to be used on the day.
- Bake for 1 1/4 hours. Allow to cool completely before turning out onto a wire rack.
- Wrap in a layer of cling wrap, baking paper and foil and place in the freezer.

A photo of my dad, ever the practical joker, making his speech

And finally, a picture of me, my handsome Gib and Gib's Grandma

Unfortunately, my grandmother (dad's mum) was unable to make it to the party. As we were packing up the party, my aunt came and told me that Nan had just been transferred to the Austin. She passed away the next day, but we were fortunate enough to spend the evening with her, and the next morning as well. Dad stayed with her overnight. She was 89 and her body had finally worn out; thankfully she wasn't sick for long.

T-shirt making adventures

I have decided to delve into the world of making my own tshirts. It all started when one of my most worn singlets finally started to wear through and I was concerned that one day the stitching would give way at work when I was least expecting. Also, being a not-so-financially-flush student, I can't always afford the new and trendy clothes that I want all the time. So I decided to make my own.

I cut apart my singlet top and used it as the pattern. It fits so well, so I thought I may as well use it. I found some great quality stretch knit fabric for cheaps at a vintage fabric sale at the Camberwell Market. I will also freezer paper stencil a design on the front. In all, my tshirt is going to cost about $2 in materials to make.

However, it's going to cost me more...

As I have previously mentioned, I am completely enamored with my overlocker. It doesn't do cover stitch, but I have my overlocker and sewing machine set up side by side so I can lock the edges with the overlocker, and sew them flat with straight stitch on my machine. It was all working fine.

I overlocked the edges for the neck and arm holes, then made the binding for them. Sewing the binding on the neckline and armholes was a b****. Attempting to make my own tshirt has made me realise the effort that goes into making the humble tee. They are an essential part of daily life and we want them cheap. It makes me wonder what the hidden costs are.

However, when it came to sewing the two sides together, the tension wasn't so great. The stitching was pulling apart. It looks as though there's something amiss with the left needle as the right left stitch isn't catching. Maybe the timing is out. Time to take it for a service...

So my $2 tshirt is now going to cost me >$70! Oh well, I guess that's all a part of home sewing...! This machine hasn't cost me much so far, so I don't mind. Although, without my overlocker on hand, sewing just seems less appealing. It's hard going back now I've had a taste of what it can do.

Too cute

I found this adorable bias binding in Kim Anh fabrics. The cuteness of stuff like this makes my heart skip a beat and go weak at the knees. The little duckies are definitely my favourite.

Tension headache

I've become a bit ambitious in my sewing endeavours. I'm attempting to sew knit fabric with my overlocker. Things are getting a little heated around here. It was all going well with just locking the edges of a single piece of fabric, but now I'm trying to sew two bits together it's becoming a bit of a nightmare. I have been carefully and methodically playing with the tension according to the instruction manual but I can't get it right. It's time to walk away before I do anything rash...

I think maybe it's time to enrol in some lessons?

Phat overalls

Whooaaa.. it's been a while since I've been here. Finally I'm a confirmed PhD student, not a silly probationary one. I'm back to working more regular "9-5" sort of hours again. I have been keeping up with your blogs (although sorry for not commenting with regularity) so now I'm hopefully back to my regular blogging schedule. At least until the next time I have a massive deadline, which hopefully shouldn't be for at least a few more months.

Edit: Oopsies, I should clarify!! I've just finished the 1st year of my PhD, which is a probationary year. Now I get to call myself "PhD candidate" rather than "PhD student"... another 2.5 years to go (with luck!) before I get it all over and done with.

I've made my overalls and I think they're hilarious - no, ridiculous - but incredibly comfortable. Not the best sewing I've ever done (there is wonky cutting and wonky sewing) but I was aiming for function, not perfection, as they're going to be oil and paint stained and snagged and covered in dirt, so I wasn't going to put in my best effort. Have I mentioned that I love my overlocker? The one I was too scared to use for a year? I'm now super keen to learn about my overlocker's potential, because it's such a fantastic tool. And I love how fast it goes. Going back to my sewing machine seems kind of lame now.

The pattern itself was very simple. I made the legs slightly longer (8 cm) so they were full length for me. In my excitement to have overalls ASAP, I forgot to sew the pockets on first, a mistake which I wont make in future because it's a massive pain to sew on pockets once you've sewn the rest up. It worked out ok in the end because it meant I could applique on some big white stars onto the pockets. I realised once I'd finished the overalls that they were a lot like phat pants (not as wide as my friend's pants though) and I just couldn't help but play that up a bit. Anyway, they're fun, comfortable and cheap to make, so I can feel free to work on my car in my rad new overalls!

Me, my boy and my dad, working on my poor car


Overalls, full length view

Gamer pants!!!!1!!!!11!

We had some friends come around yesterday to play computer games with Gib. While I don't mind some games, yesterday they decided to play Diablo 2, which just leaves me cold. Gib decided to wear his gaming pants, and our friends were very jealous. I offered to make them some, because we know from experience that wearing gaming pants definitely increases gaming prowess, so we took a trip to Spotlight, they bought some polar fleece, and I merrily spent the afternoon sewing their gaming pants while they played away! By late afternoon I'd finished them, and after wearing them around a bit, they decided that their gamer pants had an area affect of +5 to everything (or, for the uninitiated: while wearing the pants, everything around them becomes awesome)

My friend said he wanted the fattest pants possible, so I used the entire width of the fabric for each pant leg. He was very satisfied with the result. Our other friend's fabric, with the little aliens, made my eyes go funny while I was cutting it out hehehe. Here's the lounge room gamer pants photo shoot:

Messenger bag trials

I've been playing around with a messenger bag design for some time and I think I've finally got to a pattern I'm happy with. I love the convenience of messenger bags, being able to carry large items comfortably but still have hands free. Making messenger bags is fairly easy and a little bit time consuming, but it's just been things like how to do the base of the bag, the best way to attach the strap so it can withstand a lot of wear and tear and how to attach the cover flap for both strength and so the seam is nicely and easily concealed. I tend to load my bags up with loads of books, papers and wallets full of annoying change, and I've destroyed many messenger bags from flimsy strap and flap attachments. In my messenger bag making endeavours, I also made my first ever trip to Lefflers, the leather and saddlery heaven, where I spent ages sorting through their slides and clips and threads and buckles and twill tape and leather scraps and rivets... ohhh I spent so long poking around there, and a bit of money, hrmm.

So here's the first messenger bag I made that I'm happy with and prepared to share with you all. It's big enough to carry A4 sized books/folders and has some cute pockets in the front. The base of the bag I constructed in the same way as for the jordy bag tutorial that I found a while ago. It's a convenient way of adding width to the bag, and it sits well. I have some more ideas for messenger bags, and have some cute girly fabric to make them with!

I'm pretty happy with the quality of this one, so I think I'll mail it off to assist with the Handmade Help cause!

On dagginess and overalls

A while ago I lamented how overalls are just extraordinarily uncool these days, unless you're under the age of 4 or pregnant. I'm a bit proud like that, concerned about first impressions and running into people I know down at the shops while looking frumpy. I would love to wear overalls in public anyway, but just don't have the charisma to carry it off. And I don't really want people thinking I'm expecting when I'm not.

Anyway, I have been working on my car recently and I usually just wear grotty old clothes that I don't mind destroying, but then Gib said to me "Geez dude, you totally need a pair of overalls". Why had I not thought of it before? Finally an appropriate place to wear daggy overalls! I did some searching at all of my local op shops and online, and it seems that overalls for people my size are quite hard to come by: the kids sizes don't quite extend to size 12-14, and adult overalls are mostly men's ones, and are far too big for me. So I decided to just buy a pattern and make them myself.

As an aside and while we're on the topic: why do all pattern magazines always have models with really dorky hair-dos? And poor colour coordination? I always wonder when I buy a pattern: am I really going to look as un-cool as this person in the photo? Will my clothes be poorly fitted like on that model? Pattern magazines have a way of making really hot people look ugly. It all adds to my nervousness about making my own clothes.

There were only two overall patterns I could find, both in Burda's "Young fashion" magazine. This pattern was "easy" and had wide legs (I love wide leg pants). Although, I think these might be a little too wide-leg to the point of being impractical for my purposes, so I might need to make them narrower, and and I'll need to check the length, but often 3/4 pants are just right for me. We'll see. So soon I'll have my own pair of overalls to wear in the comfort of the garage, where it wont matter if the pattern does turn out to be a bit crap and where it doesn't matter if I look like a big dork! Here's the pattern:

Burda 7822: These two sporty and super-comfortable outfits really fit the bill for leisure and holidays/vacation! [...and even working on cars]

Cute jordy bag tutorial

The other day I mentioned that I was absolutely flat out sewing. I finished making Gib's costume and the pants were a success, however since I finished them last Saturday, Gib, the pants, a camera and myself are yet to be in the same room together for more than 5 minutes.

So instead I will share with you a little present I made for a friend in Japan this afternoon. I know I'm a little late for the post but I am hoping that it's quicker to post things to Japan than it is to the USA or Europe at this time of year! It took me about two hours from start to finish. That is, from choosing fabrics, taking calls from Gib who was bored at work, cutting it out, and sewing it up. I've been thinking looking at a few bag tutorials lately, but finally settled on this one for a square-bottomed lined bag. I really liked the shape of the bag and how it sat. The instructions were very easy to follow and I was very pleased with the result.

The overall size of the bag I made bigger by about 5 cm all over. I added a pocket to the inside of one side. I also made two straps instead of one (ok, that was an accident. I forgot to allow for the fact that I had increased the bag size and just cut the strap as the instructions said).


Ready for shipping to Japan, along with a bunch of Australian tidbits that my friend goes crazy for!

Deconstructing Dark Cloud's pants

For years Gib has yearned to have pants like Dark Cloud's from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. In about a week he needs a costume for an event we are attending, so he's going as some sort of warrior, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to give them a go. I'm not aiming for his pants exactly, but a similar style.


The problem:

I've been trying to take still shots from the DVD and work out how on earth they made those pants look so damn cool. I thought it would be straight forward, but there are surprisingly very few shots of the pants at angles that make it easy for working out how they are made. It's been hard to work out whether there is more than one layer, or if its just folds because the legs are really wide, or if there's a split somewhere. I have thought that maybe they were constructed like hakama...

... or wrap pants ...

... or Thai fisherman pants ...

...and after watching and replaying various sections and replaying over and over again, it's still too hard to know. The best view of the pants in full was in a scene where Dark Cloud was cartwheeling down sand dunes in a fight scene, and the pants billow out in full. I'm pretty sure from that the pants are just one piece, and the things I thought were splits are just folds (but the fabric is quite fine, so it looked like it could be a separate piece).

The conclusion:

I have come to a workable conclusion (as in, I don't care if it's wrong, this is how I'm doing it) that the pants are massively wide fisherman pants made in 4 panels, and the extra layers in the legs are just extra pleats that tuck in at the front.

Solution:

I took Gib down to Ziguzagu in Richmond and we picked up some beautiful hemp fabric that I've dyed black (or tried to. They are dark brown and still ok. My constant disasters when it comes to dying fabric can be left for another post!). I'm going to work with two patterns and nut out a pair of pants from there. They might turn out nothing like Dark Cloud's, but it'll be damn fun trying to make it.

Gardening bag - finished!

Well it took me about half an hour to finish off the bag after my frustrations from the other night. I have to say, I was rather pleased with the outcome and may even make one for myself. I hope my cousin who I'm giving it to for Christmas likes it. It has lots of spacious pockets for spades, forks, gloves and fresh flower cuttings. But I reckon it'd make a great bag just for taking out and about too, like for a picnic.


Very straight-forward to sew. Approximate time to make: 3-4 hours.

A 15 minute powernap could save your sewing

I should know better than to sew late at night, and especially after a glass of wine. But yet, I still decided to roll with it, eager to get a Christmas present out of the way. I am making a gardening bag for my cousin, from Lotta's Simple Sewing book. At one point, right before I was going to stitch the handles in, I was feeling a bit smug, thinking "Oh wow, I can't believe I have almost finished this bag without having made a mistake yet!". And then I tried to work out why the lining was fitting awkwardly. And then I realised that I had sewed the base in sideways. I have no idea how that happened. Not a biggie, but still frustrating. That's the point where I threw it down on the table and walked away. I probably would have continued had I not been so smug the whole evening about how well I was doing, getting everything right.

If you drink, then sew, you're a bloody idiot

Take a break, fatigue kills your sewing skills

Overall though, like all of Lotta's patterns, even though this is one of her more complicated patterns, it is still very straight forward. There are a few bits where you have to make some pleats, and really that's the most complex part. And again, her time estimates were spot on (or would have been had I not sewn the base in sideways).

First attempt at clothes for small children - success!

I have come to realise how rewarding making kids clothes is. They're so quick to make and you can do lots of cute embellishments. I previously mentioned that I had bought a pattern - Butterick 5713 - and then I proceeded to make the pants and overalls. I rarely sew from a pattern and often don't take the time to read through the instructions carefully when I do. I think this means that it takes me about twice as long to make something as it should, but I'm quite stubborn and tend to think I can predict what the instructions would say (thankfully my attitude while I'm at work in a laboratory isn't the same!).

Actually, the hardest part of the whole project was working out what size to make. What size is a typical 9 month old? I know when I've bought patterns for myself, I pick the right size and then the end result turns out to be 5 sizes too big - was this pattern going to be the same? I decided to go with the large size, rather than the XL size, and it turned out to be spot on for the little boy I was making it for.

The pants:
From not reading the instructions fully, it wasn't until later that I realised that these pants are supposed to be fully lined. We are coming into summer here and so I did away with the full lining, but I liked how the turned up cuffs had a contrasting colour. I added 10cm strip of cute, blue camo fabric to the bottom part of the inside of the leg, so when it was turned up you could see it. Taking the approach of not lining the whole thing also meant I had to alter the casing for the waist elastic, so I added a strip of blue camo fabric around the waist as well.

The overalls:
Went well for the most part as I actually read the instructions. The bit that stumped me was when it started talking about self facings. As I'm a hack sewer I had never come across the term "self facing" before. I couldn't understand what the diagram was telling me to do either. So after fussing about, googling "self facings" and things (I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't know!), I finally worked it out. And the instructions and diagram immediately made sense. It felt good to learn something new.

Gave the pants and overalls, and also the bibs I'd made a while ago, to my friend who I caught up with last night. They were immediately put to good use. The bibs are so quick and easy to make, I must make more! The hardest part is thinking what fabric and design to use...

Christmas present production line... student style!

Gib and I have just finished updating our budget and we've realised that Christmas is going to have to be a little more organised. It's so easy to get excited and buy buy buy - not that we've gone to excess in previous years, but we took a good look and realised just how much Christmas costs. It's quite shocking really. Moreso now that my income has been halved. So this year I'm taking full advantage of the fact that my relatives think that it's cute and endearing that I make handmade gifts for them and also means I use up some of my stash which doesn't quite fit in its allotted location right now.

Getting organised for Christmas sewing

It does take a little more organisation and planning. I have to block out sections of my diary and make "meetings" with myself in the evenings and weekends so I can tell people that I'm busy and can't make it -- so I can sew. (I should probably do that for the gym as well...!)

You can see on the right my list of things I intend to get done. The part I really hate about sewing is the cutting out all of the bits: Cutting out the pattern, pinning the pattern, cutting out the fabric... it's a drainer. So I've decided to get all of the cutting done at once. It means I only need to get out my fabrics once, and then I just pop all of the fabric bits into separate project bags to sew them at my leisure. It also makes me more motivated to finish them if they're all ready to go. I like quick, easy projects that are functional and look good (hopefully) such as:

• Tissue box covers (cheesy but cute)
• Pot holders (again, cheesy option but functional)
• Aprons
• Heat packs (for my arthritic relatives)
• Tote bags
  
• Kids clothes
• Bibs and booties

My slowly growing pile of cut-out bits and pieces

How to propagate your own herbs:

Everyone loves herbs. In the words of Gib's mother: "Herbs are great. You give them to people, they use them and then they kill them and then they love it when you give them more". I've started this now little project now so they are nicely established by Christmas time.

Herb propagation is really very easy. The word "herb" is just another word for "useful weed" in my books, and as such they sprout and grow easily. I take cuttings, about 7-10 cm long from the side branches of herbs. I'm using rosemary, thyme, oregano and sage. Pull off the leaves till about half of the bottom of the stem is bare. Pop them into a little glass of water on the windowsill and wait til roots start to strike, which takes a week or so. I put them into water as I've found they are more likely to get fungal problems and die if they are put straight into soil*. I'm also less likely to forget to water them if they are on the kitchen window sill. The only thing to make sure of is that there is water in the glasses at all times: even a few hours without water can be dire. After the roots have struck, put them into soil and remember to water them regularly. If you decide to put the cuttings straight into soil, remember to keep them well watered. Don't get fussed if some of them die - it's OK. I've come to realise a success rate of about 60-70% is quite good.

We bought a pot of oregano and thyme for $3 each at Bunnings, and will have about 10 cuttings from each. The sage and rosemary were already in my parents' herb garden. This makes for super cheaps presents that will be well received, if your Christmas budget is a little tight this year...

Sage and rosemary growing on the kitchen window sill, in ex-vegemite jars/glasses

* Having said that, I've also noticed that rosemary, thyme and mint tend not to be so vulnerable to fungal infections and can be put straight into soil. It seems to be the less-woody herbs, like basil or sage, that are more susceptible.

Sew sew

I have in fact been in a sewing mood but not much to show at this stage. I've finished drafting a pattern for a messenger bag I'm making for a friend (it's taken a few revisions but it's getting there!) and given the number of babies that are around at the moment, I decided to buy a new pattern:

Butterick 5713 - "Sew baby"

Includes overalls, pants, jacket, bonnet and mittens

I liked this pattern because there were so many options to choose from. I love overalls and desperately wish that they would become a cool adult fashion. They are so functional, like when you are out in the garden, and they are just so comfy (well I remember them being comfy the last time I wore them, which was when I was about 9 years old). So instead, I make them for the children of my friends and relatives, and just keep wishing that I could wear a pair myself.

Then there's all the Christmas sewing I need to do in the next two months. I should start planning for that now because my diary over the next two months is already filling fast. There will be a few more hand made gifts this year, and home grown ones too: herb pots propagated from plants from your own garden make great gifts! And if I get them started now, they should be looking quite strong by Christmas time.

Whipping up some bibs...

Inspired by Curlypops' wonderful bib making, I decided to try making some of my own (instead of working on the apron for the swap - at least it's all cut out ready to go now). Here's my first attempt. The pattern is based on another bib I picked up cheaply. I need to attach something on the ends so they stick together... should I use velcro or a press stud? I really have no idea, since I don't have any small children myself and don't have much general small child experience! Any suggestions?

I have plenty more ideas for bibs and have so much awesome kids fabric to use. And most importantly, lots of babies to make bibs for!

Pot holder attempt = success!

For the apron swap, I have to make a pot holder. I have never made one of these before and thought I'd try making some in advance: don't want to be caught at the last minute and . For the insulation, I used one layer of Insul-Bright heat resistant batting and one layer of wool. I followed the directions in Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing book. It was very quick and simple to do! I think I'll attempt an oven mitt next.

Too easy!

Edit: Hoppo Bumpo asked about where to buy Insul-Bright insultated batting. This product was a pain to find, as was wool batting and any other non-flammable insulating products that would be suitable for making oven mitts, pot holders and the like. I have actually come to believe that such products do not exist in Melbourne - at all. What do all of the women in the CFA make their pot holders out of??! In the end I bought it online from Quilting Fabric Delights, but it looks like they no longer stock it either. Autumn threads was the only other place I looked for it as they were reasonably priced too.

Keeping the door open

At work they have this thing about turning the air con right up. I often find myself sitting at my desk in a tshirt when it's about 12°C outside, which I can't really complain about (although I do think that their energy consumption is excessive, and especially since the institute I work for is trying to "stay green", but that's another story). But the real "problem" is that the air blows so hard that my door closes. It makes me look entirely anti social, like I enjoy sitting in a stark white office with no windows and fluoro lights and want to be left to read research papers all day without distraction.

So I've decided to make a door stop. It will not only brighten my office but will also create an inflow of sociability and welcome distraction into my dull space (times when I have wedged my recycling paper bin in front of the door have shown this!).

There's a nifty pattern in Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing book, which looks ace, but I think it might be a little big. I could scale the pattern down though.

Photo from supergail - isn't that fabric adorable?!

I have also just found this tutorial for a cute little pyramid shaped door stop. It's a little smaller and I like the shape, but I could go either way. Both seem like excellent projects to start using some of my stashed fabrics on. Tonight I finally have a night off to myself and I hope to spend it practicing some printing and sewing.

Pyramid door stop by all it took was one stitch

Update!

So this evening I did actually get time to do some sewing. I decided to go with Lotta's pattern, but I reduced the size by one third and the whole project took me about 2 hours to make (adjusting/making the pattern, sewing and finishing). I chose the fabric to match the blue/green colour of the carpet in my office. Unfortunately the lighting all around here is terrible, but hopefully I'll be able to get an "action shot" at work.