'Sewing for beginners' class

Since starting my blog and especially in the last month since the Homestyle article I have had lots of lovely emails from people saying that they've been inspired to get into some crafting. Some people like me have not really sewn before and others used to sew as children/teenagers/pre kids but haven't done for a long time. So I thought I'd put together a little post with some tips and ideas for anyone wanting to either learn to sew or pick it up again after a long absence! As you may have read already even though I have always been a bit creative I only starting sewing a year and half ago. I didn't really enjoy sewing at high school- all the measuring, pinning, and fiddly little details just seemed too much for me- I remember making a jewellery roll that I think took us an entire term to make!
So as a self taught sewer I am very keen on projects that are quick and easy to create. I have an aversion to measuring and pinning ( I'm so not a fan of prep- just ask my hubby when we need to do some painting!) but I don't think it matters really for most of my projects- a 4 year old isn't going to analyse the actual sewing- they are just rapt you have made them something! And nothing I've made has fallen apart yet!

So the projects/tutorials I'm going to share here may not be exactly how a real sewer would do it ( I still think of myself as a beginner) but they will hopefully show you how to get started and create a few cute things. Any tips from all you sewers out there much appreciated!

Projects
As I've had quite a few people ask for some good beginner sewing projects here are my top 7 ideas- they are pretty much in the order that I actually did when I was learning how to sew, and are in order from what I think is the easiest to the still pretty easy but a few more skills involved!

1. Pin cushion- click here for my tutorial
2. Lavender sachet- click here for my tutorial
3. Applique a store-bought body suit or t-shirt
4. Softie- that's a crafty term for a soft toy for all you non crafters out there- I was wondering what all the references to softies were for a while there when I started reading blogs!
5. Cushion cover
6. Children's satchel bag
7. Zip purse- trust me these are easy- zips are not to be feared- if I can sew one anyone can!

Two projects - the satchel bag and the zip purse are tutorials from other clever crafters- Cat from Cat Taylor Design and Heleen from Ruby in the Dust. 

I chose these 7 projects as if you complete all 7 projects you would have learned basic sewing tips like clipping corners, how to applique, some stitching skills for the softie, how to sew a zip and how to sew lining (it looks so flash but is really quite easy!) And you can then transfer your new skills to other projects- for example if you can make the children's satchel bag you will be able to make your own bag one day too.  And I just modified the tutorial for the satchel bag to make my christmas stockings as well.

About once a week I'll post a tutorial or a link to the tutorial I used for each project with photo's and tips for each one.  Would love to hear if you make something or if you have a question- you could comment, leave a link or email a pic or post one on my facebook page if you would like to (I love seeing pics!)

Fabrics

I also get asked a lot where I get my fabrics from.  When I started I went to a lot of op/thrift shops-they usually have fabric remnants, vintage sheets and I even bought some clothing just for the fabric- so this is a great cost effective option and it's fun too when you spot a great fabric!

The other places I can recommend buying fabric from (quick delivery, great service and gorgeous fabrics!) are

NZ online stores

Stitchbird Fabrics

Sew Pretty Fabrics

Bolt of Cloth

Overseas fabric stores

Sew Fresh (US)

I've also bought some fabric from my local sewing store Bernina and from Spotlight.  This is also where I get things like stuffing, zips and other sewing essentials.

On the web

And to get you all inspired--I think Prudent Baby is one of the best crafty websites for inspiring projects and ideas- just be warned you will be on there for hours! Check out the link to "Nap time Projects" and "Projects by Craft". So many wonderful projects for any level of craftiness!

There are also millions of fantastic craft blogs on the net- you can check out a few of them down the side of my blog. Again be warned, you'll click on one, then click a link to another, then all of a sudden two hours have gone by and you can't even work out how you ended up where you did but your head is bursting with awesome ideas and you will be feeling the need to make something!
Visiting "Our Creative Spaces" each Thursday is great for a weekly dose of inspiration too.

And here's a great Sewing 101 post from an amazing crafty mum.

Crafty books
Again, there's a zillion wonderful crafty books out there. These are the ones I read when I was first starting to get into crafting- they are fab!

The Crafty Minx by Kelly Doust

Meet Me at Mikes by Pip Lincolne

Softies

Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule

Sewing in no time by Emma Hardy

Do you remember at school really looking forward to Art and enjoying the creative process even if you weren't the most talented artist (like me). Well getting into crafting is a bit like that- you get to really look forward to making a start on a new project, you feel so fantastically amazing when you make something, your kids love it when they get something made by you,  you can make handmade gifts, and it's a really lovely process where you are in your own little world when crafting- two hours can go by and it feels like a few minutes if you are really enjoying it!

Hope that all helps you get started on your own crafty journey :)
Stay tuned for my (very basic) pin cushion tutorial soon...

Megan x
PS: Thanks so much for the tips on sterilising bottles and jars in my last post- it is so great being able to ask a question and get so many great answers and ideas!!

lemon and ginger syrup

Well, it's been a few weeks since I've been here, and I've missed it! We had a break last week and then this week I've had the classic winter cold that has left me feeling a bit worse for wear- hopefully nearing the end now though. Anyway, I came across this inspiring blog the other day full of recipes and other lovely things so I decided to have a go at making the lemon and ginger syrup (I am loving fresh ginger at the moment!) It was nice and easy to make, tastes delicious and my little ones loved it too.
I found the bottles from Briscoes and used these cute labels from Mixing Ink (they were featured in the latest Homestyle magazine).

This would be a lovely gift with a cute mug wouldn't it :)

I'm new to the whole preserving thing so I've got a question about sterilising jars and bottles. I found these instructions for sterilising but was surprised with how much you have to do to sterilise a bottle! I would have thought that cleaning them and putting them in the pot of boiling water was enough. Does anyone know a quicker way to sterilise or have any other tips?

And if you've got a cold at the moment too Wendyl Nissen has some great tips in her latest newsletter and on her website- I like the idea of a hot bath with some essential oils like eucalyptus, lavender and peppermint!

Have a great weekend!
Megan x

foccacia bread recipe

Well, I finally did something on my "2011 things to do" list last week- I learnt how to bake bread yay!  I saw a recipe in a Woman's Day magazine 'Pataks' recipe liftout a few week's ago for foccacia bread so I thought it would be a good one for my first foray into bread making. I really enjoyed making the dough and it was great that Amelie could also help with the kneading.  We both got pretty excited seeing that the dough had done what it was meant to do and had risen in the bowl after putting it in the hot water cupboard for an hour so it was a fun activity to do with her. This recipe also gets you to divide the dough into 4 so Amelie got to roll one out and sprinkle the rosemary and salt on her very own one which she loved- and actually ate- Stella too so it really was a winner!

Here's the recipe if you would like to give it a go...

Rosemary and Sea Salt Focaccia
Makes 4 small loaves
Preparation 20 minutes (plus proving)
Cooking 20 minutes

3 cups plain flour
half teaspoon salt
7g sachet dried yeast- I bought these sachets which I think are 8g each but it didn't seem to matter!
1 cup luke warm water
quarter cup olive oil  (I used Village Press- a beautiful olive oil from a good friend's family business in the Hawkes Bay)
laves of 3 rosemary sprigs
2 teaspoons sea salt

1. Sift flour and salt into a bowl. Stir in yeast. Make a well in the centre. Add water and 2 tablespoons oil. Mix to a firm dough. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 10 minutes.
2. Place in a lightly greased bowl. Cover and set aside for 1 hour. Use fist to knock back. Knead for 1-2 minutes. Preheat oven to very hot- 220 degrees. Lightly grease and line to baking trays.
3. Break dough into 4 even pieces. Roll out into 4 ovals about 1cm thick. Place on trays. Brush with remaining oil. Sprinkle with rosemary leaves and sea salt. Use fingertips to make indentations in the dough. Cover and allow to rise for 20 minutes. Remove cover and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden.

And here's a tip from my mum- mix a little olive oil with some balsamic vinegar in a small dipping bowl and dip bread in- yum!!!

Thanks so much for all the comments for my apples giveaway too- they have been so lovely to read and I really appreciate them thank you :) It has been really neat seeing where everyone is from too.
Megan x

an apple a day giveaway

I've been wanting to do a giveaway for a while now to say thank you to all you lovely mousehouse readers, followers and 'likers' out there, especially as I've gathered quite a few more of you since posting about my dolls house last week!
I got the idea to do an apple themed giveaway after the lovely feedback from my apple cosy and my crochet apple.  Also, one of the first purses I made was using some apples fabric.  I mentioned my apple themed idea to Kirsty at Sew Pretty the other day when she shared my apple cosy post on SewPretty's facebook page and she very kindly offered to donate a fat quarter of two of her apple fabrics to each of the giveaways thank you Kirsty!

So Prize one is....

• a mousehouse 'Red Apples' waterproof zip purse
• a crochet apple
• 6 apple buttons
• a set of 10 apple, button and yarn stamped mousehouse gift tags
• a bow brooch
• a fat quarter of Sew Pretty's 'apples in red' fabric

And Prize two is....

• a mousehouse 'Orchard Apples' waterproof zip purse
• a crochet apple cosy 
• handmade peppermint lip balm
• a set of 10 apple, button and yarn stamped mousehouse gift tags
• two sheets of cute stickers
• a fat quarter of Sew Pretty's 'apples in green' fabric

To enter all you have to do is leave a comment telling me whether you would like to win Prize one or Prize two. You could tell me where you're from too as I love seeing where everyone is from! If you don't have a blog you are still welcome to enter, just leave your email address in your comment. Or you can tell me which prize you would like under this post on my Facebook page.  International entries welcome! 

Thank you so much again for all your lovely comments on my posts, for the awesome emails I get, for reading my blog and for being such a great community of like minded souls!

Megan x

a mousehouse dollshouse

About a year and a half ago I saw this post on Lil Magoolie about a Barbie dolls house inspired by the interior designer Johnathan Adler and created by photographer Michael Williams. It really stuck in my head as a brilliant project as it combines all of the things I love- interior design, crafting, and making fun things for my girls to play with. I searched on Trade Me for a suitable 'do-up' wooden dolls house and was lucky enough to find a renovators dream one- it had a brown roof, painted blue walls with fake leaves stuck all over it, dark blue felt covered staircases, grey carpet and green felt all around the front but it was perfect as I was after a nice big one with lots of rooms.  I'd show you some 'before' pics but I lost them when my computer crashed last year!

We gave it to Amelie for her 3rd birthday just as it was- it came with a little bit of furniture so the girls had fun playing with it. Then I got stuck into phase one- removing all the felt using two whole tins of acetone, ripping up the carpet and painting the exterior and interior. I matched the exterior to our real house with Dulux 'Mt Eden' on the roof and Dulux 'Lake Whakarewarewa' on the sides and painted the whole interior Resene 'Bianca'. Then.... I stuck it in the shed, ready and waiting for me to begin Phase 2- choosing colours and  themes for each room.......and there it stayed for at least 6 months- Amelie would see it in there and ask when she was getting her dolls house to play with- not much of a birthday present!! I got a bit distracted with other projects and I couldn't decide on how I was going to decorate it- wallpaper or paint, which rooms where, and the whole colour scheme (very important of course!) Finally I nailed it down to mostly yellows, turquoise and pinks which I chose for my 'real' house too so with that decided I was finally away. I went to a scrapbooking shop here in Tauranga (now closed unfortunately) and chose most of the 'wallpapers' and then it was just a case of deciding on the rooms and finding all the furniture and other bits and bobs for each one. Most pieces were from TradeMe or Lundby with some pieces gifts for the girls for their birthdays and Christmas.
So do you want to see the rooms? and yes I did go completely OTT with this project...

Amelie's room- butterfly wallpaper, bunting sticker and wooden 'A' from scrapbooking shop, bed, side table and wardrobe from TradeMe, set of drawers came with the dollshouse (I painted them all white),  Lundby mirror, photo frame, lamp and books, chair and 'rug' (and also couch in entrance way) from this MoMA set from the Museum of Modern Art, New York,  Lundby frames with mini art works - a mini version of the personalised photo art I made for Amelie and mini version of the pink bird artwork by Belinda of Moon Mum that I won in a giveaway from On Top of a Lily Pad blog.  I made the little quilt and cushion on the bed.

** For each of the art works I used in my dolls house I contacted the artists first to check that it was okay to put a mini version of their art in the dolls house and I only used art works that I had already bought for my real house or won as in the case above!**

Stella's room- Cot, change table and circle rug from Lundby, wooden cupboard, red trolley and toy from Trademe, rocking chair came with the dollhouse, wallpaper, rocking horse and wooden 'S' from scrapbooking shop ( I painted them in Resene 'Sargent Pepper'),  Lundby lightshade, frames from Lundby with a mini version of this art work from Belle and Boo, a mini version of the photo art I made for Stella and a mini version of this art work from Petit Collage. I made the cot quilt and cushion using a ballet girls fabric from Stitchbird Fabrics.

Here are the real sized art works along with a few more on our kitchen wall.

Lounge: Lundby couch and arm chairs that I re-covered in Amy Butler's 'Optic Blossom' fabric- yes I was even reupholstering for this project!! (once again my hubby thought I had gone slightly crazy), Lundby book case, books, coffee table and lamp, wooden beads for vases, wallpaper and Eiffel Tower from scrapbooking shop and mini binoculars from TradeMe. I made the circle artworks by gluing scrapbooking card circles to play- money coins.

Entrance Way: wallpaper and flowers from scrapbooking shop, hall table came with the dollshouse (I painted it and modpodged some craft paper to the top) Lundby vase, cuckoo clock sticker from the MoMA set and frame from TradeMe. Mini version of "Love" art work from Jen at Made By Girl.

Here's the real version of this art in our home...

Are you still with me, there's lots more...!!

Kitchen: Orla Kiely wallpaper-I don't actually have this in my home but I would sooooo love to! I scanned and printed an Orla Kiely address book from Small Acorns I had to make the wallpaper. You can buy the actual wallpaper here in NZ from Small Acorns as well. Mini version of "Home is where the HeART is" print from Dear Colleen, table, chairs and side board came with the dolls house (I painted them), Lundby oven and sink units, wooden stool and bowl, clock from this free printable from How About Orange blog

Master bedroom: wallpaper and flowers from scrapbooking shop, dressing table came with the dollshouse, wooden bead for vase, bed, bedside tables, armchair, ottomon and frames from Lundby, art in frames from scrapbooking card, I made the bed cover.

The craft room: desk, chair, shelf unit, sewing machine, scissors, basket with knitting, radio and pink sewing box from TradeMe, ironing board and iron came with the dolls house (I put a new fabric on top), heart wall decorations from scrapbooking shop, sewing badges from Angela. I made the noticeboard and chair cushion, "Get Excited and Make Things" print from here, wooden bead for pencil holder and toothpicks for coloured pencils.

Bathroom: MissPrint wallpaper sample from The Paper Room. Bath, shower, toilet, mirror, vanity and duck from Lundby, toothbrush and toothpaste from TradeMe, shelf and bottles came with the dollshouse- I added a Stitchbird Katie Rose fabric hand-towel.

So you can see why this project took a very long time to finish! It was so much fun designing each room and the girls love playing with the house, although of course it doesn't look anything like this at the moment- the girls just don't have quite the same appreciation for design and layout that I do....

And if you want to see more of my real house you'll just have to get your hands on a copy of the latest issue of Homestyle magazine out today :)

So do you have a favourite room?

Megan x

31/7/11 Thank you to Carrie at Ohdeedoh, Kellie at Minimusthave, Maddie at LilMagoolie, CoolMomPicks and Aimee at Baby Bites for posting about my dollshouse and to all the lovely bloggers and twitterers sharing it too!

10/9/11

The dolls house now has electricity! Check out this post to see more....

Kylie's Chocolate Button Biscuit recipe

Hello all, thought I'd share my favourite biscuit recipe- it's my friend Kylie's recipe for choc button biscuits and they are delicious!

(Makes around 25 to 30 biscuits)

200 grams butter
half cup sugar
4 tablespoons condensed milk
2 cups flour
half cup chocolate buttons
2 tsp baking powder
half teaspoon vanilla essence

1. Cream softened butter (I microwave for 20 seconds), sugar and condensed milk
2. Add all other ingredients, mix together to a dough -like consistency.( If the mixture still seems really crumbly after mixing don't worry- it will firm up when you roll the mixture together to make the balls)
3. Roll into small balls
4. Place balls on a greased oven tray, press lightly with fork (if the fork is sticking to the balls when doing this dip the fork in flour every few bikkies before pressing)
5. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 180 degrees
6. Place on wire racks to cool

Thanks for the comments on my Bastille Day post- the winner of the brooch is Max. Please email me your address to megan@mousehouse.co.nz

I've been having fun gathering up a few goodies for a big giveaway soon as I've got nearly 400 followers on Facebook and 450 blog followers too so I'm going to have two giveaways to say thank you all!

Have a good week!
Megan x

one pot slow baked tomato and olive chicken

I don't know what has come over me lately but I am really getting into cooking. I'm reading cook books, asking friends for recipes and even found myself looking at the cooking magazines in the library the other day. And normally in the magazines I read I flick right past the cooking pages but I'm now looking at them too and even cutting a few recipes out to try, very unlike me!  My hubby is a really good cook but it's time for me to make a much better effort and do more of the cooking- I'm even realising that it doesn't take that long, especially if I do most of it at lunchtime while the girls are eating their lunch.  It's still a bit too full on in the evenings to cook then as Jack usually needs feeding around 5/5:30 so meals that can be prepared earlier are the way to go for now. In the last two weeks I've cooked every meal except two and that is unheard of in our house. Wonder how long this burst of enthusiasm will last....!

This chicken recipe (from one of the Herald's Canvas magazines last year) is such a good one - all done in one pot, really budget friendly especially if you use chicken drumsticks and it literally took 5 minutes to throw everything into the pot and put it in the oven.

4 chicken marylands (the thigh and the leg attached together and on the bone) or 6 drumsticks
small bunch of thyme
4 bay leaves
5 cloves of garlic, unpeeled yay!
1 tbsp lemon zest
250 g cherry tomatoes (I bought a tin of Delmaine cherry tomatoes from the supermarket)
1 cup tomatoe puree
half cup red wine
half a cup mixed olives (I just used kalamata olives)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Place all the above ingredients in in a large, heavy based saucepan or a casserole dish with a lid. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover with a lid and bake for one hour. Remove the lid, increase the heat to 200 degrees and bake for a further 30 minutes or until skin in golden.
Serve with mash and vegetables.

I've added a little list (yes another one!) down the side of my blog with our meals for the week- it's been really helpful doing a little meal plan so when I do the groceries I can get everything we need for each meal and it's good going through a few recipe books and choosing one or two new meals along with our usual ones. Things don't always go to plan though- ended up with fish and chips one night after a crazy day!

For more meal ideas and some lunch box ideas too, read Widge's post here...
Megan x

applique bird art tutorial

I am a huge fan of using fabric for art - a canvas, staple-gun and some favourite fabric equals instant art on a budget! I made this bird art work a couple of months ago now and have finally got around to sharing it with you...and a tutorial if you would like to make it yourself :)

Time taken
Around an hour- I did most of it at the kitchen bench while the girls ate their lunch- got to multi task to get anything done with 3 kids!
You will need
* a canvas in what ever size you want ( I bought a set of 3 from The Warehouse for $20 on special). You can also find them at Spotlight, Paper Plus and specialty art supply stores.
* enough fabric to cover your chosen canvas- make sure you have enough to wrap right around the canvas - better to have too much that you can trim off than too little and find it won't reach around the back to staple! I used a fabric from Spotlight from the Maisy book fabric range.
* a staple gun
* vliesofix/bondaweb (most craft supplies stores sell this)
* piece of fabric for the bird applique

1. Print out this bird template from Martha Stewart.
2. (Optional)  I wanted the bird facing the opposite way to the template one (when you use vliesofix for applique traced images end up the other way on the fabric when finished) so I stuck the template onto a window and traced the back of it so I could easily see the outline.

3. Place the vliesofix rough side down/smooth side up on top of the bird outline and trace over it with a pencil.
4. Cut roughly around the bird
5. Place the bird rough side down onto the back/wrong side of your chosen bird fabric.
6. Iron onto the fabric on maximum heat
7. Cut around bird outline

8. Peel off the vliesofix from the back of the bird. Work out where you would like your bird to go on your big piece of fabric and pin the bird right side up onto your fabric.
9. On your ironing board, hold the bird in place on your fabric and carefully remove the pins. Iron bird to fabric on maximum heat. I didn't stitch around the bird as in standard applique for things like cushions or clothes- I think it looks better just ironed on for this art work .
10. Lie fabric right side down on the floor, place canvas down so the back of the canvas is facing you, begin stapling fabric to canvas, pulling reasonably tightly as  you go (keep checking if your fabric pattern needs to be straight!). Take care with your corners and keep them nice and flat by folding the fabric carefully over the corners before stapling.
11. Choose a spot, hang and admire!

This would work well with lots of other images too- I'm thinking that an elephant one would look good in Jack's room!

Megan x

button biscuits

Somc crafty baking! We made these cute shortbread button biscuits the other day after seeing them on Nikole's lovely blog here. I used the shortbread recipe from the Edmonds cook book but followed Nikole's instruction for making the buttons. This Jo Seagar recipe is pretty much the same as the  Edmonds one for making shortbread if you don't have the cook book.

Some button bikkies for some crafty friends :)

I am really getting into baking now (and even cooking too much to my hubby's surprise!) so each week or two I'm going to share my baking here.  Next up is my friend Kylie's recipe for chocolate button biscuits- they are sooo good!

Have a great weekend,

Megan x