Bami's Blog

Chicken News - Crowing, temp spikes, blackouts!

2011-01-30T07:15:00.008+11:00

I could hardly believe my ears when, yesterday morning, I heard a strangled crowing from the A-teams little palace.

Yes indeed, one of the little black araucana's has begun to crow! He has a nice red, plump peacomb on him now and so there is the first gender proved beyond doubt!

It was this one (pictured previously)

Yesterday I moved the A-team from their palace into the second pen, alongside the main pen. Mumma hen (the boss lady of the big girls) went on and on with her clucking. 'Who are these strangers? Who authorised their entry into our spare pen' and so on.

I'm sure they will get use to each other soon enough and then I will be able to integrate the girls and chosed rooster into the flock a bit easier (I hope!).

The B-Team who are still in the incubator, have had many hurdles to overcome this week. After candling the eggs on Sunday night and discarding 16 of the 36 eggs, which were not developing, I was left with 20 eggs in the bator. Of those, 5 were 'maybes' which I left in just in case.

However the next day when I got home from work - I found the temps very high - 103'F. I moved the sensor to try and bring the temps back a couple of degrees and it didn't seem too bad as we left for a camping trip for Australia Day.

On our return on Wednesday afternoon though, I was shocked and upset to find the temps at 104'F at the top of the eggs. I spent all afternoon trying to get temps back to a normal range - moving the sensor etc. In the end I had no choice but to turn the knob (a big no-no as they are very sensitive). In the end I had to turn it several times because I came home from work on Friday and it was cooking again. I was so frustrated - I never had this trouble with the same type of incubator in the past. I hope this one is not faulty!

Anyway, temps stabalised after my last fiddling attempt on Friday night and have been fine since then.

Oh, on top of that we had a 4hr black out from 11pm - 2am on the Friday night!

So, I can only hope that some of my B-Team will survive.

I will do the final candling on Tues or Wed night, top up the waters and let them be. HOPEFULY I will have some chicks by this time next week. Although I may have a few feet to fix if the high temps have caused curly toes in some of them.

Anyway - FINGERS CROSSED that I will get 10 or so healthy chicks this coming week! (Is that a bit optimistic?? - I suppose I will be happy with any after all these issues!)

Will keep you posted!

Chicks at Week 5

2011-01-23T07:51:00.005+11:00

I can't believe how fast the last two weeks have gone! I started a new job on 10th January, three days a week and I am loving it.The kids are still on holidays too, so on my off days I have been keeping busy.

Last weekend I spent the Sunday shovelling crusher dust into the two larger pens to build up the floor which had been dug/eroded away and gaps had begin to show under the floor frames.
I still have to fix up the smaller of the two pens, to make it snake proof before I put the A-team down there.

Anyway - here is an update on how the A-team are growing out and their gender guesses to date:

Rocky - I am now thinking that Rocky is perhaps a girl!

Midnite - Still thinking girl.

Little Red - yep, definately a boy!

Barnie - still thinking 'girl' for this one.

Little Barnie - yes, definately a boy - look at that comb!

And now the Buff Sussex ones:

Buff 1 = Boy

Buff 2 = Boy

Buff 3 = Girl!

Buff 4 is looking more New Hampshire, and is a girl!

And now the Araucanas - which I really have no idea on, but here are my guesses.

On the left, Lavender - still hoping she is a girl.

Next to her is Musketeer 1 - I think possibly a boy.

Musketeer 2 - I am thinking boy for this one too.

Musketeer 3 - I think could be a girl?

Musketeer 4 - I think might be a girl also.

They are growing quite quickly but still fit comfortably in their little pen I made them.
Within the next two weeks I am planning on moving them down to the larger pen next to the main pen.

I also have some more eggs in the incubator. B-Team are due to hatch 5th Feb if all goes well.

Chicks at Week 3

2011-01-08T11:04:00.005+11:00

It has been 3 weeks since Rocky popped out of his shell, followed by the rest of the A-Team. As promised, here are some progress photos.

Rocky - my guess: BOY

The Four Musketeers - I think I have two GIRLS and two BOYS, however one of the boys could be a girl. We will see.

Midnite - I started out saying girl for this one, however am unsure now. Perhaps a BOY.

Little Red does not have much of a comb but the personality leads me to still say BOY.

Lavender - still convinced she is a GIRL

The Buff Sisters/Brothers - I think I may have two GIRLS and two BOYS:

This one I am sure is a GIRL

Barnie - this one has me a little confused. I will still say GIRL at this stage.

Little Barnie - still thinking definately a BOY

It was quite funny trying to catch them all for the photos. I don't think I will be able to get these individual photos again!

A Little Ray of Sunshine

2011-01-07T15:42:00.004+11:00

After an incredibly rainy few days and 40mls of rain overnight, it was fantastic to see the sun today. Yes it was masked by clouds for most of the day, but HURRAH - a little ray of sunshine popped through here and there.

Not enough to convince me to hang my washing on the outside line, but definately enough for me to let the chickens out for a nice free range today.As always, a naughty few flew the run and I found them relaxing and scratching about under a neighbour's tree (luckily he doesn't mind them coming over and fertalising his trees every now and then!).

It was a frangipani tree, with gorgeous pink-tinged flowers just begging to be photographed.

The rain kept us all house-bound. The kids began to go crazy, I began to go crazy. Even poor Ben, our 8mth old Jack Russell was forced to sit and watch the falling rain.

And our driveway is really getting a hammering:

So I am very thankful for a break in the rain today!

I am also excited to have received my Bellsouth 100 incubator in the mail. It is second hand, purchased through Farmstock, however is in excellent condition.

It has automatic turning so I don't have to turn the eggs morning and night. Pretty much just set and forget, only topping up the water tray when necessary then preparing the eggs on day 18 for hatching on day 21.

I have ordered 2 dozen eggs from Shrimani Farm and am busting to get some eggs set. I should have them in by this time next week. I have already planned a following incubation, setting some pekin duck eggs from my sister and brother-in-law's ducks. Setting eggs is just too addictive!

My 3 week old chicks are all going well. I can't wait to see what they all feather out like, seeing as there are a few cross breeds amongst them. I will also have the hard decision of which roosters to keep (1 for myself, 2 for friends requiring roosters) and which to chop.

I will post some updated pictures of the chicks at 3 weeks tomorrow, IF I can catch them!

A house for the A-Team

2011-01-05T09:43:00.005+11:00

The A-Team enjoyed their first two weeks of life in a simple brooder box constructed from a large plastic tub, and red heat lamp.

Things were beginning to get cramped and I had been unable to get a rabbit hutch so I decided I would have to have a go at making something myself.

I used mostly recycled and reclaimed items to make this crude but functional chicken pen for the youngsters. All up it cost me $20 for the roll of avery wire and $30 for a large piece of ply which covered the back, back sides, and top of the pen.

Inside the rear section, which is raised. The cardboard box aims to serve as a cold brooder as they are off the heat lamps already, however I don't think they are using it so I will remove it soon.

They are very happy with their new home and will stay there until they outgrow it. Then they will move down to the second pen which sits alongside the main pen until they are integrated into the other flock at about 16 weeks.

Chickens - Incubation to Hatch

2011-01-05T09:16:00.007+11:00

Well, as usual I have been slack with keeping this blog up to date however I will make more of an effort in 2011!On 28th November, the day before my 31st birthday, I fired up the Bellsouth 100 incubator, borrowed from a friend.I purchased 30 eggs locally, which included Rhode Island Red, Buff Sussex X New Hampshire, Araucana, Barnevelder x Australorp and Dark Barred Plymouth Rocks. I also gathered 11 eggs from friends.When I candled to see what eggs were fertile and growing, I found that 20 of the eggs were not even fertile! This included 5 of the 6 purchased Plymouth Rock eggs and 3 of the 6 purchased Rhode Island Red eggs, so I was a bit upset about that. The remaining Plymouth Rock egg had not progressed past day 7. And so, I was left with 21 eggs in the incubator.

On Saturday 18th they began to hatch:

First out was 'Rocky', a Barnevelder x Australorp who had the Australorp markings:

2 chicks died trying to get out of the shell, but I got 14 healthy chicks in the end.

These were:

ROCKY - First born and I'm pretty sure he is a rooster

BARNIE - Barnevelder x Australorp with Barnie markings: My guess = GIRL

LITTLE BARNIE - Barnevelder x Australorp with Barnie markings: My guess = BOY

THE BUFF SISTERS/BROTHERS: Buff Sussex X New Hampshire: My guess at week 2 is that the light headed one at back is a GIRL the other three BOY

THE FOUR MUSKETEERS - 4 of the 5 Araucana that hatched are black. Some seem to have little mostaches, so they look like little musketeers. At week 3 my guess is that I have 3 GIRLS, 1 BOY.

LAVENDER - who is actually white not lavender in colour is the 5th Auracana. Pretty sure she is a GIRL.

MIDNITE - was the only one from friends eggs that hatched, I am not sure if it is a girl or boy but hoping GIRL.

LITTLE RED - Rhode Island Red, the only one to hatch and they were lucky last. I am pretty sure it is a BOY.

S0 there they are - 14 little chicks making up the A-Team for 2011.

Fabulous Fungi

2010-07-02T07:13:00.004+10:00

Mushrooms, that's what I'm talking about. One of my photos has been featured on the fungilicious group on RedBubble, and I have been invited to submit it into July's photo challenge (which I have).

I'm so excited about the fact that it was even noticed among all the other photos!

It really is encouragement to get snapping!

Moreton Island

2010-06-30T16:04:00.005+10:00

I had a great time at Moreton Island. It was nice to be able to relax and have some time to get out the DSLR and take some pics. I have uploaded a few of my favourites onto my RedBubble site.
I discovered that to date I have sold 60 items on RedBubble since I joined. 29 of the sales are for the first shirt I ever designed. But I have not put much on there in the way of photography, so I am going to concentrate on that side of things a bit more for a while.

Also, here's a pic of the purple fingerless mitts which I finished the day before we went away:

More knitting

2010-06-28T17:52:00.010+10:00

I finished the vest for Sam, and he loves it. I think mostly because of the kombi on the front!

Here he is wearing just over his jumper as I was desperate to see if it was an okay fit as soon as it came off the needles!

I am extremely happy with it considering it is a first attempt at a knitting project.

Next, I attempted some simple fingerless mitts for Noah, by myself!
Here are the completed 'Golden Gloves'.

Dave asked for some in purple, so I set to knitting him a pair of 'Purple Power-mitts' right away. Will post pictures in my next blog.

Last Thursday my husband and I travelled to Moreton Island and stayed there until Saturday. It was quite beautiful despite the patches of rain, and I am really happy with some of the photographs I took while away. I also started a holiday beanie in grey and am knitting in the round using double pointed needles for the first time. I hope it will turn out! I will post photos from Moreton Island and of my holiday beanie in my next blog.

On Saturday we travelled back to Brisbane and I got to see Yusuf Islam aka Cat Stevens in concert. I was SO excited, having grown up listening to his music and being a HUGE fan. The concert exceeded all my expectations - it really was a fantastic night.

This video wasn't taken by me, but was taken at the same show (Brisbane). We had better seats ;)

So this week is back to reality, with the start of uni semester 2. Already I have dropped a unit, so am back to two units. I think that's all I can handle right now! It's going to be a busy semester!

Knitting!

2010-06-16T11:20:00.004+10:00

Our veggies were great! That lot have finished now and tomatoes seem determined to sprout up everywhere in the garden, so we have just let them go. We have lots of tomatoes to use in our pasta sauces, that's for sure!!

I recently joined a knitting group in my area and no, knitting groups aren't just for ladies aged 70yrs+! Most of the ladies are my age. I am halfway through my first project - a Milo vest.

I am very happy with how it is coming along, considering it is my first attempt at knitting to a pattern.

I will keep you up to date with my progress. I am just hoping for a nice, wearable piece for Sam!

Sprouting!

2010-01-09T19:49:00.003+11:00

Just after I wrote my last post my seeds arrived in the mail!

So I planted:

Eggplant
Wong Bok
Pak Choi
Zucchini
Parsley - curled
Thyme
Oregano
Lemon Basil

and more:
Sweet Corn
Purple Beans
Squash

because I decided I needed more.

I was so surprised that the marigold sprung up only days after planting, and the squash is going great:

The thyme is popping up, the wong bok and pak choi is up, the rocket is up and one lone cucumber is trying it's best to push through the soil.

Every morning I can't wait to go out and check the seedlings to see what has popped through!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-06T09:17:00.003+11:00

It has been a while since I blogged! I took on three units for the second semester of uni and combined with my 'mum duties' I didn't have time to do anything else! I didn't think I would make it through, but passed all the units with good marks. Over summer I have been doing a unit called Learning Technologies, which has been challenging but interesting.

And so, 2010 is upon us already!

We didn't have a great Christmas, as we all were very sick - what a way to end the year! But 2010 has started well.

I bought six chicks to give to my broody hen who managed to hatch 0 out of 18 eggs!! However, she didn't want the chicks so I put her in a pen by herself for almost a week, to de-brood her and that has worked. I had the chicks under a heat lamp at nights for the first two weeks but now they don't need it on. In the days I have been putting the chicks down in their own pen. Next week they should be right to stay down there full time.

I ordered some seeds in December, but they still haven't arrived. So I dug out our old seeds, saved from past crops, and some we had bought before, and have been busy planting them in egg cartons. We have dug up the old veggie garden and have prepared it for a new season.

So far I have planted (in the egg cartons):

Marigold
Italian Parsley
Coriander
Squash
Nasturtium
Rocket
Mixed Lettuce
Purple Beans
Tomatoes
Chives
Watermelon
Cucumber
Corn

And in a large 30 x 70cm clay pot I have planted some potato, and in the other some beetroot and sage.

I hope my seeds come soon though, as I would like to get the other stuff planted!

I was going to plant corn and beans together, and then heard about a 'three sisters garden' which includes squash also, so have decided to add squash to the combination.

Back To School...

2009-06-21T11:46:00.004+10:00

In February I enrolled in the late round, for Bachelor of Education, Primary - and four days later I received this reply:

I had not expected to get in and the course started in 10 days time so I was a bit shocked and flustered, but very happy (if not a little scared!).

Luckily, organising care for the three boys fell into place easier than I had imagined it would, and before I knew it I was a Uni Student!!

Semester 1 has flown by and I have really enjoyed uni so far, learnt a lot and met a lot of great people. I completed two units (part time) comfortably and have chosen to study three units in semester 2.

Here are my results from semester one, which I'm extremely happy about!

In Semester 2, which begins in one week, I am studying Maths, PDHPE and Human Society & Its Environment.

Sportacus Costume

2008-12-24T10:13:00.004+11:00

I didn't think I'd finish in time but here is the Sportacus costume for my 3 year old nephew, as modelled by my (slightly bigger) 3 year old.

A little different to the original Sportacus, but with my limited sewing ability, this was the best I could manage.

Now I just have to make one for my own 3 and 5 year olds... they might end up being 'New Years' presents at this rate though...

Sewing Xmas Gifts

2008-12-18T16:05:00.006+11:00

Well I've just realised there's only a week until Christmas so I better get a move on with making the Christmas Gifts. Not an easy task with three boys, one of them a clingy 6mth old bub!

Anyway, here is one of the Apron & Oven Mit sets - this one is on it's way to my Grandma, in Adelaide.

I still have two more oven mitts to make at this stage!

And three Sportacus outfits - here are the first finished pants. These ones are for my 3yr old nephew. Slightly different from the original Sportacus costume, but my own 3 & 5yr olds knew instantly what they were meant to be, so that's a win in my books. I am yet to get onto making their costumes!

So, it seems I will be busy with sewing over this weekend!

Meanwhile, in chicken land, I have had 5 more lovely chickies come to live with me. They are all Australorp x New Hampshire and I'm thoroughly impressed with them and their lovely nature!

The Chickens Have Arrived!

2008-12-02T08:14:00.006+11:00

I've been wanting to get chickens for quite a while now.

Over the weekend my brother-in-law and hubby generously built me (and my family!) a gorgeous big chicken house!

Here is a photo of them finishing up:

and inside:

So yesterday we went into town and got these four chickens. I'm pretty sure the two brown are Isa Brown's and the two black are the Australorp Hybrid x's.

My 5 yr old son owns the two brown and my 3yr old son owns the two black. The brown ones have been named 'Crusty' and 'Chocolate' (!?!) and Master 5 swears he can tell them apart...

The black one's have not any names just yet. Who know's what they will end up being called!

All going well I will pick up two black frizzle bantam pullets on Thursday which will be my little chickens. They are not great layers like the other four (which are bred for laying!) but they are quite motherly I have read. So when I would like to increase the gang a little and they are broody, I can slip some fertilised eggs under one or both of them and they will take care of them. Well, that's the idea. We'll see how it all goes!

Movember

2008-11-26T06:29:00.003+11:00

Well, the month of 'Movember' is nearing an end!

Four weeks ago, when my husband came to me and told me he was taking part, I was filled with dread. Tim... with a Mo!? Oh dear.

However, maybe because it grows so slowly, or maybe because he decided to grow a mean bikie looking mo (as opposed to a french waiter style mo!?!), it wasn't so bad.

The scary thing now is, he is starting to look very comfortable in his mo, don't you think:

Mumma Bird

2008-11-22T19:44:00.001+11:00

A follow up to the Baby Bird entry!

My neighbour brought the baby bird back over, in a little hanging basket, to try and secure in the tree. When we got to the tree we realised the branch that held the nest had a big crack at the trunk and was about to snap off. So we pulled the whole branch gently down and in the nest was another bird and an egg. The mumma bird was there too of course.

My neighbour put the baby bird back in the nest and then put the whole nest in the hanging basket, it fitted snuggly there. We looked at the tree to find another branch to put the nest, but realised a huge crack that looked like the whole tree could come down if the wind kept up. So she put the nest in a nearby tree, and secured it tightly there. She did a great job, because we got a lot of wind and the nest stayed secure and upright, the baby birds safely tucked in there.

We watched from a distance to see if the Mumma Bird would find her relocated nest. As we watched, a huge gust came through and with a loud snap, down came the whole tree - Mumma Bird and all.

It was an anxious wait for about an hour or more, as the Mumma Bird seemed to go to every tree except the one where the nest now was!

But she finally found it! I am glad to report that the two babies were fine and reunited with their very devoted mum this afternoon. The wind has also since died down a bit!

Here is the mum, swooping the fallen tree, looking for her nest.

Baby Bird

2008-11-22T14:19:00.000+11:00

Today is extremely windy!

Tim and I were up on the hill at the front of the property, weeding, when we found it. A tiny baby bird. No feathers, eyes closed, peeping softly. It was sitting in the blazing sun, just under one of trees that was getting bustled about in the wind.

I ran and grabbed a flat cloth nappy and scooped it up gently. We brought it back to the house and rang WIRES. While we were on hold, we gave it a little water through an eye dropper and it seemed to love it.

We got through to WIRES and after ringing the local number we were given, they said they would pass on the details to a WIRES member that lived in our suburb.

We put the bird in a box in a dark, quiet room.

Next thing I know, our neighbour is hopping the fence with a big grin on her face! I thought she was with WIRES but not being sure, had rung the number on the website.

The best thing to do, we were told, was to put the bird back into the nest. We found the nest but it was quite high and hard to get to. Also the wind was bustling the tree all about.

After trying to figure it out for a while, my neighbour decided the best thing to do would be to take it back to her place and care for it, at least until the wind died down and until the storm that is supposedly coming tonight, passes.

Not sure if baby bird will survive or not, but I feel comforted knowing it is in capable hands.

Here is a photo, sorry about the quality, I didn't want to use the flash.

Chicken Sitting

2008-11-18T16:15:00.000+11:00

For the past 10 days we have been keeping an eye on a friends chickens, at their property. Going and letting them out for a run, collecting the eggs, then coming back later and giving them some scraps and seed and locking them up for the night.

They all have such characters and are pretty well behaved except for when you are trying to herd them back into their house when they have other ideas!

The kids just adore them and have given them names too.

Here is 'Big Boss' the rooster:

And this one they have called Eve:

So here is Wall.E... can't have an Eve without a Wall.E... apparently!

I know there's two.. there's actually 3 of those brown ones.. I think they're all called Wall.E!

This black one is Henny Penny:

And this one is named Foreign Contaminant?!

I can't wait to get our chooks! I am hoping to get four, one for each of the boys and one for me too! I am still looking about at chicken house designs, but here is one I have come across that I like the look of:

Pretty cool, hey!

Soft Jingley Blocks

2008-11-02T13:34:00.001+11:00

These Jingley Blocks are easy to make.

You will need 6 squares of fabric 12cm x 12cm. Try to use different colours and textures to make it interesting for bub, but that complement each other.

Because babies love tags, I have sewn in ribbon on some of the edges.

Sew up the cube inside out, leaving one side open to turn the cube out the right way, hiding the stitching inside.

Stuff with toy stuffing or ripped up wadding and hide three jingley bells inside so block will ring when shaken or pushed around.

On the final edge, fold each side in on itself a little and sew up with clear cotton by hand.

Ta Da!

Oops I forgot

2008-08-28T11:50:00.001+10:00

Oops I forgot I had a blog!

I've been slightly busy - Samuel made his appearance on 30th May, 2008 at 8.44pm:

He is now nearly 3mths old!

Kombi Shirt Design a Success!

2008-01-21T10:29:00.000+11:00

I am really excited because I just discovered that the Kombi Ute shirt design is on the 'Featured' page of RedBubble! Woohoo.

Peas for Breakfast

2008-01-19T11:32:00.000+11:00

My sister and I were discussing phrases we used to get from our parents when growing up.

This t-shirt design was inspired by all the nights we were told if we didn't eat our dinner we would be eating it cold, for breakfast!!

Click on the RedBubble images on the right to see more of my shirt designs. I'm slowly getting better at drawing in PSP, but would like to get my hands on a computer program made specifically for drawing etc.

Butterfly Dress

2008-01-18T17:06:00.000+11:00

Dave's friend has been coming around a lot during the holidays and I thought she'd make the perfect model for some girls clothes!

I had a round tablecloth with these gorgeous butterflies all over it, which I was going to make a circular skirt out of but then remembered I never wear skirts! So I made a dress for little miss, using that and some of the white t-shirt material I had scored previously from the op shop.

There are two layers of skirt section which I found challenging to put together and probably did sew it in the wrong order but it all turned out in the end!

It actually looks better in real life than in the photos - for once! A size too big perhaps, but at least she can grow into it.

Star Shirt

2008-01-13T14:29:00.000+11:00

My first attempt at making a standard t-shirt - as you can probably tell!!

I made this shirt to go with my nephew's pants.

I discovered a way to make the hemmed edges look better using a different stitch, but the neck area I am still to figure out properly!

Dressing Gown to Pants Reconstruction

2008-01-10T13:29:00.000+11:00

I picked up this dressing gown years ago from an op shop because I just loved the fabric, I thought it would make a good pair of pants! It's towelling with green, blue and white striping.

I finally got around to making the pants for my 2yr old nephew today! I might attempt a pair of shorts for Dave later out of the sleeves.

Flower Photography

2008-01-10T13:22:00.000+11:00

My neighbour has been trying to grow lillies in his little pond for a while now and finally he had success! It was a gorgeous shade of pink (although it was supposed to be blue!) so I had to get a photo for him.

I also got this great frangapani photo from his garden:

Wiggle Pants for Noah

2008-01-07T12:42:00.000+11:00

A couple of weeks ago I went along to Spotlights 20% off sale and Noah spotted this Wiggles fabric already in the clearance section. With the 20% off aswell it came to about $3.80 /mtr! Great spotting Noah!

Anyway, I finally made the time to make his pants. I'm happy with how they turned out.

(they look a bit lobsided because of the angle I took the photo on, sorry!)

I took my time and even though I still haven't braved the overlocker,
I used straight and zig zag stitches on the seams.

Action shot

(it's hot here, so Noah wanted them off again straight away as you can see!)

Pencil holder & Notebook

2008-01-06T18:28:00.000+11:00

I've been trying to do crafts with Dave using recycled items. I wanted to make something out of a can and could only think of the good old pencil holder!

Dave decided to give it to his grandma for her birthday so we made a matching notebook too.

Both items were padded with wadding, then covered in a pretty floral fabric from one of our op shop trips. Silver ribbon, beads and again, a gorgeous spotlight button, came in handy for decoration.

Maternity Shirt

2008-01-06T14:09:00.000+11:00

I finally made time to finish off this maternity shirt. It's a copy of a light blue shirt that I loved but it got stained. So I pulled it apart and used it as a pattern for this fabric I picked up at my local Op Shop for only $3.

Here is the front view:

And the back view:

I'm loving these huge buttons spotlight has in store at the moment!

Action shot.

Jungle Nappy

2007-12-20T11:50:00.000+11:00

Another nappy I'd forgotten I had made until I went to put it on Noah this morning.

This one is made out of navy flannelette inner, terry padding insert, PUL jungle patterned outer (so this one's a 'proper' all in one).

About 6mths old now.

Dave's Sheep Costume

2007-12-20T07:23:00.000+11:00

Dave had his preschool play on Monday afternoon (17th Dec).

I got a note home saying he could be a sheep, cow or donkey. Well he wanted to be a sheep.
So armed with 1.5m of white fleecy fabric, a day and a sewing machine - I got to work.

Having never made a sheep costume I wondered how exactly to go about it! First I grabbed a pair of his tracksuit pants and used that to trace a pattern onto tracing paper. The pants are pretty simple, elastic waist.

Next was the top - I have never made a long sleeve top before. I used one of Dave's singlet tops to draw the pattern for the body and then added some sleeves. I made the front of the body wider than the back as I was going to cut it through and add buttons, but in the end I just made it button up at the top.

Next was a head piece of some sort. I couldn't remember what sheeps heads looked like so I googled some pictures then somehow whipped up a hood type of hat complete with ears.

So, here is a picture.

Woops!

2007-12-15T09:33:00.000+11:00

Woops! I forgot I even had a blogspot. Silly me.

Well now that I've remembered, I am happy to announce that I am 4 months pregnant (tomorrow). Pretty exciting. I've been really sick not only with morning sickness but 2 lots of gastro too. Hopefully that's all behind me now though.

Here are a couple of photos from my NT Scan at 13 weeks, 3 days.

Another Nappy

2007-05-20T18:58:00.001+10:00

This afternoon I got around to making another fitted nappy.
This time I used an old flanalette pillowcase for one layer, an old terry cloth nappy for the middle layer and also for the 4 layers for the insert, and my husbands woolen jumper that had a hole in it as the last layer. I am going to wait until I get some white velcro, plus I didn't really have enough black left anyway.

Nappy

2007-05-19T21:40:00.000+10:00

After deciding to switch back to cloth nappies (for my boys, not me!) I stopped buying disposables and have now run out. But my lot of fitted nappies I ordered have not yet arrived.
Dilemma!
So tonight I have sewn one lovely nappy using 2 flat terry toweling nappies, and the starry fabric is from an old dressing gown! I only had a tiny a little bit of velcro, and it was black (white would have suited better I know).

I am very happy with how it has turned out for a first try!

<---- Front View

<---- Inner
(I have also sewn in 4 layers of toweling for extra absorption)

<---- Back View

I would put a photo of my son wearing it but I took so long, he fell asleep! Perhaps tomorrow...

Keroppi Frog

2007-05-15T09:08:00.000+10:00

My sister-in-law loves frogs, so, inspired by Keroppi, I sewed her this:

I just printed out a large picture of Keroppi (found on the net) and cut up each part to use it as a pattern. It was all hand sewn and took ages. It's stuffed with cotton wool and wadding and would double nicely as a small cushion.

Shirt Reconstruction

2007-05-15T08:52:00.000+10:00

I found a mens shirt that I really liked, and it was only $3 in Big W's end of summer sale!

So I picked out an extra large and just sewed it in. Now it's my favourite shirt.