Sunday, March 25, 2012

Fabric Bracelets

Today i felt like not sewing orders and doing something for myself for a change :-)
I saw these on Pinterest the other day and thought i would give it a go, woohoo i finally managed to find the time do some more craft from Pinterest.
they are really easy and take about 10 minutes, all you need is 25mm wide elastic measure it around your wrist - i used non-roll elastic because thats what i had on hand...then i went through my scrap box for funky fabric and whipped up a few for me and my friends (if they like them that is)
If you want to have a go check out this blog for the tutorial

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Pineapple Designs turns 1!!!

Wow I can't believe my little facebook page Pineapple Designs has turned 1 already...what a journey it has been. I started with just making crayon caddys, pencil cases, bibs and 1 skirt style - and now I have many products and thinking up more. I wouldn't have come this far without all the support of friends, family and loyal customers. The coolest thing is seeing my clothes on children while i'm out and about...and when friends tell me they were at a birthday party and there was a child there wearing Pineapple Designs.

I thought I would run a competition to celebrate a great 1st year.

Competition details
Up for grabs is a $25 voucher to spend at Pineapple Designs on any premade stock in my albums.
To enter what you need to do is guess how much fabric(quilters cotton only) I have in my stash - below is a photo to help you out a bit, to be a bit of a pain you need to guess in yards as that is how all my fabric is purchased. Yes I know I have a major fabric addiction and this is only my quilters cotton fabric i'm showing you...I'm too scared to add in the polarfleece, cord, denim, stretch,

so take a guess and email me at pineappledesigns@hotmail.co.nz please put "fabric addiction competition" in the subject line
to help you out a bit it is more than 30yds and less than 200 yds

Entries closes on the 31st March - winner (or closest) will be announced on my blog
1 entry per person

Kate :-)

Monday, March 12, 2012

Tuesday night - crafting

Every Tuesday night i am part of a Stitch n Bitch group, we meet weekly at a different persons house and sit around chatting and crafting. I have decided to use this time to make things for my kiddies, instead of doing items for Pineapple Designs

This week i decided to use up some of my flannelette scraps and make Lucy some winter pjs




Here is the first pair - Carebears with a matching applique top
And the second pair hearts and purple - i was going to applique hearts onto a plain top but found this one at Kmart for $7 and thought it went very well with the bottoms

I will try and get a photo of Lucy wearing them but it is not quite cold enough yet.
Tomorrow I am learning how to make tutus - i love learning new things, i will share some photos of the finished product soon :-)

Sunday, March 11, 2012

New sewing book

ohh I'm so excited... I have just ordered my copy of Patty Youngs book "Sewing modkid style" I can't wait to use some of her gorgeous knit fabric to make my daughter some really funky clothes.
I will be stalking the mailbox all next week.

Friday, March 9, 2012

after.......

sorry was having issues posting this after my post...this is the after cleaning out the fridge shot

Tropical Clafouti




Ingredients
250g cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
432g can of crushed pineapple
3 eggs
1/2 cup custard powder
2 tsp lemon rind
1/4 cup passionfruit pulp
1/4 cup coconut
Method
Place cream cheese in the bowl of a food processor with eggs, sugar, custard powder, crushed pineapple and lemon rind. Process until well combined.
Add passionfruit pulp and mix in quickly so as not to crush seeds. Pour into a greased 20cm
quiche dish. Sprinkle over coconut.
Bake at 180 C for 30-40minutes until set
serve warm
This is my favourite recipe...It has been my go to dessert for years ( i found it in Quick n easy dessert by Robyn Martin) It is just so quick throw everything in the whizz and its done in a few minutes. Looks like you spent ages making it. It is kinda like a cheesecake/citrus tart
serve with vanilla ice cream or cream.
And when i end up with a fridge fill of desserts and don't want to eat them all myself a few friends came around the other morning and we had Boysenberry & apple pie and tropical clafouti and ice cream for morning tea at 9:30am lol

Desserts and more dessert


welcome to my brand new blog....
One of my passions is cooking and i love trying out new desserts, here is a few i have done this year.
New World had some crazy specials on frozen berries the other month ($4 for a 1kg bag) so alot of my desserts will be featuring raspberries or boysenberries until they run out.
It is never hard to find volunteers to help me finish off all the desserts either, i hope to share and try out a new recipe every fortnight.
stay tuned for tonights recipe - Tropical Clafouti

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Tutorial: Coin Purse


Welcome to my first ever tutorial, I thought it was about time to have some more tutorials in metric, I’m sick of working in inches. I hope to do more as I find the time – Enjoy, Kate

Skill level: Beginner
Time to complete: under one hour
Finished size of coin purse: 12cm x 9cm


Materials
Main fabric x 2 pieces 13cm x 10cm
Lining fabric x 2 pieces 13cm x 10cm
Iron on interfacing x 2 pieces 13cm x 10cm
15cm zip (or longer - you can cut it down to fit)
Seam allowance 6mm – presser foot width

Equipment
Sewing machine/zipper foot
Thread
Scissors
Pins
Hand sewing needle Iron


Step 1
Iron interfacing to the wrong side of both pieces of the main fabric.


Step 2
Lay zip face down on one of the main fabric pieces, then place lining fabric on top right sides together and pin.


Step 3
Put your zipper foot on your machine – remember to adjust your needle position.
(I have broken a few needles forgetting to do this – lol)
Sew close to zip along the top of coin purse.


Step 4
Now for the other side of zip.
Lay zip face down on second piece of main fabric, then lay lining fabric on top – right sides together and pin. Sew close to zip.


Step 5
Now press fabric away from zip on both sides.

*Sorry if this photo is confusing I’m multitasking and making 2 coin purses at once.
Thought it was wise to have a backup for my first tutorial ;-)



Step 6
Topstitch both sides using the zipper foot close to the edge of fabric.

Step 7
Undo zip halfway -
*very important otherwise you will not be able to turn it through the right way later on.


Step 8
Pin right sides of main fabric together and lining fabric together.
Seam allowance 6mm – width of presser foot

*the blue line indicates where you need to sew.


Step 9
Start on the bottom of lining fabric and sew around the edge leaving a small
opening at the bottom to turn through.


Step 10
Trim corners, edges and zip ends to reduce the bulk around seams.


Step 11
Turn right sides out by pulling through the opening in the bottom.


Step 12
Pop the lining out so you can hand stitch up the hole at the bottom of lining.


Close up of me hand stitching the hole closed.


Step 13
Now pop the lining back into the coin purse and iron.


Step 14
Ta daa all finished…now step back and admire your handy work.

*fabric used in tutorial is from Amy Butler Love range
- paradise garden in wine
- sunspots in wine

Jan 2012 Newsletter