A little tour chez Mademoiselle...

Chez Mademoiselle Mia that is...

Mia has swap room with her big sister recently, so it was a good excuse for me to spend some time in my garage and whip up something fun, colourful, sweet and a bit quirky...

A fun bedspread made with all my bits of fabrics and an old embroidered tablecloth. As usual, I only measure as I go, which makes the patchwork process a lot more enjoyable. I hate measuring every block in advance! I start with the centre and build around, cutting as I need, et voilà!

Whenever I step in her room now, it kind of lifts my mood. It's not just the bedspread of course. I love all of her little 8 years old knick-knacks.

 (Yes, like all newborn babies, Mia was soooo beautiful!)

and her little-and big-friends.

A big deer,

and a little mouse. This one collects teeth. Because in France, it is not a fairy, but a mouse that is in charge. Put your little tooth in her pocket, and the next morning, find a coin instead. Too cute!

(La Petite Souris a dent de lait. Moulin Roty)

On the wall, big Maman mouse is watching over everyone... I painted this while I was pregnant with Mia. I knew nothing would be black and white for this little girl.

Up in the air, Azul the Chinese dragon is warding off any bad dreams, while back on the bed, Mr Rabbit-snugly snuggle- is always happy to share cuddles.

Thank you Mia for letting us have a little peek in your world.

DIY Gift Tags

I have been wanting to do this for a while now and today's rainy weather has been the perfect occasion: DIY gift tags.It's quick and fun to do. I have a big collection of Little Golden Books that I have pick up in op shops and garage sales. The illustrations are gorgeous. They are not always in good condition which makes them perfect for craft projects. (I find it difficult to cut books that are in good shape.

I simply cut two rectangle shapes for each tag; one with the chosen illustration, one in a recycled brown paper bag. I zigzag stitched the two layers, sandwiching in the middle an office tag. If you have a punch hole, you probably don't need to do this. I had these tags sitting in my drawers so I decided to use them. It gives a "luggage" tag effect which I like.

They could make a fun garland too...or be hung in the tree...

A little TLC for the bathroom.

The main bathroom in our house has been for a long time a place of no interest.  It has pink tiles, the wrong kind of pink, yellowish tiles on the floor, dull white walls. A cheap vanity with a marble top...

With a budget of nort, but inspired by my friend Geraldine's desire to update her own bathroom and a wild pinning session on Pinterest, I went and gather a few of my favourite Bali items and decided to dedicate them to the bathroom.

Like my little fun mirror with beads and tassels. Very gypsy. Love it.

And my set of aluminum tins.

I have a hard time finding shower curtains attractive. So i bought a simple clear plastic one ($6 from Bunnings, rings included) and retrieved from my stash of fabrics a sunny happy cotton and a green flower power vintage bed sheet. I sew the two together. And voila!

A nice, vibrant shower curtain.

I love recycled plastic rugs. This one, picked up at Ikea for $12 was just the right size and colour. Plastic rugs are awesome in the bathroom.

I love a bit of live green in bathrooms, so...

I added these two little guys. The jute hanging pot holders are from Apple Bee.

I retrieved  unwanted wooden shelves from the attic and added a few more of my Balinese treasures.

And I have finally made the switch and now only use Pesthemal towels or Turkish towels. Absolutely brilliant and beautiful! Fast drying, ultra soft and absorbent. And if they are good in the bathroom, they are perfect at the beach too; they remain sand free even when wet!

I did a quick paint job on an old cabinet found on the side of the road and now we have a first aid cabinet too!

It may not be the bathroom of my dreams but you know what, I quite like my bathroom now. Yes, it still has pink tiles and a cheap vanity with a marble top but I don't see them as much now. It goes to show that even without a big budget you can turn ordinary into ... nice ordinary!

Baby Dribble Cloth ... or the love for Chenille.

I love chenille. I always have and always will. Especially when it comes to baby gear. It's much softer than terry toweling and quite absorbent too. I've got a little friend, Alexandra, a real cutie pie, who has just discovered the joy of dribbling! So I just knew what to do: Dribble Cloths!

But, alas, finding Chenille hasn't been that easy. Spotlight has some, but only in a very pink pink and when I asked for a possible order for a nice crisp white, I was told it was discontinued and won't be available in the store anymore, whether white, pink or blue. Blah.
So I bought some of the pink, just in case. But I wasn't convinced.

So I tried Lincraft and got a bit more luck here. I've found some white Chenille, but only in the wide ribbed style. I don't mind; I quite like the look of the wide strips but it's not as soft as the other one.

I'd love to make a both robe for the kids with it, but at nearly $23 a meter, I probably won't. But I can make a lot of dribble cloths instead. And so can you because it is so easy to sew!

It is not something new, if you google, you'll find there are quite a few dribble/burp cloths around. But I'd like to show them to you here, just in case you've never came across any.
I like to gift mines as a set; two or three with matching mini ones, about the size of a man's wallet, to fit in any pocket for a quick dribble wipe action. I must say, I've used the small ones a lot more. And I still do, to wipe off chocolate moustaches and other bits of food that tend to cling to the kids'mouth. 

The larger ones are made to protect your shoulder after a feed. Well, they can be used for any sorts of spill, really.

Here's how to:

Larger cloth: Cut a rectangle 10"x 16" in the chenille, then in the fabric of your choice. With wrong sides of fabric together, sew all around, leaving a small opening. Trim excess fabric at corner. Turn fabric inside out (through the opening) close the opening with a top stitch.
I like to fold the large cloth in three, so I topstitch two lines like so:

It keeps the two layers of fabric in place nicely and the folding tidy.
For the mini cloth, I just top stitch in the middle, so it folds nicely in half.
And that's it. Real easy, Real quick, Really do-able. And it makes really cute presents. Really, really!

The 10 mns Christmas Stocking

Time is a tricky friend, isn't it? I'm quite ready to believe someone is actually making the clock ticking faster comes December. So much to do, so much to do, and really no time to panic ... or start any lengthy projects.
We need easy, fast, effective.
So, here is a quick tutorial on the most easy, fast and cute looking Christmas Stocking you'll ever make.

Make one, make twenty; they are made in a flash with no tricky parts.

All you need is fabric and twine.

I've found this lovely fabric on the market for $2 a metre. The beautiful neon pink twine is from Pulp. The colours are perfect match to my Christmas Angel and the Spaghetti feathers the kids have made.
You can check them out here.
(For a maximum Woa effect, choose a fabric that compliment the rest of your Christmas theme.)

For template, I've used one of the stockings I bought last year from Typo.(I was disappointed they did not make any this year).
I'm sure you all have an old stocking somewhere you can use as a guide, and if ever you don't, why don't you try drawing it yourself? It's real easy; just make sure to put a bit of curve on the sole and above the heel.
This stocking is only about 30 cm tall x about 15 cm wide. It's only intended for small treats and will be given to all my guests at Christmas. But regardless of the size this is how to:

With fabric folded in two, trace and cut around template. You should have two pieces looking like this.
If you are making more than one, I'd suggest you do all of your cutting first, then move onto the sewing part.

Flip the pieces over (wrong side facing) and press a small dart (2.1/2") on each inside top corner. (On the heel side of the boot. The Typo Stocking has it's tie poking out at the front=toe side, I prefer having it hanging from the back=heel side.

With right sides together, start stitching just below the dart and all around the boot, leaving the top raw edge open.

Zig zag stitch or overlock top edge. (Do not stitch sides together or "close" the boot, just stitch all along top edge. Obvious for most, but just in case.)

Fold and press a small gutter (about 3/4 ") and stitch just above the overlocking (or zigzag) stitch line.

Time to turn stocking inside out and thread twine through the gutter, leaving enough out to knot and hang.

Et voila! All Done!

Super easy, super fast!

Since these are not intended for retail, I didn't bother overlocking the whole thing or make a proper hem at the top. I did try however to make name tags; with Hessian (Burlap) and felt.

But I wasn't so keen on the final result and since it (considerably) lengthen the execution, I gave up, enjoying the look of the"bare"stockings.

I let you be the judge.

With.

Without.