George the Elephant

Meet George! I made him today, from a pair of old shorts and some lovely orangey material I got from The Lanes on Monday. He's supposed to be a king, but I thought the crown would be too dangerous, so made him rather dapper with a bow tie instead...

Auntie Anne's Baby Knitwear

We got a parcel from AA last week (it was feared to have gone missing)with the knitwear she's made "with love in every stitch". It's for age 3-6-9 months, so will be in perfect time for our winter months...which also coincide with AA's visit at Chinese New Year...

The jacket is fab, with a little vest underneath, some bootees and some mitts. Lovely!

Baby Chin Cloths

I seem to be making nothing but baby stuff at the moment...here are some chin cloths / spit cloths in a cute Japanese style. They're from a book I got a few weeks ago in Bangkok - will put the name up when I have it to hand!

These are in toweling, so should be able to deal with the HK heat...and the baby's dribble...

Baby Changing Mats

We made a couple of changing mats, to take with us on days out (when the baby's here!). This was a joint effort, with my helper doing much of the cutting and me doing the sewing. I had to make two as the bias binding on first one was imperfect on two of the corners!

Naan bread

We've made these a few times now, and they are always fab. We have the naan with Burmese chicken and spinach...

Naan

Ingredients

500g strong white flour
2 teaspoons cater sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons black mustard or onion seeds
3 tablespoons fresh chopped coriander leaves
1 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast
2 tablespoons butter, melted
150ml natural yohgurt
150 ml milk
3 tablespoons water


To make with breadmaker

1. Into tin, put the milk, yoghurt, cold water, melted butter. Spoon in flour then salt, sugar, seeds, corainder leaves. Make a dip in the centre and sprinkle in yeast.

2. Set to dough or basic dough.

3. At end of proramme, tip dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead well. Cut into 6 pieces, then roll out into an oval slightly larger than your hand.

4. Put the breads onto some oiled clingfilm and cover loosely with more oiled clingfilm. Leave to proove in a warm place for 20 mins.

5. Heat a heavy frying pan. Spray/wipe with oil. add naan and cook for 5 mins, turning once, until brownded and cooked through.

[From 'The Bread Book' by Sara Lewis]

Soft toy dog

It is my nephew's 1st birthday coming up, so I decided to make him a toy.









I found inspiration here:

http://allsorts.typepad.com/allsorts/2006/05/softie_scotty_d.html


I spent Saturday making the smaller light blue prototype (you might recognise the material).

It was tricky though and was too small for a one-year-old, so I made a new bigger pattern. This was trickier, as I had to sew on the collar before assembling the pieces, and I forgot to add ribbon to the neck insert. The eyes are glued and then sewn (I must get a thimble)for safety. I think I need to refine my technique, so will keep trying...

Baby play cube

As I have a few old work shirts to use up (!), I thought I'd have a go at sewing a cube. I crocheted one for my sister's baby and she tells me he loves playing with it, so I thought I'd make another. The corners were a bit tricky - more practice needed. The red star looks vaguely communist...