Little Bean in a Little Beanie

Yep, I'm a typical parent. The wee guy has a variety of nicknames including 'little sausage', 'the wee guy', 'bruiser' and 'little bean'. I tried a few different designs of beanies for the wee guy for keeping him toasty warm in winter this year, and became increasingly frustrated with seams around the face which just wouldn't work for me. Soooo I came up with my own seamfree design of beanie. Here's my little bean in the goshorty little beanie. There's a knot at the top which you can move up and down to adjust sizing, and it has fit him from 6 months til now when he's almost 1... and it's still going.

Merino, seamfree, stretchy, toasty warm, delicious.

Don't those eyes just melt ya?!

Little Boots!

I found this while browsing a few months ago and thought it was suuuuper cute, and after discovering that the wee guy has inherited my cold feet / ankles problem (apparently I have Raynaud's phenomenon according to an ex-pupil's nurse mum... I digress!) I thought I should make him some snuggly slippers with some fabric scraps.

Here's the link first: Bare Maked blog

And up top is my first effort that I "whipped up" while the wee guy was asleep yesterday! Very proud. I've got a pile of grey camo ribstop cotton that is earmarked for some denim cuffed pants, and lots of odds and ends of white microfleece that is used for nappies and bib backs.

I measured the wee guy's feet to be 11cm long, and gave myself waaayyyy too much seam allowance (the sole measurement pre-sewing was about 15cm! oops) but the fit around his ankles is fantastic. He actually made it through a whole day without being able to kick off his footwear. Now that's a first!

These won't be going into the goshorty line, however if I have a few scraps I'm sure I can "whip up" a few more for the stuff that never makes it to the store - that is, baby shower pressies! I'm so chuffed with them I'll try to make a few more pairs for the wee guy while he's still wee.

Now to decide if I should sew up some more bibs or some beanies. Or nappies. Or dresses. Argh! Where does that time go?!

We're Back! Here's goshorty

and... I'm back!

Life got in the way. I left the daily grind in an office job for my first profession, teaching little kids. Then got pregnant, then had to leave teaching in a hurry when it was a threat that my son would arrive 13 weeks early. Then motherhood started...


So while I've been a stay-at-home-mum, I've also dragged out my sewing machine Naomi the Janome, dusted her off, and started creating! Rather than spending up large on gifts for friends' baby showers, I started sewing bibs and muslin wraps, and the more people saw them the more interest they got. People started ordering bibs and I decided that rather than just making them for nameless fun, why not get a label! So 'go shorty' was born.

The wee guy has been my #1 model for my own special design of seam-free fuss-free beanies, and has also been my product tester for booties, bibs, wraps and wipes. But I also got hooked on sewing little dresses - an updated pillowcase-style dress, and a tie-up reversible dress so far in the 'goshorty' collection. I'd be verrrry unpopular if the wee guy was a model for dresses so that's where my darling friends and their daughters come in. Thanks ladies!

More to come, watch this space!

Off to cut out parts for a sunhat for the wee guy. Bring on summer!

Some Like It Hot

I just read something on spices ...

I love cooking, I really do. And I am a self-confessed old-fashioned cook who HATES using packet mix, as you really don't know what you're putting into your food, and subsequently into your body. As a result I have rather an extensive collection of spices which have a rather eclectic bunch of best-before dates on them.

After reading this (see below) last night care of my FlyLady mailers that seldom get looked at, I had an amusing cleanout of my collection of spices so now nothing is kept if the best before date predates 2007.


The shelf life of spices are as follows:
Ground spices: 2 to 3 years
Whole spices - 3 to 4 years
Dried Herbs - 1 to 3 years

You may need some new spices if:
*The date stamp on the bottom of the jar was from when you were in high school
*The company who made the spice in the first place is out of business. Since 1980!
*The can is rusted and the label indistinguishable—you don't know what's in there.
*The label is missing so you smell it to identify it and can't!
*The smell of the spice smells oddly like the garage on a rainy day.
*You mistakenly grab ground ginger for white pepper and it didn't ruin what you were making because it had no flavor!

To keep spices fresh and nice, I will now attempt to buy only what I need and mark the bottom of the container with a Sharpie, indicating the date purchased.

Also I'd love to copy Donna Hay's idea of installing a magnetic knife wall thingie on the underside of a shelf, superglueing a metal washer to the top of the jar, and suspending the jars from the magnetic strip. Actually I'd love to copy everything by Donna Hay.


Oh and to explain the FoxyMoron, it comes from Kath & Kim, my favourite Aussie Dramedy / Mockumentary where they constantly muck up words and it cracks me up.

This desperate housewife is signing off.