Hoodie dress out of fleece - Febuary Challenge -make something out of Knit

OK I think I just out did myself! Im very excited about this jumper dress I made for Chloe. I bought a recycled T-shirt hoodie pattern off Etsy and adapted it to make this fleecy hoodie dress for Winter. Its totally my own design, right down to the heart applique!! I haven't tried it on Chloe yet because she is asleep but I hope it looks good and fits her! Im going to make her some strippy leggings to wear with it. The best thing about this little project is that even my sewing is good! All my seams are really straight!!!!! After I make some leggings Im going to make Elyssa a little matching one. It will be a little bit different though but I think Ill put a heart on it too and make her some leggings out of the same material. Im very excited about this hoodie though, Ill post a pic of Chloe wearing it tomorrow. I really hope I like it on her!...It would be wrong to wake her up, wouldn't it.....

I have just edited this post to add that I have just discovered that this little number fits the bill for the 12 month sewing challenge (see button on side) I wasn't sure if fleece counted as a knit fabric or not and it does (silly me). I had been planning on making leggings for the girls, I bought some material from Spotlight and also found some at the local op shop, I bought a pattern off Etsy but alas it wasn't to be! The pattern appears to be a corrupt file and I can't get it to open. Im waiting to hear back from the seller...waiting and waiting and waiting.....

The next challenge is to make a Softie which should be good fun. I might make a giraffe or maybe a dog. Mum made one for Elyssa for Christmas and gave me the instructions. It depends on how much of a challenge I want!

Some Very Fancy Pants!!

I had lost my sewjo lately because I was lacking motivation. Both girls have plenty of summer clothes and I wanted to start sewing winter clothes but I didn't have any material. Pay day was last week so I made the one hour trip to Spotlight to see what they had. I decided I need to make Chloe a few pairs of cord pants, a few jumpers, tracksuit pants, a pinafore and some leggings. Im also going to make a hoodie dress out of fleece using a pattern I bought off Etsy. I found what I needed at Spotlight (I was there an hour and a half!) including a beautiful floral printed brown cord. It was rather pricey so I bought a few matching colours in cord so that I can use it in a few different pieces rather than just as an item itself. So here is my first creation! I used a pattern my mum gave me. Mum made Chloe a pair of pants using this pattern last year and they are a great fit. She still wears those pants all the time. I added the floral panel which is why I love them so much! Its so much fun putting together your own creations! We call them her fancy pants and she adores them. They are certainly a bit different and you probably wouldn't find them in a shop anywhere which is why I like them. Next Im going to make Elyssa a pair as well although her pants will be all floral cord. A bit too fidly  to add a panel to such a small pair of pants.

My little garden patch!!

Well today I am very excited! I recieved a leaflet in the mail yesterday from our local community house saying they had garden plots available for people to rent for $10 a year. I rang first thing this morning because since moving into our new place I have started to miss having a backyard. We have a very small deck but thats it. I arranged to meet the couple that run the garden this afternoon and they showed me around. There were two plots available so I took both! A whole $20!! I can't wait to get started. There is a shed there that has all the gardening equipment and two big water tanks for watering. Chloe loved the garden too and Im also doing it for her. It gives us somewhere else to go each week and she can learn all about growing a vegie garden. Im going to take some of her gardening toys down there as well and leave them in a tub in the shed so that she can really be a part of it. Its also fenced in which I like because she can't get away when my back is turned!

The plots aren't huge but will do the job nicely. Each would be about 2m by 1m. There is already rhubarb growing in one plot along with potato. In the other plot there is capsicum growing. Im going to leave them all there so that Chloe can see some instant results. I think I am going to plant brocolli, cauliflower, french beans, spinach and leeks. I also have some tomato and strawberries growing on my deck so I might transplant them and see what happens!

So I am really excited and will blog about the entire project. I haven't taken pics yet but will next time I visit

My Health and Fitness Goals

My whole life I have battled with my weight which is funny because looking back now I never really had a problem...it was all in my head or other peoples issues being projectd onto me that I interpreted to mean I was fat. This has set up for me an ongoing cylcle of try a diet, loose some weight, rebel against diet, gain weight, usually more that what I originally lost. Over the years this cyle has lead me to continually gain weight little bit by little bit, year after year and this isn't who I am, I am an energetic person who loves activity, being out and about and playing with my kids. All of this has become alot harder lately though as my weight is draining me of all my energy and good health. I also don't want this type of lifestyle for my kids so I have decided this is the year of change. In order to do this I am going to have to change the way I tackle this issue. As Dr. Phil says, if you keep doing what you have always done, you will always get the same result...so Im going to come up with a different approach.

The first thing I need to do is not go on a diet, that leads me to think about it too much until it becomes an obsession which I then get sick of so I give in. I have been looking at what I am currently doing everyday that is leading to my unhealthy lifestyle and i have decided that the main issue is bad daily habits. I am also an emotional eater and I suffer from anxiety so this also plays a part but Im thinking for the moment at least I don't have to address this. As long as I am always changing something Ill get where I want to be. I also don't have to be perfect about this, any change I make is for the better, but not everything has to change all at once. I am in no hurry to loose this weight, I just want to loose it. My aim is to loose 12kg over 12 months. I need to loose probably double this but the way I am going to do it, this should naturally happen.

So my plan of attack is to change one daily habit each week. I am also only going to weigh myself monthly.
I started this new healthy lifestyle three weeks ago and so far it is working for me. I don't think I have lost any weight but that isn't the point of this plan, the point is to change my life habits into healthier ones.

So far I have:
1. started drinking lots more water. This was my first weeks challenge. I aim to drink a 300ml glass of water at every meal and snack, plus one before bed and one after exercise.

2. Stopped eating any food but fruit after 7pm most nights. This one has been a struggle but I did alot better this last week, I ate popcorn on our family movie night but thats it for the week.

3. Excersing for at least 20 minutes, 5 days a week. I am actually aiming to exercise for 40 minutes not 20 but I like the idea that if Im really not in the mood I can at least manage 20 minutes and then I haven't let myself down. Plus I usually find that when I get going I am happy to go for longer, its just getting out the door. This week I have done quite well at this goal because we got a Wii Fit and I did 30 minutes on 4 days. I also went for a 40 minute walk on Monday. I am so sore from the Wii Fit though! Its so much fun you don't feel like you are exercising. It gives great feedback too.

4. So this week I am going to aim to only eat fruit or something low calories as a snack between meals most days. This one is going to be hard! Sticking with the exercise is going to be hard too!


Other habits I am going to tackle over the next twelve months in an order to be decided are:

• Eating/ drinking low fat products
• Eating when out and about
• Muscle workouts
• Yoga workouts
• Healthy Breakfast
• Healthy Lunch
• Healthy Dinner
• Balance Workouts
• Eating more veg
• Eating more fruit
• Eating a variety of protein
• Challenging workout once a week

There will be more to come! I think this program will work because if I feel the need  to sabotage my success like usual, the whole program shouldn't go to waste. For example, if I stop exercising one week at least the other habits should still stick because they have become a part of your everyday life. If you stuff up you can still keep on track by focussing on the positives, like you didn't exercise but isn't it good that you drank all your daily water? I hope all that makes sense!

So each week I will report back on my progress but it wont be on how much weight I have lost, it will be about what changes I am making and what my next goal will be...

Im really excited by this plan and I hope the flow on effect will be a healthier life for my family to...

A week of firsts for my big girl

Wow, what a week! An emotional rollercoaster. This week Chloe has started Daycare, Three Year Old Kinder and Ballet Dancing. She has had a mixed response to it but I am just so proud of her. She is so confident it amazes me! At her first dancing class she ran straight into the room announcing that she had come to dance and when was it starting. She joined straight in with all the other kids as if she had been doing it for years. She kept up throughout the class and was really good at it! I had tears of pride in my eyes. I had been worried that she wouldn't have been able to stay still long enough to follow, plus she isn't very good at following directions, she prefers to do things her way but none of this happened. I couldn't have been happier for her. It was the same at Kinder. Parents had been asked to stay for a while until the kids were comfortable but Chloe walked in the door, turned around and said bye mummy, bye Elyssa, cuddle and a kiss...and she was gone! Off to meet new  friends and try out all the activities. I would have loved to have had her confidence when I was her age. I said to Ben if there was ever a sign that we are good parents that has to be it. All I want for her is to love herself and to believe completely in herself and she trully does. Then it all got a bit hard though....

I went to pick her up from Kinder and she came running over. Her bottom lip started to tremble and she tried to tell me a couple of things but she couldn't get the words out. Then her eyes filled with tears and my heart broke. I sat on the floor at the kinder and gave her a big cuddle, poor Elyssa was grumbling because she was squashed between us. The teacher was nearby and I told her she was crying and I asked her why. She said that chloe had a wonderful time and was so excited and that sometimes when kids get picked up they cry but im not so sure...it isn't really her personality to do that. Later on I had a chat to Chloe and she said she had bumped her head on the table and needed me but I wasn't there. I said she could tell the teacher but she said she didn't like her. Im always over anxious when leaving my kids and I know she is just getting used to something new but I just want to protect her from the big bad world. I hate to think the confidence we have built in her could be knocked down by outside people and situations but it will and she will grow stronger from it and learn....but its still hard...and its probably the first of many times when I am going to feel heartbroken for my little girl.

Tomorrow is Daycare, its her second session and Im nervous. I have told her that if she wants to come home she can tell the ladies and they will call but as usual she is ultra confident and says no, she would like to stay at daycare all day so i will follow her lead.