Expanding family - shrinking waistline

I have recently found out that I am going to become an aunty again. I currently have 4 nephews and 1 niece all under the age of 3 years old. I also have a sort of nephew - my best friends little boy who is 13months old. We have known each other since we were 4 years old so are more like sisters hence why he is like a nephew to me and I am also his Godmother. Hopefully the new baby will be a 2nd niece for me to sew for as that is one of my aims this year - to sew more for the babies. My family is growing so fast it is hard to keep up.
On the other hand hopefully my waist is going to shrink just as fast - or at least before the summer. I had a hernia operation just over 2 years ago and put on about 2 stone due to not being able to exercise and being stuck at home all day with only my sewing to keep me going. It didn't really bother me at first but now that I still haven't been able to shift the weight I am starting to get a bit down about it. I lost about 1/2 a stone but have recently put that back on. I am now serious about losing the weight and have about 2- 2 1/2 stone to lose. I have started Zumba and am aiming to lose a couple of pounds a week. I will blog about my progress.

Happy New Year

Happy new year everyone.

Here's hoping that 2012 brings everything you are hoping for.

I am starting the year as I mean to go on - sewing and updating my blog. I do apologise if some of this doesn't make sense as I am currently suffering with a head cold.

For Christmas I always try to make items for my family especially my mum. This year I made my brothers a quilted kindle cover and my mum an apron.

I wanted to make the apron special and something that was personal to my mum so decided to put photo's of her grandchildren on the front. She loved it but it did make her cry on Christmas morning.
This then bought up the problem of how to do it as even though I love my mum dearly the price charged for fabric that you can print on to me is ridiculous. 
After researching ways to print my own fabric from google I came across freezer paper. So off went the order to Cotton Patch - who I must say were prompt with their delivery.
I then had fun trying it out - once ironed onto my chosen fabric I printed the pictures out. The only problem with this method is that the image is not water proof - not much good for an apron.
My solution to this was to add a layer of clear plastic over the top.

Here is a picture of the front of the apron:

 Here is a close up of the detail in the middle of the apron:

                     The middle section was a patchwork effect of photo's and broderie anglaise. 

Here is a view of the back:

I added a backing of the same cotton fabric on the whole of the back, this was part to hide the stitching of the patchwork panel but also to strengthen the apron. I then added the plastic across the whole of the front and stitched it round the edge on the back side. This side is not as neat and tidy as I would like but I have found sewing plastic to be a nightmare (think I will have to invest in some new feet - a Teflon foot and a walking foot are high on the list) but it is ok for the tools I had.

Here is a close up view of the stitching:

To make the neck and waist straps I used my mums old apron for measurements (also used this for the template for actual apron) and then sewed them in between the front and back layers.

I made this as a surprise for my mum so had to keep hiding it whenever she came near but I made it within about 4 hours. The longest part was printing the images onto the fabric and letting the ink dry enough to use them. Don't try to rush this part as otherwise your images will smudge and be useless.

The only problem I will have now is that another grandchild is on its way ( due in July), another neice for me hopefully.

Here's to more successful projects in 2012

Kelly