Kelly Casanova Weaving Lessons

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Wee little bairny

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I think my impending arrival has made me a little “baby mad”! I made this little waldorf baby this afternoon after fiddling around with a head and wondering what to do with the rest, it just seemed to become a baby. I needle sculpted her face, her body is polar fleece (really snuggly) and her hat is knitted from organic rainbow wool. She has a soft flannel wrap for swaddling that does up at the back with velcro. She is 8 inches long.

She will be in my Etsy shop shortly, I think I’ll be making another one for the little un’s 2nd birthday coming up. Just realised I won’t be able to call her that for much longer, there will be an
even littler un’!
And thankyou all for your positive comments on my last post, it means a lot to me šŸ™‚

Sweet Little Mary Janes

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I made these newborn sized Mary Janes from a pattern by Sweet Little Patterns. They are so

cute, a bit fiddly but not too difficult. These are for one of my husband’s work colleagues who is expecting soon.
Now to something not so cute that I just have to share. I received an email from my older brother this morning that included a passage that was upsetting to me. Here it is, he is referring to the impending arrival of our fourth child:
“Surely 4 will be enough…I hope for your sake you’re not going to go back for any more, otherwise you’re going to be 60 before you get to live a bit of life for yourself. Your decision of course…”
Hmm. Not sure how to respond to that, in fact at this point I don’t think I will respond. He only has 2 children himself and of course is not having any more. Its so saddening how anti – life our society is and how deeply penetrating it is.

How to roast your own coffee beans…

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My husband and I love to brew our own coffee in the mornings. We used to buy freshly ground coffee at the market each week until my husband made this discovery. Buying coffee beans in their raw state will cost you half as much as market coffee and much less than supermarket coffee (which usually tastes like dirty dishwater anyway!)
We brew our coffee in an Italian stovetop espresso pot (a marvellous invention).
Here’s what we do:

These are raw coffee beans. We buy Ethiopian beans from a little African supplies shop.


We dry roast them on a just lower than moderate heat in a deep frypan. The roasting takes about 20 minutes and needs constant stirring, so be patient! You want your beans to be very dark, crackling and smoking. It feels like you’re burning them, but its necessary to get a proper roast. The beans should also seem much lighter (in weight) and dryer by the time you’re done.

Once the beans have cooled grind them in a grinder (we use a little electric grinder that we bought fairly cheaply, it does a great job). The ground coffee in this picture is actually much darker than it looks here, yours should be nice and dark too.
Store the ground coffee in the fridge either in a lined paper coffee bag or an airtight container.
Enjoy your delicious coffee!

Corn flake cookies

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2 cups sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
250g butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 & 1/2 cups Corn flakes

Preheat oven to 180 degrees (C). Sift together flour & baking powder. Beat butter & sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs & vanilla, beat well. Add sifted dry ingredients & corn flakes, mix well for about 2 minutes. Drop by tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 10 minutes or until slightly browned.

A little update

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I’ve been on bedrest for a few days with that awful pregnancy muscle pain again that means I can’t stand or sit for long, but lying down is fine. Not terribly practical when you have 3 children and a house to run! Thankfully husband has had a couple of days off work to help so I can rest.

I managed to knit this little fellow in a semi reclining position:). Its hard to find things to do other than reading (no sewing!) Less than 5 weeks to go now, I wish it could be tomorrow…….

Go and check out this fabulous giveaway on the Australian Etsy Blog , so many wonderful prizes to choose from, I’ve entered!

Kid’s clothes

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Since I began my sewing journey I’ve always been very nervous about sewing clothes. I did a couple of terms of sewing classes with a professional dressmaker initially, and although I did learn a lot I also found her teaching methods somewhat intimidating – not a great learning environment.
I just finished this top and am so happy with how nice it looks, it has really boosted my confidence.


I used Stella fabric in red from the Crafty Mamas shop (I’ve tried other knits, this is the best to sew with so far) and bought the little cherry iron on applique. It matches the Kaufman cord pants beautifully (also from the CM shop).
My daughter thinks the outfit is great, especially since its another dress she doesn’t have to wear! (Yep, dress hater!)

Fly agaric fairy

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Its not very often I take out my watercolour pencils these days, as I usually have to contend with little fingers messing around with what I’m trying to do….. tonight I had an hour to myself and did this somewhat pensive fairy. I was inspired by visiting Ayelet’s blog some time ago to take out my pencils again, although the mushroom / toadstool thing is a coincidence as I sketched a rough picture ages ago.

Free embroidery design and tute!

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Here is the design for you, I tried making a pdf for easy printing, but my technological un – savvy brain wouldn’t comply, so what you can do is right click on the image, save it in a folder, then print it out to transfer to your fabric. Please let me know if it doesn’t work!

This design can be done entirely in stem stitch, so its easy for beginners. Just ensure when you’re going around tight curves to vary your stitch length to very small.

Use whatever fabric you like, I used homespun just because I like it.
Before you start stitching, shade in the areas you want coloured with a coloured pencil or I used my watercolour pencils. You can see in the picture below the areas I’ve shaded. You can always shade more when you’re done stitching, but go lightly to begin with and layer it. Back your fabric with fusible Pellon before you start stitching.

Stem stitch around the mushroom top and spots in red. Do the same around all the outlines, using my pictures as a guide. You can be adventurous with your colours.


Continue outline stitching and don’t forget the details on the butterfly’s body and wings.


Here is my finished stitchery, I did some extra pencil shading when I finished stitching (blue for the sky, green and brown for the ground. I then sewed on a fabric border, backed it with some wadding and put it in a frame without the back on.
You don’t have to frame yours, it could go on a cushion etc. but keep in mind it can’t be laundered due to the pencil!
Voila! A cute and quaint stitchery!
Please respect my creativity by only using this image and instructions for personal enjoyment.
I’d love to see pictures of your stitchery when you’re done and receive some feedback on the instructions.