Urban Threads

“[Music] well a very good evening to my friends and happy Saturday it is the 4th of January and it is a brand new year happy New Year I hope you're all doing well before I go on I'm actually going to plug the camera in because oh I haven't charged it in a while and she needs some juice we're going to need some juice for the old girl cuz there's lots to talk about so grab a cup of tea grab some munchies get comfortable because I'm predicting this Vlog will be a long one possibly going to like film it over a couple of days but I'm thinking just this section here tonight is going to be pretty lengthy because we've got some Advent calendars to open I had every intention to do vlogmas last year but with my new job it would have been highly impossible it would have been extremely stressful I just wouldn't have had the time to do it but I didn't really realize that before I bought some Advent calendars for vlogmas and they're still sitting here unopened on the 4th of January so I thought let's open them together all in one hit and uh see what's in them that's always fun isn't it so before I go on I'll just give you a little bit of an update on what's happening in life cuz it's been a while since I've done uh a vlog I think maybe September I remember I did a favorites video and that's it in September I started a new job I work for banina Australia which is insane it's a job that just popped up I applied for it and I got it it really is just a pretty crazy thing that has happened so my job title is area manager for New South Wales and the ACT it's essentially sort of like a sales rep role where I visit dealers and I uh manage them and help them out with things do uh demo days and classes and demonstrate products and all that sort of stuff so yeah it's pretty crazy the last four weeks have been pretty intense learning the role there's still so much more to learn but yeah it's it it has been a very big learning curve I have wonderful people uh that I work with who have been helping me and showing me the way but yeah there's there's lots to learn it is a busy job but in an industry that I just love and it's very very exciting you may have seen on my Instagram I have been sharing a few sewing machines that I've been able to play with recently I've actually been very very lucky to bring a sewing machine home uh to play with it's only on loan I don't own it I've done a one little thing with it so far with the embroidery unit but that's it I haven't had any time to do anything else I'll quickly show you the machine so here is the cover and underneath we we have oh a banina 790 Pro and this one comes with the embroidery unit and it also has just there a table that um inserts there and then yeah you turn it on and you get to play and and uh do lots of fun things with it so I'll show you a little bit more of the machine another day but yeah just going forward just know that I will be using Bina machine because I am an employee of banina and I'm very very lucky to one be given the job to be honest I mean seriously I got really got to pinch myself every day and of course because I am an employe of banina I will be using their products and uh and yeah using their sewing machines they are so different to what I'm used to they're like the next level and there's lots to learn so we can learn together and I'll show you all the ins and outs of things and yeah just have fun making and sewing and and making beautiful things which is one of the things I love to do so yeah going forward we will be using banina and uh and yeah just exploring what they can do so now that I've updated you on my work situation let's open some Advent calendars I actually bought another Advent calendar fabric Advent calendar that I was going to open during vlogmas last year but as I mentioned I just I just didn't get the time to to even contemplate doing vlogmas last year so I had the box here and it's just still sitting here wrapped waiting to open it so I still really wanted to open it with you guys so I just thought well let's just open it all at once let's just crack in we don't have to wait we can just see what it all looks like so firstly very nicely Claire sent me a lovely little bundle of little squares of fabric and they will be absolutely perfect for hexis I don't have any little ones at hand but they will be really good for the little ones that I do are they half inch can't remember but yeah they will definitely make up some really gorgeous sweet hexies woo some little summer sewing there I think should I keep that that's a good bit of twine I don't want it to go to waste H yeah we'll keep it let's open it up see what we've got a box let's open it and see what's in there very nicely wrapped I love it aha lovely packages what's the song brown paper packages tied up with string these are a few of my favorite things there's 24 to open so I really do hope you've made yourself comfortable and you've got your cup of tea ready and have something nice to munch on if you don't pause it right now and then come back okay all right we're back and we're ready to go so before I open it this is going to be a mixture of fabrics and habashy items I chose the seasonal one it was called bundle of joy vintage Christmas that's exciting let's see what it's going to be okay package number one of the Stitch Saloon Advent calendar from 2024 day one is Fabric and that's a beautiful star fabric very nice oh this one has a salvage it's an art gallery Fabric and it's from The Collection called Christmas in the cabin day two oh I think it's a habit aery thing that's very exciting noise oh it is needles Sharps needles from Soo Focus there we go I love the little tin welcome back let's open them and see what they look like I don't think the camera's going to pick these up oh there we go the camera did pick them up I'm a liar oh I'm so glad the camera can pick them up and a very small eye oh guys I'm reaching my 40s and that's a pretty small eye but that's okay we can deal with that day three it's more fabric this fun little lights I love it so today is the 4th of January and today I actually took down all of our Christmas decorations because it's not Christmas anymore guys feels a little bit odd opening up Christmas fabric but at the same time it's really really cool cuz I love Christmas day four let's do it it's another fabric this one is gorgeous and it's the sweetest little ornaments I love this vintage Christmas range it's so up my street love it okay moving on day five it's another fabric what are you I love this gingham and I love the color oh and it's so soft that's a really really lovely weave that's real quality that is I you know you know when you can tell it's good quality fabric and it has that really nice soft touch to it that's lovely ah perfect we're up to day six and we've got a habit asery item I think it's definitely not fabric what can it be oo they are some stick and Stitch embroidery stickers that's what that says right yeah so if you didn't know what these are these are like a stabilizer with a printed picture on it and it will have a sticky back that usually you can like peel it and stick it onto a fabric and then do your little stitches and then the stabilizer at the back will actually wash away and it just leaves your embroidery onto the fabric that you've just embroidered the little design onto and I think they're such a great little product so that's really exciting dare I say maybe vlogmas this year I might be able to do something I don't know just depends on where the job takes me day seven and it's a fabric o lovely another green and this one's got really cool kind of circles on it really nice day eight and it's another habitatery oh English paper piecing templates oh yes laser cut Precision for more accurate piecing interesting wow they're really really different strong and durable reuse again and again transparent for fossy cutting helpful heat resistant yes hard edges whip Stitch or lad Stitch friendly cool so that's what the front looks like and they're 1 in my favorite and then they look like this so they're like a template and they've got like little slits through it and a hole in the middle for your PIN so yeah you can kind of really use them over and over and over again which is what I already do with my cardboard ones and once they get a little bit too Tatty then they go in the bin that's a really interesting product cool we give them a go too hopefully you guys still with me we're only on day nine so let's open it and see what we've got it's another fabric little presents cute a very sweet day 10 ooh it's a it's a big one this one is it fabric it is this aing calendar is getting better and better it is a lovely piece of cotton and linen fabric that is perfect for embroidery or other Stitch based projects I love it it's a really lovely piece of cotton linen it's got a really nice texture to it as well really nice I can't believe that this was just sitting on my desk the whole time with all these amazing things in it okay we're up to day 11 it's another fabric oh continuing with the green theme we've got like a green stripe really nice I love the stripe when it's on this angle it gives a really nice texture when you cut and piece it day 12 is a habash item I'm not sure what that is seems like a piece of fabric rolled up I what a piece of Liberty fabric it's like a 13 or something that's nice it's like a really lovely lightweight roil that's really lovely it's got like this really lovely paisley print on it very nice it's a bit of a press but that might be interesting I actually might use that for one of my little heart blocks because this pattern is from the quilting with Liberty fabric yeah yeah that's what the book's called quilting with Liberty Fabrics I've been trying to use some of my Liberty Fabrics in that so I think we'll definitely make a block using that fabric very nice 13 is another fabric oh it's a lovely plaid in the Christmas colors very nice okay that was 13 we're up to 14 looks like a habit aery item oops oh I had a peek I know what it is we have some lovely DMC threads or floss whichever one you want to call it lovely gorgeous pastels it's not going to focus focus on the Treads not me focus on the threads not me what can I say guys it just likes me too much but we got some lovely pastel DMC threads we're on to day 15 another fabric love this color this is like one of my favorite types of greens we actually had ones like this in a last Stitch Saloon uh Advent calendar and it's the one with like those little crosses in it we have a couple of these colors in this BEP quilt that I made with the Fabrics from previous Stitch Saloon Advent calendar from it must have been 2022 2020 no no 20 23 no 22 oh I don't know it was a while ago that was 15 so we should have a 16 ah 16 is next and it looks like another habitatery item looks like a fun pattern no it's not you know I've seen this on Instagram and it looks really interesting and I really wanted to buy it and and see how it goes it is called a attack it easy Gadget so what you do is you essentially put your hexi in there that hasn't been glued or basted down actually there's pictures on the back but I don't know whether it will pick it up but you put your hexi in the middle you put your glue around it and then these little things flap over and they sort of Shield your finger from the sticky glue and it just helps you sort of tack it down easier you kind of see the picture there you glue it and then you press these down to uh press your Fabrics down and it stops your fingers getting more sticky quick easy accurate No More Sticky Fingers um so yeah I saw this on Instagram a lot and it looks really interesting so for someone who loves making hexis this is a product that I think will be very exciting to see what it's like awesome okay we're up to my favorite number number 17 and if you know why 17 is my favorite number then you are a wonderful person my birthday is on the 17th of which month now that's a hardcore follower if you know what month anyway this is the next fabric it is beautiful green with green stuff and white stars and it's gorgeous I love this green I love dark greens just I want to paint a room in our house a dark green and make it all really nice and cozy nice sort of like cozy reading room but anyway uh really nice really nice okay we're up to 18 and this one's thick it's another habit aery one it's a pattern everything is starting to come together it is a pattern for a sampler needle book and now I know why we have this beautiful linen and these lovely threads so we can make this that is such a good idea that there's like a second kind of project in here for me to do I love that and it's a beautiful pattern Happy Days oh my goodness I'm being so spoiled okay we're on day 19 getting close to the the end well done if you're still here watching me just open packages it's another fabric end it is a different shade of gingham the other one we had was a lighter version so then we've got a darker version and it's lovely love it so much I love a good gingham okay 20 is another fabric ooh it's a cute kitchy one I love it we've got a lovely winter scene really cool and this is definitely all the same range Christmas at the cabin Christmas in the cabin Christmas cabin yeah nice uh that was 20 R to 21 it's another another fabric oh something a bit different orange stripes I have a real thing for orange at the moment I don't know what it is but I really like that I love a good stripe I love a good them love a good spot I'm a basic kind of girl 22 is a habitatery item and it's another pattern it's a cool pattern by the Stitch Saloon this one is called a garden patch quilt it looks really really lovely so it's made up of really sweet little nine patches put together and it comes out like that very cool our garden patch quilt pattern celebrates the classic n patch quilt Block in a modern way perfect for beginners we'll add it to the never ending list of things to do and we will definitely make that okay we're up to the last two little packages so day 23 now last fabric is a really cool David Jones kind of vibe going only Australians will get the reference it's that kind of hounds ju kind of pattern Aussies will get the David Jones reference but Jones is black and white not orange is it orange or red all right well done if you're still here we're going to open 24 and see what this ISS oh it's a gift certificate just going to hide that number cuz I'm assuming that's important it's a $20 gift certificate oh that's dangerous thank you Claire I'm so glad that there's no expiration date because I've opened this late so thank you for not putting that on there but that's really cool thank you so much there has been a few things that I have been eying on your website I'm thinking oh I might buy that so very nice what a lovely Advent calendar Claire you have outdone yourself this year that is a great Advent calendar and I'm so disappointed I didn't get to open it during vlogmas but I really quite enjoyed just opening it all at once and and experiencing it like all together so we'll show you all of the the Fabrics Al together actually let me just make this a little bit nicer a little bit more presentable okay oh mat Tera oh I'm not really presenting this all in oh awkward okay actually I might have to okay I'm not doing a very good job at this there there I should just put them on the table and just and just film them but that's all of the Fabrics together I love but maybe maybe we should do this with these Fabrics in preparation for Christmas I think that would be really cool Happy Days ah it feels like Christmas all over again but it's not Christmas cuz Christmas was like two weeks ago very cool thank you so much Claire great Advent calendar as always highly enjoyed that so I reckon you think that that's it well it's not this year's vlogmas I was going to actually open two Advent calendars so we still have a whole other Advent calendar to open and enjoy together this one I think I might just like open really really quickly because it's taking a lot longer than I thought but alongside the Advent calendar from the Stitch Saloon I also got the labels calendar by Kylie in the machine just because I thought well why not we've done previous label calendars before and they were really cool really really fun things to to discover so I got the one that was this year and I've been avoiding so many spoilers on Instagram so I have managed to not know what is in sorry I'm trying to open it I've managed to avoid what's in this so let's open it and see what's in there I love the artwork really really cool anyway let's open it so along with the calendar I also got the tin to put all of the labels in and with my order I also got these labels which are now sadly out of date Circa 2024 and then it also got a free label uh saying thank you for being you so they will be added to the 10 as we open this and put them in there let's open it up ooh fun there's a road map of hints until you reach day 24 take a moment and Delight in the surprise inside anyway we're just going to open them and see what's in there day one let's see I've absolutely butchered it oh my gosh day one sewists going to sew they're very cool day two these ones say chef's kiss day three DIY magic I love the color of that one very nice day four little scissors ooh Panic Zone I love that that's very cool day five these are very hard doors to open oh there's a lot of these ones we got two let's hang and two iron me very nice day six oh I really like these ones make wear wash repair again love the colors open day seven if I can there we go so you got Banger in gold on one side and again in the blue it's a very Australian thing to say to say oh that's a banger which means good we got a little Taylor Swift necklace here for day eight I like these ones [Music] whoopsie very cool okay day nine that's very cool it says I fig and love you and it's a little fig plant okay day 10 day 10 is double-sided one says this killed me and on the other side never again I like that that's cool a we've all made them Haven we okay day 11 this one's fun it just says done I like it day 12 I don't like these doors they're so hard to open this turned out so well and I can't tell you how happy I am about it is there a hint of sarcasm in that or is it just like genuine day 13 so there's two different ones in this one first one is o la la and then the second one is gorgeous little sparkly Hearts very nice day 14 this one is wear me in wear me out I really like the colors in these ones really fun day 15 hello this one we've got two colorways made with love and no regret in a purple and a green a 16 this one's definitely for pajamas sweet dreams I love that very cute day 17 a really cute such a fun make oh and the little sun in the middle I love them great color too okay day 18 gorgeous koala my favorite marul same label but into colorways time well spent day 19 these ones just say Jad and it says it on the other side as well day 20 Fresh Threads it's got little lemons on them very nice 21 two and they say so much fun day 22 these ones say dopamine dressing I like that one day 23 we're almost at the end guys H this this one is PS I love you I like that it's a little stamp really sweet okay last one oh there's lots of things in this one so we've got a little bird looks like maybe a lurate maybe little bber tea a pear oh and a Quant on the other side oh I love quants and a plane card with another one on the other side a sock and oh a little poodle little camera and a cat is a cat or an owl oh it's an owl rainbow and a pencil needle and thread and another needle and thread the butterfly maybe or Hearts they're little hearts and a pair of dungar or overalls and the same on the other side so these ones are actually a collaboration with this person here so that's why there's so many of them look at all of our cool labels there's so many they are so fun there's just a really quick little peek at them again lovely and then all of those real cool ones all right pop them all in the tin and we'll use them sometime or other well a very good morning to you my friends and happy Thursday it's the 9th of January today and I hope you're all doing well we are back in the sewing room today and I'm going to be playing around a little bit more uh making some more little blocks using banina 790 Pro I did a little bit of piecing on it yesterday and made another one of the love and kisses block that I have been slowly making over the past year or so so I've got another three that I've cut out they're here waiting on the cutting table so I'm going to piece them together today and pop them up on the wall and look at them for the next couple of months I'm heading back to work next week so who knows the next time that I'll get an opportunity to to really just dedicate time to sew but anyway let's turn the machine on and uh get some sewing done ah she lives there she is so today I'm feeling this one I love the colors of this one I actually found a beautiful bundle of Chilla pink Fabrics that I had in my stash and totally forgot that I had so I've cut up a couple of them uh here to make into the blocks I thought they were quite nice cuz they were floral and had those sort of nice colors through it so I'm really liking this one today I pieced together the heart block yesterday I do need to square up the half Square triangles and then we have the little corner unit units to piece together so I'll trim the house Square triangles up and then we'll piece it all together easy peasy [Music] okay one more little block done Tada doesn't she look so sweet I love it so let's pop it on the wall added to the collection of blocks lovely so as I persevere through the year hope hopefully this quilt will slowly get done determined to get it finished so we'll see but as I was sewing I actually had a timer gol off because I am baking or trying to make bread I'm a terrible bread maker I just don't have the neck when it comes to making bread but we've got a kit that mom found in the cupboard so like we'll give it a go I had the time to go off when I was sewing so let's go see if it's actually proved proofed proved see I've actually done the right thing I don't know I left the Bowl here next to the kitchen window so let's have a look ooh that looks pretty cool it's definitely doubled in size nice it's been proving for 40 minutes which is what the box said I don't know whether to leave it for like maybe another 5 minutes or so and then we got to knock it back and pop it in the tin and then prove it again yeah I'll wait another 5 minutes and and then we'll do the next step while we're waiting for the 5 minutes actually it's 4 minutes now uh I thought I'd just quickly show you a little embroidery that I did on the 790 because this machine comes with an embroidery unit and I thought oh let's give it a go so I made this may your bobbin always be full this pattern is from it's called embroidery Library it's like a branch off of urban threads which is a website where I get a lot of my embroidery patterns they have really great selection but they have another website called embroidery library and it has lots of really awesome sweet designs on it and so I found this one and uh yeah I really enjoyed making it it's got like that kind of cross stitch kind of design to it and yeah I just thought it'd be a really cool idea to to make it so I thought I'd I'd maybe put like a little border around it and then make it as a little mini Quil to put on my wall to add to my little wall that I have have going here and I just thought the saying was really sweet now your Bob and always be full which is a great thing to to wish for any seist [Music] well a very happy Sunday afternoon to you my friends it is the 19th of January today and I hope you're doing well as you've just seen I have been doing a little bit of sewing today I've just had nice mindful sewing sessions just slowly piecing pieces together to get some more of my I keep forgetting what they they're cold love and kisses Vlogs loveing kisses love and kisses loveing kisses remember that Amanda but yes I have been piecing together some more of these blocks I have another four on the go actually I lie I've actually got three on the go cuz I've already finished one today so these three have all been prepped and they're all ready just to be pieced together into their block but the block that I have finished today is this lovely one and this fabric is the one that I got in the Stitch Saloon Advent calendar that you saw at the beginning of the Vlog I knew that fabric would make a beautiful block and it has it is very thin and lightweight so I had to be really quite delicate the way that I had to sew it and Stitch it together but I think it looks so lovely so we're going to pop this gorgeous little beauty up on the wall and then um stand back and just admire it or it's Beauty I'll have to pop it in this little spot here I managed to finish a couple of the other blocks that I had going was this one with Chula pink I showed you that one before this one here and this one here this possibly isn't going to be the final layout of the blocks I'm just sort of making them putting them up on the wall and just sort of we'll think about it a later date those two definitely won't stay together cuz they've got the same centers so I actually might move that one to be honest cuz it's going to annoy me I've just moved it to there it won't stay there but it'll do I'll possibly find another time either during this week or the following week or whenever to finish the next three little blocks ready to go and of course I'll show you I think I possibly will do another row what's that that's three five might do like 5x5 or if I find some more fabric it might be like a 5x six Rose we'll see I don't know yet but we're just kind of making for the sake of making just to fill the wall with some color but I'm very happy with the progress so far happy days so my friends we've come almost to the end of the Vlog I just thought before I'd finish I would just share a few of my favorite things just some lovely little things that have just been making just life nice and and happy it's a lovely little collection of of odds and ends and uh yeah just really wanted to to share them with you so I've got nice hot cup of tea to uh accompany me as I check you through them tea is life my friends tea is life cuz I have a nice hot cup of tea I actually might start with the chocolate first I have been absolutely loving the lint mint intense dark chocolate it is so good I forget all the Christmas chocolate I got this stuff is superior it is so yum I'm both a milk chocolate and dark chocolate girly I can go either way it just has to be good quality either Cadbury or lint anything else this just like no but this one is really really lovely it's so creamy and it melts on your tongue and it's just such a lovely treat at the end of a hard day with a cup of tea couple of slices of this and life is good again you know so that's been a big favorite last month or so do a couple of beauty favorites next recently my parents went on a cruise and whenever they go on a cruise they buy me some lovely perfume and this time they bought me Daisy by Marc Jacobs this is a particular one called Oh So Fresh So I just quickly rided my perfume stash and I didn't realize I have so many Marc Jacobs daisy perfumes but my all-time favorite is just the original Daisy scent it's such a classic it's so fresh and just it has a lot of memories attached to it really really good memories but I also have the daisy dream and also the Lola and then yeah Mom and Dad got me this one the fresh version when they're away and this one has been my daily scent uh recently and just like the Original Scent it's really fresh a lot more floral and sweet but still really really nice and it's not too overpowering either it's just a really nice light scent perfect for summer and kind of lasts the whole day so that's been a big favorite and yeah I really didn't realize just how much of a Mark Jacobs daisy fan I am wow you know the bottles are really pretty and then the other Beauty favorite that I have is just a really cheapy hand cream that I just get from Wes which is a supermarket here in Australia it's by Nivea and it's called soft and it is a refreshingly soft moisturizing cream for face body and hands and I have been using it as a hand cream and it's just so nice to use it is really soft as it says it sinks in really really quickly and in my new job I am actually required to travel a lot which means staying overnight in places that are too far to come back from so I've actually got the little pot version in my little toilet trees bag because it's such a vers atile little cream so I use this as like a body cream so I'm not like taking my big bottles of moisturizing cream but just being a supermarket brand I just think it's really really good I'm always reaching for it and yeah just haven't been disappointed by it so big big big favorite and highly recommend as well next up I just have a couple of really sweet little earrings that I have been absolutely loving or wearing one of them actually both of them are new I don't think I've ever really shown you them these ones I've actually worn in this Vlog these ones are definitely my favorite at the moment I'm kind of wearing them every day and they are these gorgeous sterling silver and freshwater pill earrings I bought these when I was away for work in a place in Armadale it's from a shop called raw fiber and they by a brand called Elevate 980 bit of a mouthful but their products are so lovely they are a little bit expensive so it's kind of like a a one- of purchase but I've never owned a set of pearls before and I always feel really special wearing them and they kind of go with everything so they've been a huge favorite and then the El earrings are by a brand called Earth Wilder and this is a collaboration with an Australian artist called Pete chroma he does lots of really cute illustrations or collage illustrations of animals Australian animals and yeah he's just really huge in Australia at the moment I actually do Buy a lot of stuff from urw Wilder they do some really cute little quirky brooches and earrings and lots of fun things but these ones I wonder if I've got them up the right way let's open it up yeah they're cute little Panda earrings I just thought they were so sweet they're just ones with the little uh backing on the back I've woron them a couple of times and I just think they're so sweet really really cute I just love them I just love wearing cute quirky things like this my next favorite also centers around another animal and it's just a really simple little card I got from TK Maxx and it has this gorgeous Little Koala illustration on it now I'm actually not going to give this away as a card I'm actually going to frame it and put it up on the wall cuz I just love it koalas are my absolute favorite animal technically they're are mul they're not a bear I know a lot of people call them koala bears but they're not Bears they're mules when I saw this TK Max I was like that would make a really sweet art work or framed work on my wall so I'm going to put that in a frame find a frame for it first put it in a frame and then pop it up on the wall it just just brings me so much joy just sweet little illustrations like this so I'm not sure who the artist is but on the back it says it's from paper Street card Co which is 100% Australian owned and designed so really sweet and last favorite is a book this is my first finish for the year I actually read it a couple of weeks ago and I loved it it's been on my TBR list for a while and I was in the mood for a nice lovely light romance so I thought I'd read this one and it is really really good it's set in Sydney so it's a local read and it's about two people who sort of keep kind of missing each other but their stories or their lives are intertwined in a way but they keep missing out on meeting each other it's such a clever story I don't want to say too much more about it cuz I don't want to kind of give it away but it definitely has you got male kind of Vibes which is actually my favorite romcom of all time so if you like you've got mail with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan and I think you'll like this book it's very good so those were just a few of my favorite things that I have been loving over the last couple of months if you've got some favorite things to share with me too then definitely comment down below I'd love to know so I'm going to leave the Vlog here thank you so much for persevering and watching all the way to the end gold star big hug high5 to you if you have I really appreciate you just sticking around so despite now having a full-time job one of my goals this year is to try and focus and spend more time uh on my YouTube channel so doing some just some monthly Vlogs if I can try and get some tutorials out I do actually have a very exciting very fun quilt along in the works I'm planning on it whether it will get to the doing stage I'm not sure yet but yeah a Quil along is in the works so be on the lookout for that if if it does materialize this year but we'll see only time will tell but for now thank you all so much for joining me and I will see you all again sometime very very soon bye-bye [Music]”