Boxing day dress

Another shift dress i know, but they are just so easy to sew up during nap times! I found this wool check in my local fabric shop, it instantly shouted 'Christmas' to me! The picture doesn't do it justice as you cant see the silver thread sparkling through it!

My demented overlocker (yes still having issues!) actually came up trumps doing the ruffles, they were so much fun to do. I have also left the bottom flatlocked for now, still deciding if i will hem it or not, but at the moment i think i like the flatlock detail.

I think it makes the perfect Boxing day dress for the Whirlwind, teamed with a long sleeved red tee and some black tights.

I loved the way this looked so much, i couldn't help thinking that it would translate to a really cool bag or purse. So of course i had to give it a go.......

This was my FIRST EVER attempt at sewing a zip, and lets just say this 10cm purse took about 50hrs longer to make than the 2T dress!

Next time i will definitely have to look up instructions! Anyone know any good zipper tutorials?

Not toooo shabby for a first attempt. I feel there will be lots in the making for Christmas.....only 6wks Arrrrrrrrrrrrr!

x K

what a difference a year makes!

I made this little fleece jumper for Ruby exactly one year ago! I was so impressed with myself doing it, as i had no pattern....just copied a dress i loved, bought from Tesco! and i had no sewing machine at the time so it is all hand stitched. I loved it, and the whirlwind wore it loads last winter. I cant find the original pics of her in it but you can see them on my facebook here and here

Today i found a secret stash of the same fabric that i never even knew i had! so obviously i had to make a new one for this year.

This time i just went for a plain shift jumper, with a front pocket.......i must have been sooo brave last year doing those button holes!

Isn't it just the cutest though!I bribed her to sit still for all of 5 seconds by letting her have ago on the hair drier!......And the green bottles all over my living room floor are homemade skittles, a game which the Whirlwind is currently OBSESSED with!

I also figured out a way to use all of last years tights that are now to short in the leg....Just cut the legs off about an inch from the crotch seams and voila....Knee length sox with matching pants......
Complete the look with one of Daddys beanies!

xK

Apples & Pears!

I bought this gorgeous Japanese fabric on ebay last week , I wanted to make a dress for The Whirlwind to wear to my friends wedding next week! ................


A couple of weeks ago i saw this dress made by sew scrumptious, and pattern by Whole Grain Baby, so then of course i had to have one like that for The Whirlwind, so i bought the pdf pattern in the etsy shop, and this week i finally got round to having a play. The pattern was very easy and simple to follow, and would only have taken a couple of hours to complete........ however it did take me about 4 days to decide what colour yoke i wanted....pink, green, blue, yellow, orange1????? I actually made one in each colour and pinned the dress to each and still couldn't decide! In the end i went for the pink, but I'm still thinking maybe i should have done, yellow!...or green!


I really wanted a pink with white polka dots for the yoke, to match the pink strawberry's on the dress fabric.....but you can never find anything when you bloody want it can you! So i cut out a few flowers from the remnants and stitched them onto the plain pink,. The idea was to link the fabric's together and break up some of the pink! I used a zip zag stitch and its a bit messy if you look too close! and don't really think it was necessary in the end! but its OK!



The button!......I stitched the elastic too loose, so the button serves no purpose at all! Nice decorative feature though!


All in all i do LOVE IT.......Its not perfect but only if you look really closely!


Of course to get the full impact of how fab this dress is, you need to see it being modeled by the little madame!..........But she's not called The Whirlwind for nothing!!!!.....so their not the best shots!







Im not sure she will be wearing it at the wedding yet!........It depends on the weather, as we have no cardies that will match! and also no shoes! ( I don't think white flashing trainers or gold sandals will really work!) ...Still! ... There is a week to go!....Maybe i will make one in more light pastel colours!
x K