Winter nighties

We have one night dress pattern that gets used again and again in this house, it's easy to sew, a good loose fit and can be made for summer or winter... I bought the pattern (and one lot of flanelette) here... it's the McCalls pattern. I have made the blue owl fabric into a nightdress for Amelia and she is still wearing it 2 winters on, we might get another out of it but I will have to remove the elastic in the wrists. Using the same pattern I made a dressing gown as well. Then this year I made a night dress as a trade off for something with one of Amelia's friends and I also made another for Amelia in a pink fabric but it hasn't been photographed for some reason.

With one winter night dress we needed more so I made these 2 this week. I cut them out about a month ago but was 1 arm short on the brown fabric so ordered that to arrive while we were away and then made them up in tandem the other night. They take about an hour to sew, the hardest part is the gathering on the ruffle, I 'need' a ruffler foot for my machine I think!

 This is a Sandi Henderson print I think, it is SO soft...

 Less than 5 minutes off the machine it was on the kid and off to bed.

This print is a little 'old lady-ish' but Amelia loves it. She chose it so I will get used to seeing it on her and in the wash.

And here is an updated project list for 2012 as we are half way through the year...

Considering the other stuff I have made this year that isn't on the list, I am pretty happy!

And a list of the projects to complete for 2012...

Finish the Polar Fleece jackets I cut out in 2004 (*embarrassed much!!)
Blossom Creek complete block 2 (oh so close), then 3, 4 and do the log cabining
Make the Toofies up to sell in my store Belles Familles
Make some fabric table runners to sell in the 'shop' too
Placemats or cushions for Coral's b'day
Saving pouches for squirreling money for stuff like a holiday
2x winter night dresses for Amelia
2 skirts for sisters - Rachel and Sarah
Blouse for me (fabric and pattern on their way)
Raincoat for Amelia (fabric on its way) STARTED
Over skirt for my sari skirt so I will wear the skirt and it won't sit in the wardrobe...
Another skirt like this one  for me (fabric on its way)
Cushion for my Goddaughters brother at the request of his mum
Fabric placemats for us for outside
Fabric napkins in a pretty floral for afternoon tea parties - no idea why...
Apron for Katie

A hand stitching road trip

With what seems to have become our annual road trip holiday looming I needed something to do on the 2000+ km trek... I could not imagine sitting still for what had been marked up as 4 days minimum of driving. So, I took...

* Two pair of school socks that needed name labels sewn in

















* Some badges to be sewn onto a Girl Guide Sash (not quite sure where that has ended up actually!)


* A zip in a cushion that needed some hand sewing attention to straighten it up a little














* A hexagon paper peicing I did in a class at the quilt show but didn't get to finish

* An odd ball of the 'wool' Elicia that I bought last year














* And the Liberty Bag for my mum that needs hand quilting (more on that in another post)

That should keep me busy, right? Plenty to do... nope!

I wasn't getting the results I was happy with on the bag so that's possibly best done stationery. The school socks were done before we'd got to Campbelltown and the badges before Wollongong... time for me to drive or it would be all done before the end of the first day.

And because I would be bored on the way home, while we were in Echuca, I bought 3 more balls of wool...

 

For Marley

 

For Alison

The pom pom 'wool' was the first pattern knitting I have attempted in about 30 years (I think I was about 10 or 11 when Mum first started to teach me to knit and I gave up when I was about 14!) so needless to say, I stuffed it up and have unpicked/unraveled it, ready to start again. Apparently Amelia and I will share this scarf.

I will state here that I am not a knitter. I don't really enjoy knitting, I find it quite boring (much to my mother's dismay) and slow but these one ball scarves are enough to hold my interest from start to finish. In fact, they would be the only knitted thing I have started and finished! I think I even have a baby jumper cast on somewhere in my bedroom at Mum and Dad's... I love looking at knitting patterns and love seeing kids in hand knitted jumpers and cardigans but for me to knit something - forget it!

And here is an award for initiative! I forgot to take my darning mushroom with us and trying to get the name labels on straight was a challenge. An upturned Tupperware travel mug worked just fine!

So that's what 'craft' I did on holiday and while I am happy I have got so many niggly jobs done I can't wait for sewing class on Saturday and I can get my teeth into a decent project!