Hand Me Downs

 Of the best possible kind. I made this sweet little top for Niece #2 for her first Christmas. She's now 9. I think it still looks pretty good.

Alice's Modern Girl

A sweet little outfit for our not-so-little girl. Alice (Niece #2, age 7) was quite calm about only receiving the hair clip on Christmas Day. Sewing the knit top was a new experience for me, but not too hard. I decided against sewing the flower directly to the skirt, and instead sewed it to a safety pin so it can be easily removed for washing or to wear on something else.

New family members

We've acquired some new family members during my absence. First there was Filleap. He was a present from Andrew, both a congratulations, and an anniversary gift. He's growing up too fast, and is oh-so-naughty. He likes cupboards, and hates carrots (but loves broccoli)

Then we got Felix, because Andrew saw him when buying animal food, and he was too cute to resist. He and Filleap aren't friends yet though - despite being 'fixed' Filleap molests him, so we're waiting 'til Felix grows up.


And then, following some losses in the chookhouse (The Colonel to illness, and Nando to a fox) we got Goldie Hawn, Ingham, and Fred Rooster.
Goldie is Dad's 2nd chook at last - a bantam to go with Chook, while the others are replacements for the lost ones.

Oh, and back on April 19th, a new niece, Milla was born. She is a sister for Alice and Amy, and absolutely divine. And at 5lb6oz, is the 'big' one in her family!

High Five, Alice!

My middle niece turned 4 last month. Much to the fascination and confusion of the family at large, and especially her mother, she's quite a fashion conscious, trendy, feminine little thing. So when I saw High Five! in issue 87 of Australian Smocking and Embroidery, I knew it was the perfect present for her birthday.
I spent far too much time fighting my sewing machine over the topstitching thread, and I'm sure I wasted more of it than I used. I also spent an hour and a half fighting my future mother-in-laws sewing machine over keyhole buttonholes, before giving up and doing standard buttonholes on my own machine.
But in the end, I love it so much that I'm trying to figure out how to make myself one!

A New Niece

Yesterday, we received word that Andrew's second sister had given birth to her second child. It was by emergency caesarean, and she is a tiny 4lb14oz (I have no idea what that translates to in metric, but she's smaller than her sister who was 5lb3oz, or 2.35kg) so we were a little worried, but apparently both mother and baby are well. As such, we are pleased to welcome to the world our new niece Amy Karla, a second daughter for Kirsten and Chris, and a little sister for Alice.
In honour of this event, I have spent last night and today making the signature bear above. It will go along with other gifts, but it is a tradition of mine to give one to the family babies (sorry Julian) though none have yet actually been signed. Amongst my other bear making traditions, is the naming of the bear after the recipient (which is to say, the bear is given a name with the same meaning), so this bear is named Mary Charlotte, and the silver anklet/friendship band you can just see on her right ankle.

Late Night Cookies and Imbolc

I finally made the Late Night Cookies I've been talking about, and I'm disappointed. They're tasty enough, but the mix was far too dry, and thus, they're chunky rather than flat as the picture in the book shows.

Saturday was Imbolc, another of the sabbats (holy days, festivals) that I celebrate...when I remember (I have the sneaking suspicion that I am the world's worst witch...). This one marks the change between Winter and Spring.
I didn't have a party for this one, but I made sure it was my turn to cook dinner, and I themed it accordingly. We had an entrée of halloumi, a kind of cheese from Cyprus, that you fry until it goes crispy and good. It was a new brand that we are trying, and it went a little too gooey, but still good. Main course was asparagus risotto with lamb chops.This was quite nice, but I totally neglected the fact that neither Andrew nor I actually eats asparagus, and the lamb chops almost fell by the wayside, because Dad forgot to buy them! Thankfully, he popped up the street to grab some for me. Dessert was a divine sponge cake, filled with raspberry jam and cream, and topped with lemon icing. I love a good sponge.

Oh, and Alice loves her skirts.

Alice's skirts

I made two more skirts for Alice to remedy the issues with the first one. They both have the elastic sized to her hips (where she likes to wear them) and the waistband done more carefully.

This one is simply four tiers instead of three. Each tier is narrower than the original, but still 1.3 times the length of the previous tier.


This one is three tiers like the original, but this time each tier is 1.5 times the length of the previous one.
I didn't give them to her directly, instead leaving them at Andrew's parents house - sooner or later, everyone passes through the parental home. We saw Andrew's youngest sister, Ashley, yesterday, though, and she tells us that upon being given them, Alice walked around telling everyone "These are MY skirts"!

Winter dress for Alice

When I returned home from travelling, I heard that my 2.5 year old niece, Alice, loves wearing skirts, and dresses, but only owns summer and won't wear tights or leggings with them. So, I offered to make one (or two). A month and a half later, I finally finished this dress out of pinwale green cord, with pink gingham piping. Personally, I think it's adorable. Alice says "it's too big" *sigh*


I also made this skirt. Thankfully, it only took a couple of hours, and I have heaps more fabric, because she wears it lower than I had anticipated, and it needs to be fuller at the bottom so she can play. Two more experimental versions coming up.