See how they grow...

 Abby, 7.5 months. Ruby, 3.5 months. Samantha, 2 weeks

Ollie, a few days shy of 4 years. Alex, 3 years 2.5 months

Birthday Dresses for Milla

 Niece #4 turned 4 last Saturday. I left it a bit late to smock anything for her, but a couple of weeks was enough time to make these Sense and Sensibility 1958 Girls' Part Dresses. I even inserted zips! First was the yellow poly-cotton with polka dots.

 Then the maroon velvet(een). I suspect this one may end up in dress ups, but most kids this age love the feel of velvet so I figure she'll have fun with it whatever she does.

 And MIL whipped up this little crinoline, because this little girl, at least, will love having her skirt poofed out!

All in one

This was made for a little boy with a stoma (tube coming out his belly button) so he can't wear anything around his waist. I made it using a vintage pattern for a shirt and overalls. The shirt is made according to the pattern, but the shorts required some thinking and adjusting. I think it's rather adorable, and hope he and his mother love it too.

Annabelle's Princess Dress

This is a special request from a long time online friend for her 3 year old. Like most 3 year olds (or at least, most of my nieces!), Annabelle loves pink and princesses. Her mother is not so impressed. So this dress is something of a compromise. It's long and twirly, but it's not pink. Well, mostly not pink.

If you look closely at the sleeve on the right you can see the bias binding I used to hem the sleeves and skirt. It made those tasks a little easier for me, and using bright pink is a special treat for a little girl who'd rather the whole dress was pink.

If I'd thought about it, I would have lined the bodice in pink too, instead of this fine green gingham. I wanted pink buttons, instead of the green ones that blend in so well, but I couldn't find any I liked.

I'm hoping Annabelle will spend many happy hours twirling, dancing, and pretending to be a princess, or even a scientist ('cos who says scientists can't wear pretty dresses?) in this dress.

A coat for Oscar

I hope that you will forgive my absence these last few weeks. You see, when not working, or sick, or both, I have been obsessed with finishing this gorgeous little coat for an even more gorgeous little boy named Oscar.
After seeing my recent girl's coats, Oscar's mummy commissioned me to make a coat for him. We went fabric shopping together, and after a little searching, I found this pattern.
It took me far too long to make between the work, and the illness and a few little challenges, including eliminating most of the handsewing (the pattern wanted me to handsew in the entire lining!), making pockets
and lining the back vent
but finally I finished this gorgeous little coat and delivered it to a very excited mother.
Not only has she paid me for it, but has had professional photos taken of Oscar wearing it, which she has offered to me for promotional purposes!
Fortunately, considering that Winter is now over, it is still a little big so it will fit Oscar next year and get the wear that it deserves.

Love

the hip-length hemline

the brightly striped lining

and the shiny brass buttons.

If you love it as much as I do, it's in the shop.

Ottobre Designs

A while ago, the lovely Erin at Purple Frangipani posted about Ottobre Design. I checked it out, drooled over the gorgeous designs, then forgot about it. Then when I was preparing for the Chestnut Festival, and looking for boys patterns, I found Ottobre again. Each issue contains around 40 (or more!) fantastic kids (and some adults) designs, and costs less than A$20. So I bought two (and Jill bought one of the women's issues) I haven't actually used any of the patterns yet, but I love looking through them and am looking forward to getting some more issues. I'm even thinking of subscribing.

Chestnut Festival Success

The Chestnut Festival went really well. I ended up with 5 jackets to sell (I made 6 but an online friend bought the first one on Friday) finishing the last one at the stall! I sold 3 of them, which I'm quite pleased with. I think I would have sold more if I'd had more, especially in the bigger sizes. We sold a few of Andrew's wands, and a couple of staves, and even had a woman interested in stocking them in her shop! We also sold some of his mum's knitted gnomes, and a pile of his sister's amigurumi tortoises and hippos, plus a few kids bracelets. I was really surprised that the painted bags his mum made didn't sell at all. We were using one of the primary school's tents (thanks, Mum!) which unfortunately meant we were next to the fairy floss machine, and got coated in sugar! A few of our friends came by, his parents helped out for the day, and the weather was a perfect crisp autumn day.
Prepare for the photo bombardment sequence....
Size 2 short jacket in chocolate corduroy with striped lining (I still have this)

Size 2 Rusty orange polar fleece with floral lining - the last one finished

Size 3 Rusty orange polar fleece with gingham lining (I still have this)

Size 4 Blue polar fleece with floral lining

Size 6 Brown floral velour with floral lining (this was sold to 2 women who plan to pass it down between their daughters!)

Chestnut Festival This Weekend

The market I have been madly (if surprisingly slowly) sewing for is the Mt Dandenong Pre-School Chestnut Festival, which is THIS Sunday. It will be held at Kalorama Oval on Mt Dandenong Tourist Rd, and goes from 10am until 4 (I think). I'd love to see you there!

To market, to market...

The last month brought with it two big craft supply purchasing opportunities. The first was the Australian Quilter's Conference quilt show. I hadn't been going to go to this one, but Mum wanted to, so along we went one Saturday after Italian. The display was gorgeous, though Mum and I have very different tastes. There were many gorgeous fabrics for sale, but in the end, I couldn't cope with the crowds, and only bought a couple of 30cm strips of greens for my Emerald Isle quilt, plus Mum bought me some Beatrix Potter panels.
The other was the Stitches and Craft Show. It was in a new venue this year, and ultimately, I was disappointed with it - there was far fewer stalls than previously. That didn't, however, prevent me from spending over $100.

I simply couldn't resist this Halloween/Samhain fabric.

Or this fairy. Isn't she gorgeous?
And I've wanted this pattern for years. It was finally time to buy it. I already own two from the series, and there's two more to buy. I'll stitch them one day. Really.

Finally, Andrew had the bright idea that we should have a stall at Mt Dandenong Preschool's Chestnut Festival. His mum is knitting gnomes, Andrew is making sticks/staves, and I... am making kids clothes. I'm not at all confident about this. Can I make enough in time? Will people like them? How much should I charge? Will I have the right sizes? Nevertheless, when Spotlight had 20% off everything, I had to go and buy some supplies. Then I raided my stash.
I've also found some corduruoy at the op-shop of all places.
So I'm currently working on getting my kilt quilt out of the way, and pondering whether or not to order some woven labels for the clothes. It would give them a more professional touch, but do I really need $200?

Presents for a new nephew

Our newest nephew was born on New Year's Eve. A beautiful little boy who has been named Kobe Adam (after his Dad). It has taken me a while, but I have finally completed his handmade presents.
His teddy bear is named Fintan Ajax, and has corduroy paw pads, like his big brother Kalan's, though in a different colour. I think I am giving up on signature bears after this one though. No one ever gets them signed, and I don't really like them - they always end up with weird pointy bits on their heads, and visible closing seams - fur hides those - at the very least, I need a new pattern. I had a particularly hard time with this one - I went to tie on his anklet, and his head fell off! I hadn't gathered his neck tight enough... This meant I had to frog (rip it! rip it!) open his back and neck, remove and replace the joint before putting him back together.

And a smocked singlet. I really love these. They're so quick and easy - I did most of this one on Christmas Eve while waiting in line for Carols - and in the right colours, don't look the least bit girly, which most smocking patterns do...

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.

The process of smocking

This week I finished a smocked dress that I have been working on for almost a year. It didn't take that long in actual work time, but I didn't want to get it dirty while travelling. It started as a plain white piece of fabric, though I did buy this one as a kit, so it came pre-pleated for me.
Then I did the smocking and backsmocking.

Blocked it (stretched it out to the right width and steamed it)

Embroidered the flowers.

Blocked it again and shaped it. I hate this part because it means cutting into it. I can't believe that pink flower got cut off!
Then I turned it into a dress.
I know it's totally impractical, but I love the colours, and the crisp whiteness of it.

I will be giving it to our niece, Jade, tonight for her 7th birthday last week. We're also giving her a book about dinosaurs!

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.