Happy Birthday, Baby Girl

Dress and coat

 I'm so glad no one ever bought these. They're so cute,

Swing Jacket

To go over last year's dress

Christmas Sewing

Birthday dress

 There was a problem with the pattern for Abby's birthday dress. The neck binding measurement was given as 21 inches (easier to use imperial with the quilting ruler and cutting board) but I realised the night before her party, when the dress was otherwise finished, that that was huge. Looking at the other sizes, it was supposed to be 12 inches. There was no time to fix it then, so she wore a superhero skirt from Ana, Ma Petit Tresor

 I did manage to fix it by the following weekend for our photo shoot though. And then I took a few photos at home.

Dragonfly Dress

 For a sweet little girl's 1st birthday

Abby's Christmas Dress

Made from a vintage layette pattern, this slip dress is fully lined and made from a remnant. I got my mother-in-law to make a nappy cover to go under it - I would have done it myself, but only finished the dress on Christmas morning.

Alex in long sleeves

Looks like a pretty good fit to me!

Long Sleeves for Alex

After much dithering, I finally made Alex's long sleeved shirt. Now I'm just waiting to hear how it fits, but it looks like a much better shape than his dalek one. The pattern is Burda9792.

Milla in her dress

I'm told it's pinned at the back, but I expected it to be too big, so that's okay.

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!

A Thrifty Formal Outfit

Believe it or not, this outfit cost me almost nothing. The fabric for the top was a remnant. It was so small in fact, that I couldn't fit any patterns on it, and my mother-in-law had to fudge the design for me. The skirt was originally a dress of Mum's from the 60s (at least, that's what Nan said. Mum didn't recognise it) By removing the yoke, evening out the top edge and adding a waistband I had a great skirt. Even my shoes came from an outlet!

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.

Comfort

 A pair of comfort toys

This one, which is more lime green than it appears, is for sweet Miss Tayah.

This one, more creamy beige, is for my honorary brother and sister-in-law's baby boy, currently 3 days overdue

Travelling Jacket

 Mum requested a polar fleece jacket to wear on her travels.

 This one is reversible.

With a hood.

Master Alexander's New Coat

I used the usual Regency pattern but did my best to minimise the pleating at the shoulders,

and put a single deep pleat in the back.

He's only five and a half months old and it's a size one, so it's a bit big yet, but that allows him to show off the gorgeous lining fabric, which goes so well with his eyes!

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.

Daleks got my husband!

But he wanted them to. He was so excited about this shirt, and had to have it finished in time for our friends' engagement party. He even sewed on the buttons - I'd finished everything else but had to go out.
Mind you, this photo was taken as we were about to head out for our first anniversary, almost a month later. Andrew prefers being behind the camera, and it's hard to get the camera out of his hands for long enough to take a photo of him!

Christmas Dress

I had to make myself a Christmas dress this year. I bought the fabric last year - it has Christmas trees in 16 different colours/patterns, plus random little robin redbreasts, which are so sweet.

The pattern is a vintage Butterick 2573, and is described as a 'dirndl frock'. I only made two changes - I increased the length of the zip, to make it easier to get into and out of, and I lined the skirt to make it non-see-through! To make it easier to insert the zip, I had my mother-in-law do it for me!

This was really nice to wear all day, though the sleeves don't allow as much movement as I'd like. I'm thinking of making this again, possibly without sleeves as I really liked the way it looked before I added them too. I love that it has pockets!