Shift Dresses

 The twins are not really into wearing jeans, they prefer leggings, a shirt and something over the top, like a shift dress or a smock type top. These are bigger versions of these dresses I made a few years ago. I made them bigger all over not just the length, but I think they are a too wide, when I make them again I will redraft the side and the armhole.
I used some navy corduroy with a pinstripe for one and some corduroy doll fabric from Spotlight for the other one.

Little Red Riding Hood

After buying the Tessuti Cape pattern for myself I thought one of the girls might like a cape and remembered that the Oliver & S book Little Things to Sew had a pattern in it for a Red Riding Hood Cape.

I made the smaller size (which says up to size 4) for Eva who has just turned 4. I used a quilted fabric from the stash for the outside as I wanted something that would really keep her warm. The lining is a cotton from the stash which looks suspiciously like a Liberty fabric, but is definitely not, it feels different and the print on the real Liberty is a lot smaller I think. I have no idea where I got it from, maybe a op shop or it could even have been Spotlight.

This is a pretty simple pattern and the instructions are easy to sew. The only alterations was making the holes for the arms a little big bigger after trying it on Eva.



One Fat Slug

My One Fat Slug Etsy shop is open again. Just a little bit of yarn in there at the moment, but more is being dyed and it will be added when it dries and I can get time to take photos.

Spinning and Knitting

We are having beautiful autumn weather here at the moment. The nights have been quite cold and I have been searching Ravelry and planning things to knit (and once again the to do list will probably take the next 200 years). I have been wanting to make a Selbu Modern for a couple of years and recently bought some Rowan Fine Tweed which I think will be perfect for it. I haven't done any Fair Isle knitting for many years (and I think the small bits I have done were self taught) so I have been reading Mastering Color Knitting by Melissa Leapman which seems to explain everything really well.

With the mornings being very cold at the moment the front verandah in the sun has been the perfect place to be in the mornings. The girls and I spent the last days of the school holidays out there. They played and rode scooters and I spun. My lack of practise over the last few years is showing a bit, but hopefully it will knit up ok.

 

Easter Holidays

The Easter school holidays seem to have disappeared. They were busy this year.
Eva turned 4 and all she wanted was a dinosaur cake. It won't win any decorating awards, but the girls loved it.
Chris and I had 5 days in Melbourne - kid free. Yes kid free. We had looked forward to it all year and made the most of it by spending time with my sister and her family, watching football, seeing some comedy, shopping and eating our way through Melbourne. A definite highlight was lunch at Chin Chin (thanks Suzie), I think I should give up eating Thai right now as I am not sure I will ever eat something as good again.
There was not much craft related. I managed to get to Tessuti and buy the New York Cape Pattern and there was a quick trip to the Australasian Quilt Convention as we were staying close by. I was glad to go and see the quilts and look closely at the amazing work that was put into them, but I left feeling a little flat. I think I expected to be inspired by something new, something different, especially as I had not been to a craft show in a couple of years, but there was nothing that really excited me and I felt there was little that could be called 'Modern Quilting'.
And now there are hundreds of loads of washing to be done and children to be fed and hopefully after that I can find a little crafting time.

Cap

While reading instructions for making skirts for the girls a few weeks ago, I noticed a great cap pattern on the other side of the page (Ottobre 4/2006). I thought it would make a great present for my nephew's birthday this week. I used corduroy for the outside and fully lined the inside with quilting cotton.

I cut the smallest size which was for a 50cm head, but it fit the twins heads which are about 52.5cm. So I sewed a strip of elastic into the lining before I attached the lining to the cap and am crossing fingers it will fit. Although we all know that children don't shrink, they grow and it will fit him eventually.

Simple Shawl

A shawl, for a friend, who is going through a very difficult time.
Pattern: Simple Yet Effective Shawl
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Sock
More details on Ravelry.

Molly Jacket

I had big plans to knit all the girls something new before winter, but the weather has started to turn cold and I have only managed one cardigan so far so I realised I needed to get sewing. I thought I would start with a few more Molly Jackets for autumn. Milly loves the one I made for her so I made two more for Grace and Evie.
Both were made with some cotton drill from Spotlight and lined with some Spotlight quilting fabric I found very cheaply a couple of years ago. I did want to use bigger buttons, but the button racks were pretty bare in Spotlight when I was last there. There was no white or navy and these were the only navy ones in Textile Traders.
I love these jackets, they are great over dresses or jeans, I might have to try a version with long sleeves.