Harvest dress

This girl could look cute in anything! This dress didn't turn out as nice as I thought, but Lainey pulls it off somehow. I used the same pattern as last time (the black, pink and green one).

She is a girl, after all...

I've started to get so excited about dressing Lainey up. I'm sure you've been looking at my pictures of her and thinking 'why does Sian dress her so plain?' or 'Why does it seem like she's always dressed as a boy?' I think it's taken a while for me to realize that you can really have fun with a girl, and there are so many cute clothes and fabrics out there. Like this funky fabric that I found on clearance a while ago. I think it was under 2 dollars for about 3/4 yard.

I decided to make a dress, since that's what Lainey is lacking at the moment.


And then I made a matching hairclip, to go on her headband. I love how the clip turned out! It really echoes the pattern on the fabric. I found out how to make the flowers using this tutorial.

The pattern is Simplicity 4243. It was quite easy to make, the trickiest bit was applying the binding to the armholes. Apart from that it was simple. I have another one of these dresses cut out and ready to go, in a different fabric.

Girls really are fun!

pjs to pjs

For Christmas last year, my lovely sister Sophie gave me some cute froggy pyjamas. I loved them and wear the bottoms frequently, but I never really like to wear the tops- they're always too warm and I prefer a t shirt.

Then one day, I got the idea in my head to turn it into pjs for Lainey. There wasn't enough fabric for trousers so I just used green flannel to make those. I used the buttons, hem and cuffs of the original shirt.



I did make the sleeves up and they came out a little long. Better than too short, though, right?

Last year's halloween

Please humour me for just a moment. I know that I posted about this costume last year, on my other blog, but I just feel like it deserves another 5 minutes of fame. I mean, it barely even got seen last year, since we didn't really go to any parties or trick-or-treating.



I just love how it turned out, especially since I didn't have a pattern, and basically just dreamed it up in my own crazy little brain.

This year, I have something fun planned for the kids to coordinate. I don't want to give it away, but let's just say, Luke's gonna be a REAL boy :-)

prototype hats

I'm thinking of attempting to sell some little crochet hats, adorned with detachable flowers as shown above. I've made a couple of prototypes/practice hats :-)

4th July outfits

4th July stuff- simple shorts for brother and sister, and a last-minute felt star for Lainey's head.

I really need to get on board with the whole bow thing. People are always thinking Lainey is a boy.

Blessing dress

I've been seeing a lot about 'refashioning' online lately, in the crafty circles, so I decided to do a bit myself. Instead of buying new fabric for Lainey's blessing dress, I used a ladies white dress I bought at a thrift store for $5. I adapted a pattern I already had (some adaptations were by design, others were made in a late-night frenzy of desperation) The pattern was Simplicity 9784.

I like how it turned out, though I did cut a lot of corners, knowing that she would only wear it once.

Bandana skirt

I made this little skirt in about 10 minutes, and it cost about a dollar. I love it, and it matches perfectly with a little top that my mum sent over for Lainey. You can find out how to make one here. The tutorial is for a size 2-3 years skirt, but I trimmed the excess fabric from the top and didn't add the trim.

By the way, I have quite a few projects on the go at the moment. I'm working on them as and when I find time. This was so quick and easy it jumped right to the top of the pile.

Warning...

I have a feeling that my next few posts will be pretty much all baby clothes. I am finding snatches of time here and there, but not much, so it's quite slow progress. Here's a dress that I started ages ago and just finished last week. Lainey wore it to church and looked sweet. The pattern says to make buttonholes, but I used snap fasteners and just sewed the buttons on for decoration. I'm a bit scared of buttonholes, I think!

And here's Lainey in her trousers, looking all chilled out in the sink

Another pair

After making that last pair of little trousers, I thought about making some for our baby. I was originally going to wait until after the baby arrived, to make sure it's a girl...but I couldn't resist!

I bought this flowery cotton a while ago, from the cheapy section at Wal*Mart. I still have enough of it left to make a top or something. If our baby turns out to be a boy, I'm sure I'll find someone for these to go to :-)

Baby trousers

These baby trousers aren't half as cute as I thought they would be. But never mind. They're for my nephew, who was born last week.

Any time I use a pattern to make clothing, I feel the need to change something. I think it is an urge to 'create', rather than just follow directions. (I do admire people who have the patience for following things exactly, though!)

In this case, the pattern was for very simple cotton trousers. Well, I decided to use denim, and make them lined for extra warmth! I hope they fit the baby. I might make a pair for our baby, if I find the time...

Christmas pyjamas

These are the pyjamas that I made for my boys :-) I decided to make only bottoms, because I knew I would not find time to make tops as well. They looked really cute in them!