A quick frock for the Princess

The Princess has a few parties coming up. One of them has a 1960s theme. I was at the LFS this week trawling for shirt fabrics when I found these fabulous remnants. Groovy! We had discussed costume options and she liked the idea of a 'mod frock'. When I saw this fabric I knew I was onto something.

So washed it last night and got onto cutting and stitching tonight. I had used this pattern before for a few dresses. I didn't realise that it only went to size 7 so there was a bit of pattern drafting early on.
The pattern calls for the front piece to be cut on the fold. I had three different fabrics to select from but I couldn't decide on just one so I bought all 3. I decided to cut the front as two separate pieces and mix up the colours. Then because I had three to choose from, I added a band of the third colour to the centre front and back.

3 hours of uninterrupted (!) sewing and hey presto! Finished. Of course the Princess is asleep so I have to wait until tomorrow to see her reaction. Can't wait!

Not a tablecloth!

Happy Valentines Day! I got a special kiss this morning. Woo hoo!

Today's installment is of a cute dressing table set. Three pieces of cream cotton with white embroidery and open work. Check them out.

  

This is the centre piece. This photo didn't turn out as well as I hoped. 

This is one of the two smaller circular pieces.

This is detail from the set.

Another one!

But wait! There's another one! A tablecloth that is.

This fabulous tablecloth is a close copy of the pink one except this one is yellow. I really love this photo. How cute is this heart.

Here is the edging. I love the lemon.

This is what the flowers look like on this one. I really like the daffodils. Interestingly, in real life all of the appliqué is the same shade and that colour is about half way between the two seen.

Unfortunately this tablecloth is circular. Another one! So it's off to Recycle Revolution too.

White tablecloth

Here's the third installment. This one is another circular tablecloth. All white. I really like the open work. It's had a little use but not much. I recall a round table at Granny's place but the memory is pretty hazy so maybe it was handed on before these fab circular tablecloths got any real use. No napkins with this one.

Detail of the open work

Nice scalloped edge

More of the embroidery

Tablecloth #2

But wait! There's more! This is my favourite one that I'm keeping. It's square so I can use it. And it's embroidery and applique is green - my favourite colour. I don't think it had ever been used. There are also 8 napkins with cute little appliqués too. Around the edge is an awesome cross stitch pattern - the whole edge!

Detail from the tablecloth. I love it!

And here are the napkins

More coming...

It's been a while!

Goodness! Time flies when you are busy as. Between returning to work from holidays, getting children back to school and emptying my grandparent's house I haven't had much airtime. It's been pretty tough, especially for my mother. My remaining grandparents are her parents. We've been worried about them for a while but things came to a head at the end of last year when my grandfather had a fall. Neither of them have been able to remain in the house and are now in nursing homes. My parents have been slowly working through their house to empty and then sell it. We have had a number of working bees with the last one just last weekend. It's pretty tough going through their things but at least it's done now.

I had the good fortune of getting to go through Granny's linen cupboard. There was so much to see. I've taken a few photos to share. Grandpa was in the army and they were stationed in Asia in the 1970s. Granny took advantage of this and stocked up!

This one is my favourite! I love the pink. I've not seen something like this before.

All the stitching (machine done) and appliqué is in a lovely shade of pink. Unfortunately it's round (170cm diameter). There are also 8 napkins with just a little appliqués in the corner. I think that they're unused. I don't remember her having a table that would suit.

I have a cupboard full of table linen so regretfully this one is off to my friend Narelle's shop Recycle Revolution.

Don't worry I have plenty more to show. And I have kept some too. Maybe next time I'll show you something.

Sassy blouse is done!

Yippee! I've finished my Sassy Librarian Blouse! And boy, am I happy with the result. So happy that I'm already contemplating the next one. So here it is! I chose peter-pan collar, sleeves and no tucks. I wish I had paid more attention to when I started. No idea how long it took. I really enjoyed making this shirt along with Christine Heynes. She was so easy to listen to and watch. A great sense of humour and a nice attitude - "this is how I do it but you may have another way - both are ok".

This was the first time that I had worked through a pattern step by step with someone since I was twelve and I made a 4-gore skirt in tech studies. I learned heaps but more importantly gained in confidence. I have had lots of my techniques confirmed. My muddling through over the past (hrumph!) years has given me some tried and true techniques that are the same (or very nearly) as generally acceptable methods. Noice!