Green voile Citronille top

I found Citronille via Amanda at Soulemama a few weeks ago, and ordered a few of their delicious patterns. I fell totally in love with a square-necked smock shirt and a pointy-hooded coat that both boasted simple construction methods, and picked up a third hippy-style shirt that looked like something my partner would wear in a larger size.
Whilst the shipping wasn't cheap it WAS fast, and the patterns themselves were very inexpensive and covered a wide range of sizes - not to mention beautiful and unusual compared to the poor selection available without flounces or skirts in Australia.

After whipping up a toile in calico I thought the first shirt pattern looked a bit wide and short for my long, skinny pixie (who refused to try it on for me to double check after eyeballing) so I attempted to adjust it when it came time to cut out my actual first attempt.

Lesson learned; don't eyeball changes. Especially ones that make it difficult for the shoulders to fit a garment. I ended up having to add triangular gores back into the side-seams, thus rendering my years in the Medieval Society useful in modern life, after all!

I used a gorgeous green voile that snagged with very little provocation, and was originally another Medieval Society garment. It seems to be my month for remaking old garments into wildly new ones.

And then Pixieface wouldn't try the actual garment on until I'd added the buttons (which were then cause for excitement, celebration, and definite donning). I found these two delicious little red apple buttons at a church market stall and bought them for twenty cents, knowing I'd find the right project sometime.



Unfortunately, Two seems to be a difficult age for getting nice shots of this child of mine. A combination of camera-shy and inability to stand still made these about the best I could do.
BUT the final verdict is that I will be making one of these in every colour, for the warmer months. With longer sleeves and body length than suggested by the pattern (but not narrower!). Just too gorgeous for words. And so very European looking!

Fatuous reasons to become a Mum

To show somebody how fun it can be to step in a puddle of paint, feel it ooze between your toes, and then march across paper, leaving a trail behind you, feeling it stick to your feet and giggling at the mess.

 

Recently seen on my sewing machine

Early this year I found a sleeveless fleece vest for my son's wardrobe. It's been really useful on cooler days this winter, when we've gone out to playgrounds where it's very cool when you stand still, but running around like a two year old makes it a bit warm for a jumper.
I didn't quite trust myself to fit a zip to stretchy fleece fabric so planned to do a double-breasted button thing for my homemade version. This turned out not to be as practical as I'd hoped, since a sudden growth spurt meant he was filling out his clothes an inch or two more than when I first began cutting. So the resulting garment looks slightly lopsided, but was still a big hit - the minute I added the buttons and rediscovered my machine's buttonholing capabilities that is (he didn't want a bar of it, pre-buttons).

The outside is a gorgeous grey minky fleece, and I cut around the fading on an old cotton garment for the lining, that was retired from the Medieval Society when I was in charge of the loaner gear (so the local group heads offered me the spoils!). I patterned it off a (slightly A-line) shirt, allowing a few centimetres extra on each seam, so a few layers could be comfortably worn beneath. (To do this, turn your garment inside out, pull the sleeves inside the body of the garment and lay it as flat as you can. Potential tute to follow. Eventually.)


I think next time I'll try finishing the edges with a contrasting rib knit and not bother lining it. I'd also curve the front edges rather than leaving them as right angles, one of which inevitably flips up.
But not bad for a first go. With the skivvy and embroidered flares the Tiny Tyrant was definitely channelling the 70s the other day!

Bag of Swag

Went to visit the Out-laws last week, and came home with these lovelies, which my Mother-Out-Law was planning to toss out. They're all genuinely vintage, from the 70s or 80s (and gosh, doesn't that make ME feel old)! Most of them have a little fading or wear, but if I make them into Small People things that will be easy enough to avoid. I'm really chuffed, even though I'm meant to be cutting down the amount of stuff in my craft room - I twisted my ankle in there this morning, when I tripped over some of the piles.

Food Pr0n

Round here, winter is for baking!
Here's a peek at some of the baking I've been doing lately, because when stuff goes right in the kitchen it's worth celebrating, for me.

First, a chocolate zucchini cupcake with peppermint and choc-fudge icing. It's got vegetables in, it's healthy, right? Without the icing it's actually been a huge toddler hit and I'll be doing them again.

And here are some Very Naughty gingerbread men that I sent to my sister, after a silly discussion about me mailing her "hot naked men". Well, except for the one of them who got shy and donned a posing pouch!