Sewing FO: Devil's cupcake skort

After a massive shopping expedition to the fabric store with the girls, I came back and promptly cut out the pieces for this skirt. Which then sat for most of a week before they actually got put together.

Pattern: Simplicity 5531
Fabric: ??? Some cotton with cupcakes that Herself fell in love with. I bought 0.8 m of fabric, and had plenty left over.

This pattern was super easy. Two back pieces, two front pieces, one skirt flap. Sew together, hem, put in some elastic and you're good to go. There's supposed to be a button on the front, at the top of the skirt panel, but I couldn't find my button jar, and Dev was quite insistent that she put it on Right. Now. So...no button, but all is well.

I made the size 6, and there's plenty of room in there, both length and width-wise. If I'm really lucky, she can maybe wear this next summer too. Provided it isn't too devastated that is. And after such a quick and easy project, I got inspired to do this:

Cutting the pieces is always the toughest part of sewing for me - it takes so damn long! But after three hours hard work yesterday morning, I now have all the pieces cut out for their dresses. Expect more sewing FOs in the next little while!

Growing

There are definitely lots of things growing around here at the moment. Camellias,

Magnolias,

Tulips,

Laptop bags,

Cherry blossoms,

Pitcher plants,

Handspun sweaters,

and children.

Given the last, I'm embarking on another craft for a few days - sewing new summer dresses for the girls.

You'll be glad to know, however, that there are some things that are shrinking around here, i.e. my massive ball of purple top.

I'm now down to only 4.5 ounces to go. And since I'm imposing a moratorium on knitting for the next few days (my wrist is acting up again), I'm hoping against hope that it will get finished this week. Then I'll take a week or so before embarking on Neverending Plying.

Make do and mend

I've been catching up on the latest Cast-On series, the focus of which is reusing and recycling stuff you already have. In that spirit (and because if I buy any more yarn I will move dangerously closer to SABLE territory), I've been doing a bit of recycling myself.

First up is a (gasp!) sewing project. There are a number of clothes lurking in my closet that have not been worn in a shameful period of time, because they don't fit anymore or the style isn't quite right or whatever. One of these was a nice skirt that I've had for years, 100% silk with buttons down the front, which I haven't worn in eons because it was a very unfortunate mid-calf dowdy length. I've been meaning to shorten it for a long time, and last week while Boo ventured off to daycare and it was just me and the Wee Devil, I did just that.

Much better. The picture is courtesy of Devil, who is showing unholy fascination with my new camera. Methinks she'll need one for Christmas so she can fulfill her destiny of being the next Ansel Adams.

The other repurposing project ongoing is the reclamation of 11 skeins of GMS Mountain Mohair from a sweater I knit long ago, and really enjoyed for a while, but put away when we got to Houston. And then I pulled it out and discovered this:

So last week I also turned that sweater into a pile of yarn cakes, which were then washed, dried and are in the process of being reknitted into Indigo Playmate, from one of my recent book purchases.

Blue spaghetti!

I finished the yoke Monday morning while both of my children were at (gulp!) school, and am making good progress on the body. It's stockinette with occasional increasing/decreasing, so it's perfect for TV knitting. So far it's seen "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Oceans Eleven". Quality cinema at its best!