Hessian Tote Bag

I love these hessian bags - ideal for the holiday season. I made my own one first and decided to make a mini-version for Daisy.

The basic pattern came from a magazine. They are so easy to make, basically two pieces of hessian (18 x 23in) for the front and back and two pieces (4 x 25 in) for the handles. I just halved the measurements for the smaller bag.

Flowers made from wired ribbon

Basic instructions are on my Sewing page, along with details on how to make the ribbon flowers.

EASY GIRL'S SUMMER SKIRT

I found this easy skirt tutorial from Oliver + s. It's so easy to make. The tutorial says to use a full width of fabric, which definitely works best, but if your little one is quite little (like mine), you can get away with using slightly less and having a straighter style. I tried it out, as as I had a lovely white and pink fabric I wanted to try, but only had little bit left over - not a full width. Here is the finished result in a blue print fabric (using a full width).

Shirring!

Shirring is everywhere in the shops at the moment - at least it is in the childrenswear departments! So I decided I would try to shirr another pillowcase to make another dress for Daisy. There are loads of websites and blogs on shirring and I read a lot... some were definitely more helpful than others. But there is no substitute for getting your machine out and trying it. And through trial and error (lots of error!) I got there! I'm really happy with the dress - more detail is on my Sewing page.

Some things I found helpful on using elastic thread, or shirring thread:

1. Hand wind the elastic thread onto your bobbin. Do not stretch the elastic when winding it, it needs to be fairly relaxed, but not loose.

2. Use the longest stitch length your machine has.

3. Use your normal tension on your machine (Some say to loosen your tension, but then I found that the thread did not 'gather' - you had to pull the elastic through by hand to create the gathers. Trust me, unless you have the patience of Job and a very light touch (I have neither), you do not want to do this.)

4. Use a good quality shirring thread - I found Guterman elastic thread very good and it comes in a range of colours.

5. Always test it out on a scrap piece of fabric first - I usually have no patience for this, but found it essential for this. Then you can adjust the tension of the elastic on your bobbin if need be.

6. I did not backstitch at the start and ends of rows. This means that if you do (though hopefully you won't) have to pull the elastic through slightly to adjust your 'gathers' it is nice and easy. Leave a tail at the start and end of your work. You can knot the ends together once you are finished, and then I just stitch them into a seam, or run a line of stitches over them to hold them down.

7. Lightweight fabric works the best for this.

Knitted Baby Shoes

I made these shoes from a pattern I found online and was really pleased with the result. I attatched a homemade tag with a ribbon and gave them as a gift to a friend. I'm now going to make another pair for my close friend who is due a little girl in 4 weeks - she doesn't follow my blog, so she won't see them here first!

SUMMER PILLOWCASE DRESS

Pillowcase Sun Dress

After spending an hour on the sewing machine making a pillow and duvet cover for Daisy's doll's pram, I deceided to keep going with the sewing and finish a little sun dress for Daisy that I had started the other day. This is one of the easist things I have ever made and I will definately be making more! I've already started to trawl ebay for vintage white pillowcases that will make lovely sun dresses and tops. I used a cot bed size pillowcase(60cm x 40cm), as that is what I had to hand (I bought it by mistake, thinking it was a full size one). It fits Daisy ideally, but you could use regular size ones for a looser fit, for older children, or even to make a summer top for an adult. I wanted Daisy to model it, but she is not feeling too good today and was, therefore, somewhat uncooperative! Full details how to make this on my Sewing page.