A new summer skirt…. for me!

Hooray! Finally I am starting to enjoy sewing for myself now that I am managing to produce some successful items that I actually want to wear.  I started cutting the fabric for this skirt last weekend and it has taken nearly a week to complete, only because it has been done in dribs and drabs when children were occupied / asleep. I mostly followed the tutorial here , and just tweaked it a little.

Originally I planned it to be a little longer so it hit my knee (and covered my tubby bits that I can’t seem to shift!) buy then I bit the bullet and chopped it shorter in the hope of making it look a bit more modern.

It’s lined with muslin, which was cheap at the shop, but I would probably use poly cotton another time as it is much easier to work with.

I love the pockets. They are lined with a pale blue and white butterfly print I had left over in my stash, and I like looking down and seeing a little contrast, just for me to see.  They were definitely worth the extra effort and have already been used lots.

Last night I was browsing some of my usual blog sites and founds this fab skirt week competition on crafterhours, so I posted this skirt, my boho maxi skirt, and Little Boo’s spotty elastic skirt. If you hop over there you will find lots of fab skirts along with some tutorials, and you can vote for your favourite skirt to win a prize. There are lots of way more skilled sewers that have entered, but I’m glad just to join in and put my pictures ‘out there’.

Anyway, for my next selfish sew (hey, that sounds like a good title for a regular  blog spot – maybe I should start one and use it to help me expand my own wardrobe?) I am planning on this play suit by salme. Just off to print out the pattern….

Lined elastic waist girl’s skirt, in the sunshine!

A while ago I posted about a lined skirt I made for Little Boo in the lovely Timber and Leaf deer print. When I finished it the weather was just too cold to wear it really, but now…. Hooray we have sun!

Now I have made another using the same method in a simple spot fabric, this time a little longer (she is growing too fast!) and I took a few photos as I made to share with you just how simple it is to make.

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If you fancy making one of these just click here or on the photo below for a sweet and simple tutorial.

And just to share with you, Little Boo loves new taste sensations (she is one of those children that will chew on a lemon, eat the apple core and all, and delight in the zing of chilli crisps), but bubble mixture … really?

“Mmm, what is this fine delicacy? I sense undertones of flowers, lemon and washing up liquid.”

Oliver and S Sailboat Pants

At last have made some of these lovely Oliver and S sailboat pants. I have been coveting these ever since I saw this lovely elephant version made by Gail on the probablyactually website (if you haven’t visited before, you should go and take a look – it is fantastic!). I made these in Essex linen and used the size 4 pattern. Little Boo is only just 2, so they look a bit more like short trousers than Capri length, but they are great for when the weather is trying to be good but not quite managing it (we seem to be having quite a lot of that at the moment).

I love the button detailing on the front, nicely modelled here by a very compliant model:

“Boo, where is your tummy button?”

However, I am a bit lazy, so next time I make these (which I am sure I will) I may cheat and just sew the buttons on without buttonholes as the elastic in the back means they are not necessary. I may also try a bit of contrast fabric on the sides, or even some piping. I’m desperate to try piping, but can’t find any to buy, so may have to follow a tutorial to create my own, we’ll see.

Of course these have also been tested for scooter suitability and passed the test…

… and have lots of room for bending. They also have a cute side split in the leg, which you can catch a glimpse of here.

I definitely plan to use this pattern again, maybe with some more funky fabric, so watch this space…

A Dinomite Dino Party!

Big Boo’s 4th birthday party was last weekend and despite all my stressing (I’m not a natural hostess) all the prep work paid off and we ended up with a really relaxed, enjoyable celebration.  Last year’s dino party was a military procedure planned to the last minute with a whole host of games.  It worked well but was hard work for me as I had to do lots of running around and organising of children.  This year we prepped lots of activities that the children could do themselves and the plan was to intersperse them between free playing.  Luck was with us and the sun came out so the children had free run of the house and garden.

The first activity was a fossil excavation in the ‘sand pit’ (which was actually a paddling pool filled with sand). Inspired by some pinterest searching I bought a T-Rex skeleton mould from ebay  and filled it with plaster of paris.  Then all I had to do was bury the ‘fossils’ just before visitors arrived and place some paintbrushes on top of the sand.  Once our guests had all appeareWei sent them down to the garden to do some palaentological excavation work.  Big Boo gave a huge exclamation of “WOW” when he uncovered the tail, and the they laid the pieces out on the grass to (almost!) create the T-Rex once they found them all.  They then buried and uncovered them again, and again and again, 4 or 5 times before they got bored.

After some more sand play we got busy cracking open the dinosaur eggs that the children made earlier in the week.  I’ve got a tutorial here for making them. The only disappointment here was that the children wanted to crack open more than we had, they enjoyed this a lot.

Due to the mid afternoon timing of the party I stuck to nibbles (monster munch a.k.a dinosaur footprints and bread sticks a.k.a dino bones) and sweet treats. The dinosaur nest cakes at the top of the picture were made with lots of help from Little Boo and you will find a tutorial here.  The gingerbread fossil biscuits were made with these great cutters from amazon. They were pricey but we will use them with play dough too. Finally the cupcakes were piped with green grass buttercream icing and topped with a mini plastic dinosaur.

We finished with this piñata activity.  These dinosaur eggs did take a few days to make (with stops and starts obviously!) but did end up looking great and were a hit (ha ha!). The children did need a little help to get started but they were all happy to become the baby dinosaurs hatching from the eggs by donning their masks.

Birthday wishes were sung as the candles were lit on the volcano cake and a “wow” even escaped from one little boy’s lips as the sparkler in the centre of it started to spark.

The children went home with their piñata dinosaur masks and a little thank you bag with some ‘dinosaur eggs’ (mini eggs) and a couple of toy dinosaurs, and we rounded the event off with a beer (my husband) and a Pimms (myself!) – perfect!

If you are planning a dino event for your little one, I would really recommend any of these activities, and you can find links to tutorials to do the activities above or below:

Dinosaur fossil mould from ebay.

Dinosaur eggs to crack open Tutorial.

Dinosaur nest mars bar cakes Tutorial.

Dinosaur skeleton cookie cutters from amazon.

Dinosaur egg piñata tutorial.

Volcano cake tutorial.

Birthday Boy and Volcano Cake

I’m aware that I haven’t posted for a while and I really keep meaning to. Life has been a bit hectic recently, and I have been crafting and sewing lots, but not had the time (or good weather outdoors) to take any nice photos. I’m holding off showing Little Boo’s new outfit until I can get some better pictures of her in it (as we have been back in winter coats and boots here – in May!), but I do have something to share with you here.

Big Boo has turned four this week (I can’t bear that he is growing up so quickly). He had a great birthday at the farm with me, his grandparents and cousin. He got a new ‘big boy’ maxi micro scooter – mainly so Little Boo can use his old one which has been pimped with a pink base board – her favourite colour she keeps telling me . However, his favourite gifts by far were his schleich dinosaurs and his prehistoric reptiles. He would probably have been happy just with his carnotaurus and styracosaurus (it’s crazy when you hear him using all of these names).

Anyway, he wants a dinosaur party again this year, so we are planning some new activities so that it isn’t the same as last year. He wouldn’t realise but it is nice for us to have a change. The party is tomorrow so I’ll blog about how they went once they have been child tested. He also requested a volcano cake, so after researching the Internet a friend and I spent yesterday afternoon creating our little masterpiece. It obviously isn’t professional standard, but we were both pretty chuffed with how it turned out, and so is my son. We took pics as we made, so I’ll add a mini tutorial when I have time and I have made a tutorial here if you would like to make one too.. I will be spending tomorrow morning trying to gently persuade him to let me put sparklers in the volcano hole (he’s a bit sensitive about all things noisy and sparky). But for now, it’s time to wrap the pass the parcel….

Geranium cat and mouse dress

At last some pictures of my cat and mouse geranium dress actually being worn!

When my husband walked in from work this evening he claimed he had never seen it before, so I don’t think I have put Little Boo in it many times since I made it. I originally thought it may be a bit more of a party dress, but today I have had so many lovely comments about it that I think it will be coming out a lot more often, plus Boo was quite happy to put it on, and it has the stamp of approval as a full on play dress – great for scooting…..

and romping with dinosaurs!

This is a bit of an indulgent blog showing off my little girl and a dress pattern I absolutely love but, hey, it’s my blog and I’ll show off if I want to! Better get on with some new sewing…

PS: Click here for more about the dress and a tutorial link at Made By Rae.

Old Jeans To Boho Skirt

Another sew for myself, how nice! I spotted something like this on Pinterest and just guessed my way to making it.  The sudden warm weather motivated me to finish it and I wore it to the park today, feeling pretty darn boho.

This is pretty quick to sew and (I think!) is easy to wear teamed with a vest top and sandals. It was good for playing at the park as everything was well covered when bending down to dig sandcastles and crossing legs to eat picnics!

If you would like to try making one I have put together a tutorial here. I know I need to get better at taking mid make photos, but hope you can follow it! Have fun.