The RaRa Skirt is making a comeback!

Who would have thought my favourite skirt when I was 12 would be worn by my 3 year old 20 years later? I spotted some in Target last week and thought they looked sweet so thought I would have a go. I have had this fabric sitting in my stash for awhile and Ellyse is pink crazy at the moment so I thought it would be perfect. I will admit to having unstitching once or twice while I got my head around how exactly I was going to do it, but I am most happy with the end result. I had seen this mariposa applique on Sandi Henderson's blog anf thought it would be perfect for a matching T.

Watch here how Ellyse goes from grumpy to happy in one shot! Had to include both sides of her!

and one from mothers group on Friday. Ellyse loves looking after Ashton while I am busy, who am I to argue?

I am not the only one getting ready for summer with skirts, check out these gorgeous skirts by EB sewing buddies Leah and Helen.

Getting my groove back!

WOW 3 sewing posts for me in a week! I am loving getting things finished and doing something for myself again. I think I was a little bit lost without projects on the go and things to do.

I started this dolls quilt back in January as a gift for a friend's one year old. All that needed finishing was the binding, but for some reason I thought it would be too hard for me. Well after doing the toy mat last week and realising how easy it was I was looking forward to getting this finished. It is my first go at quilting and I am pleased with it, it is simple but lovely at the same time.

Summer sewing begins here

The day I saw this dress in Novy's blog, I just knew I wanted to make one too. I just love how simple it is, but having the two fabrics makes it special. Of course seeing a similar style in Myer was a good motivator also. So I pruchased the pattern from here and Iwas set to go.

So when K decided to go fishing tonight I put my UFOs (and my extremely tired eyes) to the side to have a go at the dress. It was really easy to make and the instructions were fantastic. I used a fabric for the main part that I bought on impulse when Ashton was first born and I had 20 minutes in Spotlight one day. I was actually planning on making something for myself with it as it has a great boarder at the bottom, but thought it worked well with the pink and white spot for this dress. I made the size 3 but it looks a bit small, fingers crossed it fits, if not some friends are coming for dinner tomorrow night and they have a two year old I can give it to....then I can order some of this gorgeous fabric.

I will update my blog tomorrow with a photo of Ellyse wearing it.

Toy Mat for baby Jasper

My older sister Nicole and her husband Jort welcomed a baby boy into their lives about 9 weeks ago - this is how long it has taken me to get this toy mat finished! I was lacking some motivation, but it was also very time consuming. I hand blanket stitched all of the applique which took hours.

It was all worth it though, I simply love the finished product and hope that Jasper does too. It has cord around it so it can be closed and used as a storage bag for toys, which will be handy for my sister as she lives in a one bedroom flat in Japan.

Not a great photo, you can't really see the detail, but I know you will appreciate it!

I will have to get a photo of little Jasper on it before they return home on Tuesday.