Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been...

I made Louisa a pinafore dress using my favourite easy pattern. Its not a fancy fabric, just a plain pink cotton drill, so I added this cute little pussy cat, using one of my favourite colour combinations (pink and apple green). Excuse the blue chalk marks still on the cat, and the fact that the dress needs a good press - and the fact that the model wouldn't stay still!

Kindy Dress Up Day! Then and now.

Today is 'P' day at Louisa's kindy, so she is very happy to be going dressed as a princess. We almost had to give up and put her in her Tinkerbelle pixie costume as I was a little bit stressed about getting it completed. A busy weekend away, parents visiting, and my dear husband deciding to take a day off (!!) meant that I was still stitching on sequins last night. I'm very happy with it apart from the collar section, but hopefully the other children won't be looking too closely. Here's a smiling Louisa photo (I originally posted the serious one instead of the smiling one by accident) And on the subject of kindy dress ups, here's me as Holly Hobbie in about 1975 at my kindy dress up. Three of us even managed to get our picture in the local paper, but geez, you think they could have chosen a smiling child - very serious, I was!

Treasues from my childhood

We spent a lovely weekend at Caloundra, catching up with my Mum and Dad who were up holidaying from Victoria They're currently decluttering, so Mum brought up a few things from my childhood to give to me. My favourite is the Holly Hobbie dress I wore to my kindy dress up over 30 years ago! I'll have to dig up the photo of me in the same dress, but here's Louisa in it.

One of my sisters had the pink one, which is way too big for Elizabeth at the moment, but I'll hold onto it until hse does fit into it.

Also amongst the goodies was this toy sewing machine. Louisa's having a lot of fun playing around with it, although it only does a very dodgy straight stitch and keeps unthreading itself.

Also amongst the parcel were my high school uniform (which still fits!), some Holly Hobbie sheets, and an alphabet pillowcase and a cotton floor length dress my mum wore to my uncles' wedding many years ago.

Mothers' Day photos and I've been tagged

A couple of photos from Mothers' Day (also known as 'dressed by dad' day). A lovely drive up to Montville for lunch and a wander around all the little shops. I've been tagged by Kylie so here goes:

Start with 7 random facts/habits about yourself People who are tagged have to
write their 7 things on their blog Then choose another 7 people to get tagged
and list their names

• My husband and I eloped one week after my 30th birthday. We married in the Cook Islands - our friends and family thought we were just going for a
  holiday.
• My favourite dessert is apple crumble
• I've taught in 3 different states (SA,Vic and Qld)
• Both my mum and my sister are coeliacs (they can't eat wheat or gluten).
• I've only ever owned Mitsubishi cars: a Colt, a Magna and now a Challenger.
• I started a Science course after high school, but dropped out after one month
• I worked in the mail room of a Melbourne law firm for a year

I tag: Ali (fallen~from~grace), Marie, Yakkers, Becci (ANGEL), Andrea, Helen and Brazen.

My first real bags, and a play dress

Here is the bag I've given both Mum and my mother in law for Mothers' Day:

I decided I'd do a trial first to be sure it would work, so Louisa choose this fabric and I think it looks great - very tropical. I now borrow 'her' bag to walk to the shop for the bread and milk instead of lugging my usual handbag. I'm hoping Mum and MIL will get the same kind of use out of theirs. I don't expect to replace Mum's everyday handbag that carries everything but the kitchen sink.

Below is my first creation from my Enid Gilchrist books. It's actually a little small for Elizabeth, even though the book said '1-2 years' and Lizzie's quite tiny for her age. I guess kids are getting bigger over the years. So next time I might add an inch to the front and back part of the pattern, and maybe a bit longer on the shoulder yokes too. Still, now I've slashed the back a bit and extended the button loop, it should be okay for playing around the house in - which I guess is what a 'play dress' is probably intended for anyway. I have to admit to loving this apple green colour, especially teamed with pink. It was everywhere a few years ago, but I guess it's popularity has waned a bit now. I still love it though!

Louisa's pinafore dress

Here's Louisa's pinafore dress, made using some drill I got on clearance at Spotlight. I really like it, although while making it I worried a little that it would look too 'school uniform' in the brown colour. Happily, though, the daisies add that bit of little girl prettiness to it. I may add an aqua ribbon around the bodice, but haven't had a chance to get to the shops to look for any yet.

This photo doesn't show the gathers at the back which look very pretty.