Some pretty mail and some stripes.

With the Aussie dollar so strong, I couldn't resist some fabric from Heather Bailey's online store. 20% of Freshcut fabric and Trash Ties added to the appeal. Having quite long hair, I've always thought about ordering some TrashTies. But I also had to order some Pop Garden beauties as well. I'm planning some Christmas gifts with these. I also made myself a simple tiered skirt, using knit fabric so no need to finish the seams. The gathering was a bit fiddly, but I'm happy with the result. My husband couldn't help comparing the skirt though to some 'pirate cushions' I'd made recently for my stepson's room, using a new tea towel and backed with one of Peter's old grey marle top.

We've had our house on the market, so there were lots of those little projects to make things look a little more pulled together. Also, some stool covers to make some bar stools form Peter's work a little more tasteful.


It looks like we have (finally!) sold, so I'm looking forward to moving and no doubt there'll be more sewing projects for the new house this time.

Another ruffly tiered skirt

One of the issues with having two daughters is that if you make a pretty skirt for one, you have to make it for the other! So I did. This time I used contrasting fabrics, and I didn't use my buttonhole stitch for the top of the tiers, just a simple hem. It worked just as well. I realise now that this photo only really shows the bottom two tiers, the third is the same fabric as the bottom tier. Oh, and the photo also shows a Milo face! Oops.

Wordless weekend

A ruffly tiered skirt

We own quite a few skirts in this house, even excluding the handmade ones, and my favourite of the store bought ones are those with an exposed seam. I'm not sure what the technical term is, but the ones that are gathered with the top of the bottom tier sitting on the outside.

So I thought I'd have a go at that, and I'm really impressed with the results. The top of the tier acts as a little ruffle and looks so frilly and girly. I love it. Lizzie does too, despite her reluctance to be photographed!

The fabric is from Spotlight, and I love the mix of colours - it will pretty much go with most of Lizzie's Tshirts.

A bit more info. I hemmed the top of the tier using my buttonhole stitch, and hemmed the bottom just with a straight stitch. I guess it takes a bit of time, but is very simple. One of Louisa's store bought skirts uses a bias binding in a contrasting fabric for the top of the tier. I'd like to try that soon too. Just to add to the girls' skirt collection!!

Wordless weekend