Little things for little feet

Remember the pink sweater I knitted for my friends who were expecting? Baby is here, and she's adorable. Mum wanted a pumpkin hat since she loves all things Halloween, so I offered to knit her one.

The hat pattern is Baby Berry Hat, and I knitted it up in about 2 hours, maybe 3. It was quick and easy. The yarn is acrylic, which I don't usually like to work with, but I didn't want to trek all the way to the local yarn store to buy what I needed. The green yarn is wool, from my stash.

Because I had so much yarn left over, I decided to make matching booties. Honestly, I've never had babies to knit for, and I became a little obsessed when I made the sweater... When my kids were born, I wasn't knitting.

The booties are Saartje's Bootees, and they're very quick and easy. They're supposed to be made with two colours of yarn, but I didn't have any more of the green yarn from the hat, so I used green buttons instead.

I did say I was obsessed with baby knits, didn't I? Since the first pair of booties knitted up so quickly, I decided to use up the last bit of the pink yarn from the sweater to make matching booties. Since the pattern calls for worsted weight yarn, and this yarn is fingering, I held the yarn double. Piece of cake!

My friends liked the hat, and the unexpected booties. I've seen photos of Baby in her pumpkin hat and booties, and she's incredibly cute. I can't wait to meet her.

Skirts, part II

Here are the other two skirts I made with Butterick 4722.

Another view C. This skirt is made from quilting cotton that has been in my stash forever and a day. This one was given to my daughter's friend, to whom I promised a skirt months ago and finally got done.

She's a little older than girlie, and a touch bigger, so I added a little bit to the centre front and back seams. She has a bit of growing room.

I didn't have any brown zippers, but I did have a pink one, so it ties in with the colours in the skirt.

This skirt is view B. I normally like to make children's clothing out of quilting cotton because it is inexpensive, but this fabric was not a quilting cotton.

I can't remember what it was though. It is cotton, however.

This one was not so fun, as the markings on the pattern made no sense at all, so I had to work out the ease and gathers freehand. I'm not a big fan of doing gathers, but they always look nice when I'm done, so I suppose I shouldn't complain.

This skirt has an elastic waistband.

Next up on the sewing list is Halloween costumes. I'm looking forward to them - they are always fun. Little Dude's costume also incorporates some knitting... but I'm not telling what he's going to be!

Skirts for Girlie

When my daughter and I went back to school shopping, every skirt she looked at was way, way, WAY too short. Am I getting old? I don't think I am... there's no good reason for an eleven year-old to be wearing skirts that short. Yes, they had shorts underneath, but as far as I am concerned, shorts under skirts are for girls that are young enough not to have storytime on the carpet. Or gymnasts, or figure skaters, or dancers. You get the idea.

She tried on skirts like this one... On the model, it looks perfectly fine... My daughter, however, has long legs, and on her, it looked more like this. Now, this would be fine if she'd wear leggings underneath, but I know she probably won't... Sorry kiddo.

So, I told her that none of the skirts she picked out were acceptable, and asked her if she'd like me to make her some skirts. She was happy with that, so we left the minis at the store.

She didn't want to go fabric shopping with me, but I know what she likes. I bought Butterick 4722, and planned on making view B & C (the orange one and the yellow one). I bought the fabric in August, and finally got around to sewing two of the three promised skirts yesterday.

I haven't made the gathered tiered skirt yet, so I won't comment on it yet. I did make two of the pleated skirt however, and it was a great pattern. Only three pieces, eight pleats, a zipper and a grosgrain ribbon at the waist instead of a waistband. I omitted the bow, because she's not really into details like that.

 The first skirt I made was in purple corduroy. I found it in the clearance section of the store. I found the great lime green lace and thought it would be a fun accent.

It is a nice fine whale corduroy, so it doesn't have too much bulk. Purple is one of her favourite colours. I couldn't find the right colour of zipper, so I had to use a black one. I almost wish I could have found a lime green zipper!

The grosgrain ribbon waist was a bit tricky on this skirt, because of the weight of the fabric. It was a little too thick for this waist treatment to work easily, but it did work out in the end. There was just a bit of fussy pinning to do.

The second skirt is made of a brushed cotton plaid. I think out of the two, this is her favourite. It drapes beautifully, and the waistband was much simpler.

I really loved the colours in this fabric. Girlie isn't a fan of brown, but the blue is one of her favourites, and I figured if she didn't like this fabric, I could use it for myself. I'm almost disappointed, because I would have liked to make myself a skirt out of it. I'd buy more fabric, but I suspect she might have a problem with her mum having a matching skirt.

Fortunately, I managed to find a blue zipper that was just the right colour for this skirt. Picking thread was a little more challenging, as I couldn't decide which colour to match. I went with the brown.

I'm quite pleased with my matching of the plaid as well. I normally dislike working with plaid because matching it is such a hassle, but this wasn't too bad.

I decided to have some fun with the decorative stitching on my machine as well. It is subtle, but I rather like it. I wish I'd had lime green thread to do this on the purple skirt!

Girlie wore her plaid skirt to school today, with a white t-shirt and guess what? Leggings. Sigh. Sometimes, you just have to throw your hands up in the air and give up!

Her friend came over yesterday while I was making supper, and was really excited for Girlie because I'd made her skirts. I may have promised to make her a skirt too... fortunately, she's the same size as Girlie, and I have some stash cotton that would be great on her... so I guess that's my next project. I hope to finish her skirt as well as the gathered skirt today.

I guess I'd better get sewing!