Dress in action

Bec just sent me some photos of the 4-in-1 dress in action.



So, how did it go??? It was a bit too big around the middle so the dress slips towards the front, poor Bug has her butt showing alot of the time! Good thing it is so appleish & cute! The excess fabric also causes the back to bunch a bit. I could trim off the contrast band at the back, but both Bec & I like that detail. So, at Mark's suggestion, we are going to try putting two snaps on the front & back panel to stop the dress pivoting at that point. Hopefully that will stop it opening up so wide & slipping to the front. Wow, that description is clear as mud :)

4-in-1 dress

I loved the simplicity of this dress, so set out to make one for Amelia for Xmas. Christmas got a little hectic and I missed the day but it is better late than never. Sorry Amelia, at least I got it finished before Winter set in :)

Using Mark's digital calipers, a dress of Amelia's & Giles as a moving dress dummy I upscaled a pattern from this photo. I adjusted it it make the dress a lot shorter to try and get it above her knees. The short length will hopefully make climbing (her new found, and well practiced skill) easier. the other adjustment was to use snaps instead of ties for the front and back. I figured with a squirmy 1yr old, snaps were much easier than trying to tie two bows. For an older child ties would look nice. Oh, I also used snaps on one of the shoulder straps as the neck hole looked a bit small & it was an excuse to use more snaps!.

So here it is, 4 dresses for the price of 1...

Dress 1 and 2; Front & Back


Dress 3 and 4; Front & Back



I'm really pleased with how it looks. I'll give it to Bec tomorrow so hopefully we will have some 'action' shots soon.

I'd love to make one for Easton, I just don't know what size to make it. Perhaps you could measure her chest & length for me.

P.S. Sorry for the quality of the photos. Just as you get your camera fixed Jacq, I dropped our Canon A90 tonight while taking photos of the dress! It landed on the lens and has pushed it all out of alignment. It won't even turn on without a 'lens error' message. BUGGER!!! These photos (and many to come) were taken on my cell phone. Bugger, bugger, could it happen at a worse time when buying a new one is out of the question? bugger. Oh well, these things happen.

Poles Apart

Southern Hemisphere Christmas

::My Outfit::

Just off the phone with you Jacq, sitting having a glass of wine waiting for Giles to wake up before I got dressed into my new Chrissy outfit (it's hanging on the door). It was too damn hot to get dressed before I had to, or I would have arrived looking like a soggy lump of dough!

::Our Christmas Table::

Mel & Rhys did a beautiful job of decorating the tables and making it feel most festive! We shared our day with Mel's family which

::Outside Christmas Day::

Perth recorded 39.5C for Christmas Eve, 40.7C for Christmas Day and 44.2 C (111F) for Boxing Day, the hottest three-day Christmas period since records began!!!

What I really wanted to photograph was an egg frying on the road, but I couldn't bring myself to hang outside for long enough! Instead, here is a photo taken at about 8:30pm. We had just gotten home and the house was sitting at a stifling 37.9C. The only place to be was outside under the pergola with what little breeze their was, blowing though the yard. Giles toddled around for another hour or so while we had another cold beer, then we all collapsed into bed. A fantastic Xmas day!

I can't say we wished you were here (the weather was too revolting) but we sure wished we were with you on Christmas day! We love you all XXOOXX

I sewed something just for me

 

The first weekend in August was my friends, Chris and Steph's wedding. A magnificent afternoon ceremony beside Island Lake surrounded by friends and famliy. So lucky, were these two that the lingering smoke in the skies from the previous days was blown away...the views were stunning! Steph's dress was absolutely beautiful...you shouldv'e seen the look on Chris' face. Even after 12+ years these two still have that day one adoration in their eyes. We moved up to the lodge afterwards for delicious hors d'ouvers and drinks before heading downtown to the Best Western for a buffet dinner and dance. The party continued late into the evening, in fact until we were kicked out of the funtion room a little after 2am.

I finally made something for myself, a dress to wear for the day. It was an off the shoulder, fitted a-line dress made of a slightly stretchy floral fabric I fell in love with in Cranbrook months ago. Luckily it fit just right with no alteration necessary because I was still madly hemming the bloody thing the morning of the wedding whilst trying to fend off my curious children. Pretty happy with the outcome. What do you think?

The Browns go to Springfield

Ah ha! We have jumped on the Simpsons Movie craze and had ourselves 'Simpsonized'.

So, what do you think? Any resemblance?

Fleecy Butt-cover-uper-ers

These overalls are my very first attempt at making clothes for Giles. I did it the easy way and used bonded fleece and simply traced a pattern right onto the fleece from a pair of overalls he already wears. A few embellishments on his butt pockets and voila, easy-peasy!

It has taken me so long to show you these photos, Giles has nearly grown out of them. No kidding, his little milk-belly is making the seam down the front stretch to breaking point (I've since learned you are supposed to



reinforce an overlocked seam with a straight stitch....Oh well, next time)

More from the Wraped Mind of Stichy McYarnpants

Here's a giggle or two for you.

but wait...there's more

All cozy for Winter

Giles is growing fast and has grown out of the sleeping bag Helen lent us (thank you Helen, it has been a godsend!), so I sewed a new one that doubles as a pram liner for winter. I used Bec's liner as inspiration & to get some rough measurements, but from there I had to wing it. No wonder it took several weekends to finish it. It's really hard to think three steps ahead when you are living on chunks of sleep that are less than 3 hours in length (yay for teething & a headcold).

Anyhoo, I'm really pleased with how it turned out. It fits the pram perfectly and is toasty warm for our Perth winters. I made it from two layers of bonded fleece with 3M Thinsulate quilt batting sandwiched between. It has a open ended zip around the foot & snaps (of course) up the sides. This way, you take the cover right off if the weather improves.

I found these Army appliqués of Dad's in with mum's bag of buttons she gave me from her sewing supplies. Aren't they fantastic. Very boyish. Dad was really thrilled to see them find a new life.