Pyjamas for Peter Rabbit

Smallest of all had her 4th birthday a couple of weeks ago and I had a last minute present inspiration for her. Frankly she has so many clothes that I was struggling to justify making her another dress, but when I saw a very lightweight cotton tablecloth (with yellow flowers and a brown border print) in the charity shop (£1.99) it screamed pyjamas at me. And it has to be said, her current pyjamas are all getting a little snug.
I then found a free pdf pyjama pattern and away I went. Although the original pattern was drafted for a child apparently the same size as mine I did a little enlarging. This all worked fine, except for the sleeve head – arm scye relationship (somehow I didn’t make the sleeve head large enough), but having fudged it by tapering the body in under the arm to make the two bits fit together, the top fits her fine. I also had to add an extra inch to the trousers to bring the waistband further up her body – I can only assume she is long in the body like her brother.
Obviously I bought fabric for this project, but I did manage to bust some of my button stash!! A couple of years ago I was given a card of Beatrix Potter buttons and I have been hoarding them, waiting for the right thing to put them on – and this was it! The colour density on the buttons and the style of the fabric just seemed to fit together, and given that Robin loves the current Peter Rabbit animated series it was a winner. Although she didn’t want the Old Brown button, because “he is a bad one”.

Aside from Robin’s delight, I am really pleased with this make. Especially with all the cutting and pattern matching. In fact every time I see how the border print lines up makes me smile (although not as much as Robin, apparently).

Wardrobe Makeover

Well, it is a kind of stashbusting. In that we no longer have to edge into the garage and complain about not being able to find anything “because there’s a wardrobe there”. :-)
My online presence has been little bit sketchy over the last couple of months. I nearly blogged on my April makes, but with two lots of school holidays, plus some other things to be doing, I feel like I got sucked into limbo and have just been spat out again.
My big (non-sewing) project was a long-awaited paint job on the wardrobe I promised Matthew last summer. It arrived then as a plain, beaten up, scribbled on pine wardrobe (£12, ebay). Summer 2013, before the sun went away, I let the children help me prime it (why???) and then it got mothballed in the garage while it rained. End of April/beginning of May I made some space in the living room, and spent the next few weeks giving it a top coat and then decorating in the previously approved fashion, while fending off offers of help from the children. It is now residing in Matthew’s tiny bedroom (it fits under his loft bed!)


I did do some sewing, but nothing that needs much explanation…

Leaving present for my son’s fab Maths teacher	non-food items for the Easter Egg Hunt.
money pouch, using vintage linings from my grandmother’s stash…	Leather brooch made at a workshop at the fab Love From Hetty & Dave.

I also made two items of clothing – a frilled, polka dot crimplene skirt for Robin, and a green and orange linen shirt for my 1 year old nephew, only “Failure to Fotograph” struck again so no photos. (Sorry, alliteration was too good to resist).
And I moved my sewing machines from the dining room to the recently vacated garden office (or “shed”). This has had an impact on my sewing too, as I have to go outside to get things done, but it is also helping my to think about how I approach my sewing tasks, and what state I leave everything in at the end of the day!

Here’s to a more productive June/July, before 6 weeks of no sewing hits me.