I don't wish to be mean to my northern hemisphere friends who are currently suffering what sounds like very harsh winter conditions, but here in Sydney it's so unbelievably hot that it's almost too much effort to do anything. Seriously, at midnight last night where I live it was still 33.7 degrees (92 F), and sadly our old weatherboard house really retains the heat so we were sweltering. The extreme hot weather is supposed to last for another few days too.
Anyway it's been far too hot to sit at my sewing machine and sew, let alone concentrate on something. Plus I always feel like my fabrics are getting so grubby being handled in this heat! So here's something I prepared earlier, as the saying goes....
A skirt and a top that I sewed for Anna late last year but didn't get a chance to blog about, probably because my model was being too surly. It seems I'm getting better at sewing with knit fabrics because this turned out pretty good. The skirt is made from a cotton drill in the brightest yellow colour from the stash that I never thought I would ever sew something from, but I really like this outfit even if she does look like she's dressed up like a little bumble bee!The pattern is a vintage 1970s Simplicity, with an elastic waistband at the back, patch pockets and is unlined so it took me less than an hour to sew, and probably only took that long since I had to change thread colours for the black topstitching and do two buttonholes for the pockets. It has just the right amount of a-line to it to allow space for movement.
The tee is refashioned from one of my own stretched out tees, and I used Kwik Sew 3424. Last time I made this tee it didn't fit over Anna's head, but this time for the neckband I used a strip of really really stretchy black jersey that I measured off her actual head, and not the length suggested in the pattern instructions. Plus I cut the strip from the selvedge so that instead of folding it in half and sewing both edges to the neckline, I just sewed the raw edge to the neckline and left the selvedge edge to roll over. Thanks to Blooms Fabric Obsession for the inspiration on that one! For the hem of the tee I just kept the hem of the existing tee, and lazily I've left sleeve edges raw and now they nicely roll up too. Lazy short cuts, but they don't look too shabby.Overall I really like this, I just wish I had the confidence to wear bright yellow!
So cute! I'm with you, wish I had the confidence to wear bright yellow too. Looks great on your little one.
ReplyDeleteI'm hot too! Anna is definitely the cutest kid on the planet.
ReplyDeleteHi from sunny South Florida: I'm spending my first winter as a snowflake(renting, not buying) in southern Florida, and it's been too lovely to do much more than mending. I don't think I'd be sewing either if it were 30 degrees warmer. I do some of my best sewing during snow storms in NJ, so I'm feeling a bit disoriented. Anna looks so cute and is so much a little girl rather than a toddler. The yellow suits her well, and I think you'd look smashing in it, too. Maybe if you start with yellow on the bottom??
ReplyDeleteA very cute outfit, love the colour of the skirt.
ReplyDeleteI made a bright yellow skirt for my daughter when she was little as well. Nice and cheerful. You have a cute little kiddie modelling :0)
ReplyDeleteI never realized how much she looks like you!
ReplyDeletethat is the fun thing about sewing for kids; you can go wild! I spent a lot of time in the purple zone with my daughter. Now that she buys her own clothes, she wears subdued greens and blues.
That is such a cute, cute outfit! And the little one is adorable!
ReplyDeleteVery cute! I love this colour combination.
ReplyDeleteI made skirts and tops in these colours for my daugther too, when she was Anna's age.
Your daughter looks adorable! I wouldn't have known it was vintage pattern had you not told me. Children's clothes have stayed so classic.
ReplyDeleteThat is adorable! And not like a bumble bee, at least not in a bad way.
ReplyDeleteThat's a stylish little outfit.
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking of your "extended family" and wondering if all is well?
ReplyDeleteI found a tissue instruction sheet yesterday and it's purpused just for you! I will be putting it into the mail as soon as possible... I won't tell you what it is so you will be surprised.
Hope all is well.
Hugs