aloha!

Monday 21 December 2009
Here are some pictures to mess with your head Carolyn! I hear that some parts of the US and Europe have experienced their heaviest snowfall in many years, meanwhile here in Sydney we have been absolutely sweltering. If it's any consolation the weather forecast for Christmas day is for showers and overcast conditions.

Yesterday we were invited to a Hawaiian themed first birthday party for a friend's daughter so of course we had to get dressed up in a tropical theme. Of course I could have gone down to those cheap stores that sell junk such as plastic flower leis and grass skirts, but me being me I decided to make something!

For Anna, I made a little dress from some hibiscus print fabric in a bright red and white colour. I think this may have been a tablecloth because it was hemmed all round, but it must have been used quite a bit because now it is quite a soft cotton fabric.

I used a vintage pattern picked from an op shop (where else?), Style 2170 view 2 - the pink dress. I left off the trim around the sleeves and yoke, and used snaps instead of buttons on the back (yes Katherine H - I sure am getting lots of use out of my snap press!).

The fit was a little large, so I also put a ribbon tie on the back to get a better fit.


And for me, I had a blue floral dress inherited from gran that could be best described as a muu-muu - I wore it in the last few days of my pregnancy around the house and it still had room so you can imagine how big it is on me!

However 20 mins later and a few rows of shirring around the waistline and it looks totally different. In fact I like it so much that I think I will wear it on holidays because we are going to Brisbane to stay with my inlaws, where it is so hot that just even thinking about moving is enough to cause a sweat to break out!


My husband also got into the spirit, wearing an authentic vintage Hawaiian shirt that somehow made it's way from Hawaii to his wardrobe:

Only four sleeps till Christmas and I still have quite a bit to do! You'd think I'd have plenty of time to get things finished since Anna has decided for the last week that 4.30am is her new wake up time, but funnily enough by the time she goes to bed at 7pm I'm nearly comatose. I'm hoping that she's just growing some more teeth and that's why her sleep patterns have gone out the window, because if this is how it's gonna be from now on she is in severe danger of being an only child!

23 comments:

  1. Very cute Aloha outfits. The mu-mu looks very smart with shirring.

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  2. Don't worry - it will only last until she is a teenager. Then you can't get them out of bed in the morning! Sofie made it out at 12.15 yesterday and said..."I think I might have overslept". Ya think?. Now to that gorgeous little dress. Very, very cute!!

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  3. You know that I am totally jealous of that snap press! Gorgeous little dress, so festive. Great "upcycle" or your muu-muu. Hope you had lots of fun and I hope you had plenty of drinks with cocktail umbrellas in them.

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  4. What wonderful dresses. Anna is getting more beautiful each day.

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  5. Two pretty dresses. I like how you refashioned your dress. Great idea!

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  6. Gorgeous refashioned dress, and Anna looks so satisfied in her! You did really great

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  7. So cute! That muumuu looks completely awesome with the shirring! Great save.

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  8. At least our Christmas forecasts sound the same - overcast and rainy! *LOL*

    I love, love, love both dresses. You did an amazing job on reigning in the space on your blue muu-muu - turning it into something quite chic as well as the wonderful print dress for Anna! Glad someone has good weather!!!

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  9. Nice refashion on the dress! It looks great.

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  10. You completely inspire me - Congrats on the outfits adorable - amazing how a row(s) of shirring can completely change the outfit!

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  11. Love both dresses! What a great save of the muu muu!

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  12. Love, Love, Love the red aloha dress!!! I am so envious that you get to sew for a little girl! Three teenage boys don't provide much incentive for cute sewing.

    The sleep patterns...just when you get used to one, she'll switch to something else. And I agree with Vicki. Sleeping is not a problem once they are teenagers.

    Merry Christmas

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  13. Amazing transformation of the mu-mu! Is that shirring easy to do? And very cute dress for Anna!

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  14. Anna is such a beautiful little thing! And what a wonderful Christmas dress!!!!

    Merry Christmas!

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  15. Thanks for your gorgeous comment! I often 'check in' without leaving a note with your blog too!

    Love your cute family in all this Aloha goodness!

    Have a great QLD holz! We're having a great time so far!

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  16. I got mine, it was the cutest thing ever in the post! you're a sweetheart you know that? thank you dear!

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  17. Anna's dress is just the cutest thing. Sigh, I would love to be wearing summer clothes right now. (We have 20 inches of snow on the ground.)

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  18. Unbelievable the difference. If I've not seen the before, it would have been hard to believe. It looks very cute on you. Thanks for sharing.

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  20. I'm impressed that you turned the mumu into something very wearable. Nice work!

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  21. Your daughter's dress is super cute!
    Loved how you transformed your muu-muu. Awesome transformation! Now I wish I had kept my too-big dress from Hilo Hatties so that I could do the same thing.
    I also think your husband's aloha shirt is pretty rockin'

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  22. I hope you had a wonderful holiday season. The whole family looked great in their Hawaiian theme clothes. I love Anna little red dress.

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  23. "I think I might have overslept". Ya think?. Now to that gorgeous little dress. cute!!

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