A week full of sewing

As my two girls are enjoying a week at a local summer holiday club, I decided to finish a few projects that have been sitting around for a while. I made this skirt a few months ago, using some upholstery linen from John Lewis. I know, I know, I will walk into someone's lounge one day and match the curtains/cushions! As the pattern was quick and easy to make, and fitted so well, I decided to make another one.



My Mum very kindly let me have a rummage through her collection of fabrics which she has accumulated over the years and I found a nice heavy weight cotton, which was perfect for an a-line skirt. I have called this my 70p skirt because the fabric was all free -I gave my Mum some dress material from my fabric stash in return and the lining fabric is actually an old bed sheet! I spent 50p on a zip in a charity shop which seems to specialise in all things sewing/craft related. I also spent 20p on the ribbon which is vintage (probably 1950s or 1960s) and I already had the button.

There's that cute button - I was wondering when he was going to make an appearance, although I thought he might have ended up on something for the kids, not something of mine.

Once I had finished the skirt, I decided to start on a summer dress for F. She seems to be outgrowing everything at the moment so I wanted to make sure she had at least one dress for our summer holiday in August. Mum had given me a couple of charity shop items of clothing that she had bought specifically for the fabric. The dress below was made from a 1980s style Laura Ashley skirt. There was plenty of fabric left over and I even snipped out a lovely red zip and the ribbons to hang the skirt up with - I am sure I will be using those on a future project.

The dress was quite quick and easy to make, especially as I laid the pattern pieces carefully on the skirt so that I incorporated the back seam and the hem - saved a little bit of time anyway. I already had the ric rac and the buttons so this little dress was completely free. F seems pleased with it - I'm just wondering whether to make a matching headscarf with the left over fabric.

I am hoping to be crocheting again very soon. I have completely run out of wool (shock horror) and have some on order which is needed to finish off my first ever granny square blanket. Whilst I am waiting for that to arrive, I have decided to take a trip to another local wool shop with my good friend Alison (from Gingercatcrafts). I wonder how much money we will spend....