A new dress for the princess...

I've made Maja another dress from an old shirt. I started this dress ages ago but it was put aside with only the hem left to do... hemming is my least favourite part of dressmaking... it's sooo boring, and I was struggling a bit to get it to look nice on that other dress I made back in... March?? Well... not really struggling... but... I just wanted it to look perfect... and it didn't.... So to get this dress done, I decided to skip the whole hemming thing and put some ruffles on instead. I don't know if it was any quicker, but it was more fun! And I think it turned out quite well.

Since I put ruffles at the bottom, I thought it would look nice with some at the top as well. I should have sewn the ruffles on when I made the top, but since I hadn't thought about ruffles at that point, the top edge was already done so the ruffles here are just sewn on the back (instead of inbetween the two layers of fabric). Looks ok.
The back of the dress has buttons down the middle. This used to be the shirt front, so it wasn't any hassle involved making button holes etc...
I still got the sleeves from this shirt, so I might make some matching trousers/leggings to go with it.

17. May

Since my mum has been visiting me for the last week and a half, I haven't got much to show you craft wise. I have been working on Maja's poncho (whilst chatting with mum) but I haven't got a photo of it yet... Instead I'll show you some photos from the 17th of May celebration (Norway's national/ constitution day) in Edinburgh...

We got quite a bit of attention on the train in to Edinburgh, wearing our national costume (Nordlands bunad)... especially the girls... But then again, they looked soooo cute!
I counted 6 people in Nordlands bunad (same as mine)... yay!! But there was a lot of people in other bunad (Norwegian national costume) in Edinburgh this year. The weather wasn't "all that", but at least it wasn't raining... which is good for Scotland...

There were even celebrities in Edinburgh that day... Gok Wan from "How to look good naked" He didn't have anything to do with the Norwegian parade though....
Back home again... time for a photo shoot and some snacks...

Visitor

My mum is coming to stay with us for the next week and a half, so I might not be blogging much the next few days... just thought I'd let you know.

I'm really looking forward to seeing my mum again, but I don't think you can even compare that to how much Maja is looking forward to have "Morm" coming to see us.... She's been counting days for weeks now... she even wrote a note to her teacher telling her that she had to leave school on time today so we can go pick mum up...

(Dear Mrs Eccles. I have to leave school quarter to 4 cos I have to pick up my granny. Love hearts from Maja)

Which one??

HELP!!! I'm going to make a cushion (to sit on) for my garden chair. I've decided to use a Depression block, and I've sewn all the pieces for it... BUT... I can't choose how to put all the pieces together... I've laid them out in different combinations but I can't make up my mind which one works best or just... which one I like best.... I would appreciate some of your thoughts on which block to make... which one would you make??

Ps. Picture 1 and 2 were taken with flash so they look a wee bit brighter than the rest....

Another beautiful day

We've had almost a week with glorious weather here... It's so nice spending the days outside in the garden and out in the street playing with the children. Not much time for sewing and making things though...

Today while Maja was at school, Susie and I met up with a couple of the girls from my ante natal group and their "babies". We try to meet up regularly... although that isn't always easy... I think it's great that we've stayed in touch after we had the babies though.

Since the weather was so nice, we decided to have a picnic in the park. The girls had a great time running around and sharing each others food and drinks. The mums enjoyed themselves in the sun too.

Of course after such an important meeting, it's time for a wee snooze...

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Back at home, Maja has got hold of my camera and she's taken a few snaps... This is one of them:

Don't you just love it when you find out hours after the event (by looking at photos taken by your 5 yr old) that your smallest one has taken her garden toys (i.e. DIRTY bucket) inside and put it in your white sofa...??

Moving on...

...but not too far... I'm still making small quilted bags, just a different design.
I got the pattern for this lovely make up bag (and for a larger one) from Elna in Norway. Thank you very much! The bag was really easy to sew, but I think maybe I did something wrong with the lining, because it seems to be a bit... not big... but it doesn't really fit... it's all crumpled up, if you know what I mean.... no?? But I'm not giving up... I will try to make another one soon, and maybe do the lining part a bit different.

This is the other side of it. The fabric I used was something I found in a charity shop... I really like the brightness of the colours on this fabric.