Sewing Parade...Day 1

I had been doing quite a bit of sewing prior to Christmas. A lot were gifts, some because I wanted some images to use to put in a market application... the plan for 2013 is for some market dates so sell some of my wares. And to fund my compulsion for buying gorgeous fabrics. 

Here are three, to start the parade.

 While hunting for spare clothes in a drawer at my Mother-in-Law's house, I came across two little sun bonnets, which her daughters wore as littlies. She had kept the pattern (an Enid Gilcrist circa 1950-something) and kindly lent it to me to draft out of the magazine. The brim on the smaller one was too narrow for keeping the sun off, so I made it bigger. A whole lot bigger!!

 

The first Miss Mary Bonnet was a great fit for Anya's head, but the ends of the brim were far too wide. Great for keeping the sun off, but kinda sat a bit funny over her shoulders. She has grown a little in the last 6 weeks because it doesn't seem to sit on her shoulders any more.  The ladybug hat is Mark II, much better brim size, but still a little big for the 3-9 month old bubs I know! I used elastic on the back of this one, instead of ribbon. I will stick with the ribbon as the elastic didn't gather enough for a snug fit on the head. More mods to come...hopefully I will come up with what is know as the bee's knees baby bonnet!

I absolutely love this hat. Anya can't get it off. She tries very hard, but it just doesn't come off. The ties under the chin tie up nicely (perhaps could be a bit thinner, though they do work). Plus the brim does actually keep the sun off her face. Perfect!

I did make a bonnet for my little friend Caitlin, who is a tall three year old. I enlarged the pattern a fraction and used the same size brim as Anya's hat. I didn't see it on her, but I hope Caitlin's fit's her well!

I have stiffened the brim with...stuff...I forget what it's called! The first one has the stiff woven cotton interfacing that comes on a roll in spotlight. The ladybug bonnet had an iron-in stiff plastic interfacing, which didn't really iron in all that well - some pieces that I had left over from the butterfly Pop-Frock that I made for Anya's first birthday dress.

So, that's two hats you see. The third item for today...

A Ticker-Tape doll quilt...Anya's Christmas present from us, which was miles (and miles and miles) too big for her pram, so I made a super-minature one which fits into her pram beautifully. I dont have a picture of it, but it's pretty much the same, just a quarter of the size! These are so unbelievable easy to make, awesome for using up scraps of fabric - you just stitch it onto your fabric/batting/backing-all-sandwiched-together as you go. Then trim and bind the edges to finish it off.
For a tutorial on how to construct the quilt, go to Sew Mama Sew . It is a nice, easy to follow tutorial with pictures.