lil red squirrel: Pre-Christmas Sewing

I know I left my run a bit late, but by Christmas eve I needed to have a lot done. I had these things in mind, just handn't got the time to sit at the machine. The big squirrel kindly took the kids out leaving me some precious moments alone with scissors, pins and the machine.

First on the list was mum's outfit. Mr P and I always make her an outfit that she ca

n wear on christmas day - shoes and necklaces done, but no clothes. I had a few meters of this knit I knew she liked. The first was dress, with deep v neck, empire line and I added a little cap sleeve. (The one on the right) I used an old discontinued McCalls pattern.

With still a lot of fabric left over I got a bit creative. Mum is often better in separates that look like a dress. I pulled out a knit skirt I have with an asymetrical hem. It is a simple shape with an elastic waist but looks good on and shows off the fabric. The top is magar sleeve based on the same McCalls pattern, but there wasn't enough fabric, so it has a bit of a made up peplum. I was please how it looked, but even more pleased how it looked on her. She wore the dress on Christmas Day which fitted like it was made for her! We hit the shops today (a few more birthdays coming up!) and she had the top on with black pants and a black cardi and rocked that look too!

Now to Miss G. I had so much fun making things for her. Young, pretty and skinny, may be hard to go wrong, but it also has to fit with her personal style. I made these two pieces from the same Newlook Pattern (6873). The little skirt is a printed linen that I got from Spotlight. I have had the ric-rac for years and it was just the right touch to give ti a retro touch as opposed to old lady.

The shorts, which now have two buttons on the waist band came up well. My only issue is the weight of the linen is difficult to hold a press and I was planning a slightly puffier look. Having said that, she had them on the other day styled with tights and a long sleeve knit (I know where is summer??) and they looked really good.

The dress I made late the night before. The next morning I made the skirt and top. Then Miss G's skirt - then she visitied and then Mum visited and then I made the shorts. It was only after this did the kids get in the bath on Christmas eve and I had to do their PJ's. There's my years sewing in one day!!!!!!!!!!!

Just one more little thing to show you. This top- you can see from the massive print label I didn't make it. I made the decoration, but I did this a couple of days earlier - you know best to be prepared. I saw it in a window of a shop on Chapel Street called Gorman and I figured I could do that. With scraps of cotton I made yo-yos. I had to look up how to because I had never done them before but Heather Bailey's instructions they were simple.