Pants!

I realize I have made about a zillion pairs of pants from the Willow Wayfarers pattern, but why mess with a good thing? The pattern is perfect for my tall, skinny kids. My preferred method is to cut apart a pair of adult pants at the inner leg seam, and refashion them into kid pants. I embellished this pair with a vintage doily that came from a lady in Australia. I appliqued the butterfly and pockets with some fabric scraps. The plan is for these pants to have room for her to grow into...but at the rate she is going she'll probably outgrow them in two months!

More Christmas Presents: A (Not-So) Riveting Tale of Planning Way Ahead

Long ago, in a land far away (California to be exact) I was a teenage girl who couldn't get enough of sewing. I would spend hours in my room churning out all sorts of sewing projects. Back then, my siblings (won't mention any names..........) used to tease me mercilessly about sewing. They thought I was such a dork for my sewing habit. My, how things have changed. (Again, won't mention any names...;) So back then I would practice on anything I could get my hands on. I sewed a lot of doll clothes because they didn't use much fabric and I figured I could save them for 'someday.' Also, I think I was trying to fill some sort of American Girl Doll sized hole in my heart. Well, the doll of my dreams still hasn't shown up on my doorstep, so I went to the craft store and bought a cheaper knock-off for Katie for Christmas. I have resurected the doll clothes of my youth, and plan to add outfits between now and Christmas. The lavender skirt is one I made recently. The lace part is the edging from a set of linens. The doll dresses of yore are made from various vintage fabrics I happily inherited from a really sweet old lady from our church, Daisey Harrel. Like the vintage labels? I used to cut them out of vintage clothes and sew them into my stuff because I liked the way they looked. I would have never guessed way back them that someday I would be wrapping up those dresses and giving them to a sweet little blond daughter for Christmas. I hope she likes them.

Vintage Hankie Makeover

I may have just a wee bit of an obsession with vintage linens, primarily hankies. I love the colors, designs and handwork that has gone into making them. When I found this tutorial, I was thrilled to find a way to use at least one hankie from my collection. It is very simple to make, and I am quite impressed that it is possible to make a bonnet out of a 15" square handkerchief. I will be sending it to my friend from high school who had a baby girl recently.