Pretty clothes for a pretty girl

These days whenever there's something to celebrate I can feel my stitching fingers twitching! A very good friend of mine (and one of my bridesmaids-to-be) recently gave birth to her second child, a beautiful little girl... A great excuse to get sewing!

I've got two baby patterns in my arsenal - Simplicity 1889, which I used in my Stonersaurus and the Monkey shorts, and Simplicity 1921, a new one to me.

So, with the help of some fabric stolen from my Mum, and from my stash, a mix and match project was planned, using the top from 1889, and the pants and hat from 1921. I used the softest cotton and bias binding I had, picking up some perfectly matching gingham ribbon for the hat (Thank you John Lewis!)

And the final verdict... Well the clothes are still a little large for the little one, but unfortunately the hat is TINY - I don't understand where it went wrong!

I think the hat is destined for a premature baby charity - going to start a little campaign via my Twitter account today to rally us craftivists! In the meantime, I'll get stitching a larger hat, once my machine is back from a service...

Stonersaurus and the Monkey Shorts

In an ongoing bid to give original and affordable gifts I've been busy stitching! These shorts were made using Simplicicty 1889. As you can see there were lots of variations available, but I stuck with the simple D shorts.

I used what I think are some amazing fabrics and buttons. This dinosaur fabric (which I'm calling Stonersaurus owing to the suspicious looking ferns) was picked up super-cheap from Birmingham Rag Market, though I don't remember how much for. I've got a slightly paler version too, so I'm hoping to use them together for a nice contrast fabric sometime.

 Isn't it super cute? I also found this amazing button in a sewing shop near my workplace...

And HURRAH, looks like my Curious George fabric has finally all gone! I do love it, but it's getting a bit samey to sew with! I'm wondering though if these trousers are just a bit too ridiculous... Hopefully they'll fit for one of the to-be parents... Do you think they're ok for both genders, just boys or girls? Or really, are they ones for the charity shop?

When picking up the dinosaur buttons I also happened across this ribbon, which I'm going to use for all my projects (at least until it runs out) - it's on the Stonersaurus shorts too. Long term I'd love to print my own ribbon, but you know what? I have better things to do right now!!