pillowcase pants (and top)

Grace really does have an enormous bum in her big bum nappies and being the expert crawler that she is, trousers are much more practical than skirts. If you can get them big enough to go over the nappy!

I have had a hankering to make Rae's Big Butt Baby Pants pattern and then two fab pillowcases leapt out at me in the Salvation Army shop. Double sided contrasting materials, they were crying out to be made into trousers and a top.

Completely ignoring Rae's sound advice to make a test pair first, I launched into making the trousers with the turn ups. Luckily the pattern is easy to follow and I managed to get everything done, apart from the turn ups, in one of Grace's naps.

I made the 12-18moths size and the length is great, but are not quite as roomy as I'd hoped in the bum. Grace is a big un though.

For the top I roughly followed one of Graces current tops and even then only narrowly avoided making it too small. I wanted to try my hand at shirring and after consulting the Oracle and a few online tutorials I finally got it sorted. It's fab, great to baby clothes, I am all in favour of stretchy clothes that don't require me to make button holes or put in zips. I already have some ideas for more clothes with shirring!

dresses

It's not easy taking photos of Grace, she loves investigating the camera which means as soon as I get it out she comes hurtling over and tried to get various bits of it in her mouth. I have lots of blurred pics of her zooming towards me. I finally managed to get a few of her in the two latest dresses.

The arm holes are a bit big, perfect for the very hot weather we have had recently, but I think it looks really cute over the pink grow and leggins.















The reversible dress. With matching snack pot and sippy cup!

towel time

There are many over priced, unnecessary baby gadgets in the world but baby towels, square ones with hoods, are actually a good idea. The right shape for wrapping a wriggly baby and the hood keeps little heads warm (and provides a good game of peek-a-boo).

As my amazonian child is growing at a vast rate, a bigger towel was needed. I had an old white bath sheet that I planned to re-use and lots of grand ideas for applique designs and coloured bias binding. In the end it turned into another can-I-get-this-done-before-she-wakes-up projects.

I cut the towel down to a square and cut the hood piece out of the remainder. I used a plate to get a nice curve on the top of the hood. As I was in time saving mode I used the already finished edge for the front of the hood and only put the bias binding down the two sides that held the hood in place. Not only did I get it done during a nap but I also had time to have a nice chat with a friend.

pillowcase dress

I have been on the look out for clothes in charity shops that I can upcycle into clothes for Grace. But I can never bring my self to buy a perfectly good item and then cut it up. Plus it never seams to be good value to spend pounds, on something to cut up. But I have discovered that pillow cases are very cost effective. They are generally about 25p and have plenty of material for a dress.

I found a lovely white cotton pillowcase with a embroidered lace boarder for a whole 55p and it was my intention to make the simplest, quickest dress possible. I was just going to gather it at the neck and use bias binding for the arm holes and straps. But the more I thought about it the more I realized it would look so much nicer with a little bit of extra colour. A quick root through my hoard found the perfect thing and a scrap of white satin bias was perfect for the straps.

I'm really pleased with it, I think the pink flowered material for the front really sets it off. The only thing I'd change next time is the underarms as they are a bit bulky. Despite the extra work it was still really quick. I'll let someone else faff around making things with sleeves that are time consuming. Sleeveless dresses like this can be worn over long sleeved grows in the colder weather, which is just as well as we are not getting much of a summer this year.

reversible dress

I have had an idea for a reversible dress for a while, I found a fab pillowcase for 25p in a charity shop and decided it was time to try out my idea. I made two dresses and sewed them together at the neck and armholes leaving a gap for ribbon. Turned it right side out and folded the hem of both dresses inside then finished with a double row of top stitching. I also top stitched the neck and arm holes and did another row 1cm down from the neck to make a casing for the ribbon.

It worked pretty well although I don't think the ribbon will stay done up long on Grace. I love the fact it cost so little to make. Pillowcases are dirt cheap and have plenty of material for a baby dress, and the strawberry material I already had.

I made this ages ago and have been meaning to take a photo but only ever remember when Grace is a sleep and the dress is in her room. She hasn't had chance to wear it as the weather has been grotty, She'll have to wear it over a long sleeved grow.

toy bag

I found some great foam building blocks in a charity shop when Grace was tiny. Now she is big enough to play with them I thought I'd make a nice bag to put them in. The plastic bag we've been keeping them in just isn't safe with an almost crawling baby in the house! I used the corner of an old stained duvet cover and put the pocket on before sewing up the side. It doesn't need a pocket but I've been itching to try out Rae's pleated pocket tutorial. It's so easy, I can't wait for Grace to be big enough to have a use for pockets on her clothes so can make a few more. The only design flaw is that when the draw strings are pulled tight there is a lot of ribbon dangling about for a little crawler to get caught in so it's still not great for unsupervised play.

I wrote this post ages ago and have been trying to get a good photo of the bag ever since. I have given up and taken a photo on yet another gray day. Grace is now crawling like a good un and can get the blocks out of the bag her self.

elderflower and grapefruit cordial

It is the time of year for making elderflower cordial. Normally going out to pick elderflowers is a good excuse to be out in the sun, but this year we picked them in torrential rain covered head to toe in waterproofs. Not quite as much fun. This year I decided to try making coridal with grapefruit for a change. I figured that one grapefruit was equivalent to the 4 lemons that my recipe calls for. Mark and I both agree that it was a worth while experiment and has made lovely cordial. And I made marmalade with the grapefruit pieces rather than throwing them away. I discovered that last year, it is a great time saving way to make marmalade.

Elderflower and grapefruit cordial
One ruby grapefruit
1.5ltr water
1kg sugar
1 bag of elderflowers
55g citric acid
1/2 camden tablet

Bring the water to the boil and dissolve the sugar in the water then let is cool. Once it's cooled a bit stir in the citric acid
Cut the grapefruit up into fine slices - how you'd want it for marmalade
Shake the bugs out of the flowers and tip them and grapefruit into the sugar water. Leave for 24 - 48hrs depending on how much time you have. Give it a stir every now and then.
Strain through a piece of muslin. I usually do this by tying the muslin to the legs of an up turned stool, and leave to drip for a few hours.
Crush the camden tablet and stir into the strained liquid then poor into sterilised bottles.

Camden tablets are used in wine making. They kill the natural yeasts that arrive with the elder flowers and allow you to store the cordial for longer. You don't have to use them but the cordial will only keep for a month or two if you don't.

To make the marmalade
Pick the fruit out of the elderflower mess once it has drained and pick out any big clumps of flowers but leave the rest.
Measure the fruit, mine made 1.5cups
Add 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar to the fruit and boiled until set. Mine took about 20mins but I had cut the grapefruit up very thin.