Something new from something old and other small projects

 Sometimes you can extend the life of an outfit.

I made two outfits that were similar for my twin granddaughters when they were about two (they turn 7 this month.) This is the top (minus the ruffle) and there were shorts too. It's a fairly loose fit and it has a zipper in the back. One of the twins' cousins is still wearing the top even though she is a size 4. It was just a bit short and I decided that I could add a ruffle so it would look a bit nicer. I couldn't find the fabric that I used but I did find something that was a close match. It just so happened that there was a lot of that fabric and since I had just finished sewing a little dress for another granddaughter, the pattern I used included pedal pushers (or Capris or cropped pants) with a ruffle on the hem of the legs.

Here's the new outfit. I hope she gets some wear out of it since the summer is almost over.

I finished another hat for one of the grandchildren. I'm stockpiling in anticipation of cold weather needs. This is number two. The pattern is free from Ravelry and is called Citrus Hat by Laura Treadway. The one from the previous post was called Rusty Barn Hat by Christy Houghton. I'm trying to add to my repertoire of hats. So far, I haven't found one that equals my favourite, Bankhead hat by Susie Gourlay. All the hat patterns are found free on Ravelry.

I also finished a small, preemie hat. This pattern is one of my favourites for babies. The pattern can be made in any size and it stretches so it fits different sized heads. The pattern is Bev's Baby Ribs pattern from Bev's Country Cottage.

These are what I finished up yesterday. Six face masks for a wedding party. The front of the mask matches the groomsmen's ties. The lining for the three men has golf clubs and balls because the groom likes to golf. For the bridesmaids, the lining is nurse-related because the bride is a nurse. I threaded thin elastic into the sides but left them untied so that the wearer could adjust it to their own liking.

We finally have some cooler temperatures and very little, if any, humidity so it's quite comfortable outside. I noticed that at 7 o'clock this morning it was 13C with blue skies. That makes it lovely walking weather. Stay safe and don't forget to wear a mask.

A few little things

There is a list of things to make and it changes every once in a while. I haven't finished the l sweaters that I was knitting but I got into knitting hats instead. 

This little hat is a preemie size.

I thought I would try taking a photo of the little hat with different backgrounds.

I needed to make something that I could finish quickly and I also wanted to make something for charity. In this case a NICU department in a hospital.

Today, I finished this little dress. It sat unfinished for a couple of months because the neckline and armholes were to be finished with single fold bias tape and I don't particularly like this finish because it tends to pucker. I initially cut it and was going to finish it for my youngest granddaughter's birthday - in June. It's still hot enough so she will get some wear out of it yet.

I finished this hat today too. I have decided to make several hats for my grandchildren for the coming colder months. This way I will have some on hand for when they are needed. I've never used this pattern before and it's OK but I may not make another one. There are a couple of different patterns that I want to try out and I have the yarn so while I am watching TV in the evenings, I can knit hats.

My eldest son Mark came over the other day and brought his three daughters. They brought strawberries to share with their cousins and they gave me these lovely lilies. I have not had anything in my kitchen for months so these made the kitchen a much nicer place to be in.

Still at it

Today is World Embroidery Day and I posted this photo of one of my quilts that has a some embroidery on it.

It was a block of the month from Diana Schmitz in 2011 (she no longer has a blog.) I had some fabric that I really didn't like all that much but I put it together with other fabrics and, because the pieces aren't that big, it all fit together and worked. At the moment, this quilt hangs in my hall and it's the first thing you see when you enter my house. I like it and thought it was a nice quilt to display for the spring and summer months.

Although the quilting and sewing has slowed down, I have still managed to do something other than repair jobs.

This is a small zippered bag that can be used to hold keys or hand cream or hand sanitizer in your purse.

It can be made in any size. My eldest daughter wanted another one (I made one last year or the year before.) The pattern is easy and it's all on youtube. The lady who designed this is Laura Ann Coia and she has a youtube channel called SewVeryEasy where she demonstrates how to sew many different things. I did make another one that was a bit smaller and my middle daughter took it. The red ribbon is a strap that can be attached to your purse with a pin so that the little pouch doesn't get lost in the bottom of your bag. Check out the youtube - it's less than 10 minutes long. This little bag took me less than two hours to make.

I have all my fabrics together to make a small quilt and once the top is done, I shall take a photo and post it. I am also knitting two sweaters in chunky wool for the little twins. One sweater just needs to be put together and the collar finished and I am currently knitting the two sleeves at the same time for the other sweater. It's yarn that I have had for decades and purchased when my children were little. I am trying not to buy anything and just use up what I have now.

Just some cross stitching

Taking a break from quilting for a bit, I decided to do a bit of cross stitching. Nothing too big, just a bookmark.

I didn't realize when I started that this is actually full coverage. I just liked the design and decided to use my own colours. I've done a bit more on this but it's not quite finished yet. The Aida cloth was purchased on Etsy from a fairly local person and I really like the way the edges are finished.

Since the first bookmark was taking so long to finish, I found another design that had way less work on it.

I also started a couple of stitch alongs but they have been put on hold for now. 

On another sad note: My quilting friend Marg suffered a stroke a couple of weeks ago. She had a brain hemorrhage, was operated on, was in ICU for a week and is now in a ward waiting to be admitted to a long term care facility. There is only one person allowed to see her and that is her son. I am told that her speech is indecipherable and that she may suffer another stroke at anytime. Marg was a smoker but never had any kind of cancer. I am hoping that she will be able to communicate with therapy. 

Going back in time

 In January, while I was in England, I kept busy doing a bit of crocheting.

I had purchased a couple of balls of yarn from Fabricland with the idea of making the new twins something.

Luckily, there were two different balls of yarn.

I don't often crochet but I don't mind doing it.

These are the finished items - a ball of yarn, directions and a soft, stuffed head.

I thought this was interesting. 

It's a little hand impression on a soft, thick blanket. It was of one of the twins in England.

I saw this on the way to the park. It's a hanging basket of flowers - in January.

Tomorrow is Canada Day and instead of wearing the traditional red and white, a lot of people will be wearing orange to "honour the Indigenous children who were sent away to residential schools in Canada." My middle daughter got an orange t-shirt from a friend of hers but it was a large size. She brought it over along with a book that has instructions on 101 ways to transform a t-shirt.

Here's her sister wearing the t-shirt after I transformed it. I just cut off a large chunk from the hem, sewed it so it's thinner and then gathered the top part. I sewed the two pieces together and voila, an easy fix.

While doing some searching and cleaning, I came across some needlepoint that I had forgotten about.

There were actually two. I asked my eldest daughter, who lives in British Columbia in an area where there are a lot of mule deer, if she wanted them. 

They need to be framed and the buck actually should be cleaned first. I still have another 'oldie' that I made but it's quite slanted. It's a couple of pandas and I suppose I could finish it and give it to one of my grandchildren.