Lily's dance bag

 We've started Lily in dance lessons where she needs jazz and tap shoes, plus a jumper since it's cold in the mornings now. So I spent the past few days trying to sew a bag with Miss Bossy Boots asking me if I've finished yet!

I followed a video tutorial from Echidna sewing to make this mini duffle bag, which is a great size bag for a 3 year old. I used webbing for the handles, added extra pockets inside and put d-rings on the ends in case Lily wants a long strap.

The corners of the side pieces look wrong but I didn't have the brainpower to work out how to fix it, especially not with a deadline of the next dance class. It was an easy sew other than the bulky seam I made by adding the d-ring, so that part go sewn by hand - I must remember not to put on moisturiser right before hand sewing again! 

Something that would have made the whole process easier was to use a black lining so I could stick with one thread colour. And I should have added elastic to the long side pockets to stop them gaping open so much. Maybe I'll stretch some elastic along the pocket and stitch it in place and see if that improves the pockets.

The fabric is from my stash and my mum's stash, and the rainbow zip was from Temu.

Added a pocket

 I posted those cute rainbow hearts dresses I made - with the terrible mistake of not adding pockets. So I've fixed that...

Although the response was "only got one pocket, not two pockets", she is a very happy little girl now.

This is the gathered pocket pattern in the Pocket Pack from Twig and Tale. I used the small size, but it was still rather big for the dress so I just increased the seam allowance to make it a bit smaller, then had Lily try on her dress and pretend her hand was in a pocket to mark placement. 

Rainbow hearts Chloe dresses

 Well I don't know what I've been doing, but I completely forgot to write a blog post last week. I mean can I blame that we have a "threenager" and we are exhausted... and so is she since she will not sleep!

I have been crocheting again, but that's all work in progress blankets which will probably never be finished. And when I asked Ray what on earth I've been doing he said a lot of gardening - which is thanks to the Autumn weather finally cooling this place down. There has also been a lot of chasing a toddler who recently decided she needs to run down the hill whenever you're not looking!

Over a month ago we had a first birthday to go to so I sewed a dress for the birthday girl, along with a matching one for Lily. Although she thinks I'm terrible because I didn't add pockets!

This is the free Chloe dress baby and Chloe dress from Vintage Little Lady. The fabric is Rainbow Hearts for the skirt, with a purple homespun for the top. I thought about doing all rainbow hearts but I really liked the solid top I did on the first Chloe dress I made.

So that's this week sorted, and I'd best get to work on something to share with you next week!

Chicken cake

 I nearly forgot to share Lily's birthday cake, which is odd, since I am ridiculously proud of it!

The plum pudding tin really comes in handy, I made her a giant cupcake for her first birthday using that as the base covered in way too much piped buttercream. This one has a standard cake at the bottom with a plum pudding cake upside down on top - then carved with a bread knife. I used coloured fondant for the eyes, etc. then covered with buttercream using different piping tips and shades of yellow.

Of course I also made cupcakes for the gluten and dairy free guests. I ended up rushing these, but did remember to 3D print some cute chick cupcake toppers, which I also turned into stamps for the party favours - one day I might remember to take a photo and share that with you too.