A Skirt for Boo

I have been wildly intimidated by the very idea of making clothes, despite becoming reasonably proficient with madame sewing machine.

Alas, 4 children results in copious amounts of outgrown clothing and hand-me-downs, but huge age gaps do not make for particularly handy hand-me-downs... waiting several years before they fit is less than ideal, storing several years worth of outgrown clothing is even less appealing (4 kids take up enough space as it is), so I needed to get smart on the upcycling front, and decided to invest in a wee book to help me along with making little clothes out of bigger clothes, and other handy dandy wee fabric things.

After reading oodles of reviews, I plumped for Reinvention by Maya Donenefeld.
Lots of sweet patterns in this book, far from intimidating, I got to work straight away and set about making the Gatherer Skirt for Miss Boo.

It is called the gatherer skirt on account of there being a detachable apron pocket, with which your wee one can stash gathered goodness. It was this feature that appealed to me, and yet I actually did not complete said apron pocket, because I was woefully distracted by some other more serious mothering duties, such as tackling bastard washing pile and other mundane activities. I shall, however, return to make apron pocket at earliest convenience.

I also attacked my stash, instead of using an old t-shirt. Mainly because I had no t-shirts to recycle and because I have very recently "tried" to have a fabric clear out by creating a "use it or lose it" pile, so actually no recycling took place exactly, but I do have a pile of ready to recycle clothing which will likely sit in said pile a while longer, until I muster the time, energy and enthusiasm to actually recycle them.

I let Miss Boo choose the fabrics, and she also completed the final styling. Needless to say she has a penchant for bright colour and leggings with everything. She also likes sharing her footwear with the Bear....



I am rather pleased with myself, and am now hoping to embark on much more complex and mind boggling clothing projects which may, or may not, make me want to gouge my eyes out with a spoon, but I will try....right after I finish that apron pocket thingy.