I am loving all the mustard and grey color combinations I've been seeing lately. And I absolutely adore my creations: a longish cotton jacket with a fluffy gathered skirt. Such a cute pairing! I took tons of pictures, and my little model with saggy tights obliged: I made up the pattern for the skirt (if you can call two rectangles a pattern) and the jacket is from here. Love love love! Must run, K doesn't have school today and she's demanding that we work on an art project. Have a happy ... Read more

As I've been steadily prepping to sew more clothes for K this week, I started to think about the early days of hand-stitching outfits for my little girl. My first foray was in 2008. I made an orange top without a pattern, and it ended up looking like a scruffy hospital gown. Who knows where it is now, and I wish I still had a photo of it. But I did find an image of the first dress I made (again, without a pattern, and the inside is a screaming mess): I started to buy Japanese craft ... Read more

I completed the Sunki dress and is it me, or does it make you think of Jackie O? I love the gold tulips on the inky blue background. It shimmers gloriously and if the dress weren't pint-sized, it threatens to look like something you'd find in your stylish grandmother's closet. I was going to go with a more youthful mustard-y yellow polka dot fabric, but I didn't have nearly enough of the material...but I'm glad I went with this glamorous piece instead. Both the pattern and fabric are from the ... Read more

Happy Friday! Another week, another outfit from my now favorite Japanese pattern book. How cute is the peter pan collar on this top? OK, the right side seems a little wonky, but you hardly notice it in real life. The fabric is a Japanese double gauze, which is a dream to sew. The skirt is from A Girl's Wardrobe, which is another good pattern book. The skirt took a mere half hour to make from start to finish, can you believe it? It's just three rectangles pieced together, after all. The blouse ... Read more

Good morning! Hope your Monday is going well so far. Here's a little sophisticated matching top and skirt I worked on last week - the fabric is an earthy neutral color with streaks of silver thread. The back has an unexpected open design and is a bit sassy. Love! These are pattern F (top) and N (skirt), and I'm steadily working my way through all the patterns in this book (ISBN 978-4-579-11289-0): You can find other completed projects from this book here and here and here. Next ... Read more