The Brown Skirt

Last Friday, was color day at my daughter's day care. And the color decided was brown. Brown!! I was thinking - Really?? I thought there would be some brown dress stashed in her cupboard, which probably was not being worn and was long forgotten. On Thursday, I pulled out all the dresses, but could not find one that was brown. Hubby said let's buy one or let's just forget it was Brown Day. Even I felt forgetting was better. I tried to forget it the whole day, it just didn't leave my mind. But I didn't want to buy one either. 

Thinking thinking thinking, I thought I should make something. But my sewing skills are bad. I pulled out the few old brown clothes we had. I could not decide what to make - a brown top? shirt dress? or what. I knew attempting any of these would need enough time to complete, which I didn't have. And it may not end up neat. I was worrying more than required.

Soon I thought - I can make an easy peasy skirt! Yes, I finalized on it. That was the easiest I could make in this short time. I browsed for some really simple, yet cute patterns. Summary of most of the patterns were - cloth twice the waist size and some wide elastic. I had both handy and started off.

Cut out the bottom portion of a brown kurta of mine. I really loved this but had not worn it for the past few years. So the fabric was ready.

Measured out the elastic and kept it ready.

Took out my sewing machine and started stitching. 

It really didn't take me much time. It was cute but too plain. And it was sleep time. So I thought let it be plain. 

Friday morning, my heart again wished that I add some cuteness to it. Before getting ready for office, I quickly pulled out my ribbons, decided on a very soft pink wide satin one, and stitched it to the skirt.

Let me show you the pic.

It may not be a perfect one. But it was quick, easy, and cute. And my daughter was also excited!

Something to make me happy again.

Minnie Update

In my last post, I mentioned how I put together a quick Minnie mouse costume for my daughter. 

Here is the pic of how it looked on her.

We did not manage to get any good photos as she kept wriggling around and once she wears her shoes, then she does not want to wait a second to go to school. She was happy. Me too. 

What I think was the cutest was the headband. She wore it the whole day and insisted on wearing it when we went out the next day. So I had to pull out the bow and the pom poms :-(

Red, White, & Black

Wondering what the title is about?

Well, my daughter started going to the Day Care last week, and day before yesterday I was informed that they are conducting a Fancy Dress Competition for the kids to celebrate Children's Day that is today. I thought I will just dress her in some traditional skirt and blouse as I didn't have much time and my lil one does not co-operate well with dresses other than stretch pants and Tees.

But my crafty side and wanting to dress up my girl was not letting me sit idle. I was clear on two things - I will not buy any costumes nor will I spend too much time on the project, as I was not sure if she would wear it at all. I took a look at her dresses and finalized on a cute, red frock that she wore on her very first birthday. Then it was up till a little above her ankles. Now I knew it would be just till her knees or so. But it is a cute dress... will frills and tiny embellishments, satin and a tulle over it. Many thoughts crossed my mind - butterfly, angel, and even Red Riding Hood.

I had almost zeroed in on a Butterfly. But could not buy the supplies yesterday due to incessant rain. Then I thought I'll go with Red Riding Hood. I searched my stash and old clothes, but could not find a material to match the hood and I was very doubtful that she would wear it. Finally when I was putting her to bed, I browsed for ideas and saw some Minnie mouse costume. Yes! I finalized. As soon as she was asleep (11:45 PM) I told my hubby that it would be a Minnie. After finishing off a very very late dinner and other stuff I finally started to get the dress together.

Here is the pic for my idea and details.

The first thing was the black highlighted ears and the red bow.

- I wrapped black yarn over a headband and hot glued the yarn ends.

- I thought of cutting out felt ears but hubby suggested Pom Poms. He had seen me making some of those over the last few days. I opened my Pandora's box :-D (my yarn box). I was lucky enough to have some black yarn and quickly made two Pom Poms. I hot glued them to the headband and tied the strings also so that it doesn't come off.

- For the bow, I cut out a bow shape felt, gave it a little pinch in the center (vertically) and hand-stitched it onto the yarn layer on the band.

- Next, I cut out white small felt circles and stuck them to the bow.

And the headpiece was done.

The pics were taken on my phone, early in the morning and are not clear enough!

Now the polka dots for the dress. I thought of many things - paper circles, felt, fabric paint, etc. Felt won. But again fixing them to the dress was the next question. I knew hand stitching would be the best option, but I was out of time. It was already 2 AM. I quickly cut out some felt circles and stuck them onto the tulle layer with some clear tape. It was very clear to me that these would come off but I had no more energy and time to spent.

And how can you miss the yellow shoes Minnie wears. Felt was my option again. I just cut out a small half oval for the front of her pink shoes and stuck the pieces with clear tape.

I wanted to kick myself for not having bought her a pair of black stockings yet. The closest dark color stocking she has is a navy blue one and it didn't quite go with it. So I matched it up with a black stretch pant and red and black stripped socks. 

Done.

And how it went? Well, the little Minnie loved it and she is a little obsessed with her yellow crocs now. When one felt dot fell off from the dress, she starting picking the other dots and I had to keep fixing them back :-) The bow and ears looked too cute on her!

I skipped few things for the costume - gloves (no time), black full sleeved tee beneath the dress (it would be hot for her), and did not paint her nose black ;-)

My Minne mouse was all happy and I did click some pics while she kept wriggling out of the frame. Hopefully, I'll post those soon.

Lacy Dress

After making the modified version of the Angel Pinnafore dress, I wanted to make one more dress for my angel. I ordered some yarn from Pony Store - Nako Pirlanta. I kept drooling over it for days and weeks. Could not decide what to make out of it. Thinking thinking thinking. Didn't want to make one more dress of the same pattern. So finally decided to go with my creative instincts and create a new one based on my own pattern. 

I drew out patterns, tried swatches, and what not. Finally I discovered what I wanted and made this cute lil dress for my angel. Take a look.

Its perfect on her. It looks like a flowing dress with the ruffles at the bottom.

I added two buttons and applied coat to match the dress color. May be reworked on.

My heart skips a beat or two with joy whenever I see her wearing the dress. 

I put on a lighter shade of stockings for her and her attire is complete and elegant. Love it.