For Sale: Nautical outfit for Sasha! SOLD

Yes, I finally did it!!!  I sewed an outfit this weekend to sell!
I hope you like it, it has taken me a lot of "kicks up the bum" to get myself back to sewing outfits to sell, but hopefully now that I've made a start, I will make some more :)
Now I just hope that people will remember me and like what I sew!

The outfit consists of a two tiered ra-ra skirt in cute lighthouse pattern quilters cotton, with lined yoke and tulle underskirt, white knit tee shirt with intricate detailing to the front (both skirt and top close with metal snaps at the back), white cotton sailor hat with gold effect anchor adornment and 'rope' detailing around the edge of the brim, (hat crown is NOT lined), light blue and white striped socks.

All items made by me in new fabrics.
Doll and shoes NOT included.
Price: £30 plus postage from Spain.
Paypal only, Friends & Family or please add 4% to cover paypal charges.
Thank you.
dambuster0662@gmail.com
Please email me if interested.

And now for the photos....

Thank you for looking, I hope you like it. 

Please pop back to see my next outfits which are partly made and hopefully will be completed in a few days!

Have a great week ahead!

Big hugs Sharon in Spain xxx

Sewing a birthday presents....

It's my brother's birthday on the 7th April and every year I struggle with what to buy him.  I always say that he has more clothes than Marks and Spencers and because he has learning difficulties, he is unable to read or use a computer.  He loves the Carry On films but has all those, and a person can only have so many pairs of slippers, can't they!!!  So I generally send vouchers for the local theatre and he and my mum go and see a show as John particularly likes musicals.

However, this year I thought I'd do something completely different.  John has a nautical themed bedroom so I thought I'd make a small 'quilt' for him.  I had some ideas in my head and went to the local haberdashers to get some supplies. I bought some thick beige linen, some natural thick undyed cotton (I think there is a name for this but I can't think what it is) and some fabric for the back.  And I also bought something which I think is called 'batting' a sort of thick stuff for in between the two outside fabrics.

I bought a set of ten 'nautical' themed embroidery patterns on line, downloaded them and made a start.  I didn't use the suggested colours for each design as they were all a little bit dull, instead choosing various colours that I thought would work well.  

When I got to this point, I wasn't quite sure where I should go from here, having never made anything remotely like a quilt before!!!  And it took me ages to realise that I had to use a damp cloth to make the batting stuff 'fuse' to the fabric!!!!  I wondered what on earth was going wrong when I'd stood for more than half an hour ironing it only to find each time that it hadn't fused!

And then I just winged it.  I made all the embroidered 'motifs' into the same size and then I sewed them by hand onto the linen using running stitches.....now please don't laugh, my hand stitching is not very good but I thought the running stitches looked quite effective!!!  After that I started just sewing straight lines all over the place!  And then I attached everything together and this is the end result. 

If you click on the photos they will enlarge and you can see the details better.

This is the fabric I chose for the back, I thought, being of old maps, it suited the theme quite well.

I really really wanted to mitre the corners but I just couldn't do it so in the end I just made them overlap.  I sewed on this tiny metal 'made with love' tag on to one corner....

Hanging on the fence to dry after all the steam ironing!

The finished size is 112cm wide by 56cm deep.  And it's quite heavy.  I cannot imagine how someone could sew a full sized quilt on a home sewing machine, but know that lots of people do it and I really admire them!

I'm not sure I will do another too soon but might consider doing something for my mum for her 80th birthday later this year.  But this time I hope to start sooner and not try to make it all in 3 days. 

It's not perfect, but I'm very happy with how it came out and hope my brother will love it too!

Thanks for visiting.  I hope everyone has had a lovely Easter weekend and that the week ahead is great for each of you!

Bailey models again for me....

Today Bailey is modelling for me and she's back wearing her Prince Gregor wig as I really can't get used to her in other styles.

I've made a very similar outfit to this before, twice in fact, although I normally don't like to make 'repeats' of outfits, but the first one was made for ebay, and the second two sets were requested by people who commissioned me, having seen the ebay outfit, so that's why I've not stuck to my normal 'one of a kind' rule. 

Anyway, without further ado, here is my little sweetie .... who incidentally fell straight into an empty blackbirds nest after climbing this tree!!!! ;)

Little Sailor Girls!

I was recently commissioned by Ellen Church in the US, to make some outfits for her lovely girls.  A couple of days ago Ellen shared some photos of two of her gorgeous girls modelling the outfits, showing me how happy they were with them!  I thought I'd share them here as Ellen doesn't have a blog herself.  I love how Ellen has added such cute matching sandals and hair ribbons to the outfits!

Please remember that these photos are Ellens and I'd appreciate it if they aren't copied in any way.  Thanks very much!

Nautical but nice!

I finished an outfit yesterday and thought that it really needed to be photographed with boats in the background as it has a nautical theme.  This morning I drove a few kilometres to a local marina at a place called Caleta de Velez to take some photos.  However, it was so incredibly windy that poor Wren looks like she's been dragged through a hedge backwards....but she looks great compared to how my hair looked once we got back to the car!!!

I was hoping that there might have been a boat owner about and I could have asked politely if I could stand her on their boat deck to take some photos but it was very quiet, just a few walkers and that was it.  And unless you have a special keycard, you can't gain access to the boat jetties. :(

The seagulls came out in force, I guess they thought Wren might have something for them!  Whereas I think Wren thought that they might think she was what they were after!!

"Erm, yes, that little girl in red looks like a tasty morsel!"

Definitely No Fishing!!

Life's a beach.....

I finished sewing an outfit today that has a 'nautical' theme to it...well the fabric of the top has anchors on it, does that count as nautical?  I thought I'd take Wren down to the beach to photograph her and was glad I did.  The beach was completely empty and it was really lovely just sitting there listening to the waves.  It was a bit windy so Wren fell over a few times in the sand and her sand in her hair and a bit windblown but I think she enjoyed herself.

Wrens hair ribbons were tied nicely before we got to the beach but she soon had them hanging down!!!

I was a bit worried that she'd ruin her lovely JJ sandals but they're made of sterner stuff and survived her jaunt on the beach!

Wren has such a dreamy look in this photo!

Drake gets dressed up!

I've spent the last couple of days making a couple of outfits for Drake to take with him on the next leg of his journey.
Although it is now autumn, I thought I would stick with my original plan to give his clothing a 'nautical' feel, so although these outfits are for warmer weather, hopefully he'll not have grown out of them by next summer!!  The bucket and spade set will go with Drake too as they were bought specially for him in the summer.

The first outfit consists of a 'beach' themed tee shirt in white with red and blue motifs, shorts in navy with tiny white polkadots with front waistband and elasticated at the back for good fit.  They also have elasticated leg openings.  Striped knit socks in navy and white.  And finally to top it off, a white cotton 'sailor' style hat. 

The second outfit is a pair of dungarees or farm pants made from pale blue and white cotton linen.  They have an applique of a little blue dog on the bib and this little dog is decorated with two tiny white buttons.....although the dog is sewn on, his two legs are movable!!

 

Playing with frames!

 

A very nautical look for Drake!

Beach fun!