Bottle Carrier Urgently Required!

My baby girl is growing up fast, and this summer she's taking her first classes of Sport and Dance!! It's all very exciting for a girl who's three but tells anyone who will listen that she's really soon turning four!

The classes in themselves are going well I'm happy to say, but we did find a slight obstacle... it turns out we've chosen the most commonly found water bottle in the village, and at their age, kids hardly notice the tiny name label stuck to the side or bottom of these bottles!

It was time to find an alternative solution, which did not involve forking out more money, and it came to me in the form of a 20-minute tutorial by believeinspire.com.

As instructed I went on a hunt for some sturdy fabric and soft lining. I had a scrap of fabric from an old cushion cover and a shirt of my husband's, which were eagerly waiting to be picked out... and then I got sewing!!

I must admit the whole project took me well over two hours, but it was enough for me to be able to close the sewing room at the end of that afternoon, knowing that my sewing table was clear of that one particular project, rather than thinking that I'd just added another one to the looooong list! I was well satisfied.

As for my daughter, she was flattered to see a brand new 'handbag' added to her collection, especially when she recognised the personalised touch with the first letter of her name!

All in all a very fruitful Sunday afternoon :)

Green Kiwi Day

Where I come from, nurseries will try to get all kids into the spirit of any festivities that may be coming up. Since they tend to fall short of 'special occasions' during the summer months, my daughter's nursery would cleverly dedicate each summer week to impart the knowledge of a specific colour by combining it with a corresponding fruit.

To help engage children, the parents would be asked to dress their kids up in the chosen colour on the Friday of that week. Fun, right? Indeed I would always look forward to that tiny strip of paper that would ask me to dress my little pumpkin up... until, alas, Green Kiwi Day was announced, and it dawned on me that our house was void of green children-wear! What else could I do, but rummage through my unworn clothes for some inspiration??

And during this exercise I came across an old, hardly worn, olive green, cotton shirt, with bell sleeves. I stopped the moment I saw the colour, unfolded the garment, and let my imagination flow... and there it was, the idea in the figurative light bulb... I would make a maxi-dress out of the bell sleeves... it was just the right length, width and fabric for a maxi-dress!!

Here's how I went about it:

- I first unstitched the sleeves from the bodice;
- I unstitched the sleeves so I could lay them flat;
- I lay a jeans sleeveless dress belonging to my daughter, on top of the flat sleeves and cut around the perimeter of the dress
- I basted the side seams and the shoulders, made sure it fit my daughter nicely, then stitched the seams properly with my sewing machine.
- Finally I embellished the neckline with sequins

Et voila!