blouses, bonnets, placemats, and napkins

Wow! Six Christmas's ago, I made the girls Little House on the Prairie Costumes (Butterick B4569).  Boy were they young and cute. Soon after that, I started a sunbonnet for my niece who is close to C's age. Ahem. I finally finished it. :)

I think that the niece for whom it was intended has probably outgrown her desire for something like it so it is going to a different niece.

In between projects and as materials float to the top of the stash, I've been making denim place-mats (backed with fleece). I was pleased to discover that my method for making the placemats wasn't terribly different from my friend Chris at Pick Up Some Creativity. So far, I've made 6 place-mats.

I've also make 6-8 flannel napkins from left-over scraps.  I want my napkins and placemats to be very durable and washable as the girls are very messy eaters (sigh).

A blouse made from McCalls pattern M6159. This was the first time I've made proper cuffs and they are definitely a bit wonky. I think I've got the concept now so next time should be a bit better. 

I like the long tail - I thought it was a cute look. 

All in all, I think it turned out nice. I've been working on learning more about finishing seams and making my finished garment look nicer. Nice thing about finishing a garment is that it is more durable too (which is a great plus since my girls are rough necks).

Stash Bust:

Bonnet - Ancient WIP finished.

Placemats - Denim and fleece from stash.

Napkins - Flannel remnants from other projects.

Shirt for C - Sheet from stash. Pattern from the dollar sale at JoAnns (periodically, JoAnns will sell patterns for one dollar - considering the price of patterns, this is a great deal -- the girls have outgrown all their old patterns).