Not the Usual Pillowcase Dress

More sewing with the pillowcases gifted to me by my dear friend Katie. I actually sewed this dress and the skorts ages ago, maybe back in late Feb, or early March, but I've just been so busy, there has been really no time to blog! Rectification of that in progress now. 

After the skorts, I knew I wanted to use the Ikea fabric to make Rachel a dress similar to the one I made Sophie two years ago, based on the Izzy Top. She had been wearing Sophie's hand me down a lot, so I knew it was a style she liked, and I thought I could combine the Ikea fabric with another pillow case perfectly for it too. 

Rachel was not in a photo taking mood for this photo shoot, so it's a miracle any of these photos are sharing worthy. 

Yes, she's wearing this dress down to the park for a play. Yes, I have had to start soaking dresses and doing a separate white load (don't judge me), for all the white dresses that Rachel loves to wear. Is it worth it? Probably. Rachel does love a good white dress, and who am I to argue with that beautiful pillow case top that is living it's best life out in the sun now? 

Pillowcase Skorts

I've been sewing long enough now that many of my friends are aware one of the best ways to show me love is to gift me fabric. Oh the blissful feeling of free gifted fabric. You have no idea. So when one of my longest friends (22years of friendship!) who works for Lorraine Lea, offered me some of the pillowcases from discontinued linen designs, I jumped at the chance. 

Suddenly, so much more fabric to inspire me to sew! Hooray! 

Not long after receiving these, I had a spontaneous trip to Ikea with my mother-in-law, Maria, and I noticed a print in their fabric section that I knew would match perfectly with some of the pillowcases that I had been gifted. It was meant to be. 

The Ikea fabric is the floral on the left of this photo, the white, pink and green are all pillow cases, deconstructed and ready for sewing. See how perfectly the pink and green match! 

I knew the girls (being the strangely tactile creatures that they are) would love the fringe from the pillow cases, so I took that off first to add to the skirt. I wanted to make Rachel a skirt with shorts inside (using the plain backing fabric from the pillow cases), and Sophie a pinafore/overall dress type number, but Sophie just wanted a skort too, so I rolled with it. 

Sorry for the night time sewing photos; I know they're not the best. Anyway, trim on, skirts and shorts sewn and the girls are rocking their skorts. 

I did try to talk her out of the white shirt that doesn't really go, in favour of one that complimented more, but Sophie was determined to wear it. Kids right? 

Surprise shorts!

The pillow case fabric in these is so soft and comfy, and the girls love their skorts. Hooray!

Bunny Bags

 When I asked the girls what they would like to put the Easter eggs for their cousins in this year, I was expecting (or maybe hoping) they would say "We'll make origami boxes Mum!" I don't think it was too much of a stretch, given that they had recently learned how to make some pretty decent origami boxes, and this would be a chance to show off their skills. 

What they said instead was, "You can sew some bags Mum!" which had a vastly different outcome. 

But who am I to turn down the opportunity to sew something? So I went to my trusty box of scrap fabric and dug out enough calico to make several bags. I showed the girls a variety of bag types on Pinterest, hoping they would like a simple draw string bag. Again, my hopes were dashed, as they declared the bags with bunny ears to be the best bags of all. 

So again to my stash to find some fun fabric for the bunny ears and off to Sally the Sewing Machine I went. 

Two days later, and I've got five bunny bags ready to go. They are pretty cute, and well made, if I do say so myself. I French seamed them, for prettiness and strength. The girls made Easter cards and filled them with chocolate for their cousins and everyone had a great time.

Just Because

 Anyone else make a cake just because? Well I do. And here's another one. This cake has a funny story actually, because unlike my other "just because" cakes, I didn't make it purely based on feelings. 

Sophie wanted to make an aqua scope with recycled materials, but she needed a tin to do so. There were none in our recycle bin, so she went for an extensive search around the neighbour's houses. Alas, most of them were lacking in clean tins in their recycle bins too, but one of our neighbours kindly gave her a full tin of pineapple. 

So, we tipped out the pineapple and she made her aqua scope, and then we considered what to do with the pineapple. Obviously a cake was the perfect solution. 

I remember making this cake the first time, and being surprised at how yum it was - banana and pineapple is a great combo. I didn't have pecans this time, so I used walnuts, but it was still delicious. The last time I made it, was over 10 years ago. The time really does fly. 

This cake was shared with friends, and a cut a generous portion to send back to our kind neighbours to thank them for their pineapple. Sophie was not a fan, and is asking if we can make another just because cake tomorrow. Maybe.

For other just because cakes, check out here, here, here and here.