A Blossoming Birthday Gift

 My honorary niece Olivia turned nine this year, and here is a post about her birthday present.

  

 

For Olivia's presents, I follow the formula of "something to wear, something to read, and something to play with". The something to wear was a summer dress with a matching purse. I selected the pattern you see above (Butterick B6908) for the dress, and made view A without the side cut outs, or view B without the sleeves.   

 

 

The finished dress in a size 10. It's a rather stylish-looking number that I'd expect many a grown woman would be happy to wear if it were sized up for her. 

 

 

 

 

It was a little difficult to match this fabric in a button, or for that matter in thread. The background colour is what I would describe as a creamy pale pink rather than a white, and I could not use white thread for it. Fabricland didn't have the right length of invisible zipper in an appropriate shade, so I had to buy a too-long zipper and cut it down to the right size. As for the button, Fabricland had nothing and I had to visit a notions store on Queen and hunt through their button collection for something that would do. 

 

 

 

As for the purse, I didn't like the idea of doing it in the same floral pattern as the dress, as it seemed like a little much of a good thing. I looked through the fabrics I had on hand to see what might coordinate with that floral fabric, and there was a green satin I had bought to make a new light bathrobe for me, so I used some of that for it, and just lined the purse in the floral fabric. (I cut the bathrobe pieces out first to be sure there would be enough left over for the purse). I used the pattern Vogue 9893 for it, view B. I've had that pattern for over 20 years, made I don't know how many little purses from it, and this was the first time I ever used that particular view. 

 

 

 

The bag has an inside pocket and is reversible, though I think it looks better green side out. It looked a little plain as was, though, and I wondered what I could do to fancy it up a bit. I came up with the idea of making a fabric flower, which I could stitch to the bag. This idea quickly blossomed (see what I did there) into the idea of making a beaded flower brooch that Olivia could wear on the purse, or her dress, or another outfit entirely, just as she wished. I had plenty of beads and some brooch pins in my jewelry- making supplies box, so it would be a nice added touch that wouldn't cost a thing. I did some googling for flower brooch patterns and tutorials. 

 

 

 

 

 

I soon found this video from Red Blossom Designs on YouTube, and had a go at it. I thought my fabric was too flimsy for this design, so I cut out circles of interfacing and ironed them on to my satin circles. Then the fabric was too stiff and I couldn't make it look right at all. I ended up throwing the whole shebang into the garbage and beginning again. The above photo is of the result of my *second* attempt, and it still didn't look good.  

 

 

 

 

This is the back of the second attempt. I didn't like the way the crafter in the YouTube video did the back of their brooch, so for mine, I cut out an extra circle of the satin and a smaller circle of stiff interfacing, covered the interfacing with the satin, basted it in place, stitched the brooch pin firmly onto the covered circle, then stitched the circle onto the back of the brooch. That at least worked out well. 

 

  

 

 

My third attempt at making the brooch turned out much better, though a few of the petals still don't have quite the right shape. This brooch-making method would probably work best with a somewhat stiffer fabric. (In the video, the crafter uses what looks like a cotton and/or polyester print fabric.) I wound up using the back of the brooch as the front in my version, as I preferred the look the gathered petals on that side to the folded ones of the front. Sewing on random small beads until the raw edges were all covered worked better than sewing one one large bead and then circles of other beads too -- it looks more naturalistic. Once I had the third attempt all beaded and decided it was good enough to go, I picked apart my second attempt at the brooch, putting the beads from it back in my bead box, and reusing the backing circle for the third version of the brooch, so at least I didn't have do that part all over again. 

 

 

 

 The purse with its decoration. I think it adds something. 

 

 

 

 

 

Olivia can wear the brooch pinned on her dress if she likes. This is a rather polished and put-together look for a nine-year-old.

 

 

 

 Olivia's doll, Rainbow Sparkle Unicorn-Animals, which I gave to Olivia's for her seventh birthday, also got a new outfit. Last year Rainbow got a scary witch outfit; this year she gets to be a ballerina. The idea is to keep giving Olivia a new outfit for her doll once a year until Olivia outgrows dolls, to keep Rainbow's wardrobe fresh. I wrote in full about this ballet outfit knitting project in this post if you care to hear all the details about the pattern, yarn, and process, as well as some more detailed photos. 

 

 

 

Olivia's complete birthday gift. Besides the dress, purse, brooch, doll outfit, Olivia received a crocheted elephant craft kit and a copy of The Princess Dessert Cookbook, by Aurélia Beaupommier, both of which came from Dollarama, and a thrift shop copy of The Golden Compass, by Philip Pullman. The dress fabric came from a thrift shop, the purse fabric and beads were left over from other projects, and the yarn was on sale at Len's Mill, so this was not a terribly expensive gift, though even the few dollars here and there plus the cost of the sewing pattern, thread, zipper, and postage for the package did add up alarmingly, sigh. (It's not that I grudge it, but money is extremely tight with me, and I try to reduce expenses in every way I can.)

 

  

When I wrapped Olivia's gift, I decided it would be fun to wrap Rainbow's ballet outfit separately from the other gifts. I even found a tiny card and envelope among my gift wrapping supplies that I could use to write Rainbow a message, which I signed, "Love, Great-Aunt Beth". 

 

 

 

My gift arrived at Olivia's house the day before Olivia and her family were to leave for a few days' vacation, so she and Rainbow would have had new outfits to pack for the trip, as well as reading material, and possibly even handiwork activity for the car. Olivia's mother has said that Olivia promptly told her that Rainbow was going on vacation with them, as she had a new outfit to show the world. Rainbow is modelling the new outfit in the above photo. If this world were a safer place for young girls, I would have been able to post the original, uncropped photo, in which one can see Rainbow's mom beaming ear-to-ear over her baby's ballet outfit.   

 

 

This morning I received this beautiful, and impressively prompt, thank you note in the mail. Olivia only received her gift last Wednesday, and last weekend was a long weekend, so for me to get this thank you note today (Tuesday), Olivia would have had to get it in the mail either that same day or on Thursday, the day she and her family were to leave for their vacation. 

If you should have any trouble reading the message, it says:

 

Thank you aunt Beth i loveD The present ant thank you for The present for Rainbow

P.S. xoxoxoxo[heart] 

 

I do indeed feel well and truly thanked for my efforts.  

The Bed Jacket Revisited

 

In winter my standard sleepwear outfit consists of a pair of tartan flannel pajama bottoms that I sew myself, and a thrift shop long-sleeved t-shirt in a coordinating colour. It costs me under $25 and a few hours of work to put together a new pajama set, and I usually have three sets on hand, each of which will last for years. The pajama bottoms usually wear out first, and if my replacement pair of bottoms isn't the right colour to go with the shirt that went with the last pair, I can reassign the shirt to the dresser drawer that holds my daytime wear long-sleeved t-shirts. Sometimes, if I have one in just the right colour, I'll take a long-sleeved t-shirt from my daytime wear drawer and pair it with the new pajama bottoms I've just sewn. In other words, my pajama bottom and t-shirt combination is a cost, material, and work-efficient sleepwear choice. The one drawback is that it isn't is quite warm enough for a 1912-built house in Toronto winter weather.

I spend most of my evenings sitting up in bed knitting or working on some other needlework and watching movies or TV shows on my laptop, and during the winter months I was finding myself becoming uncomfortably chilly at the above-blanket level, and sometimes had trouble staying warm enough when sleeping too. I tried wrapping an afghan around my shoulders but it wouldn't stay in place owing to the kind of arm movements my needlework efforts entailed. I began wearing my bathrobe, which worked better, but given its length it was awkward to sit up in bed and to sleep in it. I could have worn a hoodie or sweatshirt, of course, but their hoods, strings, and/or zippers irritated me when I was trying to sleep, and the ill-assorted look of them bugged me whenever I caught sight of myself in a mirror. I decided that I wanted a warm, comfortable layering piece to put on that coordinated with my pajamas.   

I began thinking about bed jackets. Bed jackets are one of those quaintly charming articles of dress and appointment that have all but fallen by the wayside (see also: dress clips, hat pins, chatelaines, pocket watches, muffs, cloaks, parasols, and train cases). These days, most people just wear a hoodie or a sweatshirt or their bathrobe over their pajamas if they want an extra layer.

In Marjorie Hillis's classic manual for the single woman, Live Alone and Like It, originally published in 1936, she prescribes in detail what nightwear a woman should own:

 

We would also like to say a few words about your bedroom wardrobe. This is no place to be grim and practical. Don't worry about whether your nightgowns will wear if you are sure that they will flatter. We can think of nothing more depressing than going to bed in a washed-out four-year-old nightgown, nothing more bolstering to the morale than going to bed all fragrant with toilet-water and wearing a luscious pink satin nightgown, well-cut and trailing.

Next, of course, you'll need negligees -- at least two, one warm and one thin, and as many more as you can afford. Have them tailored or chi-chi according to your type, but have them becoming. And don't think that four bed-jackets are too many if you belong to the breakfast-in-bed school. A warm comfortable one for every-day use and a warm grand one for special occasions. A sheer cool one for summer mornings, and a lacy affair to dress up in. You can make the last two yourself out of remnants in practically no time at all. For the others, have one of quilted silk or Shetland wool, and another of padded satin or velvet in the shade that makes you most beautiful. 

 

I prize my copies of Hillis's two books Live Alone and Like It and Orchids on Your Budget, and often re-read them, mostly for their bracing tone, which has an excellent effect on me. Her practical tips offer food for thought, but usually take some adapting to make them usable for life in 2025. I totally agree with Hillis's dictum that attractive and comfortable bedroom attire is important, even if it's only seen by its wearer. Worn out, ugly, and/or unflattering lingerie is demoralizing, and who needs that? 

However, I do differ with her on what my nighttime wardrobe should look like. While I'm sure that Hillis wouldn't approve of my pajamas, they're standard sleepwear these days. I do concur with her stance on negligees, or what we more commonly call bathrobes, housecoats, or dressing gowns. It's a sound idea for a woman who lives in a four-season climate to have one long, warm, plush bathrobe (for winter) and one short, light, silky one (for summer and "special occasions" all year round). As for her prescription for bed jackets, I don't want any summer bed jackets, as my short cotton nightgowns are all I can bear to have on me in hot weather, but I agree that I could definitely use a few nice warm bed jackets for winter wear.

I wondered if there could be a modern equivalent to the bed jacket, and I did some googling, and fell down something of a rabbit hole. Amazon does offer a reasonable selection of bed jackets, ponchos, and capes in fleece, velour, and flannel, but of course I'm trying to avoid shopping on Amazon, given how they treat their workers and Jeff Bezos' compliance with Trump. I looked on Pinterest, and after realizing that bed jackets could be knitted, on Ravelry.

 

 

 

I found some exquisite examples of the bed jacket, such as the one above, which dates from the 1930s and would definitely meet with Marjorie Hillis's approval, but one like that wouldn't work with my pajamas, or even one of my cotton nightgowns. However, by the time I'd climbed out of the bed jacket research rabbit hole, I knew what I wanted in a bed jacket: it needed to be warm, it needed to be comfortable for both sitting up in bed and for sleeping in, it needed to go with my pajamas, and ideally it should also elevate the look of my pajamas a little. 

 

 

 

I decided I would need to sew a bed jacket, and visited Simplicity.com to see what patterns they had that would fit my criteria. I wound up selecting the pattern depicted above, Simplicity S9210, deciding that the cowl- necked top would do very well if made in a fleece or velour. It wouldn't be a bed jacket exactly, but something that could be more accurately described as a "pajama pullover". I decided to make three: one in cream, one in dark brown, and one in a colour. I bought cream fleece and spring green fleece, and ribbons to go with each. I couldn't find a brown fabric I liked in any of Toronto's fabric stores, but then I got the idea of scouting the household linens in thrift shops to look for fleece or velour blankets that could be used to make the brown pajama pullover. 

 

 

I soon found a large brown plush throw for $7.50.  

I made the cream pajama pullover first, and have been wearing it awhile. I'm wearing it right now as I type these words. It's been very satisfactory. It looks well over my pajamas and over my one flannel nightgown. I am now quite warm when I sit up in bed in the evenings, and while simultaneously eating breakfast and writing in bed in the mornings, and I can sleep in it very comfortably at night. I found the ribbon needed constant retying, which annoyed me until I got the idea of hand stitching the centre of the bow. The ribbon stays in a perfect bow now.

The brown pajama pullover got made next. I opted not to put the ribbon in this one. I like it even better than the cream one, as the colour is better on me. Wearing it over my tartan nightshirt and pajama bottoms makes me look and feel more like some sort of half bear, half hunter hybrid than an elegantly attired bachelorette, but then Canadian winters can make the most stalwart stylist care more about warmth and comfort than fashion. I used less than half of the brown blanket to make this, but I suppose I can use the rest up gradually by making some cuddly stuffed bears and bunnies for baby shower gifts.

I ended up deciding not to make the spring green pajama pullover. It would have only gone with one pair of my pajamas, and what happens when those wear out? Also, the knitted bed jacket patterns I had browsed through when researching bed jackets were calling my name. I have picked one out and plan to knit it in 2026. The spring green fleece fabric can instead be used to make a zippered jacket for daytime wear around the house in winter, as it will go very well with the five pairs of dark brown yoga pants that I basically live in during the cold season.

So, I now feel that I have winter sleepwear that is, if not quite Marjorie Hillis-approved, certainly Marjorie Hillis-informed, and also comfortable. 

Some Sewing, Shopping, and Shipping

For my honorary niece Olivia's 8th birthday, I did some sewing and some shopping. 

 

 

 

For most of Olivia's existence, my practice has been to make her a wool sweater for Christmas and a cotton summer dress and matching purse for her birthday, which is in May. This year I decided to go with a cotton jumpsuit, partly to change things up and partly because I thought Olivia might get more real wear out of it, but mostly because when I saw the above pattern, which is McCalls M7917, there was no resisting such a cute design.  

I chose a cotton print to make it with that is pictured at the head of this post. It's the "Cookbook" fabric, by Riley Blake Designs.
 

 

 

 

The finished jumpsuit, made in View C and size 8, and the matching purse, the purse being made from a 20+ year-old pattern from Vogue (V9893) that I've used and reused half to death. I didn't seem to have anything I could use on this purse for trim, but looking at the photo of it now, I wish I'd tried harder and come up with something. It looks so plain that way.  

 

 

 

I also bought Olivia a thrift shop copy of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince, and a dollar store unicorn craft kit that Olivia can paint and assemble herself.  

In the fall of 2023, a hoped-for visit to Olivia's house had to be cancelled. I hoped it could be rescheduled to January 2024, so I didn't send her intended Christmas present to her in December 2023, and then that trip didn't happen either. By the time March 2024 rolled around and I'd given up hope of a visit in the near future, I decided just to hang onto her Christmas present and send it along with her birthday present. Then I was late getting her birthday present ready. It was the end of July 2024 before I finally shipped Olivia's combined Christmas and birthday gift to her. (Bad aunt! Bad!) 

But Olivia didn't seem to mind the delay, and she had the pleasure of opening quite a large, elaborate gift that contained not only the jumpsuit, purse, book and craft gift contained above, but also a sweater, hat, novel and designer activity book AND a witch costume complete with broomstick and cat for the doll she'd received from me for her 7th birthday, one Miss Rainbow Sparkle Unicorn-Animals. Lindsie called me right after Olivia opened her gift, and though Olivia took a shy fit and wouldn't come to the phone to thank me as Lindsie wanted, I could hear her squealing away in the background. 

Olivia's favourite item out of all of those things was the black cat. My idea was that the cat would be Rainbow's pet cat (or familiar, when she was wearing her witch outfit), but Olivia didn't see it that way. The cat was hers and only hers, and she named it Blackie. I suggested some other names that might be suitable for a black cat (i.e., Ebony, Sable, Raven, Coal, Midnight), but no, Blackie it was and would remain. 

I'm also happy to say that as I type this in late October 2024, I have Olivia's Christmas 2024 present all ready to go, so she'll get her Christmas present in good time this year, taking this honorary aunt at least temporarily off the naughty list.

Deck the Holly with Dress and Bunny

I do like knitting baby clothes. The projects are so cute, and they are so small that they can be both quickly finished and often made from a few skeins from one's stash. I got a brand new grandniece named Holly in February 2023, which meant I got to make both a birth gift and a Christmas present. Yay for baby-sized knitting projects!

For Holly's Christmas present, I turned to Ravelry to find a dress pattern. I found the Nandi pattern, designed by Triona Murphy. It's quite cute and also very sensible. I have a whole box of worsted odds and ends, and after looking them over, I selected a skein of Bernat Super Value Solids in Forest Green (this was one of two skeins left over after I made my sister a Christmas afghan and matching throw pillow) and a skein of Loops & Threads Meandering in Dark Salmon. The salmon was a DK, but I liked the combination of the green and salmon so much that I made it work by knitting with two strands of the salmon. 

The completed dress, made in size 6 to12 months. I try to learn something new with each knitting project. This project involved a few new knitting experiences for me. I am not sure if I've ever used the mosaic technique before. I enjoyed trying that out. I don't believe I'd ever used a yarn double to increase its weight before either except with a felted pair of slippers, and that's a good option to have. But the most valuable lesson I learned from this piece was that I finally figured out how to pick up wrapped stitches without having them show. The key thing is that when you're knitting the wrap and a live stitch together, you must make sure that the wrap stitch is on the wrong side of your work. You might have to rearrange the stitches on your needle to get them in the correct orientation, but that's easy enough to do.

For the single button on the back of the neckline, I found a button in my button tin, keeping the material cost of this dress at $0. (I did have to buy the pattern.)

I also sewed Holly's a velvet bunny for her Christmas present. I used stretch velvet and a pattern I had on hand and just had to buy a pair of safety eyes for $2.53 and a metre of satin ribbon for $1. 

Last year Holly's older brother Sawyer got a brown velvet teddy bear for Christmas, and I made sure to make his sister a bunny and use a different-coloured neck ribbon in order to prevent any upsetting mix-ups and/or tug of war episodes in their household. I chose a colour of ribbon that would go with Holly's dress. It, er, coordinates better with the contrast colour in the bodice of the dress than it appears to do in this photo.

And when completed, my work added up to not a bad little Christmas present for the money.

The Secret Garden Dress

 

When it came time to plan my honorary niece Olivia's birthday dress for her seventh birthday in May of 2023, I began by ordering three sewing patterns online: one for this year, for for next year, and one for the year after, in order to save on shipping. It was still way too expensive, but I suppose I can at least save the patterns to reuse for my new little grandniece when she gets older.

My choice of pattern this year was the very classic Vogue V1857, view B. I went to the warehouse-type store Fabric Fabric, at St. Clair West and Keele here in Toronto, to pick out the fabrics for it. I found a beautiful cotton print -- the one depicted above -- that I fell in love with immediately. It was so William Morris. It wasn't the easiest print to coordinate because of its offbeat shades of green and blue, but for my contrast fabric I eventually picked out a textured cotton fabric in cream, and then, when I couldn't find a suitable third fabric to use as lining, I bought extra of the textured cream to use as lining. 

Here's the finished product. It's crisply, delicately pretty. The sewing went reasonably well on the whole, though I was stalled for quite a while when I had some difficulty with the sleeves. I had never been able to make the "baste and draw the stitches to gather" technique work for me, but when my usual method of minutely pinning the sleeve didn't work despite multiple attempts, I tried the gathered basting stitch technique, and to my amazement, it actually worked for me for once. 

Whenever I make a little girl's dress, I like to make a matching purse for it. I wanted to make this one out of the print, but I hadn't enough of it left. I hadn't enough left for even the facing. But I did have lots of the cream left, and I made a very simple, plain bag out of that. Olivia will be able to use this purse with other outfits instead of having a purse that's tied specifically to one outfit.

My formula for Olivia's gifts, either birthday or Christmas, is "something to wear, something to read, and something to play with". This past winter I had the great good luck to score a pristine condition, deluxe edition of Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden (shown on the left in the photo above) at my neighbourhood Value Village. It has artistic, interactive inserts throughout it for the reader to enjoy as they read the book, such as postcards, or letters one can take out of the the envelope and read, a drawing of the floorplan of the house, etc. Then, about a week after I bought the book, I came across a copy of The Secret Garden cookbook (shown on the right) at the dollar store. I thought Olivia would really enjoy getting to make some of the foods mentioned in the novel, or the kind of foods the characters would have eaten (that is, if one of her parents is up for such a project), so I snapped up the cookbook. And then I realized the print of the dress, which I'd selected before I bought either the novel or the cookbook and never thought of when I bought the two books, was very much in accord with The Secret Garden theme of this present. How fortuitous is that?

But, you ask, looking at this photo of the dress, purse, novel and cookbook, as fastidiously in thematic accord as it all is, where is the something to play with? A cookbook isn't exactly a toy. Rest assured that there's more to the gift yet to come. The toy Olivia is getting for her seventh birthday is handmade and rather elaborate, so it's getting its own post. Watch this space for that! 

Style and Polish

My grandniece Cauliflower turned 13 in August 2022. I have, until this year, been alternately making a dress for her on her "odd" years and a sweater on her "evens", but the dress I made her for eleventh birthday was the last one I am ever likely to sew for her. She's reached the age where she needs her dresses fitted on her, and I can't do that as I so seldom see her, so it's sweaters from now on. My sister-in-law tells me this is just as well, as Cauliflower isn't currently as much into dresses as she was when she was little, and would probably prefer to get a sweater for her birthday anyway. 

This year my project plan began with my finding 100 grams of bright blue (left over from a cardigan I made for my father years ago) and 190 grams of Patons Decor in Rose Temptation (left over from a cardigan I made for me) in my stash, deciding they looked nice together, and then looking for a sweater design that would be suitable for them both, with the addition of some new yarn in a coordinating main colour. 

This year I directed my search among the adult-size designs, instead of children's patterns, as Cauliflower has recently begun to wear extra small women's sizes. It didn't take me long to settle on the Vintersol sweater, designed by Jennifer Steingass, which I would be knitting in its smallest size. I already owned a copy of it as I have used the design before to make a sweater for me, so that was a cost-efficient plus. Not that a teenaged girl would want to wear the same style of sweater as her middle-aged great aunt, but again, I seldom see her, and will just have to remember not to wear that particular sweater around her for the next few years. 

For my main colour of yarn, I went to Michaels with a yarn sampler of the two colours I already had, and selected Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Riverside, or as I'd describe it, a rich dark blue which is just a few shades shy of navy. I bought three skeins of yarn one skein at a time with Michael's coupons, which brought the total cost of this project to $16.59. 

The finished sweater. It didn't photograph all that well -- the rose colour looks a little psychedelic -- but I am quite pleased with its actual appearance, and Cauliflower liked it too. The design is so effective, and the colours work together well. She plans to pair it with navy blue leggings and wear it to her figure skating lessons.    

Along with the sweater, Cauliflower received a manicure kit I put together for her. Every year I mark her and her younger brother's progress towards maturity through their gifts, figuring out what clothing size they'll be, and weighing the age appropriateness of the other gifts I get them. Thirteen is too old for toys, but there are plenty of useful things that can be packaged in a fun and attractive way for a brand new teenaged girl. I think thirteen is still a little young for makeup -- high school is surely soon enough for girls to start wearing cosmetics -- but Cauliflower is certainly old enough to do her nails if she wants to, and I know from my own revamp of my manicure kit what a pleasure it is to have a well-organized and good-looking kit to use. So I decided to put together a manicure kit for her. I made a fabric case to hold the various items, and also ordered a book online (secondhand, but it's good as new) that will tell her everything she needs to know in order to do her nails to a professional standard.

Besides the larger case seen above, I sewed a tissue case and two smaller vanity cases to go inside the kit.  I had remnants of the red polka dot and the blue, red, and white print fabrics you see above on hand, and though they were from separate projects they work together very prettily. I had the zippers for the vanity case in my zipper box too, salvaged from worn-out items but still in good shape. I just had to buy one red zipper for the larger case.

Then I bought a manicure set, emery boards, nail polish remover, and an array of nail polish from the dollar store. My own practice is to keep just two shades of nail polish on hand, plus a bottle of clear polish. I have never in my life used an entire bottle of nail polish before it got too old and hardened to be usable, so buying only two colours keeps the wastefulness down, and besides, I know what I like: an old rose and a light, shimmery copper. Both colours are visually pleasing to me, go well with my skin tone, and are low-key enough to go with most of my clothes without clashing. But then that's me, a middle-aged woman who knows what her lane is and is content to stay in it, while Cauliflower is a young girl who needs to play and experiment and find out what she likes and what suits her. For her I bought a selection of nail polishes that I thought would suit her colouring.

As with my own manicure kit, I put cotton balls and swabs in the one case, and emery boards in the other, but Cauliflower will be able to organize her kit however she likes now that she has it. There is also room in the larger case for her to add equipment/supplies to the basics I've provided if she wishes to.

I gave Cauliflower's birthday present to her this past weekend, and she seemed very pleased with everything. The sweater and manicure set don't seem to me to be such a bad gift for a newly minted teenager, and will hopefully help Cauliflower embark on her teens in style.

Fuchsia, Turquoise, and Lime

 

My honorary niece Olivia turned six today, and two days ago I sent her birthday gift, which you are about to read all about, on its way to her.

I like to give Olivia a spring/summer dress every year for her birthday. Last year when I was buying the pattern for her fifth birthday dress, there were two patterns I liked a lot, so I decided to get both and use one for last year and one for this year. McCall's M7309, the cute, elbow-sleeved, handkerchief hem knit dress design you see above, was the one for this year. 

But I ran into a snag when it came time to trying to find fabric for it. There is surprisingly little selection in knit fabrics that are suitable for a little girl's dress -- at least in the stores I have access to. Everything was so ugly and/or elderly. This pattern called for a moderate stretch knit fabric, but when the only fabric I could find that I actually liked was a very stretchy knit... I went with it.

This fabric is a sort of fuchsia or plum colour -- not quite either purple or pink -- with fine horizontal lines of turquoise and lime. I had some difficulty finding a spool of matching thread for it, but the real challenge came when making it up. When sewn as directed, the neckline stretched out enormously -- to 30 inches in circumference! I had to recut the bodice entirely to make the neck opening smaller, and redo the neckband repeatedly to get it small enough. I didn't recut the rest of the dress, and I can only hope that it doesn't look too oversized and sloppy on Olivia. Arghhh. It's so disappointing to struggle with something as I did with this, and still not be happy with it when it's finally finished. 

As for the obligatory matching purse, I didn't want to sew it out of the jersey because the fabric was too stretchy to be suitable for a purse, and I'd have to interface and interline it, which would be a pain with such a small item. I looked through my yarn stash to see what I had in the way of coordinating yarns that might be used for a knitted purse. I had a turquoise and a lime that were very similar to the stripes on the jersey. I did not have a fuchsia yarn, and would probably have reverted to the idea of a sewn purse rather than go to the trouble and expense of having to track down and buy a skein of yarn in that shade, but happily it occurred to me to check my box of embroidery floss. It turned out that I had some embroidery floss in a very similar shade. 

When knitting the purse, I used the Squircle pattern I have used a number of times before, and went with a reversal of the dress fabric's colourway: lime, with turquoise and fuchsia stripes worked in duplicate stitch. The lime yarn is a very soft yarn, so to give the purse a little more structure, I cut a circle of very stiff interfacing the size of the bottom of the bag, knitted a second bottom, and then stitched the second bottom inside the bottom of the bag, slipping the interfacing circle in between the two bottoms mid-process.

I hope the resulting purse and dress will do well enough. They certainly aren't the success Olivia's super cute fifth birthday dress and purse were, sigh.     

As for the rest of Olivia's gift, I got her a toy tea set she can paint and decorate herself (repeatedly, if she likes, because it's washable paint), an owl sketchbook and matching pen, and a copy of The Secret World of Og by Pierre Berton. So, all in all... not a bad gift, and one Olivia will probably be happy enough with. Which is, after all, what matters.