In May 2026, my honorary niece Olivia turned 10. And of course there was a gift to mark the occasion, one that followed my usual gift formula of "something to wear, something to do, and something to read". Or more accurately in this case, "things to wear, things to do, and things to read".
Let's start with the things to wear. Olivia's mother Lindsie told me last fall that "Olivia isn't so into dresses at present", so I selected the top and skirt pattern you see above, McCalls M8619. If made in the same fabric, they'd have the effect of a dress, but could also be worn separately with other things from Olivia's wardrobe. Olivia should be able to get more wear out of them than she would out of a dress.
As to fabric, in January 2026, I went to Fabricland that was closing out and bought a cotton print of white stars on a red fabric for a little over $3 a metre, which is rock bottom pricing for new fabric these days. It was actually a Christmas decor fabric, but I told myself it could pass for a bright, fun summer print.
The completed outfit in a size 10. It's a pretty cute summer outfit, and the skirt has pockets.
Next came the matching purse.
I usually make Olivia's purses out of leftover fabric, and sometimes I knit them, but for this purse-making occasion I happened to have a little clasp purse on hand that was in need of a makeover. I bought the clasp purse you see above years ago at a dollar store for about $3, and it was ever so cute, but it got stained while sitting next to a brown vinyl bag on the shelf in my closet, and I wasn't able to remove the brown marks. After some profanity and gnashing of teeth, I put it aside figuring I'd redo it for myself at some point, but then when I was planning Olivia's birthday outfit, it occurred to me I didn't really need it and would rather do it over for Olivia. Lindsie tells me Olivia has kept all of the purses I've made for her, and Olivia is one to take excellent care of her things, so I thought it was a good idea to make a purse she could really grow up to and use as an adult.
I didn't want to use the cotton print to make the purse, as it seemed like a bit too much visually. I had some remnants of red velvet and red bridal satin on hand that both went together and went with the red cotton print, so I used those for the purse. I did consider using the cotton print for the lining, but thought it better to make a solid red purse that would work with other things.
I took the purse apart, reused the frame and the cardboard form, and used the old orange vinyl fabric as a pattern for making the new purse. The old purse was a no-sew bag put together with glue, but I did a little sewing for my version, overcasting the edges of the fabrics to prevent fraying, and stitching the end pieces together.
The resulting purse turned out quite well for something made out of an old ruined bag and remnant fabrics.
Then I couldn't resist making a necklace to complete this young lady's outfit. I tried to put something together out of the red and white beads I had in my jewelry supply box, but couldn't seem to find a combination that worked. I wound up buying a string of red beads and a string of mother of pearl beads from Michaels, and put them with the smaller red beads and the silver tone spacer beads I had on hand.
I think it was worth the extra cost as this is a necklace Olivia will be able to wear all the rest of her life.
I didn't have a suitable gift box for the necklace. I thought I'd put the necklace in the purse when I wrapped the gift, and then I imagined the necklace catching on and snagging the lining, so I made a little sachet bag out of the cotton fabric, put the necklace in it, and put the sachet bag in the purse for Olivia to find.
For Olivia's seventh birthday in 2023, I made her a knitted doll and a wardrobe of seven outfits. Since then, I have been giving Olivia one doll outfit per birthday to freshen her baby's wardrobe, with the intention of ceasing to do so after Olivia's tenth birthday. Ten outfits is a good array of clothing for a doll, and Olivia will soon be too old for dolls anyway. The choice for Olivia's doll's final outfit was easy. The Raincoat outfit by Sarah Gasson, which you see above, is adorable, and how could I not make a rainy day outfit for a doll named Rainbow Sparkle Unicorn-Animals?
I decided to make the outfit in just yellow and red, as I thought I'd prefer the look and it also cut down the expense a little. I purchased four skeins of Patons Astra for this project: three in Maize Yellow and one in Cardinal. I also had a little left of each of these two yarns in my stash: 9 grams of the yellow and 17 grams of the red.
The completed rainy day outfit. I had some trouble finding wooden toggles for the raincoat. Eventually I settled for these, which are slightly smaller than they are supposed to be, and not quite the same style as those used in the sample photo. I adjusted the design a little to make them work. And I never did get around to looking for one of the cute doll-size toy umbrellas that are in the design's sample photo, but I suspect I wouldn't have been able to find one anyway.
As for the rest of Olivia's gift, I bought a thrift shop copy of Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper, a thrift shop copy of a book on how to paint with watercolours, a box of watercolour paints, a pack of paint brushes, and a block of watercolour paper from Dollarama. I made a pretty bookmark out of an old greeting card, and put it in the novel. Then one day in June 2026 when I thought I had enough things for Olivia's birthday gift and was coming home from the grocery store, I passed a house that had an array of discarded items sitting on the edge of its front lawn for passersby to take if they wanted. One of the things on offer was a little cat cross-stitch kit in good-as-new condition. My first thought was that I didn't want it because I have so many needlework kits in the house to get to and I would have no use for the finished item, but then I thought of Olivia and how it would be the perfect counted cross-stitch starter project for her, and tucked it into my bag (along with a vegetarian cookbook and a set of five-pound handweights for me).
Olivia loves reading, arts and crafts, and animals, so she should be able to get quite a bit of enjoyment and use out of these items. She's also a girl who likes a project, and will be able to teach herself watercolour technique and the basics of counted cross-stitch with these things.
Not a bad array of gifts for a ten-year-old, especially given their humble handmade, madeover, upcycled, thrift shop, dollar store, clearance sale, and found item origins.
I wrapped Olivia's and Rainbow's gift separately, complete with their own cards and sticking with the red and white theme, then shipped them off to her. Olivia got her birthday gift about six weeks after her actual birthday because I suck at getting things done. However, she received it on the morning of June 26th, which was her first school-free day of the summer. This wasn't such bad timing, as it was a nice way for Olivia to kick off her summer vacation. I was also glad that Olivia got her new red and white ensemble in time to wear it for any July 1st celebrations she might go to, as she would look very patriotic and like a Canada Day sparkler in it.
Lindsie sent me photos of a very excited and happy young girl opening her present, and told me Olivia loved everything in it. Lindsie told me she herself thought the red velvet purse was beautiful and that she would love to borrow it, but that Olivia will never let her.
I also received a bestickered thank you card from Olivia not too many days later. So, the gift turned out well even if it was late, and it was well-received. Can't ask for better than that.
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