Time to get cracking. I have 37 days to make and post about 88 Things. I’d rather not resort to tissue pouches, either.

On the bright side, with the weather turning crisp and cold, my crafty urges have been reignited. This week I’ve made a shirt, a costume, and a hat, with another hat in progress.

Today’s Thing is the shirt. Esther is in dire need of some longer, warmer shirts. She’s outgrown most of last winter’s clothes and it’s too cold for t-shirts now. Yesterday was a studiedag so Esther was home all day. We puttered about in my sewing room and I assembled some fabrics.

Back in July I made a couple of t-shirts for Esther. One was a wild animal print and the other featured cats. I had enough of the wild animal knit for the front of a shirt, and enough of the cats for the back. But what to do about sleeves? Then I found an old blue shirt of mine that was still in good shape but I just don’t like. We had our sleeves.

I pulled out my trusty Renfrew pattern and cut out the front and back pieces and the cuff for the bottom. Next I chopped the sleeves off my old shirt. I laid the sleeve pattern piece against the sleeves and shaped the top of the sleeves to the pattern so they would fit properly.

It came together great for such a patchwork affair. Despite some difficulties in getting the neck band to lay flat, I was done in a little over an hour.

 

 

This has me inspired to see what other clothes I can repurpose. I have so many bits and bobs of fabric. Maybe I can cobble together a wardrobe with them.

Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colours comes to mind…

My coat of many colors
That my momma made for me
Made only from rags
But I wore it so proudly
Although we had no money
I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors
My momma made for me

Poor Esther. In the next verse all the other kids make fun of Dolly.

Maybe I better buy some more fabric.

Cost of this Thing: 0
Cost of all Things to date: €295.04

Today my firstborn is 14. Happy birthday, sweet girl!

 

 

It’s appropriate that today’s Things are gift bags. They’re not for Martina, mind you. But still.

 

 

Using scraps left over from Martina’s summer pyjama set, I cut out 15 pairs of squares and rectangles in various sizes. Then I figured out an assembly-line method that cut down the time per bag to a few minutes.

 

I finished each one off with organza ribbon from the stash.

 

 

Martina used one for a gift for a friend who has a birthday tomorrow, but the rest are for our jewelry sale on Saturday. I spent a couple of hours making jewelry today, and now I have something pretty to wrap it all in.

 

Cost of these Things: 0
Cost of all Things to date: €292.22

Remember this? In July I posted Work-in-Progress reusable snack and sandwich bags.

 

 

I finished them before the vacation so I could take them along for a gift.

I started with the velcro sandwich bags. They were quick and easy.  I cut the fabric into squares, folded over the top edges and sewed the velcro over the raw edges. Then I sewed all the way around the sides and bottom, using a French seam to conceal the raw edges. These were done in under an hour, I think.

 

 

The zipped bags were a little trickier and I wasn’t really happy with the zipper insertion until the last one (third one down in this picture). Otherwise they’re good, though, and the perfect size for small snacks like goldfish and grapes.

 

 

I still had some of the fabric left so I made two more velcro bags, a bit smaller than the others, giving me a final total of ten snack and sandwich bags.

 

 

I gave all but the last two to my favourite family in California. I was going to use those for Martina’s and Esther’s snacks. Grand plans, indeed. They’re still in the closet. Anyone want a couple of snack bags?

 

Cost of these Things: €8.23 (fabric 5.88, zippers 2, velcro .35)
Cost of all Things to date: €287.97

Remember Martina’s Dementor transformation last week? She won first prize for best costume at her school party. Huzzah!

Halloween continued into November for us. On Saturday we met up with a group of friends for another night of trick-or-treating, this one organized by the expat community in Wassenaar. The night was unseasonably warm — I think it was the warmest November day on record.

Esther wore the Dementor costume and her friend, Catherine, continued the Harry Potter theme and went as Ginny Weasley.

Martina and her friend, Jessica, wore the poodle skirt outfits I made for them a couple of years ago. In keeping with the fifties vibe they renamed themselves Shirley Ann Tate and Alice Petunia Presley.

 

Everyone needs an alter ego.

 

Today’s Things are a set for my niece, Kelsey. She’s lived in Lithuania and London so I picked this travel stamp fabric from my stash for her.

 

 

The lining is from Martina’s blue Hollyburn skirt.

 

 

And of course I made a… *all together now* … tissue pouch.

 

 

The summer backlog is dwindling. I should be through blogging about it by the end of this week, which means I’ll actually need to produce something new.

 

Cost of these Things: 0
Cost of all Things to date: €279.74