For the canals of Venice and the streets of Paris.

I made this quick half circle wrap around skirt for my Mum, as a birthday present (somewhat belated...sorry Mum) and as something new and fresh to take away with her on a trip to Venice & Paris. Oh how I wish it were me...it seems like such a ridiculously long time ago, pre-children, when my husband and I were in those places. Ahhh.... I was 5 months pregnant travelling through Venice. Wow. Aeons ago.

Anyway. Less misty-eyed nostalgia; more sewing. Ahem. Not much to say, really - this was so quick and easy to sew up it's ridiculous, and the perfect sort of skirt to sew for someone else because it fits no matter what. Half circle, bit of a waistband, buttonhole (don't be a muppet like me and accidentally run the buttonhole off the waistband and into the unreinforced skirt bit, though, cos you'll have to do the old "patch it up with a bit of interfacing and hope for the best" trick.) Rolled hem on the overlocker (I found the manual, finally ;-) )

The fabric is some cotton voile stuff from the dreaded Spotlight and that's pretty much all there is to it.

In other news, my machine has just been taken back for its second visit to the technician. It unfortunately came back from a service with a whole lot of problems that it never had before the service (bobbin thread breaking; needle position out of whack) so I had to take it back. Fingers crossed it's all good when I get it back or I might be in the market for a new Mr. Fixit. I've got a nearly-finished pair of Vogue A&O pants that I really want to wear, so I'm hoping it's soon.

Blame it on the boogie (and the riesling)

Technically speaking, I probably should say "Courtesy of the Boogie" but since the King of Pop doesn't have such a song in his oeuvre (and I can't say I blame him) I'm sticking with my original title. Which means, in a roundabout kinda way, that thanks to a couple of late nights sewing whilst nostalgically rocking out to old-school Michael Jackson, glass of riesling in hand, I have finally. Finished. The. Nappies. Actually, that's not entirely true. Me, Michael and the riesling did spend a couple of very long nights with the nappies, but I also had a full day when Mum watched the kids and I sewed like a maniac to finish them. Productive times....can't say I ever want to be a machinist - I could hardly see nor straighten my arms afterwards, but it was great to just be able to get stuck in to get them finished.

I can hardly believe that they're no longer on the "must sew before doing fun stuff" list. That list is totally gone. I am a free woman, sewing-wise, no longer bound to the shackles of PUL and resin snaps.

Anyway, suffice to say, I'm pretty happy they're done - all 24 of them. 10 have already made their way to the UK; these 14 will be winging their way there (via a brief sojourn in Venice and Paris) this time tomorrow.
Just in case anyone's interested in making nappies, the pattern I used is found here, and all fabrics and gadgets I used (PUL, microfleece, lastin, resin snaps and snap press) are all found here. The pattern is one of the newborn ones, sized up to a small, and tweaked slightly to fit my chubby babies - I'm hoping it'll fit my twin nieces for a decent length of time.

Sigh. Many fun sewing times have been had to the sound of a bit of good ol' Michael Jackson. I sew so much better with a good bit of music in the background, and it's funny how evocative some songs are. I still have really vivid memories every time I put on a particular Prince album that I played a lot while making my wedding dress...I can exactly picture crawling all over our hard wooden floors in our old flat in Melbourne, cutting out the huge skirt, whilst watching the Melbourne cup on TV. Weird.
So...what music keeps you stitchin? Anything in particular?