An Autumn outfit

R never wears pants, but I decided to  make her some anyway - nothing too complicated and time-consuming, because after all, they might never be worn, but something simple and comfortable as sort of a trial. I traced off pattern O from Happy Homemade, straightened the line of the leg and added back and side pockets from pattern I. In a soft and thin black denim the pants were easy to sew. The waist is elasticised (I added an 'x' at the back waist to secre the elastic) and I threw in a bit of topstitching at the hems just because I felt like they needed something extra.

I paired the pants with a loose-fitting top from Girls Style Book - you can see my previous version here. This is a great trans-seasonal top because it looks lovely with a long-sleeved top underneath on colder days. When I checked the cupboard for an appropriate fabric I found I had just enough of this soft, flowery voile, last used several years ago to make an amazingly similar top (which pre-dates this blog, but you can see it on my Flickr stream, along with the many Oliver + S ice cream dresses I made back in those days!). I made just two modifications to the pattern: omitting the ruffles on the sleeves and taking a couple of centimetres off the centre of the front and back pattern pieces.

I took R outside to take the photos but weirdly every single one of the pictures is out of focus... so I've had to pick out the least blurry ones. I think the outfit looks just perfect on her, and to my amazement, she actually likes the pants.

Morry strolled by as we were photographing and scored a starring role in the one-and-only sharp focus shot:

R has given me permission to make her more pants, and I'd like to try some skinny jeans. Is the Titchy Threads pattern the way to go? Give me your skinny jeans recommendations, please!

A pair of flower skirts

Last year I ordered some South African fabrics for my Dad to bring back from Cape Town for me. As well as a few metres my beloved Three Cats brand, I chose a selection of rectangular cloths which are traditionally worn by Tsonga women (you can see some examples of the way they are worn here).

These things come in a variety of super-bright colours and have a flower motif along the border, making them perfect for simple gathered skirts with just one seam at the back. All I did was cut them to size, sew them into 'tubes' of fabric, make a double casing for elastic at the top, then hem the bottoms. So quick, so easy! I had to line the yellow one, though, because it was a little transparent - and then I accidentally snipped part of the fabric so I used the lining as the waistband as well.

One for R and one for her sweet little cousin! The girls made such an adorable pair in their matching skirts, I couldn't stop snapping away.

Little M is somewhat recalcitrant when it comes to modelling - this is a girl who knows her own mind! - so it was fortunate that she took a liking to the skirt and put it on happily (unlike R, who only put hers on because I refused to give them a tub for their 'Barbie bath' until she did so).

Two happy cousins, two cute skirts and several very clean Barbies!