Tea towels.

I've had this embroidery pattern sitting in my to-do-embroidery box for some time. Maybe since the last century.  And since I'm trying to bust stash and there's no time like the present, I stitched this pattern onto some beige linen and then made a Class Picnic blouse.

I got carried away and stitched more birds on the top yoke of the blouse and paired it with denim Puppet Show shorts.

I'm thinking tea towels.  The blouse looks like a repurposed tea towel.

I may unpick the birds on the yoke and perhaps it may look better.

Well, whatever.  There are plenty more embroidery transfers in my to-do-embroidery box so I'll give it another go on another item.

Easter Bonnet

Last month I made Caitlin an Easter Coat from a wonderful wool called Doctors Flannel. The coat fits Caitlin perfectly, however it needs a bonnet.

I've made the large scalloped brim bonnet from this pattern before, so I decided to make the view that has the little tulip on the side, minus the tulip.

I had just enough of the Doctors Flannel leftover for the outside of the bonnet. I made size large.

For the last two nights of the Olympics, I sat in front of the TV and stitched the same bunny and flowers on the bonnet that I put on the coat.

It's difficult to photograph a bonnet, so I stuck it on a fence post and it seemed to work well.
Then I dropped my camera in the snow and the lens got covered in ice.


So I moved indoors and the pepper mill became the bonnet stand. I wish the brim was larger like the scalloped one is.

Thankfully, my lens thawed so these photos came out clear. I stitched the back during the final men's hockey game.

And thankfully, Canada won. WOOT!

And thankfully all the Doctors Flannel (in this shade) in my stash is busted!

Embroidered Easter Coat

I've been thinking for some time that I'd like to make an Easter coat for Caitlin.

I dug out Style 2439 that is no longer in print. It's a size 18 months.

Digging through my stash for a warm fabric, I found some Doctors flannel that was part of project for a class I took with Gail Doan. The project was a child's jacket in size 4 as seen in her book Sew Cute Couture.

But I can't wait for Caitlin to be a size 4. Luckily there was enough of the fabric to cut out the pattern.
I wanted the coat to have a Vintage 50's theme. I traced this bunny on to tissue paper, tacked the tissue paper to the outside of the coat and stitched with 3 strands of embroidery floss, following the design using a split stitch.

I made up the flowers myself. With embroidery, just about anything works.

Then I put a little embroidery on the collar and piped the collar using a mini piping. The collar looks uneven in this photo, but in real life it does look even and sits flatter than it does on the hanger.

I got carried away and stitched some embroidered flowers on the back.

Again, I just made them up.

For a few days, I had been tossing around the idea of making bound buttonholes on the jacket. I have never done them before as I've been fearful I couldn't do them. But they turned out to be rather easy to do! Go figure.

I followed instructions that looked similar to these.

I found 3 vintage buttons that belonged to a jacket that was mine when I was a little girl.

For the lining, I used this bunny fabric that I bought maybe 12 0r 15 years ago!

I matched the colour floss to the lining.

I am pleased with the results. However, I serged the armhole and it's not sitting right. I won't do that again.

Now to make a matching bonnet!