A little bit of country style

I have learned my lesson: Never judge a fabric at first glance! This fabric, which is simply gorgeous on my little girl, was a freebie Liberty Print ("Pepper") that my mother in law gave me when she was cleaning out her fabrics. She hasn't really done a lot of sewing since her children were little and what she had was mostly small cuts, suitable for children only. She handed me this fabric saying "You might be able to use that for your quilting". I took one look and screwed my nose up (she was telling me to be honest as she didn't want to give me fabric I wouldn't use!). I couldn't imagine it as a quilt at all. But as we continued to go through the fabrics, I started thinking that it would make a cute little top for my girl.

It definitely does! A bit Country Road style, I think. This has to be one of my favourite little outfits I have made. It suits her perfectly. It isn't pink (yay!) but she loves it anyway as it still has enough prettiness to it - yes, she is such a little princess and loves lace, ribbon, frills and PINK!

The top is on the front cover of Ottobre 3/2007. I have loved the design ever since I got that issue, but wasn't ready to tackle shirring then, and besides, at that time of my life I was only looking at boy patterns. Good thing I picked it up again as the biggest size for this top is 92cm - which is equivalent to a size 2. She only just fits the pattern now and even then, I did it with the rolled hem as in the pattern to begin with and it was far too short. Not to worry, this lace/broderie englaise combo trim was just perfect to give it 1.5" extra in length and adds to the prettiness. I could easily upsize this pattern now if I needed to but I don't like to muck around too much on my first go.

This wonderful soft denim was also a freebie from my generous mother-in-law. I love soft denim and use it alot, so I grabbed it for my pile the second she showed me. While it was there on the bed with my other "to keep" fabrics, I spotted it next to the Liberty print and then I just had to have the print to go with it, as they team together beautifully. It's amazing how envisioning the right project for a fabric can change your whole wiew of it. As soon as I pictured the top and denim skirt I actually started to love the print I hadn't much liked at first glance.

And, I have also found a use for the gorgeous tapes I won from LillaLotta's blog during Blogtoberfest a couple of years ago. I have been stashing them away for something special, but they really need to be used so people can see them, so I got brave and snipped this label off. The perfect little finishing touch. Why do I make clothes for my darlings? Because I love them.

If you want to make a skirt just like this one, go to From An Igloo, where you will find an excellent free tutorial. The best thing about this pattern - what you can't see in the photos is that under the first ruffle, I have used the Liberty print. So when she dances, twirls or just plays around the garden, you can see a flash of matching fabric, to tie the two items together into a matching set. Love it! What a fabulous idea.