Monday Morning.

Children in Need on Friday last week was a success.

 Ella as Paddington Bear. I made her a travel label to put round her neck & painted her nose using eyeliner (which stays on much better than face paints).

                                                 

I made a suitcase & label too.
I wrapped a cereal box in brown paper.

I made a handle using brown card & attached it to the box using gold brads.

I added some corners & wrote P. B. on the front. On the back I made a label which said "needed on journey."

I was really pleased with the end results & I am sure that the school will have raised lots of money for Children in Need.

Hat Update

Well the search for a blue duffle coat has drawn a blank, I did find some on Ebay but they went well past what I was prepared to spend. Never mind Ella has brown leggings & a brown top & she has asked for her hair to be made into bear ears! The hat is still a work in progress this is how it going so far.

I measured round Ella's head for the main part of the hat, I then joined it together & then measured the hole that was created. I then cut out a circle of felt to feel that hole.

I then pinned it altogether & then sewed it together. When the hat is finished it will be turned inside out.

I made the brim of the hat by doing the same size circle & then measuring out the depth of the main hat. So I ended with another big circle. I cut across the middle circle, so that there is a hole for Ella to put her head in, but you need to leave some so that you have enough to attach it to the rest of the hat.

Here is Ella in the hat, I finished sewing last night, but I am still not happy. I think that the brim needs to be smaller. 

So I have repinned the brim & made it smaller. I just need Ella to come from school to try it on to see if it looks better. Will add a picture of the finished item when done, hopefully before next friday. 

Paddington Bear

Children in Need is happening on the 19th November & Ella's school like to do there bit, which means that Mum's have to do their bit too. This year Ella has been asked to dress as her favourite bear, she has chosen Paddington Bear. I have had a quick look on ebay & have found some potential duffle coats & thankfully she already has red wellies. The dilemma is the hat, yes a new craft project has sneaked in, in front of all the others on my list.

Again I have turned to the usual suspects, ebay & google, unfortunately I have drawn up a blank. So it looks like I am going to have to start from scratch.



I am thinking red felt, measuring Ella's head round, once I have the size of the band I then know what size to make the circle for the top. Then the brim is going to be one big circle. Will do it in paper over the weekend & let you know how it goes.

The start

My daughter loves American Girl, she has two  girls, Poppy & Lily. Whenever my husband goes to New York for work (which is a lot) he brings back an American Girl catalogue. Ella will sit for ages going through the catalogue, I have taught her to mark what she likes & turns the corner of the page. Yes I am a catalogue lover too, especially christmas ones. Now Ella understands that she can't have everything from the catalogue, but let's just say that these girls have a better wardrobe than me.

At the beginning of this year I found some dress patterns that would fit Lily & Poppy, Ella was very excited & I was looking forward to starting a new project. How hard could it be? I took Ella & she picked the material & the lace. We went home I laid it all out on the dining room table. I placed the material down & pinned the pattern on to it & then began to cut. I had all the pieces & was sat very proudly at the table when my Mum came over for dinner. She politely explained to me that I had not cut enough material for the seams. My answer to this was "but I followed the pattern". Apparently patterns have a code all of their own & if you are new to it, there is no way that you will know this. So a funny little arrow pointing in one direction, was not a cut here arrow, but something entirely different.

My Mum patiently gave me some pattern cutting lessons, while recutting some of that pattern (thankfully I had bought plenty of material). She managed to salvage some other bits. She then looked at me & asked if I would like her to finish it. Let's just say the dress came back a couple of days later, perfectly finished.

Now I am not going to let this first attempt put me off, Ella has been through a new catalogue & has found an American Girl apron for Lily & Poppy. Now my lovely husband has said that he would buy it on his next trip, but I have said,"how hard can it be to make an apron?" So my new project is to make Lily & Poppy an apron each. So the search begins now to find a pattern & if I can't find a pattern I am going to have to make one. So it begins!