Cozy Winter Hood

I've lost track of how many times I've made this pattern (from Little Things to Sew).  It's gotta be at least a dozen by now -- bears, mice, monkeys, tigers and now a leopard (or is it a cheetah?).  J. picked the fleece and told me how she wanted the ears to look.  Judging from her reaction, I don't think I quite got them right but I'm not sure how to fix them to for her.  Oh well, if she doesn't wear it, I have a feeling her little sister would be happy to.

The lining is a soft, thick knit I picked up at Dressew in Vancouver last year -- $5/metre and 74" wide (mixing up my units of measurement, there, oops!).  It washed up so nicely, I wish I'd bought more.  Why isn't there anywhere it Ottawa that sells good knits??

Purple Chambray Playtime Dress

When we first started talking about Halloween, K. said she didn't want a new costume this year, she would choose from our dress up bin.  She regretted her decision when I came home with this purple chambray for J.'s Miss Mush costume but luckily for her I had enough left over for a Playtime Dress (and probably another top!).  

(At the end of the day, she was okay without having a new costume -- for one party she was Anne of Green Gables wearing a hat with braids we bought in PEI this summer and the Alice dress. On Halloween, we painted her face green and she wore J.'s old witch costume.)

This is a straight size 6 with a couple of extra inches in the skirt length.  I used grey topstitching thread for the "collar" and around the bodice.  The next time I make the pattern with a woven, I think I will line the bodice instead of using facings.  The seam where the bodice and the skirt meet bothered K. so I covered it with bias tape but a lining would fix that.  

To liven it up, we picked up some fabric paint (pebeo setacolour opaque in pearl) at the art store.  I thought I would add polka dots but K. requested hearts; she even drew me a picture of how she wanted it to look (I wish I'd saved it!).   I trace my patterns onto freezer paper so it was simple to just cut hearts into my pattern piece and use that as a stencil.  It has a "homemade" look to it but in a good way :).  It hasn't been washed it yet but even if it fades a little, I think it will still look okay.

Cost

Fabric: Chambary used 1.5 m $3.98

Pattern: Playtime Dress bought from Fabrications $18.02

Buttons: stash 

Total: $22