I loved wearing what my sisters and I called 'shortie pyjamas' when I was a little girl.  Bloomer shorts with a shirt - mostly handmade by my Mum.  Here is a variation on the shortie pyjama theme with an appliqued bonds singlet with matching shorts for Juliette. 

They were quick to make and I just cut a tile from the fabric and used vialene to secure it to the singlet.  I then used a fine zig zag to outline the applique.  I will defiinitely be making a few more sets for the girls for summer.

Step 1: Draw your design on scrap paper to establish sizing and placement of your applique.

Step 2: Cut ironed pieces of scrap fabrics in rough shapes of your applique to minimise wasting vilene.

Step 3: Iron fabric pieces onto vialene (furry side against fabric, paper side against ironing board).

Step 4: Turn vialene over and draw shapes on paper side.  Ensure non-symmetrical shapes are drawn in reverse.

Step 5: Using a pair of small sharp scissors, cut around your drawn shapes.  I used pinking shears for my flower shapes.  Do not remove paper yet.

Step 6: Using 'fray stoppa', run a line of product around all the edges of the cut shapes (except where pinking shears were used).  Wait approximately one hour for fray stoppa to dry.  If you iron on when tacky, a white film will appear around edges. 

Step 8: Top stitch around the outside of each shape, approx. 2mm in from edge.  I leave my needle in the fabric and lift the foot only when turning corners and to ease around curves.

Bird detail....

Flower detail...

After...Voila!

Juliette's is a simpler design using only pinking shears so no drying time.

These tops were lots of fun to make and would make a great little gift!

I'm sharing today over at Kootoyoo.

This little dress is still one of my favourites. I made it for Isabella's second birthday last year and it has recently come back to me (after being worn by two other lovely little girls since). It was quite a small fit for her when she was two so will probably be just right for Juliette this winter. It was an ultra easy dress to make and has worn really well.

Here is my latest sewing project.  A book bag for Isabella to take to the library and fill with goodness.  I accidently bought too much calico recently and was wondering what I should do with it.  I also made one for Isabella's little friend for her second birthday. The letters are fused in place with double sided vyalene (spelling?) and then I used a small and tight zig zag around the outside. The exterior is calico and the interior is a mauve striped cotton. Two layers are necessary to make sure the bag is strong enough. I also double stitched around the top of the bag to reinforce the straps.

The little orange spotted patch is a small pocket for Mummy's library card.  I always find that I am fumbling around at the library counter with toddler, baby, pram, books and then I am fossicking through my bag trying to find the card.  The finished bag is approximately 35 x 45 cm.