My handmade maternity tops: 4 versions of McCalls 6576

I mostly sourced my maternity wardrobe second-hand, but I did buy one vintage pattern and have a go at sewing it. I flipped through dozens of vintage sewing patterns at a shop in Canberra and found what I wanted - a maternity pattern in my size. (I actually got a bit bigger before I made it, but there was plenty of ease and it still fit well.)

I made the middle view. Here is my first version, in classic cherry-print cotton.

This one is still probably my favourite and got the most wear! I pretty much always paired it with this red belt and cropped jeans, but played with other accessories a lot. Below I'm wearing my dad's 1971 "Winter Swimming Club" jacket. Go Cronulla Polar Bears!

Despite some struggles understanding the facing steps and learning how to sew a blind hem and a lapped zipper, I was very happy with how this pattern turned out.

It was, however, a bit pinchy around the arms by the end of a long day. In version two, featuring strawberries, I tried enlarging the armholes.

Somehow they seemed to be still much the same, and in any case I realised that my maternity bras sit very snugly in that area anyway, so I went back to the original armholes in version 3.

I made a plain black version because I was inspired by another vintage maternity pattern to wear this over a black-and-white polka-dotted blouse in the op-shop just that week. To make sure the blouse would show at the neck, I lowered the neckline. This adjustment worked, but not over the blouse! Still, the neck is much more comfortable in this version. So I kept that change for version four.

Version four is the bright, springtime look! I love this too, although the fabric was a bit harder to work with, and the facing doesn't like to stay flat and well-behaved like the others. Maybe that explains my sour face here!

At this stage, I could only just get my growing hair into a stubby little pony tail, so I made a flower cage to cover it up! It was pretty much impossible to wear this top without some kind of hair flower.

Aww family photo! These are my gorgeous siblings.

I did buy more fabrics, and even contemplated trying one of the other views, but as I was looking at only having a couple of months left to wear them, I decided to stop myself!

So, if you can't tell, I loved this pattern. If there is a next pregnancy, I look forward to wearing these again and making some more!

The first hats I ever made

I used this mini top hat in a photo shoot with the Bunny lovey dovey over at the old Jupiter Hollow blog. I referred to this as "my first ever hat".

In fact, it was the first hat I made attempting proper millinery techniques after Rhiannon gave me my first millinery book. I had made a few costume hats before that using more innovative techniques (staples and cardboard, for example).

Staying with Mum on my recent holiday, I was reunited with some of my first ever sewing projects, two lovely mice made from kits.

What do you know? They both have cute little hats!

"Gary Groom" has a darling top hat for his big day, and I love the patched-up cap that "Conkers" is sporting.

Are these my two real first ever hats? Maybe...

A new business card holder

My business cards at the Grand Opening sat in a little jewellery box I've had since I was a young girl. It looks nice, but I'm keen to have it back and put my cards in something more "me". Actually I plan to make a tiny hat for them to sit in.

Until then, I decided to try painting one of the (many) little paper mache boxes I have sitting around, waiting to one day become the Christmas gifts they were intended to be.

Naturally, I wanted to paint something hat-themed. I went with a 1920s look for this lady, with a green cloche, since everyone seemed to like my green cloche the best.

Plus my business cards arrived. They are Round 2. Round 1 I printed myself and cut out the night before the opening. This round are the free kind from Vistaprint. Round 3 can be fancier (i.e. have my own images and be recycled card), I just wanted something basic to start me out.

I love painting, even though I am not very practised at it. I had to re-do so many bits of this! It's a bit too tiny a scale to suit my uncoordinated and shaky hands. But I loved doing it.

And I made lots of mess. A sure sign of a fun day.

Baby bunny card

This little bunny has been waiting a while for the birth of her intended owner.

Here is the card I made to go along with her. I wanted to coordinate by bringing in another bunny. The butterflies are recycled from another card and the tail is a rolled up piece of cord from my ribbon basket.

Today they've gone off to their new home to welcome the little arrival!