Had I mentioned that I’ll be going on maternity leave soon – in actuality, leave without pay – meaning that I will have no income to purchase those essentials of sewing like fabric.  So I’ve been doing some stash building and now have more fabric than I could ever sew while on leave.  Yesterday’s purchases were these fabrics:

many of which will become bags and accessories, but some of which will become clothes for me – particularly the bottom two cotton voiles.  The bright purple butterfly cord is for Clare – still to decide if it will be pants and jacket or a dress.  I’ll get her to choose – since then she is more likely to wear it (had “discussions” this morning about her refusal to try on clothes I’d made for her, out of fabric she’d chosen in the designs she liked – how can she be so definite about it at only four?) and I won’t be subjected to hours of sewing without the reward of seeing her in what Mummy made.

I also managed to start tidying and organising some of my trims:

I still have quite a few bits of Liberty bias binding bought in a scrap bag years ago to sort through as well.

I made the following doll’s clothes under strict direction from Clare – she chose the fabrics, did the cutting out, arranged how she wanted things to go, then I did the machine sewing.

She’s quite pleased with them – a skirt and top for her “baby”.  I wonder at what age she can learn to use the machine?