I have been making things.  My flickr stream contains photographic evidence, but I am falling further behind with blogging.  I want to blog, and write many a blog post in my head, but can’t always find the uninterrupted time to sit down and actually write.  Ah well, too bad!  Busy doing other things, like taking the girls to swimming lessons, meeting gorgeous friends for lunch, and cooking meals/paying bills/folding laundry.  And tonight Clare is having a friend for a sleepover – they are both very excited!  So, to what I wore for week 14.  The school holidays started off beautifully weather wise.  But then it rapidly turned to winter.  The central heating is now turned on, and I’ve even used the dryer rather than hanging the clothes on the line.  Then I check out some of my favourite blogs and see the northern hemisphere bloggers planning their spring and summer wardrobes.  So different!

I’ve been pulling out patterns for winter clothes and trying to actually plan what I need. To figure out the gaps in my wardrobe and what sorts of clothes will fill them best. I did make it to the Spotty sale and pick up some ponte knits for winter dresses. And while I’m thinking about my winter wardrobe I’m also thinking about what my girls need. They’ve both been growing – as they should! – and although Clare is still quite small she has finally outgrown much of her winter wardrobe. So far we’re thinking of stretch fabric dresses, some pinafores and some frilly skirts, all to be augmented with shop-bought long-sleeved t-shirts and leggings. I tend to buy the more utilitarian items and spend my precious sewing time on the fun stuff. Do others do that? Anyway, I started off with a sketch for a winter dress.

After sketching, thinking, googling and wondering, I remembered to pull out some back issues of Ottobre. And found this:

and this:

and this:

and this:

They’re all from the Winter 6/2011 issue of Ottobre. Clare is only 123 cm tall, so a bit between their toddler/child sizes and girl’s sizes. This has its own challenges, but hopefully I’ll be able to make some of these designs work without much hassle. I wonder which of them you’ll actually see come to fruition? I don’t sew as much for Stella, because she gets Clare’s hand-me-downs so has plenty of dresses/pinafores/skirts. Both girls rarely wear jeans, and they both dislike skivvies and other high necklines. I did well shopping at Target for Stella to re-stock on long sleeved t-shirts and leggings, but what happens once you want affordable/mid-range-priced clothing in a size larger than size 6? The styles change completely! I dragged both girls all over our local shopping centre, checking out the options at around seven different children’s wear suppliers, and only found clothing in size 7 and 8 that Clare liked at Pumpkin Patch. Whereas there was an abundance of cute clothing in Target in size 4 for Stella. Poor Clare was quite despondent at the end of our excursion. Anyway, to get back to the winter wardrobe planning – I’m going to make this shirt for Clare too. A bit of a change from the usual thing she chooses, but she’s had input into style and fabric, so fingers crossed she’ll like and wear the finished garment.

And there are some Oliver + S options up for consideration as well. The planning never ceases! What are you planning to sew for your winter wardrobes?