Holiday crafting

I’m back! Well, I didn’t actually go anywhere, I’m still here, just relaxing and enjoying time with the family. Hubby is taking some time off work, and it’s been good having him around. We’re not traveling anywhere though, most of the time is spent at home, although we’re also trying to do the be a tourist in your own city thing. So far we’ve taken Annette to see the Sydney Opera House and the Coathanger (a.k.a. the Sydney Harbour Bridge). Very touristy.

And there have been some crafting too. First, I finished these hats for my nephews before Christmas.

On the left, is a Cupcake Hat for my 8 month old nephew.
Pattern: Cupcake Hat
Yarn: A mix of woolen yarns

On the right, is for my almost 3 year old nephew.
Pattern: My own fair isle pattern, and following the basic hat recipe from Knitting Rules!
Yarn: Cleckheaton Country Silk in white and green

And here’s a summer dress I made for Annette.

The material is from a ladies skirt that I found at the local op shop. The pattern is my adaptation of Burda 3026. It’s an ‘adaptation’ because the original pattern has a hem ruffle (click the link to see what I mean), but I decided to raise the ruffle to make a high waist instead. This is the first sewn garment that I’ve ever made, and I’m very pleased with it! 🙂

After making this dress, it became clear to me that I need to get a proper sewing book. One that’s a good how-to book, and tells me what things are — so that I don’t have to keep referring to “that gathered bit” or “that thingy over there” etc. At the moment I’m thinking Sew U would be a good candidate for clothes making, judging by Amy at Angry Chicken‘s review. (Gosh, as I was writing this, I discovered that Amy had just announced her new book! It looks great and probably just what I need…) But that aside, does anyone have any good sewing how-to books to recommend? Ones that you’ve found useful?

In other news, I have also joined Project Spectrum 2.0, finished the Endpaper Mitts (sneak peek on the Opera House pic above 🙂 ), and started the Pomatomus socks. Pictures soon!