Quick thrifty dress

 Do you remember the top from my charity shop finds last week?

I couldn't decide whether to try and turn it into something else to wear, maybe a skirt, or whether to just chop it up for a quilt.

A few days ago a friend was throwing out some clothes in the recycling, and let me have a rummage first. I found this top:



Can you see, it's got a pretty ruffle around the neck.

 It was brand new but she'd decided it wasn't her kind of thing. It's not really something I'd wear either but it clicked in my head with the top from last week and I thought I could combine them to make something that Venetia would definitely wear.



Can you visualise it yet?

 It's an adult top so I chopped it off at the top of the straps and shortened them to fit Venetia. It didn't need any more altering, it's a stretchy figure hugging top so it wasn't at all baggy even on a 6 year old. Now to add a skirt to it. I chopped off the top as high to the arm holes as I could.

I didn't iron it at this point so it kept the tiny gathers in place that were there in the top.

I checked the length on Venetia and then just sewed the 'skirt' to the vest top right sides together and ironed it back down. That was it. Probably about 10 minutes work.

And she loves it...

Already I find it hard to picture the skirt part as a top, although it was a very pretty top it feels like it was always supposed to be a skirt now.

 She doesn't need any more dresses since we frequently find beautiful dresses very cheaply in Charity Shops without needing to sew them together but it was fun to do. And I've still got the rest of the top with the sleeves (and some pretty buttons!) to do something else with - perfect in a mini quilt I'm thinking!

Back tomorrow, Sally.

Hope Sews

A good friend of mine, Emma, set up a Facebook page, Hope Sews, at the start of the year, to make quilts for orphans in Romania through the Humanitas Charity. Emma has a personal connection with this charity, having spent quite some time in Romania a few years ago, giving the children there the love and attention they need. She has a strong social conscience and is very much someone who gets things done rather than just talking or thinking about it, combine this with a love of sewing and quilts - and you have 'Hope Sews'!

Emma's latest quilt for Hope Sews

She also found a lovely book a while back, 'Quilting for Peace', which I'm sure inspired her as well. She lent it to me recently and it's a very moving book, full of stories of how individuals and groups have used quilting to reach out to people, whether by trying to help with grieving, change outlooks, show love or simply provide warmth to those who need it. It's here on Amazon if you're interested:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Quilting-Peace-World-Better-Stitch/dp/1584798041/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374580797&sr=8-1&keywords=quilting+for+peace

If you can, please take a minute to have a look at her Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hope-Sews/102588516501725?fref=ts
And even if you're not in a position to make a quilt for them please still feel free to give them a 'like' and that way it'll spread the word further! If you do feel like making a quilt, either for Hope Sews or another cause, then even better. A few of my friends have made their first ever quilt for 'Hope Sews', it's a lovely way to get into quilting, especially as they're only looking for smallish quilts which is always easier.

And there's really no need to go out and buy expensive supplies to get started on a project for this as my latest 'Hope Sews' quilt shows:

This quilt is made from an old white sheet, one skirt that was being thrown out by a friend, and an ancient coat for the binding. The middle is a very lightweight, old wool blanket, the knitted kind with holes in - not sure what they're called. Since the sheet and the skirt material are both very fine materials it's given the quilt a lovely light feel all round, but hopefully the layers, with the holey wool in the middle trapping some air, will give it warmth too - this is what my boys tell me from their science lessons on the principles of insulation!

I made this quilt in a slightly different way - I'm sure I had a tutorial on Pinterest but can I find it now? No! Watch this space and I'll try and find it again for you because it's quite a clever method.

I have to say that I really didn't enjoy making it much though! It was quite tedious just sticking to the checker board pattern and not even having any variation in colours to work into it. I played around with the back a bit just to give myself a bit of interest in it really, and that was much more fun:

Just a randomly pieced heart and a few leftover squares too.

It's been really hot round here for the last few weeks (hot by our usual standards anyway!) and making quilts has felt just a little bit wrong! But this quilt has a lovely, light Summery feel to it for me so it was good to finish it. And I think I might have another very Summery quilt for you tomorrow. But for now I've got to get ready to go and see Bruce Springsteen in concert in Cardiff- wahoo!

Back tomorrow, probably tired! Sally.
PS Don't forget to go and 'like' Hope Sews!