Gifted Gorgeousness July

Oops, a little late this month with Gifted Gorgeousness - the blog hop organised by Jo of Serendipitous Stitching where we show off our gifts and gift related projects.
I've got a couple of gift related projects and an exchange gift to show this month.
First up, I finished the little top-down cropped cardigan I was knitting for Eloise, which I showed you part done in the last GG post.

Secondly, also for Eloise, a cross stitched cuff.

Treble Points for this one. 1) I made it as a gift. 2) It was made using a cover gift from Cross Stitcher magazine. 3) The cover gift was very kindly gifted to me by Jo because I'd already used the one from my copy of the magazine.
And finally an exchange gift. This is an  exchange with a difference organised through Needlecraft Haven. The idea being your secret stitching partner sends you a chart and the materials to make it up and you find out who your partner was when everyone reveals their finished items in September.
This is the chart and materials pack I received. Isn't it adorable?

For obvious reasons I can't show the one I sent out.

Some Sweet Day...

...I'll make her mine, pretty flamingo
Who else here is old enough to remember that song?
It was love at first sight when I spotted this Michael Miller flamingo print fabric. Unfortunately by the time I spotted it, it was sold out pretty much everywhere.
I spent hours trawling the internet and eventually I managed to track down a scant metre remnant from a UK online shop, and another metre from a shop in Germany.
My mother, who was a genius at this kind of thing, could take a slab of fabric and a waist measurement, and by application of some form of arcane mathematics make a perfect pleated skirt without a pattern in about ten minutes flat, so I thought I'd see if the eldritch seamstress maths gene had passed down to me
I haven't quite got her knack for it, because it took me the best part of an afternoon, but all in all I'm pretty chuffed with how it came out.

I added a some white ric rac to the hem, because, obviously, a flamingo border print skirt isn't anywhere near kitschy enough on its own
Now all I need is some sunny weather to give me a chance to wear it

Gifted Gorgeousness in June

It's time for June's Gifted Gorgeousness, the brainchild of Jo from Serendipitous Stitching, where we show off anything we can remotely shoehorn into the category of a gift.
I'm kicking off this month with this stitched bracelet.

Double GG points for this one as it was a cover gift with Cross Stitcher magazine, and I've stitched it for Naomi.
I swapped out the slightly loud colours in the original kit for a cooler palette of blues and turquoises with white, and left a few rows blank as I liked the effect of the "leather" showing through.
Second up, is this handbag I made from a vintage souvenir scarf depicting scenes of  Rome.

I'ts got the Colosseum on the other side.
This is another double pointer. Again it's a gift for Naomi; who is going to be living in Italy next academic year as part of her degree, and consequently needs an Italian handbag; and the pattern to make it came from a book which I received as a gift from Julie a couple of years ago.
And finally, just so you don't think Eloise is being left out on the handcrafted gift front, here is my progress on a cardigan I'm knitting for her.

The pattern is "Mizzen" from Classic Elite Yarns. It's a raglan sleeved cardigan knitted in one piece from the top down, the line of lacy holes you can see is one of the raglans forming.

A Spot of light Summer Knitting

I don't often knit for myself but I couldn't resist this little raglan sleeved summer jumper (Pattern Number 4772) in King Cole Cottonsoft Crush.

I do love a self striping yarn. Lovely mindless, in front of the TV knitting.
One small problem. As you can see from the pattern illustration it's meant to be quite a wide neck. Well their model must have shoulders like an all in wrestler because knitted up as given it falls clean off mine. I remedied it by threading a few rows of shirring elastic through the ribbing to pull it in so mine's a bit more scoop necked.

Gifted Gorgeousness - May

Where is this year going? It is Gifted Gorgeousness time again already! (Gifted Gorgeousness being the blog hop organised by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching, where once a month we show off our gift related crafting, or crafting related gifts for that matter)

This month I can show Naomi's Bambi pyjamas, which you'll probably recognise because I only blogged about them a couple of days ago (note to self: try to remember the date before blogging)

And here is a QAYG pouch made using a mixture of vintage fabrics and sari silks that I made for a friend's birthday earlier this month

Sewing and Upcycling

A little more sewing this week. First up a pair of summer pyjamas I made for Naomi using a gorgeous Bambi print jersey I bought from Elephant in my Handbag

And secondly a spot of upcycling using New Look pattern 6230 to go from this xl men's t-shirt

to this swarovski crystal embellished top with lacy raglan sleeves.

I've entered this in the Upcycle 2017 contest on Pattern Review

My Take on the Zadie Dress

If you sew at all you've probably seen the Zadie dress from Tilly and the Buttons, with it's funky colour blocked panels and deep roomy pockets, all over the internet, and after seeing so many lovely versions of it I could resist no longer.
Here is my version of Zadie. I made the 3/4 sleeve version in a plain and a print jersey.

And here's a side/back view to show the diagonal seams

Next up a red and black Zadie for Eloise