Worry Monster

I'm a worrier, I worry about just about everything. In fact for the past week I've been waking up at 6.00am every morning worrying that my alarm hasn't gone off and we are going to be late for school. 

Even though we haven't been late to school at all [Yet, touch wood] not even on the day when the alarm actually didn't go off and we didn't get out of bed until 8am. And considering my son has two clocks in his room and can tell the time so knows when we need to be out of bed, its not something I really need to worry about. 

But still I do.

But funnily enough this worry monster isn't for me [Although I might make myself one] This one is for my cousins lil boy, he's not been very well over the past couple of years which fully sucks for a kid. And as a result he's started to worry. 

I happened to notice my cousin had tagged her husband in a post of kids worrying and offered to make him a worry monster. 

Okay so the way it works is, you write your worry on a piece of paper, pop it into the worry monsters mouth and zip the mouth up so he "eats it". I think its based on the "a problem shared is a problem halved" idea. 

But the main bonus is that as a parent you can look and see what your kid is actually worried about without having to have an awkward conversation with your kid [not that I think you should not talk to your children but we all know the older they get the less they like to verbalise their feelings.]

Its pretty easy to make one up but if anyone's interested I can write a tutorial?

I used felt to applique the eyes and the zip mouth has a pocket bag behind it. I'm not sure what this kind of pocket is but it was nice to stretch my skills on a project for a change. This kind of zip pocket should transfer over to my dress making as well. 

The whole thing is stuffed with kid friendly stuffing and is nice and squishy. I tried not to make it too babyish because the boy who is going to is growing up fast and I didn't want it to become obsolete too quickly. 

All in all I'm really pleased with how it turned out I just hope it does him some good. 

In other news!

- I'm enjoying me made may! I just wish the weather would pick up a bit. 

- I have a cold, I got absolutely soaked on Tuesday morning [after wearing a summer dress on Monday!!!] And I think I ended up with a cold because of it. It doesn't feel like hay fever and my throat hurts so if anyone has an cold remedies hit me up. 

 - I had a visit from my sister and brother in law last night and it was lovely, lots of laughs to be had!! 

- My camera has thrown yet another hissy fit, II think its down to the lense not the actual camera body but I need to have it checked out at a proper shop soon so I can test my theory. In the meantime it means I'm struggling to take outfit pictures! BOO! Luckily I've got a back log of posts to write so their shouldn't be any interruptions to regular blogging. 

Hope your all enjoying me made may! 

Much love Frankie 

xxx

- 

Self Drafted Pinafore dress

A few weeks ago, My lovely mother in law gave me her old dining room curtains. Now she tends to change her decor every few years and is very clean and tidy in general so her curtains are always imaculate!

Anyway my first thought was omg, what am I going to do with brown suede curtains?

So I perused the Topshop website for a few minutes and finally decided to use this as my inspiration. The original is made from cord but I thought my suede fabric would give it a nice 70's vibe which is really on trend at the moment. I don't usually follow trends but I'm a massive fan of the boho chic kinda vibe that hippy's have.

Now because I didn't have a pattern for a pinafore dress, I had to draft my own. Basically i took measurements from my waist, hips, where I wanted the pinafore to flare out to and the space between my nipple area [too much info I know but if you look at pinafores that's typically where the top of the bib is] Then I worked out where I'd need some ease and drafted that in and then added seam allowances.

I also drafted some pockets, they are lined with some floral fabric but you cant see it at all. 

Its just the right size to put a hand or a phone in. Or sweets. or chocolate.

The front pocket is much larger although you can't put anything too heavy in it otherwise it pulls the front of the dress down too much and makes the back floof up!

I top stitched the centre seam line and the side seams and the godet seams, yeah I added some godets after realising I wanted it a bit more flared. I used the same thread throughout, it looks kinda green on the reel but here it looks more of a nice gold colour. 

The hem and top of the dress are finished with white bias binding, I probably should have made some in brown but I couldn't really be bothered. It doesn't really bother me though because I've mainly been wearing it with white tops so it kind of blends in.  

The straps and the buttons are stitched down, I was going to do buttonholes but my machine was not a fan of doing buttonholes in this fabric I think because of the nap of the suede.

I have to keep checking the front of the dress hasn't slipped down otherwise the hem looks uneven like this. Which makes me really grouchy. Also the straps keep slipping down so i might have the tighten them at some point. 

I'd say I'm pretty pleased with it even though it does have its problems. I've kept my drafted pattern pieces so if I ever choose to make another I can make some changes and make it perfect. I think it looks cute and it's pretty similar to the one on the Topshop website apart from the fact it didn't cost me £40. I feel pretty cute and I really like the seventies vibe. In fact it makes me want to spread the love and dance in a floaty style!

And as far as drafting something for myself goes, its not perfect but it fits my body so I'm counting that as a win as well!!

Much Love

Frankie

xxx