Bucket Hats and Bridesmaid dresses

Busy, busy, busy...........Not enough time, or peace and quiet..

I am busy sewing 3 dresses for a wedding party. 2 junior bridesmaid dresses and 1 flower girl to match.. I have been eagerly waiting for the fabric to arrive so I can get a head start, but then of course the day it arrived I got a damn head cold. Infact I still haven't shaken it a week later.

There was a mountain of folding and ironing, that kept propping itself up higher and glaring at me.. But I must sew, if for no other reason than to get all that fabric off the bench and onto a hanger. (then I will have the bench back for the folding, makes sense huh!)

I am now pleased that all dresses are cut out and all bodices are put together. I only have 10metres of tulle to cut for the skirt overlays now.. wont that be fun. Cant wait to gather that all up together. I must admit the silk dupion is very nice to sew. Linen is still my number one, it will never be beaten.... Spotlight had a sale on over the weekend and my stash welcomed a few new additions. some nice little prints for hats, and a few nice rolls of you guessed it 'linen'...

SO now that order has been restored to the house after a frantic weekend of bridesmaid dress construction, I needed to satisfy my appetite for a challenge.

I have tried a few different bucket hat patterns but never quite found the right fit. SO I pulled one apart that did fit. I drafted my own pattern. (can I call it my own??)

After all that unpicking I think I can.

The hat needed to be bigger so I increased the pattern by 10%. How you ask, well I did the top of the hat on the photocopier at 110%, I measured the circumference and added the required amount to the length of the band and the brim. The funny thing is, that it is way too big... So I will go and make a 5% bigger one.

Miss4.5 chose her own fabrics.. Oh so bright!!!!Check it out......................

My sewing room has become rampant with little budding sewers, I finally found the patience to sit down and explain the buttons, knobs, and safety issues to the very excited little girls. I'm not sure they were actually listening to all the boring stuff. I could almost hear their little inner voices singing "Just let us go!!" They had great delight in sewing lines of decorative stitching onto fabric and paper. Check out the concentration..Now If only Master2 wouldnt try to 'service' or 'fix' the machines, life would nearly be safe in my little haven.

Heres to a week of sewing, I hope. We might throw a few chocolate cakes in too just for good measure. I am trying to stay close to home whilst the toilet training still continues for Master2. He is going well, but we will just stick to visiting places that have a 'free willy' policy.. it is a drought after all and watering the plants is great, no matter how its done....