Last weekend was packed with lots of little one-hour projects.
They are becoming my favorite these days, when my "to do" list is long and sometimes a project goes on for ages before completion. So to start and finish in the time it takes me to brew and drink a cup of tea is sometimes ideal.
Small projects - I find - are also great motivation to walk away from whatever screen is distracting me (or you, perhaps) from real life and get busy with some creating.
That's what I did anyway.
I decided to sew as many of Lupine's new summer clothes as I can this year. And I wasn't feeling up to the fancy-pants-too-complicated-to-be-satisfying boutique clothing patterns I had chosen for her new dress and pants.
Digging through my small pattern stash for a plan-B I found a vintage 80's pattern for a simple little girl's shirt. An hour later Lupine had a new top, ready for summer.
The yellowed sewing pattern envelope was dated "1981" and had an original sale price of $0.87. I'm sure I paid more than that at the thrift store where I found it when Lupine was a baby.
In all likely hood I was drawn to it because my grandma sewed similar shirts for me in the 70's and 80's (through I suspect with a bit more polyester in the mix). But the pattern was so cute that even if it was five sizes too big at the time I snatched it up, only to forget about it until this weekend.
"Sew! Sew like the wind with that gnome print!" I said to no one in particular.
The sleeves are as vintage as the pattern (probably older), salvaged from a friends' scrap bag. I think in a past life they were a dress or a skir as it was already sewn at the edges and hemmed.
Sweet and quick! My kind of sewing. Full disclosure - the sleeves are about two inches too short. I guess I waited a year to long to rediscover that pattern. But she loves it anyway. When I make the next I'll adjust the pattern for her long little self.
What is your favorite quick-and-easy project?
