Bad Weather = Homemade Cuteness

Obviously, I complain a lot about the weather, but no one can deny that the weather over Easter weekend has been genuinely awful. There has been rain, snow, hail, high winds and bright sunshine - sometimes all at once! This was the view from our conservatory door yesterday. The little white streaks are chunks of ice falling from the sky, aka hail. Please forgive the glare from the window glass, but there was no way I was going to open the door just to get a better picture.

Anyway, being stuck inside, I got to work. Our friends in Edinburgh (one of whom is 3 years old) are coming to visit this weekend, so I started thinking about what might be fun for the visit. For the older ones, I am offering good food and charming conversation, as per my usual. But the little one is getting a dress-up box! So far it contains three scarves, some Bonne Belle Lip Smacker lip gloss, and these two dresses, which I whipped up yesterday.

The black and white animal print is made from the dress I made for myself for my company's Christmas costume party last year. After a lengthy search for reasonably priced animal print fabric, I bought a muu muu from a stall at the market. It's made from a very slinky polyester, which is difficult to work with but very forgiving. I don't know how tall Bo is at the moment, so I made it very long and will cut it off once she specifies her preferred length. It is lined with a black t-shirt, so the whole thing should be soft and stretchy.

This dress has a detachable black satin sash (currently detached) and a cat mask. How cool is that!?!

This, which I am calling a woodland fairy dress, is made from the trimmings from our conservatory curtains and lined with the trimmings from some other curtains. Thus, the only parts not from Ikea are the bodice material and the two buttons (iridescent rosette button and natural brown button in back), all of which came from my grandma. It has a coordinating scarf that I got from my Secret Santa two years ago, so 100% free materials. Unfortunately, I just got some measurements for the intended wearer last night and this one might be a bit tight. Fortunately, though, I have loads more of the materials and so can make any necessary adjustments.

I made up these patterns from what I remembered from making my Christmas dress, so I figure I can invent any alterations, too.