I mean, who could resist those spots, those blue buttons and that piped Peter Pan collar? Oh and that crazy, stubborn girl with the darkest gaze...

Missy wanted rainbow buttons - she wants rainbow everything - but I stuck with blue...The pattern is the button-backed puffed sleeve blouse from Akiko Mano's book Linen, Cotton, Wool Kids. Oh how  I love this book! I want to sew everything...sadly though I fear Missy will have outgrown the sizes by the time I manage that. 

This is my third 'sew' from the book, following on from the waistcoat and skirt.

Now. What's next in my Akiko Mano, Linen Cotton Kids journey? Hm... more decisions...

The fabric is Robert Kaufman cotton herringbone in sage, bought on a whim as a remnant from my treasure trove local shop, Herringbone in Nailsworth. It's just gorgeous fabric. It's cotton and washable, but looks almost as if it might be expensive wool tweed. The waistcoat  and pockets are lined in orange shot cotton, which looks fabulous with that soft green.

It's perfect for this spring weather, where the sunshine is starting to warm us up, but there can still be a chill wind. And I just love the nostalgic look, and the unisex style. In a world of leggings sewn in sweatshop and pink and sequins, this seems the perfect antidote. Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong era, I long for quality, authenticity and clothes that lasted generations.

I've made an attempt at photography indoors, and it was a challenge to my photography skills - and Missy's patience...

And breathe...

Life is so full, isn't it? I often feel like a rabbit dazzled in headlights trying to decide what to do first.
Clean the house, or sew? Catch up on work, or sew? Spend some time playing with Missy, or sew? 

So I'm trying to teach myself to slow down, and be gentle on myself.

And make my sewing a little simpler and a little less experimental.

Quite simply, I don't have time, or head space, to rescue projects that go wrong.

Which is why this little red skirt is the right kind of sewing for 'right now'.

This skirt has ticked a lot of boxes for me. About thrift, both with time and with fabric.

It's made from a remnant of red needlecord and a floral needlecord, both a gift from my mother, who is trying to de-stash her fabric stash.

This is rather funny, she clearly has/had the same fabric tendencies as me. And the bits and bobs in her fabric drawer have been there a long time. This floral remnant definitely has a seventies vibe. In fact the whole skirt does. But I kind of like that.

And I didn't fiddle with a pattern either (or at least not much - because I guess I did add the floral panel which also forms a hem facing).

The pattern is from Akiko Mano's Linen, Wool, Cotton Kids, recently translated into English, and my new 'love.' Expect to see more sewing from this book!

I just love those four shiny red buttons! And the simplicity of the skirt, but the way the deep yoke also makes it look a little sophisticated.

I need this kind of sewing in my 'sewing life' but it's also the kind of thing Missy needs in her winter wardrobe. A practical cosy skirt. 

We took a few photos outside, in front of our trusty fence. But honestly it was freezing!

Thank heavens for Missy's chunky Aran cardigan...Which in a funny way is also part of my mum's de-stashing efforts. She knitted that cardigan, all those chunky cables and fancy stitches...um and it only took her 40 years to finish it! 

It started life in the mid 1970s, as a cardigan for me. And then lay in a bag for four decades, after my mother lost heart and couldn't face knitting the button band. Don't you know that feeling? When something's almost finished, apart from a button  hole or a hem, and you've lost interest and just can't face that final hurdle?
(I do this all the time. In fact I'm even doing it with this blog post. It was my intention to take more pictures, to show you how I faced the waistband with the floral fabric too, and that clever button closure. But I just don't need another 'to do' on my list right now. I'm keeping this simple)

Finally my mum knitted the button band, in 2014, and now her little grand-daughter can be a seventies girl from head to toe, in her cord skirt, Aran cardigan, oh and a granny knitted handmade scarf (and no, that didn't take 40 years to complete...)