Christmas dresses

I've been sewing dresses for the girls for Christmas. I have worried and agonised over them for days and weeks but now they are finally done.

Of course I have a few tweaks left on them (when don't I ever?) but they are both wearable.



Isabel's dress is made from thick party satin in a Christmas red with red satin lining and a transparent gold taffeta sash.
She says she likes it which is rare these days.



Sofia is getting a cerise dress in baby cord with a white batiste lining in the bodice and some acetate lining in the skirt to stop it from catching on girly stockings.
She also got a small white trim on the neckline and a wide, chunky lace around her waist. (That is the main focus of my tweaking. It didn't turn out exactly as I had planned.)
Sofia was very happy with her dress too and asked to wear it right away.

I have been guarding them like a hawk so I won't have to wash them before the holidays.

Choir

In Sweden every city with a bit of a population has a Folkets Park (People's Park). It is a remnant from the days when workers fought for labour rights and the parks became a place for gathering and entertainment.

Malmö's Folkets Park is close to where we lived when we had no kids, and later when we had only one.
We've spend many hours there at the playground and some at the Tivoli but I have never been to the big dance hall, Moriskan.



Built in 1902 it is a fixture in the park with its characteristic domes.

Wednesday evening it was filled with four classes of second graders. Two classes from Isabel's school and two from a school across the city.

They had practised songs with their teachers all semester and now they were to perform to parents and siblings, all classes together for the first time.

It wasn't a Christmas concert at all. All songs but two were written by the choir master. The last two by Mikael Wiehe, a singer/songwriter well known in Sweden.

It was so fun to see them all. Some completely disinterested and just aching to have it done and others singing with such fervour they looked like "proper" performers.

I hope Isabel gets a chance to do this again. I was reminded of my choir days and the concerts I participated in. It was always such fun.

Squishy

It felt good to be sewing clothes for the girls again.



I tried out the Field Trip tee-pattern from O+S and while I'm not satisfied with the stitching (I'm not an experienced knits sewist) I loved the pattern and how easy it came together.

Sofia loves the tee and has worn it on multiple occasions - pulling it off the line as soon as it is dry.

The next I make for her I'll shorten the neck band and see if I can make the neck less wide and get the shoulders to sit properly.

The knit is a Moda interlock, in the City Weekend collection by Liesl Gibson. I love it and I want a shirt from it for myself.

My friend - the fabulous Mel - managed to track down some of the pink colourway and it is on its was across the Atlantic as we speak/read. I kind of want to keep it for myself - but the candy pink really isn't my colour.

I might end up using it for nightgowns for the girls ...