A Hare-y box and a pinafore

I made a hare material box for my friend Maria who was visiting from Canada.  Unfortunately, the unseasonable weather curtailed our plans for meeting up, but we did manage a day visit which was lovely.  I  made her a fabric box using this hare fabric - light and squashable for taking back on the plane.

 I have also made myself a needlecord pinafore using this pattern, 'Cleo' from 'Tilly and the Buttons'.  The pattern is really well done with both written instructions and photos too.  I made the knee length version and put the split in the back rather than the front.  I used the automatic buttonhole on my sewing machine for the first time too - I had a few issues and had to unpick a bit, but this was because I couldn't find the 'buttonhole lever' on the machine.  Eventually, thanks to the internet, I discovered where it was (up inside the part where the needle mechanism is held - but this wasn't obvious from the machine handbook).  Thank goodness for the internet!  I made a toile in calico first, just to check on the sizing.  The pinafore is designed to be loose, but I wanted to be sure the size would fit my hips.

 Here it is - success!   I had bought the needlecord a couple of years ago and it had been sitting in my material stash ever since.  I used buttons rather than the dungaree clip option.

Here's the back too.  I'm really pleased with it and have worn it to work several times.  It is really comfortable too, which is always good.  A denim one and another needlecord version (a very floral pattern) are being planned next.  For my pinafore (size 12), I needed two metres of material, which is a bonus as there are some lovely needlecords out there...