From dress to messenger bag

There is no doubt that having four children of the same gender has its advantages on the handing down of clothes front. Perhaps not quite as much as people might imagine (tomato sauce being one reason), but a lot of stuff does get passed down as children grow out of things. 

This can at times mean that it feels worth the effort to make stuff for them to wear. Although, I hasten to add, I am not aspiring to make all or even a substantial amount of their wardrobes - but, there are times when a fabric catches my eye and I can see it as having the potential to be a great item of children's clothing.

I made the littlest big girl as she is now known this monkey dress last year. A victim of its own success, she has been reluctant to part with it, even though it is now bordering on the indecent/pointless as a dress even with leggings underneath. Not to mention that it is hardly the right weight fabric for a little girl to be wearing in autumn in terms of keeping her warm.

But she likes it, and I guess I should be flattered when the pain of parting problem occurs with an item of clothing I have made them.

This is all that is left of the original dress.

As of lunchtime today, with its owner at my side (which explains and excuses the ropey stitching in places if you ask me), the dress got chopped and transformed into a messenger bag.

The idea had come to me a few mornings ago. Some mornings with children are glorious. Others are not. You get woken to the sounds of an argument, and asked to referee before you have had chance to have a morning mug of tea to wake you properly.

One such argument happened over bags. Yes, my three eldest were arguing over handbags before 7 am. It occurred to me the littlest big girl has not got a `special' bag made for her by me, and that maybe that explained her theft of the middle girl's elephant bag. So, although the words `please be quiet, let me have a cup of tea and I will make you a bag of your own, darling' didn't quite leave my lips at the time, it did later occur to me that I could kill two birds with one stone and do a bit of recycling with her too small dress.

She's very happy, and wasted no time in a) filling it with a very random collection of stuff until it would barely shut, and, b) showing it off to her sisters at school pick up. Cue another argument...