McCall's M5446 Pirate costume review

Last Friday (has taken me a while to publish this post!!) the kids enjoyed a fun day at school dressed up as their favourite book character for World Book Day. Sean (5) chose to go as Captain Hook so we set off to my local fabric store to see what we could come up with. He chose a red, heavy weight cotton fabric for the jacket and a fun black and red pirate print for the jacket trim. I had plenty of white fabric at home for the shirt. We chose the McCall's pattern because it had the jacket which every pirate captain has to have. The pattern itself is not cheap - costing just over £8.00. The jacket needs 1.05m plus an extra 1.15m for the trim. The shirt is another 1.15m. Altogether this is not a cheap option but it is different to the mass produced versions out there.

It is probably over 10 years since I last used a pattern to sew from so it felt a bit strange and probably took me a bit longer than someone a bit more experienced. I would also say that this pattern is not for the feint hearted. If you are not an experienced seamstress you may find the collars tricky on both the jacket and the shirt. There is a lot of detail but if you persevere it does look great when you have finished. On the jacket I added some elastic at the back waist line to pull it in a bit and give a bit more shape and also a hook and eye at the front fastening just to keep it together. Instead of eyelets on the shirt I just did some small buttonholes and used a cord with metal ends (from a used paper bag) for the shirt tie.

Positives - looks great and is different to anything in the shops

Negatives - expensive, time consuming

For the black hair I sewed strands of thick black wool/yarn into the rim of the hat and for the boots I painted an old pair of wellies with some black matt emulsion paint.

Raspberry breakfast bars

Woke up this morning to more rain ..... that lovely soft rain that makes you feel like getting under a nice cosy blanket with a good book, steaming hot chocolate and something a little bit naughty to dunk in the hot chocolate.  The reality is a little bit different - ending up slightly damp and dishevelled after walking the kids to school does not a happy lady make.  Anyway I decided to come home and bake something which I had pinned on Pinterest http://pinterest.com/saksandco/ last night and I have to say that the smell of these raspberry bars baking in the oven was just heavenly.  The recipe can be found on http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/09/raspberry-breakfast-bars/  Having tasted them I think I would probably add a bit more sugar to the raspberry filling mixture.  For those not in the USA - the quantity of butter is 175g.

All wrapped and ready for the school lunch boxes

Lady Llama

I had a very strange request this morning from my daughter (3yrs) - Mum please can you make sleeping bags for my babies.  Now normally I would jump at the chance to make something different but Kirsty doesn't just have one or two babies - she has whole families.  I couldn't quite face running up 20+ plain old sleeping bags and remembered that she had seen a picture of some felt Llama brooches in the latest edition of my Mollie Makes mag and thought that I may be able to appease her by making one of them instead.  Much more fun for me!!  I had all the supplies at home so it was a fairly quick and easy project.  I proudly handed over my Lady Llama and stood back to wait for my hug.  Wow Mum!! thanks for my caterpillar.  Did you make my sleeping bags?  I should have know better and worse still as I look at the cute Lady Llama I am thinking she looks a tad lonely all by herself and could do with a family of Llamas to keep her company.

To find the full size templates for this project and instructions go to http://molliemakes.themakingspot.com/downloads

Double click on the magazine for Issue 12 and then go to

page 2

How to make an Easter Egg Pinata

The kids have been asking for their own Pinata for ages now but we have never had an excuse to go out and buy one.  I thought Easter would be the perfect time to try one out for ourselves.  The thought of the kids bashing away at a cute bunny or Easter chick slightly disturbed me so we opted for an 'easy' egg shape.  The kids had great fun making this - thick gloopy glue and paper - lovely!!

If you fancy trying this out

Burlap flower

Burlap seems to be all the rage at the moment and I do love the rustic look that it gives.  I had to make some curtains for the kids new playhouse so decided to try and see how easy it would be to sew with the burlap.  I ran up a pair of curtains and decided to do the tie backs in the burlap with a little flower decoration.

Chocolate Heaven

A beautiful Spring weekend and this time we have managed two barbecues without any downpours.  I had a special request from the kids for chocolate cupcakes - how can a Mother resist!!  To follow the recipe

♥♥Happy Mothers Day♥♥

 What a lovely day - to wake up with my two little ones bringing me their handmade cards and two bags of chocolates which 'had to be shared' straightaway.  I spent my morning making some cupcakes with pretty little pink and purple butterflies.  Lunch looked like it might be a lovely spring affair with the barbecue lit for the first time this year but sadly as hubby was half way through grilling the meat the heavens opened and the hail descended.  Still managed to have a nice family lunch with our special cupcake treat afterwards.

These cupcakes are so easy and foolproof.  For the simple recipe