Last weekend was packed with lots of little one-hour projects.

They are becoming my favorite these days, when my "to do" list is long
and sometimes a project goes on for ages before completion. So to start
and finish in the time it takes me to brew and drink a cup of tea is sometimes ideal.

Small
projects – I find – are also great motivation to walk away from whatever
screen is distracting me (or you, perhaps) from real life and get busy with some
creating.

That's what I did anyway.

I decided to sew as many of Lupine's new summer clothes as I can this year. And I wasn't
feeling up to the fancy-pants-too-complicated-to-be-satisfying boutique
clothing patterns I had chosen for her new dress and pants.

Digging through my small pattern stash for a plan-B I
found a vintage 80's pattern for a simple little girl's shirt. An hour
later Lupine had a new top, ready for summer.

The
yellowed sewing pattern envelope was dated "1981" and had an original sale
price of $0.87. I'm sure I paid more than that at the thrift store where
I found it when Lupine was a baby.

In all
likely hood I was drawn to it because my grandma sewed similar shirts
for me in the 70's and 80's (through I suspect with a bit more polyester
in the mix). But the pattern was so cute that even if it was five sizes
too big at the time I snatched it up, only to forget about it until
this weekend.

As for the fabric, I have a hoarding confession. When Heather Ross's
gnome fabric went out of print years back I found some on-line and
bought all they had (a gluttonous 2 1/2 yards). I've been stingy with it
until now, using just a bit here and a bit there until I realized that my children are rapidly outgrowing gnome prints.

"Sew! Sew like the wind with that gnome print!" I said to no one in particular.

The sleeves
are as vintage as the pattern (probably older), salvaged from a friends'
scrap bag. I think in a past life they were a dress or a skir as it was
already sewn at the edges and hemmed. 

Sweet and quick! My kind of sewing. Full disclosure – the sleeves are about two inches too short. I guess I waited a year to long to rediscover that pattern. But she loves it anyway. When I make the next I'll adjust the pattern for her long little self.

What is your favorite quick-and-easy project?