Losing Steam

I've been away from my knitterie blog for too long.
My bad habit of staying up late and waking up early for work is wearing me out. It's my own fault. I admit it.
Today is Saturday, I've made potatoes and soy chorizo burritos, had my coffee. I'm in full throttle - ready to blog.
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Knittingwise, I started a few projects, including the baby blanket, but had to put them in the infamous WIP knitting bag for now.
Lately, I've been sewing up a storm. As painful as it is to admit - to myself - I've gained a few pounds, most which have settled around my middle (darn) and my clothes need some major alterations. I blame the burritos. Anywho, let's hope I can lose what I've gained very soon, but in the meantime...
My dear friend Amy asked me if I could help her make a costume for her daughter/my little Ravelry model... of course I said yes! I'll do anything for my friend's kids.

My little model is representing Italy in her first grade school project.
Her mother and I, scoured the internet for genuine Italian costumes and this is what she decided on.

I'm personally not too keen on dressing young kids in a lot of black, but since this is a costume I came to terms with it. :-) I'm still making a few adjustments and thankfully, mom was okay with not wearing a black blouse. Phew!
My favorite piece is the skirt with bright green, white, and red ribbons. The main reason for liking it so much, you can twirl and what little girl doesn't like to twirl in a big skirt? Fun.

The blouse is a simple white peasant blouse with puffy 3/4 length sleeves. I used and altered an old pirate costume pattern - Butterick 6295, if anyone is interested.

The red apron is adorned with lace and worn over the skirt (it's difficult to keep lace in place ...so slippery, even though I pinned it).

Voila! This is the finished costume.

The students are required to make their own headwear/hat, but I really think it needs something more than that and I'm afraid my little friend is going to look like an El Toritos waitress without the shawl shown in the picture.
If anyone has any suggestions for the costume, please feel free to comment.

I hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday. :-)