Sew along BAG *27*

Boy o boy, a bag? A decent handbag I mean….pfff don’t know if I can pull that off. But the other choice of the sew along this month would be a cover for a book. And because I choose the easiest recipe the other,  it’s now time to be brave!

So that is how I motivated myself to start this project. And I had a cool combination of fabrics in my head, grey wool with bright yellow binding and a cotton with graphic print for the  lining…

Step by step I prepared the pattern, you draw it yourself for this bag, and cut the fabrics. In a bit more than one afternoon I managed to assemble the pieces and what a miracle: it really looks like a bag!

And may I please name the great detail of my nametag?! I ordered them online and enjoy using them for my sewingprojects, this is the first one!

The pattern comes from this book. You can find my Dutch blogpost for the project here.

Image

Grow!

Onions grow funny!

Soon an update about my garden in the city!

Win a pedestal!

A few of you know that my profession (besides crafter ) is organizing business events but a few months ago I started a new job besides my event-managent. I work for the company Solits, we sell pedestals in Germany, The Netherlands (ofcourse), France, Austria, Zwitserland and the UK. My share is to support the German market. But for all my Dutch followers I couldn’t hold this back for you.

Solits is giving away a Mooring Post Sockel! Great for indoors or outside.
For all that we offer, have a look at
www.sokkel.nl or pedestalwebshop.co.uk or www.sockelwebshop.de

 

Click on the image and go to our Dutch Facebook page to Share & Like the post.
(this runs untill the 21st of May)

We have a king! And I made cupcakes

Since yesterday we have a new King!

And I made cupcakes.

Inspiration

Just enjoying a coffee while working and waiting in Munic.
At a very great place, such an inspiration!

White Rabbits Room

Mini but superyummy!

Today I baked a few mini’s : applepie!

Do you want to be my friend?

All the usual readers of this blog know that I’m in the middle of a baby boom (already for a while and not over for a long while). I enjoy making gifts for the mum’s to be and their newborns.

This time I tried to make a bird out of a great book. My mum gifted the book to me when she went fabric shopping with me and I’m still very happy with it. She opened it in the store and showed me the great penguin, I recognized it straight away….but from where? At home I found this in my bookmarks, the great blog of Hop Skip Jump. The same name as the original book.
The Dutch translation of the book is available via this link.
I have made two birds, on with a bell in its tummy, for my pregnant friend and one bird with a crispy foil in the cotton tail so the newborn can grab it easily to play with it!
Both the (soon to be) mums liked the birds, hopefully the bubs will too.

Reusable bag

As you know, I joined a sew a long. This month the suggestion was to make a picnic rug or a reusable bag. Living in The Netherlands, the choice was easy: the bag.

I learn a lot with working from the book, sewing bag handles, working with pleats, linings etc. I’m happy with the result!

You can find my Dutch blogpost for the project here.

Reusable bag

Folded

Reusable bag

 

Childhood memories

During the last christmas period I’ve spent some time in Germany to be close to my love. He needed to have surgery. It was a moving time so very nice to be together full time. And I’m happy and proud to tell that he is doing very well by now!
To distract myself and to fulfill my creative needs (yep I have that every once and a while) I took my sewing machine with me. Every day when I walked to the hospital I passed the local fabric store. But the first days I didn’t go in, no time to loose but definitely no urge to sew. After a week or two I went in and was surprised by the amount of fabrics they had to offer!! I am fairly new in this craft area and really used to get my fabrics at the local market in Leiden, The Netherlands.
I was very excited when I found fabric with print of the Hungry Caterpillar!! One of my favorite children’s books and beautiful drawings. I realized that this would be perfect material for a baby blanket for one of my friend who is due half of feb of her second child. She loves colors (bright) and I am sure she recognize this cool retro (for me at least) character. I bought the fabric and completed it with apple green fleece, bright red cotton and yellow bias binding.

It was supposed to be my present for the birth of her second child but we don’t see each other that often and when we met last week she was so eager to open the present that I easily gave in… (I was curious to see her reaction) And she loved it! Hooray!
Not long…and the new little person will join us and hopefully will join the warm blanket! He or she is very very welcome!
Last weekend the great news came to me: a little boy Twan is born and proud owner of this blanket! Congratulations my dear friend and welcome little baby son and brother!!!!

 

 

More baby stuff!

This project is already in use for a few month. End of summer last year a friend of mine, very pregnant at the time, came to me with some fabric. And the question whether we could work together on a project for her soon-to-be-born-baby-girl. Of course!
I was happy to have a partner in crime, and someone who needed to choose haha man, that was the most time consuming part!! But the excellent choice of bright pink plastic in a combination with grey mini-polka-dots turned out to be a good one.
I guess it was the second project that I’ve use baisbinding. It always looks so nice but it’s a lot of work. Now my friend got to see it and immetiatly took the role of assistent and helped me to cut an press all the fabrics.
Little bally Ella is born by now and proud mum and dad can use the (half) self made nappybag and changing mat. It was a lot of work but definetly worth it when you see the result!

Sew along! *16*

The beginning of this year I joined a sew along. An initiative online, organized  due to the publication of a great (for now Dutch) sewing book. Every month the sew along suggests which two projects to make and all the participants show their results and share their tips on this website and facebook.

The book is called Zo Geknipt! written by Sanne & Riet. I like the recipes for your sewing machine, very modern with good explanations of several technics. Super handy for a beginner like me!

January has been kicked off with a cover for a tissuebox. Definitely not a pattern that I would choose to sew, but good for the learning process: it involves sewing bias binding. Something I have done before but still a bit of a struggle. By choosing ‘my colors’ I am surprisingly happy with the result.

The road towards this result was a bit of a struggle (not even because of the bias binding). After I took my cheap *swedish-wholesale-yellow-blue-store* in the airplane back from Germany, it refused to sew normal. I have been sewing with this super basic machine so far, I am still learning so I didn’t see the need to invest in a new one. But now the machine choose for me . During the period that I was looking for a new sewing machine (pretty much entire january, that is why this recipe is finished the for-last-day-end-0f-the-month) I was offered a second hand machine from the grandmother of a friend of mine. This old vintage machine is sewing super, so for the near future I’ll use this one! And I was happy that I didn’t have to fail the first month of the sew along…pffff

Enough talking, let’s look at the result!

A double sided tissue box cover

For the other sew along’ers: I cut out the pattern entirely, so without side borders, just the middle cross. That worked very well for me. The stitching around the opening was one of the points I wasn’t sure of a successful ending but by just winging it I made it! And the bias binding….still not my favorite. I did iron the binding double before starting, that helps a bit, but there is still room for improvement here. But overall I am happy with this kick-off project! Off to the next one!

Visit here my Dutch blogpost at the sew along website. Feel free to comment in Dutch! Thanks for your visit.

Count your blessings: Blue Monday

Today it is Blue Monday in Holland. The most depressing day of the year if you have to believe the news. Due to failing new years resolutions, bad weather *it’s snowing a lot here, but I don’t think that is bad*, running low on budget, gaining weight etc etc etc.

I just turn blue Monday into a Blue Count Your Blessings

*blue happens to be my favorite color*

Pot from Iceland and fav pic ♡

Gispen cup ‘Domoor’

Beautiful Blue’s (fabrics)

My Icelandic Pot, many people think it’s weird but I love it! He / she (what is it?) survived our travel from Iceland to NYC and made in to my home in Holland.

Domoor (can’t translate this Dutch word but it means something like fool) is a design cup from Gispen. Little visitors may use this cool blue for a drink.

The fabric I shopped in Friesland, a great huge store with many many fabric. I choose the colorful dotted fabric that will be a little baby coat lined with the dark blue velours.

More CYB?
Inspired by Zilverblauw, a beautiful blog!