Friday 23 April 2010

Girly Skirts - Again!

Yes, another one! I just love them!

This one I called the "Polka Skirt".
Polka dots on the pockets and enough twirl for a dance and a run!


Polka Skirt



This time with pockets. Reinforced pockets.

Or where would the little girls keep the little treasures they find? Little stones, little acorns, little leaves....



Have a happy weekend!

Monday 19 April 2010

More Girly Skirts!

The sun is shining and it's getting warmer!
Perfect for more Girly Skirts!

So I made this one with lots of wild strawberries for a little friend of my younger son who's just turning 4!
She lives in the area where the old Swedish film studios used to be. Greta Garbo, Ingrid Bergman, Ingmar Bergman, and many others, walked on those streets! They've turned it into a residential area with a cinema for commercial films, but all over they've planted wild strawberries!


I called the skirt "Smultronstället".
The literal translation would be "Wild Strawberry Place".



Ingmar Bergman made a beautiful film called "Smultronstället", which got the name "Wild Strawberries" in English. The special thing about the Swedish expression is that it doesn't really mean the Place where the wild strawberries grow. It means any place which is extra special to you. A dear place which you always want to go back to.
Which is your "Smultronstället"?


So much in a little skirt!

Monday 12 April 2010

Easy Grocery Bag

I love big bags.
I don't like plastic bags. Not only for their environmental unfriendliness but also because I really think they are so unelegant and impersonal. If plastic bags were the the environmentally friendly way to go I would really have to push myself to follow that....

I had been looking for a pattern for a good size shopping bag and Keyka Lou had the perfect one!

It's the Easy Grocery Bag.



 
 Outer fabric from Åhléns and lining from Ikea.




The topstiching over the handles recommended in the pattern adds strength and is a beautiful detail.
I used contrasting thread. A bright green adds colour to the grey.

And the new labels:
Miss Pe...
 ...licano!

The Easy Grocery Bag is really easy to sew and it has great curvy handles!
This is really one of my favourite patterns for totes now!
I made it for a friend as a Birthday present.

Thursday 8 April 2010

First things first!

So, I'm back! I think!

I've been immersed in a nightmare of a maths course since January and literally drowning in numbers, formulas and other mathematical stuff which I just want to forget. I am slowly waking from that very bad dream - which unfortunately was very real! -  and although I've started new courses, these will be like a gentle summer breeze! I'm now taking two courses on Second Language Acquisition which is very interesting as I am billingual, learnt Swedish as an adult and have two trillingual children and have always worked with multilingual children! Fun!
It's been impossible to sew or blog but everyday I looked at my fabrics and planned what to do with them. I opened them and felt them. Then put them back.
I also thought I would stop blogging. I know many bloggers go through this phase. But once in a while I got a kind e-mail, or a comment, or a parcel in the post, from fellow crafters/bloggers which really gave me lots of warmth and encouragement! I never stopped visiting all the fun blogs that inspire me - yes, you all! And it's just incredible how much you all are doing and how much that has lightened my days! Thank you all!

A while back I got a completely unexpected parcel in the post from Baukje. Baukje joined my Help Haiti Fabric Auction and has a lovely blog about knitting, sewing and about her daily life!

A lovely letter - check out the cat in the hay! A lovely vintage ribbon and some useful buttons!
Thank you so much!

I will be posting a couple of things and I hope you pop in to see them!