When your friend is a maid of honor at a wedding...

My gorgeous friend at the wedding:-)

The last wedding I’ve been to was about three years ago and I think it was probably one of the last one I’ll go to before along time as most of my friends are married now or simply don’t want to which is fine. But other people do get invited to weddings and it was the case for a very good friend of mine (that's her above!): she was actually the maid of honor at her cousin’s wedding.

When I met Chardon...

I know, I know! Another Deer & Doe project. But I did warn you anyway so now you'll just have to go with it :-)

This week I'm introducing the Chardon skirt which is a high waisted pleated skirt. At first I wasn't sure about the shape of it due to the shape of me (hehe) and was worried it would make me look much larger than I already am... Pleated skirts don't always flatter the figure of curvy women. But I'd been looking for a cute skirt for a while and I really wanted to try anyway. And also, I saw this picture on their online shop and I was sold! Plus, I already had the Ondee sweater so might as well make something to go with it, right?!
 

Photo from Deer & Doe online shop

When I met Datura...

 

WARNING: there are a lot of pictures in this post :-)

 

"Damn! You are on fire!!" That's what my boyfriend said the other day when I showed him another finished project in my workshop. Indeed, I've been quite productive lately and I'm enjoying it a LOT really.

When I met Ondée...

I think I've fallen in love and it's so exciting! We met each other a few months ago and I think it was love at first sight...at least for me.

 

It all started last year when I was looking for a dress pattern and could not find something that I liked. All I wanted was a simple, plain straight dress I could sew without any trouble for the beginner/intermediate that I am. I had bought a pattern in a shop but was disappointed (we will discuss that later on). And then I came across a picture of a dress in my Google search and that was it! I had to get it there and then, but that too is another story that I'm keeping for later.

A table!

I don't know about you, but one thing I really like is spending some quality time with my family.

 

We all have busy lives but we try, whenever we can, to spend time all together and this usually involves food: Christmas, NYE, birthdays, barbecues....every occasion is a good excuse to sit around a table and have fun.

 

The last gathering in date was two weeks ago for our mum's birthday. We spent a few hours eating some delicious Caribbean food and laughing to tears.

 

We also usually cook/bring something each so that the work is not on one person on that day. I was in charge of the salad that time...for 18 people! Some lettuce, cucumbers, radishes and I was good to go.

The only thing was, it wasn't that successful compared to all the other food on the table and I ended up with this massive bowl salad in the end. I figured it would prevent me from having to prepare food for my lunch during the week :-)

 

On the Monday morning when I packed my lunch I stood there contemplating my good old lunch bag thinking "You've had your time, my dear. As much as I like you, I think it's time for you to retire!".

 

I knew the kind I wanted but still had problems on how to do it. Luckily, I found an excellent tutorial recommended on several blogs I looked at, and tadaaaaa!

 

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 I used some old fabric leftovers I had in my workshop (I can't even remember where they are from!).

Bag cover

I love having this cover on the top: it protects the food and other things I could put in there (usually a book).

Cord casing

It is my second time at making a bag with a cord like that and it came out pretty good!

Cord end cap detail

I absolutely love this bag! I will have to make another one but with different fabric; the kind you can wash if something spills inside the back.

 

If you want to make one of your own, you can find Pink Peguin's tutorial here.

 

A Clutch Bag

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One of my friends got married back in April. She planned it for quite some time and also asked for some help when it came to the decorations. But that is another story that I will tell you about later.

Of course, when I started thinking about my outfit for the wedding, I thought that I could make my own dress and accessories. I know, I still have faith in me like that. But after a few projects, I came to the quick realisation that it would never happen. Therefore I went to the shop and found a cute little black and white dress. All I needed were the accessories. The only thing was that I got so caught up in the decorations for the wedding that I never found the time to do all the things I wanted to do. Time just flies when you work on top of crafting! And there I was, two weeks before the wedding with just...a dress. I was determined however to do one thing myself: my handbag. I also went for (what I thought was) the simplest option...a clutch bag. I bought some fabric: black leatherette (or faux leather) and some red satin. Made my own measurements for the clutch bag and got started



After two failed clutches, the third attempt was the right one, but I still have a lot of work to do in order to master the art of sewing a zipper on something.

I really love the effect on the leatherette like it is reptile skin:

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And it goes perfectly with the red lining too:

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This clutch had a lot of success and I can now add it to my list of finished projects :-)

I shall let you know about the wedding decorations at a later time so until then, take care!

Babies!

Not mine. It is actually my friends who all seem to be having babies lately :-)

You know me, I like sewing, on top of jewellery making, knitting and many other things. And when it comes to making garments, I am a sucker for tiny things as they are a good way to practise, can be done faster and well...they are so cute!!!!

Back to sewing classes

So the kids have been back to school for almost a month now, I went back to my dance classes last week...there is just one class left now: sewing class!!

They have started last weekend but I could not go because I had already planned for some friends to visit from the UK and there was no way I would have missed them.

For the last two years I have been transporting my sewing machine in its original box: not practical as it was big and had no handles.

With the move over the summer and the lack of space in the new flat, I had to throw away some stuff and that included the sewing machine box.

This was a good thing as it finally forced me to make a project I have been putting off for well, two years!

I found a pattern via Google on a blog called Les Chiffonneries du chat. I altered the pattern a bit though, to my likings.

Instead of two zips, I used one long one. I also added an outside pocket to it and put the handles outside so they could be visible and they would contrast with the bag's colour.

And another first for me!!!!

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Until next time...

Vestiaire Scandinave - Solveig Dress

I have had another productive weekend and made two projects.

Earlier this week, I found another sewing book called "Vestiaire Scandinave" and thought I would give a shot at one of the dresses called "Solveig Dress".

The book

As we were celebrating my niece's 7th birthday over the weekend and I realised I had nothing to wear (well...nothing that I fancied wearing anyway), I bought some fabric after work on Friday and got started as soon as I got home. OK, after dinner and a cup of tea :-)

Here is the result:

 

My dress

The original dress

Considering it was done in one night, I am pretty happy with myself.

One thing I need to learn to do is to alter patterns as this dress is straight so not very flattering for fuller figures like mine... I will learn someday. Right now, I am just able to cut a pattern and make the garment which is already quite good if I may say so.

I have made a top as well: my first, but that's for another post.

Hope you have all had a good weekend!

New addiction?

I may have started a new addiction over the weekend.

A few weeks ago, I found in the sales some sewing books: I bought three for the price of one. I bought them after my sewing teacher made me sew a tunic from a book from the Mes Carnets de Couture collection.

As the classes stopped for the summer, I decided to make one on my own from one of the books. I have been a bit obsessed with this idea since then!

I have already made one a week ago (I will show it in another post).

I then chose to try something that was marked as "difficult", but I loved the design so much I gave it a go. It took me a few evenings after work to prepare the pattern and cut the fabric. Last Saturday, I spent the day putting it together.

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This one is from the book "Tuniques pour petits et grands" and is the model E: Tunique à Plastron

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As I had some red fabric left, I added a little bit at the end of the sleeves and around the collar.

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The trickiest part was the folding of the plastron, but once I got it, it was pretty straightforward.

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The explanations in the book were clear so it was easy to follow for someone who is not used to sew clothes...

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Until the next project...and there is another one coming. I've been productive over the weekend :-)

Sewing project: reusable paper towels

One thing about taking sewing classes is that you tend to think that after one class (and especially once you have purchased your first sewing machine), you are capable of sewing everything. Yes, each time you look at something, this little voice in your head goes "easy! just get some fabric and you'll do that in one afternoon for half the cost and the colours you want!"

In real life, outside of your head, it's not that simple though. So everything takes much longer to do and doesn't look like the picture :-)

Now with today's project.

My other half is lovely but there's one thing he loves as much as me...or maybe more, and it is kitchen paper towels. He uses them all the time and for everything.

I was thinking about how to make him reduce the amount he uses when I came across some left overs from the fabric used for the bib I made for my nephew last year. That's when my voice inside decided to talk: "if it can work for bibs, I'm sure you can do the same for kitchen towels!".

There I was on the Internet looking at ways to do this: I quickly realise that my inner voice wasn't that original as I saw hundreds of pictures for reusable paper towels.

Anyway, a trip to the fabric shop, some cutting, sewing and tadaaa! The first set of reusable kitchen towels. I still have another set to make and it will give me room for improvement actually.

Plus, I'm doing my share for the environment...and my purse ;-)

Now! Time for me to go enjoy the rest of my long weekend. The fourth and last one of the month. I'm going to miss this month of May...

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Sewing project: needle case

During winter time, I do not usually do any fimo. It is too cold (especially in my flat!) and the fimo is harder to manipulate.

So I have...or find other activities. Apart from beading and knitting, I have been trying sewing since last year. But I have mainly done projects during my sewing classes, nothing too challenging on my own.

Last month, I tried to sew something again on my own and that I would use for sure. my old needle case getting too small, I took to make a nice one.

And here is the result

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I found the pattern on Les Chiffonneries du chat (the blog is in French but she's made the tutorial in English too).

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There are a lot of flaws and I think I will try to make another one at some point. Sewing several layers for the first time is not easy when you don't really know how to use a sewing machine :-)

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I also need to work on straight lines too! But I find it cute and I'm pleased with how it turned out with this fabric combination. Oh! and my needles are (almost) all in place now.

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Sewing class project 3

As part of the sewing workshop I have joined, I was taught how to make a bib last month. This project was actually a project to help us learn how to sew curves and rounded shapes with the sewing machine. I was pretty pleased with my work.

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Last Saturday, I had to leave my car at the garage and ended having nothing to do for 30 minutes so walked around the shops nearby and ended up in this fabric shop. So I bought some fabric and decided I would sew something outside of the workshop, from scratch.
Of course, it could only be another bib as it was the only thing I could remember...sort of. I am proud to say that despite one step that I have missed and managed to fix afterwards, it didn't turn out too bad. I am soooo proud of myself on that one. It took me a few hours but it was finished by Saturday night!!

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I stopped by my sister's and put around my nephew's neck. The way he ran around the room either means that he liked it or that he is simply a happy toddler...well, he is a very, very happy toddler!

I need to think about what I will attempt next...

ID-Creatives 2013

Update: Alison made me realise today that I did say she was Irish when she is actually Scottish. I do apologise Alison, don't know where that came from! :-)


 

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This weekend was held the ID-Creatives craft show 2013. I had heard of it last year and went with my older sister. It was fun, we saw a few interesting things. Saw some fimo girls (some of which I follow their blogs, which was pretty cool!)

 

So when I saw that it was on again this year, I was all excited to go. It opened on Thursday and on Friday, they have a late night (free entry and parking). On my way back from work, I stopped there to try to sign up for workshops (and have a look at what I could buy the next day lol). I didn't have a look at the whole place not to ruin it for me the following day though. As my sewing teacher had a stand there, I had a good chat with her instead :-)

 

So! Not possible to sign in advance for classes, I woke dup early on Saturday morning to get there at opening time and sing up! I arrived right on time and managed to catch the last spot on the mosaic class and there you go! One table mat! 



 

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OK, it's not finished because the glue took too long to dry: the woman running the workshop asked us to finish it at home. That's where I am glad I did buy this packet of grout a year ago when I saw it half price at the bottom of a box in a shop in Lyon thinking "mmm...this might get useful someday..."

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Go check out Laurence Alvado's website: she is the one who taught the mosaic workshop and she does some pretty cool things.

Laurence

Then I went straight to the sewing stand and voila! One bookmark!

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Although I find it cute and I am happy of my work, I have to admit that except for the fun, there was not much point to that workshop. It was a stand demonstrating (and trying to sell) sewing machines. Those machines are insane! The one I worked on costs 799€. It does everything: sewing and embroidery. Now, when the woman showed me how to use it, the only "manual" thing she did was to place the thread. Then, she was typing numbers and the stitch would show on the digital screen. then press the start button, and the needle starts the job. Where is the fun in embroidery there? I don't get it. it was marked as an embroidery workshop so was excited about trying this as I had never done it (besides the bead embroidery which I don't master well). So it was disappointing to "watch" a sewing machine doing the job.

 

Then my sisters and my niece joined me and we I took my niece to the cakepop workshop. Same there: basically the cakes were already made and all we had to do was to put a bit of cream on a cupcake and add sugar flakes on it. My niece did it in 5 minutes. Same for the cakepop: dip the thing in chocolate and put sugar flakes on it. Done!

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Could have done that at home lol Now I know that the purpose of those shows is to make some publicity for your business so it worked: the queue of hungry girls was definitely long and I did ask for the girl's card to check out her website because some of her cakes are actually really cute and it might be useful one day (if my twin stops making hers one day that it lol)

 

Then went back to the sewing workshop as my niece wanted to try to make a bookmark too. In the end, all my sisters gave it a go so...I had to do another one :-) (you can see it above with the first one: it is the dark one)

 

My last workshop of the day: Iris Folding. This thing is so cool! This had to be the surprise of the day. I signed up for it because I wanted to try another one of their workshop but it was full. I had never heard of Iris Folding before and got quite intrigued when she showed it to me earlier that day, so I took the last spot. This was fun: it took a little while for me to get it but once I understood it, it was pretty straight forward. So here is my first attempt at this art:

 

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The girls were fun and did some cool things.

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I also met this very nice Irish Scottish girl called Alison. She is actually the one who made a frame I saw and wanted to make. We had a nice chat. If you get the time, please go visit her blog as she does some cute stuff :-)

Alison :-)

Well, that was a long post, but I saw and did a lot of stuff: I had a really good day between the workshops and the fun with my sisters and niece too. I enjoyed sitting with them and sew. 

 

The low point to that craft show is that there was just one fimo stand compared to last year where there were more. Also, it seems like Scrapbooking is taking over the show now: it was like half of it was dedicated to them! They had already put the poster for next year and it is already announced that there will be ID-Creatives 2014 and Scrapbooking too. There are already not enough craft shows in my opinion in this area (or country) so if now they are only dedicated to one thing...it's not going to be fun. But I will wait and see what happens next October!

 

One thing I will have to consider for next year if I go back: business cards! Every person I exchanged contact details with had one, and although I don't have a business, it was quite awkward to have to find a piece of paper to write down my blog's address each time lol Need to add this to my to-do list...

Hope you've all had a nice and productive weekend ladies!