Autumn

yellow.orange. rain. hot chocolate. falling leaves. scarf. reading. wind. woolly socks. baking. fleece. home.

I captured the tree in front of the bedroom window in all its autumnal glory. The leaves are falling rapidly and soon the branches will be bare and the other houses behind the tree at the far end of our garden will be revealed.

It has been raining of late. Here is a short video of Sammy on the balcony 'attacking' the raindrops :)

Mondays...

...are pretty much like Sundays around here. I woke up Mommy really early and reminded her it was time for breakfast. After that I nipped outside to get some fresh air, but it was sooo cold that I rushed straight back inside! When I saw that Mommy was settling in front of the computer to work, I immediately blocked the keyboard =^..^=  But then Mommy presented me with my favourite toy (a mouse with a fuzzy ball attached to it) and I got distracted and ended up back in the living room. Oh well, it doesn't matter - it was time for a nap anyway and the tiles are so nice and warm from the floor heating...

hope your day is as comfortable as mine!

Sammy

New directions and new doctor!

I have been dawdling the last couple of days...not doing much of anything, really. This is so unlike me!
I am taking an unusually long time to recover and I've already prepared a whole list of questions for my doctor when I have my check up early next week. I changed my doctor, btw. I was getting increasingly annoyed by my old doctor's attitude. I have been very patient so far, but there comes a point where certain things just can't be tolerated anymore! The new doctor is a young(ish) woman and I hope we will get along!

Meanwhile I've been thinking.
I was browsing through my old sketchbooks and came upon some ideas I had for lounge wear/home wear/pyjamas. I got excited all over again and so I sat down and developed the pattern - for pyjama bottoms first, because they're the easiest. Here's a sneak peek at the pair I made with some pretty fabric I had in my stash. There is an endless variety of embellishments that could be added. I settled on a ribbon at the waist and a bit of lace trim at the bottom.

I'm still developing the pattern for the homewear top. I want it to be loose-fitting yet feminine and flirty. I will post the ensemble here on my blog once it is finished. That may take some time though...

Thank you for stopping by and wishing everyone a relaxing weekend!

Reversible Fabric Coasters - TUTORIAL

I haven't done a tutorial in quite some time, so here's a fun and easy one that even sewing newbies can handle! Make sets of four, six or twelve - it's up to you. These make wonderful housewarming gifts or stocking fillers. I'm making some for gifts on St. Nikolaus Day. You can make them as plain or colourful as you like! I chose a selection of fabrics from Moda's Fandango collection in aqua.

In this tutorial I have made a set of four. You will need:

8 x 11 cm (approx. 4.5") squares of cotton or thin linen fabric
4 x 11 cm (approx. 4.5") squares of medium fusible interfacing
matching sewing machine thread
fabric scissors
ruler
soluble fabric marker pen
pins

Step one

cut the fabric into the required amount of squares

Step two

on a medium cotton setting, iron on the interfacing onto the wrong side of half of the fabric squares. Take the remaining half and place them right sides together, matching up all four edges and pin. Using a narrow seam (0.5 cm) sew along the four edges leaving a 5 cm (approx. 2") opening on one side. Be sure to backstitch the beginning and end.

Step three

clip the corners and carefully turn the coasters right side out. Push out the corners with a blunt pencil or chopstick. Iron flat.

Topstitch along the edge using a small zig-zag stitch, thereby closing the open seam. Backstitch and snip off the remaining thread. Voilà! Finished!

reverse side

Purse & Travel Bag SET in 'cinnamon spice'

The big bag project is now finally finished. What I actually had in mind was to take a photo of these in a train station setting, but I just wasn't feeling up to it. With a little imagination on your part I'm sure you 'get' the mood that I was going for...
Anyway, I'm pretty proud of this bag set. As with all my bags, I never really know how they turn out, because from sketch to finished product I usually make a number of adjustments. This set, however, has turned out even better than originally drafted!
The bags are made from home deco designer cottons with a satin finish. That means they are not only durable, they are also smooth to the touch. The travel bag is the perfect carry-on: 6 pockets, one of them zippered, fully-lined and stabilized with interfacing plus a removable stiff bottom, opens/closes with a sturdy zipper. By attaching the shoulder strap you get a hands-free option - great when browsing the duty free shop on your way to your next destination! The matching purse has a mobile phone pocket as well as a slip pocket for cosmetics, tickets and other essentials. Oh, and aren't the colours yummy? Mellow chocolate brown with spicy cinnamon and cream - perfectly autumnal! For details please visit my website here.

Thank you for stopping by and wishing you a beautiful day!

Chestnuts

 picked from the woods...we like them roasted.

while Sammy likes to play soccer with them on the tiles! Fun!

Coming back to life...

...slowly.

I am finding it incredibly difficult to get back into the swing of things after my surgery. I really miss you guys! I'm currently handling the backlog of emails and translation-related stuff. Meanwhile my big bag project sits half-finished on my sewing table. Uggh. I hate unfinished stuff! There's also a pile of fabric that needs pre-washing. Now, if only I were motivated enough to switch on the washing machine!
...speaking of fabric, while in the recovery room after surgery, the male nurse later told me I was mumbling something incoherent about fabrics. haha. I guess they really are at the forefront of my mind!

One thing that cheered me up immensely when I was released from hospital was the arrival of my much awaited new ring, handmade by Nancy, art teacher and artist extraordinaire. She also happens to be one of my dearest blog friends :)
The ring is made from white cardstock, curled into a unique design and sealed in resin. The setting is silver plated. It really is one-of-a-kind and I love showing it off!

Hope to be back to regular blogging soon. Miss you!