Poppy Seed Kitchen

As you know already, I moved into a new apartment. So today's post is about sharing some interior.

May I present my kitchen highlight? Curtains made of Joel Dewberry's Poppy Seed fabric! 

I love the energetic red with some mint green and yellow. I tried to capture how beautifully warm the kitchen looks when morning sun shines through. 

Our kitchen is very basic with chess board patterned flooring, grey kitchen (sorry, not visible on the photos) and some wooden cupboards. That is why I really wanted to have colorful curtains.

As I had been very busy, I have to admit, that this sewing project has been a present from my dear mother! In anyway, I really wanted to share with you. 

I love them! Thank you so much Mama!!!

Wishing everybody a nice week!

Three in a row...

Ha! Another post...with photos taken last year already... ;)

I promised you another asymmetrical hemline project. After Roxanne from Victory Patterns and a self modified BurdaStyle loose blouse, I went for a simple sweater.

I like the 90s almost romantic grunge look of this woolen fabric.

For the pattern I copied a simple loose sweat shirt, made the sleeves more fitted and simply cut the asymetrical hemline right on the fabric...I admit, that has been courageous, as it could have gone bad aswell. So actually, I would rather suggest to cut the hemline on a pattern first and reconfirm, that it fits as desired.

So I welcome spring with this rose sweater! Please stay! :)

Walking the BIG pug...

Oh my...oh my...First of all! I am sooo sorry to you dear readers and to myself.

My last post has been uploaded in DECEMBER?...wow, time flies by...I cannot believe it. But thank you very much, looking at follower numbers, I believe, almost no one has left me. This loyalty is heartwarming! ♥

So where have I been? What have I done?!...walking the BIG pug! ;)...just kidding, but may I introduce you to him anyway?...remember the lil pug?

It is based on the same pattern. Only difference,I asked the copy shop guys to enlarge the pattern by about 400%.

I used leather and sew all parts by hand. This is my first real experience with leather. I liked the relaxed and slow progress...but it is hell to fingers and hands. Hard skin on the finger tips is inevitable!...

Anyway, I think he is a sweet guy. Ok, I admit, his look is a little penetrating...but hey, nobody is perfect, right? ;)

So back to me...as you can easily see, there is snow on these photos. I took them already last year. I even have another prepared post, which I just did not upload, yet, but will upload veeeeery soon!

What came inbetween was...again...life! My little cutest nephew visited us for 2 weeks end of last year. Then in January I have been on a longer business trip...followed by lots of apartment renovation. Finally, I moved with my boyfriend...but it was a long way and took almost 2 months to turn the apartment into our little home. This consumed most of my leisure time after work in the evenings and the weekends. 

Now, I finally feel like everything is getting settled and I am longing to get back to sewing! I hope you are all still out there! I missed you and seek to get back in contact with you.

Thanks and have a wonderful Sunday! ♥♥♥

Obsessed with BOY...

As announced here comes another asymmetrical hemline project. You might wonder about the title in combination with this blouse. Well, I am talking about the music band boy. In case you live in Europe you might know some of their songs from TV commercials. In case you do not know them, please go and listen!!! They are so energizing and fun. Now you might wonder and what has this information to do with the sewing project?!...well, I saw them live in studio on ZDF and simply fell in love with the singers black blouse...I have been a bad bad copycat. :P Listen to boy and see the original here.

As I have never made a pattern with sleeves (too scary as a project for me), I went through lots of older Burda issues and found the perfect pattern to use as a basis. It is model no.110 in Burda issue 08/2011.

Some smaller alterations were necessary. I opted for an 7/8 arm length and of course changed the hemline from the usual to an asymmetrical one.

I really like the outcome. Loose fitting this blouse has my favourite blouse collar, a stand-up collar. Also I think this blouse is not only casual, but could also work for the office.

While doing this project, I listened to boy all the time. So I am now quite good with singing all their songs along! :D...doesn't mean I sing them well. ;)

Hope to make you a fan of boy too! What do you listen to while sewing? Or do you prefer to not listen to anything and concentrate 100% on the project?

Featured on Sky Turtle

Some time ago I received an email from Ina from Barcelona. She has a wonderful blog called Sky Turtle about sewing, garment design and pattern making. I have to admit, that I had not discovered her before, but she shares lots of beautiful and interesting things, so please check her out!!! ♥♥♥

I was one of 8 lucky bloggers asked to be featured by her. She has done a wonderful job on the post, that made me really blush. ♥ Thanks so much Ina for your wonderfully warm words!

If you are interested to discover some new sewing bloggers, please check her post! I was amazed by these beautiful women, who most of them (I have to admit) I had not known before, but love to follow in the future!!!

8 Amazing Sewing Blogs You Should Read

Victory patterns - Roxanne

Finally!!! May I blame the weather for having had no sewing project updates until now? ;) There simply was not any chance to take photos outside!
Anyway, here is one of them! You may wonder...hmm, where is this girl living? Shouldn't it be winter in Germany?...yes, it was freaking cold and very very windy!...but I had to seize the few sunrays!

I know, this project is totally out of the season, but I have been longing to sew something from the new Victory Patterns line since it was released and I felt this light weight poly-cotton mix fabric with its soft drape was just perfect for the Roxanne pattern.

At the moment I am totally obsessed with asymmetrical hemlines. I love the look of this and I can tell you there are two more projects (hopefully) coming up soon, which will be alike!

Anyway, it was the collar of Roxanne which made me most curious about this pattern. I had never seen anything like this before and love how it makes such a loosely fit blouse look sophisticated.

The back includes several deep pleats. From my experience (especially with Japanese patterns) I was afraid, that this fullness would make this top look like a nightgown. BUT this pattern put me right! Due to the soft drape it just adds fullness. Guess I have to pay more attention to the fabric recommendation of pattern instructions! ;)

I am curious about you! Do you always base your decision for a new sewing project on the present season?

Morocco - Photo Diary

Dear readers,

I am still struggling with a higher regularity of new posts! I will improve! I think, that there has been missing something in my life during the last few months and it is not ok to let life come in between all the time. I miss the dialog with you and I miss sewing...so I want to be more active again. But first of all, in this post, I would like to share some pictures with you!

Remember I cancelled the hotels in Morocco? Luckily, we did not rearrange the flights at that time. We decided to observe the news and situation and finally were convinced, that it should be ok to go there.

It was a beautiful and good experience. Definitely different from any other country I have been so far. We stayed there for seven days spending half of that at the windy sea in Essaioura and half in vibrant, loud and multifaceted Marrakesh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From a seamstress point of view, unfortunately, it was not such a lucky trip...can you imagine, that I did not buy any fabric?! Somehow I just could not find anything, that I desperately desired to have in my stash...anyway, brought lots of impressions and a carpet (!) back from Morocco and enjoyed some time away from daily life. :*

Have a good week everybody and see you soon!!!

Dear Autumn,

I heard you are just around the corner. Just wanted to say, that you are welcome,...but please spare us too many wet and cold days! Be mild, sunny and give us some opportunity to enjoy the falling leaves turning red, yellow and brown on long beautiful walks.

Made up this knit shirt for upcoming autumn using a pattern from a garment I had in my wardrobe. This knit fabric is very lightweight, thus my invocation to Autumn! ;)

Actually, I have been lazy on sewing a button-facing. You might not see from the photo, but it is faked! Just sew the button-facing onto the front part and added the buttons on it! ;) 

Due to the wide neckline, I wouldn't have needed it anyway!

Luckily, I had some fabric remnants and thus made up this simple slouchy cap. I love this pattern! Really have to make up some more for autumn and winter.

So how are you preparing your self-made wardrobe for autumn? Kindly leave me some links! I am curious to see what you are up to and get some inspiration for mine! ♥

So maybe next year...

Finished my second piece of MeganNielsen's pattern last weekend. It is the Kelly skirt!

Actually, this garment was meant for my vacation. My boyfriend and I planned and already booked one week Morocco for the end of October 3 months ago. I was so so looking forward to spend a night in the deserts under a sky full of stars, to ride camels and to explore the souks of Marrakesh with all its fabrics, leathers etc....and not to forget, eat all those wonderful dishes...but due to the current situation we just decided, maybe not to go there this year. I am really not a person, who is afraid to travel even less familiar countries, but this might be a situation we just cannot assess. So maybe next year... :(

Anyway, due to the region this skirt was meant for, I opted for the Kelly skirt in a longer version. I used very light weight cotton (for hot weather) and chose some contrasting buttons made of wood.

The pattern was fun to use. Very good for beginners, but also relaxing for more advanced seamstresses, I would say!

Bad luck this year! At least I have a new skirt and hopefully we can manage to rebook. Really need to go somewhere with warm climate...maybe Grand Canary, Tenerife, Fuerteventura or Lanzarote? Any suggestions?

Wish you a good week everybody. Hope you enjoy beginning of autumn!

Octopuses

Whooohooo, 3 posts in a row! :D

Found this supercute fabric 'Giant Octopi' by Heather Ross. Do you recognize the pattern I used?

It is the dress on the cover of BurdaStyle (08/12). Their mint version is just wonderful!

I really love cap sleeves and cloth that emphasize the waist! As I have far too many dresses (cannot catch up wearing them) I opted for a shorter shirt version.

Hopefully, this shirt turns out wearable. Could be a little tooooo cute?!

Have a lovely day everybody!

In the mood for levitation

As promised my latest sewing project!

Trying to levitate like Natsumi

I really had a hard sewing drought for the last few weeks. I simply lacked inspiration. I saw lots of wonderful sewing pattern I would love to try, but couldn't find ANY fabric I liked. That was really frustrating. I watched out locally and regionally through the fabric stores and even my good friend the internet couldn't help!

Finally I went for our local quilt fabric store and found what I was longing for! Amy Butler's Grass Chinese Lanterns fabric saved me!!! I love the green fresh colour and the lantern pattern. Though it is titled to be Chinese, I would have proposed this to be an African inspired pattern...hmm, anyway this bold print needed a simple loose blouse pattern with less darts, etc.

I found the pattern in a Japanese book called 'Sweet dress book'. It is the blouse on the cover.

A loose fitted blouse with 6 bold darts on the front upper bust. Easy and fast project with super comfortable fit! I would highly recommend this blouse for beginners. It is a fun project with no potential for frustration!

Hope you are still with me after my long sewing pause! As promised another sewing project will follow within this week!!!  So stay tuned! ;)

What happened in the meantime...oona, haldern, summer...

Shame on me! Again over one month since my last blogpost!

Anyway, summer has arrived and no one can be blamed for spending more time outside, right? ;)

So in today's post I would like to justify myself and let you know how I spent my time without sewing. Before there will be at least two new sewing projects in the upcoming week!

1. I received a wonderful surprise by Oonaballoona! Remember my 'Pay it forward' mission in last year? Oona took part and I sent her a little something. Luckily she decided to make me one of her chosen ones! As such she 'paid me back'. And as I opened her little parcel I was just like: "wooooohoooo!!!" :D

Three fancy beautiful self made fabric bracelets, lots of funny iron on tags and a super super super cool music compilation, which has become one of my best friends while driving to work!

Oona, if you read this, THANK YOU!!! I love your package! 

2. I finally found the antique looking hand clip I was looking for!!! I found one of them on Etsy and one on a fleamarket so far. But both tooooo expensive. Finally, there had been a good offer by another Etsy seller.

This hand can be attached to a wall and then paper, brochures, tickets, etc. can be clipped by the hand. I do not know why, but I simply had to have this one!!!

3. Last weekend I joined Haldern Pop 2012. Remember I went there last year? This year was more lucky! 4 days full of sunshine (last year 4 days full of rain!), beautiful music and beautiful people. 

If you are not into participating large music festivals with huge crowds, I can only recommend Haldern Pop!!! It is consciously kept small, held on farmer fields on the countryside and the atmosphere is totally relaxed! I am pretty sure, it is because of that, that they as a small festival succeed to invite and present music bands from all over the world.

My favorite bands of this year and recommended from my side: Dan Mangan (Canada), Tune Yards (US), Two Door Cinema Club (Ireland) and Phillip Poisel (Germany).

4. I had lots of delicious food...ahh, I know it is so Asian to take photos of one's food. But sometimes I just cannot resist! ;)

5. And I enjoyed spending time in nature! This summer I tried several paddling sports from kayaking up to stand up paddling. Dear readers, I have never felt so much relaxation as with SUP! Strongly recommended!

That's what happened in the meantime! Thanks for being so patient! Next sewing outcome will come up tomorrow!!! Have a lovely sunday!

Vichy & Tralala

I am still way behind with my postings!!! Anyway, today I have got something I wanted to share for a while already.

Some weeks ago I got a lovely email from a reader inviting me to watch a video on her blog. I was left speechless while doing that. Kindly see for yourself and you might understand!

Black Dress from Aurélien Le Bourhis on Vimeo.

Did you recognize? Vichy & Tralala (isn't that name just lovely?!) made a video about her little black dress which she sewed based on my candy sundress pattern! I love it!!! Beautiful girl in a beautiful dress surrounded by beautiful atmosphere and music! Merci beaucoup!!! ♥

And now kindly jump over to her blog! Looking at her wonderfully sewn dresses is a real eye candy, even though you cannot read French!

Have a wonderful week everybody and see you soon!

Taming my fabric stash

Yay! One step closer taming my fabric stash!!!

As promised, one of my other projects I managed to take a photo of last week! ;)

I have bought this fabric last year on my trip to London on Goldhawk Street. I fell in love with the base colour at once, but wasn't quiet sure about the blue 'roses'. Anyway, it was a real snap, so I just grabbed it!

So after one year I am really glad about this purchase and think I have found a pretty good matching pattern! As the fabric is already kind of romantic-kitschy, I was looking for a pattern with clear shapes. Otherwise I might not have worn it on an everyday basis. This is BurdaStyle magazine 06/09 model no.122. It has, once again, my beloved stand-up collar! And I simply fell in love with these angular sleeves

That's it! Now I need to work on taking photos of my other projects! Hope to get back to you soon! Have a lovely sunday and thanks for coming by!!! ♥

Chloe by Victory Patterns

Good afternoon lovely readers!

What can I say? Finished sewing projects are piling up just because I do not find enough time to make photos...ok, and sometimes I am just too lazy... ;)

Anyway, finally pulled myself together and made some shots of my Chloe version of Victory Patterns. 

 

I guess Victory Patterns already crossed your way on the internet. This independent pattern line by Kristiann has been featured a lot recently. You can find some very interesting interviews with her on Paunnet, Tilly and the Buttons and A Fashionable Stitch.

Anyway, back to my version! I opted for some kind of hybrid version. The pattern suggests to either make a sleeveless version with contrast binding or a sleeves version with contrasting sleeves, but not necessarily contrast binding. I definitely wanted sleeves, but not necessarily in a contrast fabric because I felt like contrasting sleeves would make this dress looking too sportive. In order to avoid too much simplicity and because I used light beige colored linen for the shell, again, I came along turquoise for contrast binding.

I am really glad about this decision! Feels like this is a dress which fits relatively casual as well as elegant occasions. Another plus of the turquoise: it prevents this dress being mistaken with a potato sack!...just kidding... ;)

Résumé about Victory Patterns: Really nice pattern with great and easy to follow instructions. Of course, I was too lazy to make a muslin, but have been lucky, that this dress fitted me almost without modifications. Only alteration made was a shortening of the shoulder seams to lift up the bust darts.

Have a lovely day everybody and kindly stay tuned as I will be back next week!...haha, managed to make photos of two projects today...I am so proud of myself... ;)