London Calling

As you might know I have been in London last week! I went there together with my brother and sister-in-law who are on vacation in Germany to visit our parents and me. Because they live in Taiwan I see them only once in a year or in two years. So I was pretty excited and happy to go with them on this trip.

I just wanted to share some impressions about this eclectic city. This has been my 3rd time in London and we didn't have too much time, so we kept the sightseeing limited.

Sightseeing in London (Click to enlarge)

I guess Big Ben, Tower Bridge and Hyde Park are a MUST when visiting London! We were quite lucky, when we went to Tower Bridge on the last evening the bridge was opened for larger ships. I had never seen this before. I like the bridge better illuminated in the evening. 

Camden Market

On the first day we arrived in the afternoon and had only limited time to spent, so we went to Camden Market, which was near our hotel. It is always nice to go there and have a look around. Lots of curious stuff and people. Also lots of handmade things!

Goldhawk Road

We also went to Goldhawk Road, which is famous for its lots of fabric stores, mainly run by Indian and Arab people. Waaaaah, so much fabric, it was really hard for me to choose only few. My fabric stash is currently so full, I really had to restrain myself!

Nottinghill, Portobello Road

On saturday we went to the market in Nottinghill. It was very crowded but so so interesting. They did not only have vegetables and fruits, but also antiques and vintage stuff AND lots of good smelling food booths. We tried some Ghanaian food. It was a peanut & chicken stew. WOW, that was so delicious. I definitely have to google whether I can find a similar recipe! Also I loved the little pugs you see above. Actually, I don't know whom they belonged to because they were just tied together and had to stay together all the time...hhm, quite bad if one dislikes the other. ;)

Brick Lane in London Borough of Tower Hamlets

Then in the afternoon of our last day we went to Brick Lane. Oh, I wish we had gone there earlier. It was almost 6 p.m. and thus the shops were closing. Extremely beautiful looking vintage shops and lots of little independent designers. It was a real pity, anyway, there were lots of curious, little bars and so we spent some time in there, before getting back home with our 10 hours bus tour. :)

LOVE food! :)

P.S.: Some of the food we ate in London! I have to say that I loved their fish & chips! I was a little sceptical, at first, but it was GREAT! I could eat it far more often! :)...aswell, as the indian curry with nan next to it! Aaah, so so good...

Beautiful Day

Yesterday was my birthday! I turned 27...ooh, ooh...I am getting old. Once I got up I decided to start jogging again (the last time is like more than a year ago!). I definitely need to get more in shape, you know, because I am not that young anymore! :)

Anyway, I spent the rest of the day with family and delicious food!...Well, it was my birthday! I can start eating more deliberately tomorrow! :P

Homemade chocolate cake with almond paste decoration and coconut flavor

Preparing the ingredients with my mother

Japanese Takoyaki

Japanese Okonomiyaki in Oosaka Style

Lots of salads

Some jelly with redcurrants and vanilla sauce for dessert

Super surprise by Paunnet!!! <3

And lookie what a sweet surprise I found in my mail box! My lovely friend Anna from Italy send me an awesome selfmade birthday gift!

Thank you so so much Anna! I love BOTH the pouch AND the friendship bracelet. So so cute! I will definitely wear them with pride! :D

Mille grazie!!!

Giveaway No.3 Winners

Sorry, for me being a little late! I just came back from London yesterday evening. We went by bus and ferry and I was so so sleepy, I couldn't do anything after having arrived home. We had a wonderful time and were very lucky with the weather (though it was very cold). Anyway, I will do a seperate post about the trip later.

Let's announce the winners of giveaway no. 3! But first I wanted to say a huge THANK YOU for joining it. Somehow I always feel a little bad when doing the raffle...so many people that cannot win. Sorry for that and I promise to do another giveaway soon!

First winner chosen by random.org is

Haruna from Canada

Second winner is

Lisa from the Netherlands

Congratulations girls! I will contact you both very soon to get your measurements for the shrugs!!!

Ahoy or jailbreaker?

Finished my very first garment on the new machine just in time!!! A little summer jacket, very very necessary during this unsteady weather in Germany and perhaps even more in London where I will be travelling to tomorrow for a short trip with my brother and lovely sister in law. Oh, I am so so looking forward to this journey (especially Goldhawk Road, I have heard that there can be found lots of fabric stores side by side)!

The fabric I used is a pure linen one, which I found by chance on my latest fabric shopping trip. I love it because it is just perfectly middle-weighted, not heavy enough to sweat and not too light to freeze. In order to keep the stripes arranged I therefore looked for a pattern with less pattern pieces and darts. I went for BurdaStyle 03/2010 magazine's no. 102. The only alteration I did was to lengthen the sleeves.

I didn't want to add any lining and I didn't want any seams to show up on the outside in order to achieve a clean look, so I went for French seams on the inside and a lot of blind stitching by hand on the sleeves' hems, front facing and hemline.

I am really pleased by the result, although 'others' tell me I look like a jailbreaker! >_<
Ahhh, come on, this is more like a sailor's jacket or am I that wrong?! :)

Anyway, I will be gone for a while, but be back about the time my latest giveaway ends! If you haven't participated, yet, simply jump over and leave a comment. International participants are welcome! 

Giveaway No. 3 - Summer Theme

Hey everybody! Finally got finished with planning the little giveaway. Here it is! :)

This time there will be two lucky winners. I finished two little self-printed cat bags which can be easily folded and put into your handbag for any purchases you are doing on your summer trips! Let's do something for our lovely environment! ;) Down with those evil, evil plastic bags!

AND there is one more thing to win additionally to those bags! Did you see that perfect shrug pattern by ichigogirl on BurdaStyle? I found the perfect matching fabric for it! I am offering the two winners to make one for each, like the following, fitting their sizes. This little shrug is just perfect, if you have such a unsettled summer weather like we do have right now, switching warm and cold all the time.

I really, really hope you like these.

So here is the deal. Two lucky winners will be chosen and get one cat bag and a shrug each. Simply comment on this post until next Sunday (24th July) 0:00 CET and do not forget to tell me your email adress or another way to contact you! Winners will be chosen with the help of random.org.

Good luck everybody and thanks for your wonderful support! ♥

P.S.: This giveaway is open internationally! No problem where you come from, I will get it right to your place! :)

Men's stuff

Today I want to show you something I have made at the end of June, but haven't been able to take photos of, yet. It was our 9th anniversary (I still can't quite believe it!!! Time passes by so fast.) on the 30th and thus I wanted to sew something for my beloved boyfriend. It's the Jason vest from BurdaStyle.

I hadn't imagine that it would turn out that good and it seems as if he liked it a lot, so I am very glad. I only had to make some changes on the back. Somehow the armholes were too big and I had to narrow from the sides.

Anyway, I can only recommend you this pattern in case you are looking for a men's vest. I wish there were far more men's pattern. Somehow they are still really rare, don't you think? Can you recommend any men's pattern? I would love to sew more men's wear.

Wooooohooooo!!!

Hi hi! Let me introduce you to my lovely new friend! :) Thank you so much girls!

On friday I went to the post office to pick it up. Luckily, it was not too heavy because I had to carry it all way home. Anyway, I guess I was so full of adrenaline which made it even easier for me to carry that huge package.

Oh, it is so so nice to have one's own sewing machine! For my first project I decided to make 2 items for a giveaway and thank you. They are not ready, yet, but you can have a little peek on the photo. :)

I tried self printing fabric for the first time! I saw this sooo cute cat dress on Calivintage and had to try that myself. So I cut a cat's head into linoleum and simply started. Soo much fun indeed! There will definitely follow some other self-made prints.

Have to go back and finish the giveaways! Wishing everybody a wonderful sunday!!! :)

Guest Post at iCandy - DIY Candy Sundress

Hello my dear friends! Today just a little link post for you. I was asked weeks ago by Jen of  iCandy handmade to participate at a series called 'Fun in the Sun(dress)'. Amazing bloggers got together in this series like Chie from Vivat Veritas, Casey from Elegant Musings, Adey from the Sew Convert and Jessica from Happy Together. You should definitely check out their posts! I have been very excited to take part as one of them!

Anyway, it was left open to us, whether we wanted to present a dress which we had made,or some dress embellishment or other tutorials, as long as they had something in common with the series's theme.

And here comes my contribution. I made a new free pattern for a simple A-line shaped shift dress with a scalloped circle neckline and low back just for this series. That is why I called it 'Candy Sundress'.

I love this circle collar. It was quite some work to make it, but I think it is definitely worth the effort (see a closeup of it on iCandy). Hope you will enjoy this pattern. It is so simple to DIY! Just jump over to my post on iCandy and get the instructions and pattern for free over there!

Have a beautiful day everybody!!!

Three cheers on YOU!

Do you know that you really, really rock?!...I couldn't quite believe it, but with the help of you, my dearest friends and lovely family, I REALLY WON MY VERY FIRST OWN SEWING MACHINE!!! ♥

Oh, I can hear it clattering and purring already! It is a computerised Brother BC2100 with 40 stitches, super easy buttonholing automatic (OH, I am so looking forward to this feature!), and...and...and...! Very, very nice indeed for a first sewing machine! :D

Dörte from handmade Kultur mailed me, that she is going to order and get it posted to me on monday. I think I still cannot believe that I actually won until it arrives!

Thank you so so much for having supported me in this challenge. I feel like this is a huge present from all of you and even if I hadn't won I would still feel so very happy for receiving so much support from all over the world. I will always appreciate this from my deepest heart!

Wishing all of you a beautiful sunday and THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

P.S.: I am thinking about giving away the very first thing I sew with my own machine! So stay tuned! ;)