// Between the lines //

Repurposing an old pair of jeans :: a DIY

2012-01-23T00:17:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, I felt like sewing a new bag. Only problem: I didn't have any of my favorite oatmeal colored linen left. It took me some rummaging through my stash to come up with something else: an old pair of jeans. We like a little challenge once in awhile!

Since our last move, I keep a whole stash of jeans in a box in my crafts cabinet. Originally, the idea was to keep the jeans until I had enough for making a quilt. However, with one quilt still waiting for the binding to get finished and the quilting as well, I must admit I'm not much of a quilter. Not when it comes to the bigger projects, anyway. Too intimidating, I'm afraid....

Anyway, since that quilt probably never is going to happen, I figured I might as well cut one pair to pieces for another project without doing much harm. This particular pair was a high-rise (!) that never really felt comfortable - probably because of its high-rise but mainly because of its unreliable zipper. Very annoying, even with a long shirt!

So, I cut the ugly thing to pieces and made this - not so ugly, if I may say so myself - tote. I used the same bag pattern as for this one, this one and this one. Its shape basically comes down to a rounded slightly trapezoid rectangle with darts at the bottom corners, combined with a rectangular panel in between the front and back panel.
For the handles, I cut a cheap natural leather belt to pieces (H&M) which I still had lying around from when I was doing this tutorial. The lining is a left over from this project and this one as well. So basically, I didn't have to leave the house or spend another dime on this project, which is rather unique as usually there's always something missing. Not this time - instead, I got rid of something - a total win-win! How cool is that!

Now, in case you want to try this. Here are some notes on how I proceeded, which might be helpful.

cutting the jeans: I cut mine open from front to back to separate the two legs. Next, I cut each leg open along the inner leg seam, to obtain two flat pieces of fabric. I used the top part of each leg to cut the front panel and back panel, the front pockets and back pockets nicely centered. I was extremely careful not to cut the inner pockets to pieces while cutting each panel. That way all pockets are still fully operational! From the lower leg parts I cut the bag's middle panel (2 pieces joined together, about 15cm wide), as well as a strip for the facing of the bag (2 pieces joined together, about 7 cm wide). There was enough fabric left to make handles as well, but I decided to go with leather handles instead.
lining: originally, I intended not to line the bag, and finish the seams off with some bias tape. However, with all the seams already there, and the new ones and the inner pockets this would have looked rather unfinished, something I do not like. And I needed to hide the handles' rivets in some way or the other. So, I went for a lining instead. I'm not sure I chose the best way to do this, with a facing and lining, however. Because of the thickness of the fabric the top looks a bit bulky - it doesn't bother me, I own a bag from GAP with that same kind of bulky finishing, matter-of-factly, but it might bother the perfectionists amongst you. One might opt for a lining going all the way up, without the facing, and whip stitch it to the denim instead.
the handles: the main reason I went for leather handles is because I like the denim - natural leather combination and because I happened to have the right color of hardware (rivets) to go with it (sewing wasn't an option given the thickness of both the denim and the leather). This is the first time I used this type of rivets. I didn't exactly have the right tools (no rivet gun) but I managed to get them in using pliers (a hammer didn't work and was too loud anyway - I did this past 10:00p.m. - not sure if the neighbors would have liked it). This is what I learned:

you'll hardly ever find the right size of rivets matching the thickness of leather and fabric. You can solve this problem by adding a small piece of leather (or fabric) in the back. Additionally, this will make it more sturdy as well as it reinforces the fabric of the bag.
prepare both the fabric and the leather by making the appropriate holes in them with a punch, corresponding to the rivet's parts (top part is wider than the bottom part) - this will reduce the effort needed to secure the rivet and makes sure you get them in at the exact right spot.
in order not to damage the rivets while using your pliers make sure to use at least a cloth in between. I found a piece of cork to be extremely helpful. Never put the pliers directly to the rivets!

This being said, both my girls loved the bag. M. is desperate for another book bag for school and asked me if I could make another tote like this one... Please, mommy? Please?

I guess I'll have to take out that box one more time... What else can I say to a sweet little request like that...?

Sewing pillows and some other stuff

2012-01-13T13:11:00.000+01:00

It's been a weird week. Fast and slow at the same time.
Both girls had a 24hr bug, not on the same day, luckily. Both are fine now.
And then, I woke up with swollen and numb lips. They felt as if I had just been given an anesthetic - an allergic reaction to a new tooth paste I bought, it turns out. And I'm not the only one, apparently. Although from a good brand, this particular tooth paste has a pretty bad reputation when it comes to allergic reactions. Anyway, for a day or two I looked like someone with 'a Botox treatment gone totally wrong'. My lips are almost back to normal now, thank goodness, and I threw out the paste.

There was some sewing this week as well. I started making pillows. Lots of them. For the girls. For the living room. In an attempt to make our place a bit more colorful and cozy. As pillows are considered cozy here. We like to hang in the couch, bundled up with pillows and a blanket.

For the pillows I followed these instructions (in Dutch, but the pictures speak for themselves). I even made my own piping and got pretty good at it. After buying a special piping presser foot, that is. The invisible zipper foot didn't do the trick for me, the result being too irregular. But with the right foot it just looks perfect.

Did you actually know you can use old T-shirts or knit fabric to make piping? When I was about to start a pillow in my favorite Japanese fabric I realized I didn't have the right shade of fabric anymore to make the piping. Except for an old T-shirt of K. which was a perfect color match. So I decided to give it a try. I cut some strips - in bias, which strictly speaking is not necessary for knits - sewed them together and then made the piping.

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but I actually chose the wrong side of the fabric to be on the good side for the piping as the aspect of that came pretty close to the weave of the fabric I was using for the pillows. It worked like a charm. Thanks to the stretch of the knit, I got perfectly rounded corners at much less of an effort. Not only did this pillow turn out to be the best one I made so far, but I especially like it because it incorporates my favorite Japanese fabric and a recycled favorite shirt. Old and new, perfectly married.

I have a couple more pillows to go and maybe after that I could start on some curtains... or maybe not...
Oh, I so do not like making curtains...

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

xo, P.

Origami paper cube :: a DIY

2012-01-09T10:52:00.001+01:00

It's been a while since my last post. I hope you all had nice holidays and a smooth transition into the new year. Our holidays were fun, seeing relatives and friends again. There was a lot of traveling involved but it all went much smoother than last year as the weather gods were a bit friendlier this time. No snow and icy roads only rain and wind.

But this is not the weather channel, so time to move-on! With a new tutorial! And as a matter of fact, this is a special one. It's a video-tutorial - an absolute first on // BTL //- made by... my girls.

A little while ago we got an Ipad. It never occurred to me that besides pictures one could also make videos with it. That was until my girls presented me this movie one afternoon during our holiday break. For a couple of days M. had been making these really awesome origami paper cubes. And then, they decided to shoot a 'making-of' movie. I had no idea what they were doing in their room - 'Don't come in, mommy! It's a surprise!'. There was a lot of laughing going on in there but too busy baking some of these, I kept nicely to the kitchen. The result you can see below. The movie is entirely their work: little H. held 'the camera' and M. shows and talks us through the making of an origami paper cube. There was no editing, or anything. And I think it is just perfect - there is a bit of camera shake, and the sound isn't perfect as little H. covered the microphone with her hand a couple of times, but other than that I think this movie is just perfect. The best part in my opinion: little H. trying to keep her little toes off screen - that really cracked me up! Actually it still does... I hope you'll enjoy this how-to as much as I did!

A big thanks to my girls for their generosity for letting me share this here! You are the cutest!

Wishing you all a happy and creative year!
Cheers,
xo, P.

// Happy Holidays //

2011-12-23T10:39:00.000+01:00

I planned a couple more posts but I have too much on my plate right now to make it work.
So, rather than getting frustrated, I decided to sign off for the year.
Take care, everyone! Enjoy the holidays and...
hope to see you back here soon!

Cheers,

Pascale
xo

Handmade holidays :: a DIY wreath

2011-12-18T20:50:00.001+01:00

With only one more week to go before X-mas we felt we needed a little more deco around the house to get into the mood completely. The idea for the Christmas balls we got from the latest issue of Whip up's Action Pack. We made a whole bunch of them using fabric scraps, sequins, yarn, my favorite baker's twine and some lace we still had lying around. Three were used to decorate a (store-bought) wreath. The balls were attached using a hot glue gun. We tied two pieces of fabric scraps in a bow for the finishing touch and - Voilà!

Action Pack : Issue 8 {Celebration}

2011-12-16T19:20:00.001+01:00

Just a quick reminder there's a new Action Pack available with everything you need for succesful holidays and for keeping the kids (or yourself) busy on those long winterdays: recipes (we have our very own Speculaas recipe in there, with our very own secret Speculaas mix!), crafts, gifts, games, Christmas decorations, ...

And in case you ran out of gift ideas, how about buying the Action Pack 2011 Bundle including all 7 2011 issues? Go check it out!

Christmas tree free holidays

2011-12-12T09:51:00.001+01:00

We decided not to buy a Christmas tree this year but to come up with an alternative.
And this is what our alternative tree looks like: white semi-sparkly (semi because about 50% of the sparkles rubbed off already, but wiping down sparkles is nothing compared to cleaning up pine needles...) branches picture (store bought, which is silly, I know, but we have no garden and I can't myself running through Paris with pruning shears without getting myself into trouble).

We decorated our branches with homemade salt dough ornaments. The idea for the salt dough ornaments I got here. They were fun to make and cost next to nothing. A fun detail: we only had organic flour, which makes these ornaments totally ORGANIC! How about that?!

We used cookie cutters, red inked stamps and lace for the decoration of the ornaments and my favorite divine baker's twine for hanging them.

The pictures are of poor quality because they were shot at night and I still hate using a flash. They're not crisp and sharp as usual but a little blur suits the subject, I thought...

Easy X-mas cards

2011-12-11T23:06:00.000+01:00

Tonight little H. and I made a bunch of X-mas cards for the children at the local children's hospital - a great project initiated by a class parent.
We came up with several homemade cards. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take pictures of them before they went in an envelope, except for this one, which I made earlier in the day. Very easy to make if you want to give this a try. All you need is a piece of vellum, some colorful sequins, card stock, some contrasting thread and a sewing machine...

Some of our other cards included fingerprinted moose and snowmen to which details were added using a felt tip marker (look here for inspiration), and a very cool Keith Haring inspired Christmas tree with presents and stars by little H.

Pretty in silk :: revisited

2011-12-01T11:25:00.029+01:00

I have been sewing like crazy. Since I bought my new sewing machine last September, I made several skirts, a couple of silk blouses, a dress, a T-shirt for M.(found a very good pattern from Ottobre) and a sweater for her as well for which I made the pattern myself from an existing shirt. Unfortunately, the sweat-shirt shrunk terribly after washing and drying just once - it's just about the right size for little H. now, which she doesn't mind as the fabric is incredibly soft. Let's hope it won't shrink any further... Anyway, this wasn't today's topic. I just wanted to show you this tunic I made and which I really, really like.

I got inspired by these dresses/ tunics. With the orange flowery dress in mind I went fabric hunting and I found a very nice weight silk - a bit colorful, more colorful than I'm used to, with a vintage style print. As a matter of fact, the flower print might remind some people of their grandmother's apron (I certainly worked that way for me) but I found it very cute somehow. And although it's real silk I only paid €8.90/meter, which is cheap, I thought.

The pattern I used comes from the same Japanese sewing book as this blouse. It's the dress on the front cover (dress D in the book) which I slightly altered: I left out the sleeves, and made it slightly narrower. As a matter of fact, next time, I won't cut any (side) seam allowances, as the tunic turned out a little wide at first. As with my other silk blouses, I used French seams and finished off the tunic with a hand sewn hem - so much nicer.

I wore the tunic to a party last weekend, combined with a long knitted jacket, tights and high boots and some last minute homemade jewelry. And it looked really nice, if I may say so myself. Since the dress has short sleeves, I'll be able to wear it in Summer too, probably over some white pants or a legging...
But let's get ready for winter first...

A year in scraps :: bias tape

2011-11-21T18:32:00.003+01:00

As I was cleaning out my crafts closet, one of the things I came across was tons and tons of fabric scraps. Such a pity to throw them out, but putting them in just another bag isn't a solution really, as soon I'll have more scrap bags than anything else in my closet. Instead, I decided to somehow 'structure' the mess - by making some bias tape. A nice opportunity to test the new bias tape maker I got last week.

It took me no more than an hour from beginning to end. The result is a roll of - what? - six or seven yards of the most colorful and unique bias tape.
I have no idea yet what I'll use it for - a bag most likely or for binding a small quilt - but for now just looking at it makes me feel happy as every little piece of it reminds me of something else I made over the past year.

The crafts closet still looks like a mess but at least I made some good use of (a tiny bit of) my fabric scraps!

Interested in giving this a try?

You'll need:

- fabric scraps, preferably of same weight
- rotary cutter, ruler, cutting mat
- sewing machine
- iron and ironing board
- bias tape maker (don't bother about the fusing tape mentioned on the package - it works perfectly well without)
Note: As I was looking up 'bias tape maker' I came across this tutorial which shows how to do it without a store bought bias tape maker. Clever!

1. Cut your scraps on the bias in strips of 3.5 cm (or any other width to your liking/ corresponding to your bias tape maker) - I used 3.5cm as this is what my bias maker likes - this will result in 1.8cm wide bias tape.

2. Joining the pieces: Once you have enough scraps, take everything to the sewing machine. Place two pieces, right sides facing, perpendicularly onto each other and stitch at a 45° angle. (Here are some very clear instructions as to how exactly to do this.) Make sure to have right sides facing, to avoid seams ending up at the front of your tape!

3. When you're finished take everything to the ironing board. Press all seams open and trim any excess fabric and loose ends if you haven't done so already.

4. Now feed your bias tape through the bias tape maker and iron as you go. Do this from beginning to end while trying not to burn your fingers.

5. Roll the bias tape onto a piece of cardboard, a tube or something similar. And ready!

50% Eiffel Tower

2011-11-18T00:01:00.007+01:00

This picture was shot on 11.11.11 but it might as well have been today.
Grey and foggy weather but still very mild.

I wonder what the lines look like right now, under the Eiffel Tower at the ticket boots, as visibility is pretty shallow...
Like this it looks like it's still under construction -
as if the fog took us back into time.
If it weren't for the satellite dishes, that is...

Kids' Crafternoon Blog Tour :: Beading & Felting

2011-11-17T00:01:00.037+01:00

I blogged about the Kids' Crafternoon book series before - books one and two, Sewing and Papercrafts hit the shelves last summer and were a big success.
So, it's with great pleasure that I can announce here that Kids' Crafternoon Beading and Kids' Crafternoon Felting have come to complete the series and are available as of now!

Once again the books are compiled and edited by Kathreen Ricketson, who you all know from Whip Up.Net and they're published at Hardie Grant. Each book contains 25 projects for school aged kids (and beyond) by crafters/ bloggers/ artists from around the globe. Each project takes no longer then a couple of hours to make and can be executed with no or limited adult supervision. Templates are made available in a handy envelope at the front of the book. The instructions are clear as always and the illustrations inspire to get started right way. The projects are cute and make sense - and not just for kids. I, for one thing, had a great time making this Zombie Critter Charm below (a project by Lisa Tilse from The Red Thread) which has immediately been claimed by big girl M. All it took was some scraps of felt, needle and thread, a few buttons and a spare hour or so.

These books make a great present for under the Christmas tree or could be a source of inspiration for some great handmade holiday presents by your little ones! And if you're still in need for ornaments and Christmas decoration ideas then make sure to check out Kids' Crafternoon Beading!

Now you tell me, but wouldn't that Zombie Critter Charm make a great and personal teacher's gift?

To find out more about the Kids' Crafternoon book series also check out the blogs below - and if you happen to live in Australia and you'd like to take a chance at winning a copy of one of the books, check out the give-away at The Red Thread - entries are open until Monday, November 21st.

14 Nov - the red thread
15 Nov - soozs big adventure
16 Nov - mmmcrafts
17 Nov - // Between the lines //
18 Nov - Christine Chitnis
19 Nov - Chez Beeper Bebe
20 Nov - The Happy Zombie
21 Nov - a work in progress
22 Nov - loveinthemummyhood
23 Nov - jcasa handmade
24 Nov - picklebums
25 Nov - modern parents messy kids
26 Nov - little eco footprints
27 Nov - li'l magoolie
28 Nov - ohdeedoh
29 Nov - Simple Kids
30 Nov - sadie and lance
1 Dec - Poppytalk

Oh, and in case you were wondering - Yes! I did contribute to the Beading book with some macramé bracelets (Macramé Bracelet, p. 104) and easy ruffled fabric necklaces (Fragment Fancy, p. 56).

Fall

2011-11-01T12:27:00.000+01:00

The girls have their fall break right now.
And Fall it is.
We made it to the forest just once. I love the smell of the humid fallen leaves,
the sight of fresh mushrooms and fungi, their color, their capricious shapes, the way they hide in trunks.

Though temperatures are still pretty mild during the day, we had to get out winter coats for the mornings and evenings. Mittens, scarves and hats are soon to follow.

Leg warmers have been cast on to go with M.'s new boots...

A new season. One I love.

Another silk blouse

2011-10-17T22:02:00.001+02:00

First of all I want to thank you for the very nice, sweet comments on my previous post - I felt/ feel deeply touched. As a matter of fact, your words are an encouragement for me to continue. It's good to make a halt once in awhile and take a deep breath. It's good to redefine, to re-plot the lines and think about which direction to go. And your words have helped me in doing so. I started blogging for fun and want to keep it that way! And the photographs so many of you seem to appreciate will be a part of it as will the crafts, but not only.

That being said, I used my little break to sew - I finished this blouse from another Japanese pattern book and I made a skirt with my very own pattern. But more about the skirt later.

In case you're wondering, the blouse comes out of this book: Ma petite garde-robe. Tendances à coudre. by Yoshiko Tsukiori (not sure if it's available in English). I stuck to the pattern for most part except for the finishing where I chose to go with French seams and hand-sewn mock French seams, because of the flimsy sheer silk I used. Because of the delicacy of the silk I also basted most seams - all the basting and French seams (more than) doubles the work but the result is so much nicer.
And there's something about the process too which I really like and which I had completely forgotten about.
The slow pace of sewing by hand is almost meditative and very soothing.
Stitch by stitch it happens right under your hands. A piece of garment, unique by its nature...

A little frayed...

2011-10-06T11:41:00.001+02:00

It's been a while since my last post. My postings have been highly irregular lately, to say the least. I was feeling under the weather last week, literally, which explains part of my absence here. But I've been thinking also. About which way things should be going here. And to be honest - I don't know.

From the moment I started publishing tutorials, my blog has become increasingly popular. A couple of nice projects have come along thanks to that which I'm really grateful about.
But it has put some strain on me as well. And right now I find it very hard to find a balance. I do not want to publish tutorials or DIY's just for the sake of having DIY or tutorial in the title, attracting the huge numbers of visitors - the ultimate approval. I feel pressured to come up with new and better. It keeps me from doing other things, more meaningful things perhaps. I'm fighting with numbers and that's not what blogging should be about. Not for me, that is.

So, that explains my little retreat. Instead of spending time online, I have been sewing. Slowly. In between things. No rush. Stitch by stitch. And I really enjoyed it.
I even took time for photographing the pieces of frayed silk scattered on the floor, before picking them up...
And it felt good...

A simple linen bag

2011-09-28T10:36:00.001+02:00

Could it get any simpler?
Plain oatmeal colored linen, herringbone woolen twill tape (I wish I had bought more of it...) and linen woven tape for the handles. No lining. All inner seems are finished the French way. And there are two inner side pockets as well. One and the same pattern as this one and this one.

I got one remark, though, from K. and the girls: where's the decoration? Where's the little square? I wasn't intending on adding one - but what do you think? To square or not to square?

Note: I know some of you were interested in finding a copy of the book in English. The title of the book in English is: Linen & Cotton Natural Clothes - Japanese Sewing Pattern Book for Women - and it's written by Kyoko Sakauchi. I found one available here...

DIY infinity scarf :: a tutorial

2011-09-26T14:38:00.003+02:00

School has just started - about what? three weeks ago - and we all went through our first colds and/ or first sore throats. The weather has been up and down, lately - more up than down, to be honest - but the mornings are definitely cooler. Not cool enough for digging up our woolen scarves - but a light scarf might be welcome, I thought. And since I still have a couple of K.'s favorite but worn out (according to me, not to him) T-shirts left and a couple of stitches on my machine which I haven't tried yet, I thought a homemade, light weight infinity scarf might be worth a try! And that's exactly what I did.
I didn't chrono but this is an under half an hour project for sure (rummaging through your closet for a t-shirt not included) and it couldn't be easier. So here's a quick how-to for a simple yet fun infinity scarf!

What's needed:
- an old t-shirt (a sweater might do as well)
- scissors
- pins
- thread in contrasting color (I used a contrasting yellowish green thread to offset the brownish/grey faded color of the T-shirt.
- sewing machine or needle

Instructions

1. Lay down your T-shirt on a flat surface and cut off the bottom hem part. Snip-Snip. (pic.2) Do the same at the sleeve insert level, cutting from one side to the other (pic.3)
2. Fold in half and cut again along the fold - snip snip - to obtain two identically sized tunnels. (pic.4)
3. Cut away the side seams (4 times) - snip-snip - to obtain 4 identically sized rectangles. (pic.5.)
4. Lay one rectangle on top of another rectangle, right sides facing up, and with a 1/2 inch overlap. Pin together - pins-pins (which happens to be the palindrome of snip snip, by the way, how cute is that!). Repeat for the remaining pieces and close the circle by placing the first rectangle on top of the last one (pic.6).
5. Sew together by hand or on your sewing machine with a jersey stitch. And done!

You have now obtained a wonderful light weight infinity scarf and no cost. So, now you can start experimenting with it - wear it twisted around your neck a couple of times, or just once and knotted... You probably could wear it as a head band as well... or as why not, as a belt (as a maternity belt even). A versatile addition to your wardrobe, that is!

Note: As I was finishing this tutorial here I came across this one in my reader at The Purl Bee - a very nice and luxurious infinity scarf, if you ask me...

As with all of my tutorials, please note, this tutorial is intended for personal use only. Therefore, do not reproduce, sell or commercialize in any form without permission. Thanks for understanding!

If you made something using a tutorial found on this blog or if you got inspired by something you found here, make sure to post your pictures here.

it-bag

2011-09-22T10:41:00.003+02:00

That's right! It became a bag! ~~It will be available in the shop soon!~~ Update: it is available in the shop as of now together with a few other items. Go check it out!

Everything on this bag turned out the way I wanted. Even the leather straps which I made myself, and which I'm kind of proud of! They're made out of two layers of natural leather sewn together. The linen is natural oat-meal colored. The patches are cotton and denim.
The bag is fully lined, has two inner side pockets. The patchworked front has an extra layer of flannel in between and is hand embroidered. The back panel is plain natural linen.

No need to add this bag is unique...

Work in progress...

2011-09-21T12:04:00.000+02:00

Found it in the bottom of my closet - something I started after making this. It was supposed to become a blanket, but it soon turned out to be one of those projects that would never get far. So, I finally gave it a new destination... Pulled out an embroidery hoop last night for some final stitches... More about it later as it is ready!

Pretty in silk

2011-09-20T10:18:00.002+02:00

I mentioned my silk blouse a couple of times already. I meant to show you pictures of me wearing it, but am to lazy/ busy right now to set up all my gear for an auto-portrait photo shoot. So here are a couple of pictures of the blouse on a nice hanger - just imagine a nice blonde (grey?) middle aged girl wearing it to get the full picture...

I used Burda pattern 7294 (read the review, which I just happen to find now, but which I agree with for most parts, especially the finishing of the edges) and made a few minor changes:

- I left out the elastic in sleeves and bottom of the shirt and just finished off with a regular hem, which works great - I wish I'd done the bottom hem by hand as I did with the sleeves - I'm actually considering redoing it.
- since I don't like the look of raw edges (even when finished off with a zigzag it looks unfinished) I used a French seam on all seams - a perfect finishing especially when using silk
- I made the sleeves slightly shorter and finished them by hand using a slip-stitch
- I didn't quite like the suggested finishing for the collar and bow tie. I used a rolled hem instead, but next time I'll make sure to finish the neck with a bias or use facing for both tie and neck.

I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. I love the silk ( love the fluttery drape!) which I got really cheap at one of those stores here in Paris at the Marché St.-Pierre where they only sell left over fabrics, end of series, often from designers, at really good prices.
I didn't realize it until yesterday when I was looking for something to wear on top of it (it's getting chilly here in the mornings and evenings), but the blouse pairs up really well with this wrap I made last year and which I'd almost forgotten about... A new favorite outfit for fall!

Sewing

2011-09-19T13:14:00.002+02:00

I can't seem to get enough of my new sewing machine. And it feels like it gave my creativity a new boost as well. So far, it's done perfectly well whatever I asked it to do. Silk blouse? No problemo! Leather? Don't make me laugh! Sewing's no longer a battle. (Well there's a good thing about having had to sew with a not so good machine - it allowed me to develop certain skills and tricks and a way around certain things my machine wasn't able to do.) My new machine and me, however, form a perfect team! We speak the same language. The result is that I've been very productive lately. Not only did I finish my silk blouse over the weekend, I also whipped this bag together yesterday afternoon - it's a different design from my usual bags and I really like it. I got the pattern from this lovely book 'Vêtements en lin et coton. La couture nature.' by Kyoko Sakauchi which I bought a while ago. What I like about this particular bag is that it's very roomy. The perfect shopping tote, if you ask me. Of course I had to add some of my 'signature' leather squares! I have a couple more ideas in mind with this very same bag pattern... I'll keep you posted...

I haven't made up my mind yet but this bag might end up in my Etsy shop together with its yellow fellow and a couple of other things. I just need a couple of hours to focus and set up the pages (this is the part I don't like about Etsy - it takes a lot of time to set up).
But before I do so I need to catch up on laundry and ironing - that's what you get with all the sewing... Everything else piles up, not to speak from the mess it generates. But, lets focus on the ironing first now...

Wishing you all a creative and productive week!

xo, P.

... and more

2011-09-16T10:16:00.000+02:00

... yellow and squares!

Made this little wallet yesterday

and

LOVE

it!

I found a new way for sewing in those nasty zippers - once I've 'perfected' my technique I might throw it into a tutorial.

Also yesterday, I went on a hunt for more yellow fabric but - alas! - they run out of this particular one... which means I have to plan really carefully now what I want to make with whatever's left...

Instead of finding yellow I found a nice piece of silk - I hope my new sewing machine likes silk as I'd like to make a little blouse from it...

This week flew by - I hope the weekend will be slow.
Have a good one!

xo, P.

Something new...

2011-09-12T13:13:00.000+02:00

... for the shop. Yellow linen (a really nice shade of yellow - kind of mustard-like), burgundy red leather squares with contrasting stitch, and striped linen for the inside, including the little pocket. It will be up for sale in my Etsy shop later on this week!

9/11

2011-09-11T00:01:00.006+02:00

I was horrified back then and I still am.
I watched the 9/11: Phone calls from the towers documentary (James Kent) and cried.

Live and love now,

life is so precious...

Lemon and lime garland

2011-09-09T17:27:00.001+02:00

If you want to hold on to that summer feeling a little longer - or want to have an early start, depending on where you are - I highly recommend making one of these!
My girls and I made this colorful lemon and lime garland over summer vacation for the latest issue of Action Pack, which is all about Zap and Zest this time, with zap referring to electricity and zest to anything citrus.
So, if you'd like to find out how to make one of these and much, much more, please, hop over to Action Pack for a double issue full of fun facts and activities, crafts, science projects and recipes.

A nice way to kick off the weekend, if you ask me!

Have fun!

P.

Back to school

2011-09-08T10:47:00.000+02:00

This picture has nothing to do with back to school, except, maybe, for the converses in them with the bright orange and black polka dotted shoe laces - our pre-teen's favorite footwear at the moment. M. started middle school on Monday and little H. - I should stop using the word little when I refer to her - started third grade. The changes for M. are drastic - her time table looks more like a piece of modern art. If it weren't for the green in it, Mondriaan would have been jealous [Mondriaan hated green apparently, we learned at Tate Modern, a couple of weeks ago]. We posted a copy on our front door and it will take us a while to get used to the different starting and ending times, and the week A and week B rythm. For little H., things have changed too - Wednesday mornings have been reintroduced and she ends at 3 in the afternoon instead of 4:15, which is really early if you ask me. But in general things look good. M. probably would have liked to be with more of her friends in class, but she seems overall happy and excited. H. literally got everything she wished for - could that be the shamrock she found in London?

For me this week has been busy too, so no time for crafts unfortunately, unless you count covering books in. And I don't think anyone is interested in a 'How to cover books' tutorial, either. But I'm sure things will get better soon. Especially, when I get myself that new sewing machine I've set my mind upon...
To be continued...

PS: About the picture - it was taken at the Watou exhibit, in Belgium. 200 pairs of ceramic boots aligned in a room. (Natasja Lefevre: Hoop, 2010). We really loved this display. M.'s favorite Converses somehow ended up in the picture...

Herringbone, differently

2011-09-01T15:41:00.001+02:00

Remember the herringbone collar scarf from a few posts back (thanks for the comments, by the way! For those of you who asked how many stitches I cast on: I simply followed the instructions at Purl Bee.) ? I haven't finished it yet and it looks like I'm running out of yarn...big problem, as it was left over yarn.
In the mean time, I cast on a new herringbone knitting project - in flax rope - yes, the kind of rope you buy at the hardware store. Not as cozy to knit with and certainly not as gentle on the fingers, but definitely a project you can take to beach without having to worry about the sand getting into the yarn. I know exactly what I want to use it for, I'm just waiting for a good moment to dive into this new project. To be continued...

As for now, pictures!
Don't you just love the stubborn look of this herringbone knit?

Ears... and tears

2011-08-30T23:07:00.003+02:00

Yves Velter, Sussurro, 2011, Watou

Little H. had her ears pierced today. I still remember how bad I felt when we finally agreed on big girl M. having her ears pierced. What kind of a mom was I to let someone make holes in her perfect little earlobes! But I also remember how happy she'd been and how she would keep on looking in the mirror, feeling big, proud, happy.

Big girl M. was seven, back then - little H. just turned 8 last month. So telling her she was still too young for it no longer worked. She'd been asking about it, on and off, for quite a while, but we managed to keep it off - until now, that is. Since she seemed really serious about it this time, we decided to just go ahead - just get it over with - before school and sports activities - swimming! - start again.

So, today was the big day. And all went well

- eventually!

For a moment it looked like she'd go home with just one ear pierced, and a tiny black dot on the other, totally in shock as she was about how painful it was. I sort of expected that to happen, my own experience as a kid in mind, but had given her the benefit of the doubt. I had my ears done at age 11 at a fair, and the store keeper saw his sales figures plummet considerably that afternoon, thanks to all the noise I made. Unmistakeably, little H. takes after her mom... It took us a lot of effort, pep talk and even more to convince her to do the other ear as well, the poor little thing. And she did - eventually.
And as it goes, half an hour later she just felt big and proud and happy with her little lady bug earrings... She forgot about the tears: she had her ears pierced! (No) big deal!

Action Pack: Issue 5 {Chalk & Cheese}

2011-08-28T10:42:00.000+02:00

One of the posts I really wanted to have up on my blog sooner, but which didn't make it due to an impossibly slow internet connection was the announcement of the latest issue of Action Pack, the online kids magazine by the amazing Kathreen Ricketson (Yes! Kathreen's also the person behind Whip Up and the Crafternoon books).
Action Pack Issue 5 is all about chalk and cheese, with lots of fun projects kids can do themselves, recipes , crafts, and fun facts ... You can buy your very own Action Pack here , as well as order back issues.
And when you scroll down to page 22-23 in the latest issue, you'll find a project my girls and I put together - we had the hardest time getting everything photographed in between rain showers, but we made it and it was lots of fun!!
So, make sure to check out the Action Packs - you won't be disappointed, nor will your kids!!

Cheers!
xo, P.

Reconnected

2011-08-27T19:06:00.002+02:00

It may have looked like I disappeared from this planet, however, my absence here is mainly due to a very bad internet connection while on vacation. I packed everything: laptop, camera, loaders,... I even had a story or two to tell.
Things didn't work out the way I intended, but the good thing is that I'm well rested now!

The girls have one more week of vacation and then it's back to school time,
back to the usual routine,
back to our usual busy lives...

Herringbone

2011-08-09T09:45:00.000+02:00

Wet and grey, this summer feels more like autumn.
It made me pick up the knitting needles.
It's supposed to become a herringbone collar scarf like this one, unless summer makes its appearance after all.

Work in progress: summer or scarf...

Echafaudage

2011-08-08T11:02:00.000+02:00

or scaffolding: a temporary structure used to support people and material in the construction or repair of buildings and other large structures. (Wikipedia)

And they make a great subject for the abstract or not so abstract photograph...

Kids' Crafternoon Blog Tour!

2011-08-07T00:01:00.016+02:00

This is a very special post to me and I'm really excited about it.
Excited as in EXCITED, that is!

About a year ago I was contacted by Kathreen Ricketson, from Whip Up - if I'd be interested in contributing to a series of craft books for children? YES! Absolutely!

Well, this week the first two books in a series of four, all of them compiled and edited by Kathreen Ricketson, arrived in the mail: Kids' Crafternoon Papercraft and Kids' Crafternoon Sewing. There was a lot of oohing and aahing going on, I can tell you, when I opened the package and sat down with my girls to take a first look! And not just because mommy got a project in one of them (which made them very proud, by the way)! They went like 'I want to make this! And I want to make that!'

The books aim at children aged 7-12, but to be honest I think the books appeal to any age. Each book contains 25 really cool - and relevant - projects by contributors from all over the planet. The format is great (spiral bound), the photography and presentation of the projects outstanding, the instructions are clear and all the templates needed are made available in a nice pocket in the front-cover. This is a must-have book for the young (and not-so-young) crafter.

As a matter of fact we couldn't wait to get started.M. immediately fell for the Pocket Cushion (p.94) by Sharon Baldwin. Good thing I didn't throw out our old jeans when we moved a little while ago but kept them in a big box in the back of my closet. They saved our day...

So, here is the result of our first project from the book! Cute isn't it?! Everything's kept handy in those pockets and she uses the pillow as a book rest while reading, seated in her favorite sofa.
I think I want one, too!

And now, little H. can't wait to make the paper kite (p.32, Kids' Crafternoon Papercraft) by Rob Shugg...

For more details about the Crafternoon books head over to the Hardie Grant site, here and here.
Or check out one of the blogs participating to the Crafternoon Blog Tour.

22 July Poppytalk
23 July Picklebums
24 July Little Eco Footprints
25 July Beaspoke quilts
26 July Maya Made
27 July Checkout girl
28 July The red thread
29 July We Wilsons
30 July Maggie Makes
31 July Mmm Crafts
1 August Domesticali
2 August Floating Ink
3 August Elizabeth Abernathy
4 August Mommy Coddle
5 August The Long Thread
6 August Hannah Fletcher
7 August Between the lines
8 August Go Make Me

DIY earband

2011-08-03T00:01:00.007+02:00

What to do when it turns out the - I'm sure very effective - Aqua Earband received from the doctor isn't the right size and your child want's to take a little swim in the outdoor pool? Fake one!

We were given an Aqua Earband by our doctor to keep M.'s ear plugs securely into place, which she needs to wear after having had tubes placed in both her ears. Unfortunately, when we finally ended up at the pool, the band didn't fit (too small). I could see her disappointment, so I had to come up with something really quick. Turned out I had packed my incredibly sexy bathing cap (which you need to wear in French public pools and which are incredibly uncomfortable because they come in one-size fits all and make me feel like my skull will pop off any minute whenever I wear it, which is only when I'm at the pool, let this be clear!). With a mighty snip from the incredibly dull scissors found in our first aid kit, I fixed her a fancy homemade ear band which also happened to fit.

So, in case you'd like to replicate, this is how it goes:

1. Take a silicone bathing cap.
2. Take a pair of scissors.
3. Cut off the top part of said bathing cap.
4. If your child likes to wear a pony tail or braid for swimming cut away a small triangle at the top of the back part of the ear band. This will make sure the band will stay into place and won't start pulling (extensively tested!).Et voila! C'est tout!

A week in pictures...

2011-08-02T21:19:00.002+02:00

We got back last Sunday from a short trip in the Lot department, or le Quercy as they also call this part of France. We went back to the same region as last year because we loved it so much back then and that feeling hasn't changed. It's a beautiful region - quaint, lush, a bit dramatic, too, on a cloudy day (and we had more than a few of those, unfortunately). This year, we stayed at the lovely Domaine Lapèze in Montcuq, a 200 year old farm turned into gite and run by Caroline and Knud Kristoffersen where we had a very nice, little cottage at our disposal. The view from the domaine, which is located on a hill, was simply stunning, with its sunflower fields, plum orchards, vineyards, and little winding roads, the Montcuq tower... The girls fell in love with the owners' two dogs, three horses, and two cats living on the premises, and the - very loud at some times - donkey a bit further down the road. The weather wasn't great - the sun was a no-show until the second part of the week - but we've enjoyed every minute of our little break...
Our week in pictures...

the stunning view from our cottage

I fell in love with these delicate queen anne's lace (thanks, Ana!) - did you see the cute little red heart?!

apples for the horses...

This young lady turned 8 during our stay!

The girls' creativity at its best - they made a very nice summer garland with plenty of summer goodness found around the yard...

... we called him the asthmatic donkey because of the weird noise he made - the girls were convinced he felt lonely which made them sad so they would bring him carrots and apples too

Montcuq market on Sunday morning

Undoubtedly, the most adventurous part of our stay - it took us forever to get to the Accro-Liane site in Figeac (thanks to our ever-outperforming GPS), but it sure was worth the long ride...

Flower power :: a bracelet

2011-07-23T09:01:00.010+02:00

I don't know what took me so long to post this. Maybe the fact that this was a craft totally gone wrong at first. It's the same flower as the ones here and here. Only, the leather was of such poor quality that it looked horrendous. Since it couldn't get any worse I decided to wet the leather and shape it (read: wrinkle it, roll it, twist it, ...) and the result you can see. Not the best I've made so far, but it was nice to actually see you can shape leather with just a bit of water (and a lot of patience for it to dry). Next, all I did was threading it onto a leather shoe lace I still had sitting around and that's it!

I'm signing off now and just so you know: I'm taking a short break from blogging.
But no worries, I'll be back soon...

Wishing you a great weekend!

Cheers, P.

Recycled plastic bag pompom flip-flops :: a tutorial

2011-07-22T09:04:00.014+02:00

(from the archives)

... or how to turn boring flip flop sandals into a pair of funky pompom slippers by recycling a couple of also boring plastic grocery bags. Summer is half way now, if you didn't get your flip-flops out yet, this is the right moment to do so!

This is a tutorial I wrote some time ago for the online magazine N.E.E.T (check out their June issue here and check here for back issues - the photography in this magazine is simply stunning as is the artwork, and they have a blog too).

I'm posting it again, here, for those of you who missed it and also because I think it's a fun recycling project which you might want to try making with the older child - if you are having summer vacation right now and if you are running out of ideas: Keep on reading!

What you’ll need:

Warning: Choking hazard! Small parts. These flip flops are not suited for young children!

-          A pair of plastic flip flop sandals
-          A couple of plastic grocery bags
-          A piece of card board
-          Pencil
-          Scissors
-          Needle and thread
-          A glass and a coin or a compass

Instructions:

1.        Pompom template: Make two card board doughnut shaped circles using the glass and coin for tracing. Cut out both circles; next cut out the center.

2.       Card board spool: Cut a rectangular piece of card board, the width being slightly less than the diameter of the smallest circle – make a triangular incision at both ends.

3.       Plastic bag string:

a. Place the plastic bag in front of you, flat. Cut off the bottom seam of the bag and unfold the inner folds. Place the bag which is still tubular flat in front of you.

b. Start cutting strips going from one fold to the other but leaving a one inch allowance at the top fold. Repeat this over the entire width of the bag until you reach the handles. Cut off handles.

c. Now, unfold the allowance and slip the bag over your hand with the allowance facing up. Now, start making slant incisions from strip 1 to strip 2, strip 2 to 3 etc. You’ll get one long strip of plastic bag string.

d. Wind the plastic bag string around the cardboard spool you made.

4. Plastic bag pompoms:

a. Place both pompom templates on top of each other. Using the spool wind the string around the pompom template. Make sure to cover the entire template. The more string you wrap around the template the fuller the pompom.

b. When finished, carefully cut open at the top between circles. Carefully separate the circles slightly so you can wind some thread firmly around the strips. Tie a few knots. Don’t cut off the loose ends.

c. Carefully, slip off the template. If necessary trim the pompom to give it a nice shape.

5. Assembling: Place the pompom on top of the strap of your flip flop. Slip the loose ends of the thread through a needle. Now wrap the thread around the strap and, pass the needle through the center of the pompom. Repeat a couple of times until the flower is firmly attached. Tie a firm knot; cut off and apply a dash of glue or transparent nail polish to the knot. Trim the pompom some more if necessary. Repeat for the other foot and… Done!

Note: If you don't have enough bags of the same color ( you need approx.1 per pompom) use different colored bags and combine them on the spool.

Warning: Choking hazard! These flip flops are not suited for young children!

As with all of my tutorials, please note, this tutorial is intended for personal use only. Therefore, do not reproduce, sell or commercialize in any form without permission. Thanks for understanding!

Work in progress...

2011-07-21T10:59:00.000+02:00

Linen, cotton and unbleached molton on the inside.
No pattern to start with - it happened as I went.
I love the dirty yellow, though the fabric was terrible to work with.
I'm in the process right now of hand sewing the binding - every night a little bit, one stitch at a time. I really enjoy this - it's very soothing - so I'm taking it slowly.
I'm still thinking about the quilting - by hand for sure, but not certain about the pattern yet, if any at all. I might go for knotting again...
I never thought making a quilt this size would be such a physical process - after one afternoon on all four piecing layers together my back was all sore.

Though I love the new blanket in the workings, I hope we won't need an extra blanket anytime soon...
So, Summer, can you please come back? We would really, REALLY appreciate it...

Inspired by the beach...

2011-07-18T17:16:00.000+02:00

... I made this bracelet the other night inspired by the red, orange and yellow buoys on the beach.
Very easy to make if you have needle and thread, seed beads, chips of turquoise and a piece of shoe lace at hand. Just sew the seed beads on, one by one, centered onto the shoelace. When done, go through all the beads in the opposite direction to make sure they'll stay put. Secure with a firm knot and cut off excess thread. Make a slip knot at both ends and there you go: a bracelet - or anklet, if you like.

We're still waiting for the sun to come out here - the last couple of days felt as if autumn was very near (which it is, now that I think of it...)...Hope the bracelet will help to keep that summer feeling alive...

Wishing you a happy week!
xo, P.

Back from the beach...

2011-07-16T00:14:00.000+02:00

and the picnic blanket just successfully passed it's first laundry cycle (it had some chocolate stains...). What did I say?! It became even prettier now that it got a bit puffier (the inner layer shrunk just that tiny bit I wanted - yes to molton!) and softer. I'm totally in love with my blanket and I will definitely make another one - I more or less know what I want it to look like. It's just a matter of time and energy and a couple more supplies! Can't wait!

In the mean time, here are some beach pictures - the weather wasn't great, but fine enough for walks, playing at the beach, some fishing on the pier and yes we did need sunscreen and sun glasses from time to time - that's the nice thing about the Belgian coast: the weather can change from overcast and rainy to bright and sunny within a mere couple of hours (unfortunately, the other way around is possible too...).
But I'm not complaining, as we had lots of fun!

Beach, sun and ... a new picnic blanket

2011-07-06T00:29:00.001+02:00

Finished it last night and we love it!
My first real blanket.A happy blanket.
The girls helped me with laying out the fabric squares, 100 in total. We decided to just randomize instead of going with a regular pattern and it turned out just fine! Only the white fabric with shrimp and water melon among other things, is new (IKEA) - everything else we had, I even went looking in my girls' sewing baskets (light blue/white gingham).
Since I didn't have time for quilting the blanket, I knotted the layers together using embroidery floss. For the inside I used a 100% cotton woven 'molton'.

Let's hope the weather will be good enough tomorrow for a picnic at the beach, so we can break in our new blanket (as no food nor dirty feet were allowed on the blanket until some pictures were taken tonight...)!

Fun with... pizza dough!

2011-06-29T21:20:00.000+02:00

Both girls had a friend over for a sleep over (sisters too!). They had a lot of fun together, and though I know that at this age they can play together really well without 'help' of a grown up, I did foresee a couple of activities to do together. One of them was baking. M. had a pizza atelier a little while ago with her friends for her birthday and there they made 'viennoises au chocolate' with left over dough. A great idea, if you ask me. This reminded me of a recipe I read somewhere (I can't remember where, unfortunately) for cinnamon bread sticks made from pizza dough. Instead of bread sticks, we decided to make cinnamon rolls and to give the chocolate viennoise a try as well. We had no idea how both of these would turn out but it was worth a try, we figured. We split up in two teams and made two delicious snacks in no time!

Keep on reading if you want to give this a try. As you'll notice it's all very intuitive - you can't go wrong really.

For the cinnamon rolls you'll need one package of pizza dough - ours was not frozen and already rolled out which made it even simpler. If yours is frozen, let thaw and then roll out the dough with a rolling pin, the way you would for a pizza. With a brush spread melted butter over the entire surface of the dough, next sprinkle the entire surface with sugar and cinnamon. Roll the dough now to obtain a log. Cut the log into 1-1 1/2 inch pieces. Place each one of them in a muffin pan lined with cup cake liners (unfortunately, I just had the girls grease the pan - I'm soaking the sticky pan with baking soda now, in an attempt to get the melted sugar off... I added the liners for the picture and to hide what's missing... LOL). Bake in a 350°F oven for about 20-25 min or until golden and the sugar bubbling. Let cool on a wire rack. Easy!!

Even more easy are the pizza dough viennoise au chocolat. Same here, roll out your dough, as you would when making pizza. Sprinkle some chocolate chips in a line at one end of the circle, next roll the dough such that the chocolate chips disappear inside, sprinkle some more chocolate along the fold, roll, sprinkle, roll,... and continue like this until you've obtained a log. With a sharp knife make some cuts on top. Brush the top with melted butter and bake in a 350°F oven for about 20 minutes or until golden. Let cool on a wire rack. Bon appétit!

Note: Our cinnamon rolls were really crispy (and SO yummy!) because the dough was rolled out really thin - if you like them moist and soft, use more butter and roll out the dough less. Adjust the baking time if necessary.

Tomorrow...

2011-06-27T23:29:00.000+02:00

... is the last day of school here. The last weeks just flew by and so many things happened (and other things did not happen...)
M.'s surgery went well last week - her hearing improved dramatically, which made her really happy and us too.
All the 'spectacles', recitals, presentations, ... are behind us and so are most of the birthday parties.
As of Wednesday we can pick up a slower pace - at least for a while. And this will be much appreciated by us all...

The bracelets in the pictures are some of the teacher appreciation gifts we made tonight - the girls picked the beads with care at our favorite beading shop (right before closing time - I'm such a good planner) and I tied the knots. They're easy to make - all you need to know is how to tie a sliding knot. The pictures of the finished bracelets aren't great - I've been having some white balance and exposure issues lately (probably one of the settings on my camera got messed up) but haven't had the time to take a proper look at. But I will have now! As of tomorrow!! Maybe...

An afternoon through the lens

2011-06-20T10:47:00.001+02:00

When I asked M. what she'd liked to do for the afternoon yesterday while little sis was gone to a birthday party, she said "I want you to teach me how to use the camera". She was referring to my old camera, my Nikon D40, the first DSLR I ever bought. I use a D90 now, but held on to the the much lighter D40 for special purposes and to teach my kids one day. Well it seems like that day has come.

M. new exactly what she wanted to do - walk around the neighborhood and take pictures. So, off we went, both equipped with a camera. The afternoon flew by. It was fun and interesting at the same time, in the sense that even though you walk on the same street, you see different things or the same things differently. I really liked our little photographic experiment and I hope there will be more to follow.

As for now, I'm really proud to show you a couple of the shots my eleven year old made.

She's got talent and a good eye, if you ask me...

Wishing you a happy Monday,

P.

Yolk

2011-06-17T11:33:00.001+02:00

We had a pasta salad the other night - nothing fancy but it makes a fast and easy dinner and everyone likes it here. I boiled a couple of eggs for the occasion and had one left. I put it in the fridge and as I did I remembered something I read a long time ago, in my jewelry making days: you can oxidize sterling silver using a hard-boiled egg. I love silver with an antiqued look, however, scared of all the chemicals used to get the result, I never came around doing it myself. And eggs were a big no as little H. still suffered from a severe egg allergy back then. But not anymore!
So off I went to find some jewelry that could use a little boost.

Turns out the technique works like a charm! It's easy, fast, cheap and more importantly absolutely safe (unless you're allergic to eggs that is). Here's how I did it goes:

1. Take a hard boiled egg and put it in a Ziploc bag. Close the bag.
2. Smash it (this is fun! - no need to peel the egg).
3. Open the bag and add your jewelry (yes, this may seem gross). Close the bag. And let it sit for awhile. The sulfur from the egg yolk will take care of the oxidizing process. Shake the bag from time to time - don't worry about getting the egg everywhere on your jewelry, this will be taken care of later. Check from time to time to see how the darkening is going.
4. When satisfied with the result take out the jewelry and discard the bag with the egg (make sure not to leave any precious jewelry behind before throwing it out!). Gently wash your jewelry with a mild soap (dish washing liquid works fine) and rinse well. Dry with a soft towel.
5. Finish off by buffing the silver here and there with a silver cleaning cloth. And done!

I have no idea how long the antiqued look will last - I tend not to take off jewelry when taking a bath or shower - but given the simplicity of the process I don't mind repeating it once in a while. Writing down everything actually took me longer than taking care of the silver.

Do you have any Aha-uses sitting in your fridge or on your shelves? Feel free to add them in the comment section to this post!

Buzzzy

2011-06-15T14:42:00.002+02:00

Only two more weeks left and the school year's over. And so many things remain to be done. Our summer vacation is taking shape as we finally sat down to make plans - the plans look great, and I'm so much looking forward to our summer break.
But right now we're running around like crazy to birthday parties, end-of-year parties, and spectacles. Somewhere in between big girl M. will have surgery which will finally take care of the resisting ear infection and accompanying hearing loss she has suffered from these last couple of months.

The picture above is from two weekends ago when M. had her friend over for a sleep-over. The sleep-over was lots of fun but unfortunately eventful too - as they were playing M. fell and chipped both her front teeth - oh, horror! - it's been taken care off now - on her birthday, of all days - more doctor visits, more running around...
Anyway, it was the last time I had the sewing machine out. Looking for a 'quiet' activity we made a couple of whimsical pillows together. They're really, really fun to make and absolutely easy to make too. The perfect craft for a rainy afternoon or when seeking shade inside on those really hot days... I'm not sure I'll make it to my sewing machine again anytime soon. I did buy some really cute fabric on my last trip to Ikea and I'm dying to make some totes with it, but I've no idea when I'll be able to do so. I'll keep you posted...

And of we go now to our next activity! I hope you're having a great week!

Flower power :: a tutorial

2011-06-10T12:22:00.001+02:00

I most definitely did not need another purse. As a matter of fact, this week while carrying around a way too heavy purse I made the remark I would so much like to be "free" - I want to live a purse-free life. Why is it that men can leave the house with just a wallet and a set of keys and we carry around entire survival kits? Do I really need all this stuff? Let's face it: right now, I have in my purse

- a wallet
- another purse with change
- keys
- car keys
- sunglasses
- small pencilcase
- handsanitizer
- paper tissues
- several packs of chewing gum
- paper wrappers
- loose change
- organizer (although small, really heavy!)
- MOO cards (that's right! I didn't mention them yet but I ordered some MOO Mini Cards a little while ago - so cute!)
- pass Navigo (Metro travel pass)
- cell phone - which I usually can't find when it rings, because obstructed by all of the above
- a small umbrella
- card holder for store fidelity cards, membership cards ...
- a notebook
- a little pouch with medication and band aids

Surprisingly, I do not carry around any make-up, not even a lipstick.

But seriously: do I really need all of this? When I take out the umbrella you can rest assured it will start raining. And the girls only fall or get hurt when I don't bring any band aids. But one pen would do, wouldn't it, instead of a pencil case. And how about all the plastic cards from stores where I come only once in a while. And the organizer?

With that in the back of my mind and the upcoming vacation I thought I should try to go light again. And is there a better way of doing so with a brand new, cute little purse?

The inspiration for this one comes from a little purse my dad brought me from a business trip to Ohio - I was about twelve when I received it and I still have it. It was just the perfect size to hold a wallet and a set of keys and I used it way into adult life. It was handmade and all seams where sewn with leather strips - something you see showing up everywhere again lately (see also my bohemian belt). Hence the leather shoelace stitched seams. In addition, I decided to have a flower closure and since I liked the rough edges of the leather I chose to integrate these as well into the design. The body of the purse is made out of a single rectangular piece which makes it a really easy project.

What you'll need:

- a rectangular piece of leather
- leather scraps for the flower
- leather shoe lace for binding the edges (2), strap (2), closure and flower attachment (1)
- leather punch
- scissors, rotary cutters
- ruler and marker

Instructions:

1. Cut your leather to size for the body of the purse. ~ pic.1

2. Make flower from leather scraps by cutting two flower shapes, one slightly bigger than the other. Punch two holes in each one (make sure they correspond to each other).

3. About 1 cm from the edge, mark where the holes should come, one every cm. Also punch two holes at the top fold (for the strap), four holes (two by two) near the bottom center for the closure loop, and two near the bottom of the flap for the flower (same distance between holes as in flower). ~pic.3

4. With leather punch, punch holes as marked. However, on the side seams skip the one at the bottom fold (marked with a cross in pic.3 - enlarge picture) on either side (left and right). ~ pic.4

5. Sew seams with shoe lace. Start and finish with a knot ~ pic.5

6. Attach the loop for closure as shown ~ pic. 6-7

7. Attach flower to the flap and secure with a knot at each end. ~ pic.7 and 9

8. Attach strap (I used two shoe laces for that, knotted together) ~pic.8

Designer notes: Except maybe for the punching part, this would be a perfect craft for the (older) kid. If you don't have any leather handy or do not want your kid to ruin some precious leather, try using felt or denim. In the latter case, no punching is required as one can just sew the seams with needle and thread. The flower can be made out of any material, really or replaced by a button.
Use your imagination and more importantly - have fun!

This little purse has exactly the right size to hold a small wallet, keys and a cell phone and will keep me company on the beach, hopefully soon!

As with all of my tutorials, please note, this tutorial is intended for personal use only. Therefore, do not reproduce, sell or commercialize in any form without permission. Thanks for understanding!

If you made something using a tutorial found on this blog or if you got inspired by something you found here, make sure to post your pictures here.

ELEVEN!

2011-06-07T16:52:00.000+02:00

Today!

Really!?

When did that happen?

Overnight, it feels like...

She's growing up fast, our sweet baby M. ...

Wishing you a splendid birthday, my dearest big girl M. ...

xo, Mommy

This is so N.E.E.T.!!

2011-06-02T11:33:00.001+02:00

Not too long ago, I was contacted by Stephanie at N.E.E.T. magazine. If I would be interested in doing a tutorial for the June issue - preferably a recycling project, something for summer. Did I need to think about that? No, of course not!

So, here it is, the latest issue of N.E.E.T. magazine - with my recycled plastic bag pompom flip-flops among tons of other great stuff. Really, I feel so proud to have my project featured in a stunning and inspiring online magazine like N.E.E.T.! N.E.E.T. has great photography, styling, DIY projects, ... Go check it out!
And make sure to go take a look at page 148 through 151 for some really cool DIY flip-flops! There's even a downloadable PDF... Not to be missed!

Celebration

2011-05-28T17:24:00.001+02:00

Everyone's back home and it feels good.
I picked up little H. from the train last night. She's had a great time so much I could tell from the sound of her voice or better from the lack thereof. Coarse from all the singing at the 'boum' the night before. She was cheerful and had lots to tell on our metro ride home. New songs to sing, new clapping games to share. Big Sister was greeted with a bear hug - she even got her big sister the coolest present ever - something 'you won't find in Paris'. And then late last night Daddy got home from his trip - no coarse voice as he didn't have a 'boum' the last evening of the conference, but tired nevertheless after a week of hard working.

With everyone back home, my creativity returned as well. This flower necklace is something new I have been working on. I really like it and I'm contemplating making a few for the shop.

A flower to celebrate...

Wishing you a happy weekend too,

xo, P.

Lotus :: ctd

2011-05-26T10:51:00.000+02:00

Remember the lotus seed pods from a while back?
That's what they look like now.
I can't tell which version I prefer, but there's certainly something about them right now...

Old and crumpled, a bit stubborn but proud.

I hope I can grow old like that...

Flower petal shoes :: the kids version

2011-05-24T11:23:00.001+02:00

It's like the past couple of weeks all I've been doing is packing and unpacking. First for the move. Then big girl M. left on a trip with school (which was great, by the way!). Yesterday little H. left with her class for a trip until the end of the week. And today, before dawn, K. set off on a business trip.

Packing. Unpacking.
Boxes. Suitcases. Backpacks.
Packing. Unpacking.

Result: I'm way behind on blog reading and I have been kind of absent here, too. But, I'm working on it as of today!

So, to start with, here is the kids version of last weeks up-cycled espadrilles. This pair of (really cheap) gym shoes (which they needed for the trip) went in little H.'s suitcase as a little surprise (it became sort of a habit here - we stick little surprises in suitcases whenever someone goes on a trip). All I did, was cut some petals out of the Petit Pan fabric scraps I bought a while ago. I used four petals per flower. Folded and layered them and next, sewed them together, as explained here.
Simple and easy - so, easy a kid could do this as no special sewing skills are required. Perfect as a birthday party craft, if you ask me.

I absolutely like the result and they're SO much little H.
I'm pretty confident she loved them when she unpacked her suitcase!

Creative with espadrilles :: a DIY

2011-05-18T17:49:00.001+02:00

I have this love hate relationship with espadrilles. I always loved them because they stand for summer. Whenever they show up you know summer's around the corner. Summer. Sun. The beach. No stress. I also love them because of their simplicity. A shoe can't get any simpler (nor cheaper) than that, can it? A sole and two pieces of fabric joined together.

However, I didn't wear espadrilles for the longest time because of the squeaky sound the rope of my last pair made. Just thinking of it gives me the shivers! So, what made me buy another pair and devote a whole post to them? To be honest I have no idea - I must admit I fell for the gray stitches on the sides, but was that enough to buy them, bearing the squeaky sound of the rope in mind? I guess I just needed another challenge: the espadrille make-over.

I actually had a lot of fun working on this DIY. As a matter of fact, what you see here is only a fraction of the things I came up with. There might be a couple more ideas in the pipeline...
Anyway, let's just start with this handful of ideas. Ready?

What you'll need:

- a pair of espadrilles
- an old T-shirt or other fabric scraps, if you like
- a pair of scissors
- needle and thread

Instructions:

Bow-tie espadrilles

1. Cut a strip from the old T-shirt, about 3-4cm wide and 20cm long.

2. Fold over the strip so the fabric overlaps. With needle and thread, in the middle, gather and secure the fabric. Cut of excess fabric, if any.

3. Fold a small piece of fabric over the stitches, to hide, and secure with a few stitches on the back. Shape the bow tie.

4. Position the bow-tie onto the espadrille and secure with a couple of stitches.

5. Repeat for the other shoe. Wear!

Rose bud espadrilles

1. Cut a strip of t-shirt.

2. Fold in half and start rolling the fabric to form a rose.

3. Secure at the bottom of the flower with a couple of stitches. Shape.

4. Position onto the shoe. Sew into place with a couple of stitches.

Note: the size of the flower depends on the width and length of the fabric. You can play around with both. Or why not make several flowers different in size and color to form a rose garden on your shoe!

Flower petals espadrille

1. Cut three (or more) not so round circles of roughly the same size.

2. Fold them in half and again in half and place all three on top of each other. Pin together.

3. Next, sew them together with a couple of stitches and shape the flower as you go.

4. Place on top of your shoe. Sew into place with a couple of stitches.

Note: Same thing applies here: play with size and color or combine several to form a flower patch on your shoe. Add sequins, beads, leaves, ... if you wish so, or just keep it simple.

This is a fairly easy craft, which kids could easily do. It's not very time consuming, no special supplies are required and the reward is immediate.
Maybe a fun craft idea for a summer birthday party!? If you can't find espadrilles right away, gym shoes might work just as well, just as any other ballerina or pair of flats.

My espadrilles have been extensively tested by now. And you know what? This pair doesn't squeak!

Please note, this tutorial is intended for personal use only. Therefore, do not reproduce, sell or commercialize in any form. Thanks for understanding!

If you made something using a tutorial found on this blog or if you got inspired by something you found here, make sure to post your pictures here.

Gone

2011-05-16T17:54:00.003+02:00

M. left on a school trip this morning, with her class.
We slipped a couple of goodies in her bag. Little H. wrote 5 letters, one for each day and made her a lovely beaded bracelet (which she hid in the Wednesday envelope) and I assembled a pair of earrings, matching the party dress we bought for the "boum" on the last evening of camp...(Don't you like that fabric?!)

I'm sure they'll have lots of fun and they'll come home all grown up again...

See you on Friday, Sweetie! Have a great time!

PS: I'm glad I'm able to post again after Blogger had the hiccups all weekend - I haven't recovered all of your comments on the previous post yet, but according to Blogger they too should re-appear soon.

A splash of color

2011-05-11T11:31:00.000+02:00

I made this necklace last weekend, with bits and pieces I still had lying around from other jewelry projects - odd pieces of brass chain, gemstones (most of which I forgot the names), liquid silver and glass seed beads, which I love. I used brass eye pins in between. You can't tell from the pictures, but I messed up some of the eye loops - I guess I got out of the habit and I didn't have enough eye pins to start them all over again...
But I do like the result.

I have been wearing my new accessory every single day. It adds a little splash of color to my predominantly gray/beige/white (and very boring) wardrobe.
That and my bohemian style belt which has become another favorite of mine...

Lotus seed pods

2011-05-10T22:04:00.000+02:00

I bought these lotus seed pods earlier today as a reward for a day of hard working. It wasn't until I put them in a vase that I realized the incredibly photogenic nature of these pods. There wasn't time for an extensive photo shoot, but I do like my snap shots.

I hope I'll find a little bit more time though, this week, to take pictures of small projects I've been working on.
But first I need to make sure big girl M. has everything ready for her upcoming school trip...

Wishing you a great and productive week,

xo, P.

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T13:56:00.001+02:00

I had an early Mother's Day gift this year. Big girl M. bought me some flowers this week - not one bouquet, but two and these little violets. She surprised me when I got home after dropping off her little sister at gym. She'd put them in vases around the house. One bouquet of lovely scented yellow freesia's and one bouquet with freesia, muguets and roses.

The best present however was the smile on her face, the sparkle in her eyes, the excitement and her story of how she planned everything. Too sweet for words...

Thank you my dearest little M. for this early, lovely surprise!

I'm wishing a happy Mother's Day to all of you moms, wherever you live...! May you have a great day!

xo,

It starts feeling like home

2011-05-05T13:49:00.000+02:00

Three weeks, that's how long we've been here, in the new apartment. With all the boxes unpacked (there are a few exceptions, still), it starts to feel like home. And the four of us have a general good feeling about the new place. We like how it is roomier. We love the abundance of light. We love having quiet neighbors. We love seeing people walk down the street. We love being closer to the shops.

A lot remains to be done still - but we prefer to take it slowly. We've got nothing on the walls for instance, because we like our clean bare walls for one thing and because we want to make the right decision before drilling that hole. Maybe, we'll drill a first hole next weekend to put up our kitchen shelves - we know now where we want the olive oil to be...

Little by little, it will become our place.
We prefer to take it slowly...

Bohemian style belt :: a tutorial

2011-05-03T15:07:00.002+02:00

Have you noticed? This summer, it's all about belts. Belts are quick fixes to any outfit, be it chic or casual. This summer, they come in different styles, widths, textures, and colors... I particularly like tiny belts - they add elegance to any silhouette (read: suggest the presence of a waist, even if there ain't any...LOL).

I don't quite remember what exactly triggered this project - was it my new leather punch? - but I had it in mind for quite a while - I just hadn't found the time yet to work it out. But I did now! Hurray to all the cartons unpacked!!

As always, this is a very easy project, which requires very basic sewing skills only. Also, very little is needed. Except for a free hour or so you'll need:

- an old leather belt, or a cheap new one
- fabric scraps, ribbon or bias tape,...
- a leather punch
- scissors
- big needle
- ruler and marker

Preparing the fabric:

From your fabric scraps, cut strips of different lengths. I cut mine about 1cm wide. No need to cut in bias - we like the frayed look on this project! I didn't measure the exact length the strips totaled up to, but my guess is you'll need about three times the length of your belt. If you're not sure, cut as you go.

Preparing the belt:

1. Determine how far apart you want the holes. I used 1cm intervals. Starting from the buckle, with a felt tip, make a mark every centimeter, about 0.5cm from the side. Do this all the way around the belt.

2. On your leather punch, determine which size of holes you want (use a piece of scrap leather or card board to test the sizes, before you start on the belt - the holes need to be big enough to fit the fabric strips through). Now, punch your way around the belt. This is the most and only labor intensive part of this craft, I promise!

Assembling:

1. Thread a big needle with the first fabric strip, tie a knot at the other end. Sew your way around the belt with a whip stitch through the holes. Change fabric strips as you go and to your liking. Don't worry about the lose ends - we will take care of those later - just start with a new strip in the next hole as you change.

2. Weave in the loose ends at the back of the belt, by slipping the needle under a couple of stitches. Cut off what's left. Repeat for every loose end and ...

Done!!
A bohemian style leather belt to give that white shirt and jeans outfit a little color boost!

Notes:

- If you don't have a leather punch, you can find them at most hardware stores, where they'll likely be cheaper than at specialty stores or craft stores.
- Instead of using fabric strips, one could also use different strands of embroidery floss of several colors combined together, leather shoe laces, raffia, ...
- I combined different types of fabric, but of course you could limit yourself to the use of a single color - in that case just cut your strips as long as possible.

Please note, this tutorial is intended for personal use only. Therefore, do not reproduce, sell or commercialize in any form. Thanks for understanding!

If you made something using a tutorial found on this blog or if you got inspired by something you found here, make sure to post your pictures here.

Saving the scraps

2011-05-01T18:16:00.001+02:00

You know about my love for scraps by now.
And about my love for leather.
Well, there's a new tutorial in the making combining the two...

It will be up later this week...

Cheers,

P.

Back

2011-04-28T11:08:00.001+02:00

It feels good to be back! These two pictures more or less summarize the past two weeks and a half. Boxes and sunny skies.

The move went well if we don't take into account the four movers who got stuck in our elevator while on their way up to get started. They were stuck for over an hour - a nightmare! Especially given the size of the elevator - it really is tiny. It got us really worried. I didn't dare to take the elevator for the rest of that day, neither did the kids... and one of the movers who got a real scare. Taking the stairs instead - nine floors in one building and five in the other - resulted in sore legs and a lot of laughter the next day: given my broken toe I didn't know which leg to limp with first.
But all in all the move went really well! Even the unpacking went smooth, though "where is...?" was a much heard question the first couple of days. But as a matter of fact, I believe we never moved this well organized. There's a learning curve, so much is clear.

As we didn't want the kids to spend their entire vacation between boxes I took them to the seaside. The weather was great, we got a nice tan and got well rested for what is this school year's last term already. I can't believe how fast time went by - there's so many things I want to do still before summer vacation!

I'd better get started!!

I'll be back soon!

2011-04-11T18:21:00.000+02:00

As of tomorrow we'll be cut off from all internet and phone services until... we'll be reconnected - that's literally what the phone company has told me - which can take up to two weeks...
I hope to be back sooner, though.

See you all then?!

All about light

2011-04-09T22:11:00.004+02:00

This post is all about light...

About how it won't take us long to take all the light fixtures down in our apartment for the simple reason there ain't any. Bare light bulbs is what we have, with a few exceptions, even after close to four years. And you know what? I think I like our bare light bulbs...

This post is also about how I broke my right foot's little toe Thursday night, because I didn't want to turn on the light so I wouldn't wake up the kids. However, I forgot about the stack of boxes (still folded and empty) in our hall way and the rest you can guess. I packed my foot with ice after applying some arnica and went to bed hoping that it would feel better in the morning. It didn't. My timing couldn't be any better. Oh well, I guess I'll survive - the doctor said I still could do everything (except for the marathon on Sunday - but that wasn't in my planning anyway), it only would hurt the first couple of days. When I left the orthopedist's office an old couple was on their way in - the old man, slightly bended and walking with a cane, looked at me while I wobbled out and joked to his wife how people were all alike when entering that building - we both started laughing out loud... and right he was...

If only I would have turned on the light last night, I thought...

Tze move

2011-04-06T22:03:00.000+02:00

Things are a bit crazy right now. I'm supposed to be packing, but instead I've been running around like crazy, bringing kids to and back home from birthday parties, not to be missed gym classes right before competition season starts and doctor appointments.
M. hasn't been hearing very well the last couple of days, so we went to see her pediatrician who referred us to a specialist. She's had this before, and I know it's probably something minor, but I want it to be taken care of as soon as possible. As if bad hearing weren't enough, the poor thing came home with head lice. We never had them before but the schools never seem to be without them. Luckily, we caught it (them?) early. I kept her home from school yesterday morning, so we could do the necessary while running loads of laundry. Sheets, pillow cases, her hooded sweaters, towels... The last thing I want is those critters moving with us...

In between, I spent quite an amount of time on the phone to arrange for our move and all things related. I need to do as much as possible now as we'll be cut off from all our phone services, internet etc. for about two weeks. TWO WEEKS! Can you believe this!? And we're moving to a place on the same block - in Paris! This must be something French - we've moved around quite a bit and never were without a phone for longer than 24 hours... except for in France. Just for reference: since I met K. I moved six times! That's an average of every two and a half years... It's a drastic but effective way to get rid of excess stuff. So, let's go do that right now!

A life in boxes...

Science project show

2011-04-01T20:47:00.001+02:00

"Today was our science electricity project show. I completely forgot to remind Mama & Papa (they had had the invitation a while ago) - so they didn't come but it still was fun. Some people's circuits broke down just that day... Lot's of people commented on mine!! I'M SO PROUD!!"

~ M., 10 years old

I still feel miserable that neither one of us made it to M.'s science project show - she so much deserved it for us being there. I forgot about the show when I made the appointment to go in to sign our new rental agreement and K. had meetings all day. When I realized I'd missed it, I felt like I could kill myself.

I'm so proud of my little girl, of her project, of the grown-up way she dealt with the fact we didn't come to see her. Next week she has an art show and you bet I'll be there!!

A quick word about the cat: M. learned about parallel circuits in science class and got an assignment to build something around /in/with a shoebox, two or three light bulbs, two or three switches, electrical wire and a battery. M. wanted to build a cat nightlight. We were lucky to find a cardboard papier mâché cat at the crafts store. The head had to be cut off in order to insert the eyes/ light bulbs and all off the wiring and then patched together again (once made sure everything worked correctly). The battery and switches went neatly under the box. It wasn't an easy project, but definitely a fun and interesting one - even K. and me learned a thing or two about parallel circuits...
We are so proud of our little girl...

New tool

2011-03-30T20:57:00.000+02:00

I finally got myself a real leather punch and I'm pretty pleased with it as it looks good, I believe. Simple, sleek, just the way I like it. Unfortunately, I won't be able to put it through the test any time soon. We've decided to move - No panic! We stay in Paris! As a matter of fact we even stay on the same block - just a different apartment, slightly bigger. But this means a lot of work in the weeks to come (we'll be moving the second week of April, most likely). No time for new tutorials, I'm afraid, but I intend to keep posting here. Pictures of things going on and - who knows - a little craft or so, whipped together in the wee hours, and a story or two...

PS: Cindy has a dog - I have a bird, don't you think?! It makes me think a bit of Mo Willems' pigeon. And talking about pigeons - I had a very bad encounter with a pigeon yesterday, or worse, with its droppings... I'll spare you the gross details, as gross it was... That too is Paris...

A new prototype

2011-03-25T21:54:00.001+01:00

Don't you remember those little coin purses worn around the neck, back in the seventies I guess it was. Everyone in class had one of those. We wore them on school field trips with the coin which mom gave us in the morning to buy a drink or a little souvenir with, safely tucked inside, or as an accessory on other days on top of one of those tight turtle necks and with flared jeans and clogs underneath, or with a smocked dress. They disappeared, probably because they weren't that safe after all but I still remember mine. I got it when on vacation in Spain. Our first time in the South. It'd been on my wish list for a while and I wouldn't leave Spain without getting one of those! I no longer have it but I remember exactly the way it looked.

Anyway, as I wanted to experiment with rivets and snap closures I decided to make one of those coin purses. My choice of leather wasn't ideal as it was slightly too heavy for my paper punch - so maybe it is my tool kit which isn't adequate? I might want to invest in one of those real leather punches, for one thing.
I suffered quite a bit before I had the snaps and rivets into place and then my sewing machine refused so I had to work it manually to get the needle through the leather - but I like the result and so do my girls...

Little by little I'm adding to my leather working skills. Hopefully it will get me far enough to, one day, tackle that beautiful skin I got a while ago... I'd love to make a purse or tote of some sort.
We'll see - let's not rush into things!

A waste of time

2011-03-24T12:13:00.001+01:00

I feel so frustrated - my hotmail account has been hacked apparently and I'm completely stuck.
Windows Live Support isn't very supportive, you see... I guess, I'll have to be patient.
Luckily, I was able to recover my contacts list as I just installed Outlook on my new laptop, the other day (I'm not to crazy about Outlook - but at least it was helpful in retrieving my contacts). So now, I can start ticking off the list and letting people know to contact me via an alternative e-mail address - a good moment for a much needed Spring cleaning in my contacts folder...
And all this while we have the most gorgeous weather - I'd rather be outside right now...

Coin purse, revisited

2011-03-22T12:33:00.001+01:00

The same little coin purse, a tiny bit different...
Made it in no time after spotting this (through this post at Blue Moss)...
The shoe lace, charms and jewels, I recycled from this project (I no longer have the phone...).

It's tiny as I used the wrong plate, but definitely cute and more jewelry like, I guess - it fits a couple of coins only. Enough for ice cream on the beach, though...

Fabric and wire flowers :: a tutorial

2011-03-17T14:20:00.000+01:00

Though this morning didn't feel like Spring - I was cold the entire trip to school and still am, despite the polar fleece I'm wearing now and the cup of hot coffee I had - we certainly were lucky with the weather lately. Sun! I just love the light the early Spring sun brings! It makes me happy, excited. And it shows in my projects, I believe. Take this fabric and wire flower, for instance. Don't you think it's over the (my) top colorwise?!

It started with one of those kits to make flowers with wire and some colored gooey liquid (I actually think it's white glue mixed with colorants of some sort) which little H. received from a friend for her birthday. While I was helping her out I just started wondering if maybe I could do something similar with fabric and wire. With Vliesofix that shouldn't be too difficult, I figured - no, I'm not affiliated with Vliesofix, but just happen to have bought a lot of the stuff. So, after buying the Petit Pan scrap bag, everything came together and I made my flower. You've no idea how little time these flowers take to make. It's free style from beginning till end, which I love. I don't like wasting precious time on making patterns, and elaborate preparations before being able to actually do something. In that respect I'm not any different from the average kid - I want instant gratification... (when little H. read on the box she had to wait for at least 12 hours for the gooey stuff to dry and set, she was really disappointed "but it looks dry to me - do I really have to wait untill tomorrow, mommy?").

So, if you want to give that Spring feeling a boost or just want to hold on to that last bit of summer, just keep on reading as here are some instructions!

What you'll need:

- scraps of fabric
- wire, not too thick
- Vliesofix, Bondaweb, ...
- scissors or cutting pliers
- iron

Instructions

Determine how many flower petals you want. Cut your petals, freestyle, in pairs, i.e. cut at once front and back of the same petal by layering your fabric such that wrong sides are facing. Repeat until you have the desired number of petals.
Trace every pair of petals onto the paper backing of the Vliesofix and cut out.
Cut wire to length - you'll need one piece of wire per petal. Bend and twist the wire to form a petal shape, using the fabric petals as a guide for size - make the wire petal slightly smaller than the fabric petal.
Iron Vliesofix onto the wrong side of its corresponding petal. Let cool down. Peel off the paper backing. Position the wire petal shape on top. Next, place the other petal piece on top, sandwiching the wire in between petal layers. Fuse the petal layers and wire together with your iron. Let cool down. Repeat for every set.
Arrange your petals to form a flower. When happy, twist the wires together to form a stem. Note: depending on the gauge of the wire you're using and on what you intend to use the flower for, you might want to twist the wire around a stick or another more heavy wire for support.
Once you're done twisting you can start playing with the petals - the most fun part, I think - to shape your flower.

Make a couple and put them in a vase, or twist them together to form a garland. Use them to decorate the dinner table for a festive meal. You could also make colorful napkin rings with these. So many possibilities and yet so simple to make!

Enjoy!

After I made this flower, I found a similar project in the last issue of Marie Claire Idées. Instead of Vliesofix they use glue, which is slightly more messy, if you ask me...

Please note, these tutorials are intended for personal use only. Therefore, do not reproduce, sell or commercialize in any form without permission. Thanks for understanding!

If you made something using a tutorial found on this blog or if you got inspired by something you found here, make sure to post your pictures here.

SOS Japan Sale - Hurry up!

2011-03-16T23:38:00.003+01:00

Oatmeal colored linen, a leather rising sun, and a very nice tomato red and white narrow chalk line cotton make this a very stylish shopping bag - the perfect accessory for summer. It's now available in my Etsy shop.

100% of this sale will go to the Red Cross Japanese Disaster Relief Fund.
Shipping is free.

Dimensions:
H: 31cm without handles - 59cm with handles included
W: 43cm

Small pocket on the inside.

~~Hurry up - there's only one available!~~ Update: the bag has found a new owner! Thank you for your generosity, Lauren!

PS: I considered the option of keeping an auction as suggested by some of you in the comments on my previous post - an idea I liked a lot - however, there were quite a few practical issues which made me decide to just go ahead and sell through Etsy. But, many thanks for the suggestions made!

SOS Japan

2011-03-15T22:17:00.000+01:00

Earthquake - tsunami - nuclear disaster threat...
Impossible to imagine what people are going through right now in Japan.
I just had the feeling I had to do something - how little it is.

This afternoon I whipped together this bag which will be up for sale later this week. I haven't worked out the details yet - but most likely it will go through my Etsy shop.
The full amount of the sale will be donated to the Red Cross Japanese Disaster Relief Fund (through La Croix Rouge Française).

Button up for Spring! # 2

2011-03-12T17:55:00.000+01:00

I may have sounded a bit too enthusiastic when I announced there would be a second part to the Button Up for Spring from last post. So, let's hope you're not too disappointed. It's just what is: another set of hair accessories for my poor girls, whose mom can't do more than make a pony tail or two, or a braid if she's in a good mood, ... LOL
Blame it to my own miserable hair and the fact I never ever had long hair as a child just because of that reason. In those days it was widely believed that keeping hair short would make it stronger and thicker in the end, just like covering it in egg, while shampooing, would make it stronger, as would rinsing it with beer and shampoo it again - I can tell you: these remedies don't work, my hair's still miserable, but no longer short!

Anyway, when I made these fabric covered buttons, all I could come up with to attach them too was elastic hairbands. Because you see, I had to make my own fabric covered buttons. You see them showing up everywhere and I just had to try it! And they're fun to make!

I bought two kits for covering buttons - I bought the first one a while back but forgot about it and then I had already bought a second one when the first one showed up again in one of my many not so well organized boxes. Good thing (or is it a bad thing - I guess it doesn't really matter) they were of a different size. Anyway!
Last week, I also bought a bag or two of Petit Pan fabric scraps. All excuses are good. Here's mine: I like their designs, I just have a little trouble with color in my own projects. Colors intimidate me. I like colors and colorful fabric, but it also scares me. I can't deal with it, it seems like, too afraid to overdo things, to create chaos or to waste my pretty fabric. The advantage of working with scraps, however, is that with little pieces you can add a little touch of color here and there without it becoming too overwhelming (for me). And I like buying scraps because of the surprise aspect too - it's like unwrapping a present. So, now you know everything!

And how did I make the hair accessories?
It's very simple: First, start by covering your buttons, however, keeping in mind:

1. to cut your fabric big enough otherwise it will stick out on the sides - I know this because I made that mistake twice (!). Luckily, I managed to open up the button again, bend the metal to its initial form with my mini pliers, after witch I started all over again with a bigger piece of fabric - too bad for that nice little detail that went lost...

2. when using a print where orientation matters, make sure to attach the plastic backing such way that the print points the right way (my apples and pears buttons have a slight twist...)

After covering your buttons, attach them to the elastic hairbands.
How? By sewing them on, of course! I wasn't that smart at first. For the single buttoned elastics, I cut open the elastic (!) and had the hardest time to slide the button on, after which I had to make an ugly knot in the elastic, which the button barely covers - it took me three buttons and a night of sleep to realize my stupidity, go figure! I guess I should stop doing this kind of things after midnight...

Well, that's a long post for just a set of simple hairbands! I hope you didn't mind...

Wishing you a great weekend!

xo, P.

Button up for Spring! # 1

2011-03-10T13:47:00.000+01:00

A couple of weeks ago, we had another one of those brocante sales in our neighborhood. I didn't find any Eames chairs this time, unfortunately, but I didn't return home empty handed. I bought the cutest, teeny tiny mother of pearl buttons! I love mother of pearl buttons and buttons in general, though I must immediately add that I don't like making button holes very much, especially not if there are a whole bunch of them as on a shirt.
But who needs button holes anyway, if you can add buttons just like that as a little detail...

My mother of pearl buttons haven't been out of sight really since I bought them - I picked them up from time to time, thinking about the different ways I could use them. Michelle's bobby pins certainly were an inspiration.

So, here are a couple of the button ideas, I came up with so far. All very simple and involving very little supplies: fabric scraps, embroidery floss, elastic hair bands, hair clips, bobby pins, needle, glue and scissors...

Bracelet:

This is my favorite in the lot. Cut a piece of fabric, about 2cm wide and long enough to go around your wrist. Fold in the same the way you would do for making biais tape and sew closed with a whip stitch, if you like. Wind embroidery floss around it in different colors.
Sew on a couple of buttons - and there you have another bracelet...
As easy as 1,2,3 - perfect for the kids to make on a rainy Wednesday afternoon (leave out the whip stitch in that case).

Bobby pin:

Cut of a strand of embroidery floss and tie it at one end of the bobby pin. Start winding the floss around the bobby pin (winding over the loose end to secure, if you like, which I didn't). Change colors as you go. Make a knot when finished with one color and with a needle thread the loose end under the embroidery floss covered part. Next, sew on a couple of buttons, using different colors of floss. Finally, apply a tiny droplet of glue to all knots and loose ends, and to back of the buttons, to secure. Done!

Hair clip:

Proceed in pretty much the same way as for the bobby pin - however, instead of winding the floss around the clip, use a blanket stitch. If you can't sew on the buttons, glue them on (the use of a hot glue is recommended here, as one of my buttons fell of with regular crafts glue).

This is as fancy as it gets when it comes to hair styles and accessories at our place. I have no talent or what so ever when it comes to styling hair. I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint my sweet girl M. as I really don't see how I could make her hair look like this hairstyle she'd spotted on One Pretty Thing... I wonder if a green and white hair clip would do?

Make sure to come back tomorrow, as I have a more buttons up my sleeve...

Spring's here...

2011-03-08T22:16:00.001+01:00

... and we love it!

There's lots of yellow everywhere.
Yellow forsythia - we got some in our living room,
yellow daffodils in the courtyard and in many parks, and sold by vendors at metro stations.

And there's yellow in my craft room...
Inspired by this first splash of color after a long winter (is it really over!?): a yellow coin purse with a liberty of London drawstring with a cute daisy print and a moccasin inspired little purse with yellow leather drawstring.

The tutorial is still available here (thank you so much for the many positive comments!) with two additional notes:

- for the moccasin version above: I didn't line this one (which means you can make this one really in no time) and just made a couple of incisions between the two front holes.
- if you're concerned everything might fall out when opening the purse: it pretty much depends on the quality of leather you use. The stiffer the leather the better the purse holds up and hence won't fold open completely upon opening. However, you can use a button or a piece of leather as a stopper if you really want to make sure (similar to the one shown here).

Wishing you a sunny Wednesday, where ever you are!

Cheers,

P.

Three happy girls...

2011-03-04T15:25:00.001+01:00

Last Friday when we came home from running errands we found the cutest presents in our mail box, sent to us by Michelle, from blue moss.
A bracelet for me, so precious! And oh! did you see that little snap!
And the cutest bobby pins ever for the girls.
Everything wrapped so beautifully (that old pattern paper on the box...so pretty!).

So, thank you, Michelle! Thank you so, so much!
This bracelet will be my Spring time, Summer time, anytime favorite!

You can find more from the wonderful blue moss here and here...

Wishing you all a happy, generous weekend!

xo, P.

Simple Drawstring Coin Purse :: a tutorial

2011-03-01T17:47:00.004+01:00

I hope you didn't mind the wait and are not disappointed - but I finally got my act together. So, here's a new tutorial for a very easy to assemble drawstring coin purse. As a matter of fact this is so easy it would make a nice little craft for kids too. Just have them use felt instead of leather, or why not oil cloth. I made a whole set of these in no time with just some leather scraps and left over fabric, because what I did is line them using some Vliesofix (I'm not paid by Vliesofix, in case you're wondering, I just like to use it). For the drawstring you can use basically anything you have: biais tape, ribbon, waxed cotton shoe laces, leather shoe laces, hemp string, ...

The nice thing about these coin purses is that you can make them in any size, really. Make them for keeping your change within reach, to keep little secrets, to hide baby teeth under your kid's pillow for the tooth fairy to come, or as an alternative gift wrap for jewelry, Easter eggs, or other tiny goodies.

Here's what you'll need:

- leather scraps - or alternatively, any other material that will hold up, like felt, oil cloth, heavy weight cotton (which won't fray much in my opinion since it's cut in a circle)
- optional: fabric scraps and Vliesofix for the inside
- a plate, a dish or a bowl to trace the circle if you don't have a compass handy Note: for the purse in the above pictures, which is about 6cm wide and 6cm high, I used a dish with a 16cm diameter.
- leather shoe lace, ribbon, biais tape, ... for the closure
- a hole puncher
- iron
- scissors

Steps

1. Trace plate, dish or bowl on the wrong side of the leather. Trace the same circle onto the paper backing of the Vliesofix, if you decide to line your little purse. ~ pic. 2
Note: for the purse in the picture I actually used the wrong side of the leather for the outside because I liked the number stamp on the back so much, the contrasting blue against the taupe color of the leather - and 43 also happens to be my age - double strike!

2. Cut out, however leaving an extra margin when cutting the Vliesofix. Iron Vliesofix onto the fabric. ~ pic. 3

3. Gently pull off the paper backing from the fabric. Do not throw away the paper backing as you'll still need it later. Iron the fabric onto the back of the leather. Next, trim the edges. ~ pic. 4

4. Take the paper backing and cut out the circle you traced onto it earlier on. You will now make 12 holes in it, about 1.5 to 2cm from the edge, and equally spaced out around the curve of the circle. In order to do this somewhat precisely, however without doing the math, what I did was fold the paper circle in half, next unfold again, punch holes at each end. Fold again, perpendicularly onto the first one (to make quarters), next fold open again and punch a hole on either side. Next, fold again, unfold, punch hole - basically you fold the paper same way you would cut a pie in 12 same size pieces. Once you've punched the twelve holes, place the paper on the wrong side (the lined sized, if you lined it) of your leather circle and mark the 12 holes with a pen. ~ pic. 5

5. With your hole puncher, punch the holes, using the marks as a guide. ~ pic. 6

6. Thread your ribbon, leather shoe lace, biais tape, ... through the holes. Pull both ends so to make folds and close the circle.
Et voilà! You just finished a cute little coin purse!

Please note, this tutorial is intended for personal use only. Therefore, do not reproduce, sell or commercialize in any form. Thanks for understanding!

If you made something using a tutorial found on this blog or if you got inspired by something you found here, make sure to post your pictures here.

Work in progress...

2011-02-24T20:11:00.000+01:00

Leather confetti, the side product of something new I'm working on.
Something cute, I promise.
That something will come with a tutorial - that too, I promise.
Next week, most likely...
So stay tuned!

Relaxing, but not too much...

2011-02-22T21:01:00.002+01:00

We're back from a short but relaxing (really? keep on reading!) break in the Alps. I decided not to ski this time, which I now somewhat regret, but had a great time reading and watching the others ski... The girls both got their 'Première étoile' this year, which made them proud and K. now really got the hang of skiing too and has started thinking about our next vacation in the mountains. We both took a laptop to work in the evenings, but neither one of them made it out of the suit case and isn't that exactly what a holiday should be like?!

To keep me from getting too relaxed, however, both girls decided to give me a scare, though it was totally unintentionally on their behalf, I must add. First little H., by disappearing under a safety (?) net and down the hill while sledding (at the designated area for sledding - no kidding!) - good there was a small tree on her way down which stopped her from going further down and hitting the rocks. It wasn't a steep cliff, but I didn't know that when I saw her disappear from my radar and heard her big sister scream after her. Surprisingly, she didn't get hurt, but was I glad they both were wearing helmets! We now have one more story to add to her quite lengthy, if I may say so, list of mishaps...

As if I hadn't had enough excitement with that already, M. fainted the next day while queuing for food at the restaurant. Well, she didn't faint right away, just told me she wasn't feeling well - so I took her to the bathroom (wrong choice!) - where she fainted as soon as we walked in... Air was what she needed! Still wearing her heavy ski boots I couldn't lift her so I dragged her between my legs through the restaurant yelling for help - which I did get, eventually. The people at the restaurant were great once they had noticed me, but getting noticed took me a while, in spite of M.'s limp body between my legs! - quite a sight, I bet. Anyway, she was fine once outside and after getting some fresh air and a sugar cube. As a matter of fact, she was back on her skis that very same afternoon and went ice skating after...

So, whoever thought in the mountains you need to be on skis for excitement is wrong, so wrong - all you need is two kids and they'll take care of the rest!

Time for a short break

2011-02-11T21:20:00.000+01:00

It's been a crazy two weeks - I feel totally drained. Tired.

The girls are off from school now, until the end of the month, and I decided I needed a short break as well...

I wish you a - a bit early, I know - Happy Valentine's Day!
I didn't come up with much for Valentine's Day this year, but feel free to check out last year's and the year before's Valentine's Day themed posts!

I'll be back soon!

xo, P.

DIY Japanese tape

2011-02-09T00:01:00.012+01:00

Ok - you may want to classify this DIY idea under 'totally ridiculous', 'totally irrelevant', 'totally useless', whatever... but please, do keep on reading.

This idea just popped to my mind while I was cleaning up my messy crafts table and my eye fell upon
- my double sided tape, which was still sitting there after doing this post and hence has started collecting dust already which is not so good on double sided tape
- and a stack of security envelopes (you know, these envelopes used by banks, insurance companies, telephone companies, utility providers which usually contain bills).

And since anything's better than cleaning up a messy table on your birthday, I said to myself:
'How about making some (not so) Japanese masking tape and writing a tutorial!'
Why would one make his/her very own tape, you ask me?
- because the real stuff doesn't stick
- because it's late at night, stores are closed, you ran out of fancy tape and you need to wrap that present, so you are desperate to find a tutorial to solve this problem this instant!

Well keep on reading then as I have something for you - As a matter of fact it won't take more than a couple of lines to explain.

What you'll need:

- double sided tape
- security envelopes, or by extension: paper with a nice print (magazines, origami, wall paper, ...)
- cutting board or if you don't have one, a ruler, pencil and scissors

Instructions:

1. measure the width of your double sided tape
2. cut your paper in strips same width as your tape
3. make a guess of how much fancy tape you'll need
4. rip off a piece of tape, same length as your guess in step 3
5. stick tape to the back of your paper strip - cut off excess paper
6. Use to wrap your present!

That was easy, wasn't it!? And again the possibilities are endless.

Now, if you were wondering about those little boxes that I have used in at least two posts - I have twenty three (23!) left as they were part of an advent calendar we received from a big and generous company - some boxes still have a little chocolate inside as we made our own advent calendar and never got to finish this one.
I might try a couple of chocolates now, actually. It's my birthday after all, and since my table looks even messier now than it looked before anything's better than...

(munch, munch...)

Note: If you're interested in crafts using security envelopes check out this post with a non-exhaustive list of security envelope based crafts. Feel free to add more links to similar security envelope crafts in the comment section of today's post!

43

2011-02-08T11:53:00.000+01:00

Me - I'm turning 43 today.

When I was a kid or even older, a teenager, I considered people aged over 40 old, accomplished.
Now, that I'm turning 43 myself it's different - I don't feel accomplished at all and wonder if I ever will.
I'm just on the road,
sometimes the road is bended, sometimes it's not.

I still like polka dots...

Valentine's Day :: DIY embroidered tape and a box

2011-02-05T19:20:00.005+01:00

I love Japanese masking tape - I have a small collection of tape in different colors and patterns. The only problem I have with Japanese tape is that it doesn't stick. At first I blamed it on the paper I was using, but I've tried it on several types of paper and every single time the tape was undone by the time I was to give my present. It doesn't exactly leave a good impression at the receiving end - Oh, I'm sorry but I started unwrapping it already for you...hope you don't mind - It makes you look like a toddler at a birthday party!

Now, as you may know, I've been experimenting with Vliesofix lately and fabric, embroidered or not, on paper. Contrary to masking tape, it sticks! And while I was thinking of a way to wrap my little notebooks for sending them off, I thought why not use the very same technique for wrapping - a piece of embroidered fabric to stay within the theme and to add a little accent to envelopes or to adorn small gift boxes with and wrapping paper. (Mind the idea of fabric tape isn't new. Check out Annekata's tutorial, for instance, which you can find here and la.daridari's fabric tape which you'll find here) So, I embroidered little bits and pieces in the same fashion as the little note books, and it worked out really nicely, if I may say so. I was also lucky to find (in my own closet of all places!) narrow double sided tape from a big tape brand , which made the task even easier. I've tried it a couple of times now and it works like a charm - the only thing that didn't make it was the button I attached onto an envelope sent across the Atlantic - which was risky, I know. The button didn't survive, but the rest did, as you can see here!

If you want to give this a try, this is what you'll need:

- fabric scraps
- embroidery floss and a needle
- sewing scissors
- scraps of Vliesofix
- double sided tape
- gift boxes, wrapping paper, tissue paper, envelopes, greeting cards...
- buttons

General instructions:

- embroider the little scraps of fabric
- cut a piece of Vliesofix or double sided tape to size and stick it to the back of the fabric strip
- next, stick it onto envelope, wrapping paper, greeting card, gift box, ...

For the box:
- The little box in the picture is a single chocolate box turned inside out - carefully undo the glued side of the box, turn inside out, and glue the side closed again.
- sew a button onto a strip of fabric
- put tape onto the back of the strip, leaving the button part of the strip, tape-free!
- stick strip to the top of the flap of the box - the button part is loose
- with a needle make a hole centered in the middle of the front of the box and pull through a piece of thread (make sure to tie a knot!)
- close the lid of the box and next twist the thread around the button

A couple of side notes:

1. When to use Vliesofix and when tape?: use Vliesofix for sticking fabric onto an envelope or greeting card - use tape wherever you would use regular tape (on wrapping paper, gift boxes, etc.).
2. Why use Vliesofix and not glue? Though glue might also work, I believe you get better results with Vliesofix - it's much neater to work with for one thing (no sticky fingers), dries instantly and doesn't leak through the fabric, blotting it or making it stiff.
3. Make enough of these at once and keep them in a little box, ready for immediate use.

Have fun creating!

Please note, these tutorials are intended for personal use only. Therefore, do not reproduce, sell or commercialize in any form without permission. Thanks for understanding!

If you made something using a tutorial found on this blog or if you got inspired by something you found here, make sure to post your pictures here.

Thank you

2011-02-01T22:25:00.001+01:00

To my mom for posting the message on Good Housekeeping's Facebook fan page last week which led to an answer from the editor within half an hour...
To Good Housekeeping for adding credits and a link...
To all of you for the many comments, the e-mails sent out to GH, your suggestions and support, and for convincing me I'm not an idiot...

THANK YOU!

xo, Pascale

Eames

2011-01-31T14:11:00.001+01:00

I'm sure most of you know these - at the moment immensely popular - Eames fiber glass shell chairs. I particularly like the ones with a wooden dowel base. They show up everywhere lately - online as well as in magazines, even in TV shows. The first time I saw one of these chairs, I fell in love - it took me a little while to figure out they were Eames, that the real vintage ones are quite pricey and that you can find replica's quite easily in different price ranges depending on the materials used (just Google Eames DAW - the list is long). For a while I considered buying a replica, but I decided to wait, not convinced the poly-i-don't-know-what material would look the way I wanted, and next, I completely forgot about it.

That was until a couple of weeks ago, when little H. and I went to a 'brocante' market a couple of blocks away from where we live. Little H. had already found a new addition to her little animal statues collection (a tiny porcelain penguin) and we were about to return back home when I suddenly spotted this chair. It looked suspiciously like an Eames, but I wasn't sure if it really was since the base didn't look familiar to me. I asked the seller - which is stupid, he could have told me anything and I probably would have believed him, since I'm by no means a Eames DAW expert. It was an Eames, he showed me the signature stamp on the bottom, and gave his price. Even with one screw missing, it was really cheap compared to the prices I'd seen online. Was it too cheap to be real? I decided to risk it, after little H. had tested it and assured me it sat really well and so, off we went, with an Eames under my arm! Back home I searched online for almost the entire afternoon - I couldn't find the base anywhere, and I started doubting about my purchase. Turns out this base is rare and that's why I couldn't find it at first. It's actually an original Herman Miller La Fonda base as shown here!
Initially, I was thinking of maybe keeping the shell but replacing the base with a wooden dowel base, which is what a lot of people do, check out Ebay or even Etsy, but now I think I will stick to my very rare but beautiful Herman Miller La Fonda chrome base!
I really got to like the sleek lines and the minimalistic look of this base and I think it combines beautifully with the black slightly weathered fiber glass. I did find the fiber glass shell a bit cold to sit on, however, so I made a linen with leather squares pillow for it and I figured that's probably why almost always you find these fiber glass chairs depicted with a sheep skin, a throw or pillows on them - but no one of course would ever admit...

Oh, I feel so totally smitten with my Eames Fiber glass Herman Miller rare La Fonda base chair.

A new bag...

2011-01-26T23:17:00.000+01:00

... made with recycled leather, from an old pair of leather boots which belonged to M. a long time ago, a very nice heavy weight Japanese cotton, and of course, natural linen.

I still love my little signature squares...

Not giving up!

2011-01-25T18:15:00.002+01:00

Hi everyone!

I'm back! - which means I'm not giving up! - but you sort of knew I wouldn't, didn't you!?

I need to thank all of you for the support, the nice comments (is this really about me and my blog?), the e-mails, ... I read them all several times - got all emotional. This more than compensated last week's anger and bad feelings. So, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to ALL of you!! What a strange thing it is, this (blogging) crafting community - even though most us have never met in person there are strong ties. That's a wonderful feeling. And isn't that's what it's all about?

So, what did I do? I sent a friendly and polite letter to the editor, asking to add credits to the article, like many of you suggested. I haven't had a response yet and I'm not sure I ever will. We'll see and I'll keep you posted.

But now, I just want to move on, because there are so many things I still want to share here with you.

Like this cutest moleskine notebook ever, the girls made for daddy's birthday last week. Isn't it lovely? The three of us were actually in a pretty bad mood that day - the girls had been fighting over things all day and I had been grumpy all day. And you know what? - that little notebook saved the day. By the time the girls were finished drawing we were all happy and cheerful again and couldn't wait for daddy to get home. And guess what?! Among all the presents he got he liked the little notebook best!!

I used the same method as for the other fabric covered notebooks, but before ironing the fabric onto the cover I let the girls draw on the fabric with a fine black liner (we used a regular one as I didn't have any fabric markers). Once they were done, I peeled off the Vliesofix's backing, positioned it onto the notebook and ironed it on. With small scissors I trimmed the edges and we had one very, very cute notebook.

I particularly like the frog on the lily pad by big girl M. and little H's cat. If you look carefully you can also see a drum (daddy's a former drummer), a bottle of wine and a glass, a hairy dog (that's a hint from big girl M. who's desperate about having a family dog one day), hiking boots and mountains, because that's what daddy likes to do, and many more things. And then the girls sweet little messages, of courses... Who wouldn't want a little notebook like that? Maybe an nice idea for Valentine's Day...

Am I an idiot?

2011-01-21T15:56:00.001+01:00

the original, as published here in March, 2010

Since I saw this picture this afternoon in my reader (via Sewing Craftgossip) I have been feeling slightly upset and miserable. Really: I couldn't believe my eyes. I was yelling at my screen. Did my Quick Fix Grocery Bag become an Eco-chic Shopping Bag without me knowing? I'm not sure what to think of this. Should I give this the benefit of doubt and just consider it a coincidence or are there too many similarities for this to be even possible and has someone at Good Housekeeping who was short of ideas and looking against a deadline simply copied my idea?

This particular tutorial is one I am really proud of. The idea is genuinely mine - it happened while I was putting away grapes we had earlier that day and I saw the bag they came in lying on the counter - a plastic bag with cuts. This particular tutorial has been a big hit in the craft community ever since it was published and it still is, with referrals and links showing up everywhere. This particular tutorial made it even to Design*Sponge. And now, apparently, to Good Housekeeping too, only did they forget to credit or put up a proper link!

It makes me wonder if I'm an idiot and incredible naive by posting tutorials and pictures of things I made just like that, for free, accessible to everyone, everywhere, assuming - or, as of now, hoping - everyone will stick to the rules when it comes to copyright and intellectual property rights. It also makes me wonder whether I should continue doing so the way I do. You see, there goes a lot of time and effort in everything I make, in every tutorial I write. I know, that's a personal choice - no one ever forced or even asked me to do so.
So far, I kept my blog deliberately commercial-free, add-free, sponsor-free - there's no financial gain or whatsoever for me in this entire blogging business - that's a choice too. My reward is in your comments, your encouragements, seeing a traffic increase or a steady increase in the number of followers and subscribers, a referral here and there...
All of this was a choice.
But maybe the wrong one...

So I'm asking you, am I an idiot or should I be happy it happened just this once - that I know of...
__________________________________________

Comments are closed now - Good Housekeeping has acknowledged its mistake and credits and a link to the original post have been added.

Thank you for your comments, e-mails and support!

xo, P.

Red and white

2011-01-18T18:30:00.001+01:00

I got in the mood for a Valentine's Day craft the other night and this is the result. Another notebook, this time with a needle felted heart, some doodle embroidery and a button bookmark...
I'm not sure yet what I'll do with it - we'll see... It's actually pretty easy to needle felt onto fabric, in case you want to give it a try.

Apparently, I'm thinking in white and red, lately. Today, I went to the Marché Saint-Pierre here in Paris as I needed a particular type of fabric for my stash. I made a list before I left and except for the zipper on my list, I came home with totally different things. Not because I didn't find what I was looking for but because I found something much better: I found the yummiest ever red and white (well it's more cream) striped fabric. Two different sorts, but they marry so well together. Oh, I can't wait to get started - I got plenty of ideas already...
It's going to be another difficult night to fall asleep...
Does that happen to you too - sleepless nights because of all the ideas swarming around in your head? Any remedies for that except starting on a project in the wee hours...

The first tutorial of 2011!

2011-01-14T10:49:00.001+01:00

The mild temperatures of the last couple of days got me all energized and in an early Spring mood. This was especially true at the beginning of the week when we had a lovely sun on top. I have been cleaning out closets, laundering sheets and blankets, doing lots of ironing, ... and a couple of early Spring crafts, one of which even resulted in this tutorial - the first one of 2011!

So, yesterday when my hands were itching to make something I came up with this very simple, whimsical fabric sausage necklace. I got the idea for this necklace while shopping at COS, one of my new favorite stores - and as it turns out this store might become a favorite of K. too. He found himself a couple of really nice things there last week, but this is totally besides today's topic. The necklaces I saw were at the kids' section and simply lovely - but for kids, in size, I mean. In the woman's section they had similar ones made out of leather - very stylish, very simple, simply l o v e l y!

I decided to give the fabric ones a try. I'll be honest - it takes a bit of patience to get the wool (or poly-fiber fill) down the tube but I think it is totally worth the effort. You won't need a lot of fabric, this is yet another craft you could use fabric scraps for. Since I have something with gingham lately, I combined two different gingham fabrics, a Japanese flower print and some stripes. You can go totally crazy combining different colors and prints, or keep it really simple and use only one color. Instead of knotting in between "beads", I combined knots and colorful ribbon ties. You might also use embroidery floss in between beads.

You'll need:

- a couple of fabric strips of different length but same width - I used 4cm wide strips - enough to total (at least) 1m50
- matching thread, sewing machine
- chopstick
- wool roving or fiber fill ( I recommend using wool roving here as it's easier to manipulate down the tube and you'll probably need less to form a firm bead - trust me, I've tried both!)
- optional: narrow ribbon, embroidery floss

Instructions:

1. Sew fabric strips together to make one long strip (pic.2).
2. Attach a safety pin near top on the right side of the fabric - you'll need it for turning the fabric (pic.3).
3. Fold strip in half lengthwise and sew side-seam ( the safety pin will be on the inside), leaving an opening at the bottom (pic.4).
Note: depending on the length and width you chose you may find it easier to leave an additional opening somewhere halfway the sideseam - this will save you time while stuffing the fabric tube.
4. Turn the tube you obtained inside out by pushing the safety pin all the way down the fabric tube (pic.6). Shape the tube.
5. Using small pieces of wool roving at a time, make the beads, by pushing the filling through the tube with a chopstick (No need to form the beads before you stuff them inside - the chopstick will do that for you). Tie a knot before and after each bead or use ribbon, embroidery floss to the same effect (pic.8).
6. Close the remaining opening(s) with a whip stitch. Shape and pull and finally tie a knot - Done!

Isn't it lovely!? Pair it up with a simple T-shirt, tank top (I'm thinking Summer here) or a simple white shirt...

Please note, this tutorial is intended for personal use only. Therefore, do not reproduce, sell or commercialize in any form. Thanks for understanding!

If you made something using a tutorial found on this blog or if you got inspired by something you found here, make sure to post your pictures here.

Sales

2011-01-12T10:14:00.002+01:00

Today, winter sales start in Paris. Officially, I should immediately add. For the past week or so there were 'ventes privées' everywhere already with discounted prices for people holding fidelity cards - which most people do.

I hardly ever make it to the sales on the very first day. I try to avoid the big crowds, the hysterics, the long lines. Which doesn't mean I don't like sales. But I prefer to be surprised. Like when we were in Belgium over the holidays and we found out about a big sale at one of our favorite shoe stores. They were closing for renovation. M. and I each found a nice pair of high leather boots and little H. chose something, well, very little H. like. Read: shiny, sparkling, a bit glamorous... And since it were sales and these Mary Janes were extremely cheap for a fully leather shoe, I couldn't say no. The weather hasn't been any good for wearing them outside, but this doesn't mean she can't break them in inside, right? With a pair of tights in a totally off color and skirts her legs grew too long for, she looks totally adorable...

As for today's sales - I think we might spend the day inside as it is pouring outside, unless... We'll see...

Shop update

2011-01-09T22:42:00.001+01:00

As of tonight some of my fabric covered hand-embroidered moleskine notebooks are available here.

Cheers,

P.

Doodling...

2011-01-07T11:08:00.002+01:00

... with needle and thread.

These one of a kind fabric covered Moleskine notebooks will be available in the shop as of next week. The cover is from unbleached cotton and has been hand-embroidered by me. Every notebook is unique.
Some of them have buttons and/ or a button and thread bookmark.
The notebook measures 3 1/2'' x 5 1/2'' - 9 cm x 14 cm.
Pages are plain, squared or lined.

And now, I'm just waiting for good light to take pictures of these little treasures...

Work in progress

2011-01-05T00:15:00.001+01:00

Little H's knit work in progress...

I didn't start the year with resolutions - except for maybe one: stop procrastinating.
What needs to be done, needs to be done, so why not do it now!
So that's why the last couple of days I've been working hard on getting things done. Administrative stuff mainly, like paying bills, answering long over-due e-mails, ordering catalogs for summer camps for the girls, making an appointment with the garage to have our car fixed which got broken into over the Christmas weekend (fun!), catching up with laundry (where does it keep coming from - sometimes it feels like I have 5 kids running around instead of just 2...).
All this while fighting off the first migraine of the year...

But in between I did find time for a small craft or two. Variations on the fabric covered Moleskine notebooks. If all goes well they may end up in my Etsy shop, as I want to revive it now that all except for this has gone (Besides on notebooks, I plan on having new bags as well!) .
Wait a minute - Does that make two New Year's resolutions?
And how about three: a stress free life and having more fun?!

What are your resolutions for 2011?

// Happy 2011 //

2011-01-01T19:12:00.000+01:00

We're still recovering from not enough sleep and too much magret de canard with this homemade chutney.
The fortune cookies we made were fun and the chocolate chip cookies served with vanilla ice cream yummy as always. We were in good company and had fun at playing the Wii and Pictionary.
We made it to the Eiffel Tower in time for the count down and fire works, and left almost immediately after the countdown because of some idiots firing off their own crackers and scaring off the kids. Seeing the Eiffel Tower light up and hearing the crowd cheer was magic, though!

We're ready for a new beginning and hope you are too!
Wishing you a happy and creative 2011!

xo, Pascale

Wishing you...

2010-12-22T13:39:00.001+01:00

I'm taking a short blogbreak.
I'll be back here soon and I hope you'll be too!
Take care!

xo, P.

More cookies and flannel sleepwear...

2010-12-21T00:16:00.006+01:00

...that was in a nut shell my weekend. And there was fresh snow too!

I can't remember the last time I wore flannel sleepwear. The last flannel PJ's I can remember, are the PJ's I bought for at that time still little M.. They had little duckies on them and she wore them all winter. She posed in them under the Christmas tree at my parents'. It was right before our big move to California. M. was 18 months old and recovering from a double ear infection. And there was snow too then. M.'s first snow ever. She would look at it falling down through the kitchen window of my parents' apartment. She can't remember, but I can - she had to stand on her tippy toes in order to see. Little H. wore the flannel ducky PJ's too, later on, in California - no snow - until she too outgrew them. I can't remember what happened to them after but I do remember both of my girls looked adorable in them...

So, when I was looking for our Christmas ornaments (yes, we did get a tree - an even smaller one than last year) and I came across a bag with among other things a big piece of checkered flannel in it, I knew right away what I wanted to make out of it. Flannel sleepwear - for me this time! I found a pattern in an old Burda I still had laying around, altered it slightly and fixed it in an afternoon. Nothing special, not even pretty but warm and cozy - bringing back those memories!

And then we baked cookies and they too brought back memories. The idea was to bake speculoos. I found a recipe, the spices - the only thing I didn't have was the dark brown sugar. The label said the box contained cassonade, but it was still too blond to make real speculoos which is supposed to be really dark. But never mind - the cookies turned out really good. They actually taste like the Trader Joe's Alphabet Cookies and Animal cookies we used to buy! In case you want to give it a try: You can find the recipe here - I added a second egg and combined 1/2 teaspoon of pain d'épices spices with 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon to obtain 1 teaspoon of mixed ground cake spices, and I added 1 teaspoon of vanilla, just because we like it. We planned on taking some cookies with us to Belgium for the holidays, but I'm not sure they'll last that long as we've been munching cookies all day!

DIY Gift Ideas # 5:: Fabric covered notebooks...

2010-12-17T18:59:00.000+01:00

Believe it or not, but it's only recently that I discovered Vliesofix also known as bondaweb, fusible webbing that sticks on two sides. Also recently, I bought Kasja Wikman's book Scandinavian Stitches. Inspired by the wonderful projects in the book I had to find Vliesofix right away. I was lucky to find some at the mercerie around the corner. The same evening I whipped together a Christmas themed drawstring bag, which didn't make it to the blog because it's simply not me. The girls think it's cute, but I'm not sure I like it.

Anyway, a couple of days after making the bag I saw the most wonderful (and also pricey) fabric covered envelopes at a store here in Paris. Seeing this was immediately followed by another one of my aha-moments which made me rush home. To make a long story short - I had plenty Vliesofix left. I also happened to have a couple of Moleskine notebooks. That combined with pieces of leftover fabric and you have fabric-covered notebooks! I finished them in no time and I think they look totally cute. The possibilities are of course endless. Make a couple in assorted colors and you have a nice teacher's gift, stocking stuffer, or just to keep them in your purse...
Here's a short description of how to make them. I didn't have time to make step-by-step photographs, but I believe it is kind of straightforward. So, here we go:

What you need:

- fabric, big enough to cover a notebook
- Vliesofix
- notebook (Moleskines are great for this)
- good sewing scissors, pencil, ruler
- iron

Instructions:

1. Cut a piece of Vliesofix slightly bigger than the notebook you want to cover
2. Iron the Vliesofix onto the wrong side of your fabric, paper side up. Cut fabric to size, along the outlines of the Vliesofix.
3. Peel off paper and place on top of your notebook. If your fabric has a pattern make sure to align perfectly - once the fabric sticks, it sticks! With your iron, press to fuse the fabric onto the cover. Let cool down a bit. Check if it sticks really well everywhere.
4. With small sewing scissors trim the excess fabric around the edges... and done!

Now, don't you think they look awesome!?

If you're into Moleskines also check out this post, from last year!

Yummy! :: Cranberry-Pistachio Biscotti

2010-12-13T13:49:00.002+01:00

The holiday season or maybe winter in general, traditionally is baking season. One of our home made favorites are these cranberry-pistachio biscotti (biscotti literally means baked twice). Even K. who doesn't have a sweet tooth at all or doesn't even care about desert, can't resist these. They have a nice nutty flavor to which the cranberries add the right amount of tang. I made a batch late Friday night and they didn't last through the weekend! The recipe is adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe.

ingredients (makes about 20):

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder (levure chimique)
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup cane sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup pistachios, peeled

Preheat oven to 350° F/ 175-180°C.
In a pan roast the pistachios until golden or slightly brown. Set aside.
Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
Put ~~flour~~ butter in a bowl and mix on medium speed until smooth. Add sugar and mix until pale and fluffy. Mix in vanilla and eggs, 1 at a time, until well combined. Add flour mixture at once and mix until well combined. Add cranberries and pistachios and mix with a fork until well combined.
Transfer dough to baking sheet lined with parchment paper and dusted with flour. Pat into a long flat log. Dust hands with flour if too sticky. Bake until firm, golden brown and cracked on top and an inserted toothpick comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack, about 20 minutes.
Transfer to a cutting board and cut 1/2 inch thick slices using a serrated knife. Arrange slices onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake cookies until brown at edges, about 12-15 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Bon appétit!

DIY Gift Ideas # 4 :: Whimsical Pillows...

2010-12-09T14:43:00.002+01:00

The week hasn't exactly been going as planned but things seem to have calmed down now. I hope. I didn't forget about the promise I made earlier this week - the only problem was finding half an hour to get my act together (and half an hour of good light as well). And I did today!

So, here's our most fantastic pillow ever! My girls' very favorite (and mine as well) totally whimsical triangular shaped pillow (this is actually the simpler version of a pillow I made a little while back but which didn't make it to the blog yet, somehow). It's absolutely fun to make and more importantly, it's absolutely easy to make. A perfect beginner's sewing craft. As a matter of fact we each made one. Little H. made the blue with mountain scenery one, big girl M. made the flowered one and I did the striped one. All three fabrics are from IKEA. The felt balls I still had here at home (no, Michelle, we didn't make them, though given all the roving I still have I might give it a try!). So, if you're still looking for a fun handmade present or for something to keep the kids busy during the holidays, keep on reading! All it takes is three seams and some stuffing!

What you'll need:

- fabric: a 32cm x 64cm piece of heavy cotton, denim, canvas,... (seam allowance included)
- 4 felt beads in assorting colors - pompoms would be nice too, by the way!
- poly-fiber fill to stuff the pillow
- sewing machine
- needle and thread
- scissors

Note: you can make the bigger or smaller, just make sure that the long side of the rectangle is twice the short side in length.

Instructions:

1. Fold the rectangle in half, right sides facing. Close two of the three open sides using a 1cm seam allowance and clip the corner as shown in picture 2.
2. Open up the remaining side and fold as shown in picture 3., i.e. fold the pillow cover such that the seam from step 2, ends up exactly in the middle of the remaining open side (so you will have 15cm of fabric on either side of the seam from step2). Pin and close that side, leaving an opening big enough for turning and stuffing (picture 4.).
3. Turn the cover inside out and shape (corners!). You'll get something that looks as shown in picture 5.
4. Stuff your pillow with the fiber fill to your liking, making sure the stuffing gets well distributed (picture 6).
5. Close the gap with a couple of stitches (picture 7).
6. Sew on the felt beads, one at every tip of the pillow (picture 8). And that's all there is to it (picture 9)!

Make sure to make enough of these for a pillow fight!!

Please note, this tutorial is intended for personal use only. Therefore, do not reproduce, sell or commercialize in any form. Thanks for understanding!

If you made something using a tutorial found on this blog or if you got inspired by something you found here, make sure to post your pictures here.