Work in progress...

I have been working on these last week.
Soon to be available in my Etsy shop...
There's more to come!

Wishing you a great week!

H

 

Little H.: "Mom, which bag can I use?" - As in: 'I don't have a bag to put my gym stuff in...'
Can you believe this is an ever returning question here? Our place looks like bag-country, or better: it is bag-country, with bags hanging and lying around everywhere!  Most of them where homemade, but I bought quite some over the years as well - the excuse most often being: at that price I can't make it!
Anyway, last Saturday little H. couldn't find a bag to put her aerobics stuff in (did I ever mention she discovered aerobics this year and got totally hooked. Aerobics, well the kind she does, has nothing to do with Jane Fonda nor the eighties. No leg warmers, no hairbands, but a lot of jumping around at very high speed in a choreographic setting. You need a lot of flexibility (which she has to a freaking extent - we have no idea who she got that from) and muscle strength in order to keep up. But I'm so deviating, here, I guess, from today's topic.)

Me: 'You can't find a bag? Would you like me to make you one?' 'Yes, mommy, please!' We were one hour away from her Saturday aerobics class - I guess I felt like sewing...
I went for the grey sweater knit fabric which I got at a discount because there was a hole in it somewhere. But grey is just grey, right? So, I decided to add a nice little detail. I am creative, but not when it comes to adding details. You won't find butterflies or flower appliqués in my designs for the simple reason I'm not good at drawing (and also because I'm simply not a butterfly-flowery person). That's why I stick to squares and circles which are harder to mess up. Here, I didn't get any further than adding the first letter of her name. To get the Abercrombie & Fitch appliqué kind of effect, I used several layers of  fabric - which worked out fine, but for the in between layers, I might as well have used something else than my nicest fabrics since you can't see them - even the smallest child would have known that.  Oh well! With the appliqué we were already more than half an hour down the road and I still needed to fix the lining (dropped the inside pocket - sorry!) and the handles. You guessed it, even though I worked like crazy and kranked up the speed of my sewing machine, I didn't finish the bag in time, so she still had to chose one from her extensive collection ( she chose this one - still a favorite!). But, hey, I finished it right after class and she was as happy as could be. As for me: it's not my best work ever but it was a fun little project for a grey Saturday afternoon.
Oh, the weather... it has been so miserable the passed couple of weeks. It feels like we skipped a couple of seasons with all the rain we had lately but let's not go down that road. Not today!

Note: This bag could easily be made from an old sweater. It's a simple tote like this one - except for the boxed corners and appliquéd handles.

So frustrated

Everyone had the day off here. And what started as a day with potential for fun activities became a long, boring and frustrating day.  Because of (stubborn) me and a stupid printer!

It all started with little H. and me wanting to finally tackle the birthday party invitation issue. In no time we had the invitation ready on my laptop. We had a list ready with invitees. All that remained to be done was the printing. Only: the ink cartridge seemed to run low on yellow, and you need yellow in order to print green, don't you. Our invitation came out all purple and blue. Nothing wrong with that according to little H., but mommy is a perfectionist (sometimes) so she ran to the store to get a new color cartridge. Got home, installed it and... And nothing! The printer refused to print, except for a test page which clearly showed the presence of yellow now. I should have stopped here. We could still print with the old cartridge, couldn't we?! But no, I wanted to fix the problem. I checked settings, configurations, tried to find solutions online... And time flew by. I ran to the store again thinking that replacing the black cartridge as well, would do the trick. It only got worse: even the test page wouldn't come out now. I'll spare you the details of a long investigation, but it turns out that print cartridges for this particular brand of printer have a regional code (besides their expiration date - hence the absence of yellow!). And since we bought the printer in the US a long time ago (it never got used until now - long story!) and replaced the American expired but brand new cartridges with same brand cartridges meant for the European market, we have a compatibility problem.  Obviously, the warranty has expired as well. I do hope the help desk will contact me with a solution, though, but to be honest I doubt it...

Regional codes, seriously?!
Such a waste of precious and much needed family time...

And I felt bad about it all night.

Paris, je t'aime :: the day after

Random pictures from a random walk the day after the French presidential elections.


Blue Blanc Rouge



Ariane 




Superheroes
Hollande - Sarkozy :: le rassemblement 




Riverin Hollande

Leather tote

 

The facts:

1. I like the leather Baggu bags which have been showing up everywhere lately.
2. I have so many bags already, I really have the feeling I can't justify spending that much money on yet another bag, because, yes, that's what they are: a little bit on the expensive side.
3. I love sewing, especially bags. I even have my very own bag pattern, very similar to this Baggu tote.
4. I have tons of leather waiting to be transformed into bags among other things.  

Hence, I made my very own 'Baggu' style bag.

And I used one of my new labels, which I just love, love, love and which I got here.

Skirts

We're in anticipation of Summer - which might never come - at least that's what it feels like right now. It's dark and grey again as I'm writing...

Anyway, chances are my Flemish and Dutch readers know this book by now. Yes, I'm talking about 'Allemaal rokjes' (literally translated it means 'all skirts') by Mme Zsazsa and Elza D, a fun book with different skirt patterns for moms and girls. The explanations are easy to follow, the patterns are great and the book is a fun read as such. Sewing won't become easier than this. Let's hope the book get's translated. Wat zou je daarvan vinden, Mme Zsazsa?!

I made this a-line skirt from the book for little H. last week. I made another one for M. as well, but 'the light' (read: the weather) has been so poor we didn't have a chance yet to take pictures. There are more skirts to follow, as we bought plenty of fabric, also last week. I might even try the A-line skirt pattern for myself. Unless... Vinde Gij Mijn Gat (Niet Te Dik In Deze Rok?)* I can't help thinking of that song in relation to skirts. My Flemish readers definitely know what I'm referring to...
The fit of this pattern, however, is great so I'm pretty confident. Usually when sewing for my girls I need to make alterations to make it work. Not here. In both cases the skirt fit like a glove.

And now, could we, please, get a little bit of sunshine around these areas...?


The details: The fabric is from Anna Ka Bazaar. The zipper is vintage. I kept it visible - intentionally - because I like the color. I used white popeline for the lining and - intentionally - made it pass at the top for a faux piping effect. The jacket is something old - I knit it a long time ago from a Debby Bliss book in my favorite Lambs Pride Yarn (which, unfortunately, I can't find around here).


* Don't you think (my butt looks fat in this skirt) - a hilarious song by the Clement Peerens Explosition, a Belgian parody rock band from the 90's.