Ties

Here is the first tie i made!

I made the pattern by tracing an old tie and then used the facing from that tie.
I used a vintage fabric which I bought in a flee market here in Sweden. It was an old curtain!
It's really fun to recycle materials. To make something new and completely different from the original item.

The lining was really tricky to sew in as it has to be aligned in a certain way which, if you are making a tie for the very first time with no instructions, is a bit of a mystery. It was for me! So I had to do and undo many times until I finally got it and was satisfied.
For the second tie it was all much easier, although there was still a bit of undoing.

This is the second tie






Tie in the making





The whole project is quite fidly but once in a while I really enjoy this kind of work!

More Bibs for Babies

Yesterday I finished and gave away these two new bibs.

One for a beautiful girl

and one for a beautiful boy.


I hope they enjoy them!
I think she does!

The fabric was bought at Panduro.

I know that Amy Karol has a pattern for a bib like this in her inspiring book Bend the Rules Sewing.
But I had actually traced an old shop bought bib from one of my children before I got her book.
A project from Bend the Rules Sewing will come up soon on my blog!

Flowers. Floral Fabric. Favourite

This summer we went to Shrewsbury to visit Grandma.
In a wonderful fabric shop I found this beautiful floral fabric which I immediately fell in love with!
I wanted metres and metres of it. It would be perfect for a romantic summer dress.
But they only had it in fat quarters!
So I bought nine fat quarters and I will make my dress! I'll have to sew all the bits together first, but there will be a dress!
Somethings you just have to have!

This fabric is by Diane Richmond.
(I think this is the right Diane Richmond... I can't find this fabric anywhere...)

I love these flowers. I'm trying to find their name.... I'll get back to this later...

And then...

We went to Portugal, to a little village where we have an old family country place to visit the other Grandma, my mum.
And in the garden were these amazing flowers again! Just spreading everywhere! So beautiful!



We had a family lunch there and of course I had to have some on the table!


And when my romantic summer dress is ready, I can go for walks and have tea in the garden.
In Tasha Tudor's romantic garden!

Classics II - Polka dots

This is the second post dedicated to "classic" fabric.

Today: Polka dots!

And I made this:

A simple summery top for a little girl.

This little top reminds me of the dresses my grandmother used to make for my sister and I. I don't remember if she ever made something like this, but it has an air of "a long time ago".

I made the pattern myself based on a shop bought dress. I shortened the length to make a top instead and lowered the neck line. I added a pocket and an opening at the back.

Instead of using coordinating thread on the bias tape I used a contrasting orange - which of course follows the polka dot theme.

Bias tape is a favourite of mine!
I might even do a post dedicated to bias tape soon!

Classics I - Portuguese "chita"

This is the first post entitled "Classics", which I'll dedicated to more traditional or classic fabric. Today I dedicate it to the traditional Portuguese fabric called "chita".

A sample.

I bought this fabric in one of my favourite towns in Portugal, Caldas da Rainha. Known for its ceramics, for the old spa, the fruit and vegetable market and for the beautiful park.
There are still some little traditional shops like the little old haberdashers with wooden floors and wooden counters and shelves. And lovely reproductions of old portuguese fabrics, like these I bought.

My plan is to make some girlie dresses and skirts (I love skirts!).
The fabric with the red stripes is much thicker than the others, so I made a school bag for Pauline, a little friend, who has just started school.

Contrasting fabrics are great to combine. Blue flowers and red stripes with green gingham lining. And outer fabric for an inside pocket.

I wanted to make a shoulder bag to wear across, my favourite way of carrying a bag.
Here modelled by my son:
I also wanted a slightly different way of attaching the strap to the bag, so I sewed it to the outside of the bag, leaving a small loose flap at the end of the strap on each side. A small detail, but which is quite effective. I think.

If there's any fabric you can think of to include in this series of posts please come with suggestions!
It would be fun to have a wide selection of fabric shown here!

Boys in safari shorts

In July we visited grandma in Shrewsbury, England.
Lovely little town with a lovely fabric shop.
Let's go in just to look, I said...
My kids immediately saw this fabric and wanted it. They just wanted it.

I've been wanting to make them some shorts, but I had thought of something a bit more classic, like stripes.

I would never have chosen this "safari" fabric, but my kids wouldn't have been more pleased with their shorts!

They love their shorts and wear them all the time.
Shame Summer is almost over, over here!

I used the pijama pattern in Heather Ross' Weekend Sewing but cut the leg shorter and added 2 pockets on the back.

I bought lots more fabric there as well! More photos later!

Bibs for babies