If I Only Had A ...

... tin full of biscuits!

I've been searching for the perfect biscuit tin, as Dorothy was searching for her way back home. And on our holiday in England I finally found it!

We are all huge fans of The Wizard of Oz and what could be better than this tin featuring our 4 favourite heroes? 

I grew up with these old classic musicals and maybe I even dreamt of becoming a musical movie star, tapdancing and singing on the big silver screen.... It's so wonderful now to watch my two sons enjoying this film as much as I've always done! It's really timeless! 

Today, a rainy day, we baked delicious biscuits to fill up our new, perfect tin! 

And now every time I take a biscuit from the tin I can't help but start singing all those amazing songs. It's a bit like those music boxes which start playing when you open them!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

The Munchkin Song

If I Only Had A Brain

We're off to See the Wizard

And more...

So let yourself skip and jump out on the streets as if you were dancing along the yellow brick road!

And smile!

Which is your favourite song from the Wizard of Oz?

Or, which is your favourite musical?

SEW & SHOW - Gentleman's Challenge!

I am very pleased that the ascot I sent in for the Sew, Mamma, Sew! Make it! Wear it! challenge was featured in their highlights!

 Ascot/photo by Miss Pelicano

I was happily surprised that from people's comments it sounds like lots of fathers and grandfathers out there do enjoy dressing elegantly. 

Is there anyone else out there also making "Gentleman's" items?

Neck ties/photos by Miss Pelicano

Here is a challenge for you!

SEW & SHOW - Gentleman's Challenge!

• Sew an item for the Gentleman
• Post it on your blog and link to this challenge post
• Send me the link to your post and I'll list it on the side bar  

Have fun!

For the Gentleman!

Here is the ascot (or cravat) I made for my Dad, for his 

92nd Birthday!

My Dad always dresses very elegantly. My sister and I always say he dresses like an English gentleman! So this was an excellent accessory to sew for him. My Dad lives in portugal, where I'm from, but since i'm living in Sweden I hadn't celebrated his Birthday there with him for a few years. This year I made sure to be there with him and I'm so glad I was and to personally give him this present. He was already wearing an ascot, of course! One which I bought in a shop in England a few years ago. But he immediately took it off and put his new one on, commenting on how much better quality the one I made was!  It's the joy of handmade!

The beautiful fabric is a high quality quilt cotton with a lovely touch.
The fabric is called "Cocorico", by Hoffman California International Fabrics.

I can't believe my Dad is 92! He looks amazing and as elegant as always!

I even sent this top photo to the Sew, Mama, Sew! blog challenge Make it! Wear it! and it was chosen to feature in the highlights but because of different time zones, by the time I read their e-mail it was probably already too late to send my approval. Oh well, maybe next time! And I'm still flattered!

The ascot was made form the Burda 3404 pattern and it is a very easy one with very effective results! The pleats are fun to make and immediately give it a very elegant look.

 

"The Modern Gentleman's Neck-Tie ABC"

Then I found this fun little book in a bookshop in Sweden.

 

 

 Through clear pictures it shows how to tie different knots on different neck-ties.

I had to wear a tie for years as part of my uniform when I went to school but I had no idea there were so many different ways to tie it! With the help of this useful little book I now know that the knot I tied is called English I, and according to the same book it is "the "classic" knot, the most common and easiest one to tie". Oh! What a surprise!...

 

After some googling I learnt that Plastron is also called Plastrong, the Swedish word for ascot, or cravat.

And here is how you tie it!

 You can also get help with the perfect suit/tie colour coordination!

Click on the images to enlarge to get a closer look.

If you're a man, there's no excuse now! If your man needs help, here is the answer!

The mustasch is optional...

Isn't this classy? 

We talk a lot about how beautiful and elegant vintage ladies wear (dresses, skirts, blouses) was (is). I'm thinking 30's to 60's. And how much fashion has changed. But for the gentleman (!) has it changed that much?

From the little I know about sewing blogs I haven't seen much men's fashion, so I propose a challenge for anyone who wants to show any sewing projects you have made, are making, could make, for men!

Check out other ties I've made, here!

Happier Days

Piri Piri, the colourful children's clothes shop in Lisbon, Portugal,  has come out with a charity campaign in favour of the children's cancer hospital, together with the support of the Portuguese Cancer League.

All you have to do is make a sock puppet and leave it in their Lisbon shop by July 15th. Not so easy, I understand, if you don't live in the area. But it's still worth mentioning. Maybe you know someone you lives around there! Or maybe you can send the a handmade puppet by post!  Or why not run your  own campaign in your local area? It's a great cause, to cheer up the children who have to be in hospital. Your help is much appreciated!

Last year I made some sock puppets here and gave them to the local children's emergency hospital. And I wrote a post about it. 

One of the owners of the Piri Piri shops - who turned out to be an old school friend who I haven't seen for about 20 years - saw my post and thought that it would be a good idea to run a more extensive campaign using the sock puppet idea. I am very happy that my puppets have inspired this great campaign.

Next week we'll be going down to Portugal and we will definitely meet my friend and take a sock puppet with us!

Finally for the Boys - Shorts

"Keep Moving"

Shorts

Fabric: "Traffic Jam" by Allison Jane Smith

People (my sister) have been wondering why I never sew anything for boys. I have two sons, my sister has two sons. So it would be more natural to sew for boys. But I do get caught in the flowery universe of the somewhat more feminine fabrics (to be really stereotypical here...).

But finally here are some shorts for one of my boys, which he wore for his birthday party yesterday.

I called these shorts "Keep Moving", which is not the name of the fabric, although it could be, because of the motif but also, and especially, because little children are hardly ever still!

The pattern I used is the same one I used for the other pairs of shorts I made for my boys last summer. The patter for Pajama Trousers in Heather Ross' Weekend Sewing. But I cut the leg bits shorther and added two pockets on the back.

It's a very easy pattern which you can make really quickly!

40!

 

Youth is in our hearts and in a red polka dot skirt with a bright green ribbon!

I'm having a great day!

I started this A-Line skirt months and months ago, but decided to finally have it finished for today, my special day! The pattern is based on the skirt ideas from Wendy Mullin's book Sew U .

Girly Skirts - Yes! Again!

"Sunny Day" 

Girly Skirt

Birthday, after birthday, after birthday.... We know so many children who have their birthdays quite close to each other, so why not more girly skirts?

I bought the flowery bias tape, which I used here as decorative ribbon, ages ago and finally found the perfect fabric to go with it. I think it looks so cute together!

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