Soot Sprites Headband

I love the movies "Totoro" and "Spirited Away" and in both these cute little creatures called soot sprites play a (not so important, but who cares) role. These creatures are ghosts or spirits that are made out of soot (who would have guessed), hence the name.

I stumbled upon this tutorial and had to make my own headband. It was really easy. I used a glue gun for almost everything except the eyes, which where self-adhesive.

Now the only question is, when will I wear this?

Weekend Inspiration No. 1

Clockwise:

1) Plate by Ingela P. Arrhenius

2) Personalised Funny Fox Print by Ketchup on Everything

3) Framed Origami Fox DIY by How About Orange

4) Fox socks pattern by Girly Knits

Vintage Party Dress

As soon as I saw this fabric by Michael Miller (it is called Glitz) I knew I had to make a dress out of it. It is a border print in metallic gold, how amazing!

As a pattern I used vintage Simplicity 4984, which I already made some years ago. After I finished this version I remembered why I did not wear the other dress very often. The top is very pretty, but also a bit restrictive at the arms. But okay, that's fine for a party dress (but not perfect, when there is a toddler around). I changed the skirt and simply gathered a large rectangle. I like the skirt much more this way.

It is a lot of fun to whirl around in this dress. Unfortunately it is not something for everyday wear, but I wore it last weekend at the diamond wedding of my boyfriend's grandparents (60 years of marriage, how awesome is that? And they are still happy and very healthy).

Dress - self-made
Hat - vintage
Stockings - What Katie Did
Shoes - Agnes & Norman

Review: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Hollow City and Library of Souls

This series of books started out really well. I read the first book in a couple of days. It was not the best book I ever read, but it was entertaining and the whole setting was promising. But from there it went downhill.

The story is about children with special powers, a bit like the X-Men. What makes especially the first book interesting are the old photos, which the author used to tell his story. The pictures are all real. The author found them at flee markets. The hero of the story, Jacob, discovers this strange world of these peculiar children with their powers and of course also discovers that he has some power himself. Nothing new, but in the first book it was all nice and well. It differs from other books with a similar story that it is not action-packed and the main story is set in the past.

The second book was okay. There were more peculiar children, but most of them only played a minor part in the story. What was interesting was to learn a bit more about the world the author created. But for my taste it was a bit dragging. And somehow the problems were solved too easily. It took me far longer to read the second book, but it was okay.

But the third book was downright boring and uninteresting. It took me ages to read and I just was not hooked. Somehow it did not bother me, what would become of the characters. Jacob was annoying with the development of his super-powers. And the worst was the end. Why was he not forced to make a decision? As with the second book, whenever there was a problem, there would come a rescue from nowhere. The characters did not really have to fight.

I read these books because of the upcoming movie and because of the good reviews I had really high hopes. Of course these are YA-novels, but that does not excuse the lack of character development. I was not attached to most characters and worse the third book left me cold. Not even the main villain was interesting. To be honest I can not recommend these books. And after I saw the trailer for the movie I fear even worse for this (despite director Tim Burton).

A Bettine with Flamingos

Last summer I was on a hunt for all things mint green. I liked the color before, but somehow there were not many things to buy. And then I stumbled on this gorgeous fabric, after researching the Bettine pattern. I had to have it. Mint green and flamingos, perfect!

The sewing of the dress was easy. There are no closures, but an elastic in the waist. The fabric was a bit more difficult to sew than my beloved cottons, but it was okay. What I love about the fabric (besides the print) is, that it is so soft. I could touch it the whole day. After sewing the dress, I even have some leftover, so maybe I can make a blouse out of it.
I am not totally satisfied with the pattern. The skirt is a bit tight at the bottom for my liking. But overall I like the dress. Only downside is, that this really is a summer dress. And of course before I had finished this last year, summer was almost over. So I only wore it once last year. Hopefully I will get a bit more wear out of this dress this year. I already wore it twice!

The feather necklace is from a Mollie Makes Kit. I sorted through these kits last weekend and stumbled upon this necklace. It fits this dress so perfectly! It was a quick and easy make and I love the finished necklace.

Dress - self-made
Necklace - self-made from Mollie Makes 44 kit
Hair flowers - H&M
Earrings - can't remember
Shoes - T.U.K.

Professor Astro Cat's Frontiers of Space

I finally got my hands on this great children's book. The German version was sold out for quite some time, but is now available again. And it is amazing.

The illustrations by Ben Newman have a nice retro vibe. They give the book a very unique feeling. The text was written by Dominic Walliman and I think, it is perfect. It is detailed enough to really teach children something new, but not overwhelming. The book discusses the planets of our solar system and research about space in the past and present.

Professor Astro Cat is a really charming book for children about space. There will be another book out next week (the topic this time is physics) and there is also an activity book. We also have the Ipad app, which is designed like the book and does not offer too much new (but it is quite entertaining and well made).

A Cherry Sorbetto

I made this Sorbetto quite a while ago, but never got around to make photos. For this blouse I reused an old Lolita dress I did no longer wear. Here is a really old photo, in case you are interested:

I thought it a shame to have this dress sit in my closet and decided to make a blouse out of it. I changed the neckline of the Sorbetto pattern and added some sleeves. Now it is a bit more complicated to get into, but I like it better this way. Until now I did not wear it more often than before, but hopefully now that summer comes and I have some more skirts to wear it with, this will change. To be honest, white is not my most flattering color, so this will never be a favorite, but it is cute and I like it.

Blouse - selfmade

Skirt - H&M

Tights - H&M

Boots - Ebay