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?

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

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.

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

Another Nettie and a Fail

Shortly before Christmas I made another Nettie Dress. The Nettie is a really quick and easy pattern, but somehow I am able to even mess this up.

This time I made the high neckline. My plan was to wear it with some cute Christmas accessory, which I did and all was well. Until I washed it. Because, of course I forgot to prewash the fabric and it did shrink quite a bit. So now the dress is much to short to wear it on its own. Deserves me right!

But maybe it is not so bad. Because I could really need a simple black top. It would go well with my patterned skirts.

I am not sure if I will make this neckline or even the Nettie again. I made a third one, which was also a fail (which had nothing to do with the pattern, but more on that coming soon). I am not totally sold on the fit, but am too lazy to make changes. I want to try some other patterns out. A Renfrew is already cut and waiting to be sewn.

Oh and on another note, how cute is this necklace? As soon as I saw it on Instagram, I had to have it. It shows all eight planets of our solar system (poor Pluto), but in a subtle way. I love it!

Top/Dress - self-made

Skirt - H&M

Tights - Ernstings Family

Necklace - Eclectic Eccentricity

Shoes - Deichmann

A Bookish Dress (New Look 6262)

I love books. I love to read. So it was time to show my love with a matching dress. I found this amazing book fabric by Alexander Henry (Somerville Study). It has all of my favorite colors and is easy to match with most of my things.

For the pattern I again made my trusted New Look 6262. So everything was easy and quick. I really like the dress. It looks really cute and is so easy to combine. When I wear it today I even got a compliment.

My little Easter Bunny

First of all I wish you all a Happy Easter Weekend. I hope you have a nice time and the Easter Bunny brings you something sweet.

For our Easter cards this year I decided to make the little one a bunny hat. This blog post was the main inspiration. So I got the "Little Things to Sew" book and got to work. I used the leftover fabric from the fox costume as the main fabric and some fabric I had in my stash for quite a while (I bought this from the sales pile with no project in mind). The sewing was so easy. I just lengthened the ears. The pattern is really well constructed. Not even my thick fabric was a problem.

After the cute hat (which is still a bit big for the little one, next time I should take into account that he has a small head like me) I thought how fun would be matching pants. So I pulled out my Ottobre magazines and searched for an easy pattern. I wanted something quick with an elastic waistband. These pants are meant for baby girls, but they are okay. The waistband sits a bit low, but I was not in the mood to rip it out and sew it again.

Getting a nice photo of the little one was such a hassle. I planned to buy some spring flowers to put in this Ikea vase for him to hold (I love this vase so much I bought the small and the middle one), but in the flower shop they had only flowers which were not blooming yet. So next time I should make sure to buy the flowers beforehand. Maybe next year.
And because the little one had nothing to hold onto, he was like a whirlwind. He did not stand still long enough so that I could focus. It was not helpful that there was a steep hill nearby which he wanted to climb over and over again.

In the end I got a fantastic photo merely by chance. I love this photo very much, because he looks wild and energetic, like he is most times. I am really sorry I can't show it to you, but deleting his face from the picture would really ruin it.

What do we learn from this: A) plan ahead B) give a toddler something to hold onto when you want him to stand still and C) if all else fails just snap photos and hope for the best (I normally go with option C).

Now I only hope my little easter bunny will like his presents. Have a nice Sunday!

Fox Masks

For the birthday party I found these adorable fox masks in the book "Belle and Boo - S is for Sewing" and had to make them for the little one and his cousin. The sewing was very easy. I used fusible web for the first time. It was nice to use, but at least with my stuff I had to sew over the edges, because otherwise the pieces would have fallen apart.

The boys were not much interested in the masks. The little one with his two years is still too young to grasp the concept, but I have some hopes that he will use it later. I fear the older one (six years old) is just not into foxes. Maybe a superhero mask would have been better for him.

My first Nettie

Of course I had to hop on the bandwagon and make a Nettie. The pattern is really fast forward and was a quick make. Or it could have been, if my twin needle was not a total jerk and refused to work properly. So the seam finishes took as long as the rest of the sewing, especially the neck finish.

I like the outcome, but it is not the most comfortable dress to wear. I made the wide neckline, which looks really cool (and reminds me of my ballet leotards), but it is a pain to wear, especially with a toddler to look after. I wore the dress for a birthday party and it was okay, but I don't see myself wearing this as an everyday dress.

But all in all, Nettie is a great pattern. I already made another version with a high neckline and a big fail version. Can't wait to share these with you!

Dress - self-made

Tights - local shop

Shoes - Tamaris

Earrings - self-made

Snow White Dress (New Look 6262)

Last summer I made New Look 6262 again (and there are still some that wait to be shown here). I love this pattern. It is so easy and quick to sew. But I have to say, this is my favorite version. I love this dress and sometimes I could wear it every day. It is so comfortable and I adore the print. The reactions are really awesome too.

This time I made the version with sleeves and shortened the skirt.

This is also a great dress to combine. Thanks to the many colors I can wear it with a lot of things from my wardrobe. For summer I wore it most often with my yellow sun jellies.

Dress - self-made

Hairbow - Claires

Red shoes - JustFab

Apple Bag - Bodyline

Yellow shoes - Sun Jellies 

Yellow Bag - Sun Jellies

Fox Costume (Simplicity 1351)

Today the little one had his first Fasching (carnival) at kindergarten (he was sick last year and I was lucky, that I did not even think about making a costume, because I was sick the most time too). The decision for a costume was easy. Fortunately for me, the little one had no preferences yet. And when I found Simplicity 1351 the choice was made.

The pattern was really easy to make. The fabric behaved very well, although it was a bit thick sometimes. The only change I made was to rework the hood, because in the pattern they underline it with a cushion to make the head bigger, but I knew that the little one would not wear this.

I was really glad this morning when the little one changed into the custom without any fuss. He even liked it so much, that he wore it for the way home and till he had to go to bed. What surprised me most, that he also liked to wear the hood and tried to put it on himself. He was such a cute little fox today!

A bit of mint

I found the idea of a two piece ensemble interesting for a very long time, but never got around to make one. But since my new found love for mint green and the discovery of this great fabric I had to make a 60s inspired set.

The fabric is Cookie Book by Kim Kight for Cotton + Steel Fabrics and it is gorgeous. I love the color combination and the feel. It was so easy to work with and wears really nice.

The skirt I made without a pattern. It is a simple dirndl skirt. For the top I used vintage Simplicity 5346. I think it is a bit baggy, but cute. Maybe next time I will try to make a crop top from the Colette Sorbetto pattern. I had a bit of a struggle with the waist band of the skirt (as always). I even had to take it in a bit after the first wear, because it was too wide. Otherwise the sewing was really fun and easy.

I love that I can combine the two pieces with other things, but also have a kind of dress. I will show you some combinations soon.

I hope you all have a nice summer. Here in Germany it is really warm weather and the sun is shining almost permanently the last weeks. We were a lot in the garden on weekends. Last weekend I even managed to finish two books, I started ages ago. The little one has his fun in the garden too. He either likes to bath in his little pool or he plays in the sandbox (only downside, we now have sand everywhere in the house). Only thing he is not so keen about is walking.

Top + Skirt - selfmade
Shoes - T.U.K.
Cotton Candy - Scrumptious Delight on Etsy
Hair Flower - Topshop

Calligraphy Place cards

One Easter gift I made myself. My mother in law told me, that she wanted some new place cards, but did not have time to make them. So I decided this was the perfect gift for her. I made these place cards out of watercolor paper and used this tutorial and her Kaitlin style calligraphy for the design. This was my first calligraphy project and I am really proud of the outcome. The Kaitlin style is the perfect beginner style. It is very easy to make and even looks good, if it is not perfect.

Two Baprons

As the little one eats solids for quite some time now, we are always in need of some cute bibs. We are lucky, that he mostly is a very tidy eater and spits out food seldom. On many days the bib is clean after eating, but you can't bet on this. And there are other opportunities to smear clothes with stains, so bibs are always welcome. And I found this awesome baby apron aka bapron pattern and had to make some. The sewing was really really easy and fast and I am already thinking about making more (maybe in the bigger size, because the little one grows fast). I made these out of some cotton fabrics I had in my stash and made a second layer out of cotton jersey. I am pleased with the outcome. They look really cute and fit perfectly. So here they are, my two baprons:

Frog and bear were nice enough to model for me. I think the frog really likes his Star Wars bapron as he was not so eager about giving it back.

So two new bibs for the little one, but as he goes to kindergarten we always seem to be short on these. Time to make more! What a luck, that these are great stash busters.

Foxy Dress (New Look 6262)

After a disastrous last year where I sewed almost nothing and most of it was a failure I finally are back on track. I found a pattern that I really like, New Look 6262. I already owned some dresses of this kind which are store-bought and are worn constantly (at least before I got pregnant). So I thought maybe I should make more of this kind, because I already know I wear these kind of dresses. Because if I am honest I did make a lot of dresses that are too fancy or uncomfortable for everyday wear. And it is a great pattern to show of all these special prints I so adore. This resulted in three of these dresses already sewn and at least three more are planned (means, already bought the fabric for these).

But on to the foxes. I bought the little one this great fox from Walnut Animal Society, then knitted him a fox hat and then thought how much fun it would be when I had a matching fox dress. So I searched for fabric and stumbled upon this gorgeous fox print.

The dress was really easy to make and very fast, too. I tried to be accurate and even hand stitched the facings down. Only the zipper is not even, but I really had no desire to fix this. I really like this dress, it is only a tad too long for my taste. I did make the other ones 5 cm shorter. But overall I like it and can't wait to wear it in the fall.

Outfit:

Dress - made by me

Belt - vintage

Shoes - Just Fab

Flower - H&M

Gloves - vintage

Baby Bib

I found the idea for this bib on Pinterest. To make this was very easy and I had everything at home. I simply traced a bib I had and used this as a pattern. The bow I made without a pattern.

The little one wore this bib at the Easter weekend and our families liked it very much. It was so cute!

A new oven mitt

Because my old oven mitt looked really disgusting it was time to make new one. I found this pattern in one of the books from Cath Kidston. The sewing was a bit difficult with all the layers. My bias tape was also a bit too small. Next time I would make my own bias tape. But I had this on hand and it matched the fabric so well.

Nursing pads

Because I am no big fan of disposable things, but my bought ones are not nearly enough to keep me dry, I made myself some nursing pads. Fortunately I had everything at home. I even managed to make them despite having a grumpy little one, who did not want to sleep at all.

I simply cut circles out of a molton fabric and then layered two of these and a cotton fabric. Then I sewed all this together with my serger. Easy and quick! I was a bit lazy and did not cut circles out of the cotton,  but used my serger to cut it in shape. So I saved some time.

I now have nine pairs of selfmade ones and three bought ones. I hope these will keep me dry at least for some days.

Advent Calendar

I started this project four years ago, but only finished it recently. The first year I only did the embroidery, the second year I think I did the tree and last year I stitched on the buttons and began to put together the ornaments. But then the present making did come first and I only managed to finish six ornaments. Finally this week I did make the rest. So for the next christmas the advent calendar is ready to be used. Maybe the little one will have fun with it.

I plan to make some other ornaments in the future, so that it does not become boring.

The embroidery pattern is by Wild Olive