Archives: 21. Oktober 2010

… project for this year. Almost certainly the last one I’ll actually get around to posting here as some highly important exams are approaching way too fast. Anyway, on a happier note:

Children grow unbelievably fast. Thus a little boy I made a christening present for more than 2.5 years ago is now a big brother to another little boy christened just recently. Needless to say – ideas for sewing projects sparked in my head as soon as the invitation reached us. However, as I may have mentioned in a post about my own little girl, second children tend to have just about everything they need and more, passed on to them by older siblings mostly. Therefore, I ruled out clothes and decided to make a blanket that could serve him as a throw on his bed, a light cover during warm summer nights, a place to have a picnic on and, incidentally, a large checkerboard (it features 8 by 8 squares of two colours):

It measures about 3’7“ squared. When I chose the fabric I tried to find „boyish“ colours and patterns that had a bit of an adult flair to them – I didn’t want him to hate his „baby blanket“ once he grew a little. Every boy needs a little fun, though, and I’ve realized  that it doesn’t matter if he’s 1, 5, or 50 years old. Naturally, I fell in love with this fabric and had to have it for a frame:

Don’t you just love that there are buses, ambulances, police and tow-cars and even a fire truck? I used a bit of the backing for the corners and set it of with some dark blue stripes. Accidentally, I discovered a way of finishing a quilt’s edges I haven’t read about previously. I planned on doing double fold binding, but cut the stripes too narrow – which, of course, I only realised AFTER I had sewn the first one on. Since I didn’t have any time left, I just ironed the entire binding to the back and sewed it on there. This actually makes for a cleaner edge on the front, I think.

For quilting, I only sewed a third of an inch into half of the squares and I hope this is sufficient to hold the cotton batting in place. The blanket is 100% cotton, top, batting and back.

I hope you like it, pictures are courtesy of the little boy’s mother – thank you so much!

Katrin

PS: My dear American readers – and friends – please feel free to correct any mistakes you find. I have the impression, lately, that I’m losing some of my English – I might just have to drop in on you! (And how I wish I could… maybe a call will have to do.)

… a commission!

My son turned 4 (quite amazing, isn’t it). For a birthday party we decided to take him and his friends on a treasure hunt starting of with a picknick at the (admittedly very small) botanical garden. To pick up the treasures that were to be found, each little boy of course needed a bag. So I made some and then decided to also use them to decorate the table alongside the caution tape my son had asked for (it’s red and white over here).

So when the treasure hunters arrived, that’s what they were looking at:

Also, I recently got the chance to make something on commission, as a little boy (or rather not that little anymore) needed a bag with his name on it. So I was asked for another version of these bags, that I’d made a while back:

I also included a baby chicken as that’s on his closet at daycare. I simply cut out two roughly chicken-like shapes from yellow fabric. Then I stiched the wing shape on one of them, sewed them together leaving a little hole for turning. I flipped it inside out and filled it with some of the wool left from my daughter’s doll. Then all that was left for me to do was to close the whole and add eyes and a little comb and tail by hand.

Here’s what the little chicken looks like:

By the way, fall arrived rather quickly over here – might be time to make some hats!

Katrin

… is a lovely pillow!

Here are some that I’ve made:

These were for my sister. And I also made one for my son to go with his sister’s blanket and to add to the blue and green accents in the nursery:

As you can tell, these are all made adapting the log-cabin quilt pattern. I like the fact that you don’t really have to have a pattern designed when you get started but can make it up as you go along. I start by making the „face“ side, almost like a little quilt complete with batting and lining and then treat that as it were a regular peace of fabric and ad the back side of the pillow case. Quilting the front makes for some nice accents: either just because the seems are there or because of some contrasting thread.

Hope you have a beautiful pillow around to make your couch even more comfortable!

Katrin

… sweet Emma!

My daughter recently turned one. Since she has an older brother, she is equipped with all the items that make lovely birthday presents like rocking horses, LEGO blocks, regular building blocks, push carts and so forth. She also has loving friends and family near and far providing her with clothes, books and lovely wooden puzzle footstools (THANK you all so much for thinking of her!) Given that, finding a special present for our very special girl was rather tough until I stumbled across Waldorf dolls. They are made entirely from wool and cotton, they don’t show any facial expression and thus leave a lot of room for imagination. Best of all, however, making them didn’t seem all that complicated.

Well, thanks to these instructions and this book which I found at the library and my husband who kept me from throwing it all away, the doll originally intended to be of yet unknown sex and name (for my daughter to decide) actually turned out to be a girl called Emma.

The doll does have a lot of flaws, of course, her head and limbs are too loose and she does look a little strange without clothes. On the other hand, this is the first doll I ever made and I’ve put a lot of love and effort into it. After being quite unhappy with the outcome these lovely pictures (courtesy of my talented sister Elke) completely reconciled me with having decided to make this. What I love most is the way the doll’s face and hair turned out. For the hair I used some hand-spun wool I’ve been given by my grandmother years ago – I suppose it could well be about 50 years old by now.

By the way, since I didn’t have enough time left to make some garments for her, Emma is wearing real baby clothes (her trousers are way too wide, though).

Come to think of it, I am insanely proud of the birthday gift I made for my daughter, so please don’t judge me for posting yet another picture:

Thanks for taking a look!

Katrin

… what am I going to do next year? Or maybe I’ll abandon the concept of an every-year christmas project altogether, since it really is rather time consuming – we’ll see.

Now, to this last year’s project without further delay:

And yes, these are aprons (and two bibs for the smaller girls). I sent them out a little early to give the kids a chance to use them during all that pre-christmas baking. As I did with these hats the year before, I tried to make each apron a little different from the others by way of bias binding.

Now, I’m just throwing an IKEA-lampshade I covered in the mix before I’m done for today – it’s now hanging in our nursery.

So much for sewing today. Now a little thinking-out-loud: Not only am I asking my self whether I should abandon some projects but also whether I should stop blogging – it feels like talking into thin air without anyone noticing… So if you’re reading this, let me know and comment!

Katrin