Fabric Alteration, Try Out

Graag steek ik zo af en toe mijn licht op bij Annekata. Een tijdje geleden was zij in de ban van stofverandering. Denk aan smocken, vouwen en gaten erin knippen. Via Annekata kwam ik hier terecht en zoiets wilde ik zelf ook eens proberen. Een soort smocken 'light'. Dit bedacht ik gisteravond om tien uur en dit was de enige gestreepte stof die ik had. Net genoeg voor een klein etuitje.

I love reading Annekata's blog. A while ago she was busy with fabric manipulation. Think smocking, cutting, folding, whatever. Through her blog I found these examples and I knew immediately I would try that myself and so I did. I didn't have more striped fabric than this candystripe strip, just enough to sew a little a pouch out of it.

Needlebook

Before she was born, I made a mobile for Lauren to hang above her crib. With an clearvoyant vision I made little felt horses and embellished them with felt flowers and embroidery, not knowing she would turn out to be a horseloving girl.

Years later I was planning on turning this mobile into a merry-go-round and I cut the horses loose from the mobile frame, but that merry-go-round stayed in the closet. Unfinished. That's how things go, sometimes. I ran into these little horses again while I was thinking about making (or even sewing) a sewingkit for Lauren's birthday in October. I made this needlebook.  I really love that folk art style. In the back of my mind I knew I was  copying an idea I've seen somewhere in blogland. Larissa from mmmcrafts made these beautiful needlebooks and a while ago they were available in her etsy shop. Please visit her lovely blog and admire her beautiful designs.

Toiletry bag

In this lovely, sundrenched Easter weekend, filled with lovely diners with friends and a garden party, I somehow managed to finish this toiletry bag. I'm a little ashamed to say it's my make up bag. I only use mascara, eyeliner and lipstick, but I have this thing for eyeshadow in all sorts of colors (I only use the brownish ones, occasionaly...). I'm not the type of person who carries make up along with her, so this is for the bathroom. Our future bathroom in grey and walnut....

I stated before that me and zippers don't get along very well, but actually I was too lazy to find out how to sew a proper zipper and a  lining together. I finally did that, and it wasn't all that difficult, using this tutorial, which I found on the pattern page of Eloleo's. For the lining I used the toile de jouy oilcloth again. 

Snegoerotjsjka ornaments

Inspiration is such a beautiful thing. Rahel posted these Etsyfinds on her blog, and I really loved them and then Hetty showed us the ornament she made for a friend. Put one and one together, add a little inspiration and you get my little ornaments. They're made of woolfelt, some leftover beads, chainstitches and french knots and about the size of a praline. The lovely girl is Snegoerotsjka, the snowgirl, a painting from Michail Vroebel for a Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov opera. My own snowgirl just came in with the deepest red cheeks I've ever seen... Tomorrow the children will get their skatingdiplomas. I was a very proud mother when I saw my sons doing 'pootje over', the proper way of skating the curves. We're ready for Christmas since we're doing the 'grand tour' this year; seeing both parents and inlaws. There happens to be ice near to my parents in law, so we'll  probably do a little skating on Christmasday!