Trash to treasure tuesday

Did I mention that I love thrift stores and flea markets?

I do

and I have my "bunch" of thrift stores that I visit regularly

A while ago I was lucky and found these two lovelies

And this weekend I finally had the time to sand them down and give them a new look

Now this is Lynn`s new treasure box

And this is mine:

I liked the chest from the moment I discovered it but

when I opened the drawers and saw the compartments

I knew It would be perfect to store my ribbons, bindings and laces!

And I absolutely LOVE those handles!

It is relaxing to know that now I have an other mess free zone in my sewing studio.

Have a nice day

Doll making and a heavenly cake & sew & tell Fridays

After I had made the bunnies

I was hooked...

I started drawing some doll bodies and rummaged in my scraps.

She was the first try:

Lynn choosed the hair color and named her Annabelle.

And of course she needed friends.

It is true, no one should be without friends.

And Léo likes dolls too...

So voilà: Meet Ben and Sara!

I had the idea of stitching the faces and hair but the children wanted to draw it themselves and now they even have the jewelery tattooed on!

They also made quite exact drawings of other anatomical details, now hidden by the cloth I finished shortly before leaving for a walk around a nearby village.

A perfectly blue sky

Simple pleasures

The village

with a cozy Tea Room where we indulged ourself with a piece of St. Honoré.

You can`t buy this cake everywhere but I know the places and never resist...

and you have to work hard after this to loose the calories again too!

Yes, it is hard to survey the children when they are playing.

(Picture this: Me, sitting on a bench soaking in the sunlight)

Did I mention that I LOVE spring?

And since today,

we are prepared for summer guests too.

I hope you have a lovely day with some nice things to enjoy.

Beautiful

Absolutely amazingly Beautiful

Thats all I can say!

And happy Easter to all of you!

I wanted to reduce the amount of chocolate in the kid`s Easter baskets so i created these two Bunnies to add instead.

How to make a 4 year old happy

Most of the sewing I do for the children it is done for Lynn because it is easy to make a quick skirt or little bag etc. to make a girl happy!

But poor boy really wanted something for himself to be sewn too and he sure new what he needed!

A BATMAN CAPE

of course

So I spent 2 cups of coffee searching the internet to find a logo to print out- with no luck but I found this instruction to draw it myself.

And then I started the making and I would like to share it here with you as my first

TUTORIAL!

What you will need:

-Sewing machine and thread

-Scissor

-Pins

-Measuring tape

-Black felt

-Steam-a-Seam or equal

-Felt pen

-Computer,Internet ;)

-Button or Velcro

-A piece of fabric

Min. about 100cm with and at least 70cm long for a small 4 year old.

( you will have to adjust this measurements depending on the size of your super hero....So you need

-a model too)

Start with

hemming the sides of the fabric.

Me as a bit lazy, just zigzagged all the way round..

Then copy your artwork on to the Steam-a Seam paper which then, iron on a piece of black felt.

D0n`t do it like me ; iron a corner of the paper on to your ironing board unless you want to change your board cover anyway..;)!

After this, cut out the Batman sign and iron it on to the fabric in the upper half of the fabric piece.

Then you have to gather the top end of the fabric. The smaller your heroes neck is, the more you have to gather until you have the desired width.

It should look something like this now...

Using the rest of the felt cut a piece of 5 cm in width to make the binding for the collar.

The length will, again, depend on the size of your model + 10-15 cm for the closure strip.

Now fold the strip in half lenghthwise press well and "sandwich" the gathering with it leaving the surplus overhang on one side. Pin well in place and sew it on.

For the closure I used self adhesive Velcro dots.

At the end, for security reasons during the flights I attached some handles made out of thin felt strips sewed on to the sides of the cape!

Now we have a happy little youngster who is ready for new adventures and for take off !!

Don`t forget to warn your pets and neighbour and perhaps store away your beloved vases and chinaware but then have fun with your boy!!

For sunny days

My daughter asked me to make a skirt

with ruffles.

She did not have to insist.

The fabric is Ginger Blossom from Sandi Henderson for Michael Miller. A lovely collection, perfect for sewing summer things :)

It is nice to see when things you create are well appreciated!

Here comes the sun

Out of the gray, fogy plains we went,

up the hills to search the for the

sun.

Then we found it and had the most beautiful views

on the alps!

We spent the day skiing and sledging and recharging our "batteries" only to dive back in the

clouds!

But to add some more colour to the day I will go on cutting in my fabric stash to get some supply for the challenge I` participating.

I hope you had a good and fun week-end too!

A few things before we`re on the road again

I finished a few UFO`S before we are heading south

to visit my in-law`s for 10 days.

First there was the friendship bag. I started REALLY early but then never finished it until the deadline arrived...

( Will I EVER change this habit?? )

There were some goodies added and a quick drive to the post office later it`s on the way to the States.

Bon voyage, I hope the recipient ( humm, is this the right word for this >: ? ) will like it!

AND I finished Leo`s quilt top!

I wished so much to be abel to finish the whole quilt. But with the garden and the house asking for some attention too there was no way.

Oh, and I forgot to mention the unbelievable beautiful weather we had the past few days, or actually weeks :))

Now the suitcases are packed and we are ready for LA FRANCE.

Au revoir a tout le monde