The SC & more n°329: Fox

This week we are invited at Jessica's, her chosen them: Fox. Inspiration was hard to find, until I opened my small cupboard with my fleece fabrics. I had this bright orange coupon which was shouting "use me!" pretty loudly. So even though it is not really the season for scarf, I made one. I will probably use it as a Christmas present next december ;)

I didn't want to make it too long, I just wanted the scarf to be wrapped around the neck. It is quite cosy and warm.
The tail was planned differently, longer, pointier BUT I had a small mishap while sewing: I forgot to mirror the two pieces. Undoing a seam on fleece is a nightmare, so I just shortened it. Next time I'll pay better attention.

Check out the Museum

How do you like it? I can hardly wait for the next challenge on Friday :)

Bow-ties

 Two years ago I made my son his first bow-tie, then a couple of months ago I made him six more. He went through a phase when he wanted to wear a bow-tie every single day.

 Then of my sisters wanted a couple, then I also made some for my youngest brother's birthday, a set of six to be exact.

But I could not stop there, I made three for the Kindergarten and again one more for my son. He now has a collection of 8 bow-ties and is pretty proud of it.

My daughter was feeling a little left out, so I made another bow but not "tie", a hair clip. No sewing involved this time. It was a quick DIY and she loved it.

 

Nightgown refashioning

Before

during

After

This nightgown was handmade by someone... I don't even know by whom... and somehow it found its way into our wardrobe but I really did not like the collar. It was far too wide. So I cut it, added a bias tape around and a small ribbon in the middle. N. asked for it to be pink before seeing that I had already chosen the right colour ;) - now she rather like the nightgown and is looking forward to cooler nights to be able to wear it.

The SC & More n°283: Nightwear

This week Mummy Factory is hosting the challenge! She told us to do whatever we like. Two days ago I went to the fabric shop... bad idea ;) as per usual I bought several pieces. Among them two very sweet, soft and light 100% cotton fabrics. One in blue, one in light purple. They reminded me immediately of old nightwear I had as a child and I visualised my daughter and my two nieces in nightgowns made of those fabrics. So I had to buy them.

I made three gowns, size 5yo, size 4yo and size 3yo.

One in blue with blue biais tape.

One in light purple with pink biais tape and one in purple with purple biais tape.

I didn't want to use the same fabric (with mini bows) for my son, so I used my favourite Ikea fabric with the same biais tape as the first night gown, and I made summer pjs!

I am very much looking forward to seeing the four cousins together!!

For the Museum, a square picture

These nightwears are really light and look comfortable. They are ideal for hot summer nights such as the ones we have currently!

In about two weeks we will be all together, won't that be nice? A quatuor with a 5yyo, a 4yo, a 3yo and a 2,5yo!! Days will be lively :)

Carnival costumes

Tomorrow is "Fasching" (carnival)! My daughter, N., needs a costume for the Kindergarten. At first it took her a while to know what she wanted to be, but in the end I managed to make her stop on the butterfly-idea ;)

 With cardboard, felt and elastic bands I made the wings, the hairband is covered with a spool-knitted string and the antennas are made of pipe cleaners. I was quite happy to find out I had matching-ish colours!
It was a fairly quickly made costume and we are looking forward to her wearing it tomorrow!

Her brother, T., does not go to the Kindergarten and therefore does not require a costume, but I thought it rather unfair to only work for N., so I made him (in less than 4 hours!) a dinosaur costume!!

 I worked without pattern, just from ideas picked/seen on Pinterest. The cape with hood is less then a full circle and attached with a velcro band. For the hood part, I traced my pattern around one of T.'s current jacket hoods. The "spikes" are made of fleece (two layers). It was quick, it was easy, it was fun! After discovering the costume, N. also asked if she could have such a tail, but so far she hasn't asked again. So I'll just wait a bit before making another one!

Then I decided to make something for myself as well. I have always loved dressing up so I really could not let the occasion pass ;)
Mine will be a little more permanent.
Four years ago my mother-in-law had given me fabric + bust part from an old Dirnl dress (you know the bavarian style dresses?). Four years ago I had made a very quick transformation to have a medieval-ish looking costume to gain free entrance to a castle fest day:

 

I had not touched it since. This time I thought I'd make it better looking. White satin like fabric from old bedlinen, white stretchy velvet like fabric from my stock accompanied the original brown fabric.

First the skirt

My little helper. He loved putting needles in the fabrics!

I made an awful mess with the zipper, trying to make it invisible!

 Then I added sleeves. The bust part was far too open at the back, one could really see my bra which is something I really feel uncomfortable with.

I also made myself a mini-crown from a toilet roll with golden paint and an elastic band:

 I added a veil for good measure and good (?) looks. And here is the final result:

It is a little tight at the waist, I will need to loose a little bit of weight in the next years if I want to be able to wear it again. The sleeves are a tad short, so next year I will probably add a little bit of lace or something.

On the whole I am pleased with all three costumes and I find it almost a shame that the Kindergarten has not invited parents and sibblings to their party ;)

Beanie and Winter hats

If you remember a while back I found the perfect pattern to make beanie hats. It was on the Hamburger Liebe blog. I made the children one each and they used them very happily for quite a while. In May (I think), we had a fabric market and I got new jersey fabrics for myself and for the children. I was well inspired because T. grew quite a lot in Autumn and he outgrew his first beanie hat. So I made him a new one:

 He just loves the dragons and firetrucks!

And then because the weather was getting fresh, I also made one for myself and one for my husband! I also made myself a loop scarf.

 

I really like those beanie hats as you can wear them in different ways: either adjusted or a little loose. Plus now that I know how to make them, it usually takes me about 1 to 1,5 hours to make one. Although that depends very much on whether the children are around or not ;)

The other blog I really like for hats is Schnabelinas Welt. I made Summer hats for the kids thanks to her patterns. She has posted recently a new pattern which I will try as soon as Christmas is over (too much to do before then!). The last pattern I tried was the Zwergenmütze. Funny pointy hat which covers perfectly the ears and the neck.
I made two of them for N. and T. and we always get amused looks and compliments when we walk around:

 The hats are made of fleece and jersey cotton fabrics. They are both reversible but they are warmer with the fleece inside. 

I just love making hats now. It takes a little time and thinking to make them properly, but I find it a very rewarding work when my children prefer wearing those hats to the bought ones!