A hat for next winter

That one isn't for me but I am seriously considering making one for myself too!

 * Two different colours of fleece

* Some thread
* About one hour of free time

Cut four stripes of the required length (not forgetting to add one or two centimeters for the seam). Mine were: 57 cm long and 5 cm large (I will probably try 4 cm next time). 

Note: for the bottom stripe I doubled the width to as to have a confortable double layer around the head and ears. 

Then cut a circle (length after sewing multiplied by π).

Once you are done with the cutting, assemble and sew everything together and... tadaaaa you have a cheap quickly made but still fun-looking winter hat!

I first assembled all stripes together and then closed them in a tube. After that I measure the length of the top stripe to be able to calculate my circle.

 

If you remember I wrote before about the fleece I get in this post. The fleece is maybe thinner than what I could find in fabric shops or on the internet but the price makes it very attractive and I am not afraid of wasting some by making mistakes!

Now the question, would you wear such a hat? ;)
I definitely would and I hope the person I made it for will like it!!

Happy Easter!

The fourty days of Lent have come to an end, today we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ! 

 

In some regions Bunnies bring chocolate eggs in the gardens, in some others it is the church bells on their way back from Rome... It is anyway a time of joy to spend with families and children always have fun searching for eggs in the garden (when the weather permits it!).

Wishing you all a Happy Easter!

Guest post from G. from France

This post should have been written and posted long ago! I have had the pictures since Christmas! Anyway, better late than never, so here is what my mother, G., made for one of her grand-daughters:

 A cot for her dolls

First take a basket

Then sew a cover using some cotton fabric

Add a mattress (filled with wadding)

A sweet little pillow (also with wadding)

Finally cover with a fleece blanket

The dolls will have sweet dreams and the grand-daughter hours of fun, tenderly rocking them to sleep.

A preview of what is coming next :)

I was away for a week at my in-laws and had a lovely time. Spend most evenings and part of the days (when Baby N. was sleeping) sewing with H. We had a big-ish project to be finished quickly. I cannot show you everything yet but there is one preview:

 Looking forward to be able to post more about what H. and I did, but also to show you what my mother made as well for Baby N. !

Travelling and shopping with Baby

There are a certain number of blogs which I follow fairly regularly, and I often find interesting and useful things to make. One in particular was especially good for me/us since we have a young baby who now sits down very well and loves a ride in a shopping-trolley:

 Baby seat and Trolley seat (on this blog, someone made a small change already on the Baby seat).

Although it was tempting to do both seats, it did not really satisfy me, I rather liked the idea of a seat that could do both chairs and trolleys, and therefore using less space in my Mother-Baby bag!

Here is my attempt - all lessons learned: I need to make it longer on both ends and the belt should be a bit lower on the back - other than that it works really well and allowed me to spend a lovely week at my in-laws without having Baby N. on the knees all the time. 

WARNING: even if it holds well, the child should never be left unattended on the seat!! 

Test ride in Lidl : the front isn't long enough to cover the handle.

We used a chair with arms because Baby N. just wanted to lean over and check what was on the ground (a cat and her thrown toys)

 Material used:
* two different fabrics
* a length of padding
* two meters of elastic band
* two clips from an old backpack
* bias tape

Far from being perfect but that is usually what happens when I experiment on already existing tutorial :) - At least it is practical!

Mother-Baby bag

End of September 2011 my baby was then one month old and I thought it was time to start sewing again, especially since I had ideas. One of those ideas was a mummy-baby bag that would allow me to go around with one bag instead of two (my hand-bag and the baby's stuff). It did take a lot of thinking and sewing, so I did not manage to finish it very quickly. I had started using it already in October, with the safety-pins holding the top parts together but it only was completely finished only this week (6 months later)!!

I used:

* some fabrics from Ikea (they have some lovely stuff), the outer fabrics is quite thick and strong.

* two zippers

* two decorative buttons
* various pieces of fabrics which I had left from other projects

The bag:

* two parts separated in the middle

* two straps (one to carry accross the shoulder - one to put around the pushchair handles)

Just some pictures to show you the process:

 Et voilà! Going out made easier with one bag for two persons :) 

P.S: about the straps, I made the mistake of putting them diagonally, I thought it was more logical (balancing the weight) but using it I realised it was not such a great idea. It was too late though, I didn't fancy undoing all the work to change this.

A Facebook Page!

I know I have already posted about this, but I don't know what the reactions were... No idea if anybody went to have a look or not. So just in case you missed it, here is again the link to a Facebook page: De Fil en Aiguilles . Lovely things for the whole family! Go and have a look!

Baby N.'s spring hat

I made a hat for my baby girl. Spring is there now and the fleece hat is just too warm to be worn on most days. I didn't really like any of the hats I have seen so far so I decided to make one myself... Some people like the fabric I have used, some others (most actually!) do not like it at all!

 

I realised after making it that I did not take any picture of the process, ah well for once it is ok. I just layed down her fleece hat on a sheet of paper, drew the contours, thought a bit and then got on cutting and sewing.

After trying it for a whole afternoon, I realised that it kept going upwards and actually covering Baby N.'s face. So on the same day, once she was in bed, I made two folds on the neck part so as to make it tighter there. It worked! She will not wear it very long as it is very adjusted to her current head-size, but at least at the moment she has a cotton hat to protect her ears from the wind (it is just Spring, not Summer yet!). 

 

What do you think about it?

 

Another hairclip

After seeing this Totoro (Yencamade), I decided to try making one at some point... Lacking time, I still haven't been able to but soon I probably should get going as I have been asked to make it a birthday present. The recipient of the present is a big fan of this particularly loveable character from the film "My Neighbour Totoro". To make her patient for this I tried to make mini-Totoros to fit them on a hairclip (no idea whether she's going to wear it... almost 19y is maybe a bit old for that but who knows!). Printing out a pattern from there but shrunk it first. Embroidery and details are easier to make before assembling the front and back pieces. In theory the two pieces are assembled front to front and then turned inside out, but considering the size I had to find another option. I also fixed the nylon thread on the inside with some glue so that it would not move afterwards.

The mini-totoros look more like cats but well... I blame the miniature work ;)

It does not really look great on short hair but it gives an idea of the final look.

What do you think?

A little bunny

I love browsing the web, always discovering new blogs, new ideas (often too many!). Here is one which I found particularly nice and had to try out. My fabric isn't that nice and I used only one colour, but it was mainly to experiment it a first time and decide whether I would later make some more or not. The answer is: mooooore!!! (bunnies and therefore fabrics needed).

 The size is not the original size, I like making everything smaller (easier to send by post I suppose). I just hope the recipient of this little bunny will appreciate it. Oh no!! I only just now realised that I have forgotten to put a ribbon around its neck as I had planned to do! I will have to try to remember taking one with me when I go to France.

 If you have the occasion, take a look at this blog, you will find very nice things: Sew much ado.