Cross fingers

Bad tidings for a mother of one of the girls' friends. A lump in her breast has to be removed soon and the outcome is still uncertain. Pfff, I can't imagine what stress this must bring to her and her family. We delivered a package at their place. In it this pouch, filled with comforting products. Tea, tissues, lip balm, mints and chocolate. We hope for the best.

Looking forward

Next week I will start in my new job: coordinator at the 'Grafisch atelier' in 's-Hertogenbosch. It's a graphic (screen printing, etching, lithography etc) workspace for artists and other creative people. Last friday, after 20 years, my predecessor said goodbye to the job to make room for her true profession of being an artist. As a present I sewed her a pouch with the screen-printed fabric I made the first time I visited this great place, that now will be my workspace soon.

For party people

Our eldest calls this her disco wallet. Small, just big enough for a pass and a little bit of money. Fits in every pocket or petite handbag. She takes it when she goes out to the teenage dance in our village. The first wallet was a present in a swap. Copying was not difficult. One fabric scrap of 12x18 cm, 10 cm of velcro and a small piece of ribbon. You could make 20 in an hour.

Present by mail

Another pouch. For my dear friend H. I'm not sure whether I gave her one already in the past. But certainly not with this print. And hey, a girl can't have enough pouches, bag-in-bags or pencil cases. I hope the slightly uneven (cause done to the eye, without measuring) machine quilting meets her perfectionists approval. Hope you've had a lovely birthday H!

Just another pouch

When I screen-printed my christmas cards, I also made some prints on fabric. But hurried too much, made the ink too fluid, the screen was actually for paper, so many prints weren't perfect. But some are. Like this dubious colour combination. Yellowish on brownish. Since I read somewhere that 'brown is the new black', I had the nerve to sew myself a new bag-in-bag out of it. The grey zipper, grey lining and leather name-tag gave it some cool, I think. Anyway I like it.

Cooperation

Both daughters spent the first days of their carnival holiday with a heavy cold on the couch in front of a screen (tv, tablet or phone). This gave me some time to do a bit of sewing. Long ago I promised our youngest to sew her a large make-up pouch with her own mermaid fabric. N chose two different colours and I completed it with a fresh lining. The 9-year-old now wants more make-up and perfume to fill it...

Personal present

Another leather pouch for a friend of one of the daughters. J chose various things to make earrings, as presents for the creative girl. She can keep all those things is this pouch out of rind and goat leather. The natural leather is printed with a stamp and regular ink.

New hobby

Last thursday, second course day, I worked on my second handmade leather bag. I'm copying the Celine belt bag to practice specific techniques. Quite some work. When I count the hours and materials I have put in already, I can sympathise with the price of a designers bag a bit more. And I even need another full day to put it together. During lunch time I dived into the remnant boxes in the shop to get some smaller pieces of leather for making pouches. This is the first one. A small key ring pouch for a friend of N.

One day, one bag

Last thursday I started a workshop in leather bag making (at dth-leder). It's not a course with assignments, but you take your own design and the teacher helps you to put it together. From pattern-making to stitching. I started with a simple baggy bag. Always love less-is-more designs. At home I made a prototype with some scraps of fabric and long laces for the handles, to see whether my idea worked out. I chose some very soft grey leather for the body and added a dark green pocket. Above expectations I managed to finish the bag in one day. With a matching pouch in it. For the price of the workshop you could buy a small designer bag, but it is so much more rewarding to design and make your own.

Happy 2016!

This new year will be the year that the receiver of this softie will be born. His parents have been trying to have children for over 10 years! And now this baby boy is on its way. 27 weeks already. Our friends came to have dinner last week and I made them this little fox. Since 'Vos' (fox in Dutch) is the family name of the mother.

Unexpected beauty

J was invited to a pyjama party last night. A present had to be made. This fabric wasn't my first choice, but I appeared to have very few larger pieces of fabric suitable for an apron in stock. The result surprised me though. The fabric is perfect for this girlish apron. I think it makes a nice present, together with the lovely children's cookbook by Karin Luijten. Our party-go-er is not back yet, so I don't know whether the birthday girl liked her gifts.

To Vietnam

Some cute, if I may say so, luggage labels. Or coin purses. Perfect for using up your fabric scraps. The quilting takes a little bit of time, but in less than half an hour these can be made. The labels were sewn for A's parents, who will soon be travelling. Unfortunately, after my laptop shut down unexpectedly, I couldn't find the tutorial again.

Little girls dreams

Commissioned by Sint Nicolaas, I also did some sewing for cousin W. A mermaid tail blanket. Nice and warm when reading or watching tv on the couch. And it turned out wonderfully well. Our girls couldn't wait to try it when it was finished. This tutorial was used. Only I added a cord to pull the blanket tight around the waist for playing mermaid.

On his island

No handmade Sinterklaas-presents for our girls this year. They are completely into their new, my old, iPhones that Sint brought. No handmade gift would top that. But for cousin R. I made this play-mat. The 3-year-old is still completely into his dinosaur obsession. I thought this would be a nice addition to all dinosaury things he already has. Wasn't sure though whether he would get the idea of a play-mat. I shouldn't have worried. He now lives in his new dino world. Good aspect for the parents: you can pull the mat together into a bag, with all dinosaurs in it. I was inspired by this and this example. It became an odd, but funny, combination of both 2d and 3d components, 1 meter in diameter.

Sint at school

The girls each have to make three surprise Sinterklaas presents. Quite some work. These items will be the contents of one of those. The classmate asked for drawing utensils. We found some nice ones, but they don't look very exciting. A short Pinterest search produced this cute kitty. Perfect pencil case to go along with the brush pens and pencils. But I used the pattern of this baby (the small image has an inch-indication on the side, for enlarging) and added a lining. The outer fabric is from a thrifted shawl. Now it's time for J to make a surprise wrapping and a rhyme.

Veiled cat

Last friday it was halloween disco night again, for the 10, 11 and 12-year-olds in the village. When J. saw this lacy cat on my laptop, she said that's what she wanted for the party. Pretty easy to put together and with simple black clothes a stylish costume. Also wearable with the veil in the back, when it annoys in the face. She and her friends still didn't stay until the end, but no drama's like the first time anymore. Our second daughter (9) is another cup of tea, she can't understand why the girls wouldn't want to stay until the end. We know we will never have to pick this girl up before closing. N. can't wait till next year.

Cool wintery colours

Our dinner table is of untreated oak. We only wash it with soft soap, which protects the table a little bit. But for lunch or dinner we always use tablecloths. It's nice to change those once in a while. Here you see the new smaller lunch table cloths I sewed recently. Very plain and simple, but I love these colours. I used this tutorial to get the hems straight. To add a personal touch, I used my handmade stamps. A little girl in one corner of each tablecloth.

For baby Mare

I've sewn so many doudous, that patterns aren't needed anymore. This cutie jumped right out of the box of fabric scraps. Quickly made, while attending our sick cat. All of a sudden cat Nora walked like she was drunk, barely able to stay on her feet. Pretty scary. Vet didn't know either, symptoms didn't fit to one diagnosis. But she gave the cat antibiotics and something to reduce possible swelling in the brain. With succes, because fortunately Nora is behaving almost normal again.

Daughters design

Our youngest selected the ribbons and the model of the bag. Made a design and gave it to her mother. And since mom certainly wants to stimulate all creativity, she quickly followed up on the instructions. When finished the girl was happy and proud, in spite of the jeans being darker than she had meant.

Surprise!

What a lovely idea of a daughter to initiate a surprise party for her mothers birthday! Of course we wanted to take part and some presents had to be made. For mother a larger make-up pouch and, for all the effort, a small one for the girl. Both made of my daughters mermaid-fabric. Although mom had sensed things, she hadn't expected this and was truly surprised. We enjoyed the good company, food and conversations.