Never A Dull Moment

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I’m alone in the house, studying for my exam in change management on Wednesday. It’s quiet, which is a rare thing. Frida is at a friend’s birthday, and Mads and Ronja went shopping for some of the stuff that we need for this year’s summer vacation. We are going to the Swedish Archipelago (Skärgård) on the East side of Sweden – provided the weather allows us. I cannot wait. Four weeks of sailing, relaxing, enjoying the beautiful surroundings, bathing (hopefully), and eating icecream whenever we feel like it.

Things are busy around here. The kids are always going places, Mads and I are busy with work and the thousand other things that we want to do. My Instagram has become my mini-blog, because finding the time for blogging is not as easy as it used to be. I have been able to find some time for sewing, though.

I made this summer dress for Frida.

Flower hexagon dress - modeled

Where are those pockets

Frida chose the fabric herself – this is and Erin McMorris design that I found long ago at Fabric.com. The pattern is from Ottobre 3/2013 – it is quite simple and has side seam pockets, which I rather like. As usual, the patterns are a bit wide for Frida, so I drafted a 104 width and a 110 length. The dress was an instant hit.

So a few weeks ago, I was wearing a long skirt, and Frida complained that she didn’t have one. I made her this tiered skirt.

Gypsy skirt for Frida

Gypsy skirt for Frida

For once, I didn’t have a pattern, and I am really not used to not using one. However, I wrote down the measurements I thought were right, and it worked out brilliantly. She loves it. When Ronja saw it, even she wanted one, so there we go – two gypsy skirts (which I think, is what they look like).

Gypsy skirts

I love them! Almost want  to make one for myself, but that would take quite a bit more fabric, I’m afraid… I may share the measurements on the blog, when I get around to it, if anyone is interested. Also these skirts can easily be modified into dresses, merely by adding shoulder straps. I would like to make a few, but we’ll see how much time I have.

On a different note, recently Mads achieved his goal of running Copenhagen Marathon! His time was 3:53:07, and I think he’s the coolest guy in the world! Ronja and I went there to cheer him along, and I believe it was almost as much of an experience for us as it was for Mads (ok – almost, right!). This video shows him passing the finish line – you need to click “MÅL” to the right. He passes to the left – do you see him? It just about rained the whole time – Ronja and I gave up on the umbrella we bought, because it was just raining to hard for it to help at all. So everyone was happy to get back to our warm, dry house when it was over.

           

Mads does all kinds of fun stuff at the moment. A few weeks ago, he went motorcycling with a couple of friends of his in northern Italy. For a week! I’m not going to say much about it, because I wasn’t there, but they had an amazing time (I heard).

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Meanwhile, I was alone with the girls, which was kind of nice too. During the weekend we made a fire in the garden, made twistbread, read stories, and they slept in our tent in the garden, which was an experience for both of them.

Well, it’s raining. I should get Frida from the birthday party in 10 minutes, and I still need to study. This kind of procrastination isn’t all bad, though. :)

Starry Pants

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Climbing the old apple tree

I finished the pants above for Frida yesterday – apparently they work well for climbing trees!

I have had the star fabric for a while – I think I got it at Stof & Stil. The pattern is from Ottobre 4/2012, #19 called “Forest Path”. I chose this pattern because I wanted a bit more of a jeans look than with the average pattern for children’s pants, but I still wanted an elastic waist, which works well with Frida.

Starry pants - front     Starry pants - back

As always with Ottobre, I followed Frida’s measurements instead of her usual size, so I made a 104 even though she is usually a 110. The pants came together easily, and I really like the fit. However, if you do want to make them with elastics for the bottom hems, you should probably cut the legs a bit longer than the pattern says. I didn’t want elastics casings, and when I hemmed the pants, the length was just right – meaning, if I had made the casings, they would have been a bit short.

Starry pants

I will probably make another version of these pants – the fit is great for Frida, and in my opinion they are darn cute with the low back poskets and all the contrast topstitching.

I actually made Frida a summer dress today as well, but by the time I finished it, it was too dark for pictures, so I’ll show you soon.

Speaking of Frida, Thursday we went to the speech therapist for a follow-up on surgery, and it went so SO well! At home we haven’t noticed that much change in her speech, but when the speech therapist played us a recording from our last visit there before her surgery in January, it was quite clear that there is a remarkable difference, especially when it comes to nasalness. The speech therapist said that Frida made her day – that’s how positive the results of the surgery were. She even said we can expect improvement up to one full year after surgery. Next, check-up is in a year, and it is very unlikely that Frida will need another operation. So hopefully, this is it.

Which is great, because since the beginning of April, Frida has been going to after-school care full-time, which in Denmark is a much used way of letting children adjust to school before actually starting school in August. The next big step for Frida (school) is already happening, the surgery is over with and the results are better than we could have expected. Things are looking good for this little lady.

Tunic For Frida

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Girl's tunic

I finished a tunic for Frida last night. I actually started it Saturday, when I met up with two good friends for an afternoon of sewing. Surprisingly, I didn’t get any sewing done that day, because we spent hours chatting away. I did look at loads of patterns, though, and when I left in the evening, I had this one traced and cut. The fabric is from Stof og Stil, and the pattern is the Danish SYmagasin from March 2010. The style is very similar to the Forest Dress that I made last year, and Frida loves that dress. This one however is gathered instead of pleated, and it has ties in the front instead of buttons in the back. And it’s a tunic, not a dress – but that could easily be changed, if you want to. I love this one – pattern, fabric, the lot. If I were to make it again, I would make the ties slightly narrower  - tying a bow with these is just a bit tricky, but it’ll be ok.

Girl's tunic - tie detail

Of course it has my label in the back, but I also like the fact that the label holds down the facing a little bit more than the edge stitch would. This picture below also gives you a better view of the pattern of the beautiful fabric. I just might have to get me some more of that…

Girl's tunic - label

My Scandinavian Style Quilt

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So, I know you have seen lots of beautiful quilts out there, but this one is my first real quilt. I made small quilts before – you’ve seen them here and here. I have been working on this one whenever I had the chance (and the energy) the last three weeks. We do have some busy days at the moment, so finding the time has been the hardest bit, but hey, it’s finished.

Scandinavian style quilt

I have the funniest little patchwork-lover in Frida. She loves everything I make in this style – I made her a hexagon patchwork pillow (also found here), and it is a clear favourite of hers. Then I made the pillows for the couch – immediate favourites. And now this quilt. Same story. She wants me to make her a twirly patchwork dress, so maybe that will be a summer project. Funny Frida.

I have been home sick for a few days, so today I took 5 minutes to take a few pictures of it – instead of cuddling up under it. I would have taken it outside to hang for you to see it clearly, but since this below is the current state of the great outdoors this spring, you will be seeing pictures from inside instead.

The state of the great outside

The quilt is 165 x 195 cm, and it’s made using 135 squares. I backed it with linen, and quilted it diagonally. I have used all kinds of fabric that I had in my stash already – Liberty, Kaffe Fassett, and several other things. I would be able to make quite a pile of these using my stash only – can you believe that? I used 505 fabric glue to assemble the layers before quilting – I read that people have different opinions on whether to use pins or glue, but the glue worked fine for me, I think.

Scandinavian style quilt

The binding is made in a floral fabric from Stof & Stil.

Binding

As mentioned, I backed the quilt with linen, and since I couldn’t get the linen wide enough for the quilt, I came up with the idea of adding a row of squares on the back as well, which I think works quite well as an extra detail.

Back of the quilt

I looked to YouTube for some help with the binding. There are lots of good tutorials on binding and mitered corners, and I actually used a combination of a few. This one is long and pedagogic (and there even is a part 1 as well), but I like the way she joins the ends after having attached it all the way around. This one is thorough but quick, but try searching and you will find a 100 more that could probably just as well be used.

Mitered corners

I considered describing my quilt making process in detail, but then I thought that so many bloggers have already done that so well. Therefore, this below is just a few pictures from the creative process. If you do want to ask me anything about techniques or something else, please feel free. :)

Steps from the process

Are You On Instagram?

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Instagram faves

I am. Sharing my everyday life in little squares, when I feel I have something to share.

I like having these little looks into other people’s lives, and seeing things through the lens of their phone. And I like that people share in very different ways. For some, it’s close to professional quality photos, while others can be about an early morning atmosphere more than a pretty picture. Anyway, I like sharing, and if you do, you should join me – my username is connectingthedotsdk.

If you are new to Instagram, it may be a good idea to take a look at this little guide to Instaquette – The dos and donts of Instagram. There are several nice guides out there – and it makes sense to check back with them once in a while to check if you have fallen into any traps. I do.

One of the things I have been sharing lately, is this project I finished this evening, just before I put the girls to bed.

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I really like the way it turned out, and I can’t even show you now, because it’s dark, and impossible to get a nice shot. You may have to wait until the weekend, but let’s see about the light in the next few afternoons. For now, this little taste will have to do.

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