Going Retro

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Do you remember when I told you about the wonderful cords, that Amy sent me? Well, last night I cut into some of it.

 

I made the “Nasta” pinafore dress once before, and I thought it would be perfect for this wonderful retro print. Also, last time I made it, I actually traced it one size smaller in length to make sure she would be able to crawl in it. However, now that she’s walking most of the time, I think it’s ok for her to have it dress length.

   

I still really like this pattern – I was totally unsure of what colour to go with for binding and pocket, but I think this works nicely – I’m actually quite fond of this one!

By the way, if you’re interested, the coupon for Fabric.com expires tonight Danish time - I believe in about 5 hours.

Clowns and Angels

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Yesterday, we all went to Fastelavn – you know, the thing I told you about the other day. And Ronja was indeed an angel – here she is on the wings.

On the wings 

On the wings  

Saturday I had been making an outfit for Frida as well – a clown costume to be exact. I based the costume on the Onion pattern 10009 that includes a pair of basic loose pants, and a blouse that buttons on one shoulder. I modified them a bit – the pants are meant for rib at the lining and at the ancles, but I decided that elastics in dotted casings would work better for my tiny clown. The blouse pattern is meant for a knit, and has a rib at the neckline – I switched it and went with wovens and a clown collar at the neckline. I covered the collar edge with bias tape, made from the same fabric as the collar. Then I embellished it with a tiny pocket and two flower-buttons.

A colourful clown 

I threw all kinds of colourful fabric in the pool; Michael Miller, Amy Butler, Kaffe Fassett, and a bunch of other stuff - and above you can see how it all turned out. Below, you can see the caring big sister holding hands with the little clown, while they’re having their picture taken together with Ronja’s friends Emma and Ida.

Fastelavn 

The Fastelavn-party took place in a gym, and all the kids lined up in different lines according to their age, to beat the cat out of the barrel (this very traditional event at Fastelavn has got to make no sense to many of you – read more about it here - about halfway down). Ronja had fun with her friends, and although I think the experience was a little overwhelming to Frida, she found it exciting as well.

Afterwards, Frida and I went to meet with my mothers group. It has been quite a while since the last time, because we’re all working now – but we had such a nice time, and the kids are just growing up so quickly. It was great to see them all again, and to watch the children play! Frida was exceptionally tired when we went home, so she had herself a good long afternoon nap.

Ottilia angel

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Yesterday evening, I finished Ronja’s angel costume, which is based on the Ottilia dress from Ottobre winter, 2007.

Angel costume with wings and headband 

It’s made up of a dress, an underdress, a headband (as a halo), and a pair of wings. For most of the dress, I used white cotton and baby cord, which was pretty cheap. For the hem panel of the underdress, I added a layer of silverish net fabric over the fine cord to make it glisten a little, and for the dress itself, I ironed on rhinestones, edged the sleeves with feather boa, and added two types of silver ribbon. I left out all the frills, because I don’t find frills particularly angelic – angels are more into serenity, if y’all know what I mean… For the headband I found some silver elastic, and as for the wings – well, I went and got those from a toy shop… Sorry! Pretty much everything except the wings came from Stof og Stil – a Danish fabric store.

Ronja has a pair of slightly silverish sandals, which she will be wearing with the costume.

Ottilia angel mosaic 

The dress came together easily enough, actually. I really don’t feel the need to gather anything anytime soon, but then at the same time, I’m totally in practice! The silver ribbons were a bit stiff, which made the curve on the edge of the dress kind of tricky, but that went fine as well. I used elastic tape for gathering the sleeves in the middle, like the instructions say, and I must say, that is just brilliant – so easy! I used blanket stitches to edge the sleeves, to have something to pull the boa through. The boa can then be taken out, when the dress needs washing – which believe me, it will! Thanks to my invisible zipper foot, the zipper didn’t cause me any trouble either, so really – everything just went together quite nicely.

Feather boa edging the sleeves 

Need I say that Ronja loves this costume? And need I say, that I wonder how our 4-year old will look after a few hours in an all white dress, when she isn’t quite as angelic as she starts out?  ;)

Nevertheless – I really like this one! Good thing we have two girls!

**UPDATE**

Rikki just mentioned the fact that she has no clue what this costume is for. Of course, Rikki – that didn’t even cross my mind. Most readers of my blog won’t know, so that’s a pretty good point! Thanks!

In Denmark we celebrate Fastelavn at the end of February. I believe a common translation is shrovetide. In Denmark we don’t usually dress up for Halloween the way other parts of the world are known to, so fastelavn is basically our carnival. You can read a bit more about it here.

Out for a drive

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Yesterday, Mads and I went for a drive with the girls.

In a field 

We used to do that quite a bit 5 years ago, when we were looking to buy a house, trying to get a feel of the different areas around Copenhagen. And of course, each time we have been searching for inspiration for something to do on the house – like constructional techniques, colours, roofing solutions, windows, etc. This particular weekend, we would have preferred to go for a walk, but Frida has a terrible cold again, so we went for a drive instead – just to get “outside” for a bit.

Alley 

The landscape that surrounds our town is quite beautiful, especially if you go to the south. It had been snowing a little, and Ronja was going on all day about going out for a sled ride. I think she was a bit disappointed, that there wasn’t anywhere near enough snow for that. We haven’t had much snow this winter – way back in November, we had some, but I think that about sums it up…

Trees 

I have been working on Ronja’s angel costume this weekend, and I’m rather enthusiastic about the way it’s coming together. I haven’t finished, though – still need the last bit of the underdress, and some detail work. I’m using this Ottobre pattern, which is meant for a regular dress (a bit to the dressy side), but I think it’s perfect for this purpose. Once again I have been getting some fabulous advice from the Ottobre English Sewing Group, which I cannot commend highly enough. I’m learning so much from being part of the group – it’s just brilliant for receiving help and inspiration, if you’re sewing Ottobre.

And then I received something this weekend. Ronja was certain it was for her, because of the sweet stamps on the envelope – including Curious George (called Peter Pedal in Danish). And the truth is, it will be for her as well.

From a friend 

Guys, take a look at this beautiful dress! It’s so wonderful – the shape, the sleeves, and that fabric too… Well, Sarah mailed me the traced pattern for it – isn’t she great? Thank you SO much, Sarah – it looks like it’s just the right size for Ronja, and I’m going to be making it among my first projects to come right after the angel costume.

And for you guys – if you aren’t reading it already, you should go have a look at Sarah’s blog – she does some beautiful sewing!

The girl in the window

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I just left work, and while I was walking to the train, a bird was singing – you know, spring-like! I immediately started dreaming of bursting buds, sunshine, and warmer temperatures. It won’t be long – right?

The girl in the window 

This is Ronja modeling her rose dress.

I must say that I find the [lack of] light at the moment utterly uninspiring – which leads me back to dreaming of spring. Can’t wait!

Our little one

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Playing - in her new overalls 

I have been wanting to write a bit about Frida. She’s 16 months now, and still our little one, but then again, she’s not all that little anymore. Her personality develops with every day that passes, and it is a joy to see! She really does light up a room and most of the time she’s just a bundle of joy! She has a will that surpasses several of those in the otherwise strong-willed people in this family, and she can definitely be a handful! Above you see her wearing the Puuheppa overalls – did I mention I love them?!

She walks now as her preferred choice of transport, but she didn’t give up crawling easily – still turns to that, when she finds it useful. Teaching her how to eat on her own is coming along slowly. It took our little handball player a while to stop throwing forks, plates, and cups (and anything else for that matter) through the air, whenever one was within reach. It’s almost under control now, and she does drink and eat on her own – when the food permits and it suits her…

Afternoon biscuit

And talking of playing handball – she is pretty good at throwing a ball, and sometimes she nearly even catches it when it’s thrown to her. We have been joking with her throwing everything, but it seems to be working, ’cause she’s rather good, and Ronja loves to play ball with her! Earlier it was sometimes hard to entertain her, but at the moment, she has become quite good at playing by herself for a while, concentrating on a toy or a book.

Looking out  More modeled pants

Getting older for Frida also means closing in on the palate surgery. As I have mentioned before, she has a cleft palate which is going to be closed in surgery when she’s approximately 18 months old. We don’t know the excact date, because they’re unable to give us a specific date earlier than about 3-5 weeks prior to the surgery. So during the coming two months, we need to get her off the night-bottle – she still has a small bottle of warm milk before she goes to sleep. And what’s worse, we have to wean her off the dummy! Good thing she’s so fond of her security blankets – that’s going to help us in the process.

Afternoon sky 

Meanwhile, she still sleeps like a baby during the night – and I know a lot of people to whom that would mean sleepless nights, crying, days of an unimaginable tiredness that only parents understand, etc. Not here though, in this house the term ‘sleeping like a baby’ covers sleep from 6.30 p.m. to 6.30 a.m.

Altogether, she’s just one lovely little girl!

So much generosity

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This week I have been lucky enough to feel the generosity of my friends from the internet several times. Or maybe I should rephrase, because I feel that with every single comment I receive here on my blog. Getting to know all of you guys, following your lives from afar, and exchanging wishes, is a wonderful bonus to blogging that I was never even aware of, when I first started blogging. What I mean to say is, this week, the postman brought me something twice to remind me of the warmth that reigns this amazing forum!

Cord from a friend 

First up was Amy - I have been reading her blog since I first started sewing a year ago, and I love it. She makes wonderful tutorials, and has a very personal blog, that I just really enjoy reading. So check out this beautiful cord she sent me as a New Years treat! Well, thank you, Amy – I love it, and (I hope) you will witness it being put to good use! :)

You should meet our postman, actually – he has long hair that flutters in the wind, he rides a motorcycle (alright, so it’s a moped, but it definitely looks like a motorcycle to me…), and most importantly, he must be the happiest guy around – he always has a cheerful remark ready, and you’re sure to have a smile on your face, when he scoots along – on to the next house.

Laurie who won a pattern in my second Onion pattern give-away sent me a package that he dropped by today. It included a bag of all kinds of wonderful labels, tags, ribbon, buttons, etc.

Tags and ribbons 

Ronja and I went through it all together, and there were so many beautiful things that I will most certainly find use for.

 Tea

Along with this came an exclusive box of tea bags from the brand “two leaves and a bud”, along with a wish that I enjoy it when I take a rest. Well, Laurie – that’s what I did today, and it’s just delicious, with a very full tea-flavour! Nothing like the ones you usually get at the supermarket. And thank you so much for it all!

Thank you!

“Puuheppa” overalls

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Some of my Finnish readers will have to correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that “Puuheppa” means something like wooden horse. I just made the “Puuheppa” overalls from the latest issue of Ottobre, but I chose to make them without the horse. I have been making them over a few nights this week, and while they may not look like much, I totally adore them!

 

I love the shape, the pleats, the pockets, the front bib - and the things that didn’t turn out quite the way I expected, don’t matter that much. However, I’ll tell you about them anyway, because there is at least one thing I would do differently another time.

I used a rather sturdy corduroy for these overalls, because it is still pretty cold in Denmark. I combined it with a fine cord from Hilco for the pockets and bib. When I was hemming the bottom edges of the legs, I didn’t consider the fact that the heavier fabric would take away some of the elasticity in the elastics, but that is what happened. So for someone else making these in corduroy, I would suggest that you take out a few cm of each elastic, in order to gather the legs a bit more.

 

I used some quite big wooden apple buttons, and they were just about to give me trouble because of the size of the button holes needed. Inside the bottom of the front bib, there is some seam allowance from the joining of the two pieces, and it kind of puts a limit to the possible button hole size. Still, I managed, and I can’t wait to see Frida wearing them! I topstitched the sides of the pants, to make the seam lie nice and flat on the inside of the overalls.

Wonderful pattern – warm recommendations from me!  :)

By the way, I wanted to bring your attention to this searchable Ottobre-database that Teri made (who does beautiful sewing herself – go take a look at her blog, it’s worth it). The database is brilliant, because it means you can search for the things you want to sew. For instance if you search for “pants” and “74″, it will show you all the patterns for pants in size 74, that Ottobre has brought throughout the years – and now know in which issue to find your pattern. Great job, Teri!

 That’s it for now – I’ll see if I can get a modeled pic of Frida wearing the overalls later on.