Arrival of Spring

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The Easter break brought beautiful weather. My winter coat has had it’s three winters and I’m not going to use it anymore now, so I dropped it off at a second-hand store the other day. The buds are coming out in the garden – the yellow flowers of spring are all over our garden at the moment.

Forsythia

We had a wonderful holiday. Really down to earth, with only a few things planned. Mads has been pruning the trees in the garden and building a fence out back, Ronja has been playing our little garden aid, and Frida has had time to totally find herself again, and she soooo enjoys the garden. Only problem is to get her back inside when it’s time for dinner.

On the ladder

Frida’s palate is healing up really well, and it looks quite nice now – much better than it did a week ago. Mads has started to visit the nursery with her on a daily basis, because next Thursday he is going back to work, and she will be spending her days there. It’s such a nice place, though, the same one Ronja went to, we know the teachers, and we are at total ease with leaving her in their custody! Besides, it’s right next to Ronja’s kindergarten, and they will be able to have a daily chat through the playground fence. Frida still goes “Ooonja, Ooonja” whenever Ronja is out of sight, which is so sweet! Or whenever Ronja comes into sight, actually. :)

I made the fabric covered buttons for the tunic yesterday evening, so I just might be able to show you later.

Daffodil

Easter Holiday

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Easter eggs on Easter branches 

We are so enjoying our Easter break here. It totally popped up at the right time! Yesterday, the first day off, was a day of painting Easter eggs and spending time in the garden. The weather is awesome, and for a few days now, Frida has been almost completely back to being the happy girl we had before her surgery, and it’s just a joy to see. She manages the arm splints brilliantly, and does just about everything she normally does – they really don’t seem to bother her much during the day. They only mess up her sleep a bit, but still, everything is so much better now, and we can only be happy about the way she’s coming round.

Ronja and I painted Easter eggs yesterday. Mads and I blew out the eggs, washed them, and left them to dry – and Ronja just couldn’t wait to get started with the paint! So check it out – before:

Ready for some paint 

During:

Ronja and Mom at work 

And after:

Colourful 

We had a lot of fun, and Ronja was actually a more patient painter, than I would have expected. I love the eggs she made! Afterwards we fetched some branches from the garden to for them to hang on, and I added some of the Easter stuff I have already.

Easter eggs on Easter branches 

We spent the afternoon outside – we still have to keep Frida from colds, but the weather was really warm and not too windy, and she absolutely loves being in the garden – as does Ronja!

 No room for Dad on this motorcycle!

I haven’t been getting around to do any sewing since I made nightgowns for the girls, but yesterday evening, shile Mads was playing with his motorcycle in the garage, I got around to cutting the fabric for a tunic – for me, myself, MOI! Yep, that’s right – it’s kind of a test drive really. The fabric for it comes from my stash, and I really want to check if the pattern is good, before I move on to possibly purchasing fabric for the next version of it. I hope I’ll be able to do some sewing tomorrow.

Tomorrow

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Flowers in the window 

Tomorrow we’ll find out whether they are going to do Frida’s cleft palate operation Tuesday or not. It’s kind of silent in my head at the moment… She has been having a cold for the past 5 days, and it’s still there, though not as bad as it has been, and we just don’t know what to expect.

I went with Ronja to her gymnastics show this afternoon. It’s the end of season for her gym class so I was looking forward to seeing what they have been up to all year. Mads stayed at home with Frida – even though it has had no effect at all, we have pretty much been isolating her this last couple of weeks. Ronja and the rest of the children did a great show, and it’s always nice to go somewhere with her on my own – I’m not sure which one of us enjoys it the most.

Ronja at gymnastics show

I did actually sew a bit as well this weekend - identical night gowns for the girls - and I think they turned out so sweet. I haven’t been able to take pictures yet, but hopefully I’ll get around to it soon.

Oh, by the way – Mads brought home his new baby this evening. He has bought an old motorcycle – a Honda CB650, that he’s going to restore, and he’s so enthusiastic about it. He used to ride a motorcycle when he was younger, and I do believe this is a small dream come true for him. Check it out – do you think there’s room for me? :)

Mads with his new baby 

Now, in the morning we’re dropping off Ronja at the kindergarten, and Mads, Frida, and I are going on to the hospital in Copenhagen, Rigshospitalet. I’m packing for several days of course, but trying to prepare myself for the possibility, that we may just be told to go home, and get rid of the cold. We’ll see.

What a Girl Wants

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One happy Floral Fantasma girl 

Ronja picked it out. I’m not too good at letting her choose the fabric (it’ll all end up pink), but this time she got to. I gave her the opportunity to pick the fairy fabric, and she did at first, but dropped it when she realized there wasn’t enough for this blouse as well as a summer dress in a few months. Good thing I had the “Floral Fantasma” from Alexander Henry as well. She went with some red dots from Moda for the neck line casing and sleeve edges. It’s girly, that’s for sure – and she loves it!

Floral Fantasma Blouse 

Today I made a blouse from the same pattern (Onion 20022) for Frida. It’s finished but I haven’t got pictures yet, so you’ll have to wait a bit for that one.

Reading 

In the meantime, we had a wonderful weekend. Nice and slow – we’re not getting out much at the moment, because we really, really don’t want Frida to catch a cold or something before her surgery next week. Her odds health-wise are pretty bad at the moment too – Mads has been having a severe cold this past week, and Ronja has just had a fever for a few days. Frida is still in the clear, and I am as well, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed. Of course, if she’s sick in any way when it’s time for the operation, they won’t operate, and they may push it a few months. Anyway, there’s no way we can keep the girls away from each other – above you see Ronja reading to Frida.

Mads finished building the small fence out front today – all it needs now is some paint.

Finished - all it needs now is paint

Hogweed Silhouette Skirt

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This has been a nice and quiet weekend. Saturday, I traced and sewed a skirt for Ronja, using a half panama fabric, that I’ve used previously. It’s a nice heavy quality, which makes the skirt stand out a little bit, and I like it a lot.

Doing a little dance 

I edged it with bias tape, and used the same bias tape to edge the pocket. I did use a pattern for the shape of the skirt, but I altered it so much that it would be difficult to recognise it. However, the base was Onion 20021, without the top binder, and with a cased elastic for waist instead of rib. The pocket was made at Ronja’s request – they just love pockets at that age, don’t they? She did a little dance while modeling, and I can assure you she’s trying to look princessy!

Hogweed Silhouette Skirt - mosaic 

As little as I followed the pattern, I still should’ve drafted my own or found one that was meant for wovens. This one is meant for knits, and it would be great if it had just a bit more ease at the waist line. It’s fine once it’s on, but it could be easier for Ronja to put on and take off.

And now I’m on to finishing something else, that I started yesterday.

Early Summer Blouse

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Monday I received a package of beautiful fabric from Fabric.com. I have been rather tired this week, still not feeling up to much after my sore throat and stuffy nose took off last week, but I still had to do a bit of sewing.

Modeling a new blouse 

The pattern for this blouse is from a Danish book containing sewing and knitting patterns for children’s wear. It’s the “Sy og Strik Børnetøj 4-10 år” by Ulla Welinder (Sew and Knit Children’s Wear 4-10 years). This is the blouse pattern on page 94, which uses shirring at the neckline, sleeve edges, and waist line. I hadn’t tried shirring before, but it went fine after I checked a few tutorials on the internet.

I really like the look of the blouse, but to me the pattern does have a few weaknesses, like the fact that the neckline opening is very wide before you start shirring, so even though the shirring gathers it up, it’s still totally expandable – which may look cute, but I have yet to see if it works alright on a lively 4-year old. For some reason my version of the blouse looks a lot shorter than the one showing in the book, even though I added a few inches to the pattern. I triple checked that I traced the right one, which according to the instructions I did, but I would still make it longer if I were to make it again – the shirring at the waist has a tendency to pull it up a bit. I love this fabric combo, and there was even more fabulousness in the package – can’t wait to use it!

My conclusion is that I love the look and colours of this blouse, but it’ll be far more useful when we get some warm temperatures!

Wild Nature Top

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Ronja modeling the   

I made this top for Ronja during the weekend. It doesn’t go with the pants she’s wearing, so you’ll have to insert imagination here. But it looks like an easy project, right? Well, I can tell you, that I have never ever made as many errors with a project as I did with this one. It maybe due to the fact that it got rather late Saturday night, and I was tired and watching a movie while I was sewing - but still. When I picked it up to finish it today, everything kept on going wrong..! I did it all – stitched things together in the wrong ways, sewed through layers that weren’t even supposed to be under the needle, serged something off(!) that wasn’t supposed to come off… Yep – I did it all! It’s incredible really, because when you look at it now, it’s not really visible. It is a little bit on the inside, but that’s it. You may be able to tell when you look at me because of the hair I ripped out, though…

  

  

I don’t believe the pattern is to blame, honestly. It’s the “Wild Nature” Babycord Top from Ottobre 06/2008, it has a sweet shape, and there’s nothing very difficult about it. Except, who am I to say after this…

The fabric is wonderful – this too came from Jo-Ann’s and was a part of this parcel. It’ll be great with long sleeved t-shirts under, and for jeans or neutral skirts. I like it – I really do. I just hope my next project will fight me a little less…

Nearness and sled rides

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The train ride to work this morning offered a view of the rising sun in a clear and frosty sky with beautiful blue, purple, and red tones. The sun set long ago now, but we have had a beautiful deep blue sky all day long, and it’s just such a moodlifter after the amount of greyness we have been having lately!

 Dad and the girls

We did go sled riding the other day (Frida’s first), and it was lots of fun, even though the girls were too tired to be at the toboggan run for very long. Afterwards we went home to have some hot chocolate – Frida hasn’t tasted this before, and while she was skeptical when first looking into the cup, the next two cups went down within minutes! It was sooo funny to watch her while devoting her entire attention to her new obsession!

selo-proximidade1

And now I want to thank Mette for giving me this award!

The award is all about nearness, and I really appreciate it. Mette herself has a wonderful blog (in Danish) about her life, crafts, and her three beautiful boys. I’m going to pass on this award to other blogs that to me are synonym with nearness.

So go check out the following:

Lille-Ursus – I have been following her blog for as long as I’ve been sewing, and her warm descriptions of family and friends, as well as her attention to detail and things that make her happy – these things make me want to give her this. Also, Ulla gives out a lot of herself to her blog friends, and I’m proud to be among them.

U-handblog – One thing is her amazing generosity when it comes to all of her awesome tutorials. But really, because this award is about nearness, I also chose her because of the way she writes her tutorials – not too formally, but rather like you’re with her in a room having a laugh about the challenges on the way. That’s quite a skill you’ve got there, girl, and it’s a pleasure to read your blog!

MADE - because when I read Dana’s blog, I feel like she’s talking to me. Her pictures add an atmosphere of intimacy, and last but not least – I love her creations.

Colorfool – they’re hit by life at the moment, so the blog doesn’t come 1st priority, but when she posts, there’s plenty of nearness.

That’s all for now – but hey, I made something for you guys! More about that tomorrow – and remember the coupon code for Fabric.com is still valid! :)