One princess to go, please

by
11 comments

 Last weekend, Ronja was going to a princess gala party at a friend’s place. A few days ahead of it, I accidentally promised her, that I would make a new dress for the event, and I thought it would be fun. Furthermore, I thought that it wouldn’t be that much work – doh…! I was planning on using one of the patterns from Ottobre, that I used previously, so tracing wouldn’t be an issue, and I would just modify, whatever I needed to.

Ronja's princess dress 

It took longer than expected… I even think it took longer than the original tie-back tunic which did also present a bit of a challenge, mainly due to the ties. This challenge was different, though. I never made a tulle skirt before, so I had to figure out how to do that. I found a Danish tutorial online, and used that in combination with my own thoughts on how to do it.

For the bodice I used crushed velvet, and for the skirt I found this funny fabric that has elastic sewn into it, gathering it up in points, which I found to be very princessy. I didn’t foresee how heavy it would be on top of the tulle skirt, so the skirt doesn’t stand out quite as much as I imagined it. The belt is made with a dark purple confetti sequin knit fabric like this one (though not quite the same colour), which you can’t see very well in this photo – it’s rather dark around here at the moment, even during the days, so it’s hard to get good shots. The belt fabric might have worked better in a lighter colour, but this was what I had lying around, and Ronja likes it. The belt is tied in a bow on the back of the dress, and above that the bodice is closed with two bows. I didn’t sew the ties to the outside of the bodice, the way it’s originally designed, instead I sewed on some ribbons into the seam between the bodice shell and lining.

Ronja's princess dress 

A few things don’t show very well in these pictures. For instance I sewed on sequins all the way along the neckline, and I gathered up the skirt in four places to make the tulle skirt visible, covering the gathers with rows of sequins. Also I found a star appliqué in one of my local sewing shops, which I used to embellish the bodice. I could have done much more, but I ran out of time, and it ended up looking very much like a princess dress, I think. The only thing I’m not entirely happy with is the belt – in spite of the belt loops, it crawls up above the waist line, so I may have to sew it onto the dress, and just leave 20 cm loose in the back, so that it can be tied to fit the waist of the princess. I’m still wondering whether I should make a belt that’s lighter – white with stars maybe…  I think that would fit Ronja’s taste as well. ;)

Don’t forget to enter the Onion-pattern give-away!

Lazy days to come

by
8 comments

 When Mads came home from work today, our vacation started. Now we have three weeks at a hopefully slow pace to come – and we don’t mind the fact that the weather is marvellous once again.

Misty skirt - modeled 

So this is Ronja wearing her “Misty” skirt. It fits her perfectly, although she really needs to grow a waist, allowing the skirt to sit properly at her waistline instead of below her belly.

Flowergirl 

Today has been so hot, and not long after the first picture was taken, she had fun in a small tub in the garden, cooling off in the water.

This past week I just haven’t been able to keep up with everything that has happened, and one of those things is, that I have been endowed with three awards, from three other bloggers – and I’m so grateful and honoured!

Loretta from Fitting Tips! as well as Ruth from SewChic awarded me the E for excellent-award and Novy from Little Munchkins awarded me the Brillante weblog-award.

excellentblog          brilliant

THANK YOU, girls! I’m sorry that this turns into kind of a line-up, because all three of your blogs are unique and very much worth visiting! I’m so happy that you find my blog worth coming back to – it’s an appreciation that means a lot to me!

Now, to pass these on properly would take quite a long time, so I’m not checking with the rules. But – I do have a few blogs that I would really like to mention, so here it is - the E for excellence goes to the following blogs:

Lisa on Bon Souvenir writes about her wonderful sewing, her beautiful little daughter, and her family in general, and I just love reading her well narrated blog!

Sarah on So what? Sew buttons! just seems to have a beautiful world around her. I love reading her blog because of her wonderful and very honest descriptions of surroundings, events, and her beautiful family. She is gifted in many ways!

Gock’s frocks is a blog that I discovered only recently. Kristen does the most amazing sewing, and her work is always overflowing with colour – I love it!

And finally – if you didn’t see this already - there’s CraftPudding. Magda makes the most incredible handcarved wooden stamps – and when I didn’t buy any yet from her Etsy shop, it’s only because I cannot decide which ones to get – they’re just all beautiful! Go there!

There are so many inspiring and wonderful blogs out there – the awards are a wonderful way to show your appreciation, but remember, that sometimes you only need to leave a comment to show yourself as a reader. Beyond doubt, it is always noticed and appreciated!

“Misty” skirt

by
8 comments

My mother has been visiting these past few days, and yesterday before she got on the train to go back home we had some really nice mother and daughter time while I was sewing a skirt for Ronja.

Misty skirt - mosaic

The skirt is the “Misty” skirt from the first Ottobre issue this year. Since Ronja is very much into letters at the moment, I wanted to use the japanese import fabric “Letter scramble” that I bought a while ago at Superbuzzy. The other fabrics in the combo are “Spanish Lace” from Alexander Henry and “Calico Flowers” – another Japanese import.  For the inner skirt I had a very nice quilting fabric that I bought at a Danish sewing store.

I really like the pattern – it’s beautiful with the visible underskirt, that certainly brings something to the whole. I only altered it slightly because I wanted an elastic at the waist instead of a zipper, so Ronja would be able to put it on herself, and I really like how it turned out. When Ronja got up this morning, she immediately put it on, so I guess it was a success. :)

I’m posting modeled pictures as soon as I get around to taking some – at the moment I have to pick up Ronja from the kindergarten. The weather is fabulous, so the garden is the place to be!

“Tie back” tunic

by
14 comments

The weather cleared up a few hours ago, and now the girls are both asleep – each in their own room. Frida has been sleeping in her room for four nights now, and there have been no problems at all – fabulous. That girl just loves to get her sleep!

However – back to my last sewing project.

Mads was out Saturday night, and I was supposed to have a good friend visiting, who regretfully had to cancel because of a severe migraine. Too bad, because we haven’t seen each other for a while and I was looking forward to it. We’ll see each other soon anyway, though – so it’ll be alright.

Nevertheless, I had a welcome opportunity to do some sewing, making the “Tie-back” tunic from the latest issue of Ottobre. I wanted it to be a bit more colourful than the “China grass” dress, because otherwise they could easily end up looking a bit too similar. The fabric I had chosen was a gorgeous design from Michael Miller by Sandi Henderson (she makes some beautiful fabrics) - the Ginger Blossom Buds Avocado. To match it, I had found some delicious lime coloured linen from the Danish designer Bitte Kai Rand. Finally for the ties, I wanted to go with a contrast using red fabric with white dots.

First up were the ties for the back of the tunic - they took me a looooong time to make! It wasn’t easy turning them right side out, and once I had them all turned, I found out that I didn’t press open the seams well enough. This meant that I had to open them up while on the inside of the ties, before pressing the ties. Phew! That tought me a lesson – remember when it says to press seams open, it’s probably important… After this everything basically went together really well and without any problems – until I was pretty much finished with the whole thing, and I found out that I had stitched on the ties too close to the center-back edges – or to be more specific, the ties were placed correctly, but the stitches came too close to the edges. I think I forgot about the center-back seam allowances when stitching the ties in place, and consequently I had to redo the seams, because otherwise there wouldn’t be room enough to tie the knots, and the back would actually have a gap of an inch between the edges.

When Mads returned home from his party at about 1:30 a.m., I was still sewing…

Now everything that went wrong due to my mistakes is fixed, I certainly learned a few lessons, and the “Tie-back” tunic is finished. I think that the bodice is a bit wide, but I like it a lot, and more importantly, Ronja does too! As soon as I get the chance, I’ll get a modeled picture for you.

“China grass” dress

by
13 comments

The weekend gave us fantastic warm weather in a way you don’t usually see it in the middle of May. But yesterday, it was rather chilly again, Frida decided to take a few naps, and I finally got around to do some sewing.

I made the “China grass” dress from the latest issue of Ottobre for Ronja. I wanted it to be a bit more relaxed than the version in the magazine which is very dressy. I used plain linen combined with Amy Butler’s “Lotus Wall Flower” in the apricot colour. The dress came together nicely and the only thing that did give me some trouble was the zipper. This is the first time I apply a zipper, and it’s a hidden one. I found it a bit hard to align it, but after undoing the stiches and trying again it ended up looking just fine.

I’m quite happy with the dress – if there’s something to notice about this pattern, it would be the fact that the bodice is rather wide and I should probably have gone down a size in the bodice for Ronja, even though she is usually a size 104. I’ll post a modeled picture when I get around to it – then you can see for yourself. :)

Our family as portraited by Ronja The sun

Ronja did a drawing this weekend portraying our family. I love the fact that the sun wouldn’t fit on the drawing, so it had to go on the back – what an observation! The weather has been so amazing that we have been barbecueing each evening this weekend, and the garden has been the extension to the house that we love during summer.