And so it begins again

A new year, a fresh start, a tidy sewing desk, new supplies on the shelf - what more could one possibly want?

January began with a winter wedding of a dear friend and we drove to the nearby lake Geneva in Switzerland, to a beautiful little town of Vevey where we could take some great pictures of the lake and the couple just before the sun set in the afternoon.

My wedding gift were two soft but well stuffed 50 x 50 cm pillows in custom made decorative covers - I used all linen fabrics, cut out the initials F and J and decorated them with lace, ribbons and buttons.

December was a month of giving and what better thing to give than one's time and attention. Recently a couple of friends became the lucky parents of a baby boy and since they have a Christmas tradition of buying special ornaments that remind them of certain places and events, I decided to make them a "baby's first Christmas" ornament - a little bird for baby Gaspard.

And since I mentioned new supplies... I ordered some small embroidery hoops before Christmas, thinking I could engage my children in some needlework - they have been asking me to let them help me sew so I am always looking for ways to involve them in my craft in a fun, safe way. So far we haven't yet had time to try out embroidery but I couldn't just let those hoops sit on my shelf untested - so one night, while watching Agatha Christie's Poirot episodes on Youtube, I made this little floral arangement on a 5 inch (13 cm) hoop. 

But what about the children? We'll do needle work next time, for now I bought them some colour pencils for fabric and they drew some creatures on white linen which I then sewed together and stuffed into small plush toys.

While all this was going on, I hardly had any time to sew new Loddelina bags - they will have to wait for my next post.

Have a lovely week!

:: :: :: 

In spet se začenja

Januar je čas za nov začetek, za pospravljeno šivalno mizo in nove potrebščine na polici. Mesec se je začel s poroko dveh prijateljev -  nekaj foto utrinkov iz mesteca Vevey ob Ženevskem jezeru. In moje darilo mladoporočencema: okrasni blazini 50 x 50 cm z začetnicama J in F na lanenih prevlekah. 

Pa še eno darilo, božični okrasek za dojenčkov prvi božič, moji prvi poskusi vezenja (pred novim letom sem nabavila nekaj manjših okvirjev, da bom mogoče otroka navdušila za delo z iglo) in živalice, ki sta jih na blago narisala s flomastri za tkanino, jaz pa obrezala, zašila in natlačila v mehke igračke. 

Tudi za Loddelino bo čas, več v naslednji objavi!

Hooked

I have been working on a custom order bag this week (and it will be finished tomorrow, I promise) but I couldn't stop myself from going back to my crochet hooks in between cutting and sewing.

After my first attempt at crochet flowers a month ago I got completely hooked and this past week I have been working with the tiny hook number 1 and some skinny ecru cotton yarn to make lacy crochet flowers and rosettes. I can't read crochet patterns and have only learned the basics from internet tutorials  so I am making up stiches as I go.
I did find one very user-friendly tutorial at a blog writen by a pattern analphabet like myself  - Mandy writes a delightfully simple tutorial for a very sweet flower HERE and you can see the final results in my blurry iPod picture below (the little flower on the lower right corner of the right photo).

Zakvačkana

Ta teden šivam torbo po meri (več v naslednjem postu), a si ne morem kaj, da ne bi vsake toliko časa sedla k mojim kvačkam. Odkar sem pred kratkim spet pogruntala kvačkanje rožic, sem čisto ujeta in moj zadnji projekt so čipkaste rozetke, kvačkane z mini kvačko št. 1. TULE najdete link do še posebej enostavnega opisa izdelave luštne rožice - opis je zlasti za takšne kot jaz, ki ne znamo brati kvačkarskih hieroglifov.

Learn a new craft

A new year, a new craft, that is what Etsy blog suggested the other day. So I decided it was as good time as any to finally try to learn to crochet small flowers I have been wanting to add to my designs for a long time. My mother taught me crochet basics when I was a little girl but I haven't touched the hooks and yarn since...

However, with a little help from YouTube tutorials for beginners I learned to crochet several diffenent flowers in no time! First attempts were a bit awkward but after one week of crocheting I have over 40 flowers ready to be appliqued to my bags.

 trial and error

Tiny and small 5 petal flowers (6 petals are a result of a welcome mistake in counting)

You can find the tutorials HERE and HERE.

I also llike these ruffled flowers, perfect for adding pearls in the middle or plain and simple, resembling a chrysanthemum. Find the tutorial HERE.

Do you have and interesting crocheting tutorial? Please share!

Nauči se novo spretnost

Čas je že bil, da se končno naučim kvačkati rožice, s katerimi si že dolgo časa želim okrasiti moje torbice. Mama me je sicer že davno tega naučila osnov kvačkanja, pa sem do danes vse pozabila in tako   spet prvič prijela za kvačko. K sreči je na YouTube-u polno navodil za začetnike in tako sem se v enem tednu naučila kvačkati tri različne rožice in jih do zdaj naredila že čez 40. 
Zgornje, s petimi lističi (ali šestimi, kar se je zgodilo kot dobrodošla napaka pri štetju zank) sem naredila v dveh velikostih, spodnja, skuštrana, pa je še posebej zanimiva, ker jo lahko naredimo poljubno gosto, dodamo perlice, brez pa še najbolj spominja na krizantemo. 
Povezave so pod slikami, če imate tudi ve kakšno zanimivo kvačkarijo, jo prosim delite!

Inspirations: Besançon restaurants

This week I intended to add another batch of zipper pouches to my shop - the fabrics have all been cut out, the perfect zippers, trims and buttons chosen for each colour; but when I started sewing, my machine made a weird noise and all the stitches came out crooked. I tried changing the needle, oiling the machine, I checked the screws and the settings over and over again, but nothing helped. After I unravelled the stitches a few times (oh, how I hate doing that!) only to realise they will not look any better the second time, I gave up.

I will have to take my machine to a repair shop (I have to find one first) before I can list any new bags. In the meantime I can show you a couple of interesting crafting ideas and inspirations I came across on my walk around Besançon last week.

This metal frame for a restaurant menu board is covered in old pieces of cutlery - odd spoons, forks and knives can be always found in flea markets and once polished they make great accessories. There are many shops on Etsy specialising in finding new life to silverware, I especially like SpoonerZ.


And I like this wall display (also in a restaurant - it was lunch time, what can I say), made of simple wooden boxes, painted on the inside with cheerful colours and attached to the wall. The boxes contained leaflets, tourist guides, books and other interesting information to leaf through while waiting for the table.

I will be on a lookout for some more creative inspirations next week - I might even make it a regular blog post...