Day fifty three: picking flowers

Meanwhile, I'm still developing the linen & lace collection I mentioned before. I keep adding new colour combinations. These two come straight from the fields: a sunflower and a cornflower, both sweet and simple, yet gracious and irresistible. (Poppy is next in line, I can't wait to make that one.) Alas due to my intensive language course the photos of my recent creations keep appearing here with quite a delay. For instance, the blue&white tablet case has already been sold :) and I have even sewn another one which looks very similar, just the zipper is on the long side of the bag and the lining is different. Well. One step at a time. July is on its way :)

Day fourty nine: a song for someone

Lately, I've been sewing things only for other people: either for sale and special orders or as gifts to friends and family. Don't get me wrong, I am sincerely happy to give these things away and nothing warms my heart more than seeing people using and enjoying my creations. However, at one point I realised that there is one person whom I have completely disregarded in this process even though I know that this person also could use something pretty this spring :) Right, the time has come to sew something nice for me (ME!) 

I had been meaning to make this linen tote for quite some time, the vision of green leaves were on my mind long before they appeared on the actual trees outside. So I sat down and made the tote, relishing every moment of giving a present to myself. Try this some time - it can be really rewarding.

I bring the spring tote to the language course every time: the size is perfect to hold all the books and materials. Happy :)

Day fourty six: kitchen jungle

Sometimes all it takes is one glance to know what I want to sew from a fabric. I love when that happens :) One of my precious jungle friends sent me the sweetest birthday surprise package containing an adorable jungle themed fabric. The moment I laid my eyes and hands on it I knew: an apron! This came as a surprise to me since I don't even wear aprons. Obviously, this was supposed to change :) 
Luckily, I stumbled upon this free pattern which seemed flattering and classical enough for my taste. I skipped all the fancy loops and buttons and used just the measurements and the arm hole cut. The jungle apron was quickly finished: clean and crisp, ready for a test drive. Three days and one casserole later I finally admitted the obvious: the top part of the apron was too large for me. This realisation was followed by a heartfelt internal struggle between sewing a simple dart in front (2 min job + messed up animal print) and tearing the whole thing apart to readjust the sides properly (at least an hour, but no deformed animals). Those of you who know me might be astonished to hear that I actually tried the dart option at first :D It didn't last though. I just couldn't stand the way it messed up the jungle, so I ripped up most of the seams, deepened the arm holes and adjusted the straps. There! Happy me and happy animals :)

Day fourty one: tale of a basket

Once upon a time there was a laundry basket. It lived in a factory shop together with other baskets of various makes and sizes. Nobody could remember for sure how long it had been sitting there hoping to go to a home with actual laundry, until one day a man came into the shop together with his wife. They had arrived with a simple task in mind: to buy a laundry basket in a shop filled with baskets. However, the woman was experiencing a sudden surge of indecision and after a long while of staring and shuffling she still couldn't figure out which of the baskets she preferred. So the man took the matter in his hands and chose the one he found to be large enough and didn't mind too much. The basket was finally at home with actual laundry, but the wife kept gazing at it with great deal of suspicion. For about two years she kept wondering what it was that annoyed her so much about that poor laundry basket until one day it finally hit her: it was the awful white lining with the word "Laundry" on it. It was indeed poorly made and always slid into the basket when it was filling up. That had to go! So in no time the basket got a brand new lining made out of linen, finished with a bit of lace and comprising a string to prevent it from sliding all over the place. Once it was done, they all lived happily ever after.