KissKus

Foxes

The foxy shirts for both my boys are finished. I'd bought the Ottobre 4/2010 especially for the fox pattern it featured. I just had to make it!

I used fleece for the main body. I machine stitched that on.

The rest of the details I cut out of felt and I hand stitched those on. I really am trying to be more patient with my projects and I'm doing quite well with it. I keep telling myself to go s-l-o-w.

Oh, these boys of mine. Naughty little foxes they are. This was what they did when I asked them to pose for a photo.

But cute they are too. All four of those foxes.

Party girl

I love her to bits.

Sewing

I've been working on not one, but two cute little foxes today.

A little exercise in patience if you like. While impatience is much more up my alley. Which is something that I realise every week at sewing class. I like FAST results. But I've come to realise that I must be more thorough and therefore work slower in order to get BETTER results. And I do want to get better, because as well as impatient I'm also a bit of a perfectionist.

Of course as so often, this sewing metaphor is applicable to the rest of my life. I need to slow down, examine what's really important and move forward, slowly and thoroughly. Babysteps.

Home improvement

It's a slow process, but bit by bit we are tackling some very important issues in our house.

Firstly, the craft room. This is a tiny room (so no exciting photos), where I keep all my fabric and notions and our paperwork. This room has been out of control since... forever? It was really bad. A few weeks ago my my mum came and helped me clear out, clean and sort it all. It wasn't pretty, but at last we got the job done. Now all my sewing things are easily accessible and I can't tell you how wonderful that is. When I now feel the urge to create something I do not need to hunt for fabric/thread/yarn/buttons first!

Next step was to create a little spot where Michel could sit and work. With 4 inexpensive legs from Ikea, a bit of leftover MDF and some paint, Michel created this cute little desk where he can do his writing. I think it turned out great.

The other thing we had to take on was the wardrobe situation in Linus' room. I decided to sell his old chest of drawers and changing dresser first, but when I did I didn't have anything to put his clothes in! So we managed another trip to Ikea and bought him a Pax wardrobe, which is huge for his small room, but it will easily hold all his stuff.

I feel happy and relieved that we got this done these past days (the children were staying with their grandparents). The house feels better now. Now onto the next project, but slowly....

Seed pods: a study

Lathyrus seed pods on an Arcopal plate.

Vintage hexagon coaster

From a vintage quilt that I bought last year or so I cut one hexagon block (shocking, I know!).

I blanket stitched around the edges and then crocheted a scalopped edge and then a sweet new coaster was born.

The cup and saucer is another fabulous thrifstore find, by the way :) There are such treasures out there, people!

The heath

In our previous town we lived within walking distance of the heath. Now we live within walking distance of the woods, but somehow it doesn't feel the same (although I'm not complaining! And we still live within cycling distance of the heath...)

There is something so special about the heath. Even though this is Holland -where real nature is sparse and where you always hear some kind of traffic noise- the surroundings are fresh and calming. We have spent many happy moments on the heath. At first just the two of us, later with 1, 2 and 3 children.

Today was a lovely autumn day. The children are on school break, Michel took the day off. So on an oridinary monday we could just do whatever we fancied.

First a quick trip to the thrifstore, where we took kilos of stuff and bought nothing! We literally came away lighter... Then to a restaurant for drinks and sugary goodness. After that some running around on the heath. We spotted some beautiful toadstools.

Autumn at its best.

Crazy retro pants

So I had this thrifted crazy seventies tea towel... and I decided to cut it up to make a pair of trousers for Linus.

To cut a long story short: these trousers were getting a little too crazy, so I decided to make them reversible. One wacky and one decent side... whatever suits Linus' fancy :)

Pattern is once again Ottobre (6/2007 pattern 21). I modified it a little, making the legs straight instead of flared. And like I said, I made them reversible. I'm not completely happy with the way they fit, which is a shame because I'd hoped to be using this same pattern a few more times. Perhaps I need to modify it just a little more...

Even though this was officially the last day of KCWC of course it doesn't mean that I stop making clothes here. I've got a lot more ideas cut out that I will keep working on... happy sewing!

KCWC day 4

Today I had to admit to myself that my personal goal of finishing one garment a day was a little too ambitious and very stressful indeed. When I have to work, do the shopping, do the house, look after the children, go to the hospital, have a coffee date, celebrate a birthday, stay the night away from home, celebrate another birthday etc etc... it just isn't possible to sew one garment a day.

It's not easy for me to give up on a task that I set for myself. It feels like defeat. But I know that I have to in order to stay SANE ;)

And it's not like I didn't sew today. Although I really don't know about these trousers... we'll see how they'll turn out... TOMORROW!