A stitch in time

Today was a great day. It was sunny and warm - just a perfect day for a pleasant walk.
But I didn't just walk aimlessly. I did a little shopping too. I bought some fabric and the March issue of Burdamode (the April one is still not in the shops) and I love most of the projects. As a matter of fact I fell in love with this cute dress - which is in fact a wedding dress- that I decided to make one right then.

But as I was losing light fast here's just a peek of it. At the time these pictures are taken it was not completely finished (the neckline and the sleeves). I was too anxious and excited (don't have to say that I tried it a thousand times) and wanted to see what it would be like. Oh, and yes, I decided not to leave the sleeves on.

Hopefully one of the members of my family will take a pity on me tomorrow and make me a nice photo for the blog. As I am writing this the dress is ready, ironed and hung in the wardrobe.

More about it tomorrow!

The snowdrops blouse

Well here's the blouse I made a couple of weeks ago.

I used the Burda pattern from January 2009. This is the same pattern I used (but only for the sleeves) for this jacket. The minute I tried it on I knew I would be making the blouse.

I really enjoyed making the blouse. I have never made anything so easy and so fast. I like the sleeves excessively.

And I liked it so much I made myself a dress. But while trying to take some photos of it, one of the sleeves tore down so I'll be posting about it later this week.

Happy Easter!

HAPPY EASTER!

Holy Saturday

The symbolism of the Easter egg.
It represents the sealed tomb in which Jesus was placed. It also represents the hatching of new life.

On Holy Saturday the mass starts at about 11:30. People gather in churches with lit candles. The mass culminates with the ceremonial circling around the church for three times and exactly at midnight the priests say: "Jesus resurrects" to which the crowd responds: "He truly resurrects"

After that people break each others' Easter eggs and eat them in the celebration of life prevailing death.

Good Friday

Today is a non-working day in my country. Several years back Good Friday was declared a national holiday. On this day I remember going to church with my mother to pass under the ceremonial altar for good health which was covered and decorated with flowers.

I remember how excited I was with my sister about this event especially the pass-through! And we always brought flowers with us. I always picked the lilac! I just adore its fragrance and I have associated it with Easter since childhood!

Today we all went to church to light a candle and pass under the table. It was magnificent! And Eva was thrilled about it! I hope she will treasure this memory to pass on to her children.

And today as a gift for Easter, I won Momfetti's gorgeous egg cozies giveaway! With this great day, this great winning and this being my 100 post I am sincerely and truly happy.

Maundy Thursday

Today is Maundy Thursday.
The day on which in my country the first eggs are dyed.
And just like my female predecessors, I dyed the eggs at dawn when it is said they collect the power from heavens above and bring good health and prosperity.

Traditionally, the first three eggs to be dyed are red. They are left in a basket to be touched by the first rays of the sun.

However, my 'red' dye turned out to be magenta. After the first three I dyed all the rest of them in all the colours of the rainbow. I knew the kids would be delighted!

April's Fool

Today we all woke up in excitement of the day before us. Because today is not just any other ordinary day. Today is the day where prank jokes lurk in every corner waiting for a fool, and where (especially) kids are ingeniously and fantastically dressed.

I managed to finish the costumes on time, plus I made a blouse and a dress for myself but will take some time to take photos.
As I mentioned previously Eva is the Queen of Hearts:

And here is the mighty tiger.


which was thrilled with his tail

The Queen was very patient until the end but the tiger got tired of both his parents taking pictures and started crying!
They both had lots of fun at the parade!

A happy day!

Today I received a pleasant surprise! A gift from Mai!
A couple of weeks ago I participated in Mai's fantastic giveaway and won some lovely treasures.
I can't describe my happiness when I got the packet:

I just have to learn the way Mai makes her envelopes. So environmentally conscious.

And inside:

Thank God I remembered to take a picture before opening it.

Heart beats faster in anticipation...

A gorgeous craft (sewing) book by Rari Yoshio
with phenomenal ideas







Gorgeous fabric scraps




And even more little treasures

Thank you Mai!
You don't want to miss Mai's blog! She has amazing tutorials and a pair of hands with which she creates magic. She does everything by hand. And she also has a fantastic shop. Be sure to visit her!

Me and Murphy

I am sure you have all met Murphy at least once in your lifetime. Well, not only I know him - I happen to be best friends with him. We went to school together. As a matter of fact we sat next to each other. And he happens to me quite a lot.

Just to illustrate the post, I'll give you a couple of examples:

Whenever I am at the supermarket, waiting at the cashier's- the cashier either:
a) runs out of tape for the bill;
b) a cute old man/woman in front of me forgets some of the supplies // can't find the wallet
c) the machine does not accept my card.

At the bank:
a) the other lines move faster than mine
b) the teller closes the desk while I am second/third in line
When other customers complain and wonder what's wrong with that particular desk I reply: It's not the cash desk. It's me.

The examples are numerous. And when that happens I learnt to take a deep breath and say to myself calmly: Well, what do you know! It's Murphy again!

So, what induced me to write this post today you may wonder - but I am sure you know the answer now! Just as I published my last post I received another project which I have to finish in two weeks. And I haven't done anything of the planned things and costumes! I am so stressed out that I won't finish them in time I want to bite. But I won't. I'll just lie down and have a nice heart attack.

I hope you are having waaay more fun than me. Happy Sunday!

As a finish for this post I offer you a cute poem:

I never had a slice of bread,
Particularly large and wide,
That did not fall upon the floor,
And always on the buttered side.

Finally some time off

Phew! I completed a great project (translation-related) and I finally have time to dedicate myself to my children and my sewing. I have planned several projects to finish before Easter and I sincerely hope to be good at time management and do everything on the 'to do' list. And the list is quite comprehensive. I want to make costumes for both my children for the 1st of April.
Eva wishes to be the Queen of Hearts after Mom's hearty persuasion that the Queen's attire is much more sophisticated and glamorous than Alice's (which all you know is true), while Jacob wanted to be a mighty dinosaur. As for Eva's costume, yesterday I found a red silk dress at the thrift store which needs shortening and fitting so part of the job is done but I couldn't show it here since it is still soaking. As for Jacob's costume, I couldn't find the appropriate fabric and we decided on his being a mighty tiger.
And we bought two meters of this:

Now, those who know me, know that I detest animal prints. I don't like (read:hate) fur - of any kind.
But in order to please my flesh and blood I have to sacrifice something. So tiger he is going to be.

I also bought some white laces (which happens once in a blue moon) because I am not much of a white person because usually pinks and purples and blues do the thing for me. The white fabric peeking below is velvet and is just beautiful. I won't be this delighted when it comes to wearing it because it'll get dirty as hell.

The lace on the left is for the green velvet dress I am planning to make this week, while the one on the right was so appealing I couldn't resist buying. It is too sturdy for a shirt - but I'll think of something.

And I also bought a dust pink ribbed vintage fabric for yet another dress but the fabric was not dry as to be pictured.

I wish you a nice, fruitful week.

Straw Flower Sticks

Here's another great weekend project. We have made so many of the straw flower sticks the house looks like a meadow.

For this project you need: bamboo sticks and straws.

Flatten the straw using a letter opener, scissors or a knife.

Then twist it in half with the lead end on the right.

Take the second end and lift it up counterclockwise over the lead end.

Hold the upper part firmly with your thumb and forefinger.Then take the lead and do the same, putting it over the second end (counterclockwise). Work like this in circles until you get about six 'petals'.

It should look like this. There are five petals here..

..and with the sixth one ready, slide it underneath like shown.

Work in circles, sliding the ends underneath the "main part" until you get to the end. You'll end with a short piece like this.

Either cut it off or insert it between the layers.


Here it is. A little flower.


Take a bamboo stick and push it through the centre of the flower.


Stick as many as you like.

Another idea: If you use toothpicks you can make tiny flowery bouquets.

I am going to use the flower sticks as Easter decoration. Eva made a bracelet by putting them on an elastic.
I also tried making them out of sturdy fabric but in the end had to hand sew them since they wriggled their way out. I am planning of doing this with other materials.

My sewing machine

I have something to confess!
My sewing machine is angry at me! We are not even on speaking terms!
This all due to my negligence of sewing projects and being engaged with other work. So it has been feeling rejected and not cared for. The truth is that I haven't been able to sew a stitch for a while now and I really miss it!
From where I sit now, I can see it pouting and acting indifferently! I plan to alter that.
I plan on bribing it, softening its feelings, with a lovely fabric I dug out from my stash so it can bite into it delightfully!
I know it'll forgive me! For our story is old and lengthy.

This is the fabric for the dress I am going to make for Eva. It looks so fresh, vivid, heart-pounding and joy bringing. Just a perfect thing for Easter - that is if the weather finally sets its mind on what it would be for Easter.

I also found the perfect design for the green velvet. An image of a dress I saw on a recently discovered blog. More about it- hopefully next week.

Happy 8th of March!

Have a wonderful day wherever you are!