Traditional dance show

Today Eva had her traditional dance show. They have been preparing the whole year for this show and she was anxious when the actual day came. Traditional music, dances and songs were presented and we quiet enjoyed it.

The only drawback was that it was held out in the open, near the bank of the river, with no sign of a shadow. What was the organizer thinking when they scheduled the show to begin at 6 p.m (the children were there before 5 - mind you) when the temperature was almost 50 degrees Celsius, is a great enigma. The poor children and the parents along, were literally cooked under the burning sun. Especially the children with the costumes, woolen aprons, the pantyhose, the woolen socks the boys wore. But, luckily no one collapsed.

The girls received simplified copies of the traditional costumes with plain long shirts (dresses), aprons, and kerchiefs.

The boys had the complete costumes with long shirts, belts, trousers and socks.

(A spontaneous act: Just before the show, Jacob running to give her a good-luck hug)

The musicians were also dressed accordingly and played fantastically!

The drummer with the traditional, intricately embroidered vest.

The children gave us quite a performance and received a gigantic applause.


Eva danced perfectly. We were so proud.

The Lavender Dress

This is my Lavender dress. I love it! I feel great in it! It's in my favourite colours!

There was a school celebration last Tuesday on which I was to wear this particular piece. So on Monday, I rolled my sleeves up (not literally because it is like 40 degrees outside and it feels like hell) and I sweated on it for what felt like ages. The reason was that I used two different sizes to make it.

I used a larger size for the bodice and a smaller size for the lower part (the skirt). I have never done that with Burda's patterns, but there is always a first time for everything.
When I combined the two fabrics I knew that I will use organza for the belt and I think the colours match perfectly.

And although I have used this particular web like organza in many projects I forgot that it'll rip off when I put the zipper. And it did. And I thought that my brain is not functioning well due to the heat. So I appliqued a piece over it (Eva calls it 'the butterfly') to hide it and I think it is a nice detail. I mean a nice cover up when you mess things up.

I especially love the roses. They look great. Although, now when I watch the pictures, I think that their arrangement should be changed.

And to finish the story: just as I was about to sew the straps, my husband's comment threw me in the gutter (he actually said I looked as if washed out) so I lost interest in finishing it! Needless to say I wore something else for the celebration.

However, I wouldn't be myself if I let a comment knock me out so I finished it yesterday so that I could wear it today for the graduation reports awarding ceremony for my class. I felt great.

The Retro Tunic

This is the tunic I made for Eva.

I used the same pattern as for the Mosaic blouse. Hers is longer because she wanted it that way. I added a low cut lace ribbon and pockets mostly for decoration. Pretty simplistic, yet someone said: Simplicity is the essence of elegance.

A side note: my latest obsession - thread sketching. I am truly anxious to try a project involving this, but fear that might not have time to squeeze it in.
Just look at this, this and this. Amazing, isn't it?

My little painter!

Here school ends on the 10th of June to the ultimate joy and excitement of all school-going children, and of course - their parents! And because many children go on holidays after the 10th the teachers in the kindergartens also keep up with the schedule and sort of end up the school year with shows and by giving children their creations made throughout the year. (Although they work during the summer months but with reduced capacity).

When I say creations I mean drawings. This is a small part of what my little painter brought home:

On the back of the drawing the teacher always writes down what the topic was that class, but this wasn't the case this year. There's no explanation why so we sort of guessed what he draw.

(A self-portrait.)

Question: What's with the huge head?
Answer: I'm happy.

(A tree)

We have a Tree Day here so probably this was done to mark the occasion.

(No verbal caption for this one. I am so sorry for the poor thing. He looks so sad...)

I collect all my children's drawings for them. I think they are going to appreciate such Memorabilia when they grow up.

The Mosaic blouse

We've spent the most wonderful day in the village of Tabanovce. It felt like a day stolen from heaven!
I wore my newest blouse I made yesterday. I named it the Mosaic blouse.

The pattern being simple, I decided to experiment and add a bit of character to it.

The 'mosaic' is appliqued up at the shoulder and along the side for effect. I played with it and thought I might add something in the center, but it seemed 'crowded' and just didn't fit the picture. For the applique I used a piece of upholstery fabric. I still have some of it left and I plan to make myself a clutch.

Shoulder view


Up close.


Side view.

The fabric is the cutest shade of neither blue nor green which I love and actually bought 6 meters of it. It was a bargain so I couldn't resist.

However, this is not the end of the story. I also made Eva a tunic and plan to make something else for myself. Drafting the pattern for it.

A nice surprise!

Last week I received quite an unexpected yet wonderful surprise by the amazing Papgena Made It who awarded me with this:

Thank you Papgena! Since I started blogging I've never been awarded and tagged and I know I am going to enjoy this.
So according to 'the rules' I have to say 10 random things about me.

1. I love all things vintage. I collect vintage things but mostly things that belonged to my family and have a special emotional value.
One of those is this lovely fish brooch I received from my grandma which I will treasure forever.

2. I am crazy about books - I always say that it is as if someone has put a curse o n me. I am an avid reader and I am proud of it! I can get lost in libraries forever. My likes vary to the extremes. However as a BA in English language and literature I have a softness for British writers.

An anecdote: About 7 years ago I discovered Terry Pratchett. I fell for his humour and imagination in a heart beat. And there I was sitting alone in a crowded bus station, waiting for an intercity bus and reading his "Wyrd Sisters". Suddenly I found a dialogue in the book so hilarious I actually laughed out loud. Couldn't restrain myself! People must have thought I was nuts! I still get a throbbing feeling of embarrassment when I think of that awkward instance! I have made a mental note to myself: Pratchett mustn't be read in public places!

3. I love fairies, dwarfs, witches and wizards, knights and pirates and the lot. I am a bit sad Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings and the Narnia didn't exist when I was a child to spice my childhood a bit. However, I am glad they are part of my children's childhood. (Correction - the two latter did exist only they were not popular nor translated back then!).

4. I am profoundly interested in ethnology! I love discovering and learning about the customs and traditions of my and other countries. At the time being I am studying our traditional folk costumes. The ultimate goal I've set for myself is to make (sew) an authentic female costume regardless of how time consuming and difficult it turns out to be.

5. I love photography! I am not as good as I would like to be and I am considering taking a course this summer. I love taking pictures of my family and nature. Oh, when it comes to taking pictures I also have a thing for doors (and windows). There is a reason why. I'll leave that as a topic for another post.

6. As mentioned above, I love nature in its every form and shape. And I am obsessed with environmental issues and preservation of our planet. I love being able to raise the consciousness of the young people for the environment through my profession and I hope that small contribution shall pay off in the future.

7. We would love to have a cottage in the mountains as a retreat from all the hubbub of the modern world. With a huge garden with lots of trees and flowers. And a place where I would be able to grow my own food. That would be something!

8. I love old-fashioned correspondence! In the past (before my children were born) I corresponded with lots of people for many years. There was literally no place in the world where I didn't have a pen friend. But I stopped doing that and still miss it. Letters have a special charm for me!

9. Traveling fills my batteries to the fullest! Many places I've been - thousands more to discover! Possible destination for this summer: Italy!

10. I used to write prose and poetry! I still keep my writings and occasionally plunge into them only to find myself amazed at the different angle of perception with every single approach at them! But deep inside I have always wanted to write children's books. Maybe one day I will do that. Who knows?
This blog is a proof of my inclination to write - especially this post. I just hope that I didn't kill you to death with my story today! So let's this be the end of it!

Furthermore, as part of the award I have to nominate other blog authors for it.

I will choose:
1. Emily@ravenhill
2. Mai@mairuru
3. Tuppence@momfetti
4. Vasilka@arheoblog

If you haven't visited them yet, don't hesitate! You''ll immensely enjoy them!

The Candy dress

I've seen this dress in a magazine featuring a domestic designer and I couldn't get it out of my head no matter how hard I tried, so eventually I said why not make it. I drafted the pattern myself and the only thing I copied is actually the upper part of the bodice with the "cat-eyed" holes and the ruffled piece.

Making the dress was quite easy and induced by the lovely front and the colour of it I named it the Candy dress. To keep my Cupcake dress a company :)

Though to tell you the truth I still love the cupcake better than this one. My heart always misses a bit when I see it in the wardrobe. It is a dress I will keep forever. Sorry Candy!

For this I used a thick cotton ribbed fabric and I am satisfied how the fabric fits the design although the original dress was made of satin so I wouldn't mind trying that in the future. Oh, yes. I left the edges of the ruffles (that's the one in the middle) free to fray - something I've been quite crazy about lately, as you may have noticed!

All the pictures were taken at the Robevci house which is turned into a museum. We visited it today and really had an amazing time looking at the ancient display of pottery, weapons, jewelery and parts of monuments. I am writing a post on it for the other blog where there will be more pictures.

Alice in Wonderland

I took my daughter to cinema yesterday to watch this masterful creation and we were truly thrilled by it! Needless to say the book was one of my favourites as a little girl!

Mr.Burton virtuously transported us into Wonderland. I admire his imagination! The world he created was an ethereal one, with a magnificent palette of colours for the background and a wonderful set of characters.

But the thing I was most impressed were the costumes. Now, I wouldn't be worthy calling myself an aspiring seamstress if I don't mention the brilliance of the costume designer Colleen Atwood. I read somewhere that due to her masterful mind the film is referred to as Alice in Fashionland. And Fashionland it was. The array of dresses Alice wore were extraordinary! I was transfixed by the designs and the fabrics! Too bad I couldn't find a good source on the Internet to show here some of them.

Source

My favourite character. Johny Depp had yet another brilliant performance and the Mad Hatter was the right role for him. I loved the way he fell into Scottish gibberish!
As for the other characters I would restrain from commenting my thoughts but have to share some of Eva's observations. She thought it is sad for the Red Queen to be so evil because she would have no friends (clever girl). Next, she wanted to know why the White Queen has such posture and why does she keep her arms as if a ballerina? And she wondered why she has black eyebrows contrasting her blond (white) hair. I guess we can never get hold of Burton's imagination! He would always be ahead of us!

Summer top in refashion

I bought this top a couple of weeks ago just because I am a fool for cotton. And this was gorgeous. I wasn't even deluded by the tag saying it's a size "M" because even a child could see that this was one of those 'one size fits all' things. I didn't mind its plainness because I knew this is the perfect dress for summer. And I knew it won't be the same once I lay my hands on it!

And I was right. The front part covered only a small portion of my bust and I thought I might add a little structure to it. First I added a wider strip of fabric on which I attached a smaller pleated one all over the front.

However, it still was too much opened so I added another pleated strip

Rear view. I ruffled a strip for the back too.


Now I can wear it as a dress, or as a tunic over jeans and flats.

Quote of the day!

I just received this in the mail and the plain truth behind it was so overwhelming I simply had to share. I apologize before hand for the absence of censorship and a bit of foul language at the end.

Reality check? Check again!

On Sunday evening the much appreciated David Guetta was to host a party here. But instead he held it on Monday at 1 o'clock a.m (mind you) much to the audience's dismay and annoyance. The resident DJs did their best to warm up the audience but his appearance was much delayed - which I think was inexcusable.

Nevertheless, he managed to restore the audience's mood and he atoned himself by offering a great performance.
We were together with my sister and her husband and we really had an amazing time!
I cannot offer many good photos (all you can see is hands up in the air and the shining screen)
Both husbands were worried that we might stand out in the crowd due to our age, but were reassured very soon that we were not the only ones threading steadily towards the forties (I shudder at writing the figures)!

So after a long night and early morning of dancing - because it ended at 4 o'clock in the morning - we felt like run over by a truck! My whole body hurts! I still suffer from a stiff neck and I've been cranky for being deprived of more than several hours of sleep. Although I exercise I know now of muscles I've never been aware of!

Reality (check): You are not in the twenties (thirties - Yikes!) anymore! You don't expect being all peachy after jumping all night long!
Me: But I still feel young inside! My soul is young! I am nurturing it, investing in it so that it may remain the same for the years to come. Beat that reality!