Well, I still have time to do something :) The child is not very eager to leave my belly...

I bought a musical mobile on a flea market. It was very colourful but it wasn't something I liked. I am a minimalist... I was eager to have this toy so I got it with the thought of changing the soft toys. As I know infants see only black and white during first months of their life so I was thinking that making sheeps would be a good choice. So I did and the result is below.

Another thing is trivial but I like it. I needed some baskets for my cosmetics. I bought two black and white fabrics and I was thinking to combine it with orange. And surprisingly I found a piece of nice orange textile on the flea market. Surprisingly because I never find things which I need WHEN I need them :) Anyway I found there also a perfect bottom material. To make the bottoms stiffer I used canvas table mats. Right now I am using my new baskets in a bathroom but they can be used for ANY thing if I get bored :)

There are two new pillows on my sofa. One with a strong pattern is really a nice colourful spot in the living room. And another pillow is another story. In a nutshell it's a big failure. I was so excited to transfer a print onto the fabric... And I failed so much. And what's the worst I don't know what went wrong. I used an acetone and the cotton and a laser printer. And the picture became washed-out brown instead of light black! When I saw the result  I wanted immediately to use some fabric paint to make it better. But after some time the failure became quite interesting and I decided to use it and finish the pillow. Maybe one day I will use this fabric paint...

And finally I spent also some time on a new doll. I was inspired by my wonderful colleague, called in some circles (i.e. by me ) The Black Sheep. So this is my present for her - her alter ego :)

Despite the fact that I haven't really made any advanced project lately I have to say I've been a prolific sewer and blogger as well!
 

Yesterday I finished my first Teddy. Today he was at his first photo shoot. Maybe he doesn't look the happiest bear in the world but neither he looks the poorest creature. I was very enthusiastic about it. I bought some time ago a nice mint canvas with floral print. It was a remnant but cute enough to get it. I had no idea what to do with it until the Teddy idea started to take shape.. Well, it wasn't maybe the best idea to use this heavy textile for a small doll but I managed. I had a problem with closings - have to make a survey how to do it properly and nicely.

Well, next projects are already in my mind. I always think I am done with my manual works but then suddenly there is again something to do. Hopefully I can still make some of them.

I had a plan to sew some maternity clothes. But luckily I skipped that idea :) In the last weeks of my pregnancy I didn't think about new clothes at all. It's the least important right now I guess. But I felt and still feel like doing something! As I moved to another country I left my sewing machine at my parents house. But my husband surprised me one day and brought his mother's sewing machine. Even tough it's a very basic model and consequently heavy-handed, I appreciate the gesture. And after all better that than nothing.

So here we are: new place, new furniture or its lack :) To make it more cosy I started to do some decorative stuff. First I made some bunting flags and pillow-cases to my son's room. Then pillow-cases to the living room. And my last project was my first tilda rabbit.

I didn't make any special work on the pillow-cases. I wanted the work to be simple and fast. The only requirement was a nice fabric (I used a zipper to close each of them to be sure they will keep a nice and firm shape). And I didn't make any clothes for my first doll because naked rabbit looks really good to me :) My son is not a fan of soft toys so I knew that it would be a decoration only. I would probably do more of them to give away as a present - it's quite a pleasant work.

First one is a very basic and very simple skirt for the summer. I had a short piece of a thin knitted fabric. I planned to sew some top but that would need using some other fabric as well. And then one day I found it a nice working material for a fast skirt! Well, there is really nothing to explain here :) A stripy rectangle with a white lining rectangle put togehter, and an elstaic in the waist. That's all!

Second project is the long-sleeve shirt. I wanted to use my red and brown checked fabric. I knew only that it would be an upper garment. Eventually my inspiration was a blouse with front pleats from Burda 10/2011 (#114).

I didn't need cute pleats as the idea was to have more sporty than elegant shirt. I added brown piece of polyester (suede-like) because I didn't have enough cotton for whole garment but I didnd't wanted it to be too boring as well. I made a slit in a front (now I think it could have been a little bit longer). I spent some time on a cuffs with one button as I haven't really made it so far :) And after making this blouse I haven't changed my mind - this is not my favourtite type of garment to do!

Materials: red and brown checked cotton, brown polyster, two buttons .

I fall in love with this dress from the first sight (a boat-neck dress from Burda 2/2012, #107). I can't help it but I like such things - very simple with simple but nice detail (and loose enough for mothers-to-be).

I knew that I had to make it but it took me a while to choose a fabric. I have still wide choice of it and I love going through my collection :) I didn't want to use satin as they did in Burda - I'm not a fan of satin and I avoid it. I wanted to have two different fabrics but not too contrast. I chose finally light cotton which colour is difficult to define - depending on the light it looks very light blue or grey. It has tiny herringbone pattern and thanks to that it looks great to me. I bought it few years ago in Finland as well as the other fabric used in this project - batist. When I put these textiles next to each other I knew that I found my set! What have I changed here? I didn't make a bottom stripe (it would be too decorative for me), I skipped the pockets and I shortened the sleeves a bit.  And here it is!

I don't belong to the circle of women who like to wear maternity clothes. I don't buy them as they are used really only for a moment. On the other hand I like loose dresses and tops which are very useful now. I am getting bigger but I don't stop sewing. The condition is I always make something what I can use later, when the pregnancy is over.

With this dress the fabric was first. I had a piece of elastic thicker knitted fabric and started to look for something what would be simple and comfortable. I found this pattern in Burda 2/2012 issue (Tunic Dress #119).

It wasn't complicated to do. The upper squares are a little bit tricky but not infeasible. While sewing I found the dress a bit boring so I decided to add a cotton band around the edges of front and back squares. I was thinking a lot whether to make pockets and ultimately I did - sometimes I like to have them and sometimes they are completely unnecessary. I can wear it with belt or without. It will be perfect to wear until the end of pregnancy as it's elsatic and later on as well. But I quess I will take it in a little bit...

I'm a little bit upset because I wanted to write more regularly on this blog... I still want to that but why it's not so easy? Last months I haven't sewn anything really. I was tired, sleepy and didn't feel like touching my sewing machine at all. The last time when I felt like that was two years ago when I was pregnant with my son, now the story reapeats itself. Luckilly the worst period is over so now I feel like sewing a lot. I would if I only had time :) But there is always a work to go to and a family to take care of... But suprisingly sometimes such time comes :)

Last month I had two weeks on my own - my husband took our son and went for an unexpected holidays. I sewed during their absence two pairs of shorts, two skirts and two dresses. Meanwhile I also remade my old dress to a top, shortened some trousers and fixed things which needed that. So I think that was good and efficient time! After that I packed myslef, joined my family on holidays and has just returned with a pile of new fabrics!

Today I'm presenting the skirt which my sister ordered. She rarely asks me to sew something for her but when she does, I have to always play with that for a while. They are not complicated projects but e.g. contains of many layers of slippy fabric...

Anyway she sent me a picture of a skirt she liked, she bought fabrics, delivered to me, said how it should differ from original and waited for the result. The picture which was a base for me is the one below:

Most difficult was to make it in good size. I don't have a mannequin (my husband always talks me into buying it but we don't really have a space for that in our tiny flat) and I couldn't count on myself as I have bigger belly now. The lace that she bought was also very elastic but somehow I managed. My sister got it just before my departure, tried it on at home and texted me that it fits. Few days later she sent me a message that people at her work liked it a lot.

Materials: elastic green fluoroscent lace, beige lining, invisible zipper, transparent button, cotton band.