Happy Easter 2023

Where has the time gone? Just a moment ago it was Christmas and New Year!
Actually, I wanted to go out for photos and make beautiful photos for Easter, but somehow I’m still not 100% fit after Corona. Therefore, I took photos with my phone the day before yesterday after my shopping.

My news at the moment is that my fabric store is no more. I am extremely sad about that. Good news is that our sewing group including the seamstress have found a new way to sew together on Saturdays. Unfortunately the course costs twice as much as before. 😦
Let’s see how we will like it in the new store. Next week Saturday the new course should start. Of course I have again lots of ideas what I could sew and where I do not know how I could do it myself.

Happy Easter ❤ ❤ ❤

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I so love my self made tartan jacket

Today I show again a part that has taken a little longer.
I had worked last year and the year before last on the raincoat.

At some point I just could not see this yellow fabric anymore. So I just put the coat aside and started with a new jacket that I wanted to make for a long time.

I have an older jacket that I totally love the pattern of. The jacket is light and for summer when it is sometimes cloudy or windy.

This is the jacket I wanted to copy

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Because the pattern is very similar from a zip-up hoodie, I used such a pattern.
The only difference was that I had to make the cut much larger as indicated. Sweatshirt fabric is stretchy, but my tartan fabric is not.
I just used my jacket as a pattern for the size. Because I knew it would fit me well.

I left out the pocket on the sleeve. On my original jacket, I never used it.

For the back I added such a piece, as you have it, for example, also on the trench coat. No idea what it’s called.
Unfortunately, in the picture it looks like the plaid pattern of it doesn’t fit exactly. But that seems to be because the jacket is hanging on the hanger. When I have the jacket on, the piece and back pattern fit perfectly.

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Tartan fabric quickly looks too much if you don’t work with contrasts. I chose white because you can see the contrast really well and it spices up the jacket.

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The pockets for the new jacket are similar to those from the old one. Here too, as with everything else, I have chosen white zippers as a contrast

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With tartan I associate Scotland, history, past, kings, queens.
That’s why I wanted to have an “old-fashioned” embroidery on the jacket. I thought long and hard about what to embroider on the jacket. Then I found this embroidery with the crown on Etsy.
Now I just needed matching fonts for my name.
This font is called Old English. While embroidering these letters, I sat at my machine and had to recite the alphabet because I just didn’t recognize some of the letters. 😀

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And to give the back of the jacket some contrast, I embroidered two ribbons with the same font.

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What else happened this year?
My fabric store, where I went every Saturday for sewing classes, is closing for good next week Saturday. That is such a shame. You knew all the salespeople, they were incredibly helpful. I’m going to miss them. 😦
Our Saturday group has been offered an alternative starting in April, but we’ll see if the class can be held there on Saturdays. Unfortunately, I have to work during the week and can not go to a class.

After 3 years, it also hit me at the end of February with Corona. And that, although I have 3 vaccinations! It was pretty intense. I am not fit yet. The whole day only exhausted and tired and could only sleep. Hope that passes soon.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2022

Yes, I know, I have not been in touch for ages.
Has anything changed for me this year? Not much, except that one colleague has quit and the rest who still work in the lab are under extreme stress. Especially because everyone who had Corona also had to stay at home for 7 days, regardless of whether they had symptoms or not.
So it comes that I have less energy after work to play or to do my hobby sewing.
Since a few weeks we finally have a new employee. Sure, he has to be trained first, but after that it should get easier. Especially since we no longer have to stay at home when we have Corona without symptoms. A mask that has to be worn then should protect the other colleagues.
Did I sew again?  Yes, some things. I’ll have to take pictures of them so I can show them here.

But above all a wonderful Christmas to all and Happy New Year

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Merry Christmas 2020

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And the angel said, Have no fear; for truly, I give you good news of great joy which will be for all the people:

For on this day, in the town of David, a Saviour has come to birth, who is Christ the Lord.

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

Here are a few Christmas photos from me. Like every year I have increased my porcelain collection 😀

This is the first Christmas where I do not visit anyone, or do not get a visit. I was sick for 2 weeks, luckily the test was negative, but I don’t want to risk anything because I am not 100% fit yet. 

But luckily there is the internet. There you can see your people just like that 🙂 Instead, we open the gifts during a video conference. That’s bound to be fun.

Stay healthy and save ❤ ❤ ❤

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Happy Easter 2020

The first Easter I celebrate without friends. But safety first. I don’t want to be infected with the virus or vice versa.
I hope that these bad days are soon over.
So despite everything, have a nice Easter. Stay healthy.

I took these photos in the park.

I know that there are areas where you are not allowed to leave the house to go to the park or somewhere else.

For all those who could not buy Easter cards or why ever, if you like one or the other photo, you are welcome to use it
❤ ❤ ❤

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Tutorial for my Christmas tree skirt

Yes, yes, I know. Christmas is long gone 😀
But if you have to stay at home almost all the time, you get the idea to sort out the photos from your mobile phone. And then you can also see the photos of things you sewed for Christmas presents.
Maybe some of you like my idea for the next christmas 🙂

I am writing my tutorial for a Christmas present while I am already sewing Easter presents.
Even though I don’t think I can meet my friends before Easter to give them the presents.

I love the colours red, green and gold for Christmas decorations. So often I have decided to decorate differently, but I always come back to this colour combination 😀

That’s why I have chosen these colours for this present. I have found a similar Christmas tree skirt on the Internet. But it looked so cheap that it would have been guaranteed to last only one Christmas.

In my fabric shop I found this very special fabric. On top it looks like satin, but it is thicker and has a black “coating” on the back. No idea what this kind of fabric is called.

But the colors looked so great that I had to buy it even though the price was so high.

Here my tutorial:

First I downloaded a beautiful free Christmas font from the internet.
Then I wrote Merry Christmas in very big letters, mirrored and printed it.

Now paint the whole thing on Bondaweb and iron it on the fabric. Here I had to be very careful with the iron, because I didn’t want to risk the fabric. Then cut out your motifs.

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Actually I had planned to sew the letters directly onto the red fabric. But after I put them on the fabric and walked a little further away, I could hardly see what was written there.
So I decided to buy the same fabric in white for a better contrast.

Here you can easily see how much the fabric shines.

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I don’t think I’ve ever cursed as much when sewing as I have with this fabric. I had so much trouble applying it because the fabric was so slippery.

You can see it especially on the red berries. With any other fabric the circle or the outlines would have been perfect.

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As always when I apply, I do not rely on the bondaweb, but always sew on each piece for safety. Otherwise it would be annoying if a piece got lost in the washing machine later.

It has taken ages to remove the Bondaweb on the back of the white fabric so that I can iron it onto the red

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Now the motif can be ironed onto the red fabric. Then sew the outline again as usual

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My Christmas tree skirt has a diameter of 35 inches.
So you can calculate how long the ribbon for the edging must be. I used the same fabric for the backside.
Here are photos how to extend such a ribbon! Lay the ribbon like on the photo and sew as you can see the pin.

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I wanted the border more three-dimensional. Therefore I have a cord (it is a coincidence that this is gold. It just had the thickness I wanted) and sewed it into the ribbon.

I sewed it with red thread so that I could see better later where to sew it on my Christmas tree skirt.

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Now sew the ribbon onto the red fabric. Then cut around the edges. IMPORTANT: only cut the golden ribbon, not the red fabric

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Now pin the back of the Christmas tree skirt with pins. But sew on the red side, because you can see the seam where I sewed the ribbon on. You have to leave a piece open, so that you can turn the whole thing around afterwards!

Close there after turning. It doesn’t look so good here, because I wanted to have the skirt ready that day and it’s just faster with a sewing machine than doing invisible stitches with my hand.

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Here you can see how the ribbon looks like at the end. I definitely like it better as if it was flat

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And now the finished Christmas tree skirt. I like it. Maybe that would be an idea for myself, too. But I still don’t have very good memories of it because of the slippery fabric. Although the result is worth it hihi

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In retrospect, I would set the motif a little further towards the edge.
But whatever. Mrs. H. can decide which side she wants, the one with the motif or the plain gold side.

❤ ❤ ❤

 

Start of Spring 2020

I don’t know when I can take pictures in the park again.

Normally I walk at least 5 miles every day after work. On weekends up to 20 miles a day.
This won’t work for a while and is something I will miss very much.

But today I show you some photos I took in my favourite park

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I love daisies ❤ ❤ ❤

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Duckling, duckling, duckling ❤ ❤ ❤

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There’s still beauty out there

In times like the lockdown all over the world, there are still beautiful things out there.

Be it the video from Italy, which shows “we stick together. We care and take care of others” or video church services for all those who have to stay at home or also the offers to old people to go shopping for them, to chat with them via Skype so that they are not so lonely.

It shows again and again that even in bad times humanity counts, how important it is for each other. That fear must not take that away from us!

I can’t help much, but I can show that there is a new beginning out there. Everywhere, even on my way to the supermarket, the signs of spring appear.

With my pictures I hope to bring nature into the home of those who cannot go outside

❤ ❤ ❤

 

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