So, do you have any weekend projects planned? As promised I thought I'd pass on a couple ideas using the "Hippity-Hop" Friends pattern.
Don't know what your sweet little one should wear for Easter? ... a simple T-shirt, your favortie fabric, "wunder-under" (Vliesofix), stitch-stitch, and add a bow and you're done! (P.S. just is case you went that way, this is NO hint of any little ones to come... I have FOUR nieces, you know)
Wouldn't this fabric also make a sweet matching skirt? From Tula Pink's Hushabye collection.
It seems as if I've been stuck on "Easter Deco" projects, but this time with a little different application. I really love to combine different mediums and why not combine sewing with jewelry making for a "Hippity-Hop" Friends window hanger... could there be anything better than to combine two things you love?!?
You'll need:
Flat Head Pliers
Jewelry stringing wire
Crimp Beads
Selection of matching beads
Fabric
Double-sided interfacing (Vliesofix)
Thread and embellishments (ribbons, etc.)
Cut the length of your stringing wire as desired. I would suggest to cut a little extra and trim later as needed... better to end up too long than too short. Make a loop at the top for the hanger. String a crimp bead and using your flat head pliers, crimp the bead flat so the loop is held in place.
String a bead on the jewelry wire and then followed by a crimp bead. Crimp the bead and your bead will stay in place.
Continue stringing desired beads in place and crimp after each one.
Using the same technique from the "Easter Deco" tutorial, cut out desired shape (here I used the easter egg and the small "Hippity Hop" friend). Sandwich the wire in between your shape and iron in place *NOTE: be very careful when you iron that you do not get too close to your wire. Many jewelry wires have a coating on them and could melt if exposed to high heat.
Add a crimp bead after your fabric shape, just like after the beads, and crimp in place.
Continue beading and fabric shapes until you have reached your desired length. Find a lonely window, door, wall or wherever that needs a little decoration and hang.
There you have it... So easy, so fun. Happy weekend creating!
So are you maybe just a little bit curious who gets a pretty package of MoMo fabrics this week? Then I'll not keep you in suspense any longer...
So, seid Ihr vielleicht ein kleines bisschen neugierig, wer diese Woche das hübsche Päckchen MoMo Stoffe bekommt? Dann werde ich Euch nicht länger auf die Folter spannen...
I really appreciate every comment that I get and I especially love to hear what you think. I have a one year old "little man" that sometimes keeps me from dropping by and telling you all so, but just so you know... I'm thinking it!I habe mich wirklich sehr über jeden Kommentar gefreut und besonders über Eure Anregungen. Da ich einen einjährigen "kleinen Mann" habe komme ich nicht immer dazu, Euch dies direkt zu sagen - aber seid gewiss, dass ich es in Gedanken tue!PS: Übrigens fand ich es besonders toll, so viele Kommentare auf Deutsch zu bekommen! Bitte macht weiter so!Herzlichen Glückwunsh, Rike!
So I thought that perhaps "Hippity-Hop" was just a little bit lonely sitting on the Easter table all by himself and might like a friend...
I used the same technique as with the "Easter Deco" eggs to make this adorable "Blumenstecker" (flower pick) I've worked up a few more projects with this little guy and you can find him here... I'm really on a roll and I'll be sharing a couple more Easter projects coming soon!
Just in case you happened to have missed it, you still have time to enter the "I'm 100!" Gewinnspiel/Giveaway... but you only have until tomorrow, March 15th!
One year ago today...
we made one giant place in our hearts for the tiniest of ones... and we told him that he would have it forever.One year ago today...
a sweet little boy decided that he wanted us... and we said yes.... and like the flowers that begin to appear in this season, what started as a very small and very tiny thing, has quietly blossomed into a love each day, bigger than it was the day before.
... Happy Birthday, Sweet Pea!
Ich freue mich sehr, dass so viele von Euch einen Kommentar auf Deutsch hinterlassen haben und hoffe, dass es weiter geht! Ist doch klar, dass ich es verstehen kann, oder? Mein Mann hat keine Lust, alle meine Posts zu korrigieren... Deshalb ist meine Anleitung wie immer auf English, aber Ihr kommt ja gut klar, denke ich. Viel Spaß beim Nähen!
I know I have seen this Easter egg folding technique somewhere, and I got the idea recently to make flowers "pics" out of them and I wanted to share in a tutorial how to do it. Of course, these would be sweet hanging on the Easter tree, adorable gift tags, or whatever else you can imagine... so, I'll show how to get started and then let you take it from there:
Cut one 3.5 inch (ca. 9cm) square of background fabric and reinforce it with a heavier weight interfacing (z.B. Vlieseline G 700 1x oder H 250 2x - dark pink fabric shown here). Cut two - 3.5 (ca. 9cm) inch squares of a coordinating fabric and fold them in half and iron flat, creating a rectangle. (does not need interfacing). Lay the two folded rectangles on top of the first fabric with the folded edges facing each other (mint fabric shown here)
Stitch the two ends of the square as close to the edge as possible as shown below:
Using your fingers, curl the edges of the top layer fabric back so it looks like a half crescent moon so you can see the underneath fabric. Iron in place.
Usining a coordinating thread, sew down the pulled back top fabric. Do this on both sides.
On paper, trace the shape of an egg just slightly smaller than your square. Center it on your sewn square and use it as a template and cut arround it.
Place the egg on a double sided interfacing (z.B. Vliesofix) and cut around it.
Choose a solid color, or other coodinating fabric for the back and reinforce it with a heavier weight interfacing as with the first fabric. Use your pattern template to cut it in the shape of an egg and lay it on the back side of the egg with the double sided interfacing in the middle. Place a craft stick, or a wooden grilling stick in between the layers and iron so the front and back adhere to each other with the stick sandwiched in between.
Stitch the egg as close to the edge as possible and trim excess threads.
Add trims, ribbons, or decorations as desired, and stick in a beautiful basket of spring flowers or arrangement and you have a sweet Easter "Mitbringsel"!
Saturdays are not normally one of my posting days, but since 100 of you all are now tagging along with me, I thought it is a pretty big deal!
Samstage sind ja normalerweise nicht meine "Posting Tage", aber da ich seit heute 100 regelmässige Leser habe, dachte ich, dass dies einen extra Post wert ist! Für mich ist es jedenfalls eine große Sache!
At least it is for me anyway. So, how about a little way to say "thanks"? Leave a comment either about what kind of things you would like me to continue posting about, or what you would like to see more of that maybe I don't talk about. Of course you know how the giveaway works... I'll draw the name of a lucky winner for a fat quarter four-pack OR two half meters of fabric from the new MoMo fabrics... and just in time for your spring projects!
So, wie wäre es mit einem kleine Dankeschön? Schreibe einfach einen kurzen Kommentar über die Dinge, über die ich weiterhin schreiben soll, oder wovon Du gerne mehr hören würdest. Ihr wisst natürlich schon, wie meine Gewinnspiele funktionieren... Ich ziehe den Namen des glücklichen Gewinners eines Fat Quarter-4er Packs bzw. zweier halbmeter Stücke Stoff, dieses Mal von der neuen MoMo Kollektion - genau passend für Deine Frühjahrsprojekte!
Wanna increase your chances of winning? Spread that word that I'm now 100 and tell your readers to mention that they read it with you and I will throw your name in the basket as many times as you are mentioned! I'll annouce the winner March 15th!Du möchtest Deine Gewinnchancen erhöhen? Erzähle einfach anderen von meinem hundertsten Leser und von dem Gewinnspiel und lasse sie bei mir erwähnen, dass sie die Info von Dir haben. Ich werde dann Deinen Namen so oft in die Lotterie geben, wie Du erwähnt wurdest! Die Gewinnerin wird am 15. März bekanntgegeben!P.S. did you know that I can understand German really well.... hint, hint!PS: Ist Dir bewusst, dass ich Deutsch richtig gut verstehe? (Zwinker, zwinker!)
Since it looks like I'll be on the topic of Easter for a little while (wow, and even early too!), I realized that I had never really done a proper introduction to a collection that I added recently to the shop. Why bring it up now?... because it would be the perfect fabric for Easter projects. Don't the fresh, juicy colors make your heart beat a little faster just thinking of spring?
"It's a Hoot" from MoMo, combines bright colors with whimsical motifs that give her fourth fabric collection for Moda Fabrics a distinctive style. From birds to owls, trees to flowers, even sweet little "eggs", this collection would be adorable not only for Easter projects, but for children's projects... and even grown up ones too.
So, one last question... are you ready for spring?
So either I had you stumped on the last "riddle me this" or perhaps my not-so-common item is more common than I thought. Several of you who guessed already knew because you have one yourself:
Eierschalensollbruchstellenverursacher
Huh?!? ... you might say if you don't understand German. (yup, that's all one word!... don't worry translation coming)
Since moving to Germany, there have been many traditions that I have come to learn, and one of them is breakfast. Since hardboiled eggs for breakfast are more common than scrambled or fried, not to mention the eggcups that one puts them in, I have had to learn the "art" of how one actually gets into the egg. If you grew up in Germany, you have probably been taught since a small child how one does this... but for the beginner who has never done it before, a big messy, lop-sided, eggshells everywhere breakfast is not the kind that I dream of, so... that's why I asked for an:
Eggshellbreakingandperforatingdevice for Christmas this last year. (aka Clack... the sound that it makes)
Just put the metal cup on top of the egg, lift the little ball to the top, let it drop and Clack! you have a nicely perforated cutting line to get into your egg. For the average German this might seem completely unnecessary, but for the average Ami, it's a must have.
I inwardly laughed when my husband's Omama admitted that she was a little embarrassed when she bought it because she felt like the other customers and sales clerk were thinking... "what, she doesn't know how to crack her egg open by herself?!?" Which just shows me... it's the common, everyday things that seem so natural that one never has to give it a second thought, that seem to stick out as so uncommon to that someone learning to call this new place and this new culture... home.
Want to read more about the differences between breakfast in Germany and America? Follow the link.
Sometimes I enjoy a little bit of random, how about you? It was fun for me with my last riddle that I posted and I thought it would be interesting to share one of the presents that I got this year for Christmas. It might look a little odd, but it's something that I actually asked for. If you happen to be on German soil, you might have seen it before.
How about if I throw a couple of hints your way:1. It's something that I use almost every day2. Even though I use it so often, it is not exactly common for the average, typical German household to have. (but it is made in Germany)3. The German name actually has more letters in it than the alphabet (but that doesn't necessarily narrow it down a whole lot)From the the statistics on my last "Riddle Me This", there where a lot more of you stopping by, than let me know that you did... that just means that I love your comments ; )
So every riddle must have an answer, right?... and I have to say that I really had to do a little digging to find very much on this once loved fabric collection from ca. 2005/2006. Who would have ever thought that now it would almost be considered vintage? I had some really good guesses, and even though the design and the colors are quite similar to one of Heather Bailey's earlier collections, Freshcut, it does NOT have her name on it.I guess I wanted to share about this fabric, because perhaps some of you that are new to the quilting/sewing scene may not be familiar with the earlier works of this famous fabric designer... Isn't it just "simply charming"?
Before there was Belle, before there was Lotus, Nigella, Midwest Modern, August Fields, Daisy Chain, Love, and Soul Blossoms, there was Charm... Amy Butler's fourth fabric collection for Free Spirit fabrics (she is now with Rowan/Westminster Fabrics). I found the collection in three colorways, and if you scour the internet long enough, there are still a few fabrics to be had, but are often rare.
Amy still offers stationary that includes a few patterns from the Charm collection and one of her free patterns used the collection for a very fun and vibrant quilt. So, just one last little "teaser"... my own Charm purse is in the works and almost done... I am now having to wait on the lining fabric shipment to come in, but doesn't patience make one all that more "charming"?
While blog surfing this past week, I stumbled onto a quilting blog and was totally inspired when the author shared her own personal fabric stash... it was not because she had miles and miles of fabrics to drool over and envy, following the golden rule of quilters that "she who has the most fabrics when she dies,... wins!" My inspiration came when she confessed that she keeps her stash relatively small, being quite frugal with buying fabrics, and putting every little scrap to good use before she invests in more.... hmmm.
Sometimes I have the tendency to use a fabric for a project and love it so much that I want to hold onto it for future projects... or just in case I need it down the road. In some cases, this has paid off finding that perfect matching fabric years later that looks like it was made to go together. But I guess this attitude got me thinking... what am I waiting for?!? I loved these fabrics when I first bought them, why not use them?
So even though I never make New Year's resolutions, I do set little goals for myself throughout the year... and my new goal is to pull these out my fabric stacks again and turn them into what I envisioned from the very beginning.
What goals have made for yourself that you are either working on or have already accomplished this year?
I've been working on a new purse pattern these last days, and have been really pleased with the results. It seems that every fabric that I even glance at for just a moment is telling me to make a purse out of it. I'm just itching to get a big production line going. Without having a physical store to "test" the purses, it is basically blind production without the immediate feedback until we have our big show this summer.
Unfortunately since I am waiting for a big shipment of zippers, I have to put them on hold for now, but I've been having fun with scraps these days. I used up the last of my zippers to whip up a few "scrappy" wallets from leftover fabrics from my "loop-de-do" scarves.
It feels so good to be sewing again... fall was the busy season for my husband (which basically meant extra, extra baby duty for me), we were gone in November - what you didn't know we were in the U.S.?!?, and December we all took turns being sick. January, was just figuring up from down. But, I guess you could say that I'm back in the saddle again... can you hear the buzz?
Wouldn't this fabric also make a sweet matching skirt? From Tula Pink's Hushabye collection.
You'll need: 
String a bead on the jewelry wire and then followed by a crimp bead. Crimp the bead and your bead will stay in place. 
Continue stringing desired beads in place and crimp after each one. 
Using the same technique from the "Easter Deco" tutorial, cut out desired shape (here I used the easter egg and the small "Hippity Hop" friend). Sandwich the wire in between your shape and iron in place *NOTE: be very careful when you iron that you do not get too close to your wire. Many jewelry wires have a coating on them and could melt if exposed to high heat. 
Add a crimp bead after your fabric shape, just like after the beads, and crimp in place.
Continue beading and fabric shapes until you have reached your desired length. Find a lonely window, door, wall or wherever that needs a little decoration and hang.
There you have it... So easy, so fun. Happy weekend creating!
