Happee Hollydays!

We're closing in on Christmas. I'm with my husband and kids at one of my sisters' house. We are going to celebrate together, me, my sisters and our families, my mum and grandma. Sadly grandpa isn't well so he's in the hospital. We're going to miss him tomorrow.

My dad is also missed a lot. His funeral took place a few days ago, it was very nice and there were fantastic flowers sent there from family, friends and acqaintances. Lots more than we had expected.

Anyway, I'm glad to be with my big family at Christmas time. And tomorrow I might even be the one to dress up in the Santa suit... Ho ho ho!! :)

I want to wish everyone who reads my blog a Merry Christmas!! I hope that everyone will have a good time this holiday.

Hugs from

Johanna

PS I hope to be back before the New Year with a 2013 recap...

Scrappy dappy dachshound

I made a scrap bambi for my daughter for Christmas and here's a scrap dachshound for my son. I found the pattern in one of my sewing magazines. The eyes were supposed to be embroidered circles but I made "bambi"-eyes instead because they're much prettier. :)

It was a pretty easy make and I'm happy with the result. I also hope my son will like his new cuddly dog.

Later,

Johanna

Scrap Bambi

This year I feel inspired to make some of the Christmas presents I'm giving away. My first project is a plush toy for my daughter. She saw this bambi in one of my sewing magazines and asked if she could have one. This was months ago but I remembered and thought Christmas was a good moment to make one for her.

She loves pink so I dug in my pile of scraps to find pink ones to use. Pretty successful outcome I must say!

The pattern really called for quilting cotton, but I used stretchy velour and jersey scraps and they were very easy to work with due to the stretch.

You were also supposed to embroider around the edges of the eyes and make eyelashes, but since I'm a lazy bastard :) I just used my sewing machine and straight stitch! I did close the stuffing hole on the belly by hand! *Proud of myself*

Now I just hope that my girl will like her new little friend!

Bye for now,

Johanna

(Happy birthday to my dad! He was going to be 65 years old today.)

the ones that love us never really leave us

My dad is gone but he'll be in my heart always...

My dad died on Saturday after being really ill for months, but he never gave up on who he was even when it was bad. He kept his spirits up and was cheerful and supportive to me , my sisters and mum until the end. He supported this blog and read it regularly and I want to honour him here.

 I love you dad and I'll see you in a while,

Johanna

Finished! The Everyday skirt from Liesl+Co

It feels so good when a plan falls out the way you planned, because here are the photos of my new skirt that I've been talking about in the last to posts.

I made it up in some wool fabric which I think is tweed. I actually used the wrong side as the right side, because it was too brown and I prefer the wrong side which is more grey/brown.

I'm very happy with the outcome. I've worn the skirt to work today and it was both warm and comfortable. This is size L/14 and it's kind of big at the waist. Either I have to tighten the elastic in the waist or make a smaller size next time. I made a muslin in size XL/16 but it was just too big. I recommend to go down a size.

I love that the pockets are attached to the waistband and don't flop around on the inside. And also that they aren't exactly at the sides but a little bit in from the sides.

The skirt turned out pretty long before hemming. The instructions say the hem should be 2 inches, but I made it 3 inches. But then I had cut size XL for the length...

Anyway, I'm superhappy with the skirt and absolutely recommend the pattern for others!

Bye for now,

Johanna

In progress - Everyday skirt

Photo from oliverands.com

I'm working away on my Everyday skirt, sewing pattern from Liesl+Co. I decided to make a muslin before cutting into my wool tweed and it was good I did, because size XL/16 was too large.

I hope to be back tomorrow (maybe) to show you both the muslin (not hemmed) and the tweed skirt complete with lining! I just have to hem the lining first and take photos.

See you soon,

Johanna

Skirt hope

Hello! I just found this skirt pattern that seems fabulous. I have even bought it, after thinking about it for two minutes.

What am I talking about then? Well it's the Everyday skirt from the maker of the Oliver +S patterns. She has a pattern line called Liesl +Co and all of the patterns are so pretty and seem really comfortable. Just the way I like it! :)

I like that it has panels on the side that are smooth, no gathers to make my hips look bigger, that it has pockets and, best of all, it has a elasticated back waistband!! Do you see now why I'm so excited?! :)

I also have a piece of wool tweed (that's what I think it is anyway) that I washed a little too hot and is now a little bit felted. And I think it will make a perfect winter skirt. So tomorrow I will go to the fabric store to pick up some lining fabric and I will make my first ever lined skirt! Excited!

xx,

Johanna