getting ready for school: the pencil pouch

These are our last few days of summer vacation,

we have been visiting friends (with the excitement of the earthquake!),

gone one more time to the beach,

done some yard work,

we are almost ready!

A few more sewing projects before it is officially back to school:

a pencil pouch for Brick Master.

I followed this tutorial from Noodle Head at Sew Mama Sew.
It went fast and well, even if sewing with vinyl is not so easy!
I used a large zipper, hopefully it will make it easier to open and close it,
anyway it will be much better than the one we purchased last year
(it lasted only one week!)
yes one more reason to make it myself!

Now I just need to finish the first day outfits,

and we are good to go!

Happy sewing!

getting ready for school: the lunch box

We still have a couple days before

school starts,

so we are getting ready!

The backpacks are still good,

but Miss C. needed a new lunch box.

This year I decided to make her one,

ever since I saw this tutorial at Pink Penguin,

I have been wanting to sew one.

So I did!

Isn't it just the cutest?

I used 2 Japanese prints (the snack fabric and the purple/blue flowers),

 some other quilting prints,

and some polka dot oil cloth.

More than 16 years ago, I spent 2 months in Japan,

and one of the things I brought back is

this cute bento box:

So I was very happy to sew my own,

well for Miss C.!

The inside is perfect to pack a sandwich, a fruit
and a drink.
With the oil cloth, it should be easy to clean
any "accident".

The closed top insures that no lunch will be lost!

Overall, it has been a great project,
the tutorial is easy to follow,
I might need to make one for me too,
after all one is never too old for a cute lunch box....
Now where am I going to go eat lunch?

Happy sewing!

sharing at http://kojodesigns.blogspot.com/

little pouch: hers, his and mine

I made these 3 little pouches
for our summer trip to France,
I run out of time to show them
(and since I am using my blog as my sewing journal)
so here there are:

For Miss C., I made the usual pouch,
but simplified it.
I just appliqued a ruffled band of seersucker
on the white pique top
(used to make my favorite jacket!),
it is lined with the same seersucker than the ruffle,
it was a fast and easy one!

For Brick Master, I made the pouch a little larger
so that it could accommodate his inhaler.
I also tried to make it cool,
not girly at all!
It is made of drop cloth (!)
with a big zipper
and a double layer applique of scout fabric,
the inside is a camping print from JoAnn (a few years ago).

Finally for myself, I made another version,
I was inspired by this tutorial by See Kate Sew.
I lined it with some black gingham, it it quite large,
I should have used interfacing, it is a little too soft!
There is always room for improvement!

There were very useful!

Happy sewing!

little treasures from our trip

Of course we had to bring back stuff

from our vacation,

the kids had toys and a few new clothes,

I purchased some fabric and trims,

not too much as we were limited in space and weight!

I purchased 3 one yard fall fabrics, perfect for a scarf (purple print)

and big tweed pillows.

I also found these 2 decor fabrics, very wide,

perfect to redo Miss C.'s bedroom.

 

 

I went a little crazy with the trims, there were so many choices

so many beautiful things to get,

it was just too much,

so I "tried" to be reasonable....

I have no special plans for them yet,

they just "talk" to me!

On our relaxing days, the ones without castles or other activities,
I worked on a couple embroideries,
small little projects, perfect to take outside.
I chose some Christmas designs,
getting ready for some new ornaments.
I found some beautiful Liberty of London Fabrics
to go with them,
I only purchased fat quarters as they are very pricey!

Now it is time to play with all my new treasures!

Happy sewing!

let's talk castles

During our trip, we visited a few castles,

going down dungeons, enjoying History!

 

Le chateau de Lehon, well its ruins!

You can read some details here .

Miss C. likes the "open-concept"!

Le chateau de Dinan:

 

You can read some details on Wikipedia.

Brick Master has a great time running around

and playing with canon balls!

Le Chateau de Fougeres:

You can read more on Wikipedia

and the official web site

It is very impressive castle,

you can pretend that you are under siege

(and shoot arrows!)

or just enjoying the outdoor

Le Chateau de Trecesson:

still inhabited,

read more on Wikipedia

near the Brocelainde forest.

we were not able to visit it, just look at it!

Next time we visit (in a few years)
we will check out Renaissance castles,
but I have a special weakness for those old medieval castles!

Back from France and GBD

We are back!

Did you miss me?

Probably not,

that's OK, I was fine too!

We had a great time,

lots of time spent with family,

lots of food to taste,

lots of castles/towns/beach to visit!

Yes we were busy,

and at the same time we had a very slow pace,

most of the shopping was done by foot,

so no hurrying in our life style.

The kids' French is better,

I swear they have grown so much during this month long visit!

Our return was sadden by the loss of my dear dog.

Great Big Dog and Black Dog stayed home with Mon Cheri,

GBD's health went down really fast after our departure,

the hot humid weather did not help.

When we arrived home, he was not able to wave his tail,

I know he was happy to see me but that was too much effort.

To please me, he tried to eat some food,

which he had not done in a while,

but his body could not take it.

So we had to make that terrible realisation

that I would not be able to "fix" him,

not matter how much I care for him.

We had to let him go,

I had to get my best friend on his final journey.

It has been a little over a week now that Great Big Dog is gone,

I miss him terribly,

Black Dog seems to know that he has to take GBD's place at my side,

 he does a good job

but it is not the same thing.

I know time will heal....

make-up pouch

We moved out of the Midwest

a little bite in a hurry,

just after Christmas break, in a middle of a snow storm

and right after Miss C.'s surgery,

far from the ideal conditions.

I did not have/take time to make

a thank you present for the kids' teachers.

So as the school year ends,

I sent them these little make-up pouches.

I have made similar ones before

(here and here)

using this tutorial from Noodlehead .

I used some fabric from Miss C.'s outfit,

the cute Sherbet pips from Moda,

 and some osnaburg ( I am out of linen).

The back is plain,

but nicely quilted,

giving the pouch great texture.

For the second pouch, I appliqued the scooter,

and went horizontal instead of vertical,

quite a departure, not really but it opens some more opportunities!

I know, little things make me happy!

Happy sewing!

the good, the bad and the ugly!

No I am talking about a movie,

(one of my favorites!)

but about life.

In 2 weeks, the kids and I will take a long trip

to France, we are so excited!

It has been almost 4 years since

we visited last,

4 years without seeing Grandmothers,

uncle, aunt, cousins and friends,

and 3 years without seeing my parents,

a really long time!

(we do talk on the phone 2-3 times a week)

(St Malo and my favorite beach)

So where are the bad and the ugly?

Well because of the ugly part,

my parents will not travel to Provence

and bring back fabric,

I know I have a hard life,

I need to keep laughing at little things!

The really ugly part is my grandmother's health,

last year I wrote about her 40+ years fight with cancer,

well the winter has been really hard, she just spent 2 weeks

at the hospital, and found out that her cancer has now

spread to her kidney, lungs and back bone.

Her doctors have just given her weeks to live,

 I know they are doing their best to keep her comfortable

and I know she is fighting to stay here and see me one more time.

This is just not the way she wanted to see the kids and me,

she had been working hard on her garden

so that Miss C. would steal all her strawberries,

so that we would spend some silly time together....

I just hope now that we can make it on time.

To keep me from thinking too much,

(and crying)

I am sewing, it seems to ease the sadness,

after all my grandmother was a country seamstress.

shorts, part III, the end!

Tiered of shorts yet?

Well this is the last ensemble,

then we are done!

For this one, I did not use my stash,

I purchased fabric!

I know, it is bad but it was kind of an accident!

Brick Master needed a gi for his karate test,

he is really into it,

I understand, I have practiced Judo, Karate,

Aikido, Kick Boxing, and self defense,

(not that I am good at any of them,

but I can fake it for a few seconds!)

Anyway next to the Karate store,

there was a .... quilt store!

I had not been in one in months,

and I had not purchased fabric since December.

The inevitable happened,

and I came home with some cute fabric!

Here is what I made:

you might recognize the fabric,

it is "sherbet pips" from Moda,

it is so soft, enough to make clothes!

For the top, I used this pattern

and just changed the length to a top instead of a dress.

Quite cute and easy to sew.

The shorts are from the same pattern than the other shorts.

I always put a button on the front of the shorts/pants to indicate the front,

I dislike labels, I always find them itchy,

my kids feel the same way,

so it can be hard to figure out which way to put on clothes,

but it is easy to remember button on the belly button!

It will be a great outfit for hot summer days!

Happy sewing!

more shorts, part II

I am continuing on my short collection,

well Miss C.'s,

I am pretty sure nobody is interested in mine!

This time I used some lime green cotton

and pink seersucker.

The green is felt over from my sister's lingerie bag.

I just love shopping my stash!

It is the same weight than the pink one that I used for the bermuda.

I used the same pattern again for the short.

The top was made from this older pattern,

easy but a little too wide and short!

If I make it again, I will add a couple inches at the bottom,

there is no need for belly action!

It does have a cute little detail at the neck line,

and it feels very breezy!



I added some pockets to the shorts using Dana's

tutorial, hers are for 4T, but they fit just right

on these size 6 shorts.

The fabric is horizontal on the pocket,

opposite to the way of the top,

I thought it would be fun,

now I am not so sure!

I have found a nice way to attach the elastic to the waist band,

without adding thickness where the elastic has to be sewn to itself.

I have read about it a while ago (probably heirloom sewing magazine)

and love using it.

I sew one side of the elastic to a small piece of fabric,

then the other side of the elastic to the same fabric

without overlapping the elastic,

the fabric reattaches the 2 sides,

it almost disappears, and there is no bump int the back.

Miss C. has been quite happy

to wear all new clothes this week!

And they have been tested in the heat,

almost 90 everyday!

Tomorrow will be my last version,

and it is the cutest!

Happy sewing!