R sews: Drawstring bag / R näht: Turnbeutel

Today I have a little something for you that I totally forgot to blog about. My daughter R sewed this little drawstring bag with some help of me already some months ago. We use it every week when we go to the gym or sports ground to do all kinds of ball sports. The size is perfect for her sports shoes and a bottle with water. 

Heute hab ich einen kleinen Turnbeutel für euch, den meine Tochter R mit meiner Hilfe schon vor einigen Monaten genäht hat. Hab total vergessen ihn zu bloggen. Der Turnbeutel ist jede Woche im Einsatz wenn wir uns mit unserer Ballspielgruppe treffen. Die Größe ist genau richtig für ihre Turnschuhe und eine Wasserflasche. 

A new camera and a trip to sweden / Eine neue Kamera und ein Schwedenurlaub

 
Wow, it's already more than a week since we got back from our vacation in Sweden. And what an incredible and wonderful vacation it has been. When you are a regular reader of my blog you might have heared of my love both for Italy and for Scandinavia. So far we had only been to Norway, but as a super big fan of Astrid Lindgren and all her books, the movies, the songs, etc. I always knew that one day I wanted to visit Sweden (What you don't know Astrid Lindgren? Go to amazon right now and order some of her children books. They are the BEST). Also, our house here in Germany is an "import" from Sweden. We bougth it from a company here in Germany, but they ordered it right in Sweden and then the different pieces of our red beauty were built there and send to Germany on some big trucks.

Wow, jetzt sind wir schon wieder eine Woche aus unserem Urlaub in Schweden zurück. Ach es war einfach wunderschön. Wenn ihr meinen Blog öfter besucht, wisst ihr ja bereits dass ich sowohl Italien als auch Skandinavien liebe. Bisher waren wir zwar nur in Norwegen gewesen, aber als super großes Astrid Lindgren Fan, ihrer Bücher, Filme, Musik war klar dass ich auch mal nach Schweden möchte. Außerdem ist unser Haus ein Import aus Schweden. Wir haben es zwar bei einer deutschen Firma gekauft, aber die wiederum hat es aus Schweden importiert. Wurde also dort gebaut und dann die ganzen roten Wände auf große Laster gepackt und zu uns transportiert.

Knock it Off Series: Roberto Cavalli Parrot Shirt

What do you do when Heidi from Elegance and Elephants writes you an email to ask you if you are interested in taking part in her Knock it Off Series? Well, I no what I did: I screamed "YES" so loud that she could hear it all the way from Germany to Canada ;) To me the Knock it Off Series is one of the coolest that I've followed during the last years and I feel really honoured to take part this time! As soon as I knew that I would be part of it, I started to think about what I want to make. For quite some time I thought I would recreate one of the fantastic mini Boden applique t-shirts. However, during the last installments of the Knock it Off series many mini Boden clothes were used, plus these clothes aren't actually THAT expensive. I wouldn't buy my kids' whole wardrobe there, but if I really want that one tee, I can buy it. For the Knock it Off series I really wanted something unreasonably expensive if you know what I mean. So one day after work, I went to a big magazine store at Munich central station and bought (for the very first time) the VOGUE Kids magazine. I must say there is some really nice inspiration in there, but oh, is this stuff expensive!

Sew fantastic blogs: C'est la vie

Today I'm really happy that I'm able to introduce Sophie from C'est la vie to you. Sophie's blog is the one of this series that I know shortest (only since March). But when I saw her Knight Hoodie, I added her blog right to my reader. Since than I have had a growing friendship with this beautiful french woman and sometimes feel ike she is my sewing and blogging soulmate :) I simply love everything that she posts and she is one of my most frequent commenters as well. Plus when I comment on someone else's blog post, she often has already commented or will comment shortly after me :) We even had the same idea to combine the Mara blouse and the Coachella shorts (my version, her version). However, there's one thing about Sophie that I don't think I'll ever be: She's classy. I love what she sews for her kids, but when she sews for herself „stunning, beautiful and – classy“ always are the first words that come to my mind. Her style is fabulous (well, I guess french chic) and it thus, didn't come as a surprise to me when Meg made her a contributor for last KCW. So, here I have some of my favorites for you:

Knight Hoodie, Stepford Dress, Neon fawn lily

Sew fantastic blogs: mirid

Today I'm very pleased to welcome my real-life sewing and blogging friend and neighbor Miriam from mirid. As amazing it is to get to know other sewing fanatics online, it still is even better to meet on a daily basis, to go fabric shopping together and to spend nights sewing and chatting together. If you want to know more about how Miriam and I met, please read this post. Here, I only want to say how extremly happy I count myself to call such a fun, open-hearted and creative woman my friend. Miriam is super talented. She has written severalsewing (and crafting with paper) books, constantly thinks about new sewing projects and has fabric and trim in every colour and material. She even was in the finals for "Germany's most creative blogger". She loves to sew bags – even though she already has more than enough - and the details that she includes in each of her makes are fantastic. Here are my favorites.

Wolf bag, Skirt and matching clutch, beautiful bag

Mara blouse pattern tour and Coachella Shorts pattern test

 

Today I have a non-romper-romper for you. Marte from Compagnie.M invited me to take part in her super big blog action, for which about 70 bloggers sew their version of the Mara blouse pattern. Go over there, to check out my post about the blouse and my pseudo-romper, but not before you have read my musings about the shorts that I sewed to go with the blouse!

Sew fantastic blogs: Vera Luna

The moment that I discovered Saskia's blog some time last year, I was hooked. Her blog is simply fantastic. Whenever I see that she has written a new post, I go there right away! Her t-shirts, sweatshirts, shorts etc. are always unique. Stamping, sun-printing, color-blocking, freezer paper stenciling, bleaching, dip dyeing – just name a fun technique: Saskia will have done it. And not just done it, she will have made something amazing with it! Since I and she hosted Secret Squirrel we have been in loose contact, connected through our love for everything Astrid Lindgren and Scandinavia. She is such a warm and friendly person with an amazing style. Here are my favorites.

 

Amazing triangle sweater, secret squirrel outfit, surfer shorts

First things first: Please introduce yourself (who are you, tell us a little bit about your family, which country and maybe city do you live in, are you originally from this country, do you work or are you a stay at home mom, etc.)!
I’m Saskia from the Netherlands. I live together with my partner and our three children (6, 4 and 1) in a city in the middle of the country. I work four days a week as a scientist (inventor) at the research lab of a big tech company. So during the day, I’m surrounded by technology-loving nerds (mostly men) and at night I’m part of the low-tech (and entirely female) sewing blogosphere. Quite a contrast! The main ingredient of both activities, however, is the same: creativity. When I’m not working or sewing, I love to spend time outdoors with my family; walking, cycling, playing and enjoying nature.