Update C

I am still going through family stuff that I inherited, including clothes from my Mom - and me, when I was young. Here are some wonderful examples of how fashionable we used to be.

In the sixties:

 In the funky seventies:

 And  fluorescent eighties:

 And here's is what I wore in the seventies and the eighties:

When did I change to jeans and black T-shirts?

I was probably the best dressed at the age of 2-5!!!
Maybe I should do something about it?

Monkey leggings

One of the Christmas presents I made this year were leggings for my ne(w)phew.

I've had this monkey fabrics at home for a while and it was just perfect for the occasion.

Sorry for the poor quality of the photos, I was really in a hurry.

Soft book for my nephew

I needed a Christmas present for my nephew and what could be more suitable than a home made soft book. I went into a haberdasher's shop and got all sorts of ribbons, buttons ... and used the fabrics I had at home. I never realised how many different ones I keep!

Spring

 

Summer

Autumn

 

Winter

I hope he likes it. And I hope it doesn't fall apart!

A parrrrot!

MiniMojcek Nr.2 was very clear when I asked him about his wishes for this year's costume: he wanted to be a parrot.

And a parrot he was.

I bought fleece in red, blue, green, and yellow to make the wings. I cut four semicircles and left some additional fabric at the top (red) layer had  to make sleeves.

The semicircles were cut to make them look like feathers.

A lot of cutting was done...

I bought some Indian headdress, plucked the feathers and sewed them on the wings.

Instead of sewing the whole costume, I bought a red onesie and leggings.

Unfortuntely, before I was able to make a hat with the beak, MiniMojcek Nr.2 fell ill (chicken pox) and he had to stay at home for two weeks. So I didn't even bother making the hat as he was already very very happy with the wings.

So was I.

Seeing blue

You know how it is - when you have LOTS of VERY important things to do, you do something completely different. My excuse it that I had pretty high fever over the weekend and wasn't able to do any intelligent work (like plan electricity for the house or write a textbook), so I opted for sewing.

When buying a laser distance metre last week, I made a small detour to a fabric shop and immediately fell in love with this Smurf fleece. I made a hoody for MiniMojcek Nr.2's daycare friend. While I was at it, I made another one for MiniMojcek Nr. 2. Sure thing. I may make something similar for MiniMojcek Nr. 1.

Elephant is in the house

Mr. Mojcek's friend was getting married and the invitation clearly stated that he didn't want to get any elephants.

So of course we got him an elephant :-)

First I wanted to make one from scratch but really didn't have the time. So I bought a hand puppet elephant and altered it. Of course.

I went to a specialised laboratory equipment shop and a bricolage:

The elephant on the operating table:

And the elephant in action. He sucks the water in ... and then sqirts it around!

It has to be done ...

You know, there are things that just have to be done. And one of those things is sorting - and mostly deleting - photographs. Even back in the old days, when I was still shooting film, I came back from New Zealand with over 40 rolls of film (roughly 1600 photos). When switching to digital, the number increased even more.

So this means that the most important part of the "post-production" is to delete about 90 % of all the photos I shoot and keep only the really good ones. Sometimes the decision is not so easy:

See what I mean?

A bag for spare clothes

When you have so much work to do that you don't even know where to start - you start another project. I'm surely not the only one who does this...

So I made a bag for spare kids' clothes. You know, a bag that is always packed and includes trousers, T-shirt, socks and underwear for MiniMojcek Nr1. and all this plus diapers, tissues etc for MiniMojcek Nr.2. So when you want to go out with the kids, all you have to do is grab this bag and you're sure you're not forgetting anything. 

I used  the "O, boy!" fabrics by David Walker:

I did struggle a bit with the execution. You know, the lining, the pockets, the zipper etc.

But I'm pretty happy with the final result. It even has two inner pockets:

 

And it opens flat :-)

Now I only have to fill it and it will be ready.

Girl's leggings

No, I don't have a girl, these are a present for MiniMojcek Nr.2's friend. Basically the same as the ones I made for him, even the same size, just in a different colour.


I always thought that finding fabrics for girls would be so much easier than for the the boys. But I was wrong. It's just as difficult :-)


I hope she likes them!

Boy's trousers

MiniMojcek Nr. 2 gets almost all of the clothes from MiniMojcek Nr. 1. However, at this age all his trousers had either small or large holes on the knees - so MiniMojcek Nr. 2 needed some new ones. I made a pair about a month ago, and another pair today. That was quite a challenge: cutting the fabrics with one hand while holding MM2 in the other; sewing with MM2 repeatedly switching the sewing machine on and off; and MM1 occasionally stepping on the foot control ...


Funnily enough, once I made the trousers, I realised they were exactly the same colour as one of his favourite books. Here they are together:

Baby cap

We have a cap for MiniMojcek Nr. 2 but it is made of cotton and it is too cold for winter. So I copied the pattern and made a cap from polar fleece, using the remains of the fleece from the buggy blankets. A simple pattern, the side pieces cut 4-times and the central piece twice.


The finished product:




I could not resist putting the ears on the cap :-)

Buggy blankets

Summer is definitely over and MiniMojcek Nr.2 needed a new blanket for the daycare buggy. So I made it. Actually, I made two - the second one for MiniMojcek's friend.

As I couldn't find polar fleece thick enough, I made a double-layered blanket: black and 'Burberry'.


Black on the inside and the pattern on the outside. I added a zipper at the bottom and one of the sides, and the holes for the belt.


The finished blankets looked gorgeous - until the first biscuit was eaten in them :-)

Brown baby shoes

MiniMojcek Nr. 2 is growing up and he needs a pair of shoes! What could be better than a pair of soft-sole leather baby-shoes? I made several pairs for MiniMojcek Nr. 1 (and of course kept them) but Nr.2 deserves his own, right?

So, adding to the collection of all the brown fabrics: brown leather.


It took me a while to remember how to sew all the pieces together...


in the correct order!


But I'm quite happy with the final result. Let's hope MiniMojcek likes them!

Buggy shade

Glorious days outside, perfect for long walks with MiniMojcek Nr.2. Of course he needs to be protected from the sun and since I do not want to use sunscreen on his gentle skin just yet, I am making a shade.

I got some white cotton and dyed it to match the colour of the buggy.


It's not an easy colour to match - I experimented a bit, mixing the Light Green and Lemon Batik dyes from Deka.


The instructions say to dye the fabric for 15-30 minutes... The sample on the left that matches best was dyed for about 2 seconds! Of course I didn't have time to photograph the process, but I'm quite happy with the finished result.


It's not exactly the same colour but close enough. And fresh. And springy :-)


The shade in action!