Espritpatch

July has been busy but I feel it has been a productive month! I am so happy to have finished quite a few items, all despite the massive heatwave we had and the extensive travelling time. Hoping for finish 1. Teacher's presents .   This will be my  One monthly goal  as school finishes later in the month! - all done 2. Suki Kimono - finished 3. Kielo wrap dress - finished 4. Scrappy Trip Along - 10 more blocks to make 15 WIP 1.  Farmer's wife - no progress 2. Gipsy Wife - lots of catch up needed here - if anything I have been moving backwards with this one since I unpicked all my strips 3. Postcards of the world - 1 postcard finished and last one started 4. Farmer's Wife 1930 - let's try to continue to make more blocks - no progress UFO / Abandoned WIP 1. HST modern sampler quilt - (19 blocks) - this one was my February goal on the APQ UFO challenge, I need a few more blocks to finish thi...

Shorts have disappeared from my wardrobe years ago but with the recent heatwave, I wish they hadn't . I guess I felt too self-conscious to wear them, even to exercise. I recently ordered a pair online and it was so nice to wear them for fitness when it has been boiling hot. So on a whim, last Sunday I joined Sarah's Moxi shorts sew-along . Fabric was promptly ordered on Monday morning so I grew more and more frustrated when it didn't turn up until Saturday... I started cutting the shorts Saturday afternoon and managed to complete Day 1 and 2 of the sew-along. The bias binding made me a little anxious but   Sarah's video is so clear that it came together very easily. The compression shorts are a great add on because the shorts are indeed .... short. With the bias binding on and the the compression shorts assembled, just the waistband was left to finish my first pair of ( Moxi ) shorts.  Bonus point, the side leg pocket on the compression shorts fit my (rat...

The quilt-along has finished earlier in the month and of course I failed to finish and really failed with only 5 blocks completed! Of course, there was also the teachers' presents to sew and all the clothes I wanted/planned to make that the strips had been parked until this week. I am glad that I finally found some time to  pick up the cut strips I had prepared for my sewing day in June and made more blocks I finished 4 purple blocks as well as 6 blue blocks With these 10 additional blocks, I have 15 out of 35... not even half way through. The orange strips are all cut for the next 5 blocks so hopefully there will be more progress soon again. But you know what I am like, I have so many projects I want to work on at the same time... and so little time.... And that's my 10 blocks for July. Linking to Let's Bee Social Celine

Elegance & Elephants is a new pattern company to me and I must admit I really like the look of the designs. I bought the Pauline dress pattern when it came out with my eldest daughter in mind and found the perfect fabric for her! She is not a princess-loving girl so the clean lines of the Pauline dress with the lovely blue cotton felt like a great combination for her. I had to use a smaller size than her age for the fit but a bigger one for the length, she is thin and tall!  The construction of the yoke and the frill brought me a little trouble and I had to unpick a few times but overall I managed to finish it. The wrong side of the fabric is as nice as the right side I think, I love the chambray effect. I was so happy to finish it just in time for the school holidays so she will be able to wear it in the summer. It fits her really nicely, so I must say I am really pleased with the outcome. I am pleased to have it finished so quickly as well. One more of my ...

Do I need a new project? I know I hear you laughing... of course I do not. Will I start a new project? Of course I will not (whisper: well maybe I will!) In any case, I'll help whoever might be reading my blog with a public announcement! There are 2 new quilt-alongs that I am considering at the moment. The first one is a Dresden quilt one. It starts on 8 August and honestly, it does look so good, doesn't it? One block a week for 26 weeks, how difficult can that be? Head over to Susan's website to find out more! The second one is as much a quilt-along as a UFO busting challenge in my case...  so I would definitely need to join! Angie is starting a Farmer's Wife quilt-along  on 24 August 2018. I started this project over 5 years ago with the aim to make the quilt for my mother's 60th birthday and of course this didn't happen.... So maybe I can finish it for her 70th... I am sure I will not keep up with the rhythm of this one (as I have magnificently failed...

Suki was the pattern of the month for the Sew My Style challenge. I had been eyeing that pattern for a while as a cover up for my Ogden cardis so it felt like it was the right time to try it. I duly bought the pattern and raided my stash for a light woven cotton that I had bought a year ago but that was too sheer to wear on its own. I decided to go for the Suki "short-cover" hack option from Helen's blog partly because I didn't have much fabric and also because of the use I wanted of it. Because the fabric is really sheer, I used French seams which I thought would look neater. The pattern comes together beautifully and is easy to make (specially this simpler version) and is also easy to wear. I finished the sleeves with hand stitching to have a neater finish. I loved the pattern so much that I bought some cotton waffle fabric to make myself a dressing gown... now if I could also buy "time". So my Suki wasn't finished in June but ne...

On my to-do list this week, I had 2 additional little purses that I was planning to make for my youngest daughter's teachers' assistants.  I used some coated cotton for the top and some glitter cotton for the bottom. I also used the same cheerful French fabric for the lining.  I used 2 strips of black 2.5 x 6.5 and a piece of glitter 6.5 x 6.5 for the outside and 2 pieces 1.5 x 2.5 for the little tabs on either side of the zip.  For the lining I used 2 pieces 6.5 x 5  The purses came together very easily and relatively quickly and used this tutorial by for the zip tabs. I love the way it looks and how it finishes the top really neatly. I was lucky to find the right zips in my stash too, matching colours and correct size!   I like those little purses very much and I think they make cute little pressies. I could easily see more of these in my future... if only I had more free time! And that another cross off my Q3 FAL list as well as m...

School is nearly over and for once, I finished all the teachers' gifts early, as in very early (not early in the night before the last day!) - up to a week before. The last pouch I made is an almost exact repetition of the previous one, that's why you could think you're seeing double! This third one  open-wide pouch  is for my son's lovely teacher. I used the  tutorial by  Stitch Mischief   again and the  same  coated cotton fabric from the  Cloth House Warehouse  sale that I had used before with some lovely cotton glittery fabric that I bought recently for the outside. I nside I also used the same "French" print as before and this time, I didn't cut the piece in half in the middle but 1'' off to avoid having all the seams together This is my first project off my  Q3 FAL list and one more OPAM for July as well as the second half of my   One monthly goal . And of course, when I thought I was all done with presents for...