Gymnastics outfit: part I

Our four eldest children do gymnastics. So they have to wear a gymnastics leotard; an item that is not easily purchased around here.

As Tahir imported perfect leotard fabric I decided to make their gymnastics outfit myself.

I will not disclose the results just yet, the leotard pictures are for later this week...

First I present you the gymnastics bag that goes with it.

A cute little bag for our ‘star’ gymnasts. Just the right size to store two small bottles of water and a snack for during the break.

I prefer a round gymnastics bag instead of a flat one; besides following the guidelines of THE book it was very easy to make. We chose to make the version with the pocket on the inside, to tuck money aside.

This macho bronze fellow (A Askalany) could wrap it around its neck before the kids got hold of it.

The beautiful blue fabric (Melody Sketch – Nani Iro) was bought at Mondaysmilk, an online fabric shop with a superefficient and friendly service.

The website noted that the fabric is DOUBLE GAUZED, I did not notice this mention when I ordered the fabric and anyway I would not have known what it meant. I do now!

Double gauzed means that the fabric consists of two different layers attached to each other by means of small invisible stitches. It might seem difficult to stitch with, the way I describe the fabric. Nothing is further from the truth, I did not hamper me in any way, long life Japanese perfection.

I bought the cotton yellow biais binding at Vermiljoenshop.

The pictures are made in ArtSawa Gallery in Al Quoz.

Do not forget to join this blog if you want to give it a try to win this fabric.

Couch decoration

This week we used the delightful Daisy Chain fabric from Prints Charming again. I used the orange/pink version before to make a schoolbag. This time around I used the green/turquoise/grey version to furnish E her new white couch with two pillows.

One pillow is finished with apple green piping and the other one with turquoise piping. 

The zipper is invisibly incorporated in one of the seams.

I made the pillows when I had no access to the internet, so I wasn't  able to consult the worldwide web for assistance and had to figure everything out myself; nevertheless this is a great tutorial for adding piping and this might be useful to attach the zipper in a nice invisible way.

Reversible hoody with a zipper

A whole week we had no access to the internet! The construction workers who are building a new house further down the street, snipped our cable in two, to provide internet for the new house?! 

No internet, that means: more time to stitch. So we finally finished the reversible hoody, maybe better called the jacket for Felix.

The pattern is from Stof voor Durf-Het-Zelvers a stylish dutch sewing book. We slightly changed the pattern; we made the hoody reversible and added a zipper. A jumper with a jacket is more convenient for us, as the weather is never really cold, and the zipper makes it a light jumper.

One side of the hoody is made from Liandlo fabric, bought at KitschyCoo. The other side is a kind of cotton knit fabric in red and white. I bought this fabric at Bengali Market in Ajman for a ridiculous 1.2 euro per meter.

The backside of the fabric is very nice, so we used the backside as the visual part for this hoody.

I am pretty happy with the result although it was supposed to look slightly different. First of all, I planned to use yellow knit cuff fabric, but I accidently cut red trimming. I only realized when it was largely too late.

Secondly, the hoody was sewn together a couple of weeks ago but I could not find a reversible zipper. A reversible hoody without a reversible zipper can no longer be called a reversible hoody, so I kept on searching and found one reversible zipper; a blue one –I actually wanted a red zipper. Luckily the blue matches well with the red side of the hoody.

Lastly something else most be wrong with the hoody; because as soon as my son saw me walk towards him with the hoody, he ran away crying out loud. He kept on crying and running away from the camera until we took the hoody off. More snot and tears all over the pictures than anything else.

Therefore we asked Felix his sister for help, she is not that much bigger than our little man so the hoody fits her as well.

Also Jade was not really in to pose for the camera, but she was easily blackmailed with the promise of some chocolate in exchange for her nicest smile.

So the initial I-do-not-want-to-pose-face …

was followed by the toothpaste smile …

the spontaneous smile …

the passport photo pose …

and also a picture where she clearly spells the word cho-co-laaaa!

I hope we face a good summer in Belgium, otherwise we risk Felix runs around crying the whole summer.

Happy Bday Oma

Our blogpost today is dedicated to OMA (my mother, and so the grandmother of our kids).

Happy birthday oma! I know that since early this morning you are expecting a phone call from your expat daughter. I know that by now you think I most have forgotten that it is the 2^nd of February today –just like I did the last 10 years or so. I also know that your eldest granddaughter called you today, to congratulate you, because I was standing next to her –although she kept that hidden from you.

I kept you in suspense the whole day, but this year I did not forget your birthday! A present has been shipped to you, but it will not arrive in Belgium on time, so you can unwrap it here digitally.

The bottom.

The top side and a glimpse of the inside.

The front side.

It is a gift with handles.

It is … a fabric shopping bag.

Have fun and enjoy the last hours of your birthday!

Green fabric: Kona of Robert Kaufman bought @ Classic Quilts & Quilting.

Red flower fabric: I bought this ages ago in Parijs, in a shop very close by the Sacre Coeur.

Patroon: Zo Geknipt, the book that will be put in the cicular again, as there is that other book from which I urgently want to create some items.