Lavender strawberry tutorial

Another quick and easy project:) I know that I promised

the bag tutorial first, but I will post that soon as well. I had to make some corrections, to be as clear as possible, so it will come soon;)






Back to this project....lavender is not only among my favourite colours, but plants as well. It smells so good. OK, maybe if you are pregnant, it might be very irritating kind of smell, but in normal conditions, and in my case, it is just wonderful. So, you'll need some dry lavender for this project, depending on how many and how big do you wish these babies to be. Of course, you can always substitute the lavender with the stuffing and make these strawberries to be cute pincushions.



Needed supply:

1. fabric scraps (any kind of fabric will work fine for this project)
2. thread, scissors and needle
3. piece of ribbon
4. embellishments

sewing machine is optional-you can totally stitch it with hand;)

Click on the smaller pictures to obtain the better view;)

To cut the fabric, you will need some kind of the cone shape, like the children paper party hats or like THIS one or like mine on the following picture. You can't go wrong, just be sure to check (by folding it) that the outlines of the cone are consonant with center.
Depending on the size of the cone-strawberry you want to make, you'll be needing more or less fabric, and therefore the outlines of your cone template will be bigger or smaller. My template had 6" (15 cm) outlines.



Cut the fabric, fold it right sides together and using the straight stitch , and 1/4 "(1 cm) seam allowance close the cone. Turn right side out.


Now, you'll need to fill it:). You can use only lavander, but I suggest adding a bit of the stuffing just before closure, that will keep those seeds right in place;)











Here is the small cone which I used to take pics of the rest of the process, so don't be confused;)



Now, you ll need to stitch (use basting stitch if sewing by hand) the upper edge and place the ribbon. Of course, you can do this step even before filling the cone (especially if you will be using the long gathering stitch with your sewing machine, which will be pulled once the cone is filled;)




Once the cone is filled, place the ribbon bight inside, pull the gathering stitches and secure it.



Now, you only need to add the cream on the top:) Use your imagination and embellish it with anything you like- fabric yo-yos, felt leaves, silk leaves, ribbon, buttons, fabric flowers or leaves....or simply with those cute crochet flowers that are very convenient as have the hole in the center, so can be wonderfully placed and stitched on the top-in that way they will not only decorate the strawberry, but will also cover the gathered top edge.











These make great presents!! Who don't need them???You can embroider some things on them or at the felt leaves for example and totally customize them. We did that and make some great strawberry for the teacher kind of presents:)



Hope you'll make tons of these:)
Enjoy the last days of August(sniff, sniff)
Katarina

PS Here is the LINK to vote for the plushie pattern on Spoonflower and here is my entry , just saying:)

Summer bites

pomodorini (grape tomatoes)

rucola, pomodorini

zucchini

It is terribly hot these last few days (temperatures are going over 40C, 90F) and so I am trying to make some fresh and quick meals. Our favorite at the moment is the Pasta con zucchini(courgettes) . I changed a few things, but basically with all the yummy, simple and fresh ingredients, it is very tasty dish:) And I am the lover of the nice bites of yummy food that don't require hours spent in the kitchen;) I also love Jamie Oliver recipes and even that I always experiment in the kitchen and are hardly following recipes regarding food, (except for the cakes), it is always nice to get inspired and get some ideas.






What is your favorite summer dish?
Hope to hear from you,
xo, Katarina

Free swatch day @ Spoonflower!!

August 18th is the Free Swatch Day at Spoonflower!
Spoonflower's Third Annual Free Swatch Day Starts Thursday, Aug. 18th, 2011
You can get a single free, custom fabric swatch for 24 hours between
noon EST on Thursday, August 18, and noon EST on Friday, August 19 with free shipping!!!

Read more about it HERE.

This is the great opportunity to get a piece of original design fabric for free and there are so many awesome designs to choose from:)
You can see some of mine available HERE

As the spoonflower prices are higher than when purchasing regular designer fabrics, I thought that it might be convenient thing to create the ready to cut and sew sets, where you get all in one: fabric, pattern and instructions.
So, there is a section with sewing patterns-templates where you can find them. I will also post here all the step by step instructions with photos once I get the designs.

Remember, this bag? Now, you can buy this template that will allow you to create one bag. Spoonflower post worldwide and you can easily pay through Paypal or with some of the major credit cards (even Serbian;), so it is a great thing!!!
This pattern fits one yard of linen cotton canvas which is a medium weight fabric with lovely texture, suitable for the bag making. It don't have the instructions printed, as I barely managed to fit all the pieces for the bag, without almost any millimeter free(which I think is a neat way to use properly one yard of fabric for one normally sized hand bag without having almost any scrap pieces left;) Those 3 spots you can see in blue, purple and brown, these are left for fabric buttons, eventually;)
I tested this bag pattern and created a lovely birthday present for my sister, Jelena.

If you don't have the experience with sewing bags, you should wait for the all step by step blog post and as I took all the pics in process of making it, I will hopefully, be able to post it soon;)



Also, thinking about babies and baby presents, I have created many sewing templates for baby bibs and can't wait to get them and make some bibs. I used the designs from my Playground collection , suitable for baby boys and girls. I can customize them, so once I test them, I will be able to offer some sort of- you design yourself bib set:)....thinking about the name of the baby etc...







And last, but not least, here is the softie family pattern. It is the fat quarter that will allow you creating 4 softie bears: Mama Bear, Papa Bear and baby boy and girl bear. Mine will arrive any day now (I hope), so that I can blog about it too;)
It is created for the next week, spoonflower's plushie contest.



Have a wonderful weekend,
Katarina

Toothless boy and a frog

I know that these 2 things don't normally have anything in common, except my boy's recent top concerns.
Well, at this point, the first one was solved by going to the dentist and so we had the Tooth fairy coming for a visit during the last weekend (on August 13 for my memory). The second one regarding the frog is something that was related with his desired prize for the tooth being out(as the new one appeared already inside), as he is totally obsessed with animals, especially with lizards and frogs lately. I suppose that as much as some things may be absolutely yucky for me to understand, as far as those little animals aren't hurt, I'll be happy to obey his wishes and watch him enjoying his childhood. At the end, boys should be boys, right?:)

Paper dolls

When I was a little girl, my favorite game was playing with the paper dolls. I could play for hours, occasionally drawing my own designs and patterns.....
My mom smartly saved some of them and must say that I admire them much more than tons of other new modern dolls.
These retro ones are just the best, want you agree? They are from 1982.

Inspired with them, I made a few drawings that will be used as prints for the tee shirts I am working on. Hope you will like them too:)
xo,
Katarina