... and even more summer in Germany

Okay, so I might still be in a summer holiday mood (when actually, ahem, I should be preparing my classes and NOT writing two blog posts in one day...). I might perceive the weather as slightly better than it actually is. I might even have gone grocery shopping in my new summer dress yesterday despite the pouring rain. But hey, I had just finished sewing it, so it couldn't just be hidden in the closet, waiting for better weather to come (or not...), right?

Yes, I know.

Summer in Germany

...is unpredictable. As usual, we're getting really hot weather, cold weather, sunshine, rain, nice breezes and storms. It's not easy to plan and pack suitable clothes for a summer holiday, and as usual, for this year's trip to the sea we packed everything. Shorts and jeans (and dresses for myself), tees and pullovers and jackets, sandals and rain boots, light pjs and extra blankets, rain gear and beach clothes.

But no matter how unstable our weather can be, there is one thing I know for sure: black car seats are torture in hot weather.

For the cutest little niece in the world :-)

Imagine me hopping up and down and clapping my hands, smiling from ear to ear. I'm an auntie :-))

I had almost forgotten what it was like to hold such a teeny tiny baby, with the cutest little nose and mouth and fingers and ears and... Okay, you get the idea. Only three-and-a-half years ago, my boys were just as tiny - no wait, even a tiny little bit tinier. Now they're so grown up, telling funny stories and singing and jumping around and giving me the biggest bear hugs in the world. Three-and-a-half is a wonderful age, but holding that cute little girl brought back memories of holding my own two babies for the very first time. I nearly cried.

Of course I made something special for the newest addition to the family - tadaaaa:

More pinafores

Isn't it amazing how different fabric qualities, colors and details can make the very same pattern into completely different items? For my boys, I sew every pattern at least twice, of course. But even when I sew gifts for other kids, I tend to make varieties of the same patterns over and over. I've sewn several varieties of cozy car caddies, a number of hats, tons of neckerchiefs... And one pattern I just adore for little girls is the pinafore by Smashed Peas and Carrots. I've already shared the first one I made a year ago, and here are two more I've made since:

On a pattern like this, where everything is cut in one piece, fussy cutting is somewhat limited,

Last minute...

When we were preparing for our fairly spontaneous trip to Fuerteventura last month (huge grin :-D), I decided to do some last-minute sewing. The boys needed new bathrobes, as the ones I made for them nearly two years ago were definitely too small now. I was a little surprised how long they actually lasted - the pattern is just fabulous! So again, I chose one size up to accommodate for the next growth spurt or two.

I had been planning to make a second set of these bathrobes for a while, so when I found those striped beach towels

Earring holder sewing tutorial

I had this idea when my mother-in-law was wondering how she could mail a pair of earrings to one of her relatives. I immediately thought of those little cards that I used to have for my earrings when I was a kid, only those were actually quite plain and boring. So why not make a cute earring holder out of some fabric scraps? Here's what I came up with:

I even thought of taking pictures to write a short tutorial :-)

Kitchen play sets

My boys sure love their play kitchen, and prepare the most delightful dishes every day. Well, I guess they take after their granny :-) So for Christmas, I made them some kitchen equipment and supplies. Besides crocheting some food items (which I will show you another day ;-)), I sewed two sets of aprons, oven mitts and dish towels. Of course I made a mistake in only sewing one oven mitt for each boy. L asked me sternly if he was supposed to burn his other hand?! Silly me. For now, they'll have to take turns using the oven mitts, but in the long run, I guess I'll have to sew two more...

Fortunately I still have a piece left of that funny

Tip top

I sewed another shirt for myself, from Lekala pattern #4099.

I'm still amazed at the fit of those patterns... It's a tad short, but I have a matching shirt that I can wear underneath, so I think that's fine :-)

Bucket hats

As we're preparing for our next vacation (woohoo :-)) I noticed that I haven't shown you something I made for the boys last summer. Maybe you remember my preparations for that road trip? Well, it didn't go as smoothly as we'd hoped. Our kids just don't like car rides. Full stop. Maybe I'll just sew a heavy curtain to separate the back of the car so the boys can do all their whining and screaming and breaking toys and arguing with each other while we enjoy some peace and quiet in our front seats? Just kidding. This time around, we'll find out if they like flying better than car rides.

The holiday was lovely, though. We stayed at a wonderful cottage with a garden. There were other kids to play with and lots of toys. That gave us a little break from time to time. It wasn't far from the beach, and the weather was fine. So I got the pictures I was hoping for :-) And here they are (drum roll please):

What a fun day at the beach!

The pattern for these bucket hats

A birthday present

My dear mother-in-law is the best cook in the world. I wish I could share with you the delicate scents of those yummy treats that come from her kitchen... Instead, let me show you what I made her for her birthday three weeks ago:

For the oven mitt, I used the pattern and tutorials over at

Some selfish sewing...

... and it's not even Selfish Sewing Week yet ;-) But as I won't be around for SSW (and let's be honest, I probably wouldn't get beyond planning stage anyway, as usual), I'm celebrating my own selfish sewing week right now.

I finished a Julia cardigan from Mouse House Creations yesterday, using MyMandala jersey knit in pink from the Elephant Love Collection by Hamburger Liebe (for Hilco).

Would you believe that I bought the fabric

Helau!

I love making (and actually also wearing) costumes, so Karneval is is always lots of fun for me. This year my boys are finally old enough to really join the fun. When I asked them what costumes they wanted me to make them, their ideas were pretty straight-forward: A cuddly blue cat for E and an astronaut for L.

And I must say

...and more cozy car caddies

So one of my new year's resolutions (of all the resolutions I had resolved NOT to make this year ;-)) was to finally get some things up on this blog that I made last year but never found the time to blog about. Btw, time management is another thing I resolved not to make a resolution about. Okay, I'll stop before my head starts spinning. Here's something I made last year:

I've already written about the first car caddy I made, and how much I loved the tutorial. So let me show you three more. Number 2 was for a sweet little girl who loves Australia:

The pockets can also hold

No, I'm not making any new year's resolutions.

... At least that's what I told myself before New Year's Eve (again!). And then the new year started and all of a sudden, I found myself thinking about 2015 and all the things I really, really, really want to improve on (think household), get up and running (think business) or do for myself (think exercise). So wow, the only resolution I made for 2015 - not to make any unrealistic resolutions this time around - vanished into thin air the second 2015 started. Okay, that was a little overly dramatic. Probably it was the next day.


So here's a list of some resolutions I explicitly did not want to make this time, in random order: