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,

...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

Long time no sew...

... or rather long time no blog. I actually did a little sewing, I just couldn't get myself to sit down at the computer and write. Again, there are so many things I want to work on, design, create, research and write that I can't get beyond the stage of sorting through everything again and again, trying to find somewhere to start. Is procrastination an art in itself? Then add that to my hobbies ;-)

But this week is different. It's Kid's Clothes Week again! Since I missed the last season *sniff*, I've been really looking forward to this one. I had everything planned out in advance and was able to start cutting on Monday! Whoohoo!!!

I've finished a

Car caddy (no. 1)

While I was writing my last post about the little pinafore that I did some applique on, I had to think of my first applique project that turned out quite well (after lots of failures, will write about this sometime). So here it is.

I found this wonderful tutorial for a car caddy over at Homemade by Jill, and I decided to try it out for a birthday present for one of my boys' friends a while ago. What shall I say? It's FABULOUS. Really well explained, sews up easily and quickly and you won't need much beside an old pair of jeans and some small pieces of fabric.

However, I did not follow instructions exactly, but made a couple of design changes. For the inside, I picked some bright green corduroy - oh, I so love sewing with corduroy! I find it easy to cut (just follow the lines ;-)), and it's wonderfully soft to the touch. It can be a little tricky as it has a tendency to shift in one direction, but careful pinning does the trick.

Pinafore

Less words, more pictures today :-) Last week, I sewed up this pinafore for our friends' cute little girl.

I had been tempted to buy this lovely fabric (from the Nördika Collection by Jeni Baker for Art Gallery Fabrics) for a while, but never really knew what to do with it. Now seeing how it looks in a little dress, I guess I'll have to buy some more for myself to make a skirt - or even a dress? ;-)