Free pattern

Ah these are really cute! I just ended up on the Fitzpatterns website and I am totally in love with the Tonia cape pattern and keep it quite but IT'S FREE! I can't wait to make one myself! It looks so pretty and simple to make! You can find more free patterns here and other cute patterns here... I seriously can't wait!

Cookie gift sleeve tutorial

Just what I needed! I want to say a BIG thank you to someone that is helping me soooooo much (although he doesn't know that) and I knew I wanted to bake some cookies and look what I found, the perfect cookie sleeve idea from Martha Steward! I have already bought the cd sleeves and downloaded the template for the sticker, but I did change the design a bit and I have used the beautiful free wallpaper templates from love mae to make them a little more personal.

DIY tea

Finally!! It's been 3 months since I went to the markets in town and bought industrial quantities of herbs and spices with the intention of making homemade tea and guess what?! Never even touched them! I found this fantastic and simple tutorial at The Sweetest Occasion and I can't wait to try it out! They would make lovely presents... Just need to buy some food-grade muslin (not sure where to find that, but I guess that any non bleached cotton would do just as well)! Happy belated Valentine's day!

Sugar starch water

My grandmas loves doilies...I don't. She always gives me at least one doily as present each and every year and I never know what to do with them so they always end up inside a box at the bottom of my wardrobe. But look what I've found! This tutorial is so cute, I can't wait to try it. Making cute bowls out of my grandma's doilies is going to keep me busy this weekend... I'll post the pictures as soon as...check this tutorial out!

Also have a look at pampula's creations on burdastyle. Beautiful!

Pattern drafting for dressmaking

I have just received this amazing book by Pamela Stringer on how to draft a pattern based on your own measurements. I had a quick read through it and the whole process sounds pretty straightforward. Has anyone ever tried?
It really covers everything you need to know (I think) and it has loads of images to help you understand the various steps. I will start my own pattern drafting after the Christmas holidays (no point taking my measurements now...I'll have to wait after the turkey and puddings of all sorts!) so I will be posting step by step instructions on how to make your own pattern... hopefully it will work. If you have any advice before I start, please let me know!

my new jacket

I have been following some of the tutorial that I have posted previously and I managed to almost finish my first jacket! ok, the buttons are still missing but I will put them on soon...I promise! The jacket is loosely bades on the coat 1 of the 7263 simplicity pattern that I bought on ebay. Then I've added a few extra bits around the shoulder and the back. I can't believe how easy it was to make, it didn't take as long as I thought and although there are a few mistakes here and there, everything went quite smooth! I love the fabric I found for the lining (and it was a bargain too!), I have some left and I am already thing of what to make with it.
If you are thinking of making a jacket yourself, check out the tutorials I posted previously!

Summer dress in winter

I don't like the snow. I get annoyed when people get excited about the snow. Snow is cold, wet, slippery... how can anyone like it? Maybe it's because I come from a country where it snows every year and it's no surprise when it happens. Having said that, I had loads of fun today taking photos of my latest creations in the snow! I was thinking of a new way of showing the dresses and then I found one just in my backyard! This dress was made following the wenlan blouse pattern on burdastyle.com and I must say that it's one of the best patterns I've ever used. It's very simple to make although I didn't follow the instructions provided as I found them a little confusing...Instead I just did it my way and it worked really well. I'll be posting a tutorial soon as I am planning on making another dress from this pattern. The pattern itself is a little expensive (or more expensive than the patterns I normally buy), but you can buy the book from which the pattern is taken and you get lots more for you money!