Quilted fabric bins with cute appliques

Two years ago I still hadn't heard of freehand machine stitching.
Then I came across Poppy Treffry's book "Free and Easy Stitch style" on Amazon, liked the cover pictures and bought it. And I wasn't disappointed. I liked her style of uneven stitching and rough edges. They made things look even cuter.

Around that time I had my baby daughter. I needed a kind of storage bin/box where to keep some nappies, nappy bags, nappy cream and moisturiser handy and organised in our living room where we mostly spent the day. I got fed up of always looking for any of them when changing my baby's nappy . And although spare time was a luxury for me I decided to make myself a fabric storage bin. My baby girl had colics and would sleep mostly in my arms during the day. I remember how I drew and cut the applique motifs while I was cuddling my sleeping girl. I was trying to figure out if there was a way I could sew on the sewing machine while holding her. I even tried a sling so I could have my hands free. Unfortunately she didn't like being in a sling so I just had to steal some time here and there to complete my project.
First I made the ''apple, pear and cherry'' fabric bin. I used linen fabric, polka dot fabrics and cotton wadding.

I liked the result and another storage bin followed, this time the theme was cupcakes.

And then baby feet storage bin..

I was planning to do a fabric bin with pink baby feet applique as well, but I ran out of linen fabric. For some time it was out of stock. When it finally came in stock and I ordered it turned out slightly different linen fabric. A bit disappointing for me..
Now I have plans to do a big fabric bin for the kids' dirty laundry but I still haven't decided on the applique theme. I have two ideas on my mind. The first one would feature houses, cars, trees and the second one - beach huts and boats. Hopefully one of them gets accomplished soon.
Thanks for reading!

New projects on the way and some new trimmings and buttons

I haven't been posting much recently but this doesn't mean I haven't been sewing. I have been working on two new projects. The first one is a pair of trousers for my little daughter. This would be my first time sewing trousers and I feel pretty excited.
I wish they were ready and I could show them but the first toile I made was a disaster- it was so wide that my girl looked like a clown. She looked so hilarious in them that me and my mum had a really good laugh watching her moving around in them.

The toile for the trousers

Now I have to alter the pattern and would probably skip making another toile and move directly to sewing the trousers as I get too inpatient to finish them. I already have a certain fabric in mind, something lightweight and drapey.
The second project I have been working on is a kind of a party dress for one little princess who has a birthday soon. I have done the pattern, picked the fabric, bought an invisible zipper and even ordered some lining fabric today. Once it arrives I will start sewing it. The girl is the same age as my son, so I used him to fit the dress. I just hope it would fit the girl as well.
 And finally here are some white trimmings I bought a week ago. As usual I didn't have any idea where or when I would use them. I think they would make a good addition to a white feminine blouse (one day).

And some colourful buttons...for cheerful outfits..

A Boy's sunhat

This holiday it was all about hats for me. After making a sunhat for my little girl, it was my boy's turn to get a new hat. As I didn't have any boyish fabrics, I had to buy a quarter meter of some fabric, suitable for boys. I went to a local fabric shop and came across this "elephant" one and thought it could be made into a hat.

Although it looked simple to make I must confess that I had to make two tester hats before I got the size right. 
Now that the sunhat is ready I keep thinking that it would have looked better if I included a strip of white fabric or white piping to make the hat more attractive.

The thing I like most about making this hat is that it's something very practical and I'm sure it would be worn a lot during summer.

Easter ornaments

The last few months I have focused on sewing garments, rather than things for the home. There was time when I used to unlash my creativity by making ornaments, accessories for the home, but since my daughter was born I rediscovered my love for sewing clothes. My affinity for children's clothes has been growing since then. Little daughters could be such inspiration for mummy sewers.
This Easter I was busy making sunhats, but I thought I might share some of the Easter creations I made a few years ago.
Here is little hand emboidered bird house

For their making I have used natural linen fabric, polka dot pastel fabrics and jute string. I just love the combination of them.

and here are some polka dot chicks and a bunny

 And finally a linen table runner with four placemats, all hemmed and embroidered by hand. I gave this to my mom as she adored it.

Have a happy Easter!

Making a sunhat for a first time

Being in a warm and sunny place where sunshine is not luxury has inspired me to sew my first sunhat for Eva.
Two weeks ago I was looking for sunhats for my children. I came across this lovely girl's hat in Asda, but there were only large sizes left.

 I grabbed one with the intention to use it as a model for constructing a similar one which would fit my little girl's head.
It's definitely not a difficult thing to make, but maybe because it was the first time I made a hat, I could see that I had made a few mistakes, luckily not so noticeable.
These are the two tester hats I made. I made this one first

then tried adding some flares and that was the result

I decided to use the flared shape for her sunhat, as it looked more girly. Now I think that I might use the first shape to make a hat for my boy as well.
My fabric choice for the hat would be something neutral, like the one from Asda, which would match most of the clothes. I went to two local fabric shops to hunt some fabric, but priced at 15-18 euros/ metre seemed two much, so I went back home and looked again at the very few fabrics I had kept at my parents home. Finally I picked the one with blue flowers, although it wasn't neutral (If you have been following the blog you would have seen this fabric before here and here)

"Tiny flowers" summer tunic

I love summer clothes. They are more comfortable and also easier to make. I could't wait for the weather to start warming up so I could begin to plan out some new additions to the summer wardrobe of my little girl (and  if I get the chance for me as well).
As we are heading to a warmer place for the Easter holidays I thought I would make a short-sleeved blouse/tunic for Eva.
It all started with this..

and ended like this..

I used two of the fabrics I had bought on my recent trip to Goldhawk road fabric shops. They were pure cotton and very easy to work with. Despite that, the whole project took longer than I thought as folding all the little pleats evenly turned out a fiddly job.
The other task that usually delays my work is handstitching the hems prior to machine stitching. It's time consuming, but it makes machine stitching much easier and straightforward afterwards.
Not long ago a friend of mine mentioned to me that she was watching The Great British Sewing Bee on BBC2 every week. The series followed ten amateur sewers who faced different challenges every week. Shte thought it might be interesting for me to watch. And indeed it was, but it made me realize again just how slow I tackled my sewing projects, which made me feel a bit cringeful. I really have to try to be more organized and concentrated.

And this time I couldn't do without a flower accessory. Initially I planned a hairband with a flower, but once the blouse was finished I thought it might work better if placed on it.
It could go either here

or here

Which look do you prefer? I will attach the flower permanently as repinning it might damage the fabric.

And again the most difficult part were my attempts to take photo of my little daughter wearing the blouse. After half an hour chasing her around the room with the camera and telling my boy for a hundredth time to stay out of camera's view (I didn't want his blue pyjamas showing in the background of the photo) I ended up with an empty battery and lots of blurred pictures.