Window dressing

We are having my husbands family over for Christmas this year so I decided that it was time to get something to cover up the bathroom window.

Boring!

I am really not a fan of the brown natural stones the previous owners put in but I decided that I may as well go for some curtains to match them. I had bought a piece of lace curtain but when I got home it wasn't tall enough. So I had to figure out a solution, I decided on backing the lace with some Hessian as I happened to have some of the stuff laying around. But how was I going to add the lace?

A OR B?

I wasn't sure so I decided to ask in a couple of sewing groups and the vast majority said A. So I finished cutting off the lace like in pic A I then attached it to the Hessian. I did a zig zag stitch along the top and bottom of the lace as well as the sides.I then folded over the side and top edges and did straight stitch. When all finished I pinned it up with some brass drawing pins as I thought they were simple and added a nice feature.

Tadaah!

This was a very quick and simple way of dressing the window but I think it has added to the room in a charming and rustic way.

My favourite gingerbread recipe

This is the best gingerbread recipe that I have come across to date. It is a lovely Christmas tradition to make these with my son (although he mostly eats the dough).

Ingredients

150 ml golden syrup

450 ml sugar

2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoon dried ginger

2 teaspoon cloves

1 tablespoon bitter orange peel ( might be tricky to get hold of so just leave it out if you can't get it)

2 tablespoon bicarbonate of soda

300 g butter

3 eggs

1 l plain flour

Instructions

In a saucepan bring syrup, sugar and the spices to the boiling point while stirring. Just before it boils add the soda. Pour it up when it turns white and starts to rise. Let the mixture cool down and add egg, melted butter and sieved flour. Keep refrigerated over night. Following day roll out the dough thinly and cut out shapes with your best cookie cutters, bake until golden brown in 175 - 200 degrees.

I would start with making perhaps a third of the recipe as it makes a massive  amounts of gingerbreads. I made these for my son's preschool class' Christmas party and they were really popular, before bringing them to the party I put a simple icing on top ( icing sugar and water) and decorated with some cute snow flakes and Christmas trees I had found in a shop

Christmas is coming to the old farm house

In July we moved into this lovely old farmers house from 1904, back in the day it was outside the town but now the town has grown so it is pretty close to the town centre. I was looking forward to decorating the stairs and hallway area and spent many hours researching what I wanted to do.

Golds and greens, very classy!

So I started with the bannister adding a pine garland (fake) with lights in. Then I spruced it up a bit with gold baubles and bows.

Dressing the walls

This is what I will be working on

So I found a very nice image online that looked perfect for paper cutting the only thing I didn't like was the jingle belles put on the top of the arrangement. The belles I decided to replace with a big cheerful bow instead.

The work has begun

When I was cutting out the white parts of the letters I was making sure to keep those bits safe in a little pot. Those specific little pieces we need at the end you see. Note that I have printed the image out mirror imaged and I have put the copy paper on top of the good paper and cutting through that.

Looking from the good side

Here comes the red

As all pieces were cut out I started backing the work with red paper and I replaced the white into their correct places.

The ugly side

Once all backed with the red I added spray glue to the whole back piece and placed the green paper behind. Then it was ready to cut out. My best tip is to place the glass from the frame you will use for the picture op top so you can measure and make sure you get the motif in the middle. 

Here it is!

Adding a bit of nature 

Early morning at Hindsgavl Slot

A couple of weeks ago my husband had his work Christmas party at a gorgeous Danish castle dating back to the 19th century. This is now a hotel where you can spend the night feeling like a king or queen. I had dinner in their restaurant and their table decorations gave me some inspiration for how to decorate my house. 

At Christmas the Danes like to go out into the forests to collect material to decorate their houses. The castle was through out decorated in this fashion.

Window dressed with pine cones

More pine cones and my inspiration piece

Table decoration

To make my pieces I collected some material from the nature as well.

Ivy, baubles, pine cones of varying sizes, hyacinth, glass and vase

I put the hyacinth in a glass and then inside the vase. I then put the pine cones and baubles around the sides. Then I put the ivy stalks in the glass and added some water for the plants to drink.

My version

And here is my decorated staircase! Hope you like it :)

Notice the LED tea lights I put in some cavities in the brick walls?

The LDT nursing hack

The laundry day tee is a free pattern that you can get when signing up to Love notions Facebook group. It is a very flattering design as it is tight around the bust and then flares out at the bottom. Although it is very dependent on the fabric choice, the top requires light to medium weight knit fabric.

As it was a free pattern I decided I ought to try it but I made myself a nursing version.  I will show you how I did it.

Excuse the rubbish bathroom selfie! SO the top has two layers of fabric on the body, the bottom layer has two circles cut out for nursing access. These circles doesn't need to be finished as knit fabric won't fray. 

Depending on your size you will need different sized "access holes" I made a size L so I cut out the holes with a diameter of 11 centimetres 3 cm away from the centre fold. They are placed 23 cm from the shoulder seam. Then when sewing I held the front two layers together and back two layers together while doing the shoulder seam. The two layers were also held together when attaching the sleeves and finally neckline. Side seams were sewn separately to create the availability to lift up the top layer. Top layer I hemmed as instructed by Love notions while the bottom layer I overlocked and cutting off quite a bit of the fabric, I think 3 cm. Then I attached a lace trim at the bottom while folding up the overlocked edge underneath. If  I made the top again I would pick a wider lace trim as it doesn't always poke out under the top layer.

Hope you enjoyed my quick nursing hack :)

Panel Pocket Tee testing

I was honoured to be chosen to do pattern testing of the new Duck Butt Designs Panel Pocket Tee! Well let me just start off by telling you that the options are limitless with this top, perfect for those amazing panels, up-cycling, or you know just normal fabric ;) . I did a bit of up-cycling with my testers as I wasn't quite ready to let go of these items and it is nice to see him be able to wear these cute items for a bit longer.

 It is a very quick pattern to make and so fun to put together and come up with the final look of it. I can see many many more of these being made my me in the future!

If you are interested in making your own Panel Pocket Tee then you will find it HERE in Duck Butt Designs shop. Right now there are a few codes about so you can pick up your pattern at a reduced price so I suggest you join the Facebook group :) Currently this pattern is available from 3 months to 6 years but it may be by popular demand extended to bigger sizes.

This is the vector for the top, just imagine all the possibilities!

This lady makes some amazing looking patterns and she has definitely gone to the top of my list for new thinking and fun patterns.

Love to the Martha

I have been doing a bit of sewing for myself recently. I have found it quite tricky to find some nice nursing tops so I started looking for some patterns for nursing tops to sew for myself. So far I have made two but have a feeling more are to come in the future. 

The first top I made for myself was with muslin fabric and one of the more crazy prints I have bought, was surprised to find some matching fabric in a shop. Was a match made in heaven as the orange fabric was the same shade as the butterflies!

The Martha is a german pdf patttern made by das milchmonster and there is a translated version of the pattern about. I like the martha pattern as it gives you options on hem length, collar and hood. My first version I made the long length and second the shorter version. 

Funny how odd the booby holes look like, they do work though :)

My second martha was a really quick sew although as I used a fabric with slightly different qualities it has a tighter fit than number one. I learn something new with each garment I make!

All in all this pattern gets two thumbs up from me for the flexibility of the pattern, both nursing and non nursing options and all the extras, The parts come in separate files so you can decide before you print what you want to make and save a bit of ink plus the instructions have plenty of good pictures :D

Can´t wait to make my next Martha!

First chalk paint job

We started looking for a house back in the spring and at the same time I kept walking past this shop window with a charming table on display. I kept hoping that we would find a house with a hallway where it would fit in well so I could buy it and do it up.Well we bought a old farm house from 1904 and it had a perfect place for it at the bottom of the stairs. A few days after we moved in I drove to the shop and bought the table!

Now I have never worked with chalk paint before and I hadn't seen the famous make of chalk paint in my area of Denmark so when I eventually found an own brand chalk paint I got very happy. I looked up what the best way was to do when using the paint and then went ahead and painted!

So here it is, the table in it's new home. I treated the top of the table with some clear bees wax and for now at least there is no varnish on the table and I didn't distress it at all. I am really pleased with this project!