ninja birthday party

Little boy chose a ninja theme for his 6th birthday.

(image source)

We asked his little guests to dress in black – some even came fully dressed as ninjas. They all received red strips of knit fabric as belts and head bands. Then we started our ninja boot camp and we headed into the forest.

The boys had to pass tests, proving their ninja qualities, such as balancing…

handling delicate objects…

… making ninja moves while jumping…

… fighting with double-bladed ninja swords…

…running and afterwards sneaking silently through the forest (my fabourite part)…

…aiming (we had two games, one with water pistols and this one with nerf guns)

After passing all the test, every ninja apprentice received his own ninja sword (a red pool noodle with black “taped” handle)…

…and his own ninja mask (I bought cheap balaclavas and added a red strip of knit fabric).

I thought I’d share our birthday party with you because it was a huge success with the boys.

Enjoy planning your own ninja party!
Christine

Railfence – a scrappy baby boy quilt

A sweet baby boy was born in late june. My friend Verena and I, we made him a gift inspired by this pillow.

We chose lots of black & white prints (many from ZenChic’s new line Modern Backgrounds “Paper”) and some blue, turquoise, green and yellow scraps.

We used raw-edge-appliqué to “write” his name on the back:

Here are some of my favourite blocks: some crowns…

… newspaper advertising…

…crossword puzzles…

…and some funky glasses…

I only stitched in the ditch of those inner seams, which makes a nice pattern on that flannel star-y backing:

We used left overs from the top for a scrappy binding. My favourite is this leaf-y print from Lotta Jansdotter:

As always, I used a triple zig-zag-stitch to sew the binding down with my sewing machine:

Here is another shot, all rolled up and ready to be gifted:

So easy and so much fun to make. Now to perpare another baby quilt for my cousin that is due with her second baby in December…

Happy Quilting!
Christine

(Back) to school!

Last year I told you about the german tradition of giving “sugar cones” to first graders’ for their very first day of school.

Well, we have another first grader this year. So I made another sugar cone from fabric. He asked for a “soccer” version, which was rather difficult to make.

I really dislike most of the soccer themed fabric out there. So I made a border from this knit fabric:

I added some black and white “ball” fabric and machine stitched his class, his name and the date of his first day of school. Here’s a closeup:

And this is the cone and his school bag:

An early morning shot before we left for school:

All kids have their own school agenda that is spiral bound. By the end of the year those spirals are rather oval or bend but no longer round. So I made some quilted covers for my boys’ agendas. Soccer themed for little boy…

…and ninja themed for our new second grader…

That little ninja is completely appliquéd and one of my favourite makes ever. The design is from breezylaneembroiderydesigns.com. I just turned the embroidery  design into a raw-edge-application.

Both boys were also invited to a sleep over party, so we needed a second bag for toothbrush, etc. for the boys. (Unless I’d send them out with my pink one. Hihi.)

It is lined with coated cotton so throwing in an open tooth paste tube will not ruin it entirely (ask me how I know).

Well now, the first weeks of school are already over. We are heading into our fall break. Little boy is not very excited about school and tends to do his homework with the least effort possible but he seems to get along well enough. I’ll keep my fingers crossed (for the next couple of years, I guess…). Sigh.

Are there any “first day of school traditions” in your whereabouts?!

Happy sewing everyone!
Christine

Comfy clothes

Am I the only one feeling the need of making clothes in summer? Is there perhaps a pre-historic code that tells us to prepare clothes for winter? It seems like each summer I feel the urge to sew clothes for my kids (2013 and 2014). My quilting mojo has completely vanished 8 weeks ago.

It all started with these supercool ninja fabrics that I found in our local fabric shop. The darker one is jersey and the light one is a thick and super soft and cuddly sweater fabric.

 

I decided to make two hoodies and two t-shirts for my boys (german pattern by pattydoo found here – including how-to videos):

I would have added the front pocket to both hoodies but I am forgetful sometimes…

Here is little boy, trying some ninja moves in his new sweater:

…and big boy wearing his new tee:

When big boy fell ill some weeks ago, we discovered that he had outgrown his comfy pants (how can his legs be so long while is waist is still so small?! He needs extra long skinny jeans now). So we went to the local fabric shop and I let him choose the fabric.

I ended up making several pairs of comfy pants for him and little bro. Some with  waistbands made from knits and others with elastics in “fold-over tunnels”. Some with pockets, most without. Some with hems and others with cuffs.

And this one is my favourite:

It’s a pair of shorts I made from the left-overs. I added eyelets to the waistband and the pattern called for an imitation of a zipper-facing. It took me ages to figure out how to make it but I am happy I did it.

Here are some “in action” shots:

 

 

Now we are ready for cold but cosy and snuggly winter months (o:

Do your kids like to wear handmade clothes?

Happy sewing!
Christine

Summer s(e)wing

Summer holidays are officially over. The boys went back to school (in fact one of them just started school – more on that soon) and I am back at work.

Not much sewing happened here for the last approx. 7 weeks, but here are some things that I actually finished.

4 Baby Summer hats, for boys and girls, some with visor:

  

A baby girl dress for my niece:

And three picnic blankets:

This one is for my cousin who just received her second degree in law and made her PhD. We threw a surprise party for her at my parents’.
Here are some details of her blanket.

The backings of all these blankets are coated cotton fabrics to prevent the picnic blankets from soaking up possible moisture from the grounds.

  

The following blanket was made for my mother’s birthday:

 

And then there was a third one for my sister’s birthday (in her favourite girly-pink colours):

 

Three completely different styles to match three different tastes of three different women. Let’s see if I need to make a fourth for my other sister?!

I hope you are all having a great summer?!
Happy sewing!

Christine