project: It's (gonna be) a boy!

The new code in "the baby scene" is to tell everybody not only that you're going to have a baby, but also whether it's gonna be a boy or a girl. At first I thought this was a real spoiler, one of nature's great surprises ruined. But from a practical piont of view, it makes it a lot easier for me to make something appropriate.
When I heard my sister-in-law was expecting a girl, | had just started sewing again. I just bought my new sewing machine and this time I was smart enough to choose a simple project and take a day course on how to make it. I made 9 hearts out of fabric, fibre filled them, used bias binding tape to finish them and made them into a banner. I had no idea whether my sis-in-law and husband would like something as homey as that, but they loved it! So when I heard baby nr.2 was on the way and due in March, I decided to make another banner, in blues and with a bit of a Dutch theme.
Here's how I made it:
Materials for 9 flags in 5 different fabrics
- 1 paper triangle (my triangle is 18 cm by 17,5cm)
- 5 different scraps of fabric, 4 pieces, each one big enough to cut out 4 triangles(back and front), 1 scrap big enough to cut out 2 triangles (back and front).
- 6 m of ribbon or bias or binding tape to finish
- enough batting or filling to line the middle of 9 triangles (like jelly between two sandwiches)
To start: I folded all my fabrics and using my paper template I cut out all my piecs with 0,5cm of seam allowence.




Here's a closer look at the template




And I did the same with the batting/filling




So here are all the fabric pieces




And here they are with the filling in between. I sewed the layers of each triangle together so they were permanently fixed to each other. The stitching went 0,5cm from the raw edge, as that was my seam allowance. Keep the raw edge, but cut off any fabric or filling that is more than half of your ribbon/tape you're using.




Next, I folded the tape around each triangle, matching the sides, so when I stitch, both sides have the same amount of tape and my stitching is on the same place on the triangle on both sides. Check this when you pin! You can also baste one side and then stitch on the orher side. With 9 triangles, I'm taking a short cut.




Now, making corners can be a bit of pain in the neck, so I'll show you how I did that:
Fold the tape to the other side and pin it. Make sure that the tape runs tight against the fabric and the natural piont is richt in middle.




You are left with an excess of fabric, fold this to the right, and you'll see a piont forming. You can move it around a bit until you're happy with it. Then pin it and also do that for the rest of the triangle.




Next up, it's time to start sewing the tape!
When you reach the end of first side, keep the needle in the fabric, lift the pressure foot and pivot to the next side. Back stitch the overlapping piece of the triangle tip, and regularly stitch the other side all the way back up.








And then the triangle looks like this:




After I repeated this for all 9 triangles, I lined them up.








Looks good already, right?




The final step was to finish the top edge. I left about 20 cm of tape on each side so you can tie it to something. Finishing the top is exactly the same proces as the sides of the triangles, except now you have on continues line. No more corners, woohoo!
And here's the end result. It came out exactly they way I wanted it look. I think my new nephew will be enjoying this for many birthdays to come.

Let there be light!

Or better said, let there be better light over our dining table! These old pendants I bought from the IKEA outlet corner 8 years ago for a few bucks. And they've done their job nicely, but in the meantime everything around them has been upped (new floor, new chairs, new table, even the wall has been replastered and painted). So, you guessed it, they need....




We had a few ideas about what kind of lamps we wanted, most importantly one that would light the table better, cause Mr.Fleur usually builds fantasy game worlds his multi-laptop workstation there. So good lighting is crucial.
I actually forgot to put this on my to-do-list, but this is one of the good things of having a blog: you see potential post ideas everywere and all the time!
Being a spurr of the moment thing, we had to squeeze in time to shop for this, but we got what we wanted anyway at Kwantum. I used to think this store is just for cheap (and rather tacky) decorating stuff, but they've been steadily adding more and more very nice things to their collection. Amongst them a great modular pendant lights. Eventually we didn't go for those, we bought this one instead:




At €99, it was definitely not cheap, but this is a nice piece. It's stainless steel, each pendant is made up of two glass bulbs and it even included 5 (1 extra) halogen lamps and a glove!!!!(so you don't get your fingerprint burned into the lamps). Call me girly, but that glove is really cute (and so small it only fits me).



All I have to do now is to get Mr.Fleur to help me get it up there. Not an easy thing on Saterday afternoon. Maybe I can bribe him with a nice dinner.Oh, right, there's also the small challenge of getting the new pendants centered above the table, which means we have to make an exstention from the current outlet on the ceiling. Right now it's too close to the wall. Maybe this will take a bit longer......
Pictures of Before and After will be posted ASAP!

easy personal gifts

I'm a big fan of going the extra mile and making a gift a little bit more personal. That does not mean that it has to be something that is really time consuming or requires special skills. It can be very simple:
Monogram it!




beautifull CD covers from a store on Etsy the online handmade and vintage store
or a door mat:




also from Etsy Etsy is a GREAT source for monogrammed gifts!!!
Why do I like monogramming so much? Doesn't matter what is, but people LOVE to have a thing with their name on it. Maybe it's the need to mark off your territory, maybe to emphasize your uniqueness. "I have a tea mug/ towel/t-shirt with my nam on it, so I exist". There are loads of things to stick/paint/print etc. letters on and many places that can do it for you for a reasonable price. Like these back packs and t-shirts:








from HEMA
For Mr.Fleur's birthday I might get him his very own coffee mug with "Awesome Samurai" or something silly on it.
Or I'll buy him personalized stationary or stamp from
The Paper Cafe.




How fancy is that!!! "from the desk of Mr.Fleur". I might get a stamp like that for myself too. They are gorgious! Look at these:








OK, I'm obsessed. And I don't even use paper, I'm on my iPad 99% of the time, why would I buy stamps? Cause I can, haha!!! I actually have stamps for making my own cards, I just haven't done anything with letters before.
Anyway, back to the subject of using monograms to turn a simple present into something special. These are just a few examples, there are loads of options, I hope you have fun with all of them! I'll show you some of my projects as soon as possible.