A Journey to a Simple Happy Life

WIP Wednesday: progress and a bounty

We made a trip to NYC this weekend. In fact I expressed my desire to visit the new Purl Soho and my sweet husband obliged. It kind of helps that his favorite Shawarma sandwich place is around the corner.

I really miss living in a big city. I know it sounds crazy but I was born and raised in a big city. I miss being able to walk everywhere. Leave my home for a walk to get some bread, the newspapers or a Sunday morning coffee around the corner. Wander in the streets. I wouldn't mind living on a farm (as long as I have the internet and UPS can deliver books to my doorsteps). But suburbia is really getting to me! Excuse the whiny interlude...

Anyway we made it to NYC and our final destination was Purl Soho. I love the new store, big roomy and walls covered in beautiful yarns and fabrics. Salim was with the kids while I admired everything.I was ready to go home with the whole store.

I got some Anna Maria Horner Little Folks voile, Etsuko Furuya linen and embroidered linen for a twirly skirt. And my reward for being good and sewing all of these will be another trip for some more goodness. I can't believe I have to go all the way there for nice fabric. I've been asking all around me and there are no fabric store in my neck of the wood. Crazy!

My Children Clothes Challenge week has taken a back seat because of Tarek's birthday and Salim taking some days off but I plan on finishing all of my projects before the end of the month.

My needles have seen some progress this week. I got started on the Ishbel and made some great progress. Well that is until I realized that I had made a mistake in the lacy part. Which taught me a valuable lesson, a life line when knitting a lacy pattern is not a luxury.

What are you making?

Giveaway: A fat quarter bundle fromThe Fabric Bar

With the Kids Clothes Sewing Challenge under my belt, I am ready to sew up a storm. So it's not a surprise if I have been scouring the internet for fabric and patterns.

Amy's store The Fabric Bar has some of the cutest fabrics and patterns and happens to be one of my favorite shopping spots. I am very excited that one winner will get the Sun Soaking bundle from olive manna.

Once I'm done hemming and finishing some of my challenge clothes, I plan on making this camera case wristlet. Just too cute!!

To enter the giveaway leave a comment before Sunday, May 23. You can gain additional entries (remember one comment per entry) in the following ways:

• Join this blog with Google Friends (Right Sidebar)
• Add my button to your blog
• Add me to your blogroll
• Mention the giveaway on your blog

Have a wonderful Tuesday and tomorrow I will be showing you some of the goodness I got at Purl Soho!!

WIP: Kids Clothes Week Challenge

The Kids Clothes Week challenge started on Monday. I was ready, my fabric and patterns selected, my husband informed that I was about to disappear for the evening. All the stars were aligned for a wonderful start to my sewing and then...Grace posted a link on Facebook to My Sewing Circle.

If you're a knitter then you're familiar with Ravelry.  And if you're not Ravelry is a free social networking website. It is an organizational tool for fiber art aficionados including knitting, crocheting,spinning and weaving. Members can share projects, ideas and collections of yarn. And we all know that all knitters are collectors. So the amazing news is that we have My Sewing Circle for our sewing needs, isn't that great!!!!

The website was launched by Carrie and Mike. And they're adding new features to the website everyday so make sure to check it out. If you want to find me just look up imene in People. I am so excited!!

So my first night of sewing was spent on this awesome website, trying the different feature and looking up friends ;o)

So my challenge only started on Tuesday. I made a dress for Layla using this pattern and some Alexander Henry Apples and Pears in Blue. I now have to hem the dress and pray for some sunshine so Layla can wear it. I will try to convince my little princess to let me take a picture of her.

You can see what the other participants in the challenge are making here. Some of my favorites are:

1. Bleach Pen Flower Skirt, 2. Ladybug Sundress (Day 2), 3. leisurely, 4. Good as Gold Raglan

Jennifer just posted Leisurely a free dress pattern that is too cute and if you need inspiration Meg has a wonderful selection of beautiful patterns and tutorials on her blog.

The knitter's dream giveaway is still going on. Try your luck!!

I have to go, I want to hem this dress !

WIP and other things

I have one finished project and another one on the needles. I am getting motivation by my decision not to cast on anything until I am done with it.

The Baktus turned out as beautiful as I thought and I love the feel of it : soft and squishy. A little someone already claimed it for cold days.

I am also knitting a Little Dots for Layla with some Blue Sky Alpaca Worsted Cotton that I got locally here. If you're in the neighborhood you have to visit Angelfire Studios, it's such a warm welcoming store. Justine is the owner and she's an amazing woman. She just single handedly designed/photographed and cataloged all of her yarn and opened an online store.

Meg @ Elsie Marley has just started the most wonderful group ever: A Kids Clothes week! The rule is pretty simple for a week we have to sew kids clothes for an hour. It will be during the second week of May. You can cheer us on or just ooh and aahh here ;o)

It's exactly the nudge that I need to tackle all those patterns/fabric that I wanted to sew for my children. And if that wasn't a good enough of an excuse, you'll get motivated by the button it is soo cute.

I was awarded a Honest Scrap by the Clever Mommy. How cool is that!  I really love it when you take the time to comment or show your love for this little space of mine. The rule is that I have to share 10 things about me and pass on the love to 10 other blogs. I am working on it, more about it on Friday.

For now I'm gonna have to say bye and go cuddle a very mad little miss.

Work in Progress

A bit of this

A bit of that

And new things...

Slow and steady progress. What are you working on right now?

WIP Wednesday

The crafting mojo is back! I feel almost like dancing around in circles and howling to the moon. Maybe the secret was just to accept that sometimes it goes away.

That and some time spent visiting my good friends Deena, Lucy and Kate. I read many blogs (maybe a bit too many) but I know that these three will always have ideas that are sure to inspire me.

Here are some of the projects I finished over the past weeks.

A hat for Papa and one for the boys with the leftover yarn. Can you believe it's the first time I knit for Salim? He seems to really like it, he's been wearing it everyday and he's not a hat kind of guy. Maybe that or the freezing temperature we're experiencing.

A little hat for a very special little baby. I used the Garter Stitch Cloche pattern, I love the idea that he will get to use it until he is two.

Well that is if I can give it to him. Layla seems to love this hat. I tried giving her another one but can you guess which one she prefers.

Well this girl knows how to get her way!

I started a kimono jacket for Layla with a lovely shade of Cascade 220. I think I'm falling in love with this yarn.

And because Heather's yarn is very special to me, I am tempting a new type of project with it: a shawl. I am a little anxious about how it will turn out,it is out of my comfort zone . I'm hoping my increased level of energy will allow me to follow more complicated instructions...that or a lot of caffeine.

And last but not least, I saw this coat on Deena's blog and I had to make one for Layla. I ordered some fabric and I hope to get it done soon.

Birthday Party

 

Yes I did it!! I baked the cake and it was actually pretty good…well a bit lopsided, Salim nicknamed it the Pisa tower but I was really happy it worked out fine.

It didn’t come without some frustration and a bit of swearing but I am proud that Samy got his wish that Mama makes his birthday cake. I used this simple recipe with this frosting and fresh strawberries in between. So much for buying in season fruits and veggies but the birthday boy insisted.

The home baking was one of the steps I decided to take to make a simple birthday party. At home, surrounded with friends, entertained by me (until Papa has fully mastered his magic tricks). I had a ton of ideas fueled by this book and this one. But decided against implementing everything at once to avoid mommy burnout. I am well known for starting huge projects and finishing them with frayed nerves and exhausted. So this time I am taking it one step at a time.

We also used a birthday ring for the first time. We lit up the candles and explained the symbolism of each decoration and then sang happy birthday. I plan on writing a story to incorporate in our next celebrations.

 

Another new tradition is the birthday crown. I wanted to make one ever since I saw it on Soulemama’s blog. I used wool felt that I bought here. I didn’t know the difference between the wool felt and the polyester stuff but you need only to hold in your hands to know it is worth the money. It is so soft and the colors are so beautiful.

I downloaded the pattern from Skip to My Lou but mainly followed the step by step instructions of Nicole at Frontier Dreams.

Here’s about the details of the birthday making. For the rest the children enjoyed playing a pin-the-tail on the donkey game, red light-green light and most of all the bouncy house. We bought a bouncy house 2 years ago and it has become one of our favorite games if the weather gets really bad and the boys need to burn some energy.

These past weeks have been fun between Christmas, the New Year and Samy’s birthday but I am looking forward to a return to our normal rhythm and a day without deadlines.

Making

I had great plans of showing you everything I made for Christmas, I only overlooked one major detail. A very special boy is turning 5 in 2 days and Mama has a lot of things to finish off for him. I am drawing my inspiration and ideas from Michelle, Skip to my Lou, Grace and many others.

This year we will start a birthday tradition that I hope to carry into the next years and who knows maybe my children will too. So it all takes a lot of planning and making. I promise to share everything with you after the birthday party.

I have everything under control except one thing. The birthday cake!!! Samy requested that Mama “makes” it and he wants a chocolate one. Simple you would think…but I am not a baker, really I have the equivalent of a gardener’s black thumb but in baking. Despite my best efforts my cakes always come out lopsided , charred or undercooked. So if you have an idiot proof recipe, please send it to me and spare me the humiliation ;o)

Sew in Love

Most of my evenings right now are spent working on my Christmas gifts. Not that it is helping much because I can't really stay awake for a very long time but that's another story. Tonight after everyone was tucked in bed and I was ready to start working, I was tempted to change all of my plans. Can you imagine 9 days before the D-day...

It is absolutely not my fault but the blame should be put on Meg and Rashida. Seriously ladies!! You just made me want to start over all of my holiday gifts.

 

I was very luck to receive a preview copy of Meg McElwee's book "Sew Liberated" and  Rashida Coleman-Hale "I Love Patchwork".

Saying that I love books is a major understatement and when it comes to craft books it is way more than love. But as for all relationships the recipient must deserve the love he gets ;o) As my collection expanded I have become quite finicky about my new acquisitions. But these two are definitely worth  the money, they were on my wish list. In the interest of full disclosure, you have to know that I will never recommend something I would not buy myself.

"Sew Liberated" is the debut book of a very talented Mama , Blogger and an early childhood educator. Her blog is one my daily reads as she shares her creative endeavors, the everyday moments of her life and her knowledge as a Montessori educator.

The book features a set of sewing projects, each embellished with appliqué. The sewing skills range from beginner to advanced and you can also use the book as an inspiration to customize your own things.She managed to resurrect the art of appliqué in a very modern  creative style .What a wonderful way to use all of those scraps that we all keep just in case.

I found the instructions to be very clear even for an absolute beginner like myself. Full size patterns are included with the book which I find very useful. Seriously who likes to drag 3 kids to Kinko's to enlarge a pattern. Don't look at me!

Some of my favorite projects are:

• The jersey garden skirt

• The Blossom Blouse

• And the Camera Bag

I really love this book and highly recommend it.

My other love today is "I Love Patchwork". I personally find making a patchwork quilt quite intimidating but this book is about to change my mind on the subject. The projects included are very sophisticated and combine linen and print fabrics in the popular Zakka style. With the added benefit of being written in English ;o)

Zakka has been described as the "art of seeing the savvy in the ordinary and mundane" and Rashida sure transforms the simplest objects into art. With step by step directions and very  clear diagrams the projects are fun, functional and easy to master for beginners and intermediate sewers and quilters. She also offers tips on how to buy, work with and care for linen.

I personally have favorite projects:

• The button calendar. The boys were so excited about the advent calendar that I plan on making one to use for the rest of the year.

• The appliqué pillow

• And the cutest little lamb ever…

So after spending hours perusing those two beauties I will go back to my unfinished work with even more motivation. For one to see the joy of my little ones when the open the gifts mama makes and two because I will be able to start some new ones ;o)

If you can't wait to get your hands on these books, you can get a taste on Stitch magazine.. One projects from each book is featured:

• Meg's Baby quilt is available as free pattern here.
• Rashida's Travel Sewing Kit.

Or follow their blog tour.

Let the fun begin...

The house is decorated. The tree is up. Let the fun begin...

I will make plans.

I will dream.

I will not thrive for perfection.

I will enjoy the journey.

I will try to succeed.

I will have fun.

What are you making for the holidays?