Pattern: Miss Dish & Mr Spoon by Happy Together (free)
Fabric/Material: fleece and scraps of fabric. I’ve had the striped jersey for almost 10 years!
For: myself…for now.

I started off with a round Miss Dish, but somehow she ended up oval! It was quite hard to stitch through all the materials, the walking foot did help, but it was still a challenge. Also, I didn’t have black fleece and wanted to keep them washable plushes (hence not add any felt), but I’m really pleased how the dark gray eyes (and the ‘eyeliner’) worked out :).

I thought about giving Miss Dish & Mr Spoon away, but they make me smile everytime I see them, so I’ll hold on to them for a little bit :).

Pattern: Well… I saw this picture on the internet and used that as a reference :$
Fabric/Material: scraps of fabric and felt and a bit of stuffing
For: a friend in need :)

Not my cleanest work, but quite happy with the result :) The only thing that keeps bugging me, is; is this a birdie or another owl?

Project: Small alterations for Dress for Success, where I volunteer as a tailor (a.o.). This time: fixing 2 broken zippers in designer skirts.
Garments: a $248 designer skirt and a $298 designer skirt (!!)
Repair cost: $5,48 (2 new blind zippers)
For: Dress for Success
A first: adding blind zippers!
Another first: Ripping $300 designer skirts apart ;)

After leaving the American Red Cross and looking out for new volunteer work, I came across Dress for Success. It’s “the mission of Dress for Success [...] to promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.”

I attended the orientation meeting and felt extremely inspired and empowered to join this beautiful cause! I’m still in the process of getting to know the company and finding my spot, but so far it has been great! During the orientation I let slip that I can sew…and now I’m in charge of the alterations (I secretly call myself a tailor already ;)). It’s just a few pieces a month that have a ripped seam, missing button or broken zipper.

This week I finished my first batch of alterations. It was a bit daunting, because 1) those are expensive skirts! and 2) I had never sewn in a blind zipper before…but I really enjoyed doing it! And I’m pretty pleased with how it worked out :). I had to sew the lining back in by hand, which was quite a bit of work, but I guess that’s what makes it couture, right? :)

Here’s some pictures :) I unfortunately forgot to take a proper before picture of skirt 2 :-/. If you don’t see much of a difference between the before and after pictures, I’ve done well!

Skirt 1

Skirt 2

Pattern/Tutorial: Retro Mama – Home for Holidays
Cost: scraps, so no calculable cost
Fabric: scraps!
For: my Oma (grandma)

After seeing Retro Mama’s tutorial, I couldn’t resist making Oma a couple of houses. The little houses represent the houses of her sister († 2010), her 3 daughters and herself :).

Needless to say it took me quite some hours (especially making decisions about the fabric combinations!), but I really enjoyed making them :). I think I’ll make myself some as well -I’m still debating if the houses are gonna represent something- and will fill them with lavender to hang between my clothes :).