Christmas Promotion Time!

Christmas for me means warmth and cosiness, peace, family, snow outside, candles , presents under a huge Christmas tree full of tiny lights....

To share this happiness with you I am offering a 10 % discount on all my purses and clutches in my zest4colour shop, from the 1st till the 31st of December .


Have a look ; perhaps you will find that special gift for a friend, a loved one or simply yourself: a clutch or purse to complement your outfit .
Indulge yourself.
Kristien

Overlock Joy

I have a new toy!
Have a look at my new overlock machine.

How did I ever manage without it?
Together with my sewing machine, this makes sewing life so much easier.
It opens a whole new world of sewing opportunities.
As a trial I made some pajama pants, completely with my overlocker. The overlocker sews and cuts at the same time, giving you a neat, professional result. You save a lot of time: in one go you sew and finish the edges.

This is also the perfect tool to make your own silk scarves.

You will never achieve this result with your sewing machine.
I am over the moon.
Kristien

A Reed Case Cover

Mr. Musketeer plays the bassoon.
He bought himself a lovely wooden reed case.

I suggested to make a cover to protect  the wood. He agreed!
So here is the custom made reed case cover:

 

I used a pale grey-beige linen together with a lovely contrasting cotton. This is a limited edition printed cotton from Liberty Art fabrics for the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

On the back my Bernina sewingmachine embroidered a bassoon for me. Look how gorgeous:

 

The lining is a beautiful olive green cotton with delicate fine darker stripes. This is a fabric from the wee woodland collection by Keiki for Moda. To close the case I used simple black Velcro.

If you would like a similar case to cover something you would like to protect, let me know. 

It can be custom made for you.

My Cosmo Bag

I convinced myself I needed another bag.
In fact I did need one to keep my knitting work neat and tidy.
But to be honest , I only wanted to try one of the patterns of the new Amy Butler book.

This is a great book!:
Hardcover-spiral (important if you handle it a lot); high quality , thick paper; stylish design; beautiful pictures.
Clear written instructions and drawings, though sometimes a photo would tell more.

Therefore if you are new to bagmaking,  this is perhaps not the book to start with.
The pattern pieces fit perfectly together. Everything falls into place.
I tried the Cosmo Bag project.
Some pictures:

I used Marilyn - Blue from the Dolce collection by Tania Whelan as outer fabric; a striking matching linen for the lining; the handles and buttonloop are a lovely cotton from the Liberty Art range, made for the Victoria&Albert museum in London; limited collection.

I added purse feet to protect the bottom fabric.
I used a stronger interfacing (Vilene S320) for the bands and handles, to make them less floppy.
To give the bag body more volume I ironed a fusible fleece on top of the advised  interfacing.
I finished with a contrasting button; not the suggested covered button. For me, this one has more character.
I am really pleased with my bag.
What do you think of it?

Colour makes me happy.

Even on a foggy, dark day like this, there are jewels in the garden screaming for attention with their rich, warm autumn colours.
Look what we have in our garden now:

Such a delicious apple!

Over the weekend I was preparing a red cabbage for dinner together with lots of these juicy apples from the garden.

I have to say, a red cabbage is not the most attractive, exciting veggie in vegetable-land . But look what you get when your small slices are immersed in water:

 At once you have a beautiful purple-blue water. I always feel sorry when it disappears down the drain.

Colour does make you happy , isn´t it?
Kristien