Sneak peak

This is how my table looked earlier this week! Yes it was the start of my clothes making course!!

And I learned how to sew with a double needle on an over-lock machine! I could not believe my luck and was jumping out of excitement when I realised that is how I was supposed to sew my garment!

Also there has been a little bit of embroidery going on here...

Some stitching for a gift and some samples for new patterns that are coming out soon! Really exited about that... what do you think of my colour scheme?

Linking up to WIP Wednesdays over at Freshly Pieced... and looking forward to having a sneak peak at what you have been up to this week too!

Craft supplies Luxembourg and around!

One of the things that always puzzles me is how difficult it seems, I guess due to the language barrier, to find the shops I need around here (that is Luxembourg, of course). So one of my crafty friends put together a while ago a map on Google with all the shops she knew. And I have been using it A LOT to find new things I like and to let my creativity fly!!

View Craft Supplies in and Around Luxembourg in a larger map

And lately I have got to know many more local crafty friends, and so this is my little contribution to all of you around that are asking yourself where can I go get my supplies?? I will hope to update it every time I find a new shop or I know of any changes, and please do tell back if you find somewhere nice that I should add here...

In the meantime here's a few of the shops in the list that I generally go to (click on each name for a link to the shop's web-site when available):

• Bastel Kiste & Stoffe - Located near Bvd. de la Petrusse on the other side of the valley in the City of Luxembourg. This shop has everything for the crafter. From pottery, painting to a huge selection of quilting fabrics and notions as well as some dressmaking fabrics. Also they stock a nice selection of yarns. On the pricey side but very handy as they have everything!
• Wollbuttek - in the Vieie Ville. They stock a great selection of Lana Grossa yarn. The place has beautiful yarn and it is my favourite yarn shop in Luxembourg. Again you won't find the stuff for a on the budget project!
• Veritas - on Ave. de la Gare as well as the new shop in the Belle Etoile shopping centre (Bertrange). It is half an accessories shop/ half a notions supply shop for sewing,knitting and jewellery making. Although the set up is very strange to me, they have nice stuff, love their beads, buttons selection. They have yarn on the cheaper side as well. 
• Cactus Hobbi (Belle Etoile) - In the DIY section of the supermarket there are lots of crafty items on sale, lots of paints, paper craft items and even some yarn! Also in the clothes section there is a sewing aisle with lots of handy notions.
• Knode Senc - It is a home appliances retailer and the official Singer retailer in the city of Luxembourg. They sell accessories and service machines as well. 
• Mercerie Le Fil Dore - A really handy shop in the centre of Luxembourg Ville. They have lots of notions and a friendly service! 
• Stoff-Ideen Trier - Recently learnt about this shop and I am so glad I did! Has an interesting selection of fabrics, of every type and need. From quilting cottons to flannel and lace! In the centre of Trier, so although not really Luxembourg, it is a short distance away!
• Ava - or lets call it paper heaven! I love this shop, both the Luxembourg and Messancy store! They have all paper related items, from stationery to kitchenware. And I always seem to find something useful around there! Great for decoupage lovers!

I am aiming to update this list regularly as I find shops around that call my attention and find useful! And of course, if you are around the area and know of a shop we can add to the list, I will be very happy to check it out and add it here!

A new table runner

A while back I posted about receiving some ribbons from the lovely Julie at The Ribbon Jar and now I am introducing you my second project using the most amazing Italian Passamano ribbon. I was inspired to feature the ribbon as the main design item in the project... sometimes we use ribbon as a trim, a little hidden detail, etc but not this time... and voilà this is what I came up with!

So want to know how I made it?

I started with a few yards of the lovely Passamano in bright colours... (sorry I have some dotted ping ribbon in the picture as well, but that one was not used in this project!).

Then I found some inexpensive linen (yes of course at Ikea). It is a mixture between linen and burlap I would say and it looks really rustic and just what I wanted. 

Step 1: Cut the linen to your desired size for the table runner + .5 inch length and width for sewing allowance. Mine was 90 x 50 cm.

Step 2: Start playing with the ribbon, and pin it down when you like the way it looks. I went for lines that cross one another and a few that also bent. I looked modern and funky to me, but you can let your imagination fly, this ribbon twists so nicely!

And keep on going, cutting and adding until it looks finished to you... mine looked like this:

Step 3: With a basting stitch (I hand sew mine to make sure it stayed where I wanted it to) sew all your ribbon down to to fabric. You could go straight to the sewing machine but I found it easier to have the ribbon already stitched before I started with my machine.

Step 4: Then I did go to the sewing machine (little helper included) and sewed the ribbon down. I used a matching thread for each ribbon and sewed on both sides very near the edge.

For the crossing points, I basically jumped (lifted the needle and moved the fabric across) to where the other side of the crossing. then just cut and hide the threads. Like this:

When I finished it looked like this:

And a few close up shots of the corners... they are just so pretty I can't help myself.

Step 5: To finish I cut another piece of linen and simply sew both pieces right sides together leaving a little opening to turn inside out and finished with a row of stitching 1/2 inch (1cm) from the border.

Hope you liked the project and it inspires you to create something new!

Interviewed!

I have been interviewed by CLEW (Calling Luxembourg Expat Women), an on-line magazine in Luxembourg! Click here for a link to the interview.



The column is called Lets Create, in which each month, Miranda van den heuvel talks to creative people in Luxembourg and says "look, Luxembourg is creative! Here's how and where!"



It was a pleasure to take part in the interview, it was fun to think of the answers and most of all flattering to be called a creative person! Thank you Miranda!!

Crochet mornings

So a little bit ago I invited a few of my friends to learn to crochet... we just bought some yarn and embarked on the adventure, me of teaching them of learning. We decided we would make squares each class that will then eventually will turn into a charity blanket...

We just love it so much, spending our Friday mornings chatting and making pretty squares... here a few snapshots of our adventure so far!

And here a few of the things I am working on for the upcoming classes...





Some of the patterns are from different sources, and a few are just adaptations of my own based on the skills we want to practise. Do you go to any crafting group? I would love to know.