Luca

Christmas is nearing and I haven't done any crafting... Yes, it's very unlike me but I do have an acceptable excuse this time!

On the 14th of October Steve and I became the proud parents of my best piece of crafting so far, a little baby boy who goes by the the name of Luca.

He's the cutest thing ever and we're so happy to add him to our little family.

Needless to say I haven't been bored over the past two months and he's left me little to no time for any creative stuff.

This doesn't mean I'm over the whole crafting business! I hope to find some time in the near future to start sewing and crafting again.
My head is already exploding with new ideas and I can't wait to get started.

My apologies once again for my absence, I promise to be back very soon. In the mean time, happy crafting to all of you!

Ahoy pirate!

Ahoy pirates! I'm back... My excuses for my resent absence. The tummy is getting bigger by the day and my energy level has reached rock bottom. We're impatiently awaiting our little one and we are so excited!

Although I do admit I have taken it pretty slowly over the last few months, it's not like I haven't done anything. I've been sewing some little trousers, and tops but the piece I'm most proud of is most definitely this one :

 

My little one's first jacket! Yes, I know, I've made it a bit prematurely (it's a size 3 to 4 years) but I thought it would probably be the age a kid enjoys a pirate outfit most...

I bought the e-pattern from Biglittle, an Etsy shop. The pattern is well explained and has lots of pictures. The jacket was a little time consuming due to the many small pieces of felt which needed to be hand stitched or embroidered on the jacket but I absolutely love the result.

The treasure map as well as the loot bag are detachable as they are stitched on with snap buttons, just to help with treasure hunting of course!

I also love the dagger on the front side and the pirate flag at the back, just like a real pirate!

The finishing touch are definitely the pirate buttons which I found by accident on a fleamarket (15 hand painted pirate buttons for 3 euros). You might notice that the button holes aren't finished yet... This is because I'm working on my mums sewing machine currently. I'd rather make them on my own machine as I'm more familiar with it so I'm waiting to return home to finish the job...

Captain Jack, eat your heart out!

Oh Romée!

So many ideas, so little time... It's probably every crafter's nightmare but I just never seem to have enough time to accomplish all my projects. 
With only 5 weeks to go in pregnancy time starts to seems to fly by and my list of projects seems to grow by the day (I might need a second sleeping bag and even another one in a larger size, and what about a summer version? You see what I mean!).
As I love the design so much I decided on making another Romée romper. I realized I had a matching cardigan which makes the outfit extra cute.

                                 Cute or what?

Pimp my bouncer

6 weeks to go and just moving becomes more and more difficult...
With temperatures rising well above 30 degrees last week here in Belgium,  nights are becoming increasingly uncomfortable.

It doesn't stop me from doing any crafting though and I've been very busy this week with an exciting new project... I pimped my second hand baby bouncer! 

I found a second hand Baby Bjorn bouncer in pretty good condition. Well, the frame of the bouncer was in very good condition however I thought the cover of the seat to look a little washed.

I decided on using Ikea heavy weight upholstery cotton as it's very strong and cheap. They have quite a wide selection of designs and colors. I chose a dark grey cotton for one side and a white and black children design cotton for the other side.

 I started off by washing and tumble drying the fabric. As it's a baby seat I just wanted to make sure I'd be able to wash it properly to remove possible stains. I simply drafted the pattern by placing the existing cover flat on top of my pattern paper and tracing it. I also used extra strong thread to ensure the cover can hold a 2 year old's weight, just like the original one.
The cover as well as the pants part (not sure what to name it!) is reversible so you can basically use both sides to your liking...

 Someone will be bouncing like crazy soon!

Little Romée

Hi there! My name is Romée Citronille...

 Little Romée is so cute! He is grey with dogs and looks very vintage. He has 2 cute red buttons on the shoulders and push buttons make it easier to change a nappy. And check out his new matching cardigan... 

                     No doubt he'll break many hearts!

One night in Paris sleeping bag

In need of another sleeping bag I picked up this Michael Miller fabric from my stash... It's the same Pomme pattern I used for the first sleeping bag I made, which I also made in Michael Miller fabric.

                         Sweet dreams little one!

From shabby to...chic (chest of drawers makeover)

Babies are expensive... There's no denying it! Up until a few months ago I had no clue that a jacket for a 3 month old can buy you a week's worth of groceries... 
Not that that's what I would pay... Natty thrifting queen has been busy checking out every possibility on saving money, without giving in on quality.

First of all I checked out our local classified. It's amazing what you can find on there... I have to admit it can be quite a frustrating business but with a some patience and a bit of luck you can find really nice stuff. I found a baby bed and changing table as well as a baby swing , all in very good condition, for a fraction of the retail price.

I also discovered a few amazing second hand hand baby clothes shops in Brussels. And I'm not talking Salvation Army... Some shops sell very nice brands like Jacadi, Gold Belgium, Bonpoint....
Of course I also make quite a bit myself!

And today I did some furniture upscaling... We had some old drawers in our guest bedroom, furniture we received from my husband's company years ago. It was quite ugly to be honest, not even in real wood I think. The drawers were still in quite good condition though and I thought it would be a shame to get rid of it. I especially didn't want to splurge on expensive new furniture.

The drawers were ideal though for a good old fashioned make over. I mean, what is there to loose if something does go wrong?
We, actually my dad started off by giving the whole chest a nice white coat. I would have loved to do it myself but figured it was probably not the good to get in contact with paint, being pregnant... Anyway, I found these cute blue doorknobs in Zara Home which I thought looked very nice against the white background. In the craft shop I found wooden templates which I painted and varnished and stuck on the middle drawer. 

                      Now let's start on the second one...

Petit Gaspard

12 weeks to go! Yes, D-day is approaching and even though I can't wait to hold my little one in my arms, it's becoming harder by the day to ignore those upcoming labor pains.... As much as I try to be in denial, it's coming closer and the fear is mounting!

"Don't think about it, just sew like your life depends on it" is my motto... I took this quite literally and have been pretty busy over the past few weeks.

Petit Gaspard is my latest project. Yet another Citronille pattern but definitely one of my favorites. Assuming my baby boy will be as crazy about blue as my beloved husband is (I swear, about 98% of his closet exists of a wide spectrum of blues!) I made the cutest blue cotton romper.

I immediately fell in love with this vintage style romper. I also had the perfect fabric in my stash for these cute trousers with attached bib. In New York's B&J fabrics I found this beautiful cotton fabric and hoping that one day I could turn it into something cute for my own little munckin...

I used blue rickrack to finish the edges around the bib, 3 push buttons make it easier to change a nappy...

 

 

           
                           See you soon buddy!

Goodnight Mouse

Yipie! My very first Etsy purchase has arrived... I'm overexcited about this gorgeous newborn pilot hat from Goodnight Mouse... 

The hat is made out of 80% merino wool and 20% mohair so it'll be nice and warm for winter time. 

          My little one will look exactly like his pilot daddy!

Marvelous Meg

Good morning July! Summer holidays have officially started and even though there's not a ray of sunshine to be spotted outside you can feel the vacation vibe in the air. A slightly higher temperature would probably fit the picture better but what can you do...

So my next dress isn't a your typical sundress (I wouldn't fit in it anyway...) but a nice mid season baby doll type LBD.

I've always been very fond of baby doll dresses. I find them very wearable as well as versatile (in winter time I wear them with tights, in summer bear legged or with leggings). At the moment they even serve as maternity wear (about the only kind of dresses I still fit into).

This dress is (again) a Citronille pattern. This Meg dress is so adorable and comfy I think I might try it out in another fabric.
This time I have to admit I had to fiddle slightly with the sleeves. I don't know whether I did something wrong or whether it was the pattern but the sleeves wouldn't match up for some reason (most probably it was me!). Anyway, thanks to my best friend the seam ripper and lots of patients I did manage to sort the problem out...

In the photo the seam doesn't seem to be straight but it's just my growing tummy...

Pregnancy and beyond jumpsuit

My darling husband gave me this beautiful Hatch collection jumpsuit for my birthday last April. Hatch collection have a trendy selection of clothes for pregnant and not so pregnant fashionistas. I received the silk jumper in mint green. I totally love it!

The jumpsuit is so comfortable it inspired me to make my own version. As the pattern basically only exist out of 2 pieces it was pretty simple to copy. I choose a coral lightweight cotton, for comfort as well as easy maintenance. The front opens with a little hook and the jumpsuit is large enough around the tummy to be worn throughout pregnancy. Afterwards I think it might look nice with a belt...