Where does a cat or dog button live?

Where does a cat or dog button live?

When I put the dog buttons and cat buttons from the last post in my shop I had to think about two little houses I sewed for my kids last Christmas. They are like tiny fabric doll houses/ stables to carry along. Super cute! :-)

Maybe you are already looking for Christmas presents for some special kids in your life. After all, now is still enough time to actually make them. ;-)
(I usually have a LONG list of stuff I want to make … which never gets done in the end.*laugh*)

Sewn fabric doll house / stable by Ursula Markgraf

My kids got these fabric houses together with some dog and cat buttons. They then could choose which ones of the buttons they wanted on the houses – and where (in front of the door, on the roof, on the window sill). And I sewed the buttons on as they wished.

Sewn fabric doll house / stable by Ursula Markgraf

(The photos of the houses were taken before I had sewn on the cat and dog buttons.)

You can find the instructions for the fabric house on U.K. lass U.S.

Little disclaimer: As always all my buttons are handmade and one-of-a-kind. When they are gone, they are gone. Right now I only have 4 cat buttons available, 2 in the shop right now. Once all of those are sold there will not be new cat buttons until somtime next year. Just so noone ends up being sad. :-) 

And if you knit there is a supercute knitted take-along house on Fusselideen.

So, what will you be making for kids for Christmas?

 

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I did it again

I did it again

No, nothing bad. So no “ooops” ;-) I sewed another top for my daughter. It is another pattern by allerlieblichst called Karolinchen.

Genähtes Oberteil nach Schnittmuster Karolinchen / Sewn top

The sewing pattern is actually for a top that is a bit shorter – and I would have preferred to cut it that way. But my daughter did not want to hear about it. It had to stay long. *shrugging shoulder*

Genähtes Oberteil nach Schnittmuster Karolinchen / Sewn top

 I really love the fabric of the top part of the tunic.

Genähtes Oberteil nach Schnittmuster Karolinchen / Sewn topThe fabric of the bottom part is not really my favourite. But my daugher picked it – and she loves it. Oh well. She has to wear it after all. :-)

Genähtes Oberteil nach Schnittmuster Karolinchen / Sewn top I made the buttons especially for the dress. They did not quite turn out like I intended to. But the color matches the dress really well. *laugh*

The sewing pattern can be bought HERE(Sorry, in German only). Buttons can be bought in my store of course. ;-)

 
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P.S. Party happening tomorrow. 

Black + pink + lace = ?

Black + pink + lace = ?

Curious? 

I usually do not really like pink. But in combination with black it is somehow fun. I made this  top for my daughter and combined pink knit fabric, black corduroy and whitish lace. The sewing pattern I used is from the German pattern designer allerlieblichst and called Josefinchen.

josefinchen-ursula-markgraf-tunika-4

I have to admit – what I like best about this tunic top is that you can embellish it so well with handmade buttons. ;-) 

josefinchen-ursula-markgraf-tunika-3

The stamped heart button fits perfectly, doesn’t it? 

josefinchen-ursula-markgraf-tunika-6I am not too happy with my fabric choices however … To use a thick ribbed knit for a top that is gathered right above the tummy turned out to not be the best choice. No matter how slim the person wearing … it adds quite a thick layer and that somehow is not flattering. :-( But oh well – I learn from mistakes.

josefinchen-ursula-markgraf-tunika-7

And my daughter was not really that bothered by it.  It is still pretty awesome to run around in it. :-)

What do you think about pink?
Love it? Hate it? Depends? Leave me a comment!

 
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Fresh from the sewing machine … girl’s tunic

Fresh from the sewing machine … girl’s tunic

Finally I spent some quality time with my sewing machine again.  This time I made a tunic for my daughter. The pattern is called Evelinchen and it is from the German pattern designer  allerlieblichst. I even cut into some treasured cotton jersey (dark brown with flowers) for this top that I had ordered from the US quite some time ago. I think it looks great with the natural colored cotton jersey I used for  the rest.

evelinchen-ursula-markgraf-naehen-sewing

 Apparently the tunic is very well suited for running around in it. ;-) My girl had a good time shooting the photos. Very short time though as it was crazy cold! No wonder that she hardly stood still for a second. I was already freezing just looking at her – and I was wearing a thick coat.

Of course she also chose one of my handmade buttons – one of the stamped ones – and to make it a little extra-special I put it onto a little heart applique.

button-knopf-handgemacht-handmade-ursula-markgraf--evelinchen-2

 I am sure this was not the last tunic I made. Already have some other ideas in my head that I definitely have to try.

What have you sewn lately?

 
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Finally! The prettiest “first day of school” dress ever!!!

This is the dress I made for my daughter for her first day of school.
 

I was SO unbelieveably happy about how it turned out. MUCH better than I ever anticipated. 

My daughter had picked the pattern  (Elodie – by Farbenmix.) And this is actually only my “test sewing” cause I was so terrified to mess up the “good” fabric. 

So my daughter and I picked bits and pieces from leftover fabric … When I was cutting the pieces I was honestly a bit unsure whether this really was such a good idea … to put together the dress out of that many different pieces.

But with every seam I did I got more excited. I could not wait to finally see the whole dress.

And when I was done – WOW! If I would fit into it, I certainly would wear it. *laugh*

 

And because my daughter loved it as much as I did we decided that this would be the “real” dress, not just the test dress. :-) I am not really upset about this. Less work for me. :-) But now I have about 4m of perfectly fine fabric lying around … oh well … guess I will find something to do with it. ;-)

What do you think about the dress? Looking forward to your comments!

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Sighting Of the Very Rare Rabbit-Mouse

Have you ever wondered what a mouse with rabbit ears would look like?
Come on! You know that you want to know!
I can help you!
I have seen – AND photographed – the very rare and hardly ever seen rabbit-mouse!
Wanna see?

 

But  no laughing!!!
Or you might scare it away!
Or hurt its feelings.
Or my feelings for that matter  ….
So you are wondering how it comes that I get to see such a rare creature???
Really wanna know?
Sure?!
Well, get ready for some really stupid creativeness … on my part …
*
So it all started with this
Photo from Bustle and Sew
 
It is CUTE!!!
So yesterday we had such a nice sunshiny afternoon that I thought it would be stupid to spend it inside the flat behind the sewing machine.
Still I felt kinda like DOING something … with my hands … so I thought I might handsew a cute little mouse.
I even had some scraps from cut up fleece sweaters from the kids lying around … perfect!
While I cut out the pattern I got this STUPID weird strange tempting idea.
What if I could make a bunny instead of a mouse?
I just had spent the morning thinking about Easter presents for the kids. That might explain SOME of the weirdness of the idea. Not all. I know. Guess it is just me. 
So instead of following the pattern I started drafting some rabbit ears … and cutting them out …
I cut out the fabric pieces and spent a nice relaxing afternoon in the yard handsewing my softie-pincushion-thingy.
Everything was nice and peaceful.
Until I added the ears to the mouse rabbit!
That was when I realized changing the ears to rabbit ears will NOT make a rabbit.
It will make a mouse with rabbit ears! :-/
Yes, I know. You probably would have figured that right from the beginning …
Well, apparently I did not.
I was bummed. I did not know what to do.
I tried to make the face of the mouse rabbit a bit less pointy … but it still did not look like a rabbit.
I was thinking about undoing the ears … making them into mouse ears.
But somehow I could not do it. Do not know why.
So instead I finished up the ridiculous looking rabbit.
And that is how it happened that I got to photograph the rare rabbit-mouse. :-)
Well, I guess not all projects turn out well. And it was my own stupid fault.
To be honest – I feel kinda attached to the rabbit-mouse.
It kinda looks like it needs an extra-portion of love.
And the funny thing:
Little man – who instantly stole it away –
He LOVES EVERYTHING soft and cuddly! Seriously! He stole a tiny pillow I was making before I could even close the hole from turning!
recognized it as a RABBIT!
He looked at it and scrunched up his nose and made a sniffing noise. Which is his “word” for rabbit!
Yeah, he is not too talkative yet! ;-)
 Okay, then again he has just passed the stage where every four-legged animal is a dog.
Now there are cats in his world, too.
So MAYBE – just maybe – it could be that pretty much EVERYthing with long ears to him is a rabbit. But I chose not to think about that too much …
So I guess we are just gonna have a rabbit-mouse living with us from now on.
But the next one will be a mouse! Just a mouse!
So, have you messed up any crafting projects lately? ;-)