My handmade business cards

Recently I run out of my business cards. So this time around I decided not to print new ones, but rather to make my own cards. All I needed was a stamp with my shop's name, url and e-mail (which I had custom made), nice thick paper and some washi tape. After a few hours of stamping my brand new handmade cards were ready.

Now I can make more of them whenever I want, plus I can change the design too if I get bored with the current one :) 

Isn't this little fox super cute?? I bought this stamp recently but unfortunately don't remember where from.  

Dreaming of summer...

The weather here is much much better. Although it's still cold. Especially in the evenings. But during the day the sun shines and the sky is blue. I'm dreaming of warmer days... I want to put my heavy clothes away. I can't wait to see Berlin all green again. It's a beautiful place to be.

In that spirit here are a few summer hats that either are already available, or will be listed in my etsy store soon.

What do you think?

Blue skirt

The project I was working on is finished!!! yaaaaay! Ok, it's been finished for some days now but I had no time to take photos and write about it until now. I am really proud of myself because this is the very first wearable garment I have made!! There were some dresses in the past but very simple ones. The kind you make with 2 rectangulars and an elastic thread.

This skirt have it all (for a beginner sewist like me that is). It has pockets, pleats, waistband and of course the most important... the zipper!! Zipper was always my biggest fear. I have sewed zipper pouches but never a garment. Thanks to Tasia's great tutorial I managed to do it without a single tear!! I did break the zipper foot in the process though, but I continued to sew with it anyway!

I used the pattern 104 A from the February 2010 issue of Burda Style magazine. This is the kind of skirt I usually like to wear. 

 

Because burda's sizes are often off for my kind of body, I made the first skirt a trial one out of some left overs I had in my stash. This trial skirt is a clear evidence of my OCD :) I just couldn't let it unfinished. In the beginning I was trying to figure out what to do. It just didn't work. ahmm... the problem was that I had not cut all the pieces of the pattern... I had forgotten the facing of the pockets. After I realize that, things moved a lot faster. Although I made a lot of mistakes and had to rip the whole thing twice I think. It wasn't pretty at all!! There were pieces of fabric and thread all over me. Including my hair! But hours later I had something that looked like a skirt!! I knew what I had to fix and what changes to do, so the skirt would fit me the way I wanted it to.
      

The fabric I used for the final skirt is a cotton linen blend in navy blue. It was in my stash for more than a year now and I've used it before to sew belt pouches for my etsy shop. It costed 1 euro per meter from my favorite discount fabric store in Athens. I bought more than 3 meters at the time. This fabric has a nice quality and is very easy to work with. For the openings of the pockets I used floral bias tape. I made the skirt in size 36 except for the waistband which is size 38. 


I must give a huuuuuge thanks to my dear friend Cristina, who helped me a loooot!! She answered of all my questions, doesn't matter how silly they were, with a great patience. 


I want to make more skirts with this pattern. 

Work in progress

I'm working on a project right now I really like!! It will be my (almost) first wearable piece :)

I'm cutting the fabric on my kitchen table.

My dear Polly in action :)
She had some problems last week,
but after a good service everything is as good as new again

Back with the result in a few days. Finger crossed :)

Open for business again!!

Hi everyone!!!! It's May already!! These days the weather here in Berlin was amazing. Mr. G and I got to go for walks and discover new places. Everything is so green and the city looks amazing!!

I have more news though. Today, after a long time, my second etsy store HappyMonstersLand is open!!! Ok it's just one monster for the moment but more will follow!!

Meet Betty!!

Every monster is handmade by me. I hope you like it!!! :)

My new yellow top

Here is my new light yellow pullover.

I started it back in August. It was packed away with all my yarns and I forgot all about it. I found it again while rearranging my stash and had to finish it. Most of it was already done anyway. It just needed the sleeves. 

The pattern is Buckwheat by one of my favorite designers Veera Välimäki. It was clearly written and easy to follow. The only thing I don't get is how my top looks around the neck. The short rows made it pops out. I'm not really sure if it suppose to be like that, or if I made a mistake. I bet the latter is the answer to that. I don't really care that much anyway. I like it as it is and I'm going to wear it! 

It was knitted with a double string of Malabrigo Yarn Lace, which makes the top super light and soft. The  color is Pollen. It's perfect for those chilly spring days we have right now here in Berlin.