Sewing and gardening

Hi everyone!

Spring is finally in full swing here and that means some minimal sewing time – at least until garden stuff gets all started and done. Same with you?

So today, some lovely garden photos first:

• my pride and joy – Golden chain tree in full bloom! I ordered this one when we bought this house, from a catalog (!?! – yes, I didn’t know much then…) and it came as a 2 ft stick! My husband predicted it will be a tree when we are in nursing home, haha!! But look at it now…

The blooms are simply gorgeous – here is a close-up shot:

Much added joy these days is when our two granddaughters join us in the garden – there is simply nothing better! This time, Deda (Serbian for grandpa) had a special treat for them – a nest with EIGHT baby bunnies! We were all very careful not to disturb them and we also learned WHY you can not take them and pet them and all that… 🙂 But it was exciting to see them, talk about their eyes not open yet, see mama bunny come to feed them…

Of course two resident pawesome managers are also happy to “help” in gardening work … or NOT! They do love to lounge on (originally) Charley’s bed (now Tesla kitty thinks it is all hers…) and supervise all we are doing.

…or share some kisses in the garden! These two are such a joy to watch growing together!

Spring of course also brings some rain, and my favorite pleasure is to go out after the rain and capture some magic of rain drops…

Hubby’s orchard is doing well too – flowering fruit trees are just so beautiful! The simplicity of the flowers always gets me – they are so gorgeous!

Here are some quince blossoms…

…apple blossoms,

…pears in bloom…

..and a peach too!

Had enough garden inspirations? 🙂

Little time I did have to sew, the mission was all about MAGICAL DRESSES…

Unicorn dress to be exact, for my, all-about-unicorns birthday girl, Juliana. The theme of her birthday party was Unicorns, many presents too and of course this Bai (that would be me, Juliana’s original for me as grandma), had to make a very special Unicorn dress!

This was the inspiration we found on Pinterest: (sorry for the bad photo, just a screen shot…)

I decided to use this lovely Elodie pattern from Violette Field Threads for the top of the dress (giving me a perfect shape and that sheer bodice top). Skirt is a full circle with gathered tulle overlay and then three flounces on top (those required some trial and error, but it worked at the end!

I had the best help ever! <3 <3 <3

I improvised on the horn and eyes (not bad, huh?) by using a gold ribbon with a fusible on the back. For all the flowers – a small silk flower arrangement from Hobby Lobby did the trick! – found it on sale and simply cut off as many flowers as I needed, right at the base of the flower – the colors were just perfect!! I first glued them in place and then hand sewed them to make sure they withstand all the movement and play.

Goodness, it was SO MUCH FUN to make this!!

But the real reward – the moment your heart swells like a big balloon, it’s this:

Isn’t this the most beautiful Unicorn princess you have ever seen?! <3 <3 <3 

(ps – the crocs are with unicorns too – haha!)

I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love making things for our two little girls! And there is so much more to make…

Like a Purple Princess dress just for play!

Or a Rarity (My Little Pony) dress for her older cousin Hailey:

Both of these are what’s known as Crochet elastic tutu dresses – if you just search for that, you will find tons of ideas and tutorials and even if you never made a dress in your life – you can do this!! Because, guess what – it is almost completely a NO SEW project!! Seriously!

The only reason I say”almost” is because I decided to add the shoulder accents and sewed (by hand) little snaps on the back for those, for easy on and off. If you need any more information about these – just let me know in the comments, I will be happy to help!

Now, I did NOT forget all about quilting my friends! Definitely not!! Have few projects in the making and promise to share soon!

Also, starting to make some YouTube tutorials is what I am thinking to do… what do you think?

Anything in particular you are interested in?

My first idea was to do my complete Beginner’s Quilting class – one I was and am teaching locally with lots of great reviews (if I may say so) as a series of You Tube videos. What do you think?

In general – what would be your list of tutorials you would want to find on internet? Is it more an interesting project or a specific technique that can then be applied to many projects? Or little bit of both?

I do have a list growing and currently am compiling some more technical knowledge and tools to do this – soon!!

In the meantime – enjoy warm weather and all the joys it brings,

Love,

Marija