The Leiden BurdaStyle Sewing Club is for anyone who loves sewing and making their own creations, whether you are a beginner or want to hone specific skills. The emphasis will be on creating stylish clothes, and so we use the resources of the BurdaStyle website and magazines for patterns, ideas, themes and communication. We will meet twice monthly, in a friendly environment to chat, sew, discuss projects and share skills. We hope to bring in professionals sometimes to help with special issues, and welcome contributions from our members.

If you are living in the Leiden area in the Netherlands and would like to join our club, you can drop me a note using the contact form. You can also find us on Facebook. Our first meeting will be held on February 2nd, at 8 p.m. I hope to see you there!

When I was interviewed for the article, I was surprised about all the amazement: “You make your own clothes? How brilliant!” or “Wow, you belly dance too? That’s fantastic!” To me, my hobbies are quite ordinary… nothing special. I mean, sewing is trendy nowadays, but women (and men!) have been sewing for millenia. Same goes for belly dancing. But I guess they still fascinate

Click on the image below to read the full article:

Fast forward to about 10 days ago, when I read an article about a lovely cat-shaped pillow, with apparently the perfect ergonomic shape for hugging. As a self-confessed crazy cat lady, I immediately checked out their website, but to my utter disappointment, they don’t ship to the Netherlands!

What was I supposed to do, just forget about it?

Of course not: I just made my own.

The basic shape is quite easy to draw. I stayed close to the original design.

(I used old newspapers as I ran out of pattern tracing paper a while back… long live recycling!)

I cut the shape on muslin (for the pillow) and on the fabric I chose for the pillow cover, a velvety polyester/lycra mystery blend in a baby blue shade with scattered sparkles. I suffer from severe dust mites allergy, so I wanted to make sure I could remove the pillow cover to wash it.

Construction is really easy. First you need to assemble the muslin pieces, leaving a 15 cm opening to stuff the pillow. Trim the seam allowance, turn the pillow inside out. I used about 1,5 kg of polyester wadding, the quantity can vary depending on the size of your pillow. After your pillow is filled, close the opening with hand stitches.

Your next step is sewing the zipper on your pillow cover. Your zipper must be long enough to allow you to insert the pillow when you are done! My zipper was 35 cm, and thank goodness I had a super-stretchy fabric. So be careful and do not hesitate to use a long zipper, it will make your life easier! Use your favorite method for a flat zipper insertion. Then stitch the pillow cover pieces together. Trim sewing allowance, and turn inside out.

Insert pillow inside pillow cover and there you go! One lovely pillow, perfect for hugging!

My cat pillow is adult-size, but you can make it any size you want. Unless of course you are lucky enough to buy the real thing I think they could make great presents for cat lovers or for children, or just for anyone who wants a soft, comfy pillow to hug

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been busy preparing for the official launch of my business. I didn’t invite “le tout Leiden” for a vernissage or similar event, but I’ve let good friends know, as word-of-mouth (and social media) is quite effective for a start. Maybe when I’ll be famous, I can have my own exhibitions… hahaha let’s not get too excited, shall we?

I first had my new logo designed, then printed business cards and flyers. Being in business is serious business!

I’m still in the process of acquiring the necessary materials for group lessons (I miss the most important thing — a location!), but I am available for one-on-one private lessons for beginners. I’ve adopted “Spreading the joy of sewing” as my motto, because that’s exactly what I want to do: fun & simple projects to get started, and as we go along, discover the many possibilities sewing can unfold.

I am officially registered at the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (Kamer van Koophandel), so I can’t make it more official than this. Ok, maybe my own sewing studio in town would be the cherry on top! One day, if I’m rich…

If you have suggestions or comments (or if I missed a typo!), do not hesitate to contact me via the Contact form. I’d love to hear from you!

This new palette really get my creative juices flowing and I have several ideas popping into my mind, like a summer dress made out of the darker yellow fabric I bought last year:

To download the full report from Pantone, click here. The report website is definitely worth a look for inspiration!

So, what is your favorite color?

I was using craft felt as a fabric, and I thought it wouldn’t be resistant enough for my elves to walk on it all evening. So I thought I’d use some leather scraps leftover from the tools roll project a while back.

Obviously, if you are sewing leather, make sure you are using the right needle!

Then it’s a question of assembling the shoes, which is quite straightforward:

1. Sew the back heel seam.
2. Align the heel notch on the sole with the back seam and sew the sole to the shoe on both sides, up to the notch on the toe section.
3. Sew the remaining seam, closing the toe section and the top section of the shoe.

And ladies and gentlemen, we have an elf shoe!

To finish the shoes, I added some decorations that I glued in place with my glue gun. How you decorate your shoes is really up to you: ribbon, old x-mas decorations, bells. Use your imagination and creativity! And to make sure the toe section keeps its shape, I stuffed it with a bit of fiberfill (not shown on the picture below, however).

All in all, I think the pattern and tutorial I found were perfect for this project, and I highly recommend them if you want to make a similar piece of costume. It’s also ideal for Renaissance Faires or fairy tales costuming.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 7,500 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

In January, I couldn’t stop thinking about the summer to come. Interestingly enough, I actually used all the fabrics I bought that day! Often enough, my mind is full of ideas and I buy fabrics to match these ideas, but the reality of life and a busy schedule often prevents me from completing all these ideas.

March and April were by far the busiest months, with 8 sewing projects completed: from a bellydancing outfit, to a jacket, to several vintage-inspired dresses. The dresses were showcased in a photo shoot, an invitation from my photographer friend Rubi. Who would have ever thought I’d be a model some day?

The second half of 2011 was on the quiet side, with the amount of projects completed reduced to… 2! But it’s not about quantity, it’s about quality, right? I had the honor and privileged to make a wedding dress for an ex-colleague, which is always something very special. This project was the first that I drafted on my own, making muslins and all, and it turned out quite okay, methinks! And last but not least, I cannot forget my two elves, who went partying in style this x-mas.

All in all, 2011 was a fantastic year of sewing.

What’s in store for 2012? Several exciting projects, which I still cannot share for now But I’m sure I’m in for a fabulous year!

Dear friends, family, crafters, sewing enthusiasts and readers who stumbled upon my blog, thank you for your support in 2011 and best creative wishes for 2012!

Enjoy the slide show of “2011 Sewing Year in Review”!