Today is the day for the first of hopefully many to come joint projects I'm going to host with my friend Cherry from the Cherry Menlove blog.

Normally I'm up at 6:00 to do my 100 push ups and my run around town but as I'm not a normal human being I was sleeping like a baby around that time. But someone called Cherry actually managed to blog a post at 6:00 this morning - that mad woman. So sorry, but I'm a little bit later.

Our first project is an easter bunny egg cozy and you can download the template here.

You can also find this template on Cherry's blog and you can, and should, join the Flickr group because we'd love to see what your cozy is going to look like.

I'm still going to make three more of these for my easter brunch table. And this is the little trick I've done with the ears. Cut the ears slightly bigger (about a centimeter) and stitch them inside out and turn and put them in sideways. Enjoy!

Oh and Marné do you spot the eggcup?

I promised so many times (via e-mail) to show how I go about my table stapling - it seems, one of my great pastimes.

So here we go.

These are the tools you need:

oilcloth
stapler
staples
measuring tape
scissors

Also a cloth surface is a must for easy sliding when stapling small objects.

This is what my table looked like before. It's an INGO table from Ikea. I didn't paint the surface because I'm going to cover that with oilcloth

Cut the oilcloth so that you have a couple of centimeters to spare on all sizes. First staple all ends with just a single staple to make things easier. Don't forget to pull it really, really tight.

Finnish stapling all around the table. Thanks to Bo for professionally showing us how to do this.

And here's the result, aaaaaah - Boxed Letter Cushions A for sale in the shop.

Just quickly want to let you know that Boxed Letter Cushions T, I & L are for sale in the shop.

And for those who bought the Skruvsta pattern or are thinking about it, I've started a Flickr group. I'd love to see your finished projects. Thanks!

I have been working on a few things for the Etsy Shop, things I actually made for myself during Christmas and enjoy so much that I'd like to share them with you.

First there are the Boxed Letter Cushions I've made. I love letters and cushions so this is a perfect blend. I've been working on simple letters only but I'll be working on round letters in the next month. I actually made a big Y for on my bed and snuggle on it when I watch TV before I go to sleep. The Boxed Letter Cushions will be for sale in the shop on Monday the 28th.

Second are the Scented Teacup Lights I've made for Christmas gifts. They're all vintage (used) teacups and come with rose scented candles in a lovely box wrapped in my favorite wrapping paper. They are for sale right now in the shop.

Have a lovely weekend!

I'm officially ready for Christmas but Christmas isn't officially ready for me. The Dutch celebrate Sinterklaas on the 5th of December so it's rather a crime to put up any Christmas decorations before the 5th.

So lovely Jenny made me happy with her elf clog pattern because that keeps me occupied and kind of distracts me from the boxes in the attic that softly whisper my name ... Yvonne ...Yvonne ... Yvonne!! It's dreadful and I don't understand why I'm so influenced by the outside world and why I let other people boss me around about what or what not to decorate and most importantly when I decorate. It must be a tradition that's stuck somewhere in my genetic gene ... DO NOT decorate before the 5th of December because you'll cause a terrible epidemic of a horrible virus to spread the nation - Chrismasporadoxion perhaps???

I'm going loopy but that happens if you know that true Christmas people already have four trees up while I'm stuck with some ornaments in the chandelier and two wrapped presents - that are not even for me!!

So thank you Jenny for giving me something to do and for this lovely, lovely pattern. You also must check out the Elf Clog Flickr group it's fun!!

Tablecloth fabric
Wrapping paper and bows

Hold your e-mail!

Just a quick post to let you know that you'll be able to buy the Skruvsta pattern after the weekend. I've found a way to get it on paper. I only need to get it under a mega copier and write the instructions, I'll be doing that this weekend.

Have a good one :o)

Update!

The pattern is now available in the shop (there's also a little button in the menu). Sorry about the price raise but with the USD being so low and the Euro so high I really have no option, I hope you understand.

Here's some news about the a long waited slipcover pattern for the Ikea Skruvsta chair I've made many moons ago. I'm not such a pattern girl. I always make something that fits the object and forget to actually make a pattern. But after I literally withhold someone to go to the Ikea because I wouldn't give her the pattern and about a dozen e-mails later I decided to rip my cover appart and make a pattern.

The only way I can give you this pattern is to make a fabric pattern. I'm not sure if all Skruvsta chairs are identical so by making a fabric pattern you can stitch it first, fit it and if necessary make alterations before you make one with the actual fabric. I first want to check how many people are actually interested, now that I ask money for the pattern, before I start taking orders.

What you get for $15

• one white fabric pattern fit to size
• sewing instructions
• worldwide postage (most expensive)

Please leave a comment if you're interested or despertly want one or send me and e-mail. By the end of this week I'll decide if I go for it.

I can't believe how the prices change so much per country for this little chair. In the UK $181, in the US it's $129, in Sweden $106 and in The Netherlands we just pay $97. And it's not even a comfortable chair and if you spin too hard the seat comes off - already happened in my house. But it's a great decoration piece, a great chair if you're short in seating (just tell your guests not to spin) and it's such a nice alternative for a desk chair.

I'm looking forward to your comments.

For those who haven't noticed, the R is back in the month. That post reminds me I should plant my bulbs for spring!

I so love this time of year. There's nothing better to dress to get warm as to undress to get cold. I've been wearing my Uggs again for a week now and it feels so good. I'm taking long bike rides twice a week and I love how the trees change color and the fallen branches and leaves on the cycle path. I love mittens, scarves, hats and the tits (as in birds, not my tits because that would be crazy, cold and a neighborhood scandal) in the garden.

Anyway let's get to the topic of this post and that's Amy Butler and her cute Gum Drop Pillows. A couple of weeks ago I bought the Gum Drop Pillows pattern but I've been laying it aside not really knowing if I was ever going to make one at all because I honestly do not need any more pillows or cushions in my home. But today I decided to make one just for kicks and I absolutely love them. I need more. I made a small one (the pattern includes a large and a small version) but I also need a large one. I need one for in the bedroom, one for in the new guest room and I might as well make one for all the rooms in the house because they are fantastic! I definitely want to make one with Amy fabric.

For this one I used left over material from the pet bed.

I'm going to make some of her floor pillows too to mix and match. I'm off to find some Amy fabric!!

I've started all kinds of odd jobs in and around the house because I really need to get my mind of our current pet situation, it's grim people!

One of them is this roman blind I've made for our indoor patio. When we moved to this house I quite quickly decided not to use expensive fabric for curtains because we have massive windows and really high ceilings. I only splurged on fabric for the dining room curtains because my mother agreed to partial fund the fabric towards a birthday present (she's good at that). I tried to find affordable fabric for the rest of the house. I'm still pleased with my choices. For the living room I picked white linen curtains from Ikea and for the kitchen and indoor patio I picked cheap cotton red/white gingham fabric.

To add some color and to hide the white pencil pleat curtain heading tape (I didn't line the curtains) I made this wee roman blind of the same print I wallpapered on my kitchen walls.

I used the guidelines in this book by Katrin Cargill. It's a lovely book and extremely useful. There are so many wonderful projects in this book you immediately want to do. I feel so tempted to make my own eiderdown for the attic guestroom we are working on. It's really a "aarrggh, where can I put 50 million cushions because they are all so cute in this book" book. Anyway I've made it the book of the month and you can buy it in my aStore.

I'm so sorry for not updating my blog a little more frequent but I'm busy getting used to some changes in my life. Since a couple of days we have a teeny tiny blue chow living with us called Mona and she has changed the way I go about my day entirely.

Being a single married woman (SMW) I spend a lot of time on my own during the day. This makes me very selfish. I can watch the telly, go shopping, play computer games, eat and sleep whenever I want and never really have to worry about someone else. During the hours when the Bo is home he perfectly blends in with the way I live and that's been working great for the past nine years. To be honest, I find it difficult but I'm trying hard to adjust. Am I the only one here or is this normal for first time dog owners?

I'm really happy Mona sort of gets along with the Boo (they sniffed each other today without the Boo slapping Mona - yay!) and that they give each other space. The Boo's favorite spot in the house is our bed so I actually think she's having a ball now I've moved her food upstairs, there's no good reason to come downstairs at all!

With new pets, new furniture comes along. Not being a lover of tartan, corduroy, canvas and Muppet skin I turned to my sewing room and whipped up this pet bed for Mona and Boo - I hope they are going to share eventually.

I've made a beanbag kind of base for the pet bed from white cotton duck because it's strong and also my favourite fabric to work with. I stuffed it with EPS (expanded polystyrene) pearls and made a separate slipcover of Cath Kidston fabric I can take off and put in the washer. I also made another cover from a darker fabric for in the car, to take with me on holidays or when she's going on a sleepover.

I'm willing to take custom orders for these pet beds. As they are super lightweight I can ship them quite reasonably. Just drop me a note with your wishes (size and fabric) and I'll send you a quote.

A BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO SENT ME LOVE MAIL, IT MADE MY MOTHER WEEP!!

So what's up?

I took a little unannounced blog-o-holiday because I needed one. I got a bit fed up with some e-mail I received, as you may know I'm quite sensitive about my e-mail, so I just didn't feel like updating. I don't like it if people ask me bluntly "are you going to post something new soon?" or push me to do something. I'm not good at dealing with that.

But I'm back celebrating the last month of the summer we probably never going to get and that makes me happy. It's not been a bad summer for me personally and I'm actually really happy for people who plan their summer holidays in March because they get their money's worth. It's such a waste to leave the country to spend two weeks on a French campsite when it's tropical hot at home. At least now they're able to say "oh we had such a lovely weather, I heard that it rained here most of the time" - arrrghh!!!

I've been playing around in the kitchen, mostly working on my baking. I baked blueberry muffins with blueberries I picked from my own garden.

I've also made a mucky mat from Cath Kidston oilcloth.

It's really useful because I can roll it out put all my mucky baking stuff on it, wipe it clean, roll it up again and put it in the kitchen drawer.

I've decided to start a little shop and sell useful kitchen stuff I use myself from CK scarps. Watch out for that. Oh and aren't you proud of my muffins?

Oops I forget to tell you where I got some of the items. The jugs are by GreenGate, the muffin liners I bought at the Hema, a Dutch department store, the pictured DVD is The Royal Tenenbaums and the mucky mat is by me soon available in The Yvestown Shop.

Recently I've been experimenting with my own embroidery patterns and I came up with these 3 little flowers. I saw something like it over at Rice but I just don't want to spend the money on something I can easily whip up myself.

I also turned them into a PDF file available for download. I do ask a little cash for it because ... well we have to support the art don't we? There's a green banner on top, you can click, pay $ 1.50 and download. Hope you like it!

Click on the image for a more detailed larger image.

A couple of days ago I got an email from a Dutch reader asking me about the embroidery on my pillow shams. Oddly enough I was picking up embroidery in the same week. With the Bo being in Rome for work and finding myself glued to the TV re-watching all the past Gilmore Girls seasons on DVD, I needed something to fiddle with. I bought Jenny Hart's book Sublime Stitching almost a year ago but never really played with it - do I regret that!!

I've been having so much fun I can't hardly stop.

I've made two cushions for on the sofa and chair in the living room with the Chinese lanterns.

And I'm working on this table runner.

I super recommend this book, I really super, super do - honestly I can't find an other word for it, highly is too lame. You might also like the Stitch It Kit by Jenny Hart. Both books come with iron on transfers. The stitch it kit is really good for if you starting out because it's filled with the necessary items such as a hoop, a needle, some DMC floss and a bunch of transfers.

Thanks so much for the sweet and encouraging comments and emails regarding the magazine. You are really sweet!!

What have I been up to this week? I've been sewing crazy.

I bought all these pieces of CK discounted fabrics between November 2006 and now for all kinds of various little projects, but I've been too occupied with other things to get round doing these "odd" jobs. Oh yes tidy girls can make a mess too. Not for long though, I'm anxious cleaning everything up while I'm writing this post.

I've made this slipcover for my little Fifties leather sky chair. Boo went a little bonkers on the leather so it needed a cover. I bought this piece of fabric with Cherry two weekends ago in London. It was exactly 2 meters and 25% off. I love stuff like this. You all know how I love my slipcovers ( I only own two chairs in the whole house that are upholstered). So this one I can take off again and wash it when it needs to.

I also made these seating cushions for the chairs I have outside. I bought these Seventies wicker chairs at the local recycle store for just 5 Euro with a matching glass table. I used to have them indoors but after seeing Driving Lessons (buy it, it's fantastic) I put them outside.

I love them! Most of the day the sun is shining in this little corner, it's just lovely for relaxing, drinking a cup of tea and listing to the Driving Lessons Soundtrack, it's so good!

Ok I'm off. I need to clean that utility room otherwise the fabrics might take over the room, start a revolution, build barricades and I'll not be able to get in again.

Happy easter people :o)

Ta-da ... two new ones!

Thanks so much for your input it really helped. I mixed all the comments up and came to this.

I didn't have enough of the flowery fabric so I couldn't go reverse and to my liking it would turn out to be a little too crowed. I love my flowers, don't get me wrong, but too many flowers even make me a bit sick. Elizabeth's comment made me think; my walls are indeed blue so if I make bleu covers they might blend with the wall. I also love the rick-rack and red trim suggestion. I didn't want to put red rick-rack on the covers so I used white instead. I also love Gigibird's suggestion and I might try that out if I can find nice clear fabric. Kathleen suggested blue polka dots and I was having this big piece so it all worked out great. Thank you so much again.

Of course I'm not entirely happy with these covers because I rather not cover them at all. I'm not such a machinery kind of girl. I don't like big audio equipment or large wide screen TV's but I do love the sight of my sewing machines. They are nice and white and they give me so much pleasure.

Haloscan's been cheeky all day, I hope it will work out later today.

I've been planning to make a sewing machine cover for some time now because things get dusty in my utility room (boy I wish we had a Dutch word for that, I keep calling it a utility room even to Dutch people and they always go: "ut ... wat???") So when I read about sewing machine covers over at whip up I went for it.

Now I have the luxury of two machines but I think that two covers are going to be a bit crowded. So I don't know what to do. I can make a simple white one or another flowery one or just a plain polka dotted one. The other thing is that I like it just as it is in the picture. But what's the use of just covering one machine?

Martha's tea towel cover is sweet but not useful to my opinion, dust still can get in sideways. Honestly I wish I never started.

I need your help on this one, what do you think I should do with the other machine?

Oh dear I've been up to so much. I've been busy getting everything back in my computer. I've been playing the Sims 2 with my new mean graphic card. Oh it's heaven, I can't stop building, smooching edges and decorating. I can't wait for the new expansion pack either.

I also went shopping in London last week with my friend Ellen. We did have a lovely day and did do some serious shopping at Cath (did you noticed she dropped her int. shipping a bit?) It was a little power shop because we only had 4 hours. OF COURSE we missed our plane back so I had to buy new tickets. The Bo had to pick us up in the middle of the night someplace else and had to drive Ellen back to her car at the airport near us, where we were supposed to land at 19:00. Stupid girls!!! We we had a blast and the weather was extremely good to us.

Look at that Ellen posing in the sunshine :o)

I've also been in bed with a cold and did some catching up on DVD watching. Today I felt a bit better and went out with the Bo to the garden center where we bought plants and pumpkins.

I've been getting my hands dirty on carving and making these small polka dots lanterns. I have some more pictures in my Flickr album.

***

I also want to say Hi to some of the new readers. I'm not really a person to email you all personally and thank you. But I really appreciate your visits and your comments. They make my day. Thank you!!

Oh, oh, ooooooh Marné is having chicks and Kathleen a lovely video of her new hometown!!

This is the result of the chair I was working on. You wouldn't believe how relieved I am it's over. This fabric I used made a mess!! It's velvet and when velvet is cut tiny little balls appear and take over the world. But it was worth it.

I promised a slipcover tutorial and decided to have a tiny footstool tutorial you can find here. I'm going to make some more soon.

Thanks for all the compliments on my SKRUVSTA cover. For those who mailed me and for those who are interested, I'm working on a small tutorial plus some tips & tricks on how to make an easy slipcover. I think I'm going to use a footstool, or is that too simple? I don't know, please let me know what you think.

Now something not so different, now I get to think of it, I love to wrap. Not just gift wrapping, I love all sorts of wrapping. Books, securing teapots from breaking in the mail and I even love to stuff the Bo's bills in envelopes.

Kids here in The Netherlands cover their high school books in paper jackets because most of the books are borrowed and need to be returned to the book depot at the end of term. So they need to be secure, that's why we wrap them. It's a job most teenagers hate. I offer my service for free to all the teenagers in my world (and unfortunately the count is dropping tragically) I use vintage wallpapers, fun wrapping paper, glitters, bookplates and all sorts of good stuff and by the time these kids go to school they have the most secure and fun looking book jackets in The Netherlands. I'll post some pictures soon!

This is a picture of a wrapping project I've been working on today, it's for Leslie because we're having a little magazine swap.

Oh isn't wrapping fun!!

I've always been in love with the shape of this Ikea chair but I don't like the fabric they come in and I also love everything that I can take off and put in the washer. So, while browsing Amy Butler's website, I came across this chair and this one and this one and thought: "I can do that!!". So I went to Ikea (only a 10 min. drive from my home, isn't that heaven?) and picked up a SKRUVSTA.

This is what my SKRUVSTA is looking like now. I've made two covers, one in a cheap plain white sheet fabric to fit, pulled it apart and cut the flowery fabric using the white fabric pattern I made. Then I stitched the white fabric and the flowery fabric together (to protect the red of the chair shining through the new cover) and that's it. I can wash it, make another cover for when I get sick of the flowers and it's matching my interior. The Boo's loving it too!!

And after one successful covering story I'm trying to make a cover for something a little bit more difficult.

To be continued ...

I finally found the perfect fabric for the shower curtain I wanted to make for the bathroom*. I've made it from voile, it's the same print as is on the cushion but you can't hardly spot the difference between the voile and the cotton duck. It's great! I've stitched curtain tape on top of the voile and made buttonholes in it and hung a regular white shower curtain behind it. I'm really in love with it.

Do you see that little tail of the rubber duck in the picture? Well here they are, my new priced possession!!



I found them the other week and they crack me up. I don't dare to remove the plastic because I'm scared they go all funny and soggy.



I also love my fake geranium. I've tried to keep plants in here but the bathroom is just too dark so I gave up and bought this fake plant. I don't have to water it, don't have to speak to it, I only need to dust it so now and then.

* interesting fact, Dutch houses only have one bathroom and one downstairs toilet.

Kathleen of Liquid Sky Arts organized a music swap.

This is my first music swap ever and how I love it. I haven't yet received the other CD's but I sure loved making mine. It's hard picking music though. I like so many different styles. I'm not a "just country girl" or a "just blues girl", I love it all. It's hard for me to mix soft rock with reggae and punk with hip hop because, as always, I like my things organized. So I made two CD's, one for jumping and one to listen at.

This is the link to my iMix. You need to sign in to the Dutch shop - argh, complicated but if you're a diehard you'll know how to do this.

I sent my copies to:

• Susan
• Ulla - isn't that a beautiful name?
• Cori
• Leslie
• Kathleen

I've made a Pointy Kitty today after the pattern of Wee Wonderfuls with the fabric Marné sent me last month. It's a little gnome pointy kitty cat :o)

Click here for more photo's

For a long time now I've been in love with Lucinda Chambers Jubilee wall hanging, I'd actually love to own it but the Bo finds it appalling. Recently, browsing a back issue of Homes & Gardens, I saw the wall hanging in cushion size and immediately thought of a fair solution ... not a big, enormous, appalling wall hanging but a nice small cushion for on the living room sofa instead. So when we were in London last December we went out to The Rug Company on Holland Park Avenue to score me a Jubilee cushion. But ... it was closed!! So I went browsing the internet. I didn't find a shop where I actually could buy the cushion but I found a lot of other good stuff.

First I found the website The Brocante Home and I love it!! Look at this entry - seems I'm not the only one with the Jubilee obsession ;o) Earlier I came across this cushion over at Laura Ashley and it made me think just to create my own. And, while browsing The Brocante Home again, I came across this entry and it reminded me of New York, last October, when we were in The Cath Kidston shop ... that same flag hangs in the shop!!



So yesterday I started to make my own Union Jack cushion, but along the way I realized that I didn't like it. "It's too loud!! Maybe I should just make a cross instead". To cut a long story short, I've made a Welsh flag instead LOL! And I really dislike it. So today I made something a little less bold and I like it.

In spite of all this, I now want that wall hanging and the cushion to match!!

After reading Marné's October 6th post she got me inspired to buy the Scarf Style book because the pink ruffles scarf she made looked (and still does) so nice. I ordered the book and started to knit. There was only one tricky bit (kwtog) that drove me mad so I asked Marné for her help and she did. She even made me a "KWTOG THE MOVIE". And it worked!!



My next ruffles scarf is going to be with pink cashmerino aran by Debbie Bliss. It's a little thicker so I'll probably knit it a bit faster.

Thanks Marné, I'm so enjoying knitting this scarf!!!