fall magazine inspiration

Now that it's getting colder again, I'm drawn more than usual to beautiful books and magazines for lots of eye-candy and inspiration. It is so much fun and relaxing to read a nice magazine and drink a cup of tea on your day off, which is just what I did today. I bought the October issue of Elle Interiör, one of my favourite magazines.



This issue has a lot of great decorating ideas and the homes shown are beautiful and inspiring, as usual. I wish I spoke Swedish to learn more about the creative people living in those homes. Since Swedish is related to German, I can guess at some of the written content, though. But even without the text, the pictures really speak for themselves.



I love this little bookshelf by David Design! This would be so cute next to our bed or even above the sofa. And I think it is so beautifully styled here, with the pretty book covers and the bird so fittingly perched on top of them! Since I own a couple of these Penguin Hardcover Classics, with cover design by Coralie Bickford-Smith, I was inspired to set up a little display on our bedroom dresser.



At the moment I feel that I want to change the look of our home a bit, but don't really know exactly what and how, so it is really fun and satisfying to play around with a display from things I already have and that I can change around whenever I want.



There are two of my favourite things in this pic: my favourite pin, a Coco Chanel Medal of General Valour by Katariina Guthwert and my favourite book, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Also, the postcard is of one of my favourite paintings, A Satyr mourning over a Nymph by Piero di Cosimo. I am so happy that I was able to see it at The National Gallery during our visit in London this summer!



Fabric obsessed as I am, I used the beautiful colour palette spread in the magazine as a guideline to build a stack of coordinating fabrics. I had a match to every colour that was featured. So this either means that a): this magazine really is perfect for me and caters REALLY well to my tastes or b): I have too much fabric.



I think I'll go with a) ...

hoodie

Since it now safely arrived at its destination, I can show you the little hoodie I made for Kirsty's little boy. It's made from the Baby in the Hood pattern in Anna Maria Horner's Handmade Beginnings. It was really fun to make and to choose the fabrics to go together in this item. For the lining I chose flannel, because it's getting colder now and also because it's so cute for babies, I think. Also, it is what Anna Maria Horner used for the jacket in the book. Fortunately, I had enough of this Folksy Flannel print to make the lining. I think it's such a nice detail and flash of colour in this garment.



The main fabric is Cloud9 Flannel, which is relatively stiff and brushed on the wrong side, so I thought it is a good weight for this kind of jacket. For the contrast fabric of the hood stripe and button placket I wanted something REALLY boyish, so I chose this Caleb Gray Suburbia tools print. To avoid that the jacket exteriour should become too uniform or boring, I decided to topstitch the seams in a contrasting thread. I used buttonhole thread, which is a big stronger, to further give the jacket an "utility" vibe.



The metal buttons also underline that boyish feel and the aqua button loops tie everything together really nicely. It took me some time to decide on a fabric here, but then I ended up choosing this Innocent Crush Bubble Burst print.

This was really a fun and very clear pattern to work with. I'd like to make a girly version for our niece some time and see how different fabric choices affect the design!

Napkins

Today I finished the napkins from the Color Blocks Placemats + Napkins Sew-Along. I made a mistake when cutting, so I had to piece in the little squares in one corner. I think they look quite cute, this way, too.



For the backing, I used a print from Loulouthi, because I didn't have enough of my contrast fabric. The big print gives the reverse side some more interest, I think.



I really like the combination of fabrics with our tableware. This project really is a lot of fun, I think I'll make some more napkins some time in the future! It's so nice to have something new and pretty for our house. :-)

Placemat fabric choices

Up to now, I haven't participated in any sew-alongs, but when I saw this on Sew, Mama, Sew!, I wanted to join in. This patchwork placemat and napkin sew-along is following a design and instructions by Elizabeth Hartman of Oh, Fransson!. Since I've been looking for a nice easy and effective project, this seemed perfect! Also, I think it's great that the pace is slow, just the right thing to kick my sewing gear up with leaving room for other projects on the side if inspiration strikes.



These are the 4 fabrics I chose for the main part of the set: Anna Maria Horner Garden Party Waltz, Rosalie Quinlan Sweet Broderie, Alexander Henry Heath and Laura Gunn Magnolia Painter's Canvas.



For the background & napkins I chose a chocolate cotton-linen blend and the contrast fabric is from Just Wing It! by Momo for Moda.

These fabrics are not very much in line with the Christmas-theme of the sew-along, but they go well with our tableware and are nice for fall, I think.

I'm looking forward to seeing how these will turn out!