weekend links

Hello friends!

Spain celebrated two holidays this week, so the kids had lots of vacation days. As a result, this is the busiest week of the year in Madrid. It seems like everyone in Spain has descended on the city to do their holiday shopping and see the decorations. Yesterday the S and her friends went ice skating at one of the temporary ice rinks set up around the city, and the rink was really crowded. We live right in the middle of the city, so we need to be a bit strategic about when we do our shopping, etc. This morning S and I headed to the market with our shopping cart before everyone else woke up. It’s exciting to be right in the middle of everything, but if you’re not fond of crowds (like me) it can be a little stressful. I’m mostly hiding out at home this week, sewing samples for an upcoming photo shoot.

Speaking of which, next week I’ll finally show you S’s Halloween costume. Goodness, can you believe it took us this long to photograph it? That’s what happens when you leave town for three weeks during Halloween. Rachel will also be here with a fun doll-oriented project, and I’m hoping that my velvet altered Bistro Dress will be ready to show you as well. Only the hems are left to be sewn!

Pinterest Picks

Here are a couple of Building Block Dress book ideas. I think the first dress would be especially cute for an older girl, and of course the second dress would be darling for a little girl.

Isn’t this sleeve amazing? And the cat collar is really cute, too. (You could totally use the Building Block Dress book to make it!)

Holiday treat inspiration. Wouldn’t gilded popsicles be a fun dinner party dessert? And every year my mom bakes Springerles, a traditional anise-flavored German cookie that needs to be aged for about a month before they’re ready to eat. I think the molds are so pretty. Mom inherited a couple of them from my grandma.

OK, who’s busy sewing holiday PJs? These two are so cute!

Weekend Reading (and Watching)

• I always enjoy working with the team at Butterick to develop new sewing patterns, and one of the really fun parts of the process is selecting fabric for each pattern. It’s much easier to do when I’m in NYC and can visit the fabric library in person!
• Aren’t these Slavic folklore-inspired photos stunning?



• Wouldn’t it be amazing to visit the factory where some of the most beautiful laces in the world are manufactured?
• Speaking of beautiful, I adore Sweet Shard’s new velvet dress, particularly the way she incorporated the selvedge as a design detail.
• Do you remember the book A Very Young Dancer? My sisters and I were all obsessed with it when we were younger, and I found a copy for S a few years ago so she can continue the obsession. This sweet profile from The New Yorker gives an insider’s view of dancing the part of the young prince in the New York City Ballet’s Nutcracker. (My favorite rendition of the ballet. Although Christopher Wheeldon’s interpretation for the Joffrey sounds fantastic!)
• Here’s a really good article about how to buy quality clothes that last. It also includes a few tips you can use for sewing your own clothes, like double stitching the crotch seam.
• I love this sewing-themed music video by Black Books. The stop-motion animation technique used with sewing tools are really fun!
• The best part of fall and winter? Layers! Here is some photo inspiration for wearing layers elegantly.
• And finally, a bit of silliness for your weekend. All week we’ve been singing, “I lava you!” 

Have a great, crowd-free, sewing-filled weekend!