minx place

I got this wonderful material from my aunt. My aunt has been sewing for more than 25 years and she is a huge inspiration for me. We decided that instead of going fabric shopping, which is by the way our favourite past time activity, we can exchange some fabric from our stash. I thought I have lots of fabric but my aunt has definitely more fabric than me. Anyway, this wonderful fabric was in a terrible state. It was shredded. It was falling apart. Here's a picture of the state it was in.

The most beautiful details of the fabric were falling apart. I had to construct the fabric again. I used zig-zag and tried sewing the shredded pieces back in place. Luckily it was working.
I chose a very simple pattern for this material because it's so rich in itself and the piece was not exactly big. Lately I do lots of simple patterns because my time is limited: cooking, 3-year-old daughter, cats, job, gardening, crocheting, blogging, a bit of sewing etc.
So I made this wonderful blouse, Burda 7/ 2014, mod. 108, size 38. I added a peplum piece/ ruffles from Burda 3/ 2014, mod. 119. And as you can imagine I carefully trimmed every piece of fabric to prevent further shredding.

My wonderful fireplace.

My name tag - finally.

Very simple neckline.

Wonderful material with small sequins.

And since I mentioned my aunt, here is a picture of her. I wore my blouse to an operetta Die Fledermaus in Schlosstheater in Vienna, Austria. There is my aunt (wearing her own jacket), 2nd from the left, my cousin who is studying opera singing in Vienna and she is pretty good, my mum is next to her (wearing a dress my aunt made) and me on the right.

Here is a list of some of my favourite internet sites about sewing. They are written in random order and updated from time to time.

Burda in English - http://www.burdastyle.com/ (absolutely my favourite magazine and site to look at for ideas and inspiration)
Burda in German - http://www.burdastyle.de/ (Burda is absolutely my favourite magazine and site to look at for ideas and inspiration, I prefer the German site even though I'm not good at German)
Making: beautiful crafts for your home - http://www.craftsinstitute.com/making/projects/patterns-and-templates.aspx (Making magazine, look under patterns & templates, lots of sewing projects, no instructions)
Love sewing - http://www.lovesewingmag.co.uk/(great patterns, you have to type your e-mail address to get them)
Inspired to make – sewing - http://inspiredtomake.com/zone/sewing-world/patterns (a great source of sewing patterns, there are no instructions but I don't need any)
Sew daily http://www.sewdaily.com/ (wonderful page, you have to log-in)
Papavero.pl (Polish page, you have to log-in, I usually choose English language even though I never read the translations because they are strange, look under ˝wykroje do pobrania˝) - http://www.papavero.pl/
Handmade kulture http://www.handmadekultur.de/schnittmuster (in German but also great, kostelose Schnittmuster = free sewing patterns)

Magazine avantages http://www.magazine-avantages.fr/creations,10.asp2#xtor=cs1-11-[accueil]-[1]-[do_it_yourself]-[menu_entrees] (in French, also interesting collection, look under DO IT YOURSELF)
Peppermint magazine http://peppermintmag.com/sewing-school/ (great patterns & instructions)
sew mama sew http://www.sewmamasew.com/category/tutorials/ (interesting)
Russian page - http://materials.tell4all.ru/gotovye-vykrojki-odezhdy/ (it's in Russian, just click around and you'll find something)
fabric.com - https://www.fabric.com/creativity-headquarters-free-pattern-downloads.aspx (it hides lots of free patterns from HOT PATTERNS)
Buttinette - http://blog.buttinette.com/ (DIY, buttinette is also a nice fabric shop but they deliver to Austria and Germany only)
Stoff & stil - http://www.stoffundstil.de/Information/Tjenester/Monstre_gratis.aspx (in German)
Kleidung selber naehen - http://www.schneidern-naehen.de/bekleidung-naehen (in German, useful)
Schnabelina - http://schnabelina.blogspot.de/p/tutorials.html (great ideas for sewing for children and much more)
Martha Stewart - http://www.marthastewart.com/274544/your-sewing-projects-home-decor-and-pill/@center/326405/how-to-sew
Sew home & style- http://www.sewmag.co.uk/free-sewing-patterns
The Purl Bee - http://www.purlbee.com/category/sew/projects-sew/garments-projects-sew/
Free Japanese sewing patterns - http://www.japanesesewingbooks.com/2013/05/20/free-japanese-sewing-patterns-seria/ (a wonderful page, a bit exotic because the patterns are in Japanese, it's a completely new world of patterns)
Craftideas - http://www.craftideas.info/html/finnish_star.html (like the name says - ideas about crafting)
Sew Magazine FREE download - http://www.crafts-beautiful.com/forums/topic/36602-sew-magazine-free-downloads-find-them-all-here/ (interesting free sewing patterns, I'm still not sure how this works but you can find lots of free patterns, but no instructions)
Sewdifferent - http://www.sewdifferent.co.uk/category/designer-inspired/ (a great page, a great sewing enthusiast)
Ottobre Design - https://www.ottobredesign.com/en/print/index.html (Ottobre magazine, I think this is a Finnish magazine, interesting, great, useful, colourful)
Grosgrain Fabulous - http://grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com/ (intresting page to browse around)
Matthew Williamson kaftan - http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2009/jul/05/kaftan-make-your-own (an unexpected source of a free pattern - a newspaper The Guardian, but the pattern is wonderful and it belongs to a designer)
GBSB (Great British Sewing Bee) - http://www.hardiegrant.com/uk/quadrille/sew-your-own-wardrobe (One of my favourite TV shows, and now you can get patterns for free; There are really just patterns, no instructions but if you type the key words in Google you can find some pictures that help putting the garment together)
Sew it all - http://www.sewitallmag.com/patterns.html (lots of free sewing patterns and projects)
Bernina's page - http://blog.bernina.com/de/section/sewing/ (a wonderful page in German or in English. Lots of interesting things about sewing: free patterns for clothes, techniques, ideas. I'm in love with bernina, my sewing machine is bernina – bernete 75. So I'm biased. The machine is nothing much, I know they make far more better machines nowadays but it's my first and only for now because it works well. My first sewing machine was actually my mum's Yugoslavian Bagat Danica. It was heavy, old but not bad at all. I'll write a whole post about my sewing machines once. Anyway, when on this page look under ˝nahen ˝ and ˝zeige alle freebies˝ )
Sew News - http://www.sewnews.com/online_projects_and_downloads (take a look)
one more Russian page - https://vk.com/shop_zigzag (You can actually find and download quite a lot of free sewing patterns that actually belong to Ottobre magazine – for kids or adults, not kidding, klick around and you'll find interesting things. Look under pictures where you can find ˝pdf˝. I don't understand Russian, I wish I would.)
Initiative Handarbeit - http://initiative-handarbeit.de/anleitungen-kategorien/naehen/ (interesting, in German, about sewing, knitting and crocheting)
Camelot fabrics - ~~http://camelotfabrics.com/crafts/projects/apparel-costumes.html~~ (It's a fabric shop but it has some nice free patterns, look under ˝cropped jacket˝ - it's so cute and other things are also nice)
Crazy Patterns: Hakeln, Stricken, Nahen, Basteln - https://www.crazypatterns.net/de/kostenlose-naehanleitungen (can be in German and in English, a lot to browse around; look in the right top corner and click ˝Kostenlose Anleitungen˝ - free instructions)
Molly Makes - ~~http://www.molliemakes.com/~~ (interesting, all kinds of creative things but for me there's too little of sewing)
Ralph Pink - http://www.ralphpink.com/free-sewing-patterns/ (obviously a designer, British, a lot of free patterns, a real treat for sewing enthusiasts, click on the picture of the clothes and you'll get compressed (zipped folder) to save on your computer)
schnittchen - http://schnittchen.com/category/kostenlose-schnittmuster/ (in German, very interesting, you can get some things for free from time to time so check it out)
Simply Sewing - http://www.simplysewingmag.com/ (interesting, a lot of free patterns, you can get free patterns for clothes & crafts but not the instructions, look under templates and pattern sheet)
marie claires idees - http://www.marieclaireidees.com/fiches/technique=10#?technique=10&frai (in French, look under ˝fiches creatives˝ and ˝la boite a idees˝, some things are to be paid for)
Vera Venus - ~~https://veravenus.com/diy-things-to-make-tutorials-patterns/~~ (a great page, check it out, a qualified designer, I love ˝French knickers˝, have to try them once)
Marabu - http://www.marabu.com/creative/instructions/ (I think this is a German supplier of creative materials, look under ˝instructions˝ and ˝inspiration˝, you can find some templates and different ideas)
Mood fabrics - http://www.moodfabrics.com/blog/ (I first heard of ˝mood˝ when I started watching Project Runway with Heidi Klum. They have some great tutorials there.)
Clothes for dolls - http://www.molendrix.com/galerie1.html (what an interesting page, I used to love making Barbie doll clothes when I was a young girl, so this page is absolutely wonderful. Look under ˝patterns˝ or ˝gallery˝, wow, really amazing, I was stunned the first time I saw this and even now I am)
The Thread Fabrics-Store - http://www.fabrics-store.com/blog/category/tutorials/ http://www.fabrics-store.com/blog/category/tutorials/ (wonderful site, it got me excited about sewing again, it's mostly about linen, but it's great and useful, look under ˝tutorials˝, my favourite thing to make is˝black linen culottes˝ http://www.fabrics-store.com/blog/2015/07/20/black-linen-culottes-tutorial/utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_term=Photo&utm_content=Cynthia&utm_campaign=Thread
Pech & Schwehel - https://www.pechundschwefel.eu/kategorie/tutorial/ (in German, look under˝tutorials˝, lots of free patterns for clothes as well as other things)
Make it today - http://www.makeittoday.co.uk/template (you have to log-in, lots of free patterns, look under ˝templates˝, then you can download templates for each issue, and there are some interesting things under ˝projects)˝
De.Dawanda - http://de.dawanda.com/do-it-yourself/kleidung-selber-naehen/ (dawanda is a place where you can buy handmade things BUT you can also get free sewing patterns - look for ˝kostenlose anleitung˝ and ˝gratis vorlage˝, also great for crocheting = hakeln and knitting = stricken and creating = basteln)
Edel Books Verlag - https://www.edel.com/Schnittmuster/index.html (it's in German, they publsh books about sewing but you can also find free patterns = schnittmuster zum download)
OZ Verlag - https://www.oz-verlag.de/ (chek it out, it's in German but nevertheless) Look under nahen. Also ckeck out https://www.shop.oz-verlag.de/fashionstyle-downloads/ ; https://www.shop.oz-verlag.de/downloads/ ; https://www.shop.oz-verlag.de/fileadmin/Files/Downloads/Vorlagen/knippie/KNI16004/Kni_Mod41_Top.pdf ; https://www.shop.oz-verlag.de/fileadmin/Files/Downloads/Vorlagen/knippie/KNI16004/Kni_Mod43_Kleid.pdf ; There are so many things there to check them out that I don't know how to explain. Go to OZ shop and look under downloads (look under Vorlagen and Korrekturen) - it's just interesting how much material one can find there.
brigitte - https://www.brigitte.de/leben/wohnen/selbermachen/naehen-1053194/ (it's a German magazine, probably for women, I'm only interested in things about sewing, crocheting etc. - selbermachen = made by yourself - https://www.brigitte.de/leben/wohnen/selbermachen/ )
El Baul de las Costureras - https://www.elbauldelacosturera.com/search/label/Patr%C3%B3n%20de%20Costura%20Gratis (It's Spanish, so I really have no idea about the majority of things that are written there (because I don't speak Spanish) but there are Patrones Gratis and some useful tutorials considering some Burda patterns)
let's have another Spanish blog De costuras y otras cosas - https://www.decosturasyotrascosas.com/ (I'm not sure if there are any free patterns but there are tutorials about Burda's patterns)