Floral Frock

22 May

With the promise of warmer weather on it’s way I thought it was time to tackle sewing a nice summer dress.  It’s a wrap around dress that ties in the back and the fabric I used is Anna Maria Horner’s “Good Folks” series (I bought it a few years ago).  It’s such a beautifully soft thick cotton (so no lining was needed).

I don’t have an adult size dress form so I had to put it on this child size one (and I’m not ready to expose my winter white legs).  I’m am definitely not this size in real life.  The actual length of the dress is mid-knee.The pattern is from the Dutch sewing magazine KnipMode (from January 2003).  It’s a really great and easy pattern which I will be making again many times.

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Chocolate Shortbread with Minty Ganache Filling

17 May



Today I baked some delicious Chocolate Shortbread with Minty Ganache Filling and they turned out really really tasty.  At least for those who are fans of the mint/chocolate combination.  Which I seriously am.  It’s really one of my favorite flavour unions.

It all started when I had my first After Eight as a small child.  And the fact they come individually wrapped in those tiny black glassine envelopes makes them that much more appealing to me (lover of any sort of packaging!).

These are really rich cookies so one is definitely enough (ok maybe tw0).  The addition of the mint makes them slightly lighter than a shortbread with straight-up chocolate ganache.

Continue reading for recipe… Continue reading →

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Echino

15 May


Usually when I buy a beautiful expensive fabric I hoard it away in my cupboard for at least a year or two before actually getting the nerve to use it.  I get it from my father who does the same thing with shoes and clothes.  He calls it the “purchase resting  period”.

But after buying those beautiful Echino fabrics in Japan I was really itching to sew something beautiful and usable with them.  So I decided to use this bird patterned linen/cotton mix for a purse I was making in my sewing group.  I think it helped that we were being led by a very experienced sewer who I knew would make sure the purse turned out perfectly.

It’s a lined purse with pleats, zipper AND piping.  A real make-you-sweat pattern.  But the result is beautiful.

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Misc.

11 May



Recipe here.

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Origami shirt and tie

8 May

Being Canadian with a Belgian husband and living in Italy has made it so that I never know when Mother’s or Father’s Day is. I know that it is in different months and on different days for each of the countries and I’ve pretty much mentally blocked all those dates from my mind. I had a feeling father’s Day was coming up so I spent hours with the kids making these origami dress shirt garlands. Then my son proudly announced that he was making me a Mother’s Day gift at school which must mean Father’s Day isn’t for a while (but we’re prepared and ready well in advance!).

These origami garlands are so sweet and my kids were the ones who actually folded the shirts (even my little guy). Origami has become very popular in our home and I’m so glad I brought back that suitcase FULL of origami paper from Japan (despite comments such as “are you sure we need 30 packages of origami paper?”).I sewed the little shirts together before glueing on the ties and bow ties. You can make these shirts any size you want. My kids have made tiny tiny versions and almost life size versions. When we’re in restaurants they even fold the cloth napkins into these little shirts. It takes under a minute to fold one so you can make loads in a short amount of time.

The kids can hang them up on a doorframe or to put them into an envelope to open on Father’s Day (whenever that may be). You can leave them loose or sew them together like I did. Last year my kids included a pocket and put in really nice messages and poems.

Here’s how to do it yourself! There is one step that will make you want to crumple up the paper, run out of the room and never try origami again but please believe me that once you ‘get” it everything will run smoothly. Hopefully my instructions will help you a little (original pattern idea comes from Martha Stewart Living June 2004). Continue to read for the step-by-step…

Continue reading →

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Mme. Zsa Zsa’s Allemaal Rokjes

7 May

Last week my in-laws arrived in Italy for a long week-end.  It was really wonderful to have them here.  We went for walks, ate at restaurants, gardened, shopped, lazed around the house and, most importantly, went to my daughter’s first play (in which she was AMAZING of course).

As usual my mother-in-law came bearing many gifts.  Belgian chocolate, brown sugar, Flemish TV series for the kids, beautiful fabric  and a wonderful sewing book for me.

The book is called Allemaal Rokjes (All Kinds of  Skirts would be the rough English translation) and is written by Mme. Zsa Zsa.  Yes…it is written by a woman who calls herself Mme. Zsa Zsa!  Just that alone would make me buy the book.
There are many different skirt patterns and styles to choose from for both girls and  women. This frons rokje above is one of the first on my list to make.  It has a jersey waist band. How comfortable would that be for frolicking children?

The photos are really fun and quirky with a circus theme throughout.  I love how the instructions are hand drawn and the  patterns are all so easy to follow and understand.  I’m not sure if the book is available in English but it’s worth learning Dutch just to be able to use it.

I have a feeling that might be the famous Mme. Zsa Zsa in the photo.

One of the things I love about this book is that it includes the patterns for every single skirt featured.

This Madame Zsa Zsa seems like a very cool lady.  Take a look at her blog here.

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Gingerbread with warm caramel sauce

5 May


Today was one of those days that I just craved something from back home.  It was a chilly and cloudy day and I was wandering around my kitchen trying to find inspiration for something to bake.  I opened up my baking cupboard and the first thing I saw was a little carton of Maritime Molasses and a tiny tin of  pumpkin pie spice.  I knew immediately what I wanted to make.

I remember througout my childhood we always went to visit Peggy’s Cove (a famous Nova Scotia tourist destination with famous lighthouse).  We always stopped at the Peggy’s Cove restaurant to have a piece of their famous Gingerbread.  

So today that’s just what I made.  It’s an easy cake to bake and the sauce whips up in minutes.  It is very moist  and rich with a tiny hint of the spicy ginger.  My kids love it and we almost managed to finish the whole cake.  Shame on us.

Click for recipe…
Continue reading →

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Lago d’Orta

3 May

The other day we took a little day trip to a small local lake called Lago d’Orta (30 minutes from our house).  We visited the charming little town of  Orta San Giulio that is located on the eastern bank of the lake.  

The town is full of narrow cobblestoned streets lined with old stone building and beautiful courtyards.  The town’s main piazza looks over the small island Isola San Giulio which is located in the middle of the lake.  In the main piazza there are a few outdoor terraces where you can sit and have a meal or a drink and watch the boats and tourists.  

There is a lovely little walk along the lake which leads out of the town.  From there you can also walk up to the Unesco Heritage site Sacro Monte di Orta (literally the Sacred Mountain of Orta) which is located at the top of Saint Nicolao hill.  As you walk up the hill you can visit the 20 chapels that were built in the 1500/1600’s and are full of beautiful artworks.  From the top there are wonderful views of the lake and surrounding hills and mountains.

If you want to visit Lago d’Orta and stay in style, you definitely have to stay at the luxurious Villa Crespi.  They even have a 2 michelin star awarded restaurant. The villa has a colourful facade and an exotic middle eastern style of architecture (with minaret an all!).Looking towards Isola San Giulio.The colours of Orta San Giulio.

Stone house with wooden roof beams and windowsill plants.

(ps…the season finale of cylce 15 of America’s Next Top Model was shot in this little town. Like you wanted to know that, right?  And why oh why do I know that?).

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La Gallina contro il gatto

2 May

Why is there a chicken eating catfood in my kitchen with an onlooking cat in the distance?  The chickens are ruling our lives here.

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Felting with kids

30 Apr

Last week-end some friends and I organised a felting morning for all of our children.  We’ve done various felting workshops in the past with our kids and they’ve always really enjoyed it.  They’ve tried needle felting (a few painful stabs were felt) and the hot water with soap method (the room was SOAKED).  Either way the kids loved doing it and always finish feeling very proud of their work.

This time the kids were asked beforehand to make a relatively simple drawing of something they love or find beautiful.

They then had to cut out pieces of different coloured felt to re-create the drawing.  We put the drawing on the table with bubble wrap over top so it was easy to see.  They then placed all the pieces of felt on top of their design.

Then they placed a piece of cream coloured felt on top of their “felted drawing” and slowly poured hot soapy water over top.  They gently patted it with their fingers to start the actual felting process.Slowly the kids can start to see their designs coming through.  The fun part…patting, rubbing, rolling and throwing the felt around.Checking to see if it’s the desired size (the more you work the felt the smaller it gets).

A Japanese inspired temple gate and a lighthouse of her dreams.

A sunny sunflower and a winged princess (5 year old artist).A cherry blossom branch and a clown with umbrella.

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