New business?

I am always a sucker for a good deal so when I went to a babyfair last month I ended up spending money ... but when I came home I looked at my purchase and thought hey I can make that ... and better. Need I say cheaper too?

My mommygroup was jealous of my purchase so I said I'll just make you sone (sigh ...).

As I started assessing my fabric supply I realized that I have enough fabric for MANY sets.

I secretly always wanted to be able to sell my creations or at least have people admire them so I wasted no time and ordered a ribbon with what will be my business name: ByBee. (an old collegue used to call me Bee - it sort of stuck).

I can't just stop at a pillow and a sunscreen for the baby carriage so yesterday at the fabric store I also bought materials for the "bapron"  and a cushin for the highchair.

I already organized my fabric and have received my first order.

This may end up being nothing but I am having fun so far.

Wedding party outfits

I am a sucker for a good deal. My husband jokes that only 10% of my clothes has been bought at the full price ... true. A good deal is how I ended up with 6 meters of some lovely taft fabric. It sat in my very large pile of "oh this is nice fabric maybe I can figure out to use for something one day" (right next to the pile of the "oh these scraps are way to big to throw out maybe I'll find a use for them someday").

Then a wedding invitation came along ... and with my husband uemployed the taft seemed like the perfect way to get cheap but fancy clothes for the twins and me. Well, at first just me. But then I still had sooo much fabric. So I made a dress for my three year old daughter. And since I have twins I sometimes fall into the they have to match trap, so I made a little vest for my son too.

Then my husband looked left out so I made him a tie and a little handkerchief to match the rest of us.

The pattern for my dress I bought. I added the tulle on the top for a nice little effect. I also altered a pattern for a little jacket because 1. the danish summer weather can be tricky and 2. no bare shoulders in church. I felt creative and also made a little purse too.

The patterns for the little dress and vest I found in a magazine. The tie was a little challenging. I found a pattern but I still needed something inside to stabilise the tie. When the fabric is so delicate and fine then it won't look nice. I thought I did a good job but my husband thought it was a bit crooked. Hey it was my first tie! But he caved and wore it. I think we look lovely.

From bed to couch

I have six year old twins and they have always slept together in the same room but when they were 5 we decided it was time to split them up. They each got a room for all their toys and their bed was pulled out to be a "big" bed.  The boy stayed in their old room. He got some new curtains and some more storage. Our daughter moved in the next room - purple walls, new closet and tons of storage.

The first month went so well. Our daughter loved her new room all girly with all her things in their proper place. But then she began to wake up each night and sleep in our room. In the beginning she was in our bed. After a short while she moved on a mattress next to me.

Then one weekend the kids decided to have a sleepover with each other. Our son slept on a mattress on the floor next to our daughter and for the first time in months she didn't wake up. Thinking it might be just a one night thing we tried again and again. She missed her brother! So he moved in again - this time in her room - we bought one new bed and fitted it to hers so they now have bunk beds. But that left his old bed with his old mattress in kiddy size. At some point I had invested in a bunch of pillows for a couch, they at that point served a new purpose; play pillows. But they always ended up on the floor never to picked up.

I bought some heavy blue fabric and sat down at the sewing machine and converted the old bed into a nice reading couch instead:

I simply measured the mattress and made a cover for it. For the pillows I measured what size I wanted the covers and made them quite smaller than the actual pillow - that way the cushion became quite firm and feels more like a couch cushion. I closed the pillows with Velcro. It took me five hours but I am quite pleased with the result.

He uses it when he wants some quiet time or just to relax in his room. But I think he will use it even more when he gets older. It is also a great place to store the old mattress that we use when the kids have sleepovers.