Making Mondays: Minik Minik Flag Garland

So many of the children's bedrooms that I love have gorgeous flag garlands - so this week I finally got to make one for Yashar too.  I am calling this the minik minik garland (minik roughly translates as mini - and is often used to describe a cute little thing - tiny and adorable) because each flag is only about 6cm (2.4 inches) long.

Since it's getting colder around here I thought it would be nice to use some heavier fabrics than what is normally used.  So I sorted through my fabric to find something suitable.   Everything except the linen is actually pieces from old clothes of ours that, for whatever reason, we don't wear any more. 

I especially love the navy material from 'Baba's' old suit - one of the very few benefits of having a husband that 'works for the man' is the gorgeous suit and shirt fabrics I end up with.  And the beautiful lambs wool/cashmere knit makes it a little cosy - the tragic story of my favourite jumper being put in a hot wash and shrinking, by a certain person that is lucky I love him so much, is a whole other story!

I have to admit, I'm no sewing expert.  I tend to guess how to do it half the time and to wing it the rest of the time!  This was no exception.   This is the method I came up with: 

1. First I made two little paper templates.  One for a small triangle about 7 cm (2.8 inches) wide and 6 cm (2.4 inches) long and a second larger triangle about 9 cm (3.5 inches)wide and 7 cm (2.8 inches) long (the same as the small triangle, but with a seam allowance added on).

2. For the fabric that didn't look like it would fray much I just cut out 5 flags from each fabric using the smaller triangle template as a guide.

3. For the fabric I thought would fray a lot or curl I cut out 10 of the larger triangles from each fabric (ie to make 5 flags from each fabric).  For each of these flags I put two larger triangles facing each other and sewed the bottom two sides together, then flipped it out the right way.

4. I gave all the triangles a good iron, and for the sewn flags I folded the top of each flag inwards and ironed it for a nice straight edge at the top.

5. I played around with the order a little and then sewed the tops of the flags on to a long navy ribbon.  Finito! 


Yashar was very excited about it - particularly when I explained that I made it specially for him!

Friday Dreaming: Lavender Lemonade

I'm dreaming of heading down the coast of Turkey to spend a last few warm days sipping on this - Lavender Lemonade - it looks delicious!

You can find the recipe and more gorgeous photos here, as part of the Behind the Bar series from Alissa and Ryan (pictured below) on Design*Sponge. Alissa and Ryan also have a beautiful online shop Horne, full of unique goods for your home.

Oh...and I wouldn't mind swanning around in lavender fields looking gorgeous either!

Photos are from the Behind the Bar series on design*sponge.

We are ok

I just wanted to let everyone know that we are fine, as is my husband's family. The devastating floods are not in the part of Istanbul that we live in (it has just been lots of heavy rain for us).

I feel like I have had to write these type of posts too often during the last year and a half :( Thank you so much to everyone that has already called and emailed to check on us.

The weather has cleared up today which I hope will bring some relief, although there is more heavy rain forecast for the next 2 days.

Swap?

Remember that movie with Cameron Diaz called The Holiday - you know, where they swap homes at the last minute...Cameron Diaz's LA mansion for Kate Winslet's cute little country cottage. My current addiction (by the way, I totally blame my sister for mentioning this site to me the other day) is looking on Homeexchange.com (the website they use in the film) to see who I could house swap with ... ah...if they don't mind coming to an old apartment in Istanbul that is!



I'm dreaming of a little trip to stay in this Paris loft

...which would be perfect with this gorgeous children's room that Yashar would love!

this ocean front villa in Mexico


and then there is this amazing place in Morocco...I could definitely spend a little time by this pool!

*** The lovely Lois from Home Base Holidays just let me know that most locations have home swapping potential (so maybe I am in with a chance! - we do actually live in a gorgeous location with amazing views... just not so sure if people would be in to the old pink bathroom!! ;) And I had a quick look at Home Base Holidays and it looks great - I can see I will be spending many hours on that site already! ***

Making Mondays: Another Thorpe Hat and...

Yes, it's another Thorpe! I love this hat pattern from Kirsten at Through the Loops - you might remember I knitted one for my nephew a while back. This one is for Yashar. I got a little excited at the thought of Autumn and the cooler weather coming and whipped this up...although I have to admit, since that first rainy day of Autumn it has been around 30 degrees (86 degrees Fahrenheit) almost every day here! Today was raining again though - so the perfect day to finish it off.

I followed the instructions for the large size hat but used a size 3.5mm circular needle to make it nice and small. Although my ones seem to turn out much rounder looking at the top that the originals - continuing to make more increases at the top would fix this I think.

This time I decided to try out some matching fingerless mittens using this pattern from Jeanne at Life in Cleveland. To make these 'Yashar size' I cast on 28 instead of 32 stitches and knitted on size 3.5mm needles. I also only knit 3 rounds after the thumb closure before changing to the 'knit 2, purl 2' for the ribbing.

I plan to do more of these sets I think! They actually look much better than in the photos I took - really! In my mind fingerless mitts are perfect for Yashar who is always wanting to pick up stones and play. We will see! I would also like to find a really nice wool to do this set in - the one Jeanne for her mitts looks great -although it is not readily available here. I feel a need to visit the 'yarn quarter' of Istanbul coming on! Although maybe I am getting carried away (as usual!) I haven't even finished the second glove yet!

The finished one ended up fitting pretty well and it will make a very cute little set if I do say so myself! ...now we just have to wait until it cools down about 20 more degrees!

Friday Dreaming: More Making!

grocery tote photos from purlbee.com

Recently I have actually been fighting off the temptation to make these two things... repeat to self, 'no more new projects, no more new projects' (just for the moment while I'm busy on some new illustrations - which I am pretty excited about by the way - hope to show you very very soon!)

The first is this grocery tote on The Purl Bee using a pattern by Italian knitter Elisa (found via Living with Imperfection). I used to have a little fold up bag that always travelled in my handbag so that I never had to use plastic bags. I think this will be the perfect replacement...and it does say 'granny chic' to me ... and you know how I feel about that!...well if you don't know then you should have a look at this. I'm thinking in a linen yarn. Apparently it only takes a few hours.

The second is this adorable little first aid kit from Maya*Made. I'm a big fan of Maya's - so many wonderful and creative ideas on her blog, along with lots of fun and heartfelt posts! Maya's is definitely a 'do not miss' blog! You can find the tutorial here. If I had this then I do believe I would feel like a mother extraordinaire!

first aid kits photos from mayamade.blogspot.com

Maya's is a natural first aid kit which I like the sound of, and Maya tells us what she puts in her kits here... but I would also love to hear what you would put in your natural first aid kit! I hope you share some of your natural healing secrets with me!

Hopefully it won't be too long before I stop dreaming and actually make these!

Ramazan Bayram Finds on Etsy!

Last week I posted about it being Ramadan here at the moment - with lots of people fasting during daylight hours for 30 days. At the end of Ramadan is a celebration called 'Ramazan Bayram' in Turkish - other people might know it as Eid.

Sort of like Christmas, it's a time when families, friends and neighbours get together, eat good food and also help the poor.

You can also give presents to your family members (and/or money to the children). So when I found these shops on Etsy I was so happy - haha - my relatives are going to be so impressed! My husband is Muslim, and he loves Christmas as much as I do - I am more than happy to engage in a little cross cultural/religion celebration too! Even if you are not Muslim, why not surprise your Muslim friends with a card or small gift?

I love these Arabic alphabet prints from Waafia! We got this playful one for my niece and nephew, a cute pink and chocolate one for our other little niece, and a 'deep sea' coloured one for Yashar. And the shop owner was so lovely and helpful!

I have actually learnt the Arabic alphabet and it takes some work! These are a very cute way to help kids learn -or just look pretty on the wall!




These badges from Muslamb are cute and have a great message for everyone - Salam means Peace in Arabic and their 'As Salamu Alaikum' card, meaning 'Peace Be With You' is gorgeous.
These head scarf pins from Jujubehijabpins are so pretty too!

At Summer's End

Goodbye Summer. After what seemed like endless days of heat and clear skies, it is overcast and drizzling. In between showers we made it down to the park, the swing ride (which looked like it was about to fall apart anyway) was packed away, the park was empty.

This is a special little Autumny thing I am working on at the moment - remember I mentioned the squirrels?

Hello Autumn.

Making Mondays: Double Sided Finger Puppet Family

When I first saw this cute finger puppet project by Bess Harding in Small Magazine I knew Yashar would love it! I made these with fabric instead of paper - I really like the look of the paper ones but I'm hoping the fabric will stand up to a little more wear. While making mine they somehow turned into a family of bears, but now that I see the photograph of the 'blank canvases' lined up I think that are crying out to be made into space creatures or matryoshka dolls...maybe we need to do some more of these...


I really wanted to get Yashar involved in this project...but most of the project -sewing, drawing on the features etc - doesn't lend itself to 21 month years olds! The solution I came up with was to make the finger puppets two sided - one with clean clothes and the other with painted 'messy' clothes so it looked like they had been busy getting creative and messy with paint.

I cut out some clothes so that Yashar could play textile designer/artist. He loved painting them! You can tell he's about to do something cheeky can't you. Five seconds later he was running down the hall with paint brush in hand to grab some toys to paint!
I had already sewn the finger puppets together before I thought about sewing clothes on them - so, note to self, sewing the clothes on before sewing puppets together will save you having to sew the clothes on by hand! These are the clean and sensible bears, waiting patiently to have their clothes sewn on, and the painterly bears half way through having their clothes sewn on.


I can't wait to see Yashar's face when he sees the finished bears!

Friday Dreaming ...and a little granny love

Friday Dreaming - my little weekly post sharing beautiful things I find to have, love and make -because you probably know by now that I'm a dreamer. For me, half the fun is imagining what could be. This is a space to share them with you and to help me remember when I can finally make all those wishes and dreams come true!


My little secret dream, which I now declare to the world, is all about 'granny chic'. You see, unbeknownst to myself I have been slowly and quietly slipping in this direction. You might have seen it in my knitting, in my crochet attempts... But now I have truly fallen...all because of the 'granny love' festival over at dottie angel.


You will see over at Tif's blog that it's not the mothballs and old hard lollies in her bag type of granny style she is talking about (although there seems to be quite a bit of crochet involved!). Her style is a beautiful mix of vintage and handmade 'with a twist'. Things to live with and love. Things that speak to the old soul within.


Besides that Tif has a shop on etsy 'dottie angel' with an exquisite selection of handcrafted items including this 'Pesky Squirrel' wall mat above (Oh! You will soon be seeing how much I love squirrels - I'm working on a very squirrelly illustration at this moment!) and by the way her blog is not just eye candy...it's also an excellent read!

Um... I'm dreaming of a tyre swing too.

Thank you so much to Tif for letting me share some 'granny love' this Friday!

All photos are from the Dottie Angel blog.