Will you dance with me?

Friends, I must rush because we're taking the train for Northern France in half an hour, but I couldn't leave before showing you the Petal Fairy, who came to life this morning!

I can't realize she's finished yet - she always seemed like a faraway dream... But there she is! Seb likes her as well - he says she's a bit like me, as she's brown-haired and sews her own dress! Ain't that sweet of him!

I shan't be online until Monday, so everyone have a wonderful weekend!

Andrea received her Spring Exchange :)

My Spring exchange on the SBEBB reached Andrea in the UK in only two days - I mailed it on Monday and she received it yesterday.

I did not know Andrea beforehand, but as soon as Jo, who organized the exchange (thanks Jo!), sent me her name and blog address, I evidently started to stalk her. I was very impressed by the quality and finery of her work: Andrea was certainly setting me a high standard! At the same time, I realized we seemed to have pretty similar tastes.

I finally decided on a needlebook:

The design is a free alphabet by Tournicoton. You'll find the design on this website, in the category "Les entrevues de créateurs". I changed the colour scheme to use only green and a floss dyed by a French designer, Marion. The shade is Magnolia, but I find all her threads equally mouth-watering.

I made rosebud pins with Polymer Clay to go inside the case - those are all the rage among French stitchers. You can buy them of course, but I thought it might be fun to try my hand at making them myself!

Here's the whole exchange, minus a Spring-themed French stitching magazine which I bought at the last minute.

~*~

I completed all the stitching on the Petal fairy yesterday night and hope I can bead tonight! I don't know how long this will take though - I haven't done such a huge amount of beading before, since the Petal Fairy is my first large project. Any pointers on this?

Have a great day everyone!

Really getting there...

I feel really close to a happy dance on the Petal Fairy now!

(click for a bigger picture)

I finished stitching those huge flowers yesterday, filled in the fairy's bodice, and started the - minimal - backstitching, while we were watching Le Mystère de la chambre jaune.
(We most often watch English-speaking movies - it seems like I need my daily dose of English! -, but we've been watching a few good French movies lately. Before the Chambre jaune, we particularly enjoyed a couple of movies by and with Agnès Jaoui, whom I hadn't discovered yet.)

There's still a little backstitching left, and the shoes and hair to fill in; then it'll be on to the beading, which seems pretty extensive and which shall require a few hours without watching a DVD with Seb... I have to see where I can fit that in. I do hope I can do that before I go see my parents this weekend, but that's not 100% sure.
It's really cloudy today in Paris and the colours didn't come out right... I wish you could see her in real life - the colours are so vibrant and she really seems to pop out of the mint green linen!

Thank you all for your kind comments on the previous entry! I didn't get to start the dress on Sunday after all, because... well... Violette threw up on the pattern and I have to start that all over again. Tracing a pattern is my least favourite part in dressmaking (OK, let's rather say it's the part I just don't like!). Especially when you're tracing it from a Japanese book where 6 patterns are drawn all over each other on the same sheet, with all pattern lines being the same colour... and you're not helped by the language either. Besides I have to do that directly on the floor, as the table is not large enough. Sigh.
I did start an easier top from my second Japanese book, and nearly finished it; but then I spent the afternoon helping my sister move into her new flat. My sister now lives 15 minutes from me, on the other side of the Canal Saint-Martin ! Yippee!

Just to give you a foretaste, here's a picture of the design I chose:

It's turning out cute!

For those of you interested, this design comes from this other book:

ISBN4-579-11043-9

~*~
Finally, I wish a very happy Birthday to my friend Anneke!

Everyone have a great day!

A week in review

Hello friends! Sorry for being once again so slow in updating my blog. I'm not "how am I ever to manage" busy, but I'm very busy still. Besides, I've been craving sleep like a dormouse lately, and therefore haven't had much opportunity to be online in the evening... Or else it would have meant no stitching whatsoever.

I managed to finish and send off a few gifts this week though - two to my friend Zoanna, one for a friend's Birthday next week, as well as a couple of gifts for a very dear friend in Belgium, who just had her first baby. She once told me they'd decorated the baby's room in red with stencilled giraffes... which I kept in mind while making little Lucie a blankie/playing rug and a matching framed embroidery.

This is the first time I'm making baby gifts, so I hope this is fine!

For those of you who do machine embroidery, the design is from Embroidery Library, as are most of my designs (unless I digitize them myself). Their designs are the most affordable around (to my knowledge). You can get this one here.

In stitching news, I am still plugging along on the gigantic flowers overhanging my Petal Fairy...

This morning I attended a colloquium, which is the reason for my not going to the London Stitch show with San and Ali... (hope you're having fun at the moment, girls!).
But this afternoon, I've decided to forget about work till at least tomorrow afternoon. I just finished tracing a pattern from my Simple Chic Japanese book. I chose this dress:

And I'm making it in black.

Now, I traced the pattern earlier this afternoon, and must confess I was quite happy with myself for having deciphered the various outlines on the pattern sheet (which is a huge mess of 4 different patterns all jumbled together... with captions in Japanese!)... But then I realized I hadn't preshrunk my fabric yet! I just took it out of the washing machine and hang it to dry... Looks like I'll be only starting the dress tomorrow after all! I'm not sure what I'll be making instead today, but I'm sure I'll soon find out. It has to be something for me though, or else Seb is going to scold me. He says I make too many things for friends/family and not enough for me, but then, I am so much more inspired when sewing for others.

And I leave you with a happy picture of Annemiek and me at the SMAC show last Sunday:

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Welcome, Spring!

I am so excited that Spring is finally here! Spring is my favourite season, and I wished to mark the occasion with a full blog revamp. I do hope you like my Spring cleaning! I've also decided to change the name to Kitty Couture - I wanted something sweet, something cute, something fresh. I know this doesn't reflect my stitching, which is why I mention it in my sub-title. (I'll leave the blog name as "Keeping one's world in Stitches" for a week, so you won't be lost in your feed readers...)
I'd started toying with those colours and a new title in February actually, but was waiting till Spring to put my ideas to fruition.
Please, do tell me what you think!

I had barely any time to stitch or sew this weekend... On Saturday morning, Seb and I did some intense Spring cleaning; then my older sister came over as she'd had a meeting in Paris in the morning (my older sister lives in Lille, like my parents). When she left to take her train back home I went to the demonstration. I'm afraid the media abroad might be giving the idea that those demonstrations are "riots" like last November, but they have nothing in common. Demonstrating does not mean being violent. It is part of our culture to try and express what we want - or in that case, don't want - to the government when they don't listen to the people. Now I certainly don't want to write about politics on my blog - this is not the place for it. I just wanted to say that Seb and I had a lovely time walking hand in hand through a beautifully sunny Paris, among other peaceful and friendly people.

Then on Sunday morning I met Annemiek!! We'd agreed to meet at 8 am so we could have a full hour to chat before heading to the craft show. You're gonna laugh at this, but it was the first time I ever had breakfast outside in Paris! And I believe it was the first time in ten years that I had a croissant. Please don't stone me for being in the capital of croissants and never getting to enjoy them!
I think Annemiek would agree that we hit it off straight away! We chatted away all morning.

Annemiek had actually come along with her parents to order new items for her shop. The craft show was for professionals only, but Annemiek had managed to get me a pass; she laughed saying that she could say I was their interpreter anyway! Actually, this is precisely what happened - and I delighted in playing that role. It was also hugely interesting to see the "other side" of the stitching business. And of course, I revelled in seeing the designs, threads and fabrics up close. There was actually the annual Parisian stitching show last week, and I hadn't been able to go, since I was spending every waking second slaving away on my presentation. However, Annemiek's invitation made up for it!

I had to leave at 12.30 since I still had to prepare my classes for today. I went home utterly enchantée with our morning together. Annemiek and I have realized we have more common points than we had even thought - not least is our common love for English, and for talking in English. We were truly on the same wavelength. Annemiek's parents were delightful, and even though we did not get to interact that much due to the language barrier, we sure got along very well! As Annemiek remarked, we really have to thank Becky for pairing us up so well in the Adopt-a-Stitcher exchange!
And I really want to thank Annemiek for that wonderful time together, and for inviting me to the show! Annemiek, it'll be even more fun to spoil you now .
Annemiek did spoil me with a bag of goodies, by the way! I'll share a pictue in another post, along with a picture of us

To make up for the lengthy, wordy post, I am leaving you with a picture of the Petal Fairy - I've been working on the flowers at the top...

(click for a larger pic)
Everyone have a great week and a lovely Spring!

Another day, another post...

Yep, can you believe that? (this may not last, though!)

I just wanted to share pictures of the little gifties I sent Annemiek this month:

(click for a bigger pic)

First I made her a WIP case, and included a kit to make a matching needlecase (kit by Rouge du Rhin).
The stithcing case started as a small patchwork I made with 15 fabric squares, which I'd chosen because they reminded me of Annemiek's quilt. When I was done making the patchwork I felt like adding batting and lining and turning this into a case.

The two other gifts are also French-flavoured, since the sachet is filled with lavender scent, and the floss is a hand-dyed by a French designer, Marion, which I just discovered - her yarns are just so yummy! The colour in the picture is Lys.

This is a minimized version of the drawstring bag, with a twist - the casing is created by sewing a channel instead of turning under the top edge. This little bag was made with a lavender-coloured eyelet fabric and I added a lace cuff.

While I'm at it, here's a picture of the Petal Fairy!! Hasn't she grown?

I stitched on her from 10 to 11.30 pm every night, to keep my sanity. My dream was to have her finished for Spring, and it really seems doable now, don't you think? I hope to have her done by the end of the month.

Speaking of Spring, I'm thinking of revamping my blog for the occasion. I'm even thinking of changing the name of that blog to freshen it up a little... I was thinking of "Kitty Couture". What do you think??

Everyone have a great day!

Back!

Dear friends,

I'm finally back online! I am sorry if some of you were concerned on my account... I am touched that you were concerned - thank you! - but the reason has simply been work. I've been working like a maniac those past few weeks. I was giving a presentation yesterday and the subject was - a monster subject. Up till the very morning I never thought I'd be able to fully master it - but I finally did! Still don't know how I did it, but it really went well.

What didn't help making things less hectic was that I had to attend another colloquium on Modernism last Friday - it was hugely interesting, but it took a day off from my own work! Besides, my students are more and more numerous -I don't know where they come from, but more keep coming to my classes every week; and the more they are, the more work for me obviously...

All this explains for my being so silent lately - on my blog, on yours, and with my emails as well... I apologize for being so silent. I really have been working from 7.30 am to 10 pm, everyday, including weekends! Yep, I was about to go crazy... But this is all behind me now! Obviously it's not as if I wasn't busy anymore - the translation panel I take part in is this afternoon, and I still haven't worked on the chunk we're gonna translate today! I also have almost 100 long papers to grade. Besides, I obviously must go back to my own research now. But I won't be working 7/7 from 7.30 am to 10 pm, that's for sure.

And I have a wonderful day to look forward to: Annemiek is coming to Paris and we'll be meeting this Sunday!! How thrilling is that?

There was also a package from my Adopt-a-Stitcher sender - who is no other than my friend Becky! - waiting for me after the colloquium - I received it on Monday, but asked Becky whether I could wait till Wednesday evening to open it: I wanted to be able to fully enjoy it! So here are the delightful goodies I opened when I came back at 8 pm last night:

Lots of different stationery - now I'm beginning to wonder if Becky can peep inside my head: I was precisely running out of stationery and had started to look for some! No need to anymore... I have ample choice now! This is all so cute and so much my taste - Becky, you've been so careful once again to choose just the right themes to please me!

And a breathtaking gift - I literally caught my breath when I opened it:

Needlebook, open - back and inside.
(yep, the needles were included - this is typical Becky-thoughtfulness!)

Isn't this exquisite? Such a delightful design, in lovely subtle hues. And Becky's craftsmanship is as ever immaculate. Even the fabric's checks line up inside the case, between the upper and lower sections.
Thank you so much, dear Becky!! This is such a treasure... You always show such love and thoughtfulness through your gifts!!

What's funny is that my Adopt a Stitcher sendee, Annemiek, also opened a package from me yesterday! I'll blog about it later... I feel that Becky's gifts and especially her gorgeous needlebook deserved an entry of their own!!

((((Hugs)))) everyone. I've missed you so much, and I look forward to catching up on your blogs!
Soon, very soon, I promise an update on the Petal Fairy (which I worked on from 10 to 11.30 pm every night); and a look at Annemiek's gifties.

A quick update (edited for: my Round Robin is home!!)

Hello friends,

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I was sick all last week (cold and sore throat), and then had a migraine attack over the weekend. I haven't feel like blogging lately anyway, due to some disheartening news. I must put up a brave face to support my nearest and dearest, but what a rotten year 2006 has been so far! I don't think I could take any more bad news.

Anyway... Whenever I got a chance last week, I stitched on the Spring Exchange for the SBEBB, and a few gifts ready for my Adopt a Stitcher partner Annemiek. I was preparing a larger Spring-related parcel, but then she told me she was coming to Paris in a couple of weeks!! Since I wanted to send her a map of Paris to help her organize her trip, I decided to split the large parcel in two smaller packages in order to send one as soon as possible - it left this morning. I am so thrilled about Annemiek's coming to Paris! How lucky is that?

Since I can show you neither the Spring exchange piece, nor Annemiek's gifties yet, I've decided to share a progress picture of the Petal Fairy. I've been working on her for 3 evenings - I wanted to start Summer into Autumn, but thought it wasn't wise to start this with a headache. The Petal Fairy seemed a much easier project to pick up right then.

(as usual, click for a larger picture)
Her wings have grown some more, and I've been filling in some gaps in her skirt.

Now it's time I left and went teaching... Have a lovely week everyone!

Edited at 8 pm: I'm just back from teaching, and what a treat was waiting for me: my Cattitudes Round Robin is home, after more than a year traveling around the world!!
I know it isn't ironed yet, and it looks wonky on the couch (it's so big!), but I can't help sharing a picture straight away!

Didn't everyone do a wonderful job? From left and clockwise, you can see that Gemma (from Spain) stitched a cat in a tree; Namuelle (from Provence), a cat in a boot ; Karen from the UK stitched those two cuddly cats; Zohrah in Singapoure devised her own colours and face for a very sweet Cultured cat; Sandrine (my French buddy from England) stitched Crazy Cat; and Cha from the US stitched "Clever".

I still can't fully realize it is here. Violette can, though:

She was hugely interested in the fabric, and it got her full approval. Which makes me think... She'd never seen the fabric before! She hadn't arrived at our home yet when I sent the fabric away for its trip around the globe...

To all my Round Robin friends, thank you so much for all your care and for the friendship you put into those stitches! This was my first RR, and it was a full success. Thank you Namuelle, for setting it up; thank you San for mailing the fabric so it would come at a time when when a pick-me-up couldn't be more opportune... Thank you, all 6 of you!!