Something good for a teacher!

My best friend is a teacher and she lives in Milan, therefore we don't see each other too much. For her birthday, I wanted to make something she could use everyday at school, so she would always be reminded of me... I'm getting too romantic but I guess that's because I really miss her...
After quite a few hours spent surfing the web, googling all type of keywords (I also typed "best friend tutorial"... and something really cute came out), I found this tutorial, from the blog Bits and Pieces, and knew instantly that it was what I had looking for all afternoon!!!
It's a file folder cover, perfect for keeping all the sheets a teacher usually has with her! And it's something she doesn't have yet! I'm sure of that!

So, as I am not a quilter nor I have supplies for quilting, I went for a beautiful fabric from Ikea (I bought it several years ago and never used because it was too beautiful) and a blue cotton muslin for the lining. It should have been stiffer but fusible interfacing is something unkwown to the lovely lady of the place where I usually buy my supplies. Her shop is really small and everything is covered by dust... she is not very modern but has some real treasures in her drawers and she has a lot of patience. Every time I have strange questions she always listens carefully and then comes up with a solution!
Getting back to interfacing, the most similar fabric to it is something called "camel's hair" in the local dialect. It's quite stiff and there's some kind of glue only on one side.
Well, anyway, the result is quite good to me, colourful and stylish.

Now I just have to learn how to take better pictures... I swear, in real life it looks much better!

Stranding pearls

Two Christmas ago, my boyfriend's mom and his sister gave me a two-stranded pearl necklace, saying that I could refashion it the way I wanted.
Well, it took me two years but today I made a long pearl and silver necklace that will be great in my summer parties! I am completely in love with the final product, it's very simple yet elegant. Plus it's so long that I can wear it loose or in two strands around my neck or as a bracelet.

What do you think? Will my other necklaces keep it good company?

Vicky's dog bed

Vicky and Dolly are my parents' dogs. They are sweet, big and I just love them! They are the queens of my mom's house but what's a queen without a throne?
Well, basically they already have two fluffy dog beds in which they snore all day but I wanted to add a touch of me. This dog bed in fact is a huge pillowcase, so the real bed can fit in.

I used some fabrics that have been in my stash for years... the patterned one is from Ikea, the red one came from my boyfriend's mom and the brown came from my great aunt's house. I bought only the striped one which costed €2 at a market stall in Avola (it's the only place in which to thrift here). I wanted it to be cheerful and colourful but I also wanted it to fit my mom's taste.
It seems like a did some quilting but believe me, I had never done anything like this before. Trying to match the angles was really challenging and, once finished, I was far more then just stressed out.

In order to hide raw edges on the inside, I lined the upper part with an old bed sheet.

The whole product looks great to me but here are some details... far from perfect... I guess that Vicky will still be thankful! She will for sure lick me all over my face (she does that all the time...)!

I still have Dolly's one to finish... we'll see if I can learn from my mistakes...

Hello!!!

Some might think that the world wide web doesn't need a new blog (sometimes even I do...) but I want to give myself a chance. I've been following the crafty community for a year now and I learned a lot from it. I followed tons of tutorials, seen videos and asked questions to a lot of bloggers. So, in my quest to become a crafty goddess, I guess that be an active part of this community could help. Moreover, I feel that having a schedule, even if virtual, can help me in being more productive with my projects. So far, I have a few projects to end before February is over. Two dog beds for my mom, a pouch for my great aunt, a gift for my best friend, a tapestry embroidery... Well, we'll see what I can do! And don't forget the One Pearl Button Sew Along... Alli, who is a real crafty goddess , will teach how to make a skirt with pleating and waistband... I'm looking for the perfect fabric! Just another little note: I am Italian and a non native English speaker. This blog is also a great way for me to improve my English and get better better at it everyday. Please, if there's a mistake, do not hesitate to correct me, that's really what I'm looking for! And now... off making dinner (it's 8pm in sunny Sicily...)!