This 'n' that....

Traditionally, the 7th January is the start of the sales here in Spain.  The Three Kings bring their presents on the night of the 5th, then the 6th is a fiesta when all the stores are closed, and then the shops get into full swing with their sales today!

I got a couple of great bargains, a pair of boots and some black jeans....I've been looking for a nice pair of black jeans for ages and finally found some that I liked at C&A....I really like C&A, I used to like them when they were in the UK, and we're fortunate that they're still going strong here.

So having been to the sales this morning I haven't got any new dolly photos for you but did take a few the other day so will share those instead.

Here is Nuria, my redhead Sasha Ballet from 1968.  I can hardly believe she is 50 years old this year, she has much less wrinkles than me, I wish I knew her secret!!!

Outfit by Petrana, boots by The Sleeping Elf.  Plants by Brian!!

And now just one photo from this morning's walk.  We have SNOW!!  Well there seems to be a dusting on the mountains behind us!!  But it is snow nonetheless :D  Sorry about the terrible photo but I used my phone and had to zoom right in to see it so it's incredibly grainy!!

I hope you're all having a good weekend and have a great week ahead too!

Big hugs
Sharon xxx

Sewing and embroidery...

I've been very busy sewing and embroidering this past week and so thought I'd share some finished items on here.

The first two outfits are a commission and are off to live with a nice lady in the UK.  One Toddler and one Sasha outfit:  The lady didn't want any appliques so tops are plain.

As you can see, Teddy is once again in touch with his 'feminine side' as he models this outfit for me!

 Whilst Nuria as usual looks gorgeous in any colour!

Then between commissions, yesterday I 'played' again with my embroidery hoop on my lovely (I cannot say it enough times how 'lovely' this machine is!!!) new machine.....

The first design is some simple flowers in red and blue which is being modelled by Meredith, a Journey Girl from Toys R Us.  You might remember that when I was in the UK last October I went with my friend Dee to buy a Journey Girl from her local Toys R Us.  At that time they were not available on the Iberian Peninsular apparently.  However, the other day I visited Toys R Us in Malaga and there they were!  It seems that they are now available again in Spain and Portugal, so I decided to buy two....just in case they stop stocking them again! ;)  And the great thing is they are much cheaper here too!  They are £30 each in the UK, €29,99 each in places like France, Germany and Belgium (plus the postage of course) but here in Spain they are ONLY €24,99!!!  Which at today's exchange rate is about £19!!!!  Don't you just love a bargain!

Anyway, I digress, here is the top, I also made the circle skirt and socks to go with it.  These photos were taken today on our usual Sunday morning 'jaunt'. 

Close up of the simple design.  I embroidered it onto sweatshirt fabric.

And the second design which I've made up into a similar sized sweatshirt is of four cute and colourful owls sitting in a row on a tree branch.  This one is being modelled by Claudia from Bonnie & Pearl:

I have also embroidered a Sasha sized sweatshirt which is not made up yet....I am thinking of making it into a full outfit and putting it up for sale here on my blog, so if you're interested, please watch this space!!!

Thanks so much for looking, I hope you've enjoyed seeing my weeks' sewing photos.

I hope everyone has had a lovely weekend so far and that the week ahead is a good one for you!!!  We are off home to Sevilla on Tuesday, after more than 10 months at the coast!  I think I'm going to be doing a bit of dusting before I can start any more sewing, wouldn't you agree?!!!

If we have to have winter.....

....then I'm more than happy to have a winter with weather like we're currently having!  Today was another beautifully sunny day, and once again we were able to go for a nice morning walk along the beach before having a coffee at a cafe on the promenade.  This week we went to Algarobbo Costa which is about 20 minutes east along the coast from us.  Algarrobo has a dark sandy and stony beach and is more residential than a holiday resort.  It was lovely this morning, quite a few people were walking, jogging or cycling along the promenade or sitting chatting at one of the several cafes.

If you're interested in reading about this interesting area, more information can be found here:

The Village of Algarrobo

Looking back towards the mountains, the ancient tower you can see  one of the two ancient watch towers in Algarrobo:

 
The Mediterranean was particularly calm today!

Looking along the coast towards Torre del Mar and Malaga....

I particularly wouldn't mind living in one of these houses, facing straight on to the beach....perfect!

Banana trees growing on the beach...

Lovely tall palm trees swaying in the breeze....

And plenty of seagull footprints in the sand!

I decided it was Nuria's turn to come with us today, but little Toddler Teddy insisted that he had to come too!  So the two of them got ready and off we went!  Most of the photos are of Nuria as poor little Teddy is a bit unsteady on his feet! ;)

"Mama, why can't we go in the pool?"  

 

 

This lovely tile 'mural' was on the wall of a restaurant.  The kids wanted to pose in front of it as it was so pretty.

I hope you have enjoyed this little stroll along Algarrobo Costa with us, and hope you all have a lovely week ahead!

(Sasha's lovely smocked top and shorts are by Marilyn Hotchkiss and along with her straw hat (from Sasha Morgenthaler Harlequin) were bought at the Chat n Snap last month, her pretty white leather sandals are by Marti Sanders Murphy.
Toddler Teddy's gorgeous cardigan was knitted for him by Rosie Laird, his shoes are by Lisa Hartley.
Teddy's shorts and cap, and both kids' striped socks, are all made by me).

Nuria takes a bow.....

Nuria is such a good model that sometimes the other girls don't get much of a look in when it comes to showing off my commission outfits here on my blog.  Today is no exception, here she is modelling a ra-ra skirt set which is the first of a list of outfits commissioned by a lovely lady in the US.  I love this girl, most people would say not to put a redhead in pink but I think she wears every colour perfectly!!

I hope you've enjoyed seeing Nuria modelling today.....watch this space as I work on the rest of the outfits in this order :)

Sewing again, and a discovery....

The last few days have seen me sewing for the Kaye Wiggs girls again, this time a three piece outfit for a lady in the US.  She asked for her outfit to be made in pinks and also wanted overalls/dungarees in dark denim.  Here is her outfit:

The overalls/dungarees are made from medium weight denim with a small amount of lycra.  They've been washed several times to remove the dye.  They are all topstitched with rust coloured thread, have 6 working pockets, two on the back, two at the waist/hips and two on the bib.   As you will see below, the bib is lined in this case with blue and white polka dot cotton which is actually from a flamenco dress!!!  (I used blue and white as opposed to pink because I'm sure these will be worn with other outfits or even on their own!)   And they do up with proper metal mini overall clips!

The blouse is made from pink spotted quilters cotton with pointed collar and wide cuffs.  It does up with metal snaps and has tiny pink buttons sewn down the front placket:

One of the back pockets has a red 'tag' like real jeans do.

The sleeveless hooded jacket is made from soft fine flowered needlecord with a burgundy background and is fully lined in pink and white candy stripe shirting fabric.  It does up at the front with a pale pink separating zip.  It has two front pockets.

Here you can see the hooded jacket and the blouse.

However, I also made a good discovery when making this outfit too......the overalls/dungarees actually fit the Sasha dolls!  OK they're a bit on the long side but it won't take much for me to alter my pattern ever so slightly and have a pattern for a nicely fitting pair of overalls which fit Sasha and Gregor too.  And here is Nuria modelling them for me:

I love how the early evening sunshine is showing up the gorgeous colour of her hair here.....it's like spun gold :) 

Here you can see the lined bodice.....ideally Nuria would be wearing a vest or teeshirt underneath but I tried them on her on the spur of the moment....I'm not sure she's overly impressed about modelling topless!!! 

There is only one thing that I forgot to do and that is try out the sleeveless hooded jacket on Nuria too!!!!  I had every intention of doing so but packaged it up and sent it off today without remembering to do so!  Oh well, there's always next time :)        

Thanks for looking and have a lovely week!!!!