A Spring Ball Preview

We were here today.  Want to see the inside?

It is the University of Graz.  The inauguration for this building was 1895 - and it is lovely.  This room is 25 meters X 14 and the ceilings are 12 meters high.  Big room!  We were there as part of the sound check for a ball that they are having there tonight.  Want to see the some of the decorations?  I thought so.

Some of the dining areas were sectioned off with dividers of flowers.

And a photo of my son as we were on our way out.  The building is just really amazing - and big!

The sound check went well and we had fun - a little preview of the events for tonight including a good sampling of the music and watching the dancers practice.  The worker bees were scurring around doing last-minute flowers, etc.  Short and sweet and perfect for a 6 year old!  Not only that - we got to see it all in the daytime!  The ball is from 8 pm to 2 am. 
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I have a TON of blogging to catch up on, but thought this beautiful building deserved its own post.  We are outside alot right now and my days just seem to evaporate in the sunshine!

Sewing Progress

This is Burda 9641 in action.  My son loves these shorts and I already have another pair cut out.  I did the shorts version but put real pockets on the back instead of flaps.  I hate flaps.  These are comfy - elastic waist with fake fly, top and back pockets, plus you can add side cargo pockets too (which I did not!).  My fabric raveled alot and I don't have my serger here, so I ended up flat feeling all the seams.  But with a small size - it doesn't take all that long to do the extra work to make sure they stay together after multiple washings.  My son is tall and thin - which is why I love Burda patterns so much - they fit him!  And which is why he loves them too.  Hard to get that boy to wear store bought.  Anyway - my sister sent me this scrap of blue fabric and it wasn't enough to make a simple skirt for myself, but I was able to just squeek out the shorts by piecing the waistband instead of cutting it on the fold.  Yes, it was that close!  The fabric for his 2nd pair cost 2.90 Euro (marked down because there was less than a meter left), plus the elastic and I already have the thread. 

Here are my skinny pants I've been working on!  I got the pattern from a German magazine called Moden Diana.  I don't read any German so I am happy that I've figured out the pattern this far.  My very first fly front on a pair of pants for myself and thing is nice and flat!  Right now I am in the process of adding the waistband and still have to do the hem - which is why I have them cuffed in the photo.  The fabric is a sturdy light-weight fabric that will be ever so much cooler than jeans in hot weather.  But it ravels so I had to flat fell and French seam and turn everything under.  That is a little more work on my size than a pair of shorts for my son.  I am so happy to have a pants pattern that fits me and that I like - I can't wait to try this pattern out in some stretch denim when I get my hands on some.  In the meantime, I will make them again in another light-weight fabric.  It takes 1.65 meter of fabric and this fabric was I think 3 Euro a meter, plus the zipper and matching thread.  I have a jar of buttons so no need to buy one of those!

The top is Simplicity 3882.  I don't think it looks like the pattern photo that much and look how it flares out on the bottom.  The back is even lower than the front which would be ok for a layering piece, except the top back piece is cut a good 2-3" too wide so it puffs out.  I will probably take it apart and trim that down.  If I make the top again, I will add 2-3" to the top front and also raise the back so it is more like a tank top than whaever this thing is!  It looks good enough under my favorite maroon top, so it isn't a total loss.  Except - I really made it to go with this flared skirt - but look how BAD that combination looks!

Believe me, this is the better photo!  Somehow the lines altogether make me look 2X wider than I am.  So - the skirt will just have to be worn with a different top and the tank will have to be an underneath layering piece.  The skirt is New Look 6900 - a gored skirt.  The pattern ran so big I didn't even bother with the waist/zipper thing - I used a knit fabric so I just turned the top under and added a thin elastic.  If I had used a woven fabric I would have been really annoyed because then I would have had to take it apart to fix the waist in order to get everything to fit.  But with knits - you have some flexibility!

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So, I've learned - flared tops should be paired with straight bottoms and flared skirts should be paired with a top that cinches in at the waist.

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Here is a lamb decoration that my son made at school before Easter vacation - isn't it cute?  Over here a lamb cake is very traditional at Easter time - raisins for the eyes and dusted with powdered sugar. 

He also made this goose plant stick.  We have to pay something like 10 Euros a semester to the school for craft supplies.  It is so worth it because he has crafts every Monday and he makes some really fun things and he is always so proud of his little creations.  I think it is sad that crafts has been taken out of many schools due to budget cuts.  I really don't mind paying the extra 20 Euros a year to keep crafts in my son's classroom.

One more photo and then I have to run... this is from the hair dressing shop down the street from me and I really liked it so took a photo to remember for next year!  They use the same big vase for every holiday - they just change what is inside of it.  We have 2 big bunches of pussywillows that we hung our eggs on in our living room, but next year I want something like this in my front entry.