Well alright, I might be a little premature with the title since it's another two days until summer officially begins but the recent temperatures already made it perfectly clear that HE is one his way: during the last four days we had a maximum of 86°F/30°C and temperature is supposed to hit 90°F on Friday, awesome! I've been making some nice clothes lately that are perfect for this kind of weather. One of them is a knee-length dress.
It's made of a nice light-weight cotton knit fabric that I found in Berlin. Actually I was planning on making a top that only reaches down to my hips but since I had enough fabric left (why is it that I always buy too much??) I decided to make it a dress! It's a really simple pattern with only a front and a back part (both cut on fold), and facing on neckline and sleeves. I also tied a ribbon on each shoulder strap. So the result first looked like this:

When I was done I was a bit confused because with no darts or pleats combined with the colors it looked a littttle bit like a nightgown.






Not good enough, so I put on a belt and look at that: I got myself a nice summerdress! Sometimes a tiny little detail can make a huge difference to a pattern.

One thing I love about Europe are the Dutch fabric markets! The Netherlands have always been famous for their fabrics and many dealers go on tour twice a year (spring and fall) to the bigger cities of Germany to sell their stuff. To be honest I even planned my trip to Germany according to their schedule. I knew they would be in Frankfurt on June 10 and so would I! Those markets are heaven for fabric lovers and sewing enthusiasts! Many dozens of booths, each of them carrying a great variety of fabrics, for clothes, bagmaking, home decor and quilting. Some dealers also offer accessories like ribbons, buttons, all kinds of notions, patterns and even sewing machines. The good thing about the Dutch fabric markets is that you get the whole package: quality, variety AND bargains! Gotta LOVE this!!  
I was looking for some more medium-weight cottons for bagmaking. Here's what I found:

They also have a huge range of knit fabrics, plain and colored, all of which are ridiculously cheap! I only bought two cotton knits which I am planning on using for myself, maybe for sleepwear or something. Both pieces are 60" x 60" and I paid 10 Euros (i. e. 12.50 $) which is pretty awesome!

                                            10 zips (all 18 cm/7") for 5 Euros (6.30 $)!!!

If you ever make it to Europe and want to catch one of the markets, here's the link to their official website. Check for "Termine", which is the German word for schedule! I forgot to take any pictures on the market but they have a lot of nice pics posted on their website too, just to give you an impression of the atmosphere!
AND: if you ever go, be sure to bring enough cash as most of the dealers don't accepts credit cards!

I really feel like talking a little bit about my favorite handbag today. It just passed its first real „stress test“ on a trip to one of the most amazing cities of the world: BERLIN!!

It was one of the very first handbags I made and again I used a pattern of Lisa Lam from her book “The bag making bible”. It’s called “the piping hot hobo” and really versatile. It is expandable since it has two popper snaps, one on either side of the bag. I never carried more than a wallet, a case for my glasses and my cell phone in it, so until a few days ago I really had noooo idea how much it could take. Now I can tell you: A LOT!!
So here’s what I wanted to put into the bag. Quite a few things, huh?

Here’s a picture of what it looked like when I went on my trip!

Isn’t that amazing? I put the above mentioned essentials in it plus: a travel guide, a book, headphones, my camera, a chapstick, a calendar (do people still have those, or am I the only one..??), a manicure set, a magazine, my train ticket, tissues (yeah, I know, that’s supposed to be a German thing, always carrying a bag of tissues with us. They have four layers btw, I never get tired of mentioning that ;-)) and I even thought about putting a small bottle of water in there too but decided against it, since it wouldn’t have kept its nice shape.
I attached a long leather strap on the bag, so on my long walks through the city I could wear it like a cross-body bag which I prefer to carrying it on one shoulder especially when the bag gets heavy.
Anyways, I was really surprised about how convenient this handbag is and I’m definitely going to make more of those to sell in my shop as well!

Btw, this is what it looks like with all the stuff in it! Didn't go out of shape at all!