A Little Bit of Heaven

Being back in Ireland after a whole nine days in sunny Mallorca is not just hard... It is absolutely unbearable!!!! Everything around looks like it is painted a shade of gray, it is rainy, gloomy, sore and uninspiring. The holiday seems like a dream already, and it has only been a few days…

Mallorca for me is the ultimate place on earth that ticks all the necessary boxes.

It is a STUNNING island, we toured almost all of the island on a motorbike, and even though it is not the first time, we've seen so many amazing spots and unforgettable views, you will have to tour the whole of mainland Mediterania for days to finds similar views, but in Mallorca they are all just around the corner from each other- it is a Med in a nutshell with a hint of Caribbean too!!! Just look at those colours...

And the FOOD is SUBLIME (anything made here can be the best you can get- whether is is Spanish, Italian or Japanese for that matter. This is a gourmand's heaven!!!) and the variety of drinks is breathtaking…

The middle shot is a spring lamb, the speciality of Deia, a cute mountain village in the north of the island. Cooked to perfection, being such a cliche, describes precisely what you should expect. Visit Xelini Restaurante for best experience. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Michael Douglas had a right idea making this their home place, as the quality of food, together with amazing location is simply hard to beat.




The best place for coccinillo asado (succulent baby pig) proved to be in Meson C'an Torrat in Calvia. Everything on the plate came from their own farm, and the colour and taste of the pork crackling was the best I have ever experienced.
Not to mention grilled asparagus with a sprinkle of sea salt for a starter, and home grown melon for fruta del dia. Bliss!







To my absolute delight and surprise Japanese sushi of all things seem to have really become a hit in Mallorka since 2010, when I was there last. Whether a California Roll, or Tuna Sashimi-  expect superb quality and heavenly presentation too. And it was great to see sushi bars in every indoor market too. And while we are on the subject of indoor markets, oyster bars too!

In terms of fabric shopping, Mallorca is not too far from Ireland though, I regret to say. There were a few fabric shops in Palma I came across and a few markets down the country, but the fabric choice was quite unimpressive- nothing you will see in the UK or United States stores. Fabrics are mostly for interior design than dressmaking too. I admit to find it very disappointing, considering I would love to live in Mallorca one day, but I suppose online shopping will have to work for me over there too ))))

But so far, I am back trying to settle in, sad and missing my dream homeland already….

A few thoughts for the future:

• Must start exercising - after piling on 5 pound after all that good food, I definitely flaunted too much fat thighs around that water park on the last day. )))
• Pack less rather than more for your holidays, when it comes to outfits, I ended up with a few I haven't worn once.
• Suncream with a high factor a must for motorbiking trips- my knees and tops of my lower arms got really burnt during the trip.
• Alcohol has a different effect in the heat, and also Spanish do not skimp on the pouring side. Must watch the drink intake, even if it is so delicious, like Palo? Is it nice to be drunk too much too early and spend the later part of the night hanging over every day? Not for me, thanks. 

©2012 copyright Sewing And Style.
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All images and copied text must have a link back or reference to Sewing and Style Den

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Back to basics and MMM'12 pledge

…and I don't mean sewing tops and pants, I am talking- returning to PatternMaster Boutique from Wildginger.com!

I firsrt purchased it around 2007, but I switched from PC to Mac since and as this software is only PC compatible, I had never really discovered it true potential.

Today though, I have installed a Virtual Box software and put Windows Vista running on it- on my Mac, simultaneously with my Mac's screen and apps! And i have installed the PMB and it is running! Bliss.

Now, there is a long way to go to recall all the editing tools and options in their Pattern editor- but, hopefully the result will be worth it! I might even start designing my own downloadable patterns to offer my readers some day (Oops, my big dream revealed!!! ))))

And last, but not least: I too join the oh-so-contagious sewing bloggers pledge:

"I, Juliette of Sewing and Style Den, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '12. I pledge to wear a self-made item of clothing for at least four days a week for the duration of May 2012."


Actually, that can apply to all month of the year- I do wear self made clothes a lot- that is mainly why I try to make wearable clothes and don't do vintage. So I am in! I don't take pics of what I wear every day, but everything I have made ( and still own ) will be used.


And to finish up- here's Harry, contemplating if a modeling career is really for him:

Not bad! Not bad at all!!!!

 ©2010 copyright Sewing And Style.
All rights reserved.
All images and copied text must have a link back or reference to Sewing and Style Den

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All Set for Christmas ( Chantelle's first sewing steps)

Are you ready for the holiday season? Well I am for sure: the tree is up and the prezzies are wrapped. There is a lot of work for me on the weekends, but at least I am getting a few days over Christmas, when I don't have to think about anything, but joyfully enjoying time with my small family, especially that this is the very first Christmas it is just three of us in our house in Ireland (we always had guests staying over). And as much as we miss our belated nana and my mom, who lives in Estonia, I am so grateful this time it is all about my own little kingdom ))))

Chantelle, my daughter of 11 is starting to show serious interest in Dressmaking. Since she had a fabric based project at school a few weeks ago and I supervised her making a funky jersey top ( from Burda 5/2009), she's been begging me to do something else. So today I gave her a chance to make a Christmas Stocking. I didn't want to interfere, so it is not the most perfect stocking the world ever seen. But the main thing - she did it all by herself, following the instructions from this video and I am sure with a bit of practice, she will get into it just like I did. One thing I am so proud of- the family tradition seems to be passed to Chantelle (every woman in my family makes clothes). Great! I should now grant myself with a nice glass of wine to celebrate!

Cheers!

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Re-make, Re-think, Re-visit

Today Mercury goes retrograte. Yes, I am talking astrology here. I am not enturely hooked up on it, but there are a few aspects which are worth looking out for and I have experienced their effect in the past, so I am definitely being extra careful with them now. Outside Eclipses and full moons, Mercury is one of the major ones as when it retrogrates it holds a real danger ....

What happens when Mercury retrogrades? You miss appointments, your computer equipment crashes, checks get lost, you find the car you just purchased during Mercury retrograde is a lemon. (Or, you hate your haircut, the lamp you bought shorts out, your sister hates her birthday gift.) Go on Google it or more on Astrologyzone.com my personal favourite site for that kind of stuff.

I have personally lost 3 computers that crashed and died without any chance of resurrection and 2 cars, bought during these periods broke down and their engine died ( last incident happened in August this year) so if I want to keep my finances under control, I surely have to be aware of this strange planetary influence. Even today when I came home from work and saw that my TV's colours are all way too bright, although the settings are same as usual, I wasn't surprised- in fact, I did expect something like that to happen on a day when Mercury falls asleep ))))

Another aspect is total breakdown in all sorts of communication and all new projects are failing. I can never finish any of my garments that I started it is like the door to the future is closed in front of you. 

But there is a good side of these periods and it is all mainly have to do with revisiting all things past. Old friends that you lost touch with arrear out of nowhere, you find things thought to be all gone, and the best of all- remake projects flourish. Have anything unfinished? Get it out now- you will find the way to finish it in the best possible way, sometimes you will see it in a completely new light! Anything that you can RE-do, do it now- this is your second chance! 

You are reading my blog, so if you have bothered so far, you want to listen to what I have to say on this matter. Take my word for it, use the RRR approach! RE-style, RE-make, RE-think.

Just tonight I have found a perfect solution to two issues that used to bother me for ages - one is a lack of skirts on my wardrobe- and the other is a piece of stretch chiffon I've had for years, and never got to use. All my previous ideas just never came to realisation. 

So for this stripy number the solution is a skirt pattern from last December's Burda Magazine ( model 114)

My other past obsession is about a balloon skirt like this one . I have some black stretch suede-like fabric left from my Matrix Dress- perfect for trying this style out.






And one more of past resolutions: lots of pencil skirts!
Burdastyle.com just released a nice blog on pencil skirts and I have a nice pattern or two in mind. So my fabric leftovers/ odds will be Re-Visited!

And as a final touch, I need to share this with you: I am so delighted that one of this season's hottest print trend is houndtooth, 

so my 2009 dress is back in action - again turning to the past! )))

This dress made for my birthday was a bit longer originally, but I had it taken up and tailored for my 2010 Mallorka holidays.

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And I have more details in this print coming up as some of the fabric is left over. Watch this place!

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