Summer holidays = crafting

Hello, hello, my dear readers. I hope you are all having a lovely summer.

Thank you if you are still around, and sorry for not writing for so long. May and half of June was really busy at school, and it was even more difficult because I didn't feel very well. In the beginning of July I had two friends over from Hungary, so I had to prepare for that a little (cleaning! brrrr…). We had a great time though, so I have to say it was worth every minute. Then we went to the mountain area in Sweden for a family event. Want to see some pictures?

My friends in Stockholm.

My friends and me on Åland.

Stephen and me in the mountains - what a silly selfie, isn't it? :D


And now, finally, I am here.

I didn't write my blog but I have been crafting all the same, perhaps not as much as I like to, but there are lots of things to show. So now I am going to write a post every (other?) day, showing you the different things I made or am in the middle of making. There will be some free patterns, too!

Let's start with the most exciting thing: I have been accepted to university! Hipp-hipp-hurray! In August I will start a textile course in Umeå. My only regret is that it is very far away, around a 1000 kms, so I will have to fly - and it won't be cheap. It is a distance course, so I only need to go three times in a term, so perhaps it is not going to be that bad. I applied for another course in Lindköping, that would have been much closer but they requested a teacher degree for admission, and my Hungarian degrees are still not accepted here. :(

Anyway, in Umeå the requirement was some kind of a textile-related course, but for those who might not have it they offered a practical test to prove they know some basic textile skills. They posted an assignment online in May, and we had 3 weeks to complete a project. The topic was: playing with ten-year-olds. We had to send in the project itself, also the plans and sketches (not my strong point) and a 2-page long "reflection" - in Swedish. I made an educational game: a puzzle of the Nordic countries, with "cards" to mach the names of the countries/seas, the capitals and the flags. I used multiple layers (felt, iron-on interfacing and cotton fabric) to sew the puzzle pieces, used velcro to attach the cards, and embroidery to make the flags and the writing on the cards. Here are some pictures:

The background and the puzzle pieces.

This is how it looks put together.

You can also play Memory with the little cards. 2 in 1 :D I also made some simple bags to put the whole thing in but I forgot to take pictures.



I have one more photo to show you today: I stitched the free lapwing pattern from my previous post. I hope you like it.

See you soon :) Promise.

Another free lapwing pattern

Happy Easter!


I hope you all have a lovely time.

I am having a very quite spring break, staying at home, stitching a bit and not doing anything. Trying to reload spent batteries. :)


Here are some photos of what I have been doing lately:

I have crocheted quite a few of these bunnies and chicks and sold them to raise money for charity.

Some pillows with bunnies and a hedgehog, they were also sold.

Birds, not finished yet. Some of them will end up as bookmarks, some as… don't know yet. :) Any ideas?

And made a blouse for myself. Tried to practice how to follow a pattern really well, but it turned out horrible. I stretched the fabric on the bias, and the size was not really good either. In some places I needed a 52, in others it was too big. :D :D Anyway, managed to change here and there to make it all right. SO much about following a pattern. :)

Here is another version of the lapwing, this time in colour. Click on the picture.

Have fun stitching it.

Lapwing silhouette - bíbic sziluett

Először is hadd osszak meg veletek valami jópofát. Tegnap Stockholmba mentem a magyar nagykövetségre, szavazni. Amint ott várok, és beszélgetek a barátommal, azt mondja valaki: "Én ismerlek téged a blogodról. Ági vagy, ugye?"
Rita, örülök, hogy találkoztunk! :D :D


First, let me share something nice with you. I went to Stockholm yesterday, to the Hungarian embassy to vote. As I was waiting there, talking to my boyfriend, someone told me: "I know you from your blog. You are Agi, right?"
Rita, I am glad to have met you! :D :D



Mondtam már, hogy szeretem a madarakat? Itt, ahol lakom, sok bíbic fészkel a mezőn, nyáron, ha sétálok, mindig ott sivítoznak a magasban, megpróbálják elijeszteni az arra járót a fészkük közeléből.

Hímeztem egy ingyenes mintát, ahol csak egyszerű sziluett volt a madár, és nagyon hatásosnak találtam, úgyhogy megpróbáltam én is alkotni egyet. Ha tetszik, hímezzétek örömmel!


Have I mentioned that I love birds? Here where I live, there are lots of lapwings nesting on the fields. In summertime, if I go for a walk, they are always crying out in the air, trying to chase away anyone from their nests.

I have embroidered a freebie where the bird was a simple silhouette and found it really effective. So I tried to create one myself. If you like it, have fun stitching it.

PS. A másik nagy kedvencem a barázdabillegető! Another bird that I love a lot is wagtail!

Running bunnies

I have got into the Easter spirit. I have been crocheting bunnies, eggs and a baby chick, although they are not finished yet, so no pictures. I haven't followed any pattern, just went ahead and improvised, and it seemed to work.

I was also trying to put together an Easter bunny chart. I might have to do some more work (or rather playing) on this, but here is the first version. I tried many different colours for the bunnies' fur but couldn't settle for anything really. Finally I decided on something neutral, however, when I get down to stitching this, I am almost sure I would use some variegated thread, and perhaps some really crazy colour, too, like purple or blue. :D

Please feel free to improvise yourself and let me know how it turns out.

Happy stitching :)

Nature's Circle

Here is the result of my latest doodling with my cross stitch program. I called it Nature's Circle.

I am planning to stitch it on a bag I have been designing. Haven't decided on the colours yet. Anyway, I drew the pattern in two different colour-schemes, one with natural, soft colours and the other with brighter ones and love both.

But as usual, I would encourage everyone to try your own colours, choose from your thread stash and have fun with it.

I left the middle of the pattern empty, but actually thinking of filling in that part also. Will show you how it turns out when I can finally decide. Until then, go ahead and create your own version, if you like it.

Happy stitching :)

Spring bookmark - free patterns

It's March! Well, it is not exactly spring yet, at least not here in Sweden, though it is much milder than last year and before. Still, spring cannot be very far away :)

To celebrate, why not stitch a bookmark in your favourite spring colours? Here are some simple free patterns for you to enjoy.


I made two different colour variations on this one, but feel free to use whatever colours you like.

This one can perhaps be even quicker with only a few flower motifs.

Happy stitching :)

If you are new here, why not check out my earlier spring patterns, and also the ones for Easter and St. Patrick's day. Just look for the labels on the right.

Mini Valentine ornament - free pattern and tutorial

I created a small ornament with hearts on all sides. I named it Heart Pyramid, although it is rather a pyramid upside down :)


Here is the free pattern first, then I will show you with some photos how to sew it together.
Click on this picture to get the pdf file.

The red lines in the pattern should be done in backstitch, the blue lines should NOT be stitched but those are where you will fold the fabric.

Here you can see how I folded back the top of the fabric, all the way to the red line, then did the same with the bottom.

Then I folded back the triangle-shaped extra fabric between the motifs on the bottom part of the pattern, so that the red backstitch lines meet and can be sewn together. The next picture shows how this looks from the back side. Can you see that triangle of fabric folded back?

To sew I used whip-stitch going only under the backstitches, not in the fabric. Just as we do with biscornus. Except here we do the backstitch over two squares diagonally, so they are longer stitches than normally and I prefer to stitch them together with two whipstitches going under each backstitch. I love how it looks like lace.

Continue to sew together the backstitch lines.


Then fold in the extra fabric at both ends and sew together the two lines on the ends.

Then stuff the ornament with some fiberfill and stitch together the smaller triangles on the top, the same way, folding the extra white fabric to the inside. As you can see, I added a small red bead at each corner.

Finally, I added a few more beads and a little tassel at the bottom, and a cord at the top.

I hope you like it. It is much easier than it sounds, it can be done in an evening - just enough time until Valentine's day.

Happy stitching :)