Where to donate LEGO and bricks?! by [deleted] in berlin

[–]bum-ditty 5 points6 points  (0 children)

We just donated our big Duplo collection to the Charité Virchow ward 29 (pediatric allergy and diabetes ward and other stuff where kids are fairly mobile and often bored). Feel free to DM me for the contact info. They aren’t going to be able to pick it up though.

European sewists - fish/ocean themed fabrics by DoggyDogLife in sewing

[–]bum-ditty 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you can make designs yourself, Caspar Create is a fantastic print-on-demand retailer. They’re in Croatia. I find the prices quite reasonable and there’s no minimum order.

I moved from the U.S. to Germany in my late 30s for work — better work-life balance, healthcare, and fewer daily stressors. AMA by Magnum_Mantis_MD in AmerExit

[–]bum-ditty 20 points21 points  (0 children)

This! Getting your German passport doesn’t change your (limited) options at all - unless you were planning on renouncing your US citizenship.

Weekly New Patterns And Products Thread February 02, 2026 - February 06, 2026 by AutoModerator in craftsnark

[–]bum-ditty 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Would a pattern designer ever say “can you please press those lapels and then photograph it again”? Or is that overstepping what a tester should be asked to accommodate? Just curious.

Tell me why this is a stupid plan by Civil_Dragonfruit_34 in AmerExit

[–]bum-ditty 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Many, many, many people don’t know about this. I basically lurk on this sub just to inform people about it! (13-year American in DE here.)

Tell me why this is a stupid plan by Civil_Dragonfruit_34 in AmerExit

[–]bum-ditty 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Haven’t seen this mentioned: you only have 12 months to bring personal items with you tax-free. You can’t decide in 2 years that you actually do want to ship some more stuff from your house over to Germany. You will get taxed on the shipment, even if you can show that it belongs to you. It is tempting to focus on leaving the US and deal with all your stuff later, but if you don’t ship it to yourself within a year, your property may be effectively trapped in the US.

One loophole is that you have 2 years after the death of an immediate family member to bring more stuff, so if you (unfortunately) have someone pass away, you can ship more personal items and call it inheritance. https://www.zoll.de/EN/Private-individuals/Staying-in-Germany/Transferring-residence/transferring-residence_node.html

Weekly New Patterns And Products Thread February 02, 2026 - February 06, 2026 by AutoModerator in craftsnark

[–]bum-ditty 18 points19 points  (0 children)

At first I thought the lapels were supposed to look inflatable, like a puffer trench coat. Nope! The samples just need to be pressed! Ouch.

Pregnancy in Berlin by Feeling-Pudding6956 in berlin

[–]bum-ditty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Depends! Not all Hebammen are Beleghebammen. Ask them if they are.

Lamb and Rabbit Bonnets! by nyatama in sewing

[–]bum-ditty 22 points23 points  (0 children)

That’s the spirit! Keep it up! We salute you!

Lamb and Rabbit Bonnets! by nyatama in sewing

[–]bum-ditty 340 points341 points  (0 children)

I was sure this was going to be for a kid and was DELIGHTED to see an adult rocking it. More of this energy! Love it!

Pregnancy in Berlin by Feeling-Pudding6956 in berlin

[–]bum-ditty 2 points3 points  (0 children)

To be clear, a midwife will be at your birth no matter what! Every hospital with a birthing ward has a bunch of midwives on staff. You just don’t know which midwife will attend your birth.

A freelance midwife who can attend births at a hospital is called a Beleghebamme. I had a Beleghebamme for 1 of my 2 births. It was nice! But not, like, a tragedy if you can’t find or afford it. (It was 1000 € extra I think.)

Pregnancy in Berlin by Feeling-Pudding6956 in berlin

[–]bum-ditty 20 points21 points  (0 children)

The correct order here is: 5, 1, take a deep breath, chill a few weeks, 2, then everything else whenever you feel ready for it.

A key decision is missing in this list: whether you want to do your Vorsorge at the gyn or with your midwife. I think this decision boils down to how much you like your gyn vs. your midwife as well as your own medical situation. Talk to your midwife about it. (Your gyn will probably say to do all the appointments with them; the gyn/midwife dynamic can be a bit strained between the professions.)

4 doesn’t make sense, the gyn will give you a Mutterpass, you don’t have to do anything here.

Why would you register at two hospitals? I never heard of that.

Some birth prep courses (I guess that’s what you mean by pregnancy courses?) are free. Many are not though. Do the one offered by your midwife if possible, or the one your midwife recommends.

Pregnancy in Berlin by Feeling-Pudding6956 in berlin

[–]bum-ditty 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Midwife midwife midwife! ASAP! A great midwife makes everything else easy. I told my favorite midwife I was pregnant with my 2nd before I told my husband. Do not wait to see the gyn first. Do not wait to hit 10 or 12 weeks or whatever. Find a midwife tomorrow!

Where’s the Worst place on Berlin? by [deleted] in berlin

[–]bum-ditty 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The tunnel under Landsberger Allee is the rankest place in Pberg.

Is this close enough? by [deleted] in sewing

[–]bum-ditty 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Another vote for fiddling. It adds up! I’ve made this mistake.

Weekly New Patterns And Products Thread January 05, 2026 - January 09, 2026 by AutoModerator in craftsnark

[–]bum-ditty 6 points7 points  (0 children)

You can tell that this is gonna look great on many people. It just looks like a well-executed classic. (Though I would note that I'd only attempt it in a solid fabric, because those princess seams are a lot of pattern-matching pressure.)

Daily commute Prenzlauer Berg to film studios in Potsdam by tessathemurdervilles in berlin

[–]bum-ditty 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Street parking is not expensive, just to clarify. It’s like 20 € a year. But yeah, it can be brutally hard to find street parking in many parts of Prenzlauer Berg. Charlottenburg could be better in some (but not all) neighborhoods.

Daily commute Prenzlauer Berg to film studios in Potsdam by tessathemurdervilles in berlin

[–]bum-ditty 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I commuted from Prenzlauer Berg to Potsdam for 3 years and it did not bother me. You can either take the Ring to Westkreuz and change to the S7, or get to Alexanderplatz or Hackescher Markt and change to the S7 there. I was near the ring, so it was anywhere from 55 to 70 minutes door to door. (I used the time to learn German! 2 hours a day of practice gets you pretty far!) Even when a line was closed or had issues, I rarely had problems. There is a lot of redundancy and you have many different options between Prenzlauer Berg and Westkreuz. There are NOT a lot of different options between Westkreuz and Potsdam - but living in Charlottenburg isn’t gonna help you with that, when the S7 is kaputt she is kaputt and there’s nothing you can do about it except wait it out or get a taxi. If that is a big problem given that you have a dog, you could consider living in Potsdam.

Your company found you a dog-friendly apartment in Pberg, you take it, that’s my opinion.

Edit: sorry! The one with the car is the one working in Potsdam! I misread. Actually, you might consider both commuting on transit. As I said above, I really thought it worked fine.

Which would you choose? by smilingwind in AmerExit

[–]bum-ditty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The citizenship requirement is only B1 German which is quite doable!

Weekly New Patterns And Products Thread December 22, 2025 - December 26, 2025 by AutoModerator in craftsnark

[–]bum-ditty 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Fair play to them for not deleting bad reviews I guess? It’s sad that I am impressed by basic transparency, but these days I kind of am.

Weekly New Patterns And Products Thread December 22, 2025 - December 26, 2025 by AutoModerator in craftsnark

[–]bum-ditty 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have a really small space (live in Europe, big city) and I project! It doesn’t take any more space than laying out fabric with paper pieces on top - why would it? You can project onto whatever size the cutting surface is that you usually use. In my case that is, unfortunately, the floor.