Kind of a change

I started feeling like it was now or never. I liked my job when I started but over a period of time things changed, the workload seemed overwhelming more and more often and at times I felt really stressed. We got more and more responsibilities but not any more time. At the same time I was disappointed with myself, I had expected more of me. I was a good enough student I could have gotten in to some pretty good schools had I only known what I wanted to do. 

My job in the supermarket was beginning to feel like a waste of my talents. I knew that the longer I waited the harder it would become to leave. I have no children (yet) or house mortgage (yet) and I'm still young, this is my chance - there's no good reason not to. I didn't wanna be stuck working in a supermarket for the rest of my life wondering what would have happened if I had only dared.

I have been sewing since I was six (started out making Barbie-clothes) and the dreams of becoming a fashion designer have pretty much been with me since. I just didn't think there would be much work for designer/seamstresses around here and I wasn't prepared to go very far away. But a few weeks ago I spoke to a couple of seamstresses here in town and they told me that there's plenty of work to go round and they really encouraged me to believe in myself and go for it. So a few weeks ago I sent a letter of application. 

Last week I quit my job and three days ago I started school with a bunch of 16-year-olds. In two years time, I'll be a seamstress.

Summer favourites

Finally I feel like I'm actually doing something about that pile of things to be altered, the pile that normally seems to be only growing has actually started to shrink!  This skirt didn't even stay in the pile for long, as it's the one I recently bought in Sweden. What was too long and one size to big now fits me and is likely to become a favourite this summer.

 

Another potential favourite is this red skirt that used to be my aunt's in the 60's or 70's. It was a bit longer before and made me look really short. But now that's been taken care of! I of course used my serger when I shortened both skirts, and then I had an idea and looked through my sewing machine equipment and indeed, turns out I've got one of those presser foots who fold over the fabric and make hems look neat and pretty...so of course I had to try it out and I'm pretty pleased with the result!

Today I have also turned a pair of long legged trousers into 50's style capri pants (high waist!) and I can't tell you what a difference using the serger makes. You can't really tell if those trousers/capris have been altered with the professional look the serger leaves. The sig-sag just doesn't do it for me anymore...

Where the magic happens a.k.a my sewing space

Hello readers, how have you been? I've been busy having a cold, celebrating midsummer and my birthday, and making myself an area dedicated for sewing! Oh, and I found myself a nice piece of furniture (60's teak) at a flea-market, which I had to fill with shoes and hats in my usual manner;

It is now located in my sewing area, where I can finally spread out and not have to clean up after myself every single time I get creative, because this area is meant for creating and nothing else! I used to put the sewing machine on the desk in front of my computer when I used it before, so this is a real improvement...Do those of you who sew have a special area set up too or do you have a different arrangement?

At the same place I found my new (old) shelf, I also found these shirts;

We celebrated midsummer with my family, eating well and just hanging out. Did you have a nice weekend?

Say hello to my new friend!

My birthday is still a couple of weeks away but as soon as I figured out what I wanted, Mr Kitten went out and got it for me (I know, spoilt!). I present to you, my new best friend;

The weather here has turned really warm and summery and when I went out yesterday wearing the outfit below, I got a sun rash on my back. Not so fun. So today I might just stay inside a bit more and get to know my new friend.

Living in a flat with just a small balcony sucks by the way, it's too hot to use it much as the sun is on it all day...What to you ladies do who don't have gardens but want to be outside when the weather is nice? And how do you avoid getting a sun rash?

Versatile clothing

After hours and hours of sewing, I have finally finished my latest set of two dresses, a bolero and a hat.

The bolero is double sided so that I can turn it inside out and use it both ways. It's the only item from this set that I didn't design myself, although I did alter it slightly, it wasn't reversible to begin with for example. The pattern is from this set, which I thrifted last summer. 

 

The fabric is thrifted and was sewn into mattress covers, I knew immediately that I was going to make something two-toned. I especially like the pocket detail on the second dress!

On Saturday I am flying to Copenhagen from where I'm going straight to Malmö to visit my brother and his wife. And do some shopping! I've already googled and found a couple of vintage/second hand shops, but if you've got something else to see or do while I'm there, feel free to leave a suggestion! Now I just have to do a couple more pin-curls and then I'm off to bed. What are you doing this weekend?

3 x outfit

Tomorrow night Mr Kitten and I are going to Vaasa to listen to a rockabilly band from Sweden called Fatboy. As usual, I'm having trouble deciding on what to wear. So I took some pictures to help me decide...Which probably didn't do me any good as I still haven't made a choice, hah. But anyway, here's a couple of my suggestions for your enjoyment, all dresses sewn and designed by me.

Plaid and zebra stripes

Remember this skirt? Well, since it was too big for me to begin with, there was a strip of fabric left after I took it in. And you know how I like to use every last bit of the fabric when I make something...So, I made something from the leftovers. A hat! And it feel like I'm getting better at hat-making too, this one turned out pretty well I think.

I've made something else as well, from a piece of a zebra-striped car-seat-cover. Something to vary my winter boots with. Detachable fur trims! And I'm thinking about making a whole set of matching items, detachable trims for the sleeves of one of my coats, a collar, a bag, maybe make a matching hat? Or maybe I should save a piece and make some furry cushions for the sofa? So many ideas, such a limited piece of zebra striped fake fur...

At the moment I'm working on a bigger project, but I think I might have to take a break from it this weekend, my arm is a bit overworked from certain tasks at work and I think it needs to rest. I don't want to end up with a tennis-elbow...What about you readers, what sort of projects have you been up to lately?

Christmas and cardigans

Almost a year ago, I started knitting. I haven't knitted anything more complicated than leg warmers since we learned the basics in school, so it has taken me some time...But now it's finally finished, my first knitted cardigan!

I can't seem to stick to any patterns anymore, so this is made without, and therefore slightly too wide in front of the shoulders, the arms slightly too tight in the same area and so on. But maybe it's still wearable? We'll see...

Remember this?

I've taken it in and shortened it now, and I'm pretty pleased with the result! It wasn't all that difficult either, as I had read this tutorial by Casey. Very helpful.

Did you have nice holiday? Our Christmas and new years have been very low key, Mr Kitten has had the flu the whole time so we've pretty much stayed at home and watched movies.

Happy new year!

Dot dot dot

Mr Kitten and I went shopping to Kärkkäinen last weekend. What I came home with all seemed to have something in common, can you spot (pun intended) the similarities? The gift wrapping paper I plan to use for making some pretty storage boxes, I've been looking for dotted paper for ages! The blue package is our new shower curtain, in case you were wondering.

Earlier this fall I had plans for making a shirtwaist dress. Well, I made the shirt, but as this is the first shirt I've made since I was in school (aged 14) and I made up the pattern myself, it didn't come out exactly as planned. I also chose a fabric that turned out to bee pretty itchy...Oh, well. Can't win em all. But I now know what I need to do differently next time. To make myself feel better I made another circle skirt instead, this time with a hidden pocket! Turned out a lot better than the shirt...

As I mentioned in my last post, I took some old clothes to be sold off at a nearby flea-market. Of course this meant more room for new items in my closet! At said flea-market I found an item I could not walk away from, even though it had lost it's shape (bad washing?) and needs a bit of work to fit me. An embroided cardigan, 50's style, most likely vintage (it has beads as buttons!). I have been searching for something like this for a while and now I've got one! Hopefully it will come out wearable after I take it in a bit, shorten it etc.

Another lovely find was this vintage dress;

Great colour and style, matching belt (pretty much) and my size! Nothing to alter!? Definitely a style I will try and copy for other dresses. It is not as long as it looks btw, camera was a bit high...And note my matching nail polish!

Hope you are all doing well, I'm going to Vasa to get braces tomorrow...No sticky candy for me for the next few years.

Trying.

I don't know what to say. Blogging is hard when there's nothing to blog about. I haven't found anything worth mentioning at the flea-markets lately, and I haven't really had much inspiration for sewing either. Maybe because I find it hard to get started when Mr Kitten is at home? I kinda need to be alone when I'm sewing, otherwise I can't concentrate enough...or something. Anybody else get that?

Anyway, I'm trying to get my groove back now that our shifts are different again (next 2-3 weeks one of us has evening shifts when the other has mornings, after which we'll have 3 weeks of same shifts, again). More me-time. This is my inspiration;

Picture from vintagefashionlibrary.com

Picture from Vivien of Holloway.

I haven't done a shirt or anything with a collar since the one I made in school at 14. So it's a bit of a challenge. And as usual I have no real pattern, just combining a collar + long sleeve from a shirt pattern from 1998 (pretty much the last time I drafted any patterns from Burda) with my trusted self made universal top pattern, the rest I'm making up as I go along. But I keep getting distracted. Coming up is 8 days of work in a row, including weekend, so we'll see how much energy is left for sewing...Wish me luck!

How to make a dress from an oversize shirt

I got a request to make a tutorial on how I made this dress;

First of all, you will need to know some basic sewing to do this, because I won't go into details on how to add a zipper and such, as it would simply make this post waaay too long. Secondly, finding a suitable shirt to re-vamp might not be that easy, as getting enough fabric for both top and bottom even for little old me was tricky. But still possible! I'd look for something with wide and long sleeves...Also, you could just make the skirt-part if there isn't enough fabric.

As I didn't plan to make a tutorial when I made the dress, I took no pictures of the process itself. So I'll just have to try and explain what I did...Hopefully I'll get you inspired to re-use something old and make something new, and save the environment etc. So here goes. I first thrifted a very large sized shirt with all in one sleeves, made from a thick and suitably stiff material;

I decided on my desired skirt length and marked it, plus a 1 cm seam allowance, measuring from the hem up. Then I cut my skirt part out, zig-zagged the raw edges and sewed close the left side all the way up. I also carefully removed the pockets and sewed them back on higher up.

The next step was to cut the collar out, leaving a bit of fabric at the front to work with. At the back of the collar I undid the seam and removed the collar from the back of the shirt. Here I noticed that I would not be able to fit my head through the collar if sewed shut (where there used to be buttons to undo), so I left it open at the back instead. I then turned the undone neck parts back in towards each other and sewed shut, leaving the back with two straps, too short to tie, but long enough close with a button and buttonhole or my version; hook and loop tape for more adjustability.

Here's a little explanation on how I cut the shirt up;

(Click for larger image)

But before I did any cutting I had to measure the sleeves across to see whether or not they were wide enough to make into a top for the dress. They were, just...So I cut the pieces out, comparing the width to my best fitting top pattern. I made some adjustments, added darts at the bust, and made sure the back (and front!) was high enough to cover a bra. All edges got zig-zagged and the darts sewed. I then sewed the left side shut.

The next step was to fit the collar in. I fitted the collar as if the top was a vest or pullover and the collar was peeking out, and sewed the pieces together, really close to the collar. The zig-zagged egdes were turned in, of course.

Now, the sides/arm holes were still open. I cut the extra fabric from the collar (sticking out from underneath the top) to match the sides, turned them in towards each other and sewed shut. I then turned the rest of the sides/arm holes over, as well the back, and stitched shut. Now, it was time to add the top to the bottom!

I matched the left side seams to each other, and then the right sides, still open. Next, the center of the top to the center of the bottom, and then on and on, center of top gaps to center of bottom gaps until I ran out of pins...All this to get the wrinkles to spread out nicely and evenly.

Finally, I added a zipper in the gap at the right side, starting in the skirt-part going all the way up to the arm-hole. Done!

Phew! I hope I didn't miss anything, and that you get the idea despite the lack of proper sewing terminology etc. I am, after all, a swedish speaking self-taught seamstress...But if something was really unclear you can always ask about it. And if you do go ahead and make something inspired by this post (or any other posts of mine for that matter) do let me know, I would love to see the results. Good luck and happy sewing!

Secret project revealed

I cannot tell you how pleased I am with myself right now. The reason is that I have managed to turn this mega-sized fake leather bag;

Into a corset;

This was probably the most challenging project I done in years...I did the pattern myself, made a test version from a piece of old bed sheet and then ordered the boning and planchet from Belle Modeste, where I also got a few tips on how to make the corset by looking at the pretty corsets they have made.

The whole thing has taken me a few weeks to complete, and it is not perfect, but I'm ok with that, considering it's the first thing like it I've ever tried my hands on. The biggest challenge turned out to be the fact that I had chosen such a bad material, hah. The fake leather bag that I paid 3 euros for seemed to get stretchier the more I worked with it, plus it was kinda sticky, so I had to sew through paper(!) to get it to go through the machine without sticking. Plus every needle mark is still visible, the thread tension never really worked with the material no matter how I changed it etc. Also, the eyelets at the back were a bit tricky...Really, I'm just glad to have it over with!

If anybody else wants to try this, my best advice is to chose a good sturdy material that doesn't stretch in any way, other then that, it wasn't as difficult as I had imagined...

The last of the summer dresses

It seems me being practical and thinking about what I actually will/can wear on a day to day basis has paid off, I've worn the sailor inspired trousers several times already.

The past few years I have made quite a few items that have been worn once and then stayed in the closet since, or worse yet, never even gotten out of there in the first place! So I have decided to take a brake from making summer dresses and such, as I didn't even manage to wear half of the summer clothes I own in the summer that passed. Instead I'm gonna try and continue on the practical route...We'll see how that goes!

Before the blog starts filling up with warm and practical winter clothes, here's the last of the summer projects, a thrifted over-sized shirt;

Which I turned into a summer dress;

Goodbye summer...

Saturday in Vaasa

Last Saturday was spent in Vaasa, I had arranged to meet a fellow blogger and seamstress, TuunausTiina, to go thrifting with her. This is what I wore, note the hat!

(Sorry for the cameraphone-picture quality)

I rather enjoyed thrifting with someone who knows what vintage is about and who knows sewing and can see potential in items other see as trash. Sadly, we didn't find anything vintage to fit our tastes and budgets apart from this one hat which I bought;

But none of us went home empty handed either. Lucky for me these granny style winter boots were too small for Tiina;

Tiina found at least one skirt and a dress and we both found some fabric (mine just a plain dark blue, nothing exiting). I also found a couple of cute tops;

The last of the tops I bought ended up matching my newly finished sailor inspired trousers perfectly;

However I'm still considering adding a waistband to the trousers, to get a bit more...waist. Tomorrow I'm back at work again, so it's back to sewing only when I have energy left after work. Being on holiday was fun while it lasted.

More sewing and some treasures

The sewing continues, I have now made a pair of high-waisted trousers, a strapless top and a bolero, all from the same fabric. The bolero and the top are made using the silver scissor patterns, the top is actually the top part of a strapless dress, which with my long torso turned out way to short, even though I made it longer? Maybe it was the lack of the scaling tool that made it turn out like this...The bolero looks just like the pattern picture (apart from the sleeves) but it also feels like a short model on me. Wonder if any of the tops will ever make it out of the closet again...

Yesterday was quite a fun day, I went to see my grandma, and me and my mum helped her clean out her attic...And we got to keep pretty much anything we found that we liked! I came home with two suitcases full of clothes photos and stuff, plus a fur coat from the 40's (made in Washington!) with matching hat, another 60's coat, a 60's suit and grandma's old uniforms from when she was head of the village's mail office (ca. 1950's-70's). Unfortunately pretty much all the clothes are too big for me (sizes 40-44) and most of them are from the 60's and 70's. Anybody interested? I'd happily trade them for something in my size and a couple of decades older. Or sell.

For me, the biggest treasure here is mum's aunt Gerda's old suitcase, and all the photos it contained. Gerda was the aunt who lived in the United States for a few years, there was a scrapbook full of clippings concerning WWII and also some newer magazines. The fur coat mentioned earlier was also hers.

There was also an album with my great grandfathers name in it, with lot's and lot's of pictures of relatives from the 1900's-1960's. I also found my grandparent's wedding photo, and a picture of grandma taken around the same time. I think they got married in 1949...If anybody is interested in seeing old photos let me know and I'll try and scan some of the more interesting ones.

The second suitcase was grandma's own, the one she used to take with her on all the holidays she and granddad used to go on. She had tied a piece of blue string (still there!) around the handle to recognize it faster at the airports...I like things with a history, like the suitcases, especially as it is now me who travels the most. My grandparents also had a caravan (a bit like this one) btw, too bad it's now rotting away in the woods.

It's just soo lovely to have the time to do the things you want...

After my last post I walked into the kitchen and realized that I had forgotten to take a picture of another find at the juthbacka market...I have quite a few plants in the flat so this charming little table felt like something useful to have. And no, it does not bother me in any way that it is also very cute and retro.

As I've been on holiday this week, I've tried to get some projects done, such as revamping a pair of shoes which I haven't worn for a few years. Before;

And after;

From useless shoes to glamorous slippers to wear around the house, makes me feel a bit more luxurious than wearing woolly socks with my dressing gowns...

A little something else I made this week was this matching set of skirt and hat;

Also note my new handbag with the cute shoe-shaped clasp. From a shoe/bag shop here in town.

Finally, here's another outfit I wore to town a few days ago, sorry about the sunglasses inside but hey, that is what I looked like...


Another fun thing we did this week was taking a dance class, basics in Finnish tango. It was fun, but sadly, both Mr. Kitten and I feel like we've already forgotten most of it...

50!

This week has been spent working on my latest dress;

I'm wearing two of my (home-made) petticoats underneath and it moves soo nicely and feels so comfy I don't want to take it off!

I did something I rarely do and bid (and won!) an auction on a finnish auction site. I won this Asos fascinator (originally with much brighter red dots). I'm not sure if I'll re-vamp it in some way of use it as it is, the biggest reason for bidding on it was cause I wanted the netting, don't know where to buy it...

I also went shopping today...The result; I now own 50 pairs of shoes. Pair #49 was a pair of red hiking boots (half price on sale and soo comfy) and pair #50 look like this;

Bought from Citymarket. I also bought myself a beach-bag (also on sale) to go with a hat that I bought at Kärkkäinen last weekend.

Beach 2010-bring it on!

Time flies...Next weekend Mr Kitten and I are going away again. He's gonna run half a marathon while I go through the charity shops and flea-markets of Pori. Also, one of the country's nicest beaches is situated close to the camping area we'll be staying at, and the weather forecast says it's gonna be really warm. Yes, I am exited, and I will be packing my bikini.