Seasons greetings

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.

Goodbye and hello

I finally got my act together and got myself a table at a flea market. Tomorrow I'm taking two large bags of clothes to be sold off. I also thought I'd try and get rid of my grandmother's old coat;

Sadly, this mint condition 60's coat is huge on me. I think it's about a european size 40 (I'm 34). It has a beautiful pattern and some very decorative seams, so I thought about keeping it in case I get bigger in the future but...It just takes up too much space, so I'm letting go. However, if any of you readers are interested in it, let me know! I'm not so sure the folks in this town would appreciate a coat like this, and I won't be surprised if nobody here wants it. It that happens, I will give it to charity.

Pretty much the same goes for the coat below too. It was brought over from America in the 40's or 50's by my mother's aunt, and it is also about a size 40. Not mint condition though, the fur is a bit torn under the arms and around the hooks in the front, but I believe this can be fixed. There's a matching hat too...

Check out the tag!

Of the very few vintage pieces of clothing (hopefully) getting sold, along with the modern stuff, is another piece from my grandmothers closet. Marked a size 42, this set is also much to big for me.

Bye, bye, clothes I don't use...and while I was sorting through the stuff I'm selling, there on the floor, between the shoes that don't fit, I found my engagement ring! The ring has been missing for a while, and after a couple of weeks of searching I gave up hope and got a new one...so now I have two! Mad. Which one do I wear? Perhaps I should keep using the new one, it seems to be half a size smaller, so maybe it'll stay on better...

Dear Santa,

Christmas is coming...But I don't want any presents. I have everything I need (and lot's and lot's of stuff I don't really need as well). So please Santa, give my presents to someone who really need them. Thanks!

I personally am going to buy my family presents that get given to people in poor countries, a couple of goats perhaps, because this is what Christmas is really about, isn't it? Giving to those who need it. There are loads of other things in different price ranges that you can buy too, blankets, id-cards, education, plants etc. Even a 5 euro school uniform can change someone's life. You can make a difference.

I will be buying the presents from lahjaksilehmä and toisenlainenlahja (Finnish sites) and I'm sure you have this kind of sites in your countries as well, in case you get inspired. My family will most likely get some small gifts too, maybe something hand made, but the majority of my Christmas money will go to the charity organizations I've linked to above. Will you do the same? Come on, let's give to those who need it!

Alive and shopping!

I haven't gotten back to sewing yet, but I'm definitely back to shopping, especially at flea-markets and charity-shops. In fact, I did some thrifting earlier today! One of the items to come home with me was this pretty negligee...I'm not exactly sure I'll wear it (it only cost 50 cents and it's kinda fragile) but I'm thinking I might have it hanging on a wall somewhere, along with the rest of my collection.

A couple of weeks ago I also found this retro plant holder, a perfect match to my flower pot table!

I don't know if it's because it's winter now, and x-mas coming soon, but I'm having a thing for red, black and white at the moment. I wouldn't mind our whole apartment decorated in those colours, checkered floors, black sofa with red cushions, kitchen cupboards in shiny red and so on. Maybe this will be the case someday, in a couple of rooms at least. I'm gonna start with making a cute cushion out of this retro fabric, and maybe hanging something nice on the retro hanger...

Last but not least, I have adopted yet another pair of shoes. Who knew you could "need" so many?


Done any thrifting lately?

Back on track?

The past few weeks have been pretty stressful at work, leaving me with very little energy to be creative or go shopping or blog. But things are looking up, and I'm starting to feel more like myself again. On Saturday we had our work x-mas party, but as I had less than 2 hours to get ready when I got home from work, I didn't exactly have the time to take any outfit pictures...But this is the dress and shoes I wore;

I combined them with some black patterned stockings and this purse;

All vintage! I also tried my hand at making a Joan from mad men-inspired hairdo (following one of the many tutorials on youtube). It turned out pretty well, but as mentioned, no pictures to prove it...

Now that my energy and inspiration levels are more or less back to normal, I'm at a loss for what to do on my day off, (today) or rather, what to do first. Should I sew? Go to a flea-market? Just do housework? Try to do it all at the same time? Well, sitting here certainly won't get anything done, I'm off, have a nice day!

Weekend!

After a week of trying to adjust to it getting dark around 5 and not 6, Mr Kitten and I are going dancing to try and cheer ourselves up. The picture below has nothing to do with dancing, I just wanted to show off my new hat.

Hope you're all having a fantastic weekend!