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?

Malmö finds, part 2

My last day in Malmö was a monday, therefor my brother was at school and his wife at work, so I had to go out vintage shopping on my own...I didn't do too bad though! It was a warm and summery day so I put on this outfit and wandered off into the city. Several hours later I had found two skirts;

 

I've been looking for a red one for ages...And the one below was just fantastic, LOVE the pattern, has to be taken in slightly though.

I also found a dress which fitted me like a glove. Both skirts and the dress came from Humana.

And last but not least, I found two hats...In an antiques shop with loads of beautiful teak furniture and string-shelves other nice things I sadly could not fit into my bag and bring home.

Aren't they pretty? But kind of wintery so they won't get worn for another couple of months. I also visited Som Ny, and chatted with the lovely owner. She had some nice stuff there, especially the jeans, but sadly nothing in my size that I liked. But do head over there for a peek if you're in Malmö, or visit her web shop, she had some nice jewellery too!

I had a really nice time in Malmö, the shopping was sure better than around here, as was the restaurant we went to and of course it was also nice to hang out with my brother and his wife. The finds have been washed and now I just need to iron and do some other fixing before I can start wearing them. Oh, and I need the weather to be warm again...

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?

Finds from Malmö, part 1

My trip to Malmö, was pretty nice. I went to visit my brother but in reality, I spent most of my time getting to know his wife C better. My brother isn't into shopping so I wasn't surprised he left that part to us girls.  C and I haven't really spent time together before so it was pretty nice, especially since it turned out we had more in common than expected, she's into ecological thinking too and likes flea-markets for example. So for once I didn't have to go shopping alone, yay!

The first day we went around a couple of vintage stores in town, as well as a couple of antique shops. We saw some nice stuff but I still came back empty handed, while C found a lovely 60/70's tunic that looked really cute on her.

On Sunday we went to a carboot sale kind of market and suddenly my I started spotting things I wanted. My favourite find was this old H&M dress, a couple of sizes too big with buttons missing in the back but hey, it only cost me 30 SEK (about 3 euros) and I just know it will look great once I get it fixed...

The bad thing about outdoor markets is that you can't try things on, so I bought me another dress that was too big. But I should be able to fix it...I just need some time.

This skirt on the other hand was just right, but I'm not sure about the belt...Maybe it would be better higher up? Why oh, why does everything I buy turn into a project?!

 

My last purchase of the day doesn't have to fit me, as I bought it as an addition to my collection of vintage slips and nightgowns. One day I plan to have my collection hanging on the walls of our bedroom, I just need some hooks on the wall first (or a bedroom with walls that I can put up the hooks on myself, without the need of stone wall drilling equipment...).

C also came back with a few things, and I even managed to find a few things for her that she liked (a retro tablecloth and retro enamel casserole, both awesome but not quite my style). Anybody else need a personal shopper? I'll show the rest of my finds another day so stay tuned!

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?

Two spring outfits while it's still spring

Before it gets to warm outside I have to show you the leopard jacket I bought from Haléns (on sale). I'm liking it so much that I almost wish it was colder outside. Almost...The skinny high-waisted jeans are from H&M and feel strange for me to wear as I'm used to wide legged trousers, but oh how I love the high waist!

Here's another outfit I wore out shopping a couple of days back, note the handbag! Hm, looking at the picture I begin to wonder if I should change the buttons of the jacket to white ones, would that still look ok with the gold coloured zippers on the sleeves? Or should I redo the sleeves in some way too, they are a bit long? But then again, the gold details on the jacket go well with the ones on the bag...

 

Today I'm a bit tired from working 7 days in a row (still two days to go!) but my spirit was lifted when I checked my work schedule for the next couple of weeks. I've got five days off in a row starting from next weeks friday! What to do, what to do? Where should I go? Long weekend trip to sweden? London? Paris? Or should I just stay home and sew like a mad woman? Oh, the possibilities! What would you do?

Close to completion

 I love my new handbag. It's not really new, of course, just new to me. I've been looking for one in navy for ages, if I only had a similar one in white and in red my handbag collection would be pretty much complete. Is that even possible? To have a complete collection? Will I really be able to stop looking at and buying handbags when it is? Only time will tell I guess...

Other than the fabulous handbag I have recently also found a basic slip to wear underneath dresses with wide enough shoulders (winter stuff).

And I so could not resist these swallows...only problem is, how to get them up on the wall? There's a hole at the back but when I put it on a nail the swallow tilted! Whoever put that hole there sure didn't put it in the right place, hah.