Happy May Day with TV dress
Sometimes ideas just hit me when I come across unusual materials. A while ago a soft plastic storage unit that was hanging in our cleaning closet and storing our wrapping paper broke down. As I was transferring all the stuff to a new one I looked at the plastic pockets of the of the old one and realised that the see-trough plastic material could be reusable. What if I could sew a dress that had a pocket with changing images according to the moods and needs of the person wearing the dress? I started sketching and came up with an idea of a TV screen. I searched trough Pinterest for…
Cézembre blouse
This blouse is something that I have completely forgotten to post here. It is by a French pattern designer Anne Kerdilè and can be found here. I have actually made this blouse twice. At first I made the smallest size but after finishing it I realised that it was just slightly too small at the shoulders. Luckily I had still enough fabric left, so I made a second blouse this time using a bigger size and now the fit is perfect. I like the unusual cut of the blouse. It is hard to see in the pictures, but the back piece is wider than usual and the seams joining the…
Granville shirt and a skirt
Granville shirt from Sewaholic is nowadays my go-to shirt pattern. Before this pattern, I wasn’t very comfortable sewing a shirt, but the instructions were so detailed that I now have the instructions printed out and I usually look at them even when sewing shirts from other patterns. I made this shirt from dark green poplin that has no stretch in it. I took the matching buttons from my old worn-out shirt that was on its way to the bin. Sewaholic patterns are designed for a pear shaped body and I had to make some changes to make this shirt fit me, but now I have a pattern that I can use…
Suomi-neito (Maiden of Finland) dress and leggings
I have been seriously considering making sewing patterns from scratch for a while. I already have enough sewing experience and I have basic patterns for children that can be used as basis for measurements. After I found this Nuppu print company’s Lumipallo cotton I immediately saw it transformed as a dress for S. I wanted something traditional with some modern elements. I decided to make an A line dress and a high-low hem with a wide ruffle to be worn with matching leggings. I played with some different sleeve and collar options and finally left the dress sleeves with a simple white Peter Pan collar. The back fastening was initially a…
Trench coat plans
This post contains a few affiliate links. Clicking on them helps me to maintain this blog. I have been dreaming about sewing my own trench coat for a while. Now that my old one is starting to show some wear and tear I have really started planning. It was difficult to find a pattern for the trench coat. Burda has several options: Trench Coat 12/2011 #118 Trench Coat 10/2015 #129 Mint Trench Coat 09/2015 #105 Gabardine Trenchcoat 09/2010 #113B Piped Trench Coat 11/2012 #118 The problem in the Burda patterns for me is that the fit is often quite hit and miss, especially what comes to the shoulders and the…
Kädentaitomessut – Arts & Crafts fair in Helsinki
In English below… Tänä viikonloppuna 21.4.-23.4. Helsingin Messukeskuksessa on Lapsimessut. Sen yhteydessä järjestettiin myös Kädentaitomessut ja pitihän sitä käydä katsastamassa, mitä herkkuja oli tarjolla. Ensimmäiseksi osuin Nuppu print companyn osastolle, jossa oli esillä heidän kankaitaan, paperituotteitaan ja lastenvaatteita. Pidin erityisesti siitä, että heillä oli myynnissä trikoiden lisäksi myös ohutta ja laskeutuvaa puuvillakangasta (batistia paksumpaa, mutta ihanan pehmeää ja sopisi mainiosti mekkoihin, puseroihin ja hameisiin) ja pellava-puuvilla sekoitteita. This weekend from 21st to 23rd of April there is Child Fair at Helsinki Messukeskus that also includes Arts and Crafts fair. I went to see all the crafts delicacies on offer. At first I visited the booth of Nuppu print company, a Finnish design…
Pandas, wrist warmers and a suspender skirt
One of the S’s favourite blouses is the yellow one that I made of soft cotton lawn since it has a pattern of cute little pandas on it. The pattern for the blouse comes from Yoshiko Tsukioris wonderful book Girly style wardrobe. Now that I’m leafing through the book once more, I don’t understand why this is the only pattern I’ve sewed from this book. The book is so full of super cute dresses and tunics! The suspender skirt pattern I got from here. Since the pattern contained only rectangular pieces there wasn’t a pattern sheet, only the measurements, that were enough. Originally the suspenders weren’t sewn into place but were…
Sewing space organization
I feel lucky to have a dedicated space for my sewing and crafting hobby after years of sewing on the kitchen table. It was only last summer that I got tired of not having a suitable sewing table and I dragged old inherited Lundia bookshelves out of our basement and painted them white. I had to go around a bit to find the tables that fit into the shelves and sell our old bookshelves that occupied the space before but then I had this: Now my machines, Bernina 1, Bernina 2 and the newest addition, my Janome can reside here permanently and all the supplies are at an arms reach.…
The quest for the Ultimate pants (part 1)
I vividly remember the first pair of trousers I made. They were shorts we had to sew at school and made of horrendous bright blue patterned quilting cotton. We had to use pattern that was too big for at least for me (I was about 12 years old and super skinny) and the teacher never suggested doing any fitting. A few years later I tried again and made a pair of sporty cargo pants. I chose the smallest size and ended up handing the finished pair to my mom since they were way too big. If the jeans I posted before don’t count I don’t have many good experiences with sewing trousers.…
Roses, stripes and a useful sewing trick for piping
I just could not resist the powder pink stretch cotton with black and white roses when I saw it in the fabric shop. I feel increasingly girly now that spring has arrived and this fabric just shouted “Make a skirt out of me!”. So I did. I used again the Zinnia pattern with the deepened pleats. If you want to do the same, just cut the pattern along the center of each pleat and add about two cm extra. However, you cannot add much if you want to be able to cut the pattern from lengthwise folded fabric. To add some interest I added white piping between the waistband and the…
