I got to study the yellow silk dress of baroness Elvira Standerskjöld from this 1896 portrait painted by Eero Järnefelt.

This is a quick update for all of you who are interested in reading old Finnish sewing magazines for inspiration. I have just added 3 whole years worth of Käsitöitä magazines from the years 1897 to 1899 to my archive here. Those are interesting years as they contain a lot of detailed information on dress construction during the period. In real life, I have been digging through the actual magazines and the sewing patterns that came with them at the National Library. After some lengthy discussion with the National Library staff, I have now permission to handle, copy and sort sewing patterns as long as I follow very strict rules…

Aloitin uuden vuosikymmenen pureutumalla historiaan. Viime vuonna törmäsin sattumalta vanhaan suomalaiseen käsityölehteen nimeltä Käsitöitä ja pukuja. Upeat kuvat ja käsityöohjeet 1800-1900-lukujen vaihteesta kiehtoivat minua ja haalin antikvariaateista itselleni muutaman lehden lisää. Minulle myös selvisi, että lehti oli alunperin ilmestynyt nimellä Käsitöitä, toisen lehden, Koti ja yhteiskunta, liitteenä. Nämä lehdet ansaitsevat tulla luetuksi näin vielä vuosien jälkeenkin ja vaikka moni niistä on saatavilla Kansalliskirjaston ylläpitämässä Doria palvelussa, päätin tehdä niitä varten oman sivun blogini alle, josta sekä Dorian lehtiä että itse haaliamiani lehtiä voi ladata ja lukea. I started the new decade by digging into history. Last year I bumped into an old Finnish handicrafts magazine called Käsitöitä ja pukuja (=”Handicrafts…

Today was finally the long expected opening of the Ommel 2019 sewing festival here in my home city of Espoo. Together with over 50 volunteers, I spend a big part of Thursday building the festival: carrying stuff, threading sewing machines, hanging signs, whatever was needed to welcome the thousands of visitors that are expected to attend. However, the biggest work was already done by the wonderful board of the Ommel ry (registered association), lead by Jenni Salminen. So many workshops My family attended with three generations of enthusiastic sewists: me, my daughter and my mother, who joined us a bit later in the afternoon. Today’s main goal for us was…

January is the time to make plans and the sewing plans are no exception. I am generally very careful what comes to sewing challenges. I tend to take things a little too seriously and forget to just have fun. However, nowadays I sew so much that a year-long sewing challenge, such as the popular #makenine should be no problem for me! And well, if I don’t get to make all of them, so be it! I think that these 9 patterns will patch some holes in my wardrobe and challenge myself to learn a few new things. 1. Saraste top by Named clothing I basically love all the three Saraste…