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Quilted white
I found this lovely quilted looking jersey in the factory remnants section of the local fabric store. Originally I thought it would make a lovely blazer but then I realised that the stiffness of the jersey makes it perfect for some interestingly cut blouse. I had already traced the pattern for the Slit Neckline Blouse in Burda style 2/2015 but had not yet found a suitable fabric for it. The original fabric is much lighter but I decided to try the pattern anyway. As you can see from my smiling face I like my new blouse. The only change I made was to lengthen the blouse for 4 cm since the…
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Last days of summer with Liisa
Linen is the perfect material for hot summer days. Here in Finland the summer is quickly turning into fall and it’s hard to imagine that these pictures were taken only a couple of weeks ago. The Pattern is Lizzy dress (which I conveniently renamed “Liisa”) is from the British Simply Sewing magazine, issue eighteen. I was actually a bit disappointed since of the three patterns the magazine cover promised I only got one. Apparently the other two were only available within UK. This, however, was stated in tiny letters in a vertical footnote in the inner pages and impossible to read through the plastic cover. I did complain and was offered a…
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A pink unicorn stick horse
S loves unicorns so I wanted to use some cotton remnants to make her a stick unicorn after I found an old unused broomstick. I went through Pinterest to find ideas but finally settled in a pattern published in Finnish magazine Kodin kuvalehti website. (If you are interested in the pattern, just go to the website to download the pdf keppihevosenkaava.pdf.) I had to shorten the neck from the pattern since the longer neck looked really heavy. I made the horn pattern myself. I added some fun foam inside it to give some support in addition to the polyester stuffing. I hand-sewed the eyes and nostrils in place. I made the mane by…
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A skirt, a blouse and skeletons
My new favourite blouse is white Diana by In House Patterns. This is actually the second time I’m using the same pattern. I used white drapey viscose remnant which suited nicely for the blouse. The only change I made was that I left out the button in the collar and replaced it with an invisible sew-on snap. I also made the pleated skirt in the pictures. This time I did not use any pattern. I just fitted the waist and pleated the fabric evenly to it. The fabric is a nice stretch cotton satin remnant that costed next to nothing. We took the pictures at the Finnish Museum of Natural History.…
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Summer dress in vintage style
I am sorry, I’ve been absent from my blog. I have been too busy sewing, crafting and repairing stuff that I’ve had no time for my poor blog. However, today I got so great pictures from my most recent creation that I couldn’t wait to post them! So here is my new dress. The vintage style pattern is from Finnish magazine Suuri Käsityö (4/2013). The dress has a nice 1940s style with a shawl collar and a side zipper. The fabric is probably 100 % viscose, if my fingers are correct. I found it in the fabric remnants section of the local fabric store, so it did not have any labels.…
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Winter garden blouse
I have been sewing a lot, but the lack of sunlight has prevented me from taking good photos. Today, however, it seems that the winter has lost some of its power and the sun was shining. Still, I apologize for the slight graininess of the pictures. I made a blouse of white viscose fabric for S using a pattern from Suuri Käsityö 9/2013. I love the longer back hem and the pleats in the front. Just like in the original pattern, I used iron-on embellishments on the left side of the blouse. The blouse has a zipper in the center back. It was too dark to take pictures indoors and still…
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Autumn dresses and playwear
S needed comfortable playwear for her kindergarten. She has been missing a dress with many pockets that she grew out of and I decided to make her something similar. I used a pattern Elina dress from Mekkotehdas by Kirsi Etula and Sunna Valkeapää-Ikola and drew a pattern for a pocket and used different scraps of fabric to make cute set of mismatched patch pockets. S also got a pink Perri pullover from Cali Faye collection. The pullover (or a tunic) is still pretty large but luckily S will grow into it. Finally I added three set of leggings from different kinds of cotton jersey and strechy terry to her cupboard for her…
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Pretty ballerina
Autumn means that S has started her dance lessons once again. The old dance outfit from H&M was starting to look a bit frumpy so I bought a new leotard for S. However, there weren’t any white tutus in S’s size, so I decided to sew one. I have never made one before and didn’t have a pattern. I had, however, some left-over tulle so I took a risk. It was ridiculously easy! I just cut about 48 times 3 m rectangle (actually 2 times 1,5 m), folded it in half lengthwise, made a casing for an elastic waistband and threaded the elastic in. Finally, I added two bows made…
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Time traveling to the 1950s
I have always loved vintage styles from the 1940s and 1950s. The clothes of that era were pretty and feminine without being overly revealing (which is a problem in our cold climate). I bought some black and white checked cotton some while ago and on a whim decided to make a simple circle skirt. I calculated the pattern and the skirt was ready in about 2 hours. I added 4 belt loops for a narrow belt. To add some oomph to the skirt, I sewed a crinoline from some leftover tulle and satin. A black teeshirt, that I made during the summer, suits well with the skirt. The pattern is…
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Somber occasion dresses
I did not make any blog posts in late July and August. Our family was struck by a tragedy when my father-in-law and S and K’s grandfather died suddenly. After the initial shock and while dealing with many things that are necessary when a close relative passes away, I found that sewing brought some much needed normalcy in my life. I was not in a mood for anything bright, so instead I made funeral dresses for me and S. S got a cotton sateen dress that was a modified Olabelhe Miranda. I made the back bodice higher and added a concealed zipper. During the funeral a white blouse was worn…
