curtain skirt pillow

this friday i finally got my sewing machine out again. it's not like i don't have any ideas of what to sew, but i just never seem to get myself together and take the time to actually sew something. even my mountain of clothes that need to be fixed has grown higher and higher this past year (however, i took care of a larger part of it yesterday. now it feels like i have a whole new wardrobe!). however, on friday i found this nice little store with sewing supplies (buttons!! trim!! more buttons!!), bought some elastic band and, once home, took out a curtain i had bought during christmas sales. the curtain then became this:



and this:



now i have a skirt to match my pillowcase. or the other way around. whichever you like best.

blouse: h&m
cardigan: thrifted
bloomers: thrifted gudrun sjöden
tights: rossmann
boots: goertz via ebay

diy: lacey scarf

some time back i found this wonderful diy-idea (here) about what to do with vintage doilies: a lightweight, romantic scarf. so i set out to buy doilies, some i found at a thrift store and some i found at a fleamarket, and i started sewing. i'm still not done yet, only half way through, but i thought i'd share it with you for the diy-blogparade.

you need:



















a bunch of doilies (you'll need, depending on the size, between 8 and 15), a needle, some thread



















sort the doilies by size and lay them next to each other in the order you'd like to have them in your scarf.



















pin them to each other and sew them together (either like me, by hand, or, if you're handy, with a sewing machine.. i didn't dare to subject these gentle doilies to my not so perfect skills on my sewing machine, so i stuck with handsewing) - done!

of course i'll post a picture of the finished scarf as soon as i am done..

this weekend's task

the main task for this weekend to finally get some sewing done and make this dress (which i would like to wear next weekend on my uncle's wedding anniversary):



















it is a butterick retro pattern which i bought last summer. i will make the full skirted version, but short as i am i guess i'll have to shorten the skirt by at least 20cm. the fabric i'll use is.. well, sheets from ikea. i love the dark-red flowerpattern, and i think it will be just great. at least i hope so...

salt

i discovered some amazing food blogs during the last weeks and months, amongst others the swedish one "krinolinas kök" (krinolina's kitchen). there i found interesting recipes and ideas, a few of which i have already tried out. the first one i did was my own herbal salt after krinolina's directions, which is what i want to share with you here. it is really easy and tastes so much better than the stuff you can buy at the stores!

























the general rule is to use roughly the same amount of herbs and salt. chop the herbs into really really small pieces and, if you have different sorts of herbs for the same salt, blend them well. then mix the herbs with seasalt (1 dl salt + 1 dl chopped herbs) and put the mixture into a well closing container. the salt will get a little moist as it draws the aromatic oils out of the herbs. according to krinolina it can last for a good 2 years as the salt conserves the herbs. well, in case you don't use it up before..

i chose one bunch each of parsley, lemon thyme, chives, wild garlic, rosemary and sage, plus one or two cloves of garlic. i think i got four smaller glasses plus the tiny and the large on on the picture out of this, and gave away three of the glasses as presents already.
basically you can chose whichever herbs you like, it also depends on what you'd like to use the salt for. for example i am planning on making some basil salt soon for my beloved tomato sallad.

knitting needles

yesterday i realized that probably the only thing that's cheaper in norway than in germany must be wool. all the sheep here, you know. so, in order to do something creative with my hands i decided to order this lovely, hopefully easy, vintage pattern for a nice little knitted cape from etsy:
























i hope it will arrive soon in my email, so that i can go and chose some nice wool and the right needles.. i thought of a dark red, what do you think?
this way i'll have something to do while my favourite person in the world is sitting in front of this computering machine in the evenings =)

the butterick wraparound dress

finally it is finished. my first dress. the first one sewn by me, will say. and guess who's proud now!!!

























i chose a retro pattern (butterick 4790) which i had seen around the web quite a few times, and even after reading what a horrible desaster it might turn out to be, i had set my heart at it and did it. it did NOT turn out a total desaster, but it is not perfect either. i was well prepared by reading this post and all the comments, so i altered a few things. as i am not able (yet) to alter pattern sizes so that they will fit my bodyshape perfectly, i didn't do some things which would have made it fit a bit better, such as shortening the bodice at the correct places, deepening the darts and so on. i guess i also might have made the shoulders a bit smaller.

what i did do was shortening the bodice by sewing the shoulderseams 2cm below the actual line, as otherwise i would have lots of air between my shoulders and the dress. which is what i didn't want. thus, the neckline turned more u-boat-shaped than intended, but i like it that way.

what i also did was shorten the skirt-part. i took away about 14cm when i transferred the pattern to the fabric, and took away 3-4cm more after trying it on for the first time. now it is knee-length which is just perfect for a petite girl like me.

last but not least, and i think this actually is very important for the fit of the dress, i put in a large godet to the front of the lower front skirt. originally, it is supposed to be pencil-shaped, and i think it was thought that as it is not sewn together at the back (but held together with a button), there shouldn't be any problems when walking. but, as i read, there are problems when walking, as the knees somehow push up the front part of the dress, which together with the weight of the full circle skirt pulls down the whole thing backwards, making an awkward fit. so i tried to take away some of that risk by flaring the lower front. i think it helped.

























still, i think i wouldn't recommend this pattern for somebody who does not have a somewhat defined waistline. you really need some curves to hold the thing in place, otherwise the above named problem of awkward fit will occur as the full circle skirt needs some support by your curves to sit where it should.

as for the fabric, i used sheets from ikea, called "ofelia skal". it is the prettiest thing in light blue and white with a lovely pattern and a 50s flair to it. it was just perfect for this dress, i think.

the geisha-sash

yesterday, i took up a refashioning-idea from the suburban queen: an "obi-belt" (hello starwars!!), or, for me, a geisha-sash. made out of old ties. it's real easy: take two ties of the same size and sew them together at their thickest area, right sides facing:



















then flap the triangular ends back and stich them onto the corresponding tie (there is a picture of this by the suburban queen here). done!!!

you can either tie it more the obi-way, or, like me, with a little bow at the back (or front, depending on the length of the ties and the size of the bow), which you can see further down on my outfit pictures.

so, today's outfit, a bit geisha-secretary, maybe. or something like that.

























skirt: gina tricot
blouse: zara
tights: lindex
shoes: deichmann
sash: selfmade, vintage-ties

the bright tights

i seem to be in a bright-coloured-tights phase. yesterday i just couldn't leave those red ones behind at h&m and of course i needed to use them directly today. but. the whole outfit screams for a bright red lipstick. or what do you think? i really have to get used to colour my lips. i really should. and, sorry for the lousy hairdo. i was just too lazy to wash it today. will do tomorrow.

























skirt: selfmade
tights and cardigan: h&m
t-shirt: monki

the new skirt

finally, i finished the skirt i sew during the last two weeks yesterday evening. i do like it a lot, even though the seams are not as straight as they were supposed to be and even if it is a little little bit too large - but only a little.









































skirt: selfmade
tights: h&m
tanktop: vero moda
shoes: wedins
necklace: hootie (etsy)

Edit: here is the link to the pattern for the skirt. you can download it for free after creating an account on burdastyle.com

family-pieces

today it was warm and sunny and my brand new sister in law, linda, came over, basically to do some washing but also to have a chat. so we sat on the porch and had a good time - she was drawing and writing while i took out my stuff for crafting jewellery.

i had had the idea of making a necklace for my mother, and finally even decided on what exactly to do, and as there was still time left, i even made a piece for linda. she picked the colours herself and was also allowed to decide about the length of the necklace..

here are the pieces:
















































the blue.crane-necklace for linda
















































and a garden-leaf-necklace for my mother, which she will get when she comes back from her vacation.

new projects

i seem to finally get myself to sewing some more. before i came here, i bought some simple black fabric for a skirt, to be exact, for this pattern:




















some days ago, i found a free pattern for this dress, and after finishing the marie-skirt, i will give it a try - and to not forget about it, i bought some pretty blue fabric with a flowerpattern on it today. the fabrics-store here offers 20%discount through august, so i thought i might just as well do some shopping there, and also bought some lace to make something nicer out of a simpe black shirt..

latest pieces

during the last days, i finished two projects, both for people i really care about.

the first one was a necklace for my friend and collegue dagmar, as a thank you for her invitation for dinner. we had a nice evening, eating good food and talking about our vacation - she had been to finland and showed me some beautiful pictures which her boyfriend, who is a professional photographer, had taken.

























the second piece i finished, my peacock-and heart-bracelet is meant for a very special friend of mine who is not at all in good health right now. i know she loves flowers and beautiful things, so i do hope that she likes it and that it gives her joy. so today i will write a letter to her and post it.

the mobile phone

yesterday at h&m, i stumbled over this cute plastic charm dangling thing which you can attach to your mobile phone, and decided to turn it into a charm-necklace: pretty, isn't it?

the polkadrop-bracelet

i am working right now on a few projects with my jewellery, two necklaces which i cannot finish yet as i am waiting for some supplies, and matching bracelets. one of those bracelets i made today:











i called it the polkadrop-bracelet, and i plan on making one or two more in the same style.

esther's bracelet

today, i had dinner at my friend esther's. we had a vegetarian wok, with lots of coconutmilk and peppers and noodles with it.

i had totally forgotten about her birthday, but had gotten the idea of making a bracelet for her, as a thank you for the invitation for dinner. the fun thing is, that she had been at a market in hamburg yesterday and had been looking for a nice bracelet then. which she told me when she opened the envelop. she also told me, she had been looking for something blue. guess which colour i had chosen as main colour? - blue..

the weddingpresent

well, my brother is married now, and of course he and his lovely wife were supposed to get a weddingpresent from me and a. and of course, they came up with a quite extraordinary wish, a piece of pottery, to be exact, a pot to put the bread into, basically one like our mother has. so i went to the two local pottery-shops here (now we talk handmade pottery), and found such a pot. just, you know, the design wasn't really what i thought my brother and his wife were into.

but. of course, i came up with the brilliant idea to order such a pot and paint it myself. which was possible. so today, i had the top of the pot at home and painted it with blue (poisonous) colour.






















i always kind of make things up when i go along, so i started with the nautic details, the ankor and fish and waves. i think it is really cool when you have a lot of small details to look at and things to discover.




















the tree was a lot of fun to paint.






and also the cat and the sparrow and the mouse. when we were kids, my parents used to call me "maus" (mouse) and my brother "bär" (bear), and my youngest brother "spatz" (sparrow). i really couldn't do a bear, but then i thought the mouse and the sparrow and the cat (we always had a cat) might serve as memory for him..

anyway, now i have to take this really breakable and heavy thing back to the pottery to get it burnt. i also will have a lightblue glazing (if that's what you call it) added, so what i did today will be dark blue and the rest of the thing lightblue. kind of. i'll feature the result as soon as it's done.

a necklace for vroni

here is the picture of the latest piece of jewellery i made. a necklace for vroni. and she was so happy about it - which made me even more happy. and apparantly i totally hit her style =) well, ok. i know what she likes, so it wasn't too hard.


a pair of earrings will follow as soon as i got more materials here. after my holidays. which will start next thursday!! whohoooo!!

handcrafted myself

all those nice shops on etsy with people selling lovely pretty selfmade jewellery gave me ideas. a very good idea that is to say, and it was to start making jewellery out of vintage brooches, pearls and other stuff myself.
so i got myself the necessary tools and other things and started off, and today i finished my first necklace:


i took a vintage brooch, which had a glittering stone and the form of four leaves, and i added two black glass-pearls and an alabaster-coloured glass-flower. i also attached a chain with four black pearls on each side. i do like it very well. and it was a lot of fun, so i guess i got myself a new hobby..

christmas gifts

this year, i really tried hard to have all christmas presents ready before december.. of course, i didn't manage, but at least i knew what to give away. as i still haven't bought everything (just, almost..) i really have to get started, and i also need to get finished those presents that i make on my own - liqueur.

in the end of october, i got the thought that it would be a lot of fun to try out some of these fruity alcoholic stuff, and when i thought a bit more about it, i decided to make not only a little bit, but so much that it would be enough to last for christmas presents.
so i obtained a lot of fruit (rosehips, quinces and plums), huge glasses, a considerable amount of strong liquor, some raw sugar and some spices as well (such as cinnamon-pieces). i cut down the fruit into smaller pieces (well, not the rosehips, those i just cut of the ends) and stuffed the pieces with sugar and spices into the glasses - two with quinces, two with rosehips and two with plums. then i filled the glasses up with different sorts of booze (vodka for the plums, korn for the quinces and brandy for the rosehips) and put them under my desk.

they were standing there until today, but now will be the time for truth - did everything go well?? (of course i've already tried all of them earlier..)
anyway, today i'll take out the fruit and spices and fill the liqueur into nice bottles to take to my grandmother and my parents. i really hope they'll like it..