Giving new life to an old shawl

The shawl was a brithday present from Mr. C. I fell in love with the delicate colour palette and  the romantic print of butterflies and branches . But when worn the print wasn't visible and the colours were too mellow.

So I decided to give it a bit of a facelift with some purple trim. Keeping in mind the delicate floral print I chose a flower trim to match, but I wanted a colour with a lot of visual impact that's why I chose dark purple.
 

The trim is attached to the very edge of the shawl and handsewn in place. The tools required for this project are: a matching thread and a needle and lots of patiece. I was happily sewing away yesterday evening watching an old Miss Marple film and sipping a glass of wine.

closeup

I also chose to turn the shawl into a snood.  The shawl was too short to drape properly and any attempt to tie it into a knot resulted in a messy bulk concentrated around my neck.

After attaching the trim I sewed the shorter ends together using a flat felled seam to hide the seam allowances. The material is very gauzy making it difficult to get a clean sewing line, but the seams are tucked in and invisible when worn.

A somewhat blurry image to show how the snood is draped. I can never get decent photos of myself ;-)

Mr. C's new shirt

Setting up the pattern with my trusty assistant and project supervisor

Over the past 4 weeks I've been secretly working on an exciting sewing project: a classic men's shirt. The lovely Susan and Martin from Partlan Pattern Designs contacted me if I wanted to be a pattern tester for their Shannon shirt. I've never done a classic double yoke shirt with French cuffs and I was so excited to put my sewing skills to the test. And I certainly did. Like Peter Lappin from Male pattern boldness said in one of his posts: Shirt making isn't for sissies and he was right. It takes a lot of time, patience and precision to construct a men's shirt. But the result is a stunning item of clothing that really surpasses all of those of the peg T-shirts and raggedy looking jerseys and such.

it's all in the details: perfect collar points and sleeve placket

In my fashion oriented posts I've often wrote about the poor quality of fabrics and poor fit as well as lack of ingenuity in mainstream fashion and how this influenced me to develop my sewing skills. When we look at men's fashion it's even worse: limited choices, shoddy construction and for lack of better words no wow effect. I've also written about my passion (or better obsession) with Poirot movies. The costumes in these movies are amazing. I love the watch them over and over again and get lost in the world of eloquent, well mannered people who dress with such elegance. The Shannon shirt project was therefor heavily influenced by the aesthetic of my beloved Poirot movies, the world of impeccable bespoke tailoring with a hint of flamboyance in choosing a floral patterned print cotton.

The pattern Martin and Susan sent was a bespoke pattern designed according to Mr. C's measurements. And what a difference that made! As is customary, the pattern pieces are first basted together to check for general fit and to mark the adjustments. Having a made-to-measure pattern made it the world's fastest fitting ever. The shirt fit like a glove and Mr. C's words was far more comfortable than any of his bought shirts. The real difference however was the fit in particularly the fit across the shoulders. It's difficult to descibe or even convince someone of the benefits of custom fit garments until they've had the luxury of trying them on. Much like the difference between cheap whisky and an aged single malt Scotch. It's a tangible experince and an unforgettable at that.

It took me about 10 days of relaxed, easy paced sewing from start to finish. Susan and Martin were marvelous throughout the entire process. They've set up posts with instructions on their blog detailing various steps of the process. And  during this time we've chatted about buttons and collar shapes and yokes and a ton of other small details that only a true sewing enthusiast can appreciate.

As an hommage to Martin's love for hats, Mr. C insisted to model the shirt wearing his fedora. Go check Martin wearing his gorgeous peacock print shirt wearing his :-)

The photos were taken on a hot summer's eve near the source of river Ljubljanica, one of our favourite hiking spots.

Down to the last bead - Bead soup 2013 2nd reveal

Tribal vibe: tooth shark shaped mother of pearls paired with pyrite

This is my third time participating in the Bead soup blog hop and it's been another prolific one! This time I used up every single bead my lovely partner Sarah sent me. I even ended using beads from the previous soup from my then partner Agata. The pyrite beads from the first set of earrings and the clasp in the asymmetrical necklace.

Last helping: the last two purple glass rounds paired with some last minute shopping ceramic beads and silver metal discs

To be quite honest, I finished my bead soup in the first three days after I got my beads. I just love that magical moment when I open the parcel from my partner filled with gorgeous beads and lovely thoughts in the accompanying notes that my imagination turns to super mode.

Lush: the majority of bead soup paired with beads from my stash in a rainbow of purple, lavender, silver, dove and charcoal greys

This year was no different, I made the charm bracelet and the chain necklace the first evening and decided upon the design for the asymmetrical necklace which had to wait a week because I needed to go to town to get the exact satin ribbons I wanted to use.

tribal vibe: another angle

Then came these earrings. I knew I wanted to accentuate the shark tooth shape but no matter how I paired the beads it just didn't work. I must have pulled them apart at least seven times. But it was worth it because I'm very happy with the final design.

Asymmetrical

The asymmetrical necklace is very difficult to photograph and even looks a bit blah on the photo but quite nice when worn. I used pale pink faceted quartz and faceted yellow Chech beads from my stash and the cute pink lampwork beads Sarah sent as focals.

Playful mix

This necklace deliberately has no clasp and can be worn as a single or a double strand. I used the remaining lampwork beads from Sarah and paired them with Pandora beads from my stash. I wanted to "immobilize" the Pandora beads so that they lay perpendicular to the chain at all times. Instead of wire wrapping  which would make them wobble all over the place I used a smaller chain, two links of it roughly equalled the length of the hole and attached them to my main chain with the Pandora bead trapped in. It required a bit of fiddling around to attach the main chain to the smaller links without loosing the Pandora bead but once I was done, the bead was snugly caught between the links of the large chain preventing the bead from moving. Ta-dah! Success.

As always this party would have been a dull one without our hostess extraordinaire Lori Anderson from Pretty Things. Thanks Lori! And another warm thanks to my lovely partner Sarah whom I've been in constant contact during the dreary snowy month of March as we exchanged thoughts, ideas and progress report. Go see what she made with her soup!

Click HERE for the entire list of participants for the 2nd reveal.

Bead Soup from Sarah

My favourite part of the bead soup blog hop: receiving the beads :-) It's always such a treat to open the mailbox and find a package from my bead partner. Since I order the majority of my jewellery components on-line I get lots of packages in the mail, but receiving the bead soup is always different, more personal and therefore more significant.

My bead soup partner Sarah from Stringing a Song of Sixpence sent me a gorgeous selection of beads in deep shades of purple, lavender, soft pinks and charcoal grey. She sent me this incredible selection of lampwork beads, amethyst, Czech glass leaves and hematite as well as a pair of mother of pearl beads shaped like a shark's tooth.

the toggle clasp

The toggle clasp design is Sarah's favourite so she went and got one just for me. I was so touched! And the lizard charm is just adorable. I decided to pair it with a kangaroo charm from my own stash.

Kangaroo with the baby in it's sack and the lizard

The colour palette for the bead soup is particularly challenging for me. I've always been drawn to the subdued shades of purple but I was never  able to get the balance between the soft colour tones and  feminine feel this palette conveys. My jewellery pieces were either too bland because the contrast between the components wasn't strong enough or I used some bright coloured beads to give it more contrast and the jewellery ended up looking odd as if a colour blind person selected the beads.
As a result I have amassed quite a few beads in this lovely lavender / pastelcolour that have been patiently waiting:

soft pinks and lavender from my stash

Bead soup 2013 - meet my partner Sarah

It's bead soup time again! My favourite annual  jewellery and beading blogging event and I'm always so excited to check out all the blogs from other participants to see what beads they've received and the great jewellery pieces they've come up with.
This year my partner is the lovely Sarah from String a song of Sixpence. Sarah is a bead stringer with a great eye for colour and texture. I was particularly surprised at all the colours she works with since most jewellery makers prefer only a select palette. Sarah is also a  first time participant of the bead soup party.
I've included a photo of a necklace which Sarah pointed me to saying it was one of her favourite and a pair of earrings I was drawn to because of the ingenious mix of shapes and colours:

First steps away from symmetry

Stealth earrings

Sarah is also a  first time participant of the bead soup party. We hit it off immediately in our e-mail correspondence. She was excited to send some of her most cherished beads across Europe to meet new bead friends :-)

As it turns out I had the exact same thing in mind when I sent her my bead soup choice because the beads as well as the ribbon and organza flower are some of  my favourite components put together from my jewellery and sewing stash. I can't wait to see what Sarah comes up with it!

 

Bead soup for Sarah

When fantasy and reality collide

Burda magazine skirt pattern no. 105 09/2012

Winter weather really kicked in hard this week: snow, drizzle, ice and temperatures below zero. My master plan for coping with this dismal weather: get my hair cut to my (shorter) summer length and pull out (ahem, buy new) lightweight fabric and start making summer clothes. As if all this would somehow magically make the winter end sooner. Alas I have to report my attempts so far have been dreadfully unsuccessful, it's still cold and icy outside and on top of it I ended up with a mild bladder infection.

Amended master plan: drink some icky tea to fight the infection and continue sewing. My current project is a super cute skirt that combines a striped jeans fabric with my newly discovered passion for yellow. I used the yoke piece from the Burda magazine skirt pattern and drafted the skirt pieces myself. I've designed it so that the left front section will have a channel for two parallel grosgrain ribbon strings that can be tied to achieve a ruched effect.

As an afterthought I decided to use some of the many buttons I've accumulated over the years and sew a buttoned heart. The first heart had all blue buttons which was nice but something was still missing. In a flash of inspiration I decided to add one yellow button. I got a really nice coconut button with yellow enamel.

blue mother of pearl buttons & yellow thread; yellow coconut button & blue thread

 I've also made an underlining using plain off white muslin. It is my opinion the skirt will "sit" better with underlining. And since this is a summer skirt, I wanted to make it very breathable so I opted for cotton muslin instead of the classic poly/rayon lining.

right side of the skirt with yellow stitching

inside the skirt, the white ribbon will be used to attach the underskirt to the ruched skirt piece

Discovering yellow

I've always been a great fan of yellow despite the fact that it does not suit my complexion. In fact wearing yellow makes me look like I'm dying of consumption which is sad really because yellow is such a bright and cheerful colour. As with all colours I don't look good in I try to steer clear of yellow, but its energy and radiance fascinates me.

yellow and emerald

I've recently taken some time off and went back to doing the things that make me happy: sewing and making jewellery. I decided this was really the time to push my boundaries and overcome the scare factor some colours evoke. So I decided to pull out my yellow beads and make something pretty with them.
Once I let go of the fear, the creative process was so spontaneous and fun and I came up with these two pairs of earrings:

colourful and happy

I've also been experimenting with other colours that used to scare me with surprizingly amazing results: next up the colour grey and a new dress!

The shopping ban is lifted

I've been on a self imposed shopping ban since last August with a strict no admittance to any fabric store policy. But lately I've completed a few sewing projects and my fabric stash though still handsome by any standards has begun to dwindle.
Oh we can't have that said I and Mr. C agreed. Of course. So in a recent splurge I bought the cherry print microfiber fabric that's just begging to be turned into a retro shirt for the summer.

 

But best of all the cherries are an exact match to a cotton twill fabric that's been patiently waiting in my collection of fabrics. So I'm thinking of going all out retro with high waisted pants and a shirt to match, wedges and a canvas bag for the perfect take on a summer causal ensemble that will work for office as well as leisure time.

Making earrings for a change

Remember the Virtual Craft Show post? The bracelet I made specially for that event has since been shipped to India. What's more I was also one of the lucky winners. I received a special bead kit mix.
Last week the highly anticipated package from Michelle Mach arrived.

Lots of cool blues, clear glass and crystal and silver metal beads... basically my favourite beads to work with.

I've been playing with the beads over this weekend and as it turns out made more earrings in a row than ever before. I find it hardest to work on earrings. Very difficult to come up with interesting and wearable designs.

The ones made with recycled glass rondelles are by far my favourites.

This necklace is made from components from all over the world. I used frosted glass beads, blue focal and metal spacers from Michelle's kit and added hematites I bought in Montenegro three years ago and a clasp I ordered from the UK.

And finally, since I was doing so well with the earrings, another ancient components from my stash: a pair of spiral shells combined with emerald green glass beads.

The shells were never meant to be used as jewellery components because they had no holes for stringing. Since that has never stopped me before I bought them anyway and drilled the holes myself. Anything can be used as a jewellery component :-)

The stubborn de-stash

About a month ago I posted my thoughts on creativity in relation to abundance and how I find the abundance of material things to inhibit creativity. As with everything, this isn't universally accurate but it proved to be spot on for me.
For years I have been buying jewellery and sewing related supplies, notions, tools, etc. My stash was expanding exponentially. It got to the point where I couldn't start any project without first buying something new. I've completely stopped buying fabric in August after realizing my supply was fast approaching 3 digit number in meters of fabric. Ouch!
But fabric is easy. I have a folder on my computer with pictures and dimensions of all the fabric in my stash. Beads are tricky. It's so easy to store them. They take very little space and somehow it always seems the amount of beads has doubled without really noticing it.
And then I had one of those moments of clarity when it hit me that I will always find some new fabric or unusual beads or whatever. So I made a decision not only to stop buying new supplies for a while but also to stop looking.
Working in a vacuum without outside sensory input was a bit weird at first but as it turned out it was essential for my creative process. Being constantly surrounded by images of other people's work as well as pining over new beads had completely numbed me.

The other problem I had was hoarding my "special" beads for a project worthy of their beauty. This tiger eye faceted pendant is a typical example. I've been holding on to this one for 5 years now.

I always knew I'd turn it into a necklace but could never find coordinating beads. Two days ago I paired it with the black beads and the helix crystals but didn't have nearly enough for a whole necklace. I was about to go back on my word not to buy new beads before I dug out the bronze seed beads. Turns out they were perfect for this project.

I made earrings using polymer clay beads I made in February. Completely and utterly weird but strangely lovable, I hadn't a clue what the heck to do with them.

And finally, a typical example of my bead tray: lots of blue, lots of ordinary round beads and some silver metal findings. I also have a great love of shell and mother of pearl beads. I was resolved to turn this tray of dull beads into something extraordinary.

It took me five hours and some re-shuffling but I came up with this completely out of the box necklace:

It's definitely eclectic but I don't think it looks awkward or forced.

After three days of intense beading I've learned that my beads are neither plain nor boring. The only thing obstructing my creativity was my perception of my supplies. As always I'm looking into different ways to combine colours and my designs are becoming bolder.