Finished and modeled: Birthday dress 2013!

And so, I am no longer twenty-something... (but to be honest, turning 30 feels great).

It took two small scraps of amazing fabric, a very long zipper, some polyester satin (more of a lining fabric actually) and half an old sheet (for actual lining), vintage hand made lace, and some silk and satin ribbon... about five hours of machine sewing, one broken needle - one hour swearing about needles breaking on Sunday afternoon when you have zero extras - and about four to five hours hand sewing... this is the result!

Birthday dress hand sewing

Sunday afternoon and the sewing machine needle breaks. I had no extras (how utterly stupid!!) so guess what? I finished putting the dress together, including sewing in a 80 cm long zipper... by hand.

Tomorrow I turn 30 (finally a grownup, at least on paper...) and I'll put some good pics of me in the dress up here then. Oh and by the way: yes, the zipper is on the outside of the dress on purpose.

Here are some snapshots of last nights hard work!

Birthday dress 2013 sneak peak

Today I started making my birthday dress for this year... And not a day too early, considering that it has to be finished in less than a week!

Being me (wildly optimistic, that is) I decided to draft something out of a few fabric scraps that I really love.

I got the top half almost done today... Here's a little sneak peak on the fabrics and inspirations (no high flying plans at all, right?)

New project for spring!

I just started working on this really cute classic Vogue Americana / Teal Traina dress.

So happy I had fabric that looks a lot like the pattern cover dress! It's vintage heavy... something. It's not natural fibers anyway.

Time has been hard to find lately but I hope to get better at sneaking in a half hour of sewing every now and then. With a little luck this dress will be finished in a week or two!

Hand sewn Smartphone case

So - as usual winter means I lose most inspiration to make things. But yesterday I got off my butt (or not really considering I stayed on my couch sewing this) and made a case for my new Smartphone!

I used a scrap from an old curtain, some green lining fabric and a vintage button. Braided heavy cotton thread closes the case.

It's not much, bit it's cute and I made it, yay!

Crochet hat

More crafting!

Just finished a crochet hat, all made from yarn scraps given to me for free! Pretty much 1970's style/colors... will go great with my new vintage coat!

Here goes: (and yes I look a bit.. nuts)

And it even looks really nice on the inside!

UFO t-shirts now finished

UFO-time! (UnFinished Objects, that is!)

I've had the bodices for these t-shirts cut and then folded and put away since... 2006, maybe. Each time I was thinking of what to sew next I would take them out, think "meh, boring" and put them back in the drawer... But not yesterday!

Here's the result of barely two hours of sewing. Very basic and comfy! I made them quite long, both because I have a long torso (my rtw tops usually have to be pulled back down every two seconds, I do have better things to do, lol) and also so I can wear these both with jeans and with leggings.

Just before I finished the second t-shirt, I managed to slip with the scissors and make a tiny hole in the fabric in the front... Hence the somewhat random flower applique. Fairly good save, though.

I used this 1960's pattern for the sleeves and the neckline on the purple t-shirt.

And of course I had some help from Pippin the cat, who tends to step on everything I'm holding, eat thread and play football with anything that falls to the floor...