Shoppinghaul from London

As promised in my last post, here's the shopping haul from London!

Let's start in Notting Hill... I spent eunough at What Katie Did to get a complementary shopping bag... So cute! But best is still the goodies inside of it =)

A Glamour corselette and chocolate fully fashioned 45 den stockings! I happen to know my boyfriend also walked away with something from WKD... Can it please be Christmas soon?!


A fast hop to Gold Hawk road, and the staggering number of cheap fabric shops, all within 5 min walk of each other. Few of them accepted cards, but that was ok, as a tourist I came with plenty of cash, and oh boy did I put them to good use! All but the last are jerseys, and I doubt there's a single natural fibre in any of them, but they're lovely to touch, have a beautiful drape and a decent recovery. They were 4-5 £/metre, a bargain in my book =)

From right to left: a green dress (for me or for Malin, if she wants it), two red tops, a brown dress for me and a t-shirt for the mr, wool-like heavier patterened blue for a dress, black jersey with black lace for a fancier but comfy dress (blues dancing, work parties etc) and last a polyester silk-like fabric for a slip (test-run before cutting into real silk, and good to have a machine washable version).


Let's hop on to MacCulloch and Wallis on the corner of Oxford street and Dering street! They have an amazing collection of haberdashy, equipment and fabrics of all sorts. The store is divided so the fabric is on the groundfloor, most of the haberdashy and equipment is on the 1st floor, while the trims and so on are on the 2nd floor. While the girls on the fabric floor was angels, the people upstairs were... not so serviceminded. Now, I'm Swedish. I'm polite, patient and don't want to make a lot of fuss. But I still find it unpleasant when a clerk rolls his eyes when I ask for a band being cut. Yes, I wanted 20 metres of it, but still - rolling his eyes? Not so nice. I was very, very happy I had spent a few hours at their website and therefore knew what to ask for, as the store was pretty hard to navigate and not so well-labeled (most things were not labeled at all, actually).
I don't recommend against the shop, not at all! But I do recommend coming with a good idea of what you're looking for and be prepared to be ignored or sighed at when you ask something (they did answer my questions, though). Most important, I found some stuff that just can't be bought anywhere I've seen in Sweden... and def not to those prices! So I'm happy =)

At the top: Gripper waistband. Below it: 20 m of piping cord. At the bottom of the picture: designer tape, wax for handsewing, basting thread, kicktape (brown + black) and two twin needles.


Now, the fabric departement and the lovely ladies who worked there... Totally different experience! No fabric is left laying around in the store, instead huge sample pieces hang on clothing racks. Easy to browse through, cut a piece, feel the drape etc. I had of course a million and one questions about the different interfacings, the lady answered them all, came with suggestions, and ran off to the basement for my fabrics.
In the last minute - like 5 min before they were closing - I asked for a shirting with some specific qualities. She showed me the row of shirtings and I felt a a moment of pure panic. Five minutes and all of those to browse?!!! Then she took one out and said "This one is the one I think best fit's the description you gave...", and it was perfect. Relief! I didn't even glance at the other fabrics =)

Not much to look at like this, but am I weird to find this the most exciting photo of them all? Perhaps =) To the left, interfacings of different sorts (sew-in, fusible, horse hair, hair canvas, chest canvas etc). To the right, pocketing and the aforementioned shirting (a lovely cotton mix with beautiful fall and body. There's a small weave stripe, maybe 2 mm apart).

Leaving the world of sewing and lingerie, I found some books that just had to come home with me =) I had planned to not buy any books, the suitcase get's so heavy but... The gorgeous coffetable book about the Hollywood costume exhibition in Victoria and Albert museum I just had to have. I loved "How to be a woman" by Caitlin Moran, so I of course had to buy her new book. While searching for it at Waterstones, I stumbled over the little "How to be a welldressed wife" by Anne Fogarty and then... =)

This and that. The scarf and the coaster I picked up as we walked along Portobello road towards WKD. I loved the deep chocolate colour on the scarf, and I have a similar coaster that it'll be easier to use when I can also provide a retro-humour coaster for my guest =)

The tie is... a bit hard to see, but I didn't want to remove the protective plastic. It's dark brown with a diagonal weave, and it matches two of the three shirts the mr bought. It's going to look stunning!

That was the week's haul! Or rather, the haul from monday to wednesday, as we just danced during the weekend =) Hope you enjoyed the peek!

Love, Erika

Colette sewing book and personal style

As those reading sewing blogs may have noticed, Sarai who owns Colette patterns released a sewing book during November, The Colette Sewing Handbook. I've been reading reviews of it all over the internet, and everyone loves it! It seems like a great book for beginner-intermediate sewists, it comes with 5 patterns and it covers some areas I usually miss in sewing books, namely planning, choosing a pattern and fitting. The chapter on finishing also sounds interesting, new techniques are always good.

Tasia from Sewaholic wrote a great review here, focusing on the part about wardrobe planning. Casey also adressed this part of the book in her review, and she had some more pages from the book for us to read. Sarai's tip is to pick out 5 garments/outfits/accessoiries that you really love and feel good while wearing (meaning that you not just love the idea of them, but actually enjoy wearing them as well). Then analyze these pieces and see if you can find some common feature, like type of colour, fabrics, fitting, etc. Tasia wrote a follow up post where she did this, found here. I liked this idea, so I figured I'd try it myself! =)

Red doubleknit cotton-jersey dress, swing/40s style (me-made). Pattern made from my blockpattern. I love the colour, the heavy weight of the fabric and how extremly comfortable it is to wear.

Wool winter skirt with grey cardigan. Wool is my all-time favorite fabric! And this is my favorite cardigan; I love the length, the loose-fitting sleeves, the lacepattern on the bodice and the little tie-band just beneth the bust which ensures that the cardigan fits correctly.

Blue cotton skirt (me-made) with purple knit top. This skirt is perfect! It never wrinkles, it's mostley cotton so it breathes, it moves beautifully when I'm dancing, the pleating makes it comfortable to sit in all day at work. I love the top, the sleeves are just my length and I adore the detail with the lace inset and the small covered buttons.

It goes without saying that of course The Coat is a favorite to wear. For the first time in my life outerwear actually fits! The back isn't too wide or long, the overbust isn't too small, the waist fits, and the width of the skirt means the coat is loose over the hips and doesn't gape open when I walk.

Thrifted green vintage dress of unclear decade. This dress is just so nice to wear. Simple as that. =)

A few things springs to mind about my taste:
-Solid colours, dark or jewel, are a favorite.
-Fitted in the waistarea, loose around the hips, not overly loose around the bust but with enough width for easy movement. Waistseams sits in the natural waist.
-Natural fibers; wool, cotton, linen, silk. Jerseytops and cotton cardigans.
-Necklines that are not tight but not deep enough to show cleavege.
-Hemlines on skirts right beneth the knees, 2" longer on winter skirts.
-Always some sort of sleeve, either short or full-length, seldom elbow or three-quarter for every-day wear (too hard to layer).

Now, these things were far from new to me, and I already sew with this in mind. For example I know that the fitted over the hip/calf long/blous-y at the waist - dresses of the 30s  that I just love isn't what I feel most comfortable in. Instead, I'm sewing 40s style and 50s style skirts and dresses to wear at work.

However, while I knew this in the back of my head, this was still a very useful exercise. Maybe it's time to focus on making more of the styles I know I like? Maybe it's not boring to plan more clothes in the same category as the one's I have, it's insightful of me to know what I feel good in =) And perhaps my taste is not the flashiest, lot's of people would feel grey and frumpy in it, but since I feel good in it, why should I strive toward other styles?

This brings me back to the Colette Sewing Handbook... Take a look at the patterns that comes with this book (I'll just link as I don't want to steal photos):
The Truffle dress and the licorice dress. Both very cute, but the sleeves are all wrong for me and the parts I do like (the fitted bodice) would be a lot easier to do using my block pattern than doing the 1 million alterations I'd need to do on the bodice. The skirts are not quite my taste...
The pastille dress. Adorable, but not my kind of sleeve nor skirt. See above about the fitted bodice.
The Taffy blouse and the Meringue skirt. Again, the sleeves on the blouse are not my style, the bodice on the blouse is too loose for me. The skirt pattern I could do myself in less than an hour, with the length, waistband, opening and pockets I prefer.

What I'm trying to do here is to decide whether or not to get the book. The patterns are super cute, all of them, but they really don't fit into my style. Of course referece books on sewing techniques are always fun, but I have a bunch of them and shouldn't I read them all before I can justify getting a new one? But at the same time this one seems so very interesting... And maybe some of my friends who sews would find these patterns useful? =) Having a major case of in-decision here!

Ah well, no need to get it now before Christmas, I can think about it for a while. I did really like the wardrobe analysis though, it was great fun to do, and a big help to being comfortable about my style and thereby likely helpful in the future for choosing sewing projects. Maybe the book have many more of those thoughtful gems, and I can justify buying it for that reason?

What do you think, have you bought the Colette sewing handbook? Do you plan to? Have you done any similar wardrobe analysis and what did you come up with? Should I buy the book?!!! =) I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Love, Erika

Books, shoes and tights

Today is national shopping day, also known as payday =) I of course felt I had to do my part (it's all about keeping the economy rolling, you see...) and here's what's new in the house:

Sewing books! These were mailorder, of course, but I timed it so I'd get them and the invoice this week =) The Fabric sewing guide is one of the best sewing books I've read. I originally checked it out at the local library, but soon realised this was a keeper. And now I have my very own! It's a great reference book, although I'm not sure I'd recommend it for beginners. It might be good if this is not the first sewing book you see the inside of. However, if you're an intermediate sewist looking for books to take you to next level, any of Claire Shaeffers books are worth looking into.

The Trouser sewing book is perfect! It shows all the tricky techniques, provides pictures of sample trouser's (loooved the vintage custom ones from 1932), and it even comes with a dvd where the author demonstrates the techniques. I will definatley buy the shirtmaking book by the same author.

I haven't had the need to consult the serger guide yet, but from browsing through it I'd say it looks promising. We'll see how it holds up when trouble arises with my overlock =)

Shoes! And no, they're not pretty. They are not supposed to be pretty, it's not their mission in life. They are however supposed to protect my feet from water and the pavement, and with gore-tex and super-cushioning they're just the right pair for getting the job done. No more sore feet! No more wet socks! You see, my old walking shoes were working on overtime... =) From Gå och löp-kliniken.

Just stacking up on knitted goods for fall/winter. A new cardigan is always nice, and I loved this colour. Then I went a bit crazy on the thights (didn't even know one could do that)... There was an offer, "3 for 2", which I took as a sign that it really was time to throw away the old tights that has to be worn with ancle socks to cover the holes in the heels (my old winter boots ate heels).
I cleaned out the underwear drawer not so long ago, thinking I'd sew new. That hasn't happened, so I've been washing a lot lately =) 3 pairs of knickers for 100 SEK (approx 11 euro), made of organic cotton, seemed like a great solution. If they fit, maybe I'll get a couple more boxes...
All this was from Lindex.

The weekend is about to start, and I'm off to a medieval dance event. I'll be teaching some, I'm hoping to learn a new dance as well, and I'm giving a lecture on SCA and how to behave during court and banquet. Oh dear, maybe I should actually prepare that lecture? Promise to take lots of pictures! If any of them are good, I'll post them next week ; )

Have a great weekend!
Love, Erika

The holidays - a short goodbye to the past year

The Holidays swished by so fast, yet I feel quite rested and refreshed. It sometimes amazes me how much seeing my family gives me new energy - even though I this time held a grueling tempo in Stockholm over Christmas.

Christmas eve (the big celebration day in Sweden) I was at mom's place. For the first time in three years we had a Christmas tree! I know, two years without a tree isn't the end of the world, but I really, really love it... Christmas just isn't a proper Christmas without a tree to decorate. I have to admit though, I'm not the most artsy tree-decorater, I tend to just throw things over the tree and adjust it a bit so everything is a bit spread out =)

I couldn't resist this photo of Elsa, just look at that cute little fluff-ball! =) Her fur is a bit long for the moment, it's been so cold that mom wanted Elsa to have a bit of extra warmth. I'm sure it works, but she does end up looking like... a lamb? a walking fur muff? a toy-animal? a fluff-ball.

Christmas-fika at my grandmother's, with amazing coffeebread!

I brought home some amazing things from Stockholm, both presents and results of my own shopping. It's a rare and wonderful feeling when everything you get it's something you either had wished for or something you didn't even know you wanted, but that just fits. I am so grateful and happy that my family knows me so well, even though I live far away from them!

These loafers I bought as a gift to myself, and to my feet =) To me, they're just beautiful! With perfect cushioning in the entire sole, and made to be worn with orthopaedic insoles. I'm so looking forward to spring! Wearing these instead of the ortho-sneakers I've been stuck with the past year... Yay!

Christmas gifts in my family leans towards "the more the merrier" (while the total value remains the same). I think it's cozy with a mountin of presents beneth the tree, and like for it to take a while with opening the presents. It doesn't have to be expensive stuff, it's more along the line of "if I give someone two identical pairs of socks I'll still make two presents out of them!". Ripping paper is fun... Here's some of the things my wonderful family got for me:

Sewing supplies; bobbins, a storage-box for bobbins and needles for lace-making.

For entertainment; Season 3 of Mad Men and a novel by my favorite urban fantasy-writer. If you're at all into that genre, I very much recommend reading something by Patricia Briggs. Her stories are gripping, her characters have depth and her handling of the fantastic elements is remarkable.

Being away is great, but there's no place like home, right? So I'll end this goodbye to 2010 with a picture from a winterwhite Umeå. Happy New Year!

Love, Erika

On Sewing in Swedish

The language of sewing is very intriguing, it can make a complicated process simple and understandable, or it can turn the easiest thing into a string of gibberish. When I started reading English sewing blogs I often despaired, but in time I learned and by now there are some sewing techniques I only can explain in English terms! Neither suits me (I strive to be a bi-lingual sewist), so this past year I've tried to locate sewing books in Swedish, to fill out both my vocabulary and hopefully give me tools to better my sewing. I've come across some great books, and figured I'd share them with you! (English speaking readers: sorry; no English books... yet. But check out Gertie's blog if you haven't already, she has lots of great book-tips).

I'll continue this in primarily Swedish, and just make a small translation to English.


Först ut: en serie böcker jag hittade på Umeå Stadsbibliotek. Det är runt 14 böcker som mycket utförligt med text och bilder går igenom allt man kan tänkas vilja veta, från enkel sömnad till skrädderi (rekommenderas varmt om man vill sy kavajer el liknande). Den visar arbetsgång, olika metoder beroende på hur krångligt man vill göra det för sig, hur man väljer material, allt. Jag önskar verkligen att jag kunde hitta hela serien att köpa, men de är ur tryck. Om nån springer på den, maila mig gärna! Eller köp den själv =)

A series of books that cover everything. It's out of print (these are on loan from the local library), and I would so love to have them!


Sy kläder av Linda Gibson är en nyare bok, bra med bilder och bra text. Den är dock mer som en referensbok över hur man gör olika detaljer, den beskriver inte arbetsgången för sömnad av tex byxor. Som referensbok över sömnadsdetaljer är den dock strålande. Även denna är lånad från biblioteket, men den finns tydligen på bokrean då och då, så jag tänker hålla ögonen öppna.

A great referencebook for details.


Har skrivit om denna förr, men den förtjänas att nämnas igen. Tycker man om att läsa sig till förklaringar, har man en figur som kräver stora mönsterändringar på färdiga mönster är denna bok en räddande ängel! Jag kommer aldrig mer köpa ett mönster, det är hundra gånger enklare att göra ett grundmönster från denna och sen ändra det till den skärning och de detaljer jag vill ha. Boken kommer med ett set grundmönster och förklaring hur du får dem att passa just dig, men det finns även en beskrivning längst bak av hur du gör mönster från dina egna mått. En liten brask-lapp: jag har senaste upplagan, är osäker om mönster från egna mått finns med i den äldre upplagan. Vill du köpa den begagnad, kolla upp det. Det är dock inte fel att inverstera i denna i nytryck.
Boken för herrkläder ska mycket snart beställas också...

A great pattern construction book, easy to use as it also comes with basic patterns. I seriously will never buy a pattern again, be it vintage or modern. It's just way so much easier to alter the basic patterns and add whatever cut or details I want.
I'm on my way to ordering the one for the gents clothings as well...

I promised a coat update, however, since ready printed patterns are a real pain to alter to fit (I really am hard to fit) I'm still working on the toile. Currently it's the armholes and the arms that are giving me trouble, but I'll see mom next week so I'm thinking she will be my saving grace and then the coat pattern will be ready. I may - as usual - be overly optimistic, but I think sewing will go a lot faster than toile-fitting, so I'm still aiming to be ready by Christmas (depending on how much I'm working). However, if I'm not, then it's not the end of the world, I do have clothes to wear! =)

Back to sewing books and language: Do you sew in one language or several? Or is written sewing descriptions gibberish no matter what language they're in? What's your method for learning new sewing techniques? And of course - any tips on sewing books? Beginners or advanced, in Swedish or English!

Now I'm off to a great weekend of social dancing both tonight and tomorrow (be still my heart!) AND classes Saturday and Sunday with the amazing Frida and Skye. It's going to be a great weekend! I'm back on Sunday or Monday with pics of outfits and maybe other things. In the meantime, have a great weekend!

Love, Erika

A book I needed and a card I loved

So, I promised some pictures of the birthday presents, right? This all came from my wonderful mom. It's a book about fitting and altering sewing patterns! Something I really wanted, as I've been having huge problems lately (and therefore haven't finished a garment in forever). I realised a while back that I've never actually done a fitted bodice with sleeves! Sure, I've done a lot of strange medieval clothes, but this very basic piece of sewing I've never actually done. No wonder it was giving me such huge problems!

I'm pretty sure this is very copyright-protected, so I'm just giving you all a glimpse of it. As you can see, it's not just descriptions of how to make a basic pattern, but it's actually included 6 different types of patterns (pants, bodice, coat etc) in different sizes.


The list of contents, doesn't say much unless you read swedish though =) Basically, the book covers shirts, skirts, pants, blouses and dresses, coats, jackets, stretch-material and construction of basic patterns.
I might have mentioned I've decided to take a sewing class coming fall, and this is the book and patterns the teacher of that class recommended for me. Now I'm really on the go. I will learn this! =)

Also, the cute card I got from my mom.
Love, Erika

Purse for stockings, genius or weird?

I've had a bit of a shopping spree on Tradera/Ebay lately, here's some of this month's purchases: a purse for stockings, a sewing book from 1940s, hair-ties (actually from the shop Hemlängtan). I've played around a bit with the hair-ties, but it doesn't go too well for me. Any advice? Someone who's tried these things?


The inside of the purse, it has room for seven pairs of stockings. I'm a bit torn, is this a really smart little thing, or is it just strange? Genius or weird? I'm leaning towards genius, at least for travelling...


A tablecloth for the coffetable, also Tradera/Ebay. I needed something more fitting for summer.


The contents of the sewing book. It's not so thick, about 100 pages, bur it's very nice to flip through and it has some useful instructions on measuring, fabrics, buttonholes etc. This book comes up regularly on Tradera, and usually go for 10-50 SEK. I gave 10 SEK (about 1,5 $), plus shipping.


Some pictures from the inside of it.


Have a great week!

Love, Erika