Getting my groove back

I had a free weekend and decided to do my best to get my sewing groove back. While having finished an UFO would be very satisfying, the actual process of finishing it is boooring. Cutting out a new garment on the other hand, that's fun. So Saturday I did this:

Sorry, murky picture.

It's a half circle skirt with a lapped sidezipper and a one-piece waistband, meaning only a total of 3 pieces to cut.

This colour is closer to the truth.

I hand-picked the zipper, on both sides, to avoid stretching the fabric. So the sides are sewn, the zipper is inserted, the waistband interfaced with thick woven fusible and then added to the skirt. All that's left is finishing the waistband edges and adding closures, and of course hemming after letting it hang a few days.

Sunday I had grand plans of turning a lovely green jersey into a dance dress. This was my idea:

It's based on my other jersey dress pattern, with some alterations in the bodice. However, after drafting the changes and laying out the pattern I realised I was short of 20-30 cm of fabric. I tried reducing the skirt width 4 cm both front and back, and it would have worked.

Works in theory, but it'll be very tight to add seamallowances.

But it was a squeez, and then I got the idea, how about two tops instead? I love this fabric, and what would get most wear, two tops or one dress? Obviously the tops! Esp as this jersey goes with almost all my skirts, both summer and winter. So I cut out the tops, and that was pretty much the day. No actual sewing done, but still 6 hours of sewing prep. It felt really good to have some productive sewing hours! Actually did get some of my sewing groove back... Altough my overlock did it's best to erase that groove yesterday. I've reached a stage where I thought me and the overlock had become friends. I usually thread it and balance the tension and change all those itty-bitty settings in 10-20 min. Yesterday, me and the overlock argued about just about everything for two hours! Which was my allotted sewing time. *Sigh* Ah, well, at least I got the darn thing ready for sewing the tops next chance I have to sew.

The two tops laid out, the extra space over the left bustpiece is for the second sleeve. See, there's room for seam-allowances! =) And I got some scrap fabrics, which was good when I did a zillion test stitches on the overlock!

Both these projects were made from stash-fabric, and as I've used three stash-fabrics lately, I'm elligable for some fabric shopping, right? Esp as my new altered jersey dress pattern needs a fabric... Well, I'll very likely have a good chance at finding some during Stockholm sewing expo this upcoming weekend. Yup, I'm going to Stockholm sewing festival! So excited, it's been 8 years since the only time I've visited the sewing expo (it always collides with something else in my scheduale). But this year I'm going! Yay! Also looking forward to seeing family and friends, so it's a really good weekend that lies ahed of me =)

Lot's of half made things today, but at least I am sewing again! How are you coping with the change of seasons? What's on your sewing table?

Love, Erika

A chignon and sewing funk

I want to keep a positive tone on this blog, but feel the need to admit I've been in a bit of a funk lately. (All right, now why is it hard to admit I'm only human?!) Maybe due to the lingering cold I've been trying to get rid of since forever, or maybe it's the days getting darker that's getting to me. I've been all inspiration and no motivation whatsoever to get anything done. Finally I grew weary with myself and decided to try to lift my spirits!

First up: for this seasons first Lindy Hop Live I decided to try out a hair-do tutorial by Brittany on Va-Voom Vintage (tutorial found here). I didn't have the time/energy to do a pincurl-set, and don't have hot sticks, so I used my hot rollers instead. The wave effect is a lot smaller, this would really benefit from a pincurl-set with standing pincurls in the front. I like the idea to use a wave in the front, though. Got to try it with better prep =)

The back looks totally different from Brittany's, mainly due to my hair refusing to be tucked in at the top. So instead I did a sort of flat roll in the center and a flat victory roll at each side. Not bad, but I do like the fuss-free classic look of a clean chignon so I tried an adapted version the week after. No photo's of that, I'm afraid, but I plan to put up a little tutorial in a few weeks!

My second attempt to get myself a bit more motivated was to finally treat myself to samples from an internet fabric shop, Sonjas Textilateljé. They only carry ecologial fabrics, and they're swedish so it's fast and easy (well, for Swedes anyway). No customs or staggering fee's, yay!

You want to see some pics, right? =) All in all it's around 150 fabrics...

Shirtings - mostly cotton but also some linen

Heavy cottons - bags, interior decorating, summer jackets

Jerseys - cotton, but also some linen, silk and wool. Love the mathcing single jerseys and ribbings!



Wool, silk and heavy linen. Not much to look at like this, but oh my! The quality of these fabrics is fantastic! The black suiting is just stunning.

Of course my fabric storage space is full to the brim, but it's always nice to plan, to dream... Also, I'm thinking that with these in hand I might be saved from too much "Oh, I love this fabric, what can I do with it? I'm not sure, but I like it so I'll get x metres and then I'll surely have enough". Maybe it will be easier to decide on what I want to sew, find the perfect fabric for it and just order the amount I actually need. All with good conscience, knowing my fabric to be eco-friendly =) (And yes, I know the problems with eco-fabrics, I know there's no guarantees, but it's got to be a little bit better than shopping fabric I know with absolute certainty to be an eco-disaster).

Right now I'm trying to finish some UFOs. Hey, maybe that's why I'm in such a sewing funk! UFOs are just so booooring, and I've been at it for weeks. I even thought I was ready with a plaid wool skirt, when I realised the zipper stretched the fabric. Quality time with my seam-ripper ahed...

Or I can just dream about fabric ; )

Love, Erika

Stockings and shoes

It's been ages since I've posted anything I've bought, hasen't it? I have been shopping, but mostly practical and slightly boring stuff (dance sneakers might be good investment, but it's not a very fun one). But now I ditched my responsible shopping overboard and treated myself to these lovelies:

Look what I've found! What Katie Did's CC09-stockings from Tradera (Ebay). These are sadly out of sale, I don't know why WKD stopped carrying these (anyone who knows?) but they are great. 40 den and very authentic for the 40s. A terrific way to stay warm in style during fall!

I've seen countless times in movies and photos how girls would wear their stockings rolled down to under their knees, and the stockings stayed there on their own, even while the girls were dancing. How has been a complete mystery to me, but now I know: they used stockings like these! =)

These Clarks got me the moment I took a step in them. Sure, they're quite regular to look at, cute, but a standard modern classic. It's what's underneth that I fell in love with...

The crepe soles makes these unbelivebly kind to the feet, it softens the step so much that it's almost like walking on clouds. My feet are superpicky on shoes, but these are actually ok. I won't take long walks in them, but for work or getting around the town they're perfect.

Here with red nylons from Lindex, a recent purchase

Shoes and stockings for fall, can a girl ask for more in early September? =)

Love, Erika

New take on the t-shirt pattern

In March I made my first ever attempt at jersey sewing. Examining my t-shirts and the patterns that came with "Sew U Home Stretch" I realised I would have the same issues with that pattern as I have with my RTW knits. So I made my own pattern =) I wasn't 100% happy with that pattern though, and I haven't worn the t-shirt much. I felt it was a good start, but somehow I didn't feel comfortable in it. It might have been the heavy jersey, but I think it's also the style. Cute, but not really me. So I set about to alter it just a little, and used my jersey dresspattern as a point of reference.

First I made a top that's divided and gathered under the bust, with short sleeves that are slightly gathered in the cap. The back is just a single piece.

I liked it, and it felt like I was getting somewhere, but I had two issues: First, the neckline was too narrow and high, it didn't look good underneth a cardigan. Second, I didn't like the pouf between my... eh...cups? you know what I mean. It's a bit too hard see due to the busy print, but after just 10 min and some movement, the fabric really droops in the mid-front.

I corrected these issues by taking out a horizontal wedge over the bust, and just chopping off 2 cm from the neckline. Then I of course wanted to change something else... So I made a second version of this top, this one with grown-on sleeves =)

A lot better! Much nicer neckline, and more flattering in the bust-area. There's still some drooping going on mid-front, but at least it's less. On future makes I might try to not gather all the way along the front, but leave 4-5 cm ungathered in the mid-front.

Please excuse the wobbly top-stitching! 

Using a twinneedle, I topstitched the bands to make the overlocked seams lie flat and still, but I'm not sure I like the pintuck effect. Sure, when pressed it's fine, but I don't want to press my knits, and also the bands stretched during pressing, making it necessary to wash the t-shirt before these pictures could be taken (and yes, the pintuck effect re-appeared after washing).

I'm starting to feel more confident in my jersey-sewing, and think I'm finding my balance with this new t-shirt pattern. There's so many possibilites with it! I can add a buttonstrip, change it to a v-neck, cover the top front with lace, etc. Looking forward to playing around more with this pattern in the future! =)

Right now, I'm trying to tie up an old, old project: changing the terry lining on my grandmother's dressing robe. It's going be great, but the project itself doesn't excite me. I'm keeping the "I'm going to love wearing this!" firmly in my mind! What's on your sewing agenda?

Love, Erika

Overdressed - review

Reviews of Elizabeth Cline's "Overdressed - the shockingly high cost of cheap fashion" has been springing up all over the internet, read Solanahs here, or Peter's, or Trena's. A book that looks inside the fashion industry in search for answers about our fashion-comsumption? Yes, please! I started reading, all excited about the many new and mind-boggling truths and ideas that would be presented to me. I found the correlation between cheap fashion getting cheaper and high fashion getting even more expensive intriguing. I loved the detailing of what happens with our garments when we donate them to charity. But overall... It's wellwritten. It's interesting. However, the major question of the book seems to be: Why is the fast fashion industry bad? The answer is roughly divided into:

-Labour. Cheap fashion demands cheap labour, and in search of this cheap labour production moved outside USA, leading to huge unemployment in the US garment industry. Cheap labour abroad is payed way too low, often living on the verge of starvation and working under slavelike and sometimes dangerous conditions.

-Pollution and overuse of the worlds resources. From the growth of the cotton or the refinement of oil that begins the production of our clothes, through dyeing, transportation, electricity to run looms and sewing machines to the final dispense of the discarded garments, fast fashion is an ecological disaster.

-Quality. Cheap means fast and lighter. Fast means less construcion, less interesting details, less variation and poorer executed sewing. Lighter fabrics often means less sturdy and lasting clothes. Low quality leads to short lifespan for garments, meaning low afterlifevalue for our clothes even as "rags".

Cline ends with suggesting a couple of solutions: homesewing, ecological and sustainable materials, and the return to mending, altering and fitting clothes either ourselvs or pay a dressmaker to do it for us.

Of course I agree with all of Clines comments, with her feeling towards the industry and her solutions. So why am I not smitten with this book? For two reasons.

The first: Facts.

Although Cline points out some intersting tidbits, and some of the information was new to me, the overall knowledge was something I had figured out years ago. The correlation between low price, low quality and low living standard for the workers seemed a given to me in my teens. I was waiting the whole book for what would be "shocking" about the cost of high fashion. I was far from shocked at any time during my read.

Second reason: Argumentation, or lack thereof.

Maybe I've read too many academic texts. Maybe the problem is that even the popular science I've read has been written by scientists active in the academic field. But still, I miss the basic "problem - question - discussion" first introduced to me by my high school teacher in Swedish. There's no question. No "red thread". No discussion about a potential answer to the inquery (as there is no question asked to this text). There is no "why?" and no argumentation above "Fast fashion is bad because..." Maybe this kind of book doesn't need it, but I would have liked the text to take it to the next level.

It's not a bad or insignificant book. I'm sure that for many this book might be a wake-up call, but for those  already awake it might be a lot of stating the obvious. It's wellwritten, but don't expect a text at an academic or even popular science level. All in all, I don't consider it a waste of money nor time, but I have to conclude that it offered me very little new, and it was not a very satisfying reading experience. I think it's safe to say that I might not be the type of reader the book targets to.

One problem I can see is this: if I'm not a target reader, then who would be? Someone who has never once considered why their H&M t-shirt is so cheap? Perhaps. Would they buy this book? Doubtful. Only way - at least in Sweden - to be oblivious of the origin of your cheap clothes is to voluntarily and purposedly have equipped yourself with blinders. Those blinders would undoubtfully be just as good at blocking out this book as it is at blocking out all other information of the clothing industry's danger to people and enviroment.

To conclude, it's a good book that runs the risk of preaching only to the already saved, without giving them anything new to consider. I'd recommend it primarily to someone who aspires to shop sustainable and would like some help and motivation to resist that cheap H&M dress, or that roll of really cheap cotton jersey... But then again, I did enjoy it, so if you find the subject at all interesting, it's still worth a read, even if you've already turned away from fast fashion =)

/Erika