Black – Page 3 – Hopefully Creative

Empire Skirt

Wearing a 1900s skirt in 2022

A while ago, I found an image on Pinterest of the ‘Keursrok’ or corseted skirt from an old Dutch book called ‘Ik kan kostuumnaaien’ by Henriette J. van Wessem. I searched all over for that book and most of the time didn’t find or find quite expensive versions. I yet again ran a google search for it some day and lo and behold, there now was a digital version available! It is the 1908 version of the book and is available on Delpher. I had already found a physical copy on an auction site, put in an offer and forgot all about it, so I now also own a physical copy of the book.

Based on the mostly legible image of the keursrok in the book (page 142), I drew out the pattern as is on grid paper. The pattern indicated a waist of approximately 66 cm, which I figured was close enough to mine if I added enough seam allowance. I made a mock up of only the top part and made quite a few changes. Contrary to Edwardian bodies, my waist and underbust measurements are the same, so I had to remove a lot of the flare at the top of the skirt. I’m also short, so I had to take off some height. The side back part was really wrinkly, so I played around a lot with that and ended up with something that fit better.

The skirt pattern was cut from some 2 euro/meter wool fabric (I don’t know, Utrecht fabric market is weird) for the outside and I wanted to interline it with some cotton and chose some dark brown as that was what I had in the stash. After basting the different layers together, I picked it up and promptly started removing all my basting again. The thing was way too heavy for comfort. I settled on adding the mock up as a lining for the top part only and attached some rigilene to it in lieu of boning. I did use some of the brown in the deep hem.

I pinned it up on my mannequin to hang and droop as the full skirt is basically half a circle and might sink a bit on the bias. The length of the skirt was taken up and I had to remove so much. People from 120 years ago may have been a little shorter, but clearly not as short as I am. While the modern zipper wasn’t invented yet in the early 1900s, it was much easier to install one of those than the faff around with hooks and eyes in the crook of my back. So I settled for an invisible zipper, which is really quite invisible this time around.

I also added pear-shaped pockets to the seams between the two side panels because I don’t think skirts are wearable without pockets. Normally I also add belt loops, but since this one doesn’t have a belt or waistband, I added a little loop to the right pocket for my keys. While I started the project in October, I only finished it yesterday. There was so much procrastination happening the last couple of months. However, to celebrate the thing being finished, I wore it to work today and it held up great! The pockets work, the boning isn’t so aggressive that I can’t wear it for a full day, and I feel lovely and swooshy in it! I call it a success!

Deerstalker Witch Hat

Finally a hat for all the winter witching

We had a sort of vague commitment to doing some sort of Halloween in the office since it was on a workday for the first time in a while. So I decided that I was going to bring the project, which I’d been eyeing up for years, to life. You see, in 2018, Bernadette Banner posted a video about a Winter Witch Hat and then another one about a similar hat in 2020. I’ve been thinking about recreating that for literal years, but never actually got around to it. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to make myself a new hat, suitable for winter.

Since the videos above weren’t full tutorials, I scoured the internet and found some other examples of people taking on this project (ash_rock and Fresh Frippery). This last one is an actual tutorial so I took those instructions and ran with them. Since I wanted the hat to sit more ‘over’ my head than ‘on’ my head, I increased all the measurements. The original plan was to make it out of black wool, but since that fabric is quite precious, I decided to make a test version out of left-over fabric from these pants.

Two brims, one crown and two ear flaps were cut from the plaid. The brims and crown were interfaced for some stiffness and the earflaps were lined with some nice warm fleece. I put the hat together and then decided to line the inside of the crown too. I found some of the interlining from my red coat that matched well in colour and sewed it in. The ugliness is hidden with some bias tape. If I’d been fully awake throughout the project, it probably would’ve gone a lot quicker. However, I did finish it in a day and I’ve been very happy with it. I think it’s cute and I love the little fold-over point. If I make it again, I’m going to make the hole for my head a little bit bigger, but it’s not too annoying this way.

Forgotten Socks

Recovering a lost sock project and finishing it in three days.

Sometimes I take a look at my works in progress in Ravelry and decide that I have too many on. I then go to search around for projects that I either feel like completing or that need to be frogged. In this case, I frogged three and found one project that was already 80% or more completed. I’d forgotten I started them a day after completing the previous sock project in October 2021. It also uses the same self-dyed yarn but uses a different pattern. This pattern is called Hexenzirkel by Sonja Köhler and has a very cute zig zag cable pattern. The Ravelry project can be found here. I chose to do the pattern on the side of the foot.

When I recovered the project, it was in a bag with a print out of the cable chart with tick marks. Past me was more organized than current me expected, that’s for sure! I decided to complete a few more rounds of the chart and then start the 2×2 ribbing. It didn’t require much time at all to complete and I’m unsure why it ended up in a bag in the bottom of the box of shame. Hopefully I’ll get around to wearing these every so often, however, I expect a fate similar to the other ones. Nice to look at, very few wears because I’m just not used to hand knit socks.

Froggy Batwing

Got my mom some frogs to brighten up her day.

I bought this froggy fabric somewhere, some time ago. I don’t really remember, but I always thought they were very cute and that my mom would also find them quite funny. They are colourful and different and would be perfect for a top. When I made the Cheshire Cats batwing top, it was basically meant as a wearable mock up for this fabric. I brought it to my mom and when she tried it on, it fit fine but could probably do with a tiny bit more width. So I printed out a new copy of the Amy Bat Wing Top, now in a size M. There were two adjustments made, one to add a bottom band and one to add a neckline band.

Everything was sewn on the serger apart from a line of stitching around the neckline to keep it in place. This is definitely the benefit of adding bands instead of hemming tops. I really like the frogs and the colours and the shape of the top. My mom also seemed to like it and I still have enough leftover to make a shirt for myself. Now I just need to get around to actually doing it…

Paper Rabbits

A cute little polygon rabbit that was super easy to put together.

I recently rediscovered the Canon Creative Park Paper Craft pages with the help of a friend of mine. These are mostly fairly simple paper crafts that you can download for free. There are many different things available, from more bendy models to the regular polygon types but also post cards, moving toys and other art. I also found a set of stacking animals that is absolutely great and I am planning to make at some point.

I looked for a bunny that I thought a colleague would really like, and managed to find a polygon rabbit. So I printed it out and left it in the corner for a few weeks. Spurred on by the plan to have lunch, I decided to get going and actually cut and stick the creature together the night before. While the instructions were slightly different to other paper crafts I’ve done – no numbers but coloured dots – it went very smoothly.

The end result is a pretty sweet, two-toned standing rabbit. What I appreciate a lot about this specific pattern is that it instructs you to cut a hole in the bottom piece. This makes it so much easier to stick the last few bits together as you can just get your fingers in. The paper I used was 160 grams, but not the suggested Canon photo paper. This worked just fine, though. I look forward to making more of the Canon patterns as they have so many lovely ones available.

Finished but a Fail

Making a jumpsuit that I’m afraid I’ll never wear.

With the first in-person graduation looming, I set out to make a new outfit. I’d settled on a Mimi G pantsuit (also known as Simplicity 9097 or Simplicity Naaimode Magazine 50, pattern 24). I had some grey fabric in the hoard and decided to make the lapels from a contrasting fabric for some interest. My first thought for the contrast was some shiny black fabric but it was a bit much, so found some black dotted stuff. I wasn’t totally convinced and went to the fabric market in Rotterdam to look around for something better, nothing caught my eye but I did return home with 3 or 4 new lengths. I guess that’s why the hoard only expands and never seems to contract..

Anyways, settled on the fabric, I made a sort test version from some cotton-poly in the stash and determined that the size 38 I was trying to make was a bit large. I removed 6 cm from the neck edge to make the waist sit more at my natural waist and had to take in the darts in the back a bit. After cutting the pattern from the grey fabric, I had to make more alterations. The bust was a bit too big so I took in that seam. The legs were so long that even with my highest heels there was still pooling on the floor so I ended up with an 8 cm hem. I chose some smaller buttons and therefore had to put on some more than the pattern specified. The lapels and the top layer of the waist ties were cut from the contrast fabric which I think ended up looking very good.

All that said and done, I put it on with a bra that would mostly work and I was just.. not happy. The back was too low, the neck too deep, a little tight in the neck and I just felt too exposed. So up into the hoard I went, and returned with some black stretchy mesh. I cut into some sort of triangle, applied bias tape and snaps to the top and attached that to the bra to at least cover some of the cleavage. It wasn’t enough for me to feel happy. I think I might be happier if I could wear something under it, but with 30℃ weather predicted, that seemed like a bad idea.

I do really like the pockets and the fact that all the seams are finished on the overlocker before stitching them together. I think this might be the nicest looking thing I’ve made in a while. It looks so clean on the inside! The way they made the lapels is also appealing to me, with buttons only on one side of the neck edge while the other side folds over. Unfortunately, I chose to take in that bit just a little too much so now it’s not as comfortable as I would like, but perhaps some fudging with extra elastic can make that better.

For now though, it languishes in my cupboard, waiting for the day I feel brave enough to wear it out. So far, that day has not come yet..

Edited to add: It took about a year (or more) before I figured out that I could just cut the top off, hem it with some bias band and can just wear them as pants! They get worn fairly regularly now!

Triangles Sweater

Making a new cardigan that doesn’t look anything like the original pattern.

Most of the tops I knit are sweaters, they don’t open in the front. This probably has to do with my slight fear of button bands and not ever having put in a zip in a knit. However, those fears do mean that I don’t have many things to wear over dresses during Me-Made-May, for example. So in February, I decided to add one more center opening item to my wardrobe. I chose the 5 Naisen neuletakki, Women’s cardigan by Lea Petäjä. It has raglan sleeves and a lace pattern at the top. My version also has some other adjustments, so it doesn’t look anything like the original.

The pattern calls for 2 cm of ribbing at the neckline and then the lace pattern starts. The lace is charted and really nice to follow. I appreciate that sort of geometrical design. When I put it on though, it seemed a bit big, so I stopped following most of the instructions after the lace was completed. There were fewer increases to get to the sleeves and more decreases to get the body to be a bit more fitting. I also wanted to add some fun details to the sleeves, so I made yarnover triangles near the cuffs. Once the sleeves were finished, I continued the body and added another triangle, to the right front only.

By then, I really didn’t like the neckline anymore, so I meticulously pulled out three rows of the ribbing and started ribbing upwards. This means that there are some twisted stitches in the ribbing where I started knitting ‘the wrong way’. There are also some strategic decreases to make the neckline fit better. Once I was happy with the length of the neckline, I started work on the button bands. The top of the button bands have decreases to sort of mimic the neckline. A straight edge there would seem a little weird. Finally, I had to attach the buttons, which took a few days of procrastination to get started, but I got them done! So now I have this lovely black sweater that should go with just about all of my other clothes. Hopefully it’ll get a lot of use!

Red & Black Lace Bra

Making my own red & black lace bra that I’ve never been able to find in the shops.

In January 2022, we were again hosting a graduation ceremony for some students and I tried to sew a dress for it. It was made of an odd red, fairly thick stretchy fabric. I knew that no one was going to see me during the online ceremony, so after struggling with it not fitting right, I gave up and threw it in the box of shame (it’s still there.. shame). However, it did have some scraps leftover and I recently decided to put those to use in a new bra. Same pattern as always, the Boylston bra from Orange Lingerie. This time I planned on adding some black lace since I’d always wanted a red & black lace bra. However, the only ones I could ever find in shops had padding up the wazoo and I couldn’t see my feet.

As usual, many construction errors were made. Somehow the bridge is not wide enough for the casings and I don’t think I left enough space in the underwire channels. I’d also twin stitched the cup seams down which somehow led to a pointy boob effect that was less than charming. After finishing the entire construction of the bra, I ripped out the cup-fabric seams and hand sewed them back in place again. Since my hand sewing is not the neatest ever, that made the lace extra important to hide those seams.

I found the lace in a local fabric shop and proceeded to fussy cut it out so I could applique it all over the cups. With some creative adding and snipping away of lace bits here and there, I really like the final coverage of the cups. It took me about 3 hours per cup to sew down all the lacy edges. Luckily, this turned out to be quite a meditative practice. Because it was black on black, neatness was less important – the sewing is mostly invisible anyway. I have yet to wear it for a day, but I assume it will wear similar to the first and second bras. The third one doesn’t have enough stretch in the frame so that one is a little tight. I’m going to try and learn from that experience!

Enormous Paper Penguin

Making a gigantic paper penguin that defied size expectations.

After the dinosaur, I felt like playing around with some more papercraft. The pattern I chose was the Penguin (standing) by Methakura. There were three penguins available and I chose the standing one for no apparent reason. Looking back, that dancing one or the belly glider are very cute too. This papercraft requires thicker paper (200 gr/m2) in three colours: black, white and pink. I have accumulated black, white and ‘kraft paper colour’, but no pink. Therefore, I decided to print a large, vaguely orange (I hate pink) rectangle and print the pattern on the back of that. This worked out fine. I was pleasantly surprised that I could even sort of read the black lines on the black paper, magic I tell you.

Putting it together went perfectly well until the last 3 steps, but that’s what usually happens in papercraft, the end is the hardest. What did surprise me halfway through, is how epically large this thing is. For some unknown reason, I was convinced it was only going to be like 10 cm high for most of the construction. Even though the front says it’s 29 cm high and it required 7 pages and the pieces I was cutting out were over 10 cm by themselves. Somehow that denial was going strong for too big a part of the process. The one change I made was to not add the eyes, I’m not sure where to put them exactly and therefore I’m leaving him blind. I do think he’s cool and I want to find him a nice new home. That size though..

I mean.. He’s making my dinosaur feel small!

Little Black Dress

First iteration in 2012, repeated in 2021 and finished even quicker than back in the day!

Black dresses are supposed to be a staple and since the one I had doesn’t really fit anymore, I finally set out to make one. The fabric is some black, slightly stretchy scuba fabric that does not fray. There was about 1.5 very crookedly cut meters of it. This dress only just managed to get squeezed from the yardage I had. There was so little that I actually had to cut the pockets (because a dress without pockets is just a horror-tube) from a different fabric. The pattern I chose was Simplicity 2473, first debuted in 2012. I cannot for the life of me remember what happened to that iteration, but I’m certain it no longer resides in my closet.

Since the fabric was quite thick, I chose to use a slightly different construction method than the original pattern instructed. This to eliminate some bulk along the waistline. The front was sewn together first (so bodice, waistband and skirt) and nearly all seams pressed open, then the back was sewn together (bodice, waistband and skirt) and seams pressed open. Front and back where then attached along the side seams, with a hand sized section left open for the pocket. Special attention was paid to make the waistband match up along the sides. This also means that there is no waistband lining, but the fabric is thick enough that it doesn’t matter.

The instructions for the short cap sleeve were just about completely ignored, as the pattern called for a lining and I didn’t think that was necessary. I just folded over the hem, sewed it down and hoped that the stretch in the fabric would allow it to lay well. I then inserted them in the sleeve cap, which worked remarkably well. After that came the collar. The collar by itself was very thick, so if you compare it to the 2012 version, this one is a lot smaller. That is because it stands up by itself a lot more. This time I chose a size 10, which fits my 2021 body a lot better than it did my 2012 body.

The zipper was inserted next. In a recent haul of a Czech crafting supplied webshop, I discovered ‘continuous zippers’. This means that you get a very long zipper without a pull. You can cut them to size required and then install the pull yourself. You can buy those in multiple sizes, colours and types. I saw one in rainbow and decided I needed to have it. There was no project in mind when I bought it, however, after starting this dress, I thought it would liven up this fairly dark project suitably. During that haul, I also got some superfine pins for no real reason. Turns out that I was psychic again and this scuba fabric only wanted to play with those superfine pins and really resisted everything else.

The last bit were the pockets. I chose to do a historical pear-type pocket that was pieced from some remains of the scuba and some secret sweatpants fabric. These are easy to install after the fact and can hold a lot of stuff. A secret key loop was attached in the right pocket for my carabiner. They are further attached by the waistband with some afterthought strips of fabric. Last but not least, it was hemmed. The most awesome part of this project is the fact that it’s finished and did not languish in the project-box-of-shame for any time. I started it yesterday and finished it today. It also feels very nice and warm to wear and I hope to make some use out of it with some tights or very long socks.

Tag: Black