Blue – Page 11 – Hopefully Creative

Cycle Top

On Thursdays the market square is home to numerous stands with all kinds of different things, from cheese to fruit, from leather to bicycle stuff and from post-card crafting to fabric. You understand that I like the fabric stands best. There’s one that always sells coupons, cuts of about 1.5-2.0 meter in all kinds of different fabrics for between 3 and 10 euros a piece. A while ago I got home laden down with five of those pieces. One of these was a very light weight something, dark blue with white cyclists and walking people on them.

As it’s been almost continually raining for the past five or so days, it clearly was time to make myself the light weight summer top I’ve been dreaming of since the heatwave. I cut it out last night, loosely cutting around a blue knit shirt I made some time ago. Folded over the neckline twice, folded over the sleeve hems twice and stitched those. Then I French seamed the remaining bits and lastly I cut a semi-high-low-hem and folded that over twice and stitched as the hem. Yes, I am wearing my pyjama bottoms in the pictures. No, I have no shame.

The fabric was an absolute pain in the bottom to cut out as it was shifty as hell. I figured this out before when I tried cutting out a shirt from an actual pattern. I first spray starched the entire cloth, and now understand why one shouldn’t use it on floors as I currently slip and slide all across my living room… Sadly I was an idiot, and didn’t check twice before I cut, so that shirt is currently balled up with a front that is too short for me too wear. I will probably just attach a band along the front to solve the problem, but that’s for a later time. Especially as this fabric is also a hellion to sew, as things keep shifting. I needed something with the fewest pieces possible to keep my sanity yesterday and it worked! Now off to see if I also like wearing it.

Blue Stripes

In my opinion, there is no such thing as owning too many t-shirts (or sweaters for that matter). I have started to accumulate quite a bit of stretchy fabric that I think deserves to be made up into something. So the other night I decided that it was imperative that I trace by beloved t-shirt pattern, copied from an old shirt, onto something sturdier. I bought some wrapping paper that’s not as flimsy as my normal tissue paper and traced all the pieces onto it. I even cut out the two sleeves separately, as that should help with fabric usage and pattern placement.

I also attempted to scoop out the front armscyes a little. In order to test whether that adjustment had the intended result, I needed to make another t-shirt. I looked around through my box of knits and discovered a white, light blue and dark blue striped fabric that seemed perfect for the attempt. What I like most about striped fabric, is that you can aim at something to make it look good.

You can cut out neck binding, such that the stripe is nicely centered. When sewing side seams, you can try to match up the stripes as best as possible and that makes it look nicer. I think my attempt was pretty decent. I’m not sure if the arm adjustment worked fantastically, but the shirt still looks pretty good (in my opinion), so I’m happy with my pattern.

For this project, I also used a new to me technique/item. A stretch twin needle, to sew the hems and neckline. I think it looks really nice and if my aim is right, which sadly it isn’t always, the double line of stitching perfectly frames the blue stripe, see below. I think a need a bit more practice with this needle and hopefully I’ll be able to make nice stretch items with nice stretch hems from now on.

On to the next project!

Woolly Necklace

No, not a woolly jumper yet, although I’m getting there. I am slowly finishing up a green sweater with a side front closure and weird collar. However, in the mean time, I made a few necklaces. I have a colleague who owns a necklace made of a lot of rolled fabric strips in coordinating colours, all in hues of blue. I really liked that idea and when I found some interesting yarn on sale, I figured I’d try to recreate that necklace. This was the yarn and the first part of the necklace.

I wanted to figure out a way to make the necklace without using any knots in the yarn. So I looked through my stash of jewellery equipment and found some bits that have a hole in the top and fold over to grip whatever you put in. I had about 20 of them. I made the first necklace, the red one and didn’t have enough bits to make another one. So I looked through all the shops I could think of to find bits to make more necklaces. Couldn’t find any, and I didn’t know what those things were called, so ordering them was difficult at first. Using some interesting methods I eventually found out that I was looking for “Fold Over Cord Crimp Beads”, and I got 3 packets of 150 bits in 3 colours.

To make the necklaces, I put the yarn in the bits, fold over the sides and cut of the yarn that comes out the top. I do this for 8 or so strands and then I string them on a jump ring. Another jump ring is added and the other ends are strung on another jump ring, then the second jump ring with closure are added. This produced, in my opinion, a nice finish. You can also first braid part of the strings or add a metal chain or two. I personally really like the mixed media approach.

I have made three so far. Of which I only took pictures of two. I sent the third one to a friend, I hope she likes it.

This one has 5 red stands, one black and a doubled chain, the bits are silver coloured. This one was the first attempt and I really like it. The second one, below, used all the colours, two strands of each, one chain and old copper bits. I twisted this one a bit before I put it on. Which is an alternative method of wearing it.

So this was my new project. I like it and I have still quite a lot of the yarn left over. This means that I can experiment and make all kinds of things, using this approach. Maybe even add large beads or knot, braid or twist strands. The options are endless!

Deadline Work (6) – Backpack Finished!

Last but not least, the backpack. The backpack has been chronicled before (here, here, here, here), but I didn’t post the finished thing. I think that was because I wanted to test run it to see what improvements were needed. I only found two, the closures were not tight enough so there was some movement and the pack didn’t close easily. In the .. say 2 hours before I left for the event and on the car ride there I managed to get those issues sorted.

The solution to the first problem was to stitch the little round bits down further. Now they are attached over about a centimeter instead of the single line in the middle they were before. This worked very well when tried out in real life larp. You can just about see it in the picture below.

The solution to the second problem was to attach a small tie to close the front and the back. This was easily incorporated and works very well as a simple closure.

Now, as you may have gathered, I gather a lot of stuff. I like to store all that stuff somewhere and that was what the back was for originally. This is what it looks like when all the books and papers are taken out. It is almost full when all of that is also in there.

Last but not least, the front and back. I’m very happy with those straps, they carry very nicely and were a nice copy of some straps of another backpack that I own. I’m still very surprised that that worked out as well as it did.

And now the working to a deadline saga has finished. I’m going to see if I still have inspiration to actually make something in the coming days. As always, keep getting creative!

Deadline Work (2) – Cowls

The first deadline went by, then came the second. The important visit, said visit was the Queen of the Netherlands, the real one. I came so close I could have touched her if I wanted to, which I didn’t because I value my life. Anyways, the brief was to wear something formal but festive. I knew I wanted to wear something I’d made myself. I’d already decided that I was going to be too busy to make something new, so I’d settled on wearing the grey pants.

But, lo and behold, I managed to have a Tuesday off which I’d sort of forgotten about. I thought that that would be enough time to make myself a cowl top. I traced a shirt I already owned with a cowl and frankensteined it with a shirt pattern I’d traced long before, that has formed the basis of several shirts (here and here and here) I still wear. I found some grey stretch stuff with blue that I liked in my stash and sewed up a storm. I finished this thing, from pattern making, to cutting, to sewing, to finishing that same day. That almost never happens. All in all I was very happy with the end result, see before you the front and back.

I personally like the cowl a lot, a close up is on the left here. I was also doubting how long I should cut it. In the end it turned out I could wear it as a dress, see right, if I felt inclined to show more leg above the knee than below. I don’t, but I couldn’t resist seeing what it looked like in picture form. I will not wear this out of the house like this, it is so far out of my comfort zone that the Oort cloud is closer by.

I do like this shirt, is comfortable and I see quite some wear for the future. Next segment is the wedding present.

Deadline Work (1) – Gala

The last couple of weeks have been quite busy with a few events on the calendar. First, we had a gala on Friday, which ofcourse required a new dress. The Wednesday after we had an important visit for which I wouldn’t mind something new, I had a wedding that Friday and just now I’ve come back from another larp event, for which I wanted a new outfit. So all in all I have a lot to tell you about the things I’ve made and produced.

Let us start with the gala dress. I wanted a new one and at some point before the gala was actually happening I set out for some fabric. My first idea was to make something with a draped cowly bit. However, I couldn’t find any fabric I liked for that. Eventually I found some blue fabric with a design that I really liked, so I bought a meter of it. Not long after I found something that coordinated (at least in my head).

The plan became a top based on the pattern for the larp top (here) from the patterned stuff, and a simple A-line empire-ish skirt from a pattern in a simplicy magazine I already had. I also wanted to a different ish strap because it would be too boring otherwise. Well this is the finished thing:

And on me. Excuse the mirror pictures, it’s difficult taking photographs when alone. As you can see though, it is a bit long, I’m not wearing heels in these pictures, but even with heels, it’s a little too long. That’s what you get for hemming the morning of the feast, I guess. It is a bit tight at the top, but I quite like that, if I’m honest.

And lastly, it turned out that my fidgeting to get the back point right turned out wonderful, check that matching point across the zipper people!

Next up, a shirt fit for a queen.

Scuba-dress

When one visits the market and finds a bit of fabric that feels like a wetsuit but has giant blue flowers one it, one naturally has to buy it. Right, right? That’s what I thought anyways. I wanted an easy dress with a drawstring waist so that’s what I (sort of) made. I used the t-shirt pattern from 3 hours past/cake because of the cut on sleeves. In hindsight I probably should have chosen a shirt pattern that I had actually made before, since I don’t really like the shape of this one. I haven’t worn my dress out yet, and summer is almost over. It should suffice as a beach cover up though, so maybe it will come in use still, you never know.

Front and the insides, with pockets!

Simple neckline and cut on sleeves and the drawstring at the waist. It’s a bit baggy at the waist so I don’t think it’s muchos flattering, but maybe I’m wrong. You never know.

This was part of a series of projects I finished on a Saturday a while ago but I’ve been busy (and lazy) and didn’t feel like posting much. So soon you’ll see the last entry of that Saturday’s creative outburst and I’ll be almost free off backlogged pictures!

Bear!

Raaawr! Sort of, anyways.

I made a bear! While I should actually be working on redoing some of the final bits of my backpack, I decided that last weekend would be the perfect time to make a teddy bear! I found the pattern on How Joyful (here). The instructions are scant but fine to work with. The only trouble I had, was with the ease in the legs but even more so with easing in the back of the arms into the front. So this was partly fudged but in the end it seemed to work out fine. I half scaled the pattern so my bear is approx. 30 cm high. I did make a few changes. I wanted a mouth-bit that was more straight across than rounded and I flattened his tummy a bit. I made his tail in the contrast fabric. I decided to make his nose out of the main fabric and lightly stitch it on. Lastly, I used his back seam for stuffing instead of the neck-body seam. This made more sense to me and was easier to machine. Here he is!

I mostly finished him, apart from eyes, mouth and stuffing seam last weekend, he only needed to wait for me to buy him some eyes, so I could finish his face. The eyes are very strange. They have a screw like bit at the back, and a ring you clip on. Once the ring is on, it will stay on, so there’s only one chance of doing it right. Luckily I did it right the first time, so I didn’t have to sacrifice any eyes. I bought a double set because I’m thinking of making another one, but then with rabbity features, since I really like rabbits.

Now I need to find a fix for my backpack and then I’ll get to use it in two weeks time, so exiting! Presently I’m going to cuddle this bear and celebrate the King’s Birthday!

Necessities

I was thinking about what to bring with me for this weekend and I remembered that I am using a plastic bag to hold my toiletries when I go and stay with someone. So I found the bit of waterproof fabric I still have in my stash and made the most simple toiletries bag possible. Two lines of stitching to close the sides and a zipper. Done.

It should work though, I’ll find out tonight!

Coat

*large exhale* It’s done!

That coat, it’s finally done. I’ve decided I don’t mind the crookedness (it’s really crooked, the shoulder stuff I think didn’t help). It’s ridiculously warm, I almost melted out of it while taking the pictures. I think it’s only going to be for the really cold part of winter, otherwise I’m too warm.

A lot of pressing, sewing, cutting, hand sewing and button-hole making later, I have myself a coat. It went from this to this to this:

I’m not going to say much more. It’s done, I can put it away since it seems to finally become spring and I don’t have to worry about it! One more finished object!

Tag: Blue