january fabric haul

I went a bit wild last week. At the highest point of my Japanese sewing book fever, I bought fabric. LOADS of it. I had told my husband I was quitting my super-consumer ways and it was going quite well until this happened.

Now that it's all washed and pressed, I am feeling less remorseful about my slip-up. Look at it all! So beautiful! From bottom to top, we have:

 a light blue, soft chambray with a lovely rainbow selvedge

a proper, woven cotton gingham in blue and off-white

a fine cotton lawn in tiny, woven checks

Liberty needlecord in a pixel-confetti print

Liberty tana lawn in a grey/black floral print

The tiny check lawn came from Croft Mill and the rest is from Mandors in Glasgow. I wish I'd taken a note of the Liberty designs, but I forgot. Nothing was more than £10 a metre, including the Liberty designs which were all half price.

I'm not going to stash these away (I have no more room for stashing), so these will all become garments, starting with Stylish Dress Book dress E (the one from the cover). 

marimekko cushions

A set of two cushions that I made last week. For our new sofa.

The fabric is Marimekko's "Jurmo" by Aino-Maija Metsola. (A Christmas present from my husband, lucky me!) She is my favourite Marimekko designer, I think. I especially love her 'Weather Diary' collection.

I used this tutorial to put the zip in. So many nice greys altogether!

There was still a lot of snow around, so I took a picture outside with the shed. I like the weathered boards and the white roof. Reading 'Heidi' as a girl has left me with an undiminished love of cosy, alpine places. Mmmmmm.

japanese sewing books

I have recently become a teeny bit obsessed with Japanese sewing books. I haven't sewn anything for a while, but I'm definitely feeling the bug coming on. Especially since I found out that The Great British Sewing Bee is back on next week - yay!

For Christmas, I gave my mum a small package containing tailor's chalk, pattern paper, enough fabric to make two dresses (some black linen twill and some pretty Liberty tana lawn) and a translated copy of Stylish Dress Book: Wear With Freedom.
This is the first Japanese sewing book I've bought. I've wanted to try Japanese patterns for a while now, but I was always intimidated by the diagrams and the language barrier. However, many of these titles are now being translated into English and I am totally IN.

I know it's really my mum's present, but I have bookmarked all these projects from this book for myself. I've promised to help my mum make her two dresses first, so that's given me time (too much?) to check out other titles and pore over fabric choices.

(Inside my head: " Nani Iro? Is gingham too schoolgirl? Floral or abstract Liberty print? What the heck is poplin?")

I will, of course, let you know.

all images from 'Stylish Dress Book: Wear With Freedom' by Yoshiko Tsukiori

hello again!

It's been almost four years since my last post, but I just wanted to write on this blog again. I don't have the same blog-fever that I started with and I can't tell you how long it will last this time, but I miss having this space to share things, get excited about stuff and have something clean and shiny. (That last one is a bit weird, but that's the only way I can put it.)

I have a lot less time now, so I'm making no promises to myself - but, for now, I'm back.

illustration by marika maijala

papergirl glasgow

Papergirl is an art project that gives away rolled-up artworks to random passers-by and it is happening in Glasgow right now!

It was started in Berlin five years ago and now there are Papergirl events all over the world. Artists send in work and it is all given away for free by volunteers on bicycles, American paper-boy style. On delivery day, Papergirl Glasgow will be handing out 1,000 artworks.

I'm keeping tabs here and here to see if I can catch me some free art!

image via sneakher and papergirl glasgow

help japan

I'm sending some money to help Japan. I listen to the news with my fingers crossed, but it is time to do what I can to help. There are so many creative people donating their work and shops donating their proceeds to raise money and this is a good way of giving, I think.

confetti systems' knot ornament

fen and ned's letter holder

renilde's collage

debbie carlos' raffle

everything in mike perry's shop

hello sandwich's gift-wrapping zine

japanese paper goods from uguisu

monster gallery's godzilla print

life support japan's photographs

(image via confetti systems)

addicted to pinterest

Uh oh.

I am crazy addicted to pinterest. I just joined today and I have been using it for five hours straight. I even pinned while eating my dinner. It's an online pinboard where you can collect images as you find them, without having to mess around with other applications or websites. Once you join (you have to request an invitation, but they got back to me within a couple of days), you drag a 'pin it' button onto your bookmarks and - BOOM! - you're addicted. See an image you like on a website, click 'pin it' and the image saves onto your pinboard with a link to the original website. It is way past my bedtime, my posture is awful and I have blurred vision. Oh, so, so awesome.

image via my pinterest

want, but can't have...

...this super-cool, industrial-style furniture, available from urban outfitters - U.S. only! Nooooooooooooooooo!!!

Why, why, why?

images via urban outfitters

better than ice-cream

This is my favourite new yoghurt. It's totally awesome and I'm getting hungry just looking at the photos I've taken. It's called Twekkelo, it's from Holland and it is heaven in a plastic bucket.

I usually have yoghurt in the morning, but this one is strictly for dessert because it is ridiculously creamy and you would swear it must be bad for you - but it's super-healthy! (I have a book by Michael Van Straten, a healthy-eating expert, that says, in a withering tone, that ALL yoghurts are healthy, stop being so stupid and just eat them.) It's available in supermarkets and comes in a few varieties, but their apple + cinammon is all I need forever more. Oh, and there's a cute story about how it all started in a clog store (!) and neighbours would come collect their yoghurt in little buckets. Totally awesome.

inspiration

Still life screenprints by Elizabeth Blackadder. As promised.

images via glasgow print studio

a denim tova

TA-DA!

I am proud to announce my denim version of the tova shirt!

I know in my last post that I said I followed all the instructions, but that's not exactly true. I ignored the very first instruction, which is to choose a suitable fabric. I have been longing to buy a denim shirt for ages now, so when my tova pattern arrived in the post, I thought, 'Hey! I don't have to buy one. Heck, I can MAKE one!'

(Cue: KT Tunstall track and montage of me weaving through the city streets, in shops holding denim fabrics up to the light, struggling to the cash desk with five rolls of fabrics and then walking home with shopping bags swinging at my side. Cut back to blog.)

So, with some lovely-but-unsuitable denim washed and pressed, I cut my pattern (I made a size small) and started sewing. I ran into a couple of problems because the fabric was heavier than recommended. Firstly, topstitching was a nightmare and I had to abandon it after my wonky work on the bodice. Secondly, my pleat gathering is uneven and a bit bulky. Lastly, I took some fabric off the hem because it was creating too much volume.

Apart from these minor mistakes, I am really pleased with my work and how it fits. I am especially proud of the sleeves. Fitting sleeves is just the weirdest thing to do, but then it all seems to work out fine! The denim is totally sturdy and I'm digging the workwear look it has. I have worn it ALOT, even in ill-advised 'double-denim' combos, which is surely a testament to how much I love wearing it.

Next, the gingham...!

sewing tova

I thought I'd share some action shots of my sewing. Aren't they exciting?

I took a few days over the winter holiday to make a denim version of the wiksten tova shirt. Phew, it was tough. My dressmaking skills are probably 'advanced beginner' , so I had to really focus with this pattern. Plus, I was loaded with the cold which meant I was even fuzzier. I took it very slowly and carefully followed the instructions (excellent instructions, might I add). I only had to rip one seam out and overall I was pretty happy when I was sewing it, in part because I listened to Adam and Joe's Christmas podcast, but mostly because I understood what I was supposed to do and took time to make sure I did it right. Ah, sweet contentment.

a collection a day book

I love it when two of your favourite things come together to make one mind-blowingly amazing thing. Like chocolate-covered Oreos. Or chocolate-covered cranberries.

Ok, so maybe these are not great examples, but a collaboration that definitely is a great example is the coming-together of Uppercase publishing house and Lisa Congdon's A Collection A Day project. I followed Lisa's daily record of objects that she has collected and beautifully photographed for her blog with sheer delight. I am immensely happy about collecting things and it was a joy to see careful arrangements of matchboxes, luggage tags, vintage thread and clothes pegs.

Sadly, the project is now over but - fear not! Uppercase has saved the day! They are going to publish a book of the entire project, in chronological order with added typography and a collector's tin. WOO-HOO!

It will be published this spring, but you can pre-order it here, now.

images via uppercase

hannah waldron prints

I have just discovered the work of Hannah Waldron, a London-based printmaker, and I am most approving. She has made prints for all sorts of cool people, such as the V&A, Paul Smith and The Poundshop (which I want to visit soooo badly).

I like that she finds her inspiration in the geometric shapes of everyday objects like rooftops and windows. She shares a lot of her work and thought-process on her totally brilliant blog, (which I have been reading all day instead of working...) and sells some of her prints on her own webshop.

The bottom two prints are from her blog and they remind me of still lifes by Elizabeth Blackadder, which I love and will post about later. Promise.

I am torn between the open edition of windows and the cosmic-looking print she did for Art is Proof Press. Guys, what should I do?

images via hannah waldron and art is proof press

happy new year!

I know I'm a bit late with this but...

'BOOM! Happy New Year, world!'

'Fireworks over Ryogoku Bridge' by Ando Hiroshige

bookcase

I am thinking of making this bookcase my new project. How hard can it be? I'll buy 50 metres of plywood, a saw and we'll see how it goes!

image via studiomama

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, comrades!

image: Soviet Christmas cards, via mazaika

sledging

Went sledging with my brother's family this afternoon. Man, is it cold out there. We only managed four slides before we gave up from the cold. It was particularly beautiful - look at that blue sky!- so I was glad to stand on top of a nursery slope and take it all in.