What I will miss most...

It's settled now, I'm moving to another city. Although there is lots of stuff I won't miss at all, here some inspiration what I'm leaving behind.
I took a walk to the lake right above the village today (and took the first outdoor bath this season ;) )







Yes I really took a bath today ;)

the belt that's also a bellywarmthingy

My brother-in-law's wife asked me to make her two belts modelled after one she saw in a store. But since this one had glitter on it, which she doesn't like, she wanted me to sew her two that fit for everyday-wearing.

It's a jersey belt, that you can either wear as a simple belt or you can wear it around your hip and belly :)
Looks great and is perfect for spicing simple outfits up or just staying warm!

Unfortunately, my dress form is a bit too small, so the belt doesn't fit perfectly. When worn on the right person, the jersey lies really smooth around your body.


leo- and multiprint viscose jersey

I'm a belt:



I'm holding you warm, and look good on you!







Grey dots-and-squares cotton jersey





Basically, the concept is simple but effective.

So here's a mini tutorial:

What do you need:
jersey fabric, 35cm x at least 130cm
thick iron-in lining
1 pressbutton

You pick a nice jersey fabric, you will need about 35cm.
Then you measure around your hip (eg. 95cm)
Stretch the Jersey and cut it to this length. Now you will have the long piece that will be the belt, and some leftovers. Those you can use for making the clasp :)

Now we turn to the two long sides of the fabric and sew a nice looking rolled hem. In my opinion a simple rolled hem thats visible on the outside is really the best way, because so the hems won't be much thicker than the other fabric and the belt will be very smooth around your waist.

Buy some thick iron-in lining (consistence of thin cardboard, but washable) and design your clasp form. I decided to make two semicircles, but you really can pick anything you want. Cut out 4 of those forms and clad each of them in Jersey fabric (iron on), use either (textil-)glue or basting thread to hold the seam allowances on back side. Sew in the press button.
Now you take the long jersey strip and fold and ruffle it, so the ends fit into the clasp.
Sew the two clasp-forms together and lock the jersey into position :)

That's it!

I hope you like it :)

face behind the blog (and dogs.)

I just recognised that besides some really crappy pics I didn't post any pictures of the girl denocte here :)

That's me - recently gone "back to the roots" with dark brown hair (my original haircolour is darker, but it kind of washes out to soon :( ) and my new favourite hairstyle, pippi longstocking and bangs :) (ahaha, funny typo, I actually wrote "fangs" first)

The perfect dog on my side is a present from my boyfriend, trying to trick me into liking dogs. I have to say, it works. From being afraid of dogs I now tend to scream "oh look, a dog" in a happy voice instead of panicking!
(OK, most of the time I still hide behind my boyfriend. But it's getting better ;) )

"Uhm it's really hard to make this kissing pic when you have braces"

Isn't he cute?


So, watch here my steps to success:
Me with a dog. Yeah, it's tiny, and kind of not very dog-like, but it's a dog, hm? every dog counts^^



And yeah, it's sitting on my lap! How brave am I!



And I really got along with this boy too, who, let's say it, is a bit more... "dog" then the Chihuahua above.



Me proud :)

grandmas wedding corset

Heihei folks,
I really need your help this time :)

As I already told you, my grandma gave me her wedding corset.
They are married for 50 years now *love* and still happy :)

Well, now I have this gorgeous thing there - and no idea how you're supposed to wear it!
For the record: My grandma was really thin when she got married, my sis and me took turns in trying on her wedding dress. It's too big for us since we were 16 ;)
so, one should think that this corset should be waaay to small for me too.
well: somehow, no.

This is what it looks like:
In the back (? at least I think so) the corset can be closed with 4 heavy hook-and-pile fasteners, the fabrics are shiny white jacquard, white velvet, some strange net-thingy and the lining is thin cotton fabric.



Fabrics:



Lining:


You can clearly see that in the late 50ies and 60ies it was fashion to wear synthetic fabrics, today those fabrics wouldn't be used for a wedding corset I think.



The front bears three steal planchettes, approximately 2cm wide, the other seams have flexible steal in them. You can see the tunnels on the fabric outside.



So. How to wear this?
I have two ideas:
1) like an overbust corset.
it's way to big. and it doesn't look right.




2) like a panty-girdle thingy.
you really can't sit down.
and it's still big.
doesn't look right either^^

So, all you creative heads out there!
Help me, how do you wear this thing?
Fasteners in the front? Upside down? On your head?

greets,

denocte

denocte in knitania

I'm back!
Problems (at least the technical ones) solved.

First posting will present my first steps in the fairytale country knitania!

Back in January I started knitting kneehigh socks folk-style, made from very thick sheepwool. They are very comfortable, but I fear I can't wear them in my boots because they are not very sturdy. you can see the holes on the pic, thats what they look like after wearing them 3 or 4 times :(


Last year when I went to Helsinki I bought this really great wool on the market. finnish sheep, finnish dye, finnish everything. I made those really great everyday-wear cuffs, perfect for working, sewing, everything! The light grey and dark brown fit perfectly :)
I think that was when my "just-sheepwool-no other things accepted" phase started. Ok, I accept cotton for e.g. socks ;)
The other pair was a new tryout in knitting patterns. I used up some leftover yarn and they are really comfy. I did use them a lot in winter and am loooving them!


Then I bought some reaaally soft "eco" yarn and totally fell for it. I made a collar thingy - my first tryout knitting doubleface and cuffs.
On the pic you see the collar thingy on the left, one cuff and another cuff in making ;)
The blue-grey yarn was my second doubleface thingy. There will be a pic of the result if you scroll down ;)

I am now officially able to knit toe-up socks. me proud!
With some help I finally succeeded ;)
My first tryout:


First finished pair:


First sock made from "Feenzauber" wool:


Left:
That what the firestarter "feenzauber" sock looks like when I'm wearing it :)
Right:
Now here's the result of the scarf-doubleface tryout:
I made a short scarf, added a button and now I can use it as a collar or shoulderwarmer thing ;)

I hope you enjoyed it, I do have some other projects waiting to be brought to you. Later this week I will upload old stuff, new stuff, brandnew stuff and other stuff^^