meeow, the maharadscha himself.

Yes, I actually am sewing other stuff than my austrian dress too ;)

Or at least I'm busy planning other stuff.

I fell deeply and truly in love with those semi-low-cut sarouel pants. I'm always behind fashion. Two years ago, I hated them. Last year, I thought "well, if they fit, they can be cool, yeah..." and this year I'm totally addicted!
They are so comfy and perfect for hot summer days.

But wearing black pants only is a bit boring, so a friend bought those wonderful sari fabrics in Berlin *heart*

My cat Isaac is busy helping with preparing the fabric. Washing is totally unnecessary, he thinks they suit him quite well and he was really angry when I took them away at last...

So tired. Loosing a lot of hair on my new fabric must be really exhausting.


Denocte

Säumchentracht: It's a dress.

Well, I'm making good progress here. The Dress is almost finished:
Doesn't look very spectacular when just hanging around, but it looks really lovely when worn. I hope I can present a couple of new pics with me actually wearing it.

In the back I used a really great method to provide those tiny pleats. It's called "stifteln", there's a how to I wrote (in german) found on the NatronundSoda page. In the front the skirt has some rather large pleats.

Sun and Sea are getting along really well too:

At the moment I'm sewing a lot of beads onto the waves, I have to neaten a couple of threads on the dress and I'm waiting for the shops to open to buy "Fray Check" (for the waves) and those big hooks&eyes for the dress.

denocte

Säumchentracht: Tiny work, but looks nice.

I did a lot of tiny seams and clipping threads and hand sewing this weekend, doesn't look really impressive on the pics but it was a lot of work and feels really great.

First I sewed the bias binding onto the lining, invisible hand stitches of course.

Then I cut off and neatened a lot of loose thread ends. 
The seam on the downside of the top has now an overlock seam which stabilizes the whole thing.

On the front I added 2x4 vertical seams to enhance the structure, (so the hooks and eyes won't distort the front) also I added 2x5 horizontal seams. I don't really know what they do, but they look nice ;)
You don't really see those on the outside....




...so here's a pic from the lining.

 The whole beauty:

Next step will be closing the shoulder seams, sewing in the hooks and eyes and closing the seams on the side - here's the last chance to correct the width of the top.

Denocte

In case anyone was wondering...

... I'm trying to post a lot more from now on.
Do more work in progress stuff, tell you what I'm up to.
Always posting the results only is a bit dull and in most cases I simply forget taking pics.

So, from now on you can watch me sew :)

Due to this resolution I'll have to restructure my blog a bit and since blogpost-design and me aren't really on friendly terms, this may take a while. So, if the design looks a bit weird the next few days it's maybe just a work in progress too *g*


See you soon,

Denocte

Säumchentracht: Passepoile, Paspel, Piping.

Now the whole passepoile-ing takes its turn.
In the beginning I had some problems with grasping the concept when to sew what where onto what, but in the end I was victorious!

First sew the bias binding onto the fabric, then neaten the edges with zig-zag stitches.

Lay the thread for the piping left of the seam, not onto the seam allowances and sew the bias binding onto the seam allowances right next to the piping-thread. The first seam and this second seam should be nearly in the same line.

Pin the bias binding onto the lining, wow, doesn't it look nice?

It looks a lot cuter when it's worn, but you'll have to do with this pic for now ;)

I want to continue... but I really need a break. A couple of hours without sewing will be nice ;)

Säumchentracht: Yay, I can try it on!

I'm very busy sewing and planning and beading and designing my traditional dress.
It's going really well, *don't jinx it*, the top parts are nearly done.

Fixing everything with basting thread is a great method, if you're using pin needles it won't be this precise.
Since for those dresses you work with both outer fabric and lining as one layer, I fixed them with basting thread too.
Between the two parts of the back I added linnen piping, made from the lovely dark blue linnen and a long woven thread.

I also started sewing thousands of tiny beads onto the soon-to-be sun: I managed to get a grip on those lovely fabrics, the yellow one for the sun, the blue one for the ocean. I looove that they have the same printing <3

I hope you like it, 

Yours, Denocte :)

Work in Progress: Säumchentracht, traditional austrian dress

I'm currently planning and sewing a traditional dress for a really "obscure" event this summer.

It involves about 4m of fabric, hours and hours of work, a garden lake and a diving platform...

After many thoughts which region and which pattern I should choose, I ended up with a dress from the upper austrian region "Innviertel" - so far, nothing new, I was born there and love it ;) and then I chose a really great pattern, the "Innviertler Säumchentracht".

But although I'll work very traditionally correct and everything, I want to combine "Tracht" and the ancient myth of Ikarus. 

Number three, in the middle:

Never ever complain about Burda patterns again ;)

Eighties revival *lol* I'm gonna sew the dress on the right, but it'll be way longer.

The pattern: You can see the lines on the right pattern, that's why the dress is called "seam-dress" (very roughly translated).

Yesterday I bought the fabric, I'm so in love!
Linnen, linnen, linnen, cotton lining, linnen... linnen for the bias binding, linnen thread for the piping... And have I mentioned linnen?

And now, have an funny day *g* (He yawned. He looks very funny when he yawns.)

Denocte

Leaves of Lorien - Awesome Artist.

I've got a new necklace, and I'm seriously in LOVE!

I bought this gorgeous necklace from the awesome german artist Muriel Leland from "Die Perlenzwerge".
To have a look through her stuff just visit her gallery and shop.
Check out her shop, she's beading a lot of really great stuff there.

When she showed some pics of this very LOTR and goth at the same time I just new that this was destined to be _my_ precious *gollum*

The tiny leaves, the roses, the old clock (not functional although), and the earrings are leaves and roses too.

courtesy of "Die Perlenzwerge"

 courtesy of "Die Perlenzwerge"

 I'm in looove :)


denocte

Summer lovin'

Since I never ever find pants that fit I'm a skirt girl for this summer.

So I made three very easy skirts, but nevertheless I like them and so I've got some pictures for you :)

The first one is, compared to the others, fairly ambitioned: I actually used a zip whilst the others do only have an elastic band in the waist ;)

It's made from this really great cotton fabric with really nice embroidery all over it.

 I was very lazy and used just an overlock stitching for the hems.

In the waist I added a zip fastener and two darts in the front and in the back, instead of doubling this part or adding lining I justused bias binding for a cleaner look.

The second skirt is dedicated to Spirit Amy, who kindly bought the wonderful blueberry fabric for me.

And the last one is my beloved "hippie skirt".

Veeery comfy, veeery nice. It's got a great length, you can do really anything wearing this skirt without having to bother insights or ruffling your hems up.

The length isn't very elegant, but I really really like it. It's great for travelling by train, you can sit hurled down in the chairs however you like and yet you're always looking decent.

The last fabric is really cute, I think it was designed to be a curtain one day, but it's so much cuter on my skirt ;)