Up's and down's

Today was a bit of a down day, as we discovered that the heating (among other things) in our newly accuired caravan wasn't working properly. This means that we won't be able to go on any trips and sleep in the car (unless we wanna freeze) until we get it fixed. Which might not take too long, but, the next weekend off might take til next year with x-mas coming up and all. And I was so looking forward to going away this weekend, we were gonna go dancing and see a new town, maybe do some shopping...Oh, well.

6/11/2009

This is my new second-hand coat along with my new shoes.

And here's the result of my latest sewing project;

I might wear it for our upcoming work x-mas party.

And in case anyone was wondering, this is what I wore yesterday when I went grocery-shopping.

And finally, Mr Kitten and I put my old rusty car aside and bought this second hand beauty;

No more hotel nights, when we've got our own little house with us...!

P.s. That dress is still for sale...until monday!

New home wanted!

Ok, I've decided to sell the dress. As one of my readers noted, the pattern is a bit big on me (thanks, I knew there was something else bothering me apart from the colour!).

Right, here are the measuremets of the dress laying flat;
bust 48 cm
waist 38 cm
hip 50 cm
neck to waist 41 cm
waist to hem 70 cm

Hand-made buttons.

The rip at the back, shouldn't be too hard to fix.

Side buttoning.

So, if anyone is interested, you can leave a bid for the dress in the comments. I'll start the bidding at 5 euros plus postage, (which depends on how far away you are from Finland). The dress weighs about 450 grams. Alternatively, I might consider trading the dress for something else, in case you've got something you think would fit me... You've got one week! Bidding will end next monday at 9 pm finnish time. Good luck!

Shoe madness

I love shoes. Lately, I've been compensating for the years when I only wore flats by getting myself some proper heels. Which isn't that easy when you're a european size 35. Anyway, I found these somewhat 40's inspired heels second hand and paid 9 euros for them. They were, not surprisingly, slightly too big but that's what gel cusions are for right?


My latest purchase cost me 10 euros and came from Veljekset Keskinen. I didn't realize how thin the heel is until I got home, but I have actually been able to walk quite effortlessly in them anyway. Until my feet start hurting from the unnatural angle they are forced into...Pretty and comfortable rarely go together.


And tomorrow I'll be picking up the pair I've been waiting for for over a week now; the perfect reds!
I've been dreaming about these ever since I saw Ranna wear a similar pair (or maybe they're the same even?). They come from Brandos.fi and they look just right, but I won't know for sure until tomorrow when I get my hands on these babies for real. *Fingers crossed* 60 euros including shipping will make these the most expensive shoes I've ever bought...

But enough shoes already, I also got a belt from Keskinens;


The fabric it's lying on is my new skirt, which I made yesterday. In a minute I'm gonna start on the matching top. I wonder if the shoes will match...

Yes or go?

I found this home made dress in a charity shop a few weeks ago. I think it might even be from the 30's or 40's? Anyway, I've got a few issues with it. Firstly, it's too big (or I'm too small?). Secondly, it's not really my colour, I have nothing that goes with it, I'm not sure I go with it. And last, it has a small rip on the back, which could easily be fixed, but what's the point if I'm not gonna wear it?

So what do you think? Should I alter it and most likely leave it hanging in my closet for years (until I find some shoes/whatever that goes with it, if I ever do) or should I try and sell it to someone who would love it and wear it? I'm guessing it's about a size 38, but I'd be happy to take some measurements if anybody is interested...Let me know!

Something for fall

One of the biggest problems fashionwise living up here in the north is to stay warm during the cold parts of the year and still feel stylish. Unfortunately pretty and practical seldom go together...A problem (a least for me) which I am trying hard to solve.

In order to wear these pretty but not very warm shoes, I came up with the idea to make myself some spats. Basically a piece of cloth (or three per foot sewn together) to keep my feet warm and cosy. Or at least warmer. I used a piece of elastic underneath to keep in place, and velcro to open and close. Very simple. I might do a few more in different fabrics and colours, maybe with buttons going up the side, for some other semi-warm shoes I happen to own...

Staying dry and looking good can also be tricky. Lucky for me, I found this stripey rain-cape in a charity shop not too long ago. Now I just need it to rain!

I've got more ideas on how to stay warm and look good, but I haven't put all of them into practice yet. I'll show you once I get that far...If you got any tips or tricks you use yourself you are welcome to share!

Finally, here's my latest attempt at pincurls;

This time around I went to work for three days looking like this, and got many compliments and even more enquiries as to what special occasion was coming up which required this hairstyle...It appears that the people Iwork with only make an effort for special occasions, so the looks I got when I said that I just felt like it were a bit pussled. I guess I've taken my first steps down the road of being "the strange one that dresses up/does her hair for no reason". Oh, well, as I'm already on that road, why not go full throthle? On the third day with this hair, I put on some red lipstick...

From curtain to petticoat

On tuesday and wednesday I made a petticoat from two old lace curtains I bought from a charity shop for 2 euros each. I wanted my skirt to be about 60 cm long so I cut the curtains into strips 22 cm wide (20 cm + 1 cm on each side to be sewn). With this width I would need 3 rows of 20 cm strips. Here's one of the curtains folded in half, the strip meant for the bottom part of the petticoat already cut out. The rest of the strips I cut horisontally.

I measured the bottom strips and got 7,6 m, then I put together the next row of sprips and made it half the lenght; 3,8 metres. The top row in turn was half the lenght again; 1,9 metres.

I sewed all the pieces of each row together to make 3 rings of fabric. I then pinned together the middle of the back of the top row, with the middle of the back on the middle row. Then I did the middle of the front of both layers, then the middles of the fabric in between and kept going like this until I had a manageable amount of fabric pinned together for sewing. As one layer is twice the length of the other, the pinning will look something like this;

Of course I couldn't be bothered to put the pins this close to each other anywhere else but on the elastic I used for the waist, but maybe you get the idea? The rest of the fabric (loops sticking up) I wrinkled by hand as I sewed.

After pinning together the two strips at the top, I sewed them together. The I did the same thing with the bottom layer, pinning middle to middle, middle to middle and finally sewing the layers together. Here's the result;

And after this I pinned the top layer to the elastic (as seen above) and carefully zig-zagged it to the elastic, stretching it a little as I went. I used zig-zag here because I want the thread to "stretch" when the elastic stretches and not snap and make the whole thing come undone.

Here's the finished petticoat;


I chose the curtain I did beacause of the ready made ruffles, which meand that I didn't have to line the full 7,6 metres, phew. And it looks pretty cute too!

Now this is not the most poufy petticoat imaginable, but with longer strips it would have been. It all depends on how much fabric you wanna use (or how long your curtains are)! I'm pretty happy with the result though, as I have got a cotton even less poufy petticoat, that I can combine with this one should I require more pouf. And that's how I made my first petticoat! Feel free to ask if there's anything that left you wondering!