Kitten

The end.

2011-10-12T21:28:00.002+02:00

Dear Friends!

After careful consideration I have decided to leave this blog as an archive and concentrate fully on my new blog Kittens Klädkammare/Kittens Closet. It's pretty much the same as what I've been doing here, only I now write also in my native tongue (swedish) with the english translation at the bottom of each post.

So, welcome over to my new blog and if you'd be so kind, please update any links you might have to me and let me know if you'd like me to link back to you too. Thank you for reading!

More changes!

2011-09-07T16:29:00.001+02:00

In honour of my new life as a sewing student I have started a new blog;

Kittens Klädkammare

(Klädkammare is swedish for wardrobe or closet so essentially it means Kitten's Closet)

Will you join me?

This blog was never public in the sense that I haven't told my family about it or even many of my real life friends. I guess I didn't think they'd be interested. As time went on it felt more and more weird to go all "By the way, I've been blogging for the last three years and didn't tell you". But somehow studying to become a seamstress gives me the justification to be publicly interested in clothes AND blog about it even though nobody else I know does it. Anyway, remember to update your link pages if I'm on there and feel free to tell me about your blogs (preferably sewing and/or vintage related, please!) too so I can add you to my links when I get around to fixing that bit too.

See you at Kitten's Closet!

Memories of a summer holiday

2011-08-25T17:39:00.000+02:00

As soon as I started my summer holiday, we began packing the camper-van for our trip around southern Finland. Our first stop was Pori and the beautiful beach at Yyteri. The weather at the time was terrific and we were too busy enjoying it to take any photos worthy of publishing. After a couple of days we traveled on to Hankoo at the southernmost tip of Finland, where I made friends with a headless soldier.

Hankoo was really nice, there was an area with loads of old wooden villas with beautifully crafted terraces and balconies. The sunset at the camping area where we stayed was quite lovely too, and there was entertainment too!

The next day I went thrifting in Ekenäs while Mr. Kitten rested on the beach. I found two 50's magazines, a scarf and a tablecloth for our foldable camping table. We moved on to Raseborg where we checked out the castle ruins and saw a modern version of "the Wizard of Oz" played out on an outdoor stage, featuring my younger brother in a few minor parts. Halfway through it started raining...Good thing I had my umbrella with me!

After the play we hung out at my brothers place and listened to the thunder until it stopped and we drove to a 24 h petrol station for some shut-eye. The next day we went to Hämeenlinna where we spent the weekend climbing towers and visiting the castle. Relaxing, sauna and grilling Finnish sausages on the barbeque was also part of the program.

Our next stop was Helsinki. We went to museums, did some sightseeing and shopping. I visited several vintage stores without buying anything, as expected the prices where a lot higher than at the flea-markets I usually buy from. My own collection of vintage tripled in value, at the least! I did however find a UFF-charity shop by accident, where I found a second hand h&m dress with a fifties feel to it. It was mine for 8 euros, also more expensive than charity shops around here. But this was Helsinki price...

A few day later we were in Porvoo. We saw the lovely old town and a Swedish lady complimented me behind my back. She thought I looked like a princess in my poufy 50's style dress and wide brimmed hat...

We traveled on to Kotka. Did some more relaxing and barbecuing and walked along a nature trail by the sea. The next day we went into town and saw a man-made waterfall in one of the parks. I went thrifting again and this time I found a black vintage hat and a red umbrella/parasol.

Lappeenranta was next on our tour. We saw their big sand castle which turned out to be a sand circus in reality, but none the less fascinating. I did some more thrifting and found a basket for my bike and a big piece of denim fabric for 2 euros. The ladies behind the counter spoke in Russian among themselves and the border felt kind of close.

The next day we crossed it. By boat. We went on a cruise on the Saima canal, through eight locks, and arrived in Vyborg, Russia in the afternoon.

Vyborg used to be part of Finland before WWII and the castle was built before that, when Finland was part of Sweden...

By nightfall we were back in Finland again. The next day we set our sight homeward, and on the way, we stopped at Olavinlinna.

We also drove along one of the most famous and spectacular ice age formations in the country, Punkaharju ridge. By now the temperatures had dropped and it had been raining on and off for a couple of days, and going home was almost starting to feel okay.

Our last night on the road was spent in Kuopio. We got home without any major mishaps, despite our 23 year old car. A few days later though, when we were gonna use the camper van again, one of the shock absorbers gave up...

Kind of a change

2011-08-18T21:52:00.000+02:00

I started feeling like it was now or never. I liked my job when I started but over a period of time things changed, the workload seemed overwhelming more and more often and at times I felt really stressed. We got more and more responsibilities but not any more time. At the same time I was disappointed with myself, I had expected more of me. I was a good enough student I could have gotten in to some pretty good schools had I only known what I wanted to do.

My job in the supermarket was beginning to feel like a waste of my talents. I knew that the longer I waited the harder it would become to leave. I have no children (yet) or house mortgage (yet) and I'm still young, this is my chance - there's no good reason not to. I didn't wanna be stuck working in a supermarket for the rest of my life wondering what would have happened if I had only dared.

I have been sewing since I was six (started out making Barbie-clothes) and the dreams of becoming a fashion designer have pretty much been with me since. I just didn't think there would be much work for designer/seamstresses around here and I wasn't prepared to go very far away. But a few weeks ago I spoke to a couple of seamstresses here in town and they told me that there's plenty of work to go round and they really encouraged me to believe in myself and go for it. So a few weeks ago I sent a letter of application.

Last week I quit my job and three days ago I started school with a bunch of 16-year-olds. In two years time, I'll be a seamstress.

Holiday's almost over

2011-08-11T14:54:00.001+02:00

After over two weeks of traveling around Finland in our camper-van, I have now returned to my sewing machines and to blog land. How have you been? As always, we managed to take quite a few pictures, so while I sort trough them I'll post an image I took before we went on holiday. This is the outfit I wore to the annual old fashioned market here in town, my appearance caught the eye of two different newspaper photographers, resulting in images of me in two of the local papers plus a short comment...

The old fashioned market is a place where sellers dress up in old fashioned clothes (they mostly look like poor farmers) and sell handicrafts, antiques and vegetables and stuff. I was helping out my mum who makes and sells pottery and I convinced her to wear one of my vintage hats with her inherited American 40's suit. Too bad the suit is too big for me...

My dress in a 70's does 40's dress I found at a charity shop (shortened and slightly taken in) and my hat is self made using a table mat and candle holder decorations. Gloves, seamed stockings and handbag are vintage, the shoes from hush puppies.

Hope you are all well, I'll be back later with pictures of my finds and outfits from our trip! Toodeloo!

Summer update

2011-07-21T08:39:00.000+02:00

Summer is happening and like so many others, I too am busy living and not so busy blogging. This week has been especially busy as I'm working longer hours than I normally do, so even less time for blogging! Anyway, here's an outfit I managed to photograph the other week. The capri pants used to be just normal length trousers with the belt loops lower down, but not anymore! I just love it when I'm able to make something just how I want it. These capris have had a lot of use already...

For some reason I have been working every single monday evening the past 5-6 weeks, all but one, which means I haven't been able to go the the monday car boot-sales more than once. When I did go, I found some lovely things with hearts on them. I've seen the jar many times before, but always more expensive and in worse shape. The jug has already become a flower pot and suits it purpose very well.

I don't know when you'll hear from me again, as my holiday starts in two days and we have great plans to travel around Finland in our camper-van. We've been thinking along the lines of going down the coast stopping at Pori, Naantali, Raseborg, Ekenäs, Hangö, Helsinki, Borgå and Lappeenranta, from where we'll take a mini-cruise to Viipuri (Russia) and then make our way back home again the inland way. Feel free to leave tips on great places to shop vintage along the way, places to see and cafe's where you'd like to have a cup of tea and talk about sewing/vintage with me while I'm passing through.

Until I have the chance to write again, Have a fantastic summer!

Love, Kitten

Summer favourites

2011-07-07T19:47:00.000+02:00

Finally I feel like I'm actually doing something about that pile of things to be altered, the pile that normally seems to be only growing has actually started to shrink! This skirt didn't even stay in the pile for long, as it's the one I recently bought in Sweden. What was too long and one size to big now fits me and is likely to become a favourite this summer.

Another potential favourite is this red skirt that used to be my aunt's in the 60's or 70's. It was a bit longer before and made me look really short. But now that's been taken care of! I of course used my serger when I shortened both skirts, and then I had an idea and looked through my sewing machine equipment and indeed, turns out I've got one of those presser foots who fold over the fabric and make hems look neat and pretty...so of course I had to try it out and I'm pretty pleased with the result!

Today I have also turned a pair of long legged trousers into 50's style capri pants (high waist!) and I can't tell you what a difference using the serger makes. You can't really tell if those trousers/capris have been altered with the professional look the serger leaves. The sig-sag just doesn't do it for me anymore...

Where the magic happens a.k.a my sewing space

2011-06-27T21:37:00.000+02:00

Hello readers, how have you been? I've been busy having a cold, celebrating midsummer and my birthday, and making myself an area dedicated for sewing! Oh, and I found myself a nice piece of furniture (60's teak) at a flea-market, which I had to fill with shoes and hats in my usual manner;

It is now located in my sewing area, where I can finally spread out and not have to clean up after myself every single time I get creative, because this area is meant for creating and nothing else! I used to put the sewing machine on the desk in front of my computer when I used it before, so this is a real improvement...Do those of you who sew have a special area set up too or do you have a different arrangement?

At the same place I found my new (old) shelf, I also found these shirts;

We celebrated midsummer with my family, eating well and just hanging out. Did you have a nice weekend?

Malmö finds, part 2

2011-06-13T12:43:00.000+02:00

My last day in Malmö was a monday, therefor my brother was at school and his wife at work, so I had to go out vintage shopping on my own...I didn't do too bad though! It was a warm and summery day so I put on this outfit and wandered off into the city. Several hours later I had found two skirts;

I've been looking for a red one for ages...And the one below was just fantastic, LOVE the pattern, has to be taken in slightly though.

I also found a dress which fitted me like a glove. Both skirts and the dress came from Humana.

And last but not least, I found two hats...In an antiques shop with loads of beautiful teak furniture and string-shelves other nice things I sadly could not fit into my bag and bring home.

Aren't they pretty? But kind of wintery so they won't get worn for another couple of months. I also visited Som Ny, and chatted with the lovely owner. She had some nice stuff there, especially the jeans, but sadly nothing in my size that I liked. But do head over there for a peek if you're in Malmö, or visit her web shop, she had some nice jewellery too!

I had a really nice time in Malmö, the shopping was sure better than around here, as was the restaurant we went to and of course it was also nice to hang out with my brother and his wife. The finds have been washed and now I just need to iron and do some other fixing before I can start wearing them. Oh, and I need the weather to be warm again...

Say hello to my new friend!

2011-06-08T10:40:00.000+02:00

My birthday is still a couple of weeks away but as soon as I figured out what I wanted, Mr Kitten went out and got it for me (I know, spoilt!). I present to you, my new best friend;

The weather here has turned really warm and summery and when I went out yesterday wearing the outfit below, I got a sun rash on my back. Not so fun. So today I might just stay inside a bit more and get to know my new friend.

Living in a flat with just a small balcony sucks by the way, it's too hot to use it much as the sun is on it all day...What to you ladies do who don't have gardens but want to be outside when the weather is nice? And how do you avoid getting a sun rash?

Finds from Malmö, part 1

2011-06-02T17:50:00.000+02:00

My trip to Malmö, was pretty nice. I went to visit my brother but in reality, I spent most of my time getting to know his wife C better. My brother isn't into shopping so I wasn't surprised he left that part to us girls. C and I haven't really spent time together before so it was pretty nice, especially since it turned out we had more in common than expected, she's into ecological thinking too and likes flea-markets for example. So for once I didn't have to go shopping alone, yay!

The first day we went around a couple of vintage stores in town, as well as a couple of antique shops. We saw some nice stuff but I still came back empty handed, while C found a lovely 60/70's tunic that looked really cute on her.

On Sunday we went to a carboot sale kind of market and suddenly my I started spotting things I wanted. My favourite find was this old H&M dress, a couple of sizes too big with buttons missing in the back but hey, it only cost me 30 SEK (about 3 euros) and I just know it will look great once I get it fixed...

The bad thing about outdoor markets is that you can't try things on, so I bought me another dress that was too big. But I should be able to fix it...I just need some time.

This skirt on the other hand was just right, but I'm not sure about the belt...Maybe it would be better higher up? Why oh, why does everything I buy turn into a project?!

My last purchase of the day doesn't have to fit me, as I bought it as an addition to my collection of vintage slips and nightgowns. One day I plan to have my collection hanging on the walls of our bedroom, I just need some hooks on the wall first (or a bedroom with walls that I can put up the hooks on myself, without the need of stone wall drilling equipment...).

C also came back with a few things, and I even managed to find a few things for her that she liked (a retro tablecloth and retro enamel casserole, both awesome but not quite my style). Anybody else need a personal shopper? I'll show the rest of my finds another day so stay tuned!

Versatile clothing

2011-05-26T23:37:00.000+02:00

After hours and hours of sewing, I have finally finished my latest set of two dresses, a bolero and a hat.

The bolero is double sided so that I can turn it inside out and use it both ways. It's the only item from this set that I didn't design myself, although I did alter it slightly, it wasn't reversible to begin with for example. The pattern is from this set, which I thrifted last summer.

The fabric is thrifted and was sewn into mattress covers, I knew immediately that I was going to make something two-toned. I especially like the pocket detail on the second dress!

On Saturday I am flying to Copenhagen from where I'm going straight to Malmö to visit my brother and his wife. And do some shopping! I've already googled and found a couple of vintage/second hand shops, but if you've got something else to see or do while I'm there, feel free to leave a suggestion! Now I just have to do a couple more pin-curls and then I'm off to bed. What are you doing this weekend?

Two spring outfits while it's still spring

2011-05-18T17:11:00.000+02:00

Before it gets to warm outside I have to show you the leopard jacket I bought from Haléns (on sale). I'm liking it so much that I almost wish it was colder outside. Almost...The skinny high-waisted jeans are from H&M and feel strange for me to wear as I'm used to wide legged trousers, but oh how I love the high waist!

Here's another outfit I wore out shopping a couple of days back, note the handbag! Hm, looking at the picture I begin to wonder if I should change the buttons of the jacket to white ones, would that still look ok with the gold coloured zippers on the sleeves? Or should I redo the sleeves in some way too, they are a bit long? But then again, the gold details on the jacket go well with the ones on the bag...

Today I'm a bit tired from working 7 days in a row (still two days to go!) but my spirit was lifted when I checked my work schedule for the next couple of weeks. I've got five days off in a row starting from next weeks friday! What to do, what to do? Where should I go? Long weekend trip to sweden? London? Paris? Or should I just stay home and sew like a mad woman? Oh, the possibilities! What would you do?

Close to completion

2011-05-10T22:13:00.000+02:00

I love my new handbag. It's not really new, of course, just new to me. I've been looking for one in navy for ages, if I only had a similar one in white and in red my handbag collection would be pretty much complete. Is that even possible? To have a complete collection? Will I really be able to stop looking at and buying handbags when it is? Only time will tell I guess...

Other than the fabulous handbag I have recently also found a basic slip to wear underneath dresses with wide enough shoulders (winter stuff).

And I so could not resist these swallows...only problem is, how to get them up on the wall? There's a hole at the back but when I put it on a nail the swallow tilted! Whoever put that hole there sure didn't put it in the right place, hah.

Finds from Vaasa

2011-05-03T10:14:00.001+02:00

Check out my new lamp (below). I was trilled to find it, as I'm always on the lookout for 50's items to give our home a more retro look. It cost me 15 euros from the Jupiter-second hand shop in Vaasa.

In Vaasa I also picked up a few other items, such as the shirts below, the white bracelet and the sandals I'm wearing.

The shorts used to be my mothers and both handbags are second hand. The next item I almost regret buying. The waist is waay to high on me, what was I thinking?

Similar thoughs come to mind looking at the next top, why did I get it? I have something similar but better, on this top the checks feel somehow too big...Shoes from Ellos.

The shoe laces would look better in white, don't you think? I also picked up some other bits and pieces, the flower is and actual hat pin, yay!

Now I just can't wait for the weather to get warmer so that I can go out in these clothes without freezing to death...

Leopard print accessories and seven things you didn't know about me, part 7

2011-04-28T20:49:00.000+02:00

Today I felt like wearing my mother's old leather jacket from the seventies for my trip to the flea-market. To match it, I put on a pair of mum's or dad's 70's trousers, a pair of 70's style boots and a hat, and picked out a matching handbag (matching in colour, not decacade.) This sort of stuff is what I would wear ten years ago, when I hand not yet discovered the 40's and 50's. Blending in with the crowd never really was my thing...

On the subject of blending in, these shoes may be in a camouflage pattern, but perhaps meant for other environments than what we have around here...Aaw. Just look at them. They came back with me from Grand Canaria and are just waiting for an occasion to be worn.

More shopping finds! I found the belts (second hand) on my latest trip to Vaasa, and the leopard print cloth they are resting on is a sarong which I also bought on holiday. It goes well with my leopard print bikini...

And now, for the final part of the seven things you didn't know about me-challenge! I have stopped using deodorants and antiperspirants. Instead I use this stuff;

Cocnut oil. Note, this is the virgin oil stuff, not the hardened grease you find next to the butter in the shops. The oil is antibacterial and if you put some under your arms, the oil kills of the sweat-eating bacteria who cause sweat to smell and it last maybe 8 hours or so. The oil is solid under temperatures of 24 c if I remember correctly, and fluent when warmer. Basically what I do is wash my armpits with water only (soap reacts badly with the oil) then I take a bit of solid oil out of the jar (I've put some in a separate jar for use as deodorant, in case I wanna use the big jar for cooking), the oil starts to melt in contact with my warm fingers and I can then rub the oil onto my skin. Done! I do sweat, but I don't smell of it. I smell lightly of coconut! I actually tested the oil by putting some under just one arm when going to work one day, and what do you know, in the evening one armpit didn't smell but the other did...

One of these days (=when I get inspired) I intend to make an actual deodorant-mixture containing this oil and a few other natural-ish ingredients (recipe found here) but for now I'm getting by with just the oil. Thanks to Ina who posted about alternative deodorants here! If you wanna try this, I can tell you that the 200ml jar I bought cost about 4,95 at the big supermarket nearby, and it's organic too. There were more than just one to choose from as well. I found it in the section for sauces and asian ingredients. There are many other uses for the oil, it can be used for cooking, skin and hair care etc, and there's loads of information on the web if you just search for it.

Well then, feel free to tell us seven things we didn't know about you, or if you like, accept the challenge of giving up your old chemical-filled deodorant for a more natural one! Have a lovely weekend!

Give-away tip and seven things you didn't know about me, part 6

2011-04-20T18:51:00.000+02:00

I'm entering a swim wear give-away over at the Pin Tucks and Pin Curls blog, check it out if you wanna win something like this;

Isn't it just lovely? And there's one in leopard too...and bikinis! Check out the For Luna website for more pics.

This brings me conveniently over to the 6th fact you didn't know about me...Apart from shoes and hats and that kind of stuff, I also have a thing for, and thus collect, swim wear. I don't have as many bikinis and swimsuits as I do shoes though (yet) but for some strange reason they keep accumulating (and only a few are vintage or retro). Wait til you get to the next bit though; I don't particularly like swimming...

Grand Canaria 2011 and seven things you didn't know about me, part 5

2011-04-14T11:57:00.007+02:00

Warning! Picture heavy post ahead! I thought I'd share some photos from our week in Grand Canaria. First photo is taken on the way to the beach, with me wearing the best thing I have ever thought to pack with me on a trip to the beach; a hat! I wore this hat every day, changing the colour of the flower on the side or swapping it for a scarf to match whatever else I was wearing. It was great at filtering out those rays of sun that always glitter at the top of my glasses and try to get in my eyes...

The beach we went to all week was the dunes of Maspalomas, which looked a lot like a mini desert. Loved it!

We also rented a car for a few days and went driving along the serpentine roads of the beautiful west coast.

We saw some pretty breathtaking views...

The next day we were back at the dunes again.

We did some more driving around, and noted that the dunes were visible from pretty far a way.

This was apparently the grand canyon of Grand Canaria, breathtaking!

We saw Roque Nublo.

...And drove above the clouds!

Here I am, with a white flower in my hat, looking out at Roque Nublo from the highest point (or a few metres from it) of Grand Canaria, Pico de Las Nieves. In the far distance you can also see the highest piont of neighbour island Tenerife, Pico del Teide.

The next day we drove to Puerto Rico and went on a boat trip to spot wild dolphins, and we did!

On the way back to port I got seasick though. But it was worth it!

The last day we had the car we drove to Palmitos Park and this time I wore a scarf around my hat.

We saw all sorts of animals and birds and some beautiful orchids.

And more dolphins! Although these were very well trained...

Seeing this monkey in action, especially when running, me us realize we are not so different after all...So human-like, or maybe we're the ones who are monkey-like?

We spent the last day at the beach and I made an attempt at swimming in the Atlantic ocean. It didn't go to well, the waves were really good at moving those rocks around my feet...I came back with several small cuts on my feet, I guess I should have tried swimming at a less rocky part of the beach. (The photo above is taken on a different, even rockier location.)

Skin problems and sea-sickness aside, we had a wonderful trip. It wasn't too hot and we still had great weather every day, I think I might go there again!

Continuing on the seven things you didn't know about me, here's something else;

I wanted to be a rock star when I grew up...Or an actress. Or musical artist! I'm not too bad of a singer actually, but...When I got older I realized that that kind of lifestyle wasn't for me. I like routine and stability too much, no touring or moving around and never knowing what I'll be doing after this tour is over etc. I prefer weekend trips and that sort of things and having a steady job and staying in the same place not too far away from my family. But every time I'm at a concert or see a play or musical or burlesque act, that longing to be on stage awakens, until I remember why it's not for me again...

For the record, both a cousin of mine and my brother are actors who both sing and dance, which of course makes me wonder once again if I could have made it...If they can do it you know. For now I'm sticking to dressing like a star though, hah.

What did you dream of becoming when you grow up?

Back in Finland and seven things you didn't know about me, part 4

2011-04-07T21:02:00.001+02:00

Hello everybody! I'm back from Grand Canaria and a lovely holiday with fantastic weather every day and amazing scenery lot's of sand and lot's of sun. We had a wonderful time although I was suffering a bit from my skin problems, but you don't want to hear about those now, do you?

Since I've been back I've done nothing but trying to recover from the trip and work, work, work. Tomorrow I've got the day off but that's only cos I'm going to Vasa to get braces for my lower teeth, yey. Or not. But I try to think positively and have planned a second hand shopping route as a reward. Next week when I have more time I will go through my 600+ holiday photos and select some to publish here, until then I leave you with another fact you didn't know about me!

I have never smoked a cigarette or anything else for that matter in my whole life. Honestly, never even been tempted! I guess I've had it easy since pretty much none of my friends have smoked (much) either but that does not mean that I've never been offered. The biggest reason I've never wanted to try is that I've always disliked the smell. I love it that it's nowadays forbidden in public spaces so that I don't have to be affected by it. I also never really got the point of smoking, I mean can it possibly taste /feel good when it smells so bad? And why waste money on something that is ultimately bad for your health? You can do it if you want to, just don't stand too close to me right afterward, please...

Dress from an old pattern and seven things you didn't know about me, part 3

2011-03-30T15:15:00.002+02:00

I finally got around to making something based on patterns from the old booklet I found last summer. But for some strange reason I just cannot seem to make anything these days without adding some sort of personal twist to it. This time I couldn't stick to just one pattern, but used two, one for the skirt and one for the top part.

The skirt pattern was a simple "put together 8 identical pieces"-kind of thing and the top part is based on the top of the jacket below...with a twist too, as I wanted a different collar.

I should have made a muslin first, I admit, but the dress didn't turn out too bad. But I have learned not to trust the patterns in this booklet too much without fitting...

By the way, check out what I found on my last trip to the thrift store;

I've been looking for a suitable not too modern looking hand bag for ages, and this one only cost 80 cents! I was also very happy about the belt buckles (20 cents each) and the fabric in the background wasn't such a bad find either...Anyways, I've still got some facts to spill about myself;

Fact number three is that I haven't shaved my legs for over a year. I'm not kidding! Zoom in enough on the (original of) the picture of me above and you'd be able to see my hairy legs...The first reason for not shaving is that my sensitive atopic skin can't handle it. I've tried using moisturizing hair removal stuff but nope, my skin still gets so dry and itchy that I have literally scratched til it bleed. So I thought better to be a bit hairy than bloody, right?

But I didn't stop there. My thoughts went on to wonder why women shave their legs in the first place? To please...who? My man doesn't really mind, and I don't really care either as long as there's no itchiness or stubble. Or blood. Thankfully I've never been one to care to much about what other people think about me either, so I decided to stop shaving. I admit to trimming the ehem, "lengths" every now and then, but the plan is that hopefully, soon, I won't feel the need to. I'm working on that confidence still...

By the way, have you ever thought about what a great way to make money hair removal product are? It's a never ending need...as long as our beauty standards make us do it. Ever thought about how much waste the industry produces? All those disposable razors going in the bin and hair removal creams going down the drain...I'm quite glad not to be a part of it anymore. And I'm saving both time and money!

Do your beauty standards require being hair free? Why/why not?

By the way, me and my hairy legs are probably lying on a beach without internet access when this post goes out, just in case you're wondering why I'm not replying to any comments...I'm of to Playa Del Ingles!

Seven things you didn't know about me, part 2

2011-03-22T21:46:00.002+01:00

The "seven things you didn't know about me" series continues! Here's fact number two;

I'm a feminist. I have recently found several interesting (swedish) blogs about the subject, and the more I learn about feminism, the more it appeals to me. I think it's ridiculous that women get paid less than men and that 99% of the worlds assets are owned by men. It bothers me that women around the world still can be bought or sold as if they were cattle or something. I get annoyed when people generalize and assume that all women are a certain way, or say things like "of course he will react like this, he's a man" as if all men react the same. I don't understand why it's okay for a girl to wear trousers, but not okay for a man to wear a skirt. I mean seriously, anatomically skirts ought to be quite comfortable for men when you think about it, right?

Image from here.

Also check out this discussion if you're interested.

Okay so I got side-tracked. I just think it's sad that we are brought up and denied certain toys/clothes/colours because of our gender. I'd like all (positive) traits/roles to be available to all people. I'd like to live in a world where we treat each other as individuals, as opposed to women/men, white/coloured, gay/straight etc. I think women/girls should be able to do or wear typical men's/boys stuff if they want to without being seen as butch and probably lesbian, and that men and boys should be able to do or wear typical women's/girls stuff if they want to, without being seen as weak or feminine and suspected of being gay. Why are we so quick to judge each other? And why are typically feminine traits seen as undesirable?

In my own life I try not to expect anything in particular when I meet new people based on how they look. I try to be open to all options, and treat everyone the same. Of course this does not always work (I'm only human!) but I try...And when my friends start having babies they won't be given anything pink or baby blue from me...but if it's a boy he might get a doll and a girl might get a toy car just in case no one else thought about giving the kids more to choose from than the "normal" set.

Of course it's okay with pink dresses and dolls for girls and cars and blue trousers for boys, but shouldn't it be okay the other way around too? What do you think? Why?

Anyways, here's a picture of a feminist going out for a meal with the workmates. No skirts in sight!

Last but not least, here's some links to the swedish feminist blogs I read;

Lady Dahmer
Höja våra röster
Zettermark med Z
Fumikofem

Three black tops and seven thing you didn't know about me, part 1

2011-03-15T20:08:00.000+01:00

I have been given an award! Bea who gave it to me also challenged me to tell you readers seven things about myself that you might not know about me from before...This was really hard, so I decided to focus a bit on my personal beliefs and opinions this time, as these are things I myself find interesting to find out about and discuss with others. However, these texts turned out pretty long so in order not to bore you all with too much text I'm gonna post one or two things at a time. First thing you didn't know about me comes here;

1. My jaw is too small. Most of my life I have unknowingly been pushing my jaw forward in order to bite, close my lips, speak etc resulting in worn out joints in the jaw and muscle tension, which later in life are likely to cause headaches all sorts of trouble. So my dentist has recommended that I get it fixed as best, and soon, as possible. This means that I have been wearing braces since the week before christmas, and that after our trip to Grand Canaria, I will get braces for my lower teeth as well (I only have "train tracks" on my upper teeth at the moment). Once all teeth are nice and straight, I will have an operation to lengthen my jaw by a few millimeters. This is not the end of it though. Nope, I'll be wearing braces for the rest of my life, but thankfully at some point (1-3 years) they won't be glued to my teeth, but removable and only required for a few hours a day/night too keep the teeth from moving again.

So I wear braces, but you will never see any proof of it unless you meet me in real life. Thus, you won't be seeing any images of my teeth for the next year or two...because my intention with this blog is to get you inspired, and I personally think the braces kinda ruin the vintage look, as do my modern glasses, so I take them off for photos when I remember. Now you know why my mouth is always closed in my photos.

To spice this post up a little, here's a series of photos I took to show you my latest flea market finds;

Notice the closed mouth and lack of glasses? Anyways, all the tops are second hand and the skirt is self made.

The story goes on

2011-03-11T13:12:00.000+01:00

I'm feeling a bit like someone who does not practice what they preach. A few days after writing about limiting my shopping I have gone and placed two(!) orders for new clothes...But then again, I am trying to get some stuff that I ehem, think, I need for our upcoming trip to Grand Canaria. Like a new bikini!

This on is from Halens and I ordered it in navy blue with white dots (click on the image to see the whole bikini). I also ordered the top in black, in case it might match some bottoms I already own. I would have liked the bottoms to bee a bit more retro with a higher waist but I haven't been able to find any in this country...

At Haléns I also spotted a coat that I could not pass by, come on, it's fake leopard! And on sale...(click for source)

I also realized that my beloved white (well, used to be white) ballerinas are falling apart and that I desperately need some white shoes for warmer days. So I sent for some to try on from Ellos;

Hopefully they are comfortable even with the heel, and small enough for my tiny feet! I also completely fell in love with these;

And because I have started to like my converse style winter shoes so much, I wanted something similar for summer;

Okay, so I might not keep all this stuff that I just ordered, being a size tiny I kinda need to send for a few alternatives and hope that at least one might fit me. Besides a girl can never have enough shoes, right? Eh...

Controlled shopping spree...or?

2011-03-03T11:57:00.000+01:00

This winter I have been trying to control my shopping a bit. Reasons;

- I'm sick of the consumer society where consuming=happiness and people buy things for the sake of buying. I don't want to become someone who does that.

- I have too much stuff already, do I really, really need more...?

- I have a huge pile of to-alter items that have been waiting for action, maybe I should focus on making what I already have wearable instead of adding to the pile? What is ultimately more satisfying, buying new/second hand or making/altering something myself? Personally, being the creative person that I am, I think the second option...

- I'm trying to change my way of thinking in the direction of "being happy with what you've got" in order to make myself, well, happier!

All this has made me a lot picker on the few occasions that I actually have gone shopping, as I am really trying to think about whether I really need something or just want it. Will it fit with other items in my wardrobe/home? Is it practical etc. And yes, I have also considerably limited myself when it comes to actually going somewhere to shop. Why did I feel like going shopping? Because I need something or just for the sake of shopping? Could I make something instead of going out? I have also struggled a bit with accepting that coming home empty handed is not a failure, but a success. This one is still hard...

Anybody else recognize these kinds of thoughts?

So basically I was doing pretty well. Until we went to the big city of Vaasa and all of it's shops last weekend...

On the other hand, I really, really liked this jacket/jumper (from H&M) and I have been looking for some high-waisted jeans (second hand but look brand new) for a long time already. The stripy socks are also H&M.

The stripey top is an item that I have tried on a few times before in the H&M shops, and now I finally came to the conclusion that I must want it, as it keeps catching my eye time and time again...The shoes are mail-order H&M, with blue and white stripes which means that they are likely to match about 50% of my wardrobe and thus, totally acceptable, even thought they are one size too big and will probably hurt my feet if I wear them for very long...Everything else is old stuff from my closet.

This is no so bad you may think, but wait for it, apart from the items I'm showing here I also bought some other stuff, such as a basic white tank top and a black and white dotted umbrella from H&M. And from a flea-market recommended by Tiina I ended up buying things such as a couple of stripey jumpers, a basic black short sleeved shirt, a black skirt (modern) and two modern summer dresses and a book on basic pattern making. Get why I'm now wondering about the success of this trip?

I blame our upcoming trip to Grand Canaria. You can never have too many of those summer dresses, right?

3 x outfit

2011-02-24T21:03:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow night Mr Kitten and I are going to Vaasa to listen to a rockabilly band from Sweden called Fatboy. As usual, I'm having trouble deciding on what to wear. So I took some pictures to help me decide...Which probably didn't do me any good as I still haven't made a choice, hah. But anyway, here's a couple of my suggestions for your enjoyment, all dresses sewn and designed by me.

Plaid and zebra stripes

2011-02-19T10:11:00.000+01:00

Remember this skirt? Well, since it was too big for me to begin with, there was a strip of fabric left after I took it in. And you know how I like to use every last bit of the fabric when I make something...So, I made something from the leftovers. A hat! And it feel like I'm getting better at hat-making too, this one turned out pretty well I think.

I've made something else as well, from a piece of a zebra-striped car-seat-cover. Something to vary my winter boots with. Detachable fur trims! And I'm thinking about making a whole set of matching items, detachable trims for the sleeves of one of my coats, a collar, a bag, maybe make a matching hat? Or maybe I should save a piece and make some furry cushions for the sofa? So many ideas, such a limited piece of zebra striped fake fur...

At the moment I'm working on a bigger project, but I think I might have to take a break from it this weekend, my arm is a bit overworked from certain tasks at work and I think it needs to rest. I don't want to end up with a tennis-elbow...What about you readers, what sort of projects have you been up to lately?

Challenge accepted!

2011-02-14T20:19:00.005+01:00

For the first time ever I've won a give-away, and my prize arrived in the post last week...Pin-up shopping related post-its! They are just too cute, and perfect for someone like me who likes to write lists, hah.

Zizzi, who's give-away I won, also gave me challenge, to show what odd things we have in our flat. Well, I had a look around and took a few pictures of things that you might not find in the average persons apartment...

First I should warn you, there's shoes and hats and dresses and thing all over the place, take this bookcase for example;

If you turn about 90° and look towards the kitchen, you'll see another pair of shoes (no, there's not enough room in my closet) a vintage 60's dress and a vintage clock, as well as my aprons.

A few steps forward and another turn and there's another vintage dress, and a fancy mask which I bought with the intention to steal the feathers and use them on a hat. And I will. Someday.

Back in the living room there's another book case not containing that many books. Instead it holds my vintage camera collection, some bags and, yes, shoes.

There's another book case with shoes and dvd's and actual books as well, but I don't want to make this post too long and make you loose interest now do I? So on to the next odd thing;

By the door to the balcony there is a garden-elf waiting for it to get warmer outside...And in a flower pot up and to the right is his much smaller distant cousin busy...fertilizing?

Hope you enjoyed this little peek into our flat, and that you've all had a nice Valentines day!

And the winner is...

2011-02-09T07:39:00.003+01:00

The Valentines day hat giveaway has ended and I have now pulled one name out of -surprise, surprise- a hat! So without further ado, the winner of one heart shaped hat is...

Tanja! Congratulations!

Please e-mail me you address to hippie_pippie(a)hotmail.com as soon as possible so that I can mail you your prize in time for the 14th. Thank you all who entered, better luck next time!

Valentines day hat giveaway!

2011-02-05T11:39:00.003+01:00

My hat collection just keeps on growing. I finally got around to making this particular hat after I found some red felting wool on sale...The inspiration was an old image from the 40's that I had saved on my old computer. The one that crashed. And no matter how much I googled, I haven't been able to find the image of the lady wearing a heart shaped hat again. I think it was paired with another image of a lady with a hat shaped like two lips with a cigarette sticking out...If you know what images I'm talking about and where to find them, I would very much like to see them again! But anyway, here's what it looks like;

Since Valentines day is coming up soon, and I had enough felt to make two heart shaped hats, I though I'd give one away. Sound good? The hat has an elastic band to keep it in place and it's made from soft 100% wool. Leave me a comment before 22.00 on Tuesday 8th (Finnish time) if you'd like to wear one for Valentines day! If you want a better chance of winning, put a link to the competition on your own blog and tell me about it in a separate comment. Good Luck!

Dressing like a granny

2011-01-29T13:59:00.004+01:00

Hello readers! This is what I'm wearing at the moment of typing;

I just finished turning the skirt from a size 38 to a size 34 and I just had to wear it right away. I won't be wearing it too much longer though, Mr Kitten and I are soon going out for a meal with some of his friends and after that, we're all going to see the local revue "Oopåålapåtte". I'll probably go wearing my red jeans and something more rockabella-style than 40's inspired...Mr Kitten tends to think I dress like his grandma did when I wear vintage and I'm not sure that's the impression I want his friends to get of me, hah.

Anyway, I managed to finish a non-sewing project this week also, I turned this;

Into this;

A lot more to my taste...I used gift wrapping paper and some leftover plain black paper. Didn't even take that long! Right, I'd better go have a look in my closet so that I have an outfit ready when it's time to go, hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Would you ever consider going out with a table mat on your head?

2011-01-24T20:42:00.004+01:00

Funny how I blog so much less the weeks Mr Kitten and I work similar hours, as in happen to be home at the same time...Anyone else get that? There's no time to read other people's blogs and keep one up myself unless I got the flat to myself, and there's enough light to take photos, and I have something to take photos of etc. I just don't get how some people are able to post every single day?! Don't these people have work, families and so on? Maybe I'm just a slow blogger...

Anyway, since it's been a while since the energy to take photos has occurred on a sunny day with no work, I'll show some older photos. Here for example, is a table mat turned hat and a pair of cute leopard-gloves that I don't think I've shown before.

Both from Citymarket. I made the "hat" by wetting the middle part of it in sugar and water, and then shaping it between two bowls until the water had evaporated. The material seems to be some kind of plastic, (a natural material would probably get a stronger/better shape) so I 'm actually surprised it changed shape at all! Once dry, and stiffened by the sugar, I just attached an elastic band to keep it on my head and voilá;

I am considering making the brim a bit smaller though, to better suit my small head. I'll also add some flowers or something, depending on occasion and whether or not I'll ever go out with a table mat on my head...A tip for others who wear hats, is to get those candle decoration thingies (ljus-manchett in swedish) and use the plastic flowers from those to vary your hats, or match the hat with the colours of the rest of the outfit. Around here, the decorations only cost 10-50 cents at the flea-markets, so it's a really cheap way to get hold of hobby material. Have you ever tried your hand a hat-making?

Good hair day

2011-01-10T16:04:00.004+01:00

I was rather pleased at the way my hair came out on Saturday. For once, I got the fringe to stand up a bit, just like in the pictures of old movie stars...

And then I went and covered it all up with a hat. I don't think I've showed this vintage hat before, even though I've had it for quite some time. It's made from a really warm and soft and wintry material, but only covers a small part of the head, so it's a bit tricky to know when to wear it. On Saturday I wore it tho the antiques and vintage fair/market held in Kokkola, and got a few nice comments about it...

The fair had very little vintage, only two sellers who sold vintage clothing and no retro furniture whatsoever (which is what I was looking for). But among all the antique porcelain, glassware, books etc I did find something with a fifties style to it. It is quite possibly the first piece of art I have ever bought, it's about 30 cm high and it looks like it could be made of teak...And I absolutely love it and pretty much go "Oh" every time I see it;

How was your weekend?

I've got my red jeans to keep me warm

2011-01-07T18:00:00.006+01:00

I have done a few nice finds lately (see previous posts) and here's proof of another;

A pair of red jeans have been on my list of things to keep an eye out for when thrifting for a long time now. I found these (top also) in a flea-market in Vasa before x-mas, and they have been in use quite a few times already. Because no matter how many skirts/dresses I buy/make, when I get home from work I still end up wearing jeans or sweatpants in the winter. I am too cold in skirts and really cannot be bothered to add layer upon layer of tights to keep me warm, when all I do most days is sit by the computer/sewing machine/couch and only hang out with Mr Kitten. If I'm going out it's a different story, but still, it was -26 C on Wednesday which is not really my idea of skirt weather.

I haven't been very busy playing with hair styles lately either, because going outside means wearing a hat, as in something that will keep your head warm-but also ruins most hairstyles. Winter is tough. But tomorrow, when it's only going to be around -8 C, I am putting on a skirt and fixing a hairdo that can be worn with a warm-ish half hat, and I'm going to an antiques and vintage fair in the town of Kokkola. I'm not quite sure what to expect, but I got some money for x-mas and I wouldn't mind some more vintage stuff, be it clothes or furniture, I can do both! Wish me luck!

P.s. I've only used baking soda once for washing my hair since the beginning of December, water only the rest of the time! Ina is doing something similar and wrote a really good post about it here. Check it out if you're interested in going shampoo-free!

Christmas and cardigans

2011-01-02T18:35:00.003+01:00

Almost a year ago, I started knitting. I haven't knitted anything more complicated than leg warmers since we learned the basics in school, so it has taken me some time...But now it's finally finished, my first knitted cardigan!

I can't seem to stick to any patterns anymore, so this is made without, and therefore slightly too wide in front of the shoulders, the arms slightly too tight in the same area and so on. But maybe it's still wearable? We'll see...

Remember this?

I've taken it in and shortened it now, and I'm pretty pleased with the result! It wasn't all that difficult either, as I had read this tutorial by Casey. Very helpful.

Did you have nice holiday? Our Christmas and new years have been very low key, Mr Kitten has had the flu the whole time so we've pretty much stayed at home and watched movies.

Happy new year!

Seasons greetings

2010-12-26T12:09:00.000+01:00

Dot dot dot

2010-12-15T18:44:00.006+01:00

Mr Kitten and I went shopping to Kärkkäinen last weekend. What I came home with all seemed to have something in common, can you spot (pun intended) the similarities? The gift wrapping paper I plan to use for making some pretty storage boxes, I've been looking for dotted paper for ages! The blue package is our new shower curtain, in case you were wondering.

Earlier this fall I had plans for making a shirtwaist dress. Well, I made the shirt, but as this is the first shirt I've made since I was in school (aged 14) and I made up the pattern myself, it didn't come out exactly as planned. I also chose a fabric that turned out to bee pretty itchy...Oh, well. Can't win em all. But I now know what I need to do differently next time. To make myself feel better I made another circle skirt instead, this time with a hidden pocket! Turned out a lot better than the shirt...

As I mentioned in my last post, I took some old clothes to be sold off at a nearby flea-market. Of course this meant more room for new items in my closet! At said flea-market I found an item I could not walk away from, even though it had lost it's shape (bad washing?) and needs a bit of work to fit me. An embroided cardigan, 50's style, most likely vintage (it has beads as buttons!). I have been searching for something like this for a while and now I've got one! Hopefully it will come out wearable after I take it in a bit, shorten it etc.

Another lovely find was this vintage dress;

Great colour and style, matching belt (pretty much) and my size! Nothing to alter!? Definitely a style I will try and copy for other dresses. It is not as long as it looks btw, camera was a bit high...And note my matching nail polish!

Hope you are all doing well, I'm going to Vasa to get braces tomorrow...No sticky candy for me for the next few years.

Goodbye and hello

2010-12-07T19:38:00.003+01:00

I finally got my act together and got myself a table at a flea market. Tomorrow I'm taking two large bags of clothes to be sold off. I also thought I'd try and get rid of my grandmother's old coat;

Sadly, this mint condition 60's coat is huge on me. I think it's about a european size 40 (I'm 34). It has a beautiful pattern and some very decorative seams, so I thought about keeping it in case I get bigger in the future but...It just takes up too much space, so I'm letting go. However, if any of you readers are interested in it, let me know! I'm not so sure the folks in this town would appreciate a coat like this, and I won't be surprised if nobody here wants it. It that happens, I will give it to charity.

Pretty much the same goes for the coat below too. It was brought over from America in the 40's or 50's by my mother's aunt, and it is also about a size 40. Not mint condition though, the fur is a bit torn under the arms and around the hooks in the front, but I believe this can be fixed. There's a matching hat too...

Check out the tag!

Of the very few vintage pieces of clothing (hopefully) getting sold, along with the modern stuff, is another piece from my grandmothers closet. Marked a size 42, this set is also much to big for me.

Bye, bye, clothes I don't use...and while I was sorting through the stuff I'm selling, there on the floor, between the shoes that don't fit, I found my engagement ring! The ring has been missing for a while, and after a couple of weeks of searching I gave up hope and got a new one...so now I have two! Mad. Which one do I wear? Perhaps I should keep using the new one, it seems to be half a size smaller, so maybe it'll stay on better...

Dear Santa,

2010-12-02T12:03:00.004+01:00

Christmas is coming...But I don't want any presents. I have everything I need (and lot's and lot's of stuff I don't really need as well). So please Santa, give my presents to someone who really need them. Thanks!

I personally am going to buy my family presents that get given to people in poor countries, a couple of goats perhaps, because this is what Christmas is really about, isn't it? Giving to those who need it. There are loads of other things in different price ranges that you can buy too, blankets, id-cards, education, plants etc. Even a 5 euro school uniform can change someone's life. You can make a difference.

I will be buying the presents from lahjaksilehmä and toisenlainenlahja (Finnish sites) and I'm sure you have this kind of sites in your countries as well, in case you get inspired. My family will most likely get some small gifts too, maybe something hand made, but the majority of my Christmas money will go to the charity organizations I've linked to above. Will you do the same? Come on, let's give to those who need it!

Alive and shopping!

2010-11-24T19:32:00.005+01:00

I haven't gotten back to sewing yet, but I'm definitely back to shopping, especially at flea-markets and charity-shops. In fact, I did some thrifting earlier today! One of the items to come home with me was this pretty negligee...I'm not exactly sure I'll wear it (it only cost 50 cents and it's kinda fragile) but I'm thinking I might have it hanging on a wall somewhere, along with the rest of my collection.

A couple of weeks ago I also found this retro plant holder, a perfect match to my flower pot table!

I don't know if it's because it's winter now, and x-mas coming soon, but I'm having a thing for red, black and white at the moment. I wouldn't mind our whole apartment decorated in those colours, checkered floors, black sofa with red cushions, kitchen cupboards in shiny red and so on. Maybe this will be the case someday, in a couple of rooms at least. I'm gonna start with making a cute cushion out of this retro fabric, and maybe hanging something nice on the retro hanger...

Last but not least, I have adopted yet another pair of shoes. Who knew you could "need" so many?

Done any thrifting lately?

Back on track?

2010-11-16T09:34:00.003+01:00

The past few weeks have been pretty stressful at work, leaving me with very little energy to be creative or go shopping or blog. But things are looking up, and I'm starting to feel more like myself again. On Saturday we had our work x-mas party, but as I had less than 2 hours to get ready when I got home from work, I didn't exactly have the time to take any outfit pictures...But this is the dress and shoes I wore;

I combined them with some black patterned stockings and this purse;

All vintage! I also tried my hand at making a Joan from mad men-inspired hairdo (following one of the many tutorials on youtube). It turned out pretty well, but as mentioned, no pictures to prove it...

Now that my energy and inspiration levels are more or less back to normal, I'm at a loss for what to do on my day off, (today) or rather, what to do first. Should I sew? Go to a flea-market? Just do housework? Try to do it all at the same time? Well, sitting here certainly won't get anything done, I'm off, have a nice day!

Weekend!

2010-11-06T12:09:00.003+01:00

After a week of trying to adjust to it getting dark around 5 and not 6, Mr Kitten and I are going dancing to try and cheer ourselves up. The picture below has nothing to do with dancing, I just wanted to show off my new hat.

Hope you're all having a fantastic weekend!

Lady in Gray

2010-10-27T18:59:00.008+02:00

Sometimes when I go thrifting I get lucky (or stick to tight rules perhaps?) and I end up bringing home a bunch of clothes that all seem to magically match...

Jumper+skirt, looks good with red accessories (bought or thrifted earlier).

Same gray skirt matches black shirt with white stripes, black shoes and red hat+jumper.

And would you believe it, the old ladies at the charity shop gave the dress above (again matching gray) to me for free, after I discovered a small hole at the side. However, this dress is quite big on me (and a bit itchy) so I thought I'd ask if anybody else is interested in it, they were going to throw it away! Waist measures 43 when lying flat, bust 52, hip 55 at widest part. The collar also looks big on me, so this might not look good on other petite ladies either...But if anybody is interested I'd be quite happy to for example trade it for something else, make me an offer!

Pair 60-something of shoes (closest to camera) cost 2 euros and came home with me from a thrift shop last Saturday. They are lined and warm, great for winter and the sort of temperatures we are having at the moment (there's even some snow!) On Saturday we also began the winter bathing season, but before we went my hair looked like this;

This is day five of the same set of pincurls, no need to wash often when you don't use shampoo anymore! But after this picture was taken my hair had to handle hydro-cortison-creme to fight my scalp rash, getting sweaty in the sauna and getting dipped into sea water when winter bathing...

And for some strange reason I decided to use considerably less baking soda than normal when I got home and finally washed it. Needless to say, my hair didn't feel quite as clean as I would have liked it afterwards...But now, after I've washed it again with more baking soda, rubbing it into all of my hair and not just the roots, and rinsing with the apple cider vinegar-mix, it feels as if I'd washed it with shampoo. I've also gone and gotten myself a different medicine for my atopic scalp rash, which hopefully won't interfere with my hair experiments.

My conclusion is that baking soda is indeed very likely to wash away all sorts of products from your hair, if you use enough of it (!) and spread it out from root to tip. However, I will be trying this again with hairspray or something to make sure, and report back...

Playing pinup and going no-poo

2010-10-20T08:39:00.005+02:00

What do you think readers? Should I quit my job at the supermarket and start modeling?

Erh, maybe not, I can remember the photographer being amazed at how bad I was at keeping my eyes open for my graduation pics...I guess I'm just really flash sensitive.

Anyway, last week after complaining I wasn't having any luck at the flea-markets, I went to a couple I haven't been to for a while and came home with a bag full of stuff! Among other, this cute bathing/gymnastics suit. The rest will be in the next post...

On a different note, today it has been 2 months since I last used shampoo. Yes, I've been bitten by the no-poo bug. For the first four weeks or so my hair was pretty gross, but then it changed, and lately I've only washed it once or twice a week. Hold on, wash-but not with shampoo? Nope. At first I tried the conditioner only (CO) method, but I'm not sure if it worked or not, as my hair wasn't used to no shampoo and was still over producing oils. Plus I really didn't like the to me, strong smell of the conditioner (I used erittäin hieno suomalainen hiushoito).

So I switched to using baking soda and rinsing with a vinegar and water mix. Sometimes I mix in a bit of honey with the baking soda as well. My goal is to eventually wash with water only (WO) as my parents and at least one of my brothers have been doing for the last year, and their hair looks great! But they all have short hair...

To be honest, my hair doesn't feel or look that different, but then I've always had pretty good hair as I use so little product (and very seldom) and usually let it air dry anyway. The best thing about my new method though, is that I don't have to wash it every two days anymore. This is the first time I've done pin-curls since I stopped with the shampoo, and I'm very interested in seeing how long they will last. I will be pinning them up again over night to hopefully make them last longer.

Sound interesting? Google "no-poo" and you'll find loads of links...

And to finish, here's a list of reason to why I wanted to try this;

-I'm lazy. I cannot be bothered to re-set my hair every two days, so why not try a method that would allow me to keep it set for longer? Don't know if it will work yet though, testing in progress!
-My parents and brother are doing it, and they only use water and it still looks great. I should have the same genes, right?
-I have atopic skin, which means I have dry skin and have to keep using creme to keep my rash at bay. My scalp was getting really dry and itchy, and shampoo apparently dries out both skin and hair. My scalp feels better now.
-I got tired of buying and trying new brands of shampoo all the time, as nothing seemed to be quite right for me, my hair and my scalp. And because of my dry scalp, I though I might have dandruff, so I used dandruff shampoo (very bad for nature). No dandruff now...
-The environment is probably happier with less shampoo in it, and fewer plastic shampoo bottles.
-I'm not very big on consuming. Especially when it comes to products/chemicals we don't necessarily need. What we do need, I try to get the eco-friendly version of. Baking soda in a paper carton with a small plastic lid means less waste than a bunch of plastic bottles right?

Questions?

Trying.

2010-10-14T19:59:00.006+02:00

I don't know what to say. Blogging is hard when there's nothing to blog about. I haven't found anything worth mentioning at the flea-markets lately, and I haven't really had much inspiration for sewing either. Maybe because I find it hard to get started when Mr Kitten is at home? I kinda need to be alone when I'm sewing, otherwise I can't concentrate enough...or something. Anybody else get that?

Anyway, I'm trying to get my groove back now that our shifts are different again (next 2-3 weeks one of us has evening shifts when the other has mornings, after which we'll have 3 weeks of same shifts, again). More me-time. This is my inspiration;

Picture from vintagefashionlibrary.com

Picture from Vivien of Holloway.

I haven't done a shirt or anything with a collar since the one I made in school at 14. So it's a bit of a challenge. And as usual I have no real pattern, just combining a collar + long sleeve from a shirt pattern from 1998 (pretty much the last time I drafted any patterns from Burda) with my trusted self made universal top pattern, the rest I'm making up as I go along. But I keep getting distracted. Coming up is 8 days of work in a row, including weekend, so we'll see how much energy is left for sewing...Wish me luck!

How to make a dress from an oversize shirt

2010-10-06T19:46:00.007+02:00

I got a request to make a tutorial on how I made this dress;

First of all, you will need to know some basic sewing to do this, because I won't go into details on how to add a zipper and such, as it would simply make this post waaay too long. Secondly, finding a suitable shirt to re-vamp might not be that easy, as getting enough fabric for both top and bottom even for little old me was tricky. But still possible! I'd look for something with wide and long sleeves...Also, you could just make the skirt-part if there isn't enough fabric.

As I didn't plan to make a tutorial when I made the dress, I took no pictures of the process itself. So I'll just have to try and explain what I did...Hopefully I'll get you inspired to re-use something old and make something new, and save the environment etc. So here goes. I first thrifted a very large sized shirt with all in one sleeves, made from a thick and suitably stiff material;

I decided on my desired skirt length and marked it, plus a 1 cm seam allowance, measuring from the hem up. Then I cut my skirt part out, zig-zagged the raw edges and sewed close the left side all the way up. I also carefully removed the pockets and sewed them back on higher up.

The next step was to cut the collar out, leaving a bit of fabric at the front to work with. At the back of the collar I undid the seam and removed the collar from the back of the shirt. Here I noticed that I would not be able to fit my head through the collar if sewed shut (where there used to be buttons to undo), so I left it open at the back instead. I then turned the undone neck parts back in towards each other and sewed shut, leaving the back with two straps, too short to tie, but long enough close with a button and buttonhole or my version; hook and loop tape for more adjustability.

Here's a little explanation on how I cut the shirt up;

(Click for larger image)

But before I did any cutting I had to measure the sleeves across to see whether or not they were wide enough to make into a top for the dress. They were, just...So I cut the pieces out, comparing the width to my best fitting top pattern. I made some adjustments, added darts at the bust, and made sure the back (and front!) was high enough to cover a bra. All edges got zig-zagged and the darts sewed. I then sewed the left side shut.

The next step was to fit the collar in. I fitted the collar as if the top was a vest or pullover and the collar was peeking out, and sewed the pieces together, really close to the collar. The zig-zagged egdes were turned in, of course.

Now, the sides/arm holes were still open. I cut the extra fabric from the collar (sticking out from underneath the top) to match the sides, turned them in towards each other and sewed shut. I then turned the rest of the sides/arm holes over, as well the back, and stitched shut. Now, it was time to add the top to the bottom!

I matched the left side seams to each other, and then the right sides, still open. Next, the center of the top to the center of the bottom, and then on and on, center of top gaps to center of bottom gaps until I ran out of pins...All this to get the wrinkles to spread out nicely and evenly.

Finally, I added a zipper in the gap at the right side, starting in the skirt-part going all the way up to the arm-hole. Done!

Phew! I hope I didn't miss anything, and that you get the idea despite the lack of proper sewing terminology etc. I am, after all, a swedish speaking self-taught seamstress...But if something was really unclear you can always ask about it. And if you do go ahead and make something inspired by this post (or any other posts of mine for that matter) do let me know, I would love to see the results. Good luck and happy sewing!

Secret project revealed

2010-09-29T11:51:00.004+02:00

I cannot tell you how pleased I am with myself right now. The reason is that I have managed to turn this mega-sized fake leather bag;

Into a corset;

This was probably the most challenging project I done in years...I did the pattern myself, made a test version from a piece of old bed sheet and then ordered the boning and planchet from Belle Modeste, where I also got a few tips on how to make the corset by looking at the pretty corsets they have made.

The whole thing has taken me a few weeks to complete, and it is not perfect, but I'm ok with that, considering it's the first thing like it I've ever tried my hands on. The biggest challenge turned out to be the fact that I had chosen such a bad material, hah. The fake leather bag that I paid 3 euros for seemed to get stretchier the more I worked with it, plus it was kinda sticky, so I had to sew through paper(!) to get it to go through the machine without sticking. Plus every needle mark is still visible, the thread tension never really worked with the material no matter how I changed it etc. Also, the eyelets at the back were a bit tricky...Really, I'm just glad to have it over with!

If anybody else wants to try this, my best advice is to chose a good sturdy material that doesn't stretch in any way, other then that, it wasn't as difficult as I had imagined...

The last of the summer dresses

2010-09-22T20:03:00.004+02:00

It seems me being practical and thinking about what I actually will/can wear on a day to day basis has paid off, I've worn the sailor inspired trousers several times already.

The past few years I have made quite a few items that have been worn once and then stayed in the closet since, or worse yet, never even gotten out of there in the first place! So I have decided to take a brake from making summer dresses and such, as I didn't even manage to wear half of the summer clothes I own in the summer that passed. Instead I'm gonna try and continue on the practical route...We'll see how that goes!

Before the blog starts filling up with warm and practical winter clothes, here's the last of the summer projects, a thrifted over-sized shirt;

Which I turned into a summer dress;

Goodbye summer...

My vintage Nokias

2010-09-14T19:00:00.004+02:00

Did you know that before Nokia made mobile phones, they made rubber? Nokia is still one of the most well known rubber boot brands in Finland. Apparently they made other types of shoes as well, such as these;

My dad found them when they were cleaning out an old shed where my great grandfathers house once stood. They have been in my possession for a few years, but I haven't used them as I had no appropriate not too bright white laces. Until I took a trip to a local flea-market last Sunday.

I wore them out yesterday, with my matching (now with waistband!) sailor style trousers, when I found these sunglasses;

They are slightly too big for my little head, and not as cat-eye as I would want, but for the price of 1 euro...Close enough.

Saturday in Vaasa

2010-09-06T20:58:00.007+02:00

Last Saturday was spent in Vaasa, I had arranged to meet a fellow blogger and seamstress, TuunausTiina, to go thrifting with her. This is what I wore, note the hat!

(Sorry for the cameraphone-picture quality)

I rather enjoyed thrifting with someone who knows what vintage is about and who knows sewing and can see potential in items other see as trash. Sadly, we didn't find anything vintage to fit our tastes and budgets apart from this one hat which I bought;

But none of us went home empty handed either. Lucky for me these granny style winter boots were too small for Tiina;

Tiina found at least one skirt and a dress and we both found some fabric (mine just a plain dark blue, nothing exiting). I also found a couple of cute tops;

The last of the tops I bought ended up matching my newly finished sailor inspired trousers perfectly;

However I'm still considering adding a waistband to the trousers, to get a bit more...waist. Tomorrow I'm back at work again, so it's back to sewing only when I have energy left after work. Being on holiday was fun while it lasted.

More sewing and some treasures

2010-09-01T20:30:00.008+02:00

The sewing continues, I have now made a pair of high-waisted trousers, a strapless top and a bolero, all from the same fabric. The bolero and the top are made using the silver scissor patterns, the top is actually the top part of a strapless dress, which with my long torso turned out way to short, even though I made it longer? Maybe it was the lack of the scaling tool that made it turn out like this...The bolero looks just like the pattern picture (apart from the sleeves) but it also feels like a short model on me. Wonder if any of the tops will ever make it out of the closet again...

Yesterday was quite a fun day, I went to see my grandma, and me and my mum helped her clean out her attic...And we got to keep pretty much anything we found that we liked! I came home with two suitcases full of clothes photos and stuff, plus a fur coat from the 40's (made in Washington!) with matching hat, another 60's coat, a 60's suit and grandma's old uniforms from when she was head of the village's mail office (ca. 1950's-70's). Unfortunately pretty much all the clothes are too big for me (sizes 40-44) and most of them are from the 60's and 70's. Anybody interested? I'd happily trade them for something in my size and a couple of decades older. Or sell.

For me, the biggest treasure here is mum's aunt Gerda's old suitcase, and all the photos it contained. Gerda was the aunt who lived in the United States for a few years, there was a scrapbook full of clippings concerning WWII and also some newer magazines. The fur coat mentioned earlier was also hers.

There was also an album with my great grandfathers name in it, with lot's and lot's of pictures of relatives from the 1900's-1960's. I also found my grandparent's wedding photo, and a picture of grandma taken around the same time. I think they got married in 1949...If anybody is interested in seeing old photos let me know and I'll try and scan some of the more interesting ones.

The second suitcase was grandma's own, the one she used to take with her on all the holidays she and granddad used to go on. She had tied a piece of blue string (still there!) around the handle to recognize it faster at the airports...I like things with a history, like the suitcases, especially as it is now me who travels the most. My grandparents also had a caravan (a bit like this one) btw, too bad it's now rotting away in the woods.

It's just soo lovely to have the time to do the things you want...

2010-08-29T19:21:00.005+02:00

After my last post I walked into the kitchen and realized that I had forgotten to take a picture of another find at the juthbacka market...I have quite a few plants in the flat so this charming little table felt like something useful to have. And no, it does not bother me in any way that it is also very cute and retro.

As I've been on holiday this week, I've tried to get some projects done, such as revamping a pair of shoes which I haven't worn for a few years. Before;

And after;

From useless shoes to glamorous slippers to wear around the house, makes me feel a bit more luxurious than wearing woolly socks with my dressing gowns...

A little something else I made this week was this matching set of skirt and hat;

Also note my new handbag with the cute shoe-shaped clasp. From a shoe/bag shop here in town.

Finally, here's another outfit I wore to town a few days ago, sorry about the sunglasses inside but hey, that is what I looked like...

Another fun thing we did this week was taking a dance class, basics in Finnish tango. It was fun, but sadly, both Mr. Kitten and I feel like we've already forgotten most of it...

Juthbacka 2010

2010-08-24T11:04:00.003+02:00

One of the highlights of the year for finding vintage goodies around here is the juthbacka market. This year I decided to go in full vintage gear (apart from glasses) so I put on this dress, white gloves, shoes and belt, and the white cardigan in the picture below;

I did a fake fringe and when I turned the camera on to take an outfit shot, the battery died. Above photo was taken in the dark evening after I got home...

On Saturday we went to Oulu to listen to a concert by the Riku Niemi Orchestra, which was absolutely awesome, and on Sunday we went to another fleamarket. Here's my finds from the weekend;

Everything but the shoes from Kärkkäinen (where we also stopped for some shopping on the way home) is second hand, some of which need to be altered a bit before they fit me...

Now this has to be the most exiting (and expensive) find at the market; 72 sheets of pattern cards from around 1954...But unfortunately missing the silver scissors scaling tool needed to get the pieces enlarged to the right size. This, of course, I didn't notice until I got home. *sigh* BUT, I have a feeling that I just saw this same catalogue on someone else's blog, but I can't remember or find where...Anybody seen it/have it? I could really use a picture of the scale next to a ruler or something so that I could start using these fabulous patterns!

Finally, the second most exiting find, seen above, a real vintage half hat. I paid 30 euros for it (to a lady selling only vintage stuff and who knew how to charge people). I have been wanting one for ages, even tried to make one myself (not very successfully, I might add). So I could not just leave it there...

Anyway, I had a wonderful weekend and just started the second half of my holiday, so I think I'm gonna go off and start working of that growing pile of items in need of alteration. Have a great week!

One step closer

2010-08-16T19:24:00.005+02:00

I went back and got it. The sideboard. I've been looking for one for months, and the weekend before last when we stopped at a flea market in Kauhava on our way to a dance, I spotted one. In good shape too, apart from one loose door which Mr. Kitten fixed for me once I got it home. As I didn't want to bring it to the dance and have it occupy half the caravan, I had to leave it behind, but a few days later I had the day off and convinced my dear mother to go on a mother-daughter road trip. In my parents volvo with plenty of room in the back...

The sideboard is now filling an otherwise hard to fill corner of our kitchen, acting as storage for my fabrics, which I previously didn't quite have a good place for. Now I just need to find some vintage shelves for the living room, a vintage sofa table, some nice lamps...But at least I'm one piece of furniture closer to a vintage inspired home.

I'm also one step closer to becoming Mrs. Kitten, we had a small engagement party for the family last week and here's what I wore;

The skirt is self-made and the earrings are vintage;

As I'm pretty new at collecting vintage (and because I live in such a small town) the apartment I share with Mr. Kitten still has very few items of vintage furniture. So I'm curious, what do your homes look like? Do you collect both vintage (and/or replica) clothes and furniture or just one or the other?

5 x shoes

2010-08-11T15:05:00.003+02:00

I've done it again. Bought more shoes that is...Two pairs in Bulgaria (red and white ones) and the rest last weekend, including a pair of black suede shoes from the 40's!

Unfortunately they where not exactly mint condition, one of the straps going round the back of the foot was missing (cut off?) but I recon that can be fixed...I hope. For the pictures I've used a piece of black elastic.

Check out the leather sole!

Also note that none of my new pairs are in the same colour- I've been on the hunt for shoes in blue and brown, and now I found some! The shoes from Bulgaria are new-new and the rest second hand-new. Four euros I paid for the three pairs of shoes over in Kauhava, where I also spotted a potential piece of furniture for our home. I just need to go back and pick it up in a car with a big enough trunk. If it's still there...

Bulgaria + 24 hours in Istanbul

2010-08-03T17:30:00.008+02:00

A few weeks ago Mr Kitten and I went on holiday to Sunny Beach in Bulgaria.

Only to take a bus-trip to Istanbul where we spent about 24 hours seeing some of the sights...

...and on the highest hill in Istanbul, on the Asian side of the city, Mr Kitten proposed!

I didn't come as surprise though, as we had talked about getting engaged on our trip, but anyway, it was nice and the view was pretty spectacular.

The next day we bought some white gold engagement rings from one of the many places selling gold in the city, before heading back to Bulgaria.

Sunny beach is a really touristy kind of place, with not much to do but take it easy, hang out at the beach/pool, eat, shop and party. But that's why many people go on holiday now isn't it?

It was good to get away, and I especially liked visiting Istanbul, as it really felt like you were somewhere else with all the mosques and minarets everywhere. Somewhere closer to Asia.

Weddings and dresses

2010-07-26T12:22:00.006+02:00

On Saturday my brother finally got married. I really liked the dress his bride is wearing, suited her really well. Such a lovely couple!

I finally got to wear the dress I've been working on pretty much all summer...

By the end of the day those shoes were absolutely killing me, I ended up walking barefoot back to the car.

Today I'm working hard on keeping my spirits up, as I'll be going back to work tomorrow...Wish me luck!

Patriotic taste

2010-07-12T20:07:00.005+02:00

Dark blue and white seem to be my summer colours of choice, or at least that is what these pictures suggest...

The dress I'm wearing for my brother's wedding is also dark blue, and will be worn with white accessories (see the pattern?).

Note the shoes (to be worn at the wedding). They went on their first test run/walk on the same day as I tried out a potential up-do, also for the wedding. Although I won't wear the bandanna for that occasion...

Now I'm off to bed because tomorrow we are getting up bright and early to drive for six hours, in order to get us to the plane that is going to take me and Mr Kitten to Bulgaria! Yes, I've got some time off from work and I'm gonna make the most of it. See ya when we get back!

Summer is here!

2010-07-05T19:53:00.004+02:00

Check out my latest finished sewing project;

(=The roof)

Mr Kitten and I spent the weekend in Kalajoki, where there is a long and lovely sandy beach, a camping area and a place to go dancing in the evening. My dancing outfit looked like this;

Minus the hair flower, I couldn't get it to sit quite right. It's just wonderful to be able to walk outside like this and not be cold. The next day I wore the same dress along with my red high heels to my uncles 60th birthday party. Speaking of birthdays, mine wasn't too long ago either, we spent some time at the beach and I wore my bright red bangle for the first time, with a matching red dress to go with it;

Another year older. I hope you've all had a lovely weekend and that the weather where you are is a lovely as it is here.

Alive and blogging

2010-06-29T13:00:00.002+02:00

Finally, I got most of my necessary computer stuff up and running, camera successfully connected, pictures transferred and so on. Phew! So here's an outfit I wore shopping the other day;

And of course I didn't notice that my way to big seamed stockings weren't looking to good around the ankles...Until I was already in town. Anybody need some size 9 stockings? I should have ironed that skirt too.

Apart from trying to get a working whole of my new mac, I have spent the last two weeks or so sewing on our home-made caravan sunroof, the dress for my brothers wedding and this fascinator covered with feathers. And catching up with all the blogs out there! Sadly all my bookmarks went with Melissa, so there's a lot of blogs still missing from my list, maybe yours was one of them? All in all, it's good to be back!

R.I.P

2010-06-14T15:49:00.005+02:00

Dear readers,

I have gone on an unexpected and unwanted blog-break due to the death of my computer, Melissa. We had a happy two years together, without problems, until last week... Luckily, most of my files and pictures are safely stored on an external drive. I will be getting some money from the insurance company so that I can replace dear old Mel, but they weren't sure how much, so I'm holding on to find out. I am leaning towards crossing over from PC and getting myself a Mac Mini, so if anybody reading this has one/has tried one out, I'd be happy to hear any thoughts or recommendations! Until I return, I wish you all an enjoyable summer!

Love,

Kitten

Thanks for your advice but...

2010-06-07T20:57:00.004+02:00

While comments were dropping in advicing me not to buy these shoes, I was out buying them...Because of a small and barely visible ink mark on the shoes, the sales-woman offered me 30 % off and I could not refuse. My hopes for finding better shoes, in my size, before my brothers wedding are so low that I decided to go for it. And I think they look pretty nice with the fabric I'm making the dress out of too (in the background).

By the way, I really appreciate all the comments and advice you ladies gave about the shoes , it's lovely to have such helpful readers (even though I didn't succumb to your opinions this time) and I'd like to say Thank You for caring!

Now, I haven't just been buying shoes lately, I've also found some second hand handbags to match the shoes I already have! I found this red handbag in Vaasa last time we visited, and it matches my red shoes perfectly. Love it when that happens!

And then, yesterday, I found the perfect match to my golden sixties dress and shoes combo, a golden purse!

Looking at this colour combination is almost making me wanna change my blue and white theme for the wedding to blue and gold....

Lovely details! And just to prove that I did get dressed up last weekend, here's an outfit picture of what I wore to my cousins graduation party;

Hope you all had a nice weekend!

The trouble with tiny feet

2010-06-02T19:09:00.004+02:00

Lately I've been busy planning my outfit for my brother's wedding coming up in july. I've been looking for shoes and found the perfect ones at Halens.fi ;

Pure perfection, platforms, chunky heel and slingback to help them stay on my tiny feet. Perfection, until I decided to buy them and found they only had big sizes left. After hours and hours of looking for something similar on websites I gave up and thought I'll have to give the shoe shops in town a try or use what I've got. Strangely, even with over 50 pairs, you never seem have any suitable pair for the occasion...

So today, after saying "nope, too big" to myself many, many times I found these pretties in one of the local shops, but I'm feeling a bit unsure. The size is ok, and I was able to walk in them, but the bigger dilemma is really will they go with the fifties style dress I've been busy designing and planning to make out of a shimmering dark blue fabric? Are they festive enough? Do I wanna pay 45 € for "maybe"? And I kinda wanted the shoes to be satin (goes better with the dress). But chances of me finding another small enough sized pair of perfect satin heels seems pretty small right now...

Not so 40's after all

2010-05-27T21:16:00.003+02:00

Here's the dress I was so exited about earlier...but when I had a closer look, I came to the conclusion that it can really be that old after all. The zip is plastic, the seams look modern and the tag says misstex, which after a bit of googleing leads me to believe that it might be from the 70's. Not the 40's, as I had hoped. But never mind. It's pretty anyway, even un-ironed, ha ha.

As I've got the weekend off (yay!) me and Mr Kitten are going away in the caravan again. Dancing is on the programme, and yes, I might squeeze in some thrifting in Vasa or Seinäjoki on the way there too...Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Just an outfit

2010-05-24T12:50:00.003+02:00

I went for a little shopping trip on friday, and wore this outfit;

I visited two charity shops and I actually found a vintage dress for once, or at least I think it's vintage. But no pictures yet, sorry. I also found a cute red girls dress which I'm gonna turn into a skirt and a piece of houndstooth fabric. I just need to find the time and energy to sew and take pictures...But right now, I need to get ready for work. How do you motivate yourself to sew and/or blog?

Back from the beach

2010-05-19T09:08:00.007+02:00

The weekend was lovely and warm, perfect for our first trip to the beach...But before it was beach-time I took a bus from the camping-area where we had parked the caravan, into the centre of Pori to go shopping! This is what I looked like;

And while I was going from flea-market to flea-market without finding anything exiting, Mr Kitten ran about 21 km in the heat and strong wind as a participant in the Yyteri maraton (although he was in the half-marathon class). When I got back to camp we went straight to the beach and spent a good few hours in the lovely sun.

The next day we went to the not very crowded beach again for a while, before driving back home to reality, work and everyday life.

50!

2010-05-12T20:18:00.004+02:00

This week has been spent working on my latest dress;

I'm wearing two of my (home-made) petticoats underneath and it moves soo nicely and feels so comfy I don't want to take it off!

I did something I rarely do and bid (and won!) an auction on a finnish auction site. I won this Asos fascinator (originally with much brighter red dots). I'm not sure if I'll re-vamp it in some way of use it as it is, the biggest reason for bidding on it was cause I wanted the netting, don't know where to buy it...

I also went shopping today...The result; I now own 50 pairs of shoes. Pair #49 was a pair of red hiking boots (half price on sale and soo comfy) and pair #50 look like this;

Bought from Citymarket. I also bought myself a beach-bag (also on sale) to go with a hat that I bought at Kärkkäinen last weekend.

Beach 2010-bring it on!

Time flies...Next weekend Mr Kitten and I are going away again. He's gonna run half a marathon while I go through the charity shops and flea-markets of Pori. Also, one of the country's nicest beaches is situated close to the camping area we'll be staying at, and the weather forecast says it's gonna be really warm. Yes, I am exited, and I will be packing my bikini.

Four times a hat

2010-05-07T09:33:00.005+02:00

A while ago I bought a sheet of red felt from a craft store and made myself a little hat. This is what it looks like combined with a few of my recent flea-market finds;

It's finally friday, yey! Feels like all I have done this week is worked, I've even had dreams at night about being at work...Do you ever get that?

Anyway, tomorrow me and Mr. Kitten are gonna go dancing again and sleep in the caravan. Looking forward to it!! I wish you all a fantastic weekend!

Glenn Miller Dance

2010-05-03T20:35:00.003+02:00

Here's what I wore to the dance;

The dance was quite fun, although on a smaller scale than what I expected. There was however enough people to fill the small dance floor and push you in all directions... But mostly the dancing was ok, and the big band was really quite good. So I enjoyed it. And a girl in the bathroom thought I looked very french?! She'd probably seen some WWII movie where they wear rolls and red lipstick and all that...

Anyway, for once I'm actually wearing only one piece of second hand goods, the skirt, everything else I've bought new. Still old stuff though...How was your weekend?

Remeber this?

2010-04-30T10:24:00.005+02:00

Before;

After;

Glada Vappen and a happy 1:st of may! We are celebrating by attending an event called Glenn Miller Dance on Saturday. I think I'll wear something else for that though... Have a great weekend everyone!

3 x vintage dresses

2010-04-26T19:53:00.005+02:00

I've been lucky this week. On a tour of the local charity shops I started talking to the old ladies in one of the shops about how I'm looking for older stuff, and what do you know, turns out they've got a bag of "old stuff" put to the side in case they drop by from the local theatre looking for costumes...Apparently nobody else is interested in stuff that old!? Well, all the more for me! This was the newest item, late 50's-60's maybe?

I haven't cut my hair again, in the pictures I've got it under-pinned (I think that's what it's called). It's basically folded under at the back and pinned to my head. Instant short neck!

As usual all items were slightly too big for me, but I just couldn't leave them to gather dust in the wardrobe of the theatre...Maybe I could take them in a little?

The next dress is my favourite, it just falls so nicely, and the embroidery is so pretty, and it's got self-covered buttons going up the side...It's about 20 cm to long for me, I'm wearing my highest heels (12cm?) in the picture and it still touches the floor. The dress needs a wash really badly, the massive sweat stains aren't too pretty, but I'm not quite sure how to wash it, it's kinda delicate. I'm guessing it's from the 30's or early 40's.

The last dress I'm pretty sure is from the 40's. And no, I haven't washed or ironed this one either, I could not wait to show it off and maybe get some tips on washing and ironing. After all, I don't actually own much real vintage, since it's so rare around here. Most of the few pieces I've got are cotton or other materials that I dare wash in the machine...

So if anyone out there can tell me anything more about these dresses (decade, washing tips etc.) I'd be grateful!

Mint

2010-04-20T19:06:00.002+02:00

Something I always look for when thrifting is cute little cardigans that button all the way up. Ideally with a short waist as well, but perfect is hard to find...Anyway, a while back I did pick up this second hand cardigan, but I am having doubts. I'm having a hard time combining it with the rest of my wardrobe, as a majority of it is pretty dark, colourwise. How do you ladies combine your minty threads?

Otherwise I'm busy working on turning a curtain into a dress. (See previous post!)

Curtains or dresses?

2010-04-14T13:44:00.003+02:00

I've recently bought two sets of curtains, with the intention of turning them into dresses, but now I'm not so sure...I mean, wouldn't this be quite summery and lovely in the kitchen as actual curtains?

The second pair is also so lovely, but unfortunately a bit too short for our windows. So why not make a dress? Thing is I've started to wonder if the pattern is to big for me to wear, as I'm rather petite. What do you think, curtains or dresses?

It's getting warmer...

2010-04-12T14:25:00.005+02:00

On a recent visit to the fleamarkets I found a cute jacket and a nice coat for spring (and summer).

The shoes I'm wearing are my new Aris Allen dancing shoes. 'Ive already tried them a couple of times and I must say that I notice a difference compared to wearing trainers...

The lining just feels so right!

As usual, the rest of the outfit is second hand, apart from the gloves which come from Citymarket. And the socks. I can't remember where I bought them though but somehow I doubt anybody is that interested in my socks anyway, right?

Suspenders

2010-04-09T14:22:00.002+02:00

I bought a pair of suspenders a while back for Mr Kitten, in case I could convince him to wear them at some point. In the mean time, it seems I'm the one using them...

Easter

2010-04-07T09:51:00.003+02:00

I'm back! Mr Kitten and I had a lovely time in Lapland, most of the time anyways. Skiing when it's raining isn't something I recommend...But on the dance floor we noted that we had actually gotten slightly better at dancing, so that was nice.

Here we are having lunch in a restaurant at the top of a small mountain.

Photos by Mr Kitten.

Today it's back to work for me, I can't believe how quickly time always goes when you're off! Back to reality...

Gone skiing.

2010-04-02T08:30:00.003+02:00

So here's the recreated outfit that I wore to the theatre. The caravan is a tricky place to take photos, so you'll just have to imagine my hair curlier and with better rolls, he he. The few comments I got from relatives also seeing the play was that I looked like I could have been a part of it. Goal achieved.

No more time to blog now, as me and Mr Kitten are heading off on our next adventure; skiing, slalom, dancing and spa in Lapland, with the caravan of course. I'll be back in a few days, in the mean time, have a fabulous easter!

Got my bags packed

2010-03-26T14:50:00.003+01:00

My recently purchased second-hand suitcase is packed, I've got my pin-culrs in and a WWII inspired oufit waiting to be worn. I'm going away for an other cultural caravan weekend, my brother is starring in "The lion, the witch and the wardrobe" at the theatre (set during WWII, hence the outfit) tonight and tomorrow we'll be shopping and in the evening I'll be trying out my new dancing shoes! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

New hair

2010-03-23T18:30:00.003+01:00

Despite being very happy about my hair last weekend, I've gone and cut half of it off! The main reason being that I hadn't had it cut since...I can't even remember! So when mum came over last week I asked her to cut a bit of the back...and the 3 following hours I spent cutting the rest. And about an hour the next day...I don't know if I can really recommend cutting your own hair. It's difficult and time consuming and difficult.

I went for a slightly modified middy plus, with slightly longer top hair, so that I can get it behind my ears. I don't know if I did it right, but at first it looked awful and choppy (hence the second day of fixing). Now it looks okay even when not curled. But I feel like a boy when it's straight, and it's not even that short!

This is second day hair, so I've slept on the curls one night. When styled like this it looks more 50's I think, but I've got lot's and lot's more experimenting to do!

Anyway, it'll all grow back before I know it.

Kitten does blues festival

2010-03-16T10:47:00.004+01:00

So I couldn't pass up the chance to listen to some blues and rockabilly music so close to home, so I dressed up and did my hair and convinced a friend to join me. My hair;

My outfit;

My brand new shoes; (from Anttila)

While I waited for my friend to pick me up, I quickly looked up the basic step for jive on youtube, just to sort of get a feel for the rhythm of it. We were among the first 5 people to hit the dance floor, both my friend and I enjoy dancing and just could not sit still. All the bands were really good so there was a lot of dancing going on. We had a great time, but, I'm still too shy to go up and talk to strangers, so even if there were a few people with rockabilly style there, I didn't make any new friends.

However, at the end of the night this guy (normally dressed) comes up to me and starts talking. He asks if I take dance classes and if I have a dance partner and all sorts, turns out he's a dance teacher at the local dance club, which I didn't know existed. Apparently my dancing was so bad that he thinks I should learn to do it properly, ha ha. No seriously, he had noticed my attempt at jiving (I guess no-one else was jiving) and saw some kind of potential. So he invited Mr Kitten and me to come and learn to really dance (all the dances you see in Let's Dance/Dancing with the stars/Strictly come dancing on tv) and maybe, possibly compete at some point...(!)

So I'm going a bit crazy at the moment. Was he serious? Had he had to much to drink? Did he realize that we are complete beginners? But...he did say he prefers teaching people who don't know anything but has the will to learn...? So. I don't know. I'd love to learn, Let's Dance is the only thing I really watch on tv, so why not? I have no idea what will come out of this, if anything at all...Just have to wait and see!

Weekend

2010-03-12T17:51:00.002+01:00

I think I might attend this little festival on saturday. Anybody else going?

Last weekend was pretty nice, we did go dancing and slept in the caravan, where the heating worked just fine I might add! Yesterday was also dancing, we learned the basics of the waltz. Quite fun although I did have some trouble to begin with...Hope everyone is having a nice weekend whatever you are doing!

From a tent to dress

2010-03-09T10:17:00.004+01:00

Last week I spent a lot of time transforming this tent-like dress;

Into this;

It was a bit of a pain, and took a lot longer than expected but, I got there in the end. Phew!

Knitting

2010-03-06T12:37:00.005+01:00

Before Mr Kitten and I head out for a dancing/caravan weekend I thought I'd share with you some of my favourites from the knitting book I thrifted not long ago.

The cardigan I'm making (eventually?) is a mix of some really basic pattern that I thought too boring to show here, hah. Now I just need to pull myself together and continue knitting before it's too warm outside to even wear anything knitted...

2 vintage bags for 2 euros

2010-03-02T20:06:00.002+01:00

Yesterday was my lucky day. I stopped by a charity shop on my way home from work and found these two beauties in a pile of random handbags in a corner under a clothes rack, hidden away from most shoppers. But not me, no, I dig. Sometimes that means I find something really good, most of the time it means Mr Kitten is somewhere getting tired of waiting for his crazy girlfriend...

Speaking of Mr Kitten, today it's been two years since we got together! *puss!*

Fifties furniture and a forties coat

2010-02-26T11:39:00.003+01:00

May I present, my 1 euro forties coat, complete with lamb(?) fur collar. It needs some ironing and a few stitches here and there, however I'm a bit nervous about ironing it since I'm not sure what material it is...Any tips?

I've also found a cute 50's mirror, which is now haging next to the door to my closet.

Finally, I found this cute little side-table. I put it in an unused corner of my kitchen, where it can serve the purpose of flower table untill I find a better use for it.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Another dress put to good use

2010-02-23T21:29:00.003+01:00

Me and Mr. Kitten had a pretty good weekend, we went to loads of flea markets where I did some pretty nice finds and on saturday night, we saw the Queens of Teese burlesque show. This was my outfit;

(Sorry for the blurry bathroom picture, Mr Kitten used my camera phone) I'm wearing my new dress that I made inspired by this dress at stop staring!.

My hair and make-up, and necklace from Citymarket (yes I do buy new stuff occasionally). I liked the show and thought it was very entertaining, however I had hoped that there would have been a few more retro-inspired people in the audience, I only saw two rockabellas and their male friends. And there I was, hoping to meet some kindred spirits, but no. I'm really starting to feel kinda lonely...Finns det några retro intresserade finlandssvenskar där ute?

Day of hearts

2010-02-16T19:45:00.004+01:00

As sunday was valentines day (or as we say in swedish "alla hjärtans dag" roughly translated "day of hearts") I decided to paint little hearts on my nails. My entire outfit was also red and white to match the nails, but I didn't think to take any photos...

Suitably in time for the weekend (or not) I got a bad cold, so to cheer myself up I went to a flea market on Saturday and came home with these bangles;

This dress which is a few sizes too big;

And a lovely little book with knitting patterns from 1956, which I shall show another time. Here is what my knitting project looked like a few days ago;

I was so thrilled to find that book, the instructions were not that difficult to understand so I might actually manage to make something out of this experiment! But I still got a long way to go if I wanna make this into a cardigan...

Petticoat in black

2010-02-12T16:40:00.003+01:00

I have turned these long strips of fabric...

...into this petticoat.

I 'm still knitting on the cardigan I mentioned earlier, but not getting that far as I am also sewing a dress to wear at the Queens of Tease Tour that we're gonna go see in Seinäjoki next week. (Anybody else going?) And I've made a lampshade, but I'll show you that one another time.

Bah, today has not been the greatest of days, I've got a cold and I'm feeling tired and it's affecting my mood. Oh, well at least it's friday! Have a happy Valentine's day everybody!

I liked what I saw so I made some

2010-02-04T21:50:00.007+01:00

Here's what I saw about a year ago (here). I've seen several similar styled trousers in other places too and I liked the idea of the high waist.

So I made a pair. Not too bad, but I'll probably make a few adjustments the next time.

Today I made a hat-thingy and started knitting a sweater. Without having a pattern. But I suppose it doesn't make any difference as I don't understand the ones I've seen anyway. So...wish me luck!

Fascinator and mini-beret

2010-01-31T19:39:00.005+01:00

Here's the fascinator I made and wore to my cousins wedding on new years eve. It's simply covered with a few feathers and a butterfly that came with a plant someone gave to us a while back.

My first mini-beret!

From the inside; just a hair clip to hold it in place.

Hope you've all had a nice weekend! Me and Mr. Kitten went for a skiing trip in the caravan this weekend, the plan was to ski on the first day and do slalom on the following but then, in the evening on the first day the heater in the caravan refused to work. And outside (and inside the caravan) it was about - 15. So we spent saturday night driving all the way back home...

40 going on 50

2010-01-26T15:04:00.004+01:00

...as in pairs of shoes. These are my latest finds, #44 and #45;

Two euros a pair, from a recycling center-type shop. Worn, but still in good shape, and in a style that gets my mind thinking 50´s, but on closer inspection are probably newer.

And some winter boots! First pair (#42 to arrive in my closet) are brand new from an real shoe shop and come with a lining that actually seems to keep my feet warm! Pair #43 are second hand and not very warm, but I like the grandma meets Dr Martens vibe they've got going on. And they were cheap...

And last, after going through the trouble of designing and sewing myself a pair a spats, I come across some in a flea-market! A fiver and they were mine. Unfortunately, I noticed when I got home that I don't have any shoes they fit very well on...Oh, well, maybe pair #46? He he he...

It's actually quite funny that I should find a pair of something I've painstakingly made myself, and it's not the first time it's happened. I made my own gloves, and found some a few weeks later, I've made a muff and then found one and so on and now this. Hm, maybe I could use this? Got any tips on shoe-making, anyone?

Kitten keeps sewing

2010-01-21T21:49:00.004+01:00

I seem to have been quite creative lately, knitting, crocheting and sewing...I have even finished some projects that I haven't had the time to put out here yet! This is one of those;

Again a project where I completely changed an original pattern to something unrecognisable; the top is based on a basic t-shirt pattern. The full circle skirt is all my own making. Here is the picture I based my idea on (sorry can't remember where from).

I'm not entirely happy with the end result, the skirt was pretty ok, but I think I might use what fabric I have left to make yet another version of the top, maybe completely different, or, just learn from my mistakes when making the first version. We'll see. Cause I've got a few other project in mind as well, no lack of ideas around here...

From 2 1/2 balls of red yarn

2010-01-18T19:31:00.004+01:00

After many nights of knitting or crocheting in front of the television I hereby present to you my new hat;

And my new legwarmers;

I still have some of this red yarn left, so I'm thinking about making a mini-beret (Ranna wears these a lot). I have also bought some black yarn and might make myself a hat according to this pattern (in swedish). Anybody else out there who plays around with yarn?

Apron

2010-01-13T08:59:00.003+01:00

Tadaa! Here's the apron I finally made, after having the fabric sitting on a shelf for almost a year and a half...Inspired by old fashioned 40-50's models, but all my own improvised pattern.

View from the back;
And while I took these photos I remembered this half apron I bought quite some time ago and decided to show it to you also;

And now I'm off to try and do something creative again, ta-ta!

New year, old pictures

2010-01-05T18:53:00.003+01:00

A while back when me and Mr. Kitten went on our extended weekend trip to Turku, I found some old photographs in a fleamarket that I thought I'd share with you;

I just love the hair in these pictures! More pics to follow another day...

So, how's the new year been so far? Me, I have finished knitting one leg warmer and the other one is coming along shortly, I'm also crocheting a hat! Oh, and I went to my cousin's wedding wearing this dress and a fascinator I made just hours before the wedding (which is why there was no time to take any outfit pictures, sorry!). Tomorrow I've got the day off so hopefully I'll have the time and light to take some photos of my recent creations...

The smell of smoke

2009-12-29T18:40:00.005+01:00

Happy x-mas sales shopping everybody! Christmas was nice and I survived the long days of work leading up to the holiday. At the sales I've only bought myself some yarn and knitting needles and I've started on a new pair of leg warmers. It's been years since I last knitted, and then I didn't really knit anything more complicated than...leg warmers. But you gotta start somewhere, right?

Knitting seems like an nice and stay-warm-under-a-blanket hobby, unlike sewing where you got to get partly undressed every time you're trying your item on, and right now I want to stay warm because out flat is feeling very cold at the moment. For a very interesting reason;

A week ago Mr. Kitten and I went to bed around half past ten in the evening. Roughly an hour later we woke up to the very sureal sound of the fire alarm in the stairway outside our flat door. We could smell something burning, so I grabbed some clothes and my phone and we went outside to see what was going on. There was fire engine outside the house and other residents in pyjamas and wintercoats. We couldn't see any flames or smoke, but were told that there was a fire in the storgage department of our basement, almost directly under our flat...

More fire trucks arrived and hoses were dragged across the snowy lawn and smoke-divers were making their way down into the basement. Around this time the basement window broke or was broken and smoke started pouring out, lot's of it. At this point I was wondering if I should have tried to rescue my computer and camera and thinking things like will all my clothes get damaged from smoke and so on. But, after about an hour the fire was put out and our flat was safe, but too smokey for us to be allowed back in. Finally, at half past one we got to go back into our flats where we did our best to air out the smell of smoke and get some sleep. What a night!

The stairway still smells of smoke, but luckily our flat stayed pretty smoke free so the smell is very faint in here. The fire broke out directly under the flat wall-to-wall to ours, and something must have been damaged as the heating isn't working in the room closest...And in every other room it's freezing as well. Everything in out storage cage is covered in soot and the plastic covering our garden chair cusions has melted. We had mostly camping and skiing equipment in this storage, some of it still needs to be checked for damages...But we are safe.

I wish you a very safe and happy new year! (Don't forget to get home-insurance and fire alarms if you haven't got any!) My new year's eve will be spent and my cousins wedding. See you in 2010!

December 17:th

2009-12-17T12:50:00.004+01:00

I'm back from a well deserved long weekend away. Mr. Kitten drove our RV down to Aura on Saturday where we danced the night away to a fabulous big band. Really great music, made me wanna learn to jive and lindy hop and all sorts. I wore my new(=second hand) checked shirt, but with wide black trousers and not a skirt.

The next day we drove to Turku and spent the following two days walking around shopping centres and flea-markets. I didn't really buy much, just a pile of old photos that I may try to scan at some point, a simple top, two slips and a skirt that was way to big for me, which I'll try to alter. And a nice, almost cat shaped candle holder.

At work we're coming up to the busiest time of the year, and I'll pretty much be working non-stop until x-mas eve. Sigh. Oh, well it's only a week out of my life when I will have no life. Maybe I'll survive. Have a lovely holiday everyone if you don't hear from me in a while...!

Tagged!

2009-12-10T19:33:00.004+01:00

Sweet Bettie Booh passed this little award over to me;

Thank you! Now I'm suppoed to pass this on to 10 of my favourite blogs, but I'm a little short on time (and terrible at making up my mind) so I'll just do the questions that came along with it. Feel free to do the same if you like! Answers should only be one word.

1.Where is your phone? Here

2.Your hair? Two-toned

3.Your Mother? Caring

4.Your Father? Bearded

5.Your favourite food? Asian

6.Your dream last night? Stressed

7.Your favourite drink? Hot Chocolade

8.Your dream/goal? Happy

9.What room are you in? Hobby

10.Your hobby? Creative

11.Your fear? Driving

12.Where do you want to be in six years? House

13.Where were you last night? Home

14.Something that you’re not? Drugged

15.Muffins? Please!

16.Wishlist item? Time

17.Where did you grow up? Finland

18.Last thing you did? Hoovered

19.What are you wearing? Red

20.Your TV? Seldom

21.Your pets? Plants

22.Friends? Some

23.Your life? Beginning

24.Your mood? Even

25.Missing someone? Him

26.Vehicle? Bike

27.Something you’re not wearing? Skiing boots

28.Your favourite store? Flea-market

29.Your favourite colour? Red

30.When was the last time you laughed? Today

31.The last time you cried? Weeks

32.Your best friend? Boyfriend

33.One place that I go to over and over? Work

34.Facebook? Booring

35.Favourite place to eat? Kitchen

No post without a picture on this blog-so here's a pretty plate I paid 10 cents for and a pretty red Mariskooli-imitation bowl that I bought recently;

This weekend plus monday and tuesday me and Mr Kitten are planning on doing a trip in our motor home, we may go to Turku. Anybody know any good places to find vintage? Now I need to keep packing...

A little bit of light

2009-12-03T20:32:00.004+01:00

Yey, I've seen the sun two days in a row now! While it was light I also got a picture of the new skirt I made.

The top is also new - second hand. My new project is making myself an apron, a bit like the pink one in this image from sovintagepatterns.com. Only mine will be blue and white.

This saturday I'm going to my work x-mas party, and I'm just about to start pin-curling my hair. Hopefully it'll still look good on saturday...Have a nice weekend everybody!

Hair

2009-11-26T20:07:00.002+01:00

I've been doing alot of pin-curls lately, and thought I'd share some of the results;

And yesterday my hair looked like this when I went to my friends tupperware-party;

I looked through some older pic's of my pin-curl attempts, and noticed they weren't always that good. Thankfully, I feel I'm getting a little bit better at getting them too look okay now...

I'm not very keen on the constant darkness that seems to be the default weather at the moment. Apart from the effect on my mood, it's too dark to take any decent pictures! So it might take a while before I can photograph my latest finished sewing project...

The rise and fall of inspiration

2009-11-19T17:15:00.003+01:00

November. The darkest time of the year. My motivation and inspiration level has been quite low lately. It's been too dark to take any decent pictures and I've been too uninspired to sew anything. Thoughts like "why sew something new when I haven't got any occasion to wear it" and "it's too cold for a dress like that" have been in the back of my mind. But now, I think I might have gotten out of it. I hope. Because of a huge piece of dark red fabric in my shelf ...I'm thinking something along these lines;

Images from vintagefashionlibrary.com, stopstaringclothing.com and pinupgirlclothing.com

I might also make a pair of high waisted trousers if there's enuogh material, or try my had at making a shirt/jacket! Or maybe that piece of fabric will still be there next year. What do you do when your mind starts asking "why bother sewing/being creative/dressing up?