Sew-ing

Who am I (my grandparents)

2011-06-01T19:34:00.003+01:00

Two weeks ago, the last of my grandparents past away. She was rather elderly and very tired so it was natural that her fragil self faded away... however, this has made me wonder about many things as I move from the third generation swiftly to the second one and officially become an "adult".

So I have decided to reflect on who I am here and whilst doing so making a little cellebratory gesture to send off my last granny, and those who had already left.

My name, as you know by now, is Cristina. I am from the Basque Country, a wonderful part of the Iberian peninsula where my family comes from.

I am a Basque language speaker, one of the few (apparently only up to 2 million people speak this language world wide). I even have a Basque language title that formally confirms my competence in writing and speaking of the Basque language. (Believe it or not this is a USP when looking for a job back home)

(San Sebastian)

The Basque Country is an area split in half between Spain and France by the Pirenees. An area full of magic and beauty that jumps out when the visitor first arrives. Politics have been complex, but how would then not have been when people speaking the same language, sharing the same culture have been divided by a technicality such as a boundary between two countries.

When I was a child I felt that home was a sort of bench mark for the world but growing up I soon begun to notice that it was actually, a rather nicer than average little world.

Having lived between two countries by the sea without even paying much attention to the fact that, for example, going to the beach to Hendaye meant crossing an actual boundary, I have been lucky enough to be develop an extremely broad mind. But was this due to the "in between" positioning of the land that saw me grow up, or to the family which I was born into.

(Pasaia)

My father was born in Moscow. His parents, my grandparents, were taken like many others to the Soviet Union in a ship that left Bilbao in June 1937 in order to save them from the horrors of the Spanish Civil war.

Looking at images of the children who were left behind and lived through a war which managed to split up families in two, I do understand why my great-grandparents and others would have made such a hard choice and to send their children to a series of "safe" countries very far away.

(Spanish civil war image from "El Pais")

In The Soviet Union, my grandparents were brought up in children's houses and given a good education and a sense of estate "protection" that made them become integral part of the communist regime and their host country´s day to day life. It was not surprising, therefore, that both ended up in the front line in Leningrad as the German troupes attempted to advance, they were just like the rest of the Soviet population.

(Here the "children of the war", grand dad on the right, with La Pasionaria, the communist leader)

I cannot help but thinking that humans can postpone events but events end up catching up with us... And so, the children who had stayed behind in other areas of Spain, living through and surviving the civil war, were brought up under very different values as a consequence. When the time came, many joined the Germans in their attempt to invade The Soviet Union.

Eventually, the image above (from El pais website) with those children playing war materialised and in the process, my grandfather´s feet froze.

With the benefit of history behind us, my great-grandparents might have consider their choices in a different way but that luxury is never available to any of us as we move through life and this experience shaped grately what was to become of them... and all of us who followed them.

(My grandparents and brother)

My grandmother was quite a tough cookie, and extremely gutsy woman. An engineer by trade, she could not have been the softie white hair grandma that one can see in a dictionary when looking up for the "grandma" concept. She has never been. Education and strong work ethic have always been her ethos. In the Soviet Union she had what, in the Spain of the time it would have been considered a "man´s job", but she also had a family of four children, and a sick husband.

The way she told me the story, when the Red cross begun to organise the return of the families to Spain in 1957, she realised that she had to return to a less developed country for the benefit of her children and my grandfather whose legs were getting worst. She felt that they all needed to have a chance to survive and so she waited patiently for another family not to show up to be evacuated in their place. Eventually, and unluckily for others, the day arrived.

My grandfather, a drafts-man by trade, was the funniest man ever. My father he and I used to always share the same side of the table as we had most in common in all family gatherings as we all seemed to share the same weird sense of humour as well as a very similar character. All three of us played chess and spent quite a lot of hours playing together which I guess made us bond.

The return to Spain was tough and disappointing. My granma became a nurse and my grandfather got a variety of jobs inspire of his disability. Whilst they were still in Moscow, their Spanish family promised a support that run out with their savings, but in order to avoid the anger and frustration to take over, one must always remember that they arrived to the post war of a country where people were in fact still hungry.

I am not excusing what is clearly unacceptable behaviour, but human nature is fragile and corruptible. That is a reality. I do feel though that my father´s naturally shy and reserved personality must have rooted , party at least, in what it must have come as a cultural shock for a child used to the communist way.

(Abalos church front)

My mother´s parents, on the other hand, were ten years older than my father´s and not being children but youths at the time that the civil war begun, their life could not have been more different. They had no choice but staying and living through it.

My grandmother was born in Abalos, a tinny village on the Rioja area of Spain (South of the Basque Country). She left her village when she moved to San Sebastian to work. She was the youngest of three, each one of them born from different wifes which, except for her own, died following the birth of their children.

She never spoke a lot about work, she never spoke a lot full stop; but I know that she made cloths, hats and worked for the wealthier families in the city. Even years after she retired, she was still enjoying a nice friendly relationship with some of them so I guess that she must have been good at her job. She was definitely inspiring.

She was brought up a catholic and she was a strong believer until the day she died. However, as much as my other grandmother tried to impose her believes on us, this one never attempted to do such a thing and as a result I never felt that I had to be a I religious person. I do however have a very strong sense of my responsibilities as a human being who is part of a large society, and this I think has been a contribution that she has made to my life.

When compared with her contemporaries, she was generally very open minded and we shared an interest in crafts that made us share hundreds of hours.

(Basque harbour of Getaria, Balenciaga´s village)

My grandfather, her husband, was a "red". I do sort of see the sense in such a match as I have always felt that both ideologies shared a lot of ideals, but I guess that many would not have approved. He was a fisherman from a rather numerous family, which ensure that my mother and her family were never short of food through the post war time.

His mother, another strong woman, always tough her children to be generous and although she had a large amount of them, still adopted two other who had no family, because "where they eat 4 can eat 5" etc ... With such a role model he needed no religion.

I did not get to know him very much. He died of cancer before I was two, but he was very much involved in my first years of existence and I have always felt a strong bond with him.

His side of the family is a happy go lucky one, but he always fought hard for his believes and I can only respect him for that. A dictatorship is never a good context to express your opinion, and for a little person to be confident enough to do so, he surely was special. He was fearless, during the civil war, he helped people with similar political believes escape to France in his boat, and in his own way contributed to make a better more free world. I ow him my respect for this.

(Pasaia)

I also respect the fact that he never loss sight of what was important... For instance, years after he died, talking to his brother, I was told that although when they were young many fishermen carried knives, they chose not to because they understood that if they did it would be more likely for them to be drawn into a fight than if they did not.He had a simple up-bringing but a wise one too.

I know that my mom learnt a lot from him. He had his moments, I know, but she is strong because of him. She is outspoken because he was. She is brave because he showed her, so I know that I am those things also because of him.

Free books

2011-05-31T09:29:00.001+01:00

I have recently discovered Kindle. I installed the app on my mobile, my home pc and I am using it as a regular reading device. Kindle is such a great idea! I am so impressed that I want to share it with you:

I have found loads of free books, but some which I think you may find interesting, as they have creativity on the set, are these:

sewing: "How to sew : basics" "Sowing and Sewing A Sexagesima Story"

kids "21 Projects Guaranteed to Keep Your Kids Occupied This Weekend"

cooking cakes "Amazing cakes"

Cooking "How to cook fish"

Cooking "Chocolate and Cocoa Recipes and Home Made Candy Recipes"

These are just some, but have a look for yourself.

I have discovered that each week they make available, for free different books, which gives you the chance to read books that you might have not chosen and then continue investigating topics if you are interested... I absolutely love this Kindle business....

From Primrose hill to Regents Park

2011-05-30T08:11:00.004+01:00

To me, Primrose hill is THE secret park of London. For some reason, only locals go there and this is evident from the way mundane activities take place there.

The parents with children seem to fit with the place. The runners going up or down the rather steep hill, have clearly been there before. The couples laying around reading books under the trees seem to even have a favourite reading spot and so and so.

Only a few climb to the top for the first time to look down on to the city form one of the high point that surround it... the rest, in a very precise way, direct their steps to the place where their "mark" is to take part in the performance that Primrose Hill is each day.

In the bottom of the Hill sits Regents park. Regents park is an amazing place where, unfortunately, the most famous attraction seems to be the zoo. However,one has to say that, it is a gorgeous little heaven in the heart of the city.

It has endless water features which connect along the multiple routes and lead you through ever changing groups of trees, flowers and birds.

You can also find an incredibly surprising selection of flowers which change with every season... you often forget that this is the heart of such a large metropolis.

There is also a beautiful Japanese garden with a completely different selection of trees and rocks... even the scale is different.

Near York gate, on the west side of the boating lake, another happy surprise, this time in the form of the funniest collective of birds that you can imagine... London is such an amazing place sometimes....

And of course, the famous rose gardens which to those who love roses are the equivalent of a candy store for a child.

Magazine subscriptions advice

2011-05-29T21:57:00.001+01:00

I am not a mind reader, but thanks to the magic of Google (whose global domination does have its uses) I am aware that someone out there, in Australia, was wondering whether they do send subscriptions to Oz from the Patrones magazine.

Ok, so I am not fully up to speed but I sometimes buy it in Spain, and having checked the back of the magazine (they are more obscure than the Burda mag when it comes to explaining how to subscribe) there is a telephone number (0034) 902392391 and an email address suscripciones@rba.es as well as a name Carmen Alvaro. So you might want to give it a try.

I have prepared an email for you to assist.

"Estimada Srta. Alvaro

Me dirijo a usted para preguntarle si su revista patrones, podria serme enviada a XXXX (Australia) donde resido.
Me interesaria suscribirme durante X año/años y quisiera que me informase del coste y modo de pago.
Me han hecho esta traduccion para ayudarme pero no hablo castellano, por lo que le agradeceria una respuesta en Ingles si no le fuese molestia.
Muy agradecida/ agradecido,
XXXXXXX"
(use agradecida if you are female and agradecido if male)

Translation

"Dear Ms. Alvaro
I am writing to you to enquire whether it would be possible for you to mail your magazine "Patrones" to XXXX (Australia) where I currently live.
I would be interested in subscribing for X year/years and would be grateful if you could advice on the cost and preferred payment method.
This translation has been prepared for me to facilitate our communication, however, I do not speak Spanish and would be grateful if you could respond me in English if this was not too much trouble.
Thanking you in advance,
XXXXXX (Name)"

Now, for the Burda magazine is much easier as they do offer shipping to Europe and beyond. From Spain:

Costs are:
35.10 euros within Spain
71.10 euros Europe
107.10 euros to the rest of the world

You can send your bank details to suscripciones@mcediciones.com tel. (0034) 932541258

As I have not used either of these, if it was I, I would first send an email to confirm rather than emailing your bank details happily to anyone, but that is me.

They ask for:

Nombre y apellidos / name and surname
direccion / address
poblacion / town
cp (codigo postal) / post code
email
telefono / telephone

And then either credit card (tarjeta de credito) or direct debit (domicializacion bancaria). Again, up to you but I personally don´t like setting up direct debits as they seem to me less controllable than the credit card but it is so personal and dependent on the kind of insurance that the card has....

I hope that this helps to those asking themselves where to contact...

A dress from a skirt

2011-05-15T18:50:00.002+01:00

A few months ago I decided to sell quite a few of my clothes through Ebay. Many found new owners but some stayed behind. Amongst those, it was this lovely Oasis skirt. I loved it and as it was made out of lovely light soft cotton, I decided to transform it into a dress for my lovely niece.

Internet is full of ideas and I found various on how to transform an adult skirt into a dress. Amongst those ideas I liked one which suggested using a t-shirt for the top part of the dress and the adult skirt as the bottom... Looking at my skirt in particular, I also liked the idea of using the belt as a bow.

Firstly removed the belt and I unpicked the top of the skirt (opening it up). Then I removed the zip and sewed the sides fully ,creating a "tube". I bought a t-shirt in a colour which would go with the tones of the fabric.

I then folded the top of the skirt (around 1.5cm) and loosely basted it. I pinned the sides on to the sides of the t- shirt making sure that they were at the same height.

I pulled and adjusted the the thread slowly, to make sure that the width of the skirt was becoming the same as the width of the t-shirt.

I pinned the skirt into position and passed it through the sewing machine. It was not important if it was not perfect. It was more important that it looked evenly spread.

Finally covered the joining of both materials with the belt which I sewed top and bottom by hand.

The result has a vintage look and my skirt will continue to live many more years ahead.

Hola

2011-04-22T14:31:00.000+01:00

Solo una nota para recordar a todos quienes quieran traducir el blog desde mozzila, safari u otros search engines que si vais a
google.com
hay una seccion que se llama "more" arriba.
si elegis translate
from english to spanish
y escribis la direccion del blog en la cajita
os traducira todo.

For those accessing the blog from mozzila, safari and other search engines which do not run the automatic translation from google, go to google.com
select "more" on the top of the page
then translate
then from english to which ever language you may rather use, and finally write the blog address on the little box.

I hope this helps everyone as several of you have asked me in the past....

Love fashion?

2011-04-19T21:22:00.001+01:00

I do. But more and more I am not interested in buying and wearing. I always feel the need to chop and change or make it by myself.

So, my target this week will be to pick up some of the tendencies for the new season and find patterns to make them.

Let´s start: There is the key piece to this season´s wardrobe, the wide leg pants and a nice blazer in linen.

Maybe a large hat to cover you from the sun....a special jersey T and a more informal pair of pantsu... both patterns free.

Or maybe you fancy a nautical design in your trousers

Biker jackets and punk style are also in trend.

Asymmetrical/ tailed skirts and sharp shirts

So let me tell you a story

2011-04-09T19:59:00.003+01:00

I was born in San Sebastian, Spain in the happy 70s. An extremely beautiful city where kings and queens (and also that old dictator known as Franco) used to spend their summer enjoying invigorating sea baths. Elegant and lovely, but so very small that often my parents knew of my whereabouts before I arrived home.

London is my adopted town. A complete chaos where millions of people live almost classified by typologies... well, maybe I am exaggerating, but it truly feels that way. Urban tribes or fashion trends which ever way you may want to look at it, set a very clear picture of the area they move on, and although the architectures have increasingly lost their identity, one can always count on the inhabitants to not require reading of the street plates.

I am happy here. I can be what ever I want to be and nobody cares. You do get a great sense of freedom. But freedom comes with a price sometimes...

Yesterday I had lunch with a dear friend of mine who I had not seen for 9 years. She and I studied together when I first arrived.

Since she is not listening, I can say that she is one of the most talented architects I have ever met. At uni all the boys loved her. She was so intriguing, stylish and her work was so strong, so personal. I love her too, but mostly because she is lovely and because she is a proper architect! Not only in paper but also in her heart as I feel one should.

I have to admit that work has been difficult, particularly since the recession. It has been quite intense and to give you an idea, I still have 15 holiday days left from last year.

I have always being the kind of person that takes every job seriously and gives it her best shoot and generally bumps into success. However, the world keeps setting challenges in front of us that keep on reminding us that the way is long... or that even, that we need to take the next turn.

I think I really needed to meet an old friend for a chat, particularly as home feels so far away when you have no free time to scape. Sometimes we all need remembering where we come from to know where we are going, and I frankly remembered.

I am going to be the architect I wanted to become when I chose this career. (I thought I share this will all of you)

Hampstead Heath , Plan you May bank holiday visit

2011-04-05T23:08:00.003+01:00

I don´t know if you will forgive me for this distraction from the sewing business but here is another one of life in London secrets... Every year, when spring starts, around this time, Hampstead heath turns leafie and beautiful... and then, when you least expect it... or rather the may bank holiday, an explosion of colours takes over.

With the Royal wedding on the 29th of April, we have been given a fantastic extra bank holiday this year in the UK, and we are all planning to make the most of it! I think I will make sure that as usual, I attend my appointment at Hampstead heath, and with a little bit of luck, I might even get a piece of cake at Kenwood house.

If you have watched the Hugh Grant - Julia Roberts´ movie "Notting Hill", you may remember the building... It is the backdrop at the Henry James period movie that she stars towards the end.

"subtraction cutting" concept by Julian Roberts

2011-04-04T08:13:00.001+01:00

At the end of January, I was lucky enough to attend "Flatness and Form" a series of lectures and a Master class at the Barbican linked to the then current exhibition "Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion".

Not having had any formal training on sewing or pattern cutting, I was drawn in through the similarity that the "alternative pattern cutting" offered when compared to model making as I know it. It sounded like a fantastic opportunity to learn how those who did things differently chose too approach pattern cutting.

The first lecture was by Matohu´s designers Hiroyuki Horihata and Makiko Sekiguchi. Their story focuses on a long term project rather than a ever changing search for tendencies. I liked that they decided to find a concept and create a body of work to develop during a period of time of 5 years. The starting point was the Keicho Period, which run between 1596 and 1615 in Japan.

The reason behind this very specific choice is that this was a time when historic Japan shared most similarities with the more current Japan. It was a time when the traditional methods were used whilst all kind of influences from outside Japan were reflected in the every day life elements.

The second lecture was more of a conversation between Shelley Fox and the fashion historian Alistair O’Neill. I loved Shelley´s work, but even more her honesty and resourcefulness. It was so interesting to understand where she had developed her interest from, how she had developed her ideas and overcome specific difficulties... So inspiring to hear how mistakes can be turned into opportunities!

She is currently developing a "MFA Fashion Design and Society" at the New School, which I guess could have been the reason why a large emphasis was put on the social aspects of fashion and its evolution. It was sad but comforting to realize that the issues that both architecture and music are going through, are so interlinked to those which the fashion industry is going through . I guess that an increase of the world population together with the fragile nature of human affects all of the arts.

Finally, I also attended a Cutting Masterclass, by Julian Roberts. "subtraction cutting", It was so very inspiring. He is the quirky British eccentric by definition. His mind in like his website...Full of surprises.

I would like to tell you all about it, but there is no way I could explain the massive window that his masterclass opened in front of me! Help yourselves to the website, the videos and the Wednesday website which only opens on Wednesdays! (Ps. if you modify your calendar ... it could be Wednesday)

Yohji Yamamoto

2011-04-03T14:55:00.002+01:00

Is it me or time does not simply pass, but runs past so fast that one does not have a clue when the New Year begun or what happened between the Barbican exhibition titled "30 years of Japanese Fashion" which I attended in January and this retrospective one on Yohji Yamamoto at the V&A.

I still remember planning my visit and it already arrived. I have even visited it once already! It was wonderful. I wanted to touch everything but felt it to be inappropriate... even rude... those fabrics were so meaningful, so carefully and purposefully selected... And everyone knows that the slight sweat in human hands leaves an accumulative patina on the fabric that you cannot get rid off.

Yet people touched! They touched everything, and who can blame them! It was all so intriguing, so mysteriously crafted. Every layer added a level of complexity to a form whose authorship you could recognise without the shadow of a doubt.

These images are linked to the exhibition website which I recommend you having a look, there are videos, interviews, images and more but if you can visit the V&A, please do. It is well worth your time.

Ps1. Notice that there are Yamamoto´s works in more than one places of the museum, so don´t miss anything!

Ps2. If like me you like Wim Wenders.... have a look at this fantastic DVD

Ps3. The Wapping project at Bankside has a photographic exhibition called "Yojhi´s women"

You might have noticed...

2011-04-02T20:55:00.001+01:00

... The little link I placed on the left hand side of thist blog to the books I made for fund-raising purposes. You might even peeked on the Blurb store, if you haven´t, please feel free to have a look... You can see the images and if you were interested purchase the book, but really, I would also be satisfied if you saw another side to the area the world now knows as an endless field of water.

I feel a bit strange not having posted here for a while, not even having sitted in front of the sewing machine, but firstly the regeneration project that the team and I are trying to build and later the need I felt to rebuild the picture of the Tohoku area, I have been too busy.

I want to use this post to send you all a big thank you from here for following my posts, but also to invite you to have a look at a new blog I have created to show my view of Japan to anyone who wants to have a peek.

Shopping bags

2011-03-06T20:04:00.000Z

Now a days, one rarely seems to go shopping without a canvas bag inside their pocket. The bad publicity that plastic bags have received and the quite recently introduced charge that only some supermarkets apply, seem to have made us more German in this sense.

I remember that I was first introduced to the idea of your own bags almost twenty years ago during a visit to a German supermarket. Then, in London , a German friend explained that this was common practice "back home". People had got used to manage their shopping habits, and it was not hassle any more. She never once told me any of the arguments that have been used to discourage people from using plastic bags this days. She simply said that given that people recycled, there was no much room to extend the life of the small size plastic bags. It made sense. How many times you have gone shopping and ended up with a collection of useless little plastic bags that once you are at home cannot have any other logical use.

This entry aims at giving all of you ideas to make your own canvas bags....Starting from one of mine.

Earthy girl, has a free pattern to make these.

Bijou lovely has a wonderful tutorial full of images to guide you through the process required to make this one.

Queen of diy posted this fantastic tutorial

And for tips on how to achieve that amazing finish, I have found this fantastic site...

Free patterns at Otsukayan

2011-02-28T08:10:00.000Z

Japanese fabric shops are brilliant sources of ideas. They always seem to be happy to provide free patterns ideas that should inspire you to make something.

Unless you speak Japanese, I would recommend that you either use Microsoft explorer with the Google bar installed , or that you use Google chrome instead. The second option is , lets face it, the quickest of both.

Then you can think about what is it that you fancy sewing....

A Bolero?

A linen dress?

Maybe a Jimbei (a child "kimono")?

Capes... just a selection

2011-02-27T20:49:00.000Z

Perfect raincoat shape cape

Lovely elegant shaped cape

Cute hoodie jacket

Lovely drapey jacket

Smart cape

Country look

Another elegant one

Wow, how cute is this

2011-02-19T20:10:00.001Z

A few weeks ago, and a month earlier than expected my nephew was born. He is only little but has already begun his life with a big bang, and so I decided that I wanted to make him something special.

After a few years of frequent wearing, my beloved pair of Japanese dennin trousers had to go...But, as we all know, an old pair of jeans is much softer than a new one...so, I decided to re use the material .

For the inside face of the top, I used a colourfull thin cotton, which served me to hide the stitched from joining the bottom and top tarst both in the back and front.

As i often do for children clothing, i used snaps (two large one for the straps and 4 small ones for the sides). I added a detail by fixing two crayon buttons on the shoulders...

Hair piece for dear Dolly's 60th

2011-01-28T12:14:00.000Z

In january the 15th was my friend Dolly’s birthday . Dolly is the happiest person in the office. In an super intense architectural practice, you always need someone like her to pat your back every now and then and tell you that it will all be ok.

So, grateful as I am to her for being so nice to all of us every day (and lets face it, although we are qute a friendly office when compared to others, we are often a grumpy bunch), I decided to make her a hair piece to complement her 50s party theme.

Dolly loves leopard prints and since those came back in fashion a couple of seasons ago, she has happily embraced the trend. This, of course was also something she followed through when choosing the material that her niece would use to make her 50s dress.

I wanted an easy fit piece, and she wanted something other than a band, so i decided to go for a fascinator as a base, with a “comb” to fix on to the hair. The top would be covered with a delicate lace and vintage looking yo-yos.

Each yo-yo was crafted as a double layer. The inner layer was a the lepard skin printed satin and the outer later a black thin muslin cotton. To pick up the color of the dress, I also added natural ambar beads into each yo-yo, leaving three or four of them to be decorated with a clear glass beads… This, I felt avoided overpowering the piece. It was all hand stitched and I managed to snap a needle in the process…

I discovered that, when fixing the comb as I had seeing at the shop where i bought it, it was not lifting enough to fit properly, so I made a little yo-yo with the printed fabric and placed it inside it to lift it slightly. (see pics)

My dear friend loved it and looked beautiful in her party so I was very happy .

Material Notes:

For the yo-yos: black muslin , animal printed satin, beads For the base: thin antique wide lace, and teardrop fascinator straw base and the comb.

Another Christmas hair piece

2010-12-21T18:36:00.002Z

So I managed to catch the office cold… the one that everyone has been suffering and seems to have left each and every one of us without energy for the holidays. I missed my party, and my husband’s and well, such is life, eh? But as I still have the "real " Christmas to come, I could not stop myself from making another one of these…

I used scraps of materials I had at home (I have photograph them to give you an idea of the mix), the same black ribbon i used last time and similarly, fasteners. I also made 4 yoyos which i decorated with a garnet type of bead.

I firstly made a shape I liked in tissue paper. Then cut the same shape in jersey fabric… twice. Sewed around most of it, turned inside out and finished the “base piece”. The ribbon and the fasteners were measured, cut and fixed to the base.

I then cut around 40 to 50 “leafs” in fabrics of different textures. The shape, bay leaf like. Once I had them all cut, I begun to group them in 3 s of 4s, sewing them together… and finally, arranged them along the base until I was happy with the shape. then I sewed them, starting from the “top”, always making sure that each layer covered the “steams” of the previous one…. similarly to my Custom T-shirt project.

I made the 4 yoyos I sewed the beads into each one and laid them over the template’s vertex (to call it something… the pointy-er area that was to be placed behind my ear) covering the bottom of the bottom leafs. Finally I sewed them to one another and then to the base.

Hair piece for my office's Christmas party

2010-12-20T17:50:00.000Z

Last time I was in Japan I purchased a “yo yo” maker….

I first heard of the Yo-yo maker in June, when I bought a magazine called “cotton friend” where the company which makes the product advertised it.

I always struggle trying to decide what to wear to the office christmas party as it is always an occassion, and all the ladies make an extra effort … so, this year, I decided to make a nice accessory to accompany my dress.

I firstly made a shape I liked in tissue paper. Then made the bigger yoyos and laid them over the template. Then tiny ones to complete the shape. I sewed crystal beads into each larger one. Finally I sewed them to one another and to two ribbons at either end. Tried it on, marked where to put the snap fastener , sewed it and that was it :-) The benefit of not having a base is that it adjusts better to your own head shape.

I used left over cottor/rayon fabric, a wide ribbon, and a snap fastener, as well as some swarosky little beads for a spark.

The fabric is an African wrinkled cotton that has a shiny strappy finish… they sell it in the east of London to make celebratory clothing. We also used it in the black and white dress for my former colleague Claire.

By the way, mother nature had other plans and I ended up stuck in bed with a fue rather than enjoying the party… oh well will wear it another time :-)

Cloth house, Soho

2010-12-09T19:58:00.002Z

A fewweeks ago I finally went into a shop i have loved from the distance for a while: Cloth house.

I will cut the story short and tell you about their philosophy. They are a company that sources their materials from many countries caring for the people who make them, for the processes that are used to make them and the impact of those in the environment. They even quote one of my heroes in their website: Mahatma Gandhy "there is no beauty in the finest cloths if it makes hunger and unhappiness".

I always thought it would be an expensive place, because they care so much for every detail that I have been accustomed in the uk to pay for service, but everything is so reasonable that i had to check the labels twice! The selection is incredible: from vintage haberdashery to the best non branded cottons or even silver thread. They even have a remnant pile near the door and Edith Piaf on the music player....it is a great place .

Boys and girls, xmas IS here

2010-11-07T08:28:00.000Z

Yesterday we went to a walk to town and we felt it... it was all there: the noise, the colours, the density of population concentrated in front of particular stores, the spark in people´s eyes or the bags around their arms signalled the arrival of that time of the year in which the calmest of humans develop anxieties as they squeeze their brains to decide what the perfect gift will be to show their love and appreciation to those they love ... often forgetting that the best things in life are either priceless or free!

Just as last year (maybe a bit less two years ago) and all the previous years before that, one can clearly feel that the "c" word (as Artemis´ calls it), is just around the corner.

The beautiful interiors temple that is Heals has, this year, transformed its windows to make them look all Christmas-ey... Red, and jolly!

The street sellers seem to suddenly have turned into little advent calendars full of ideas on what the best gift will be this year.

People begin to arrive in town for weekend shopping from smaller areas of the country, or...

Even Paris!

And so, my friends, all I can say is that as many will resort to the reliable bottle of perfume, we have a chance to make the most of it. The chance to sew like we mean it!!!

From London, thank you

2010-11-06T08:56:00.000Z

Hi there everyone.... I have meant to say (for a while now) that I am loving the "new" feature of blogger that allows me to understand where all of you lovely people are from.

Until this feature became available, I was aware of those of you following though the following widget, and I have even visited your blogs... but as for the rest, I did not even realised that you were there until recently!

Now I now know that there are more of you, some following from really unexpected places, therefore before going any further I would like to take the time to say thank you. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog as busy as life it is. I do appreciate your time, a rear commodity these days, more than a blog entry can express.

I also like to thank you for the feedback that you send me, either by commenting or by emailing me. I really like hearing what you like or don´t as it gives my blogging a sense of purpose and makes me happy to know that my "giving back" is working... makes my day, frankly :-)

When I learnt to sew, thanks to my lovely friend Anja, my life changed. I don´t think there is nothing more fulfilling than achieving one of your childhood dreams! When i made my first piece (a little make up bag) I made a promise to my inner child. I promised that I had to give as much back to the world.This is the reason behind the blog.

Continuing the list of dreams...next: I need to go to the moon and learn to fly... not joking...

Looking for a skirt... any skirt?

2010-11-04T07:42:00.001Z

Some mornings you can´t decide... shall i wear the long one? the black one? the one with the detail? NO, I am going to cycle... am I not?... can´t it is raining...etc etc... Maybe it is just me, but i doubt it!

I have so often considered how many "types" of skirts one might need to cover all eventualities that my brain has reached a "stop" :-)

Looking for ideas, I have found several great sources which I am very happy to share ....

First one is in the craftsew website, and has such a large amount of options that one must be able to find something :-)

You have a link to Jona G´s A line tutorial

or Fitzpatterns super cute Dana skirt

To go to work, I liked this one

If you are keen to learn how to create a pattern, i have found a brilliant tutorial at fashion era

If you are after a fifties style circle skirt...click here to see how

6 panel circle skirt can be found at the better homes and gardens website

A petticoat skirt from the anti craft website

And of course there is Burda.... for this tutu skirt

And also for this layered skirt

Or this great "collage" one...

And if you are going out...how about this!