Black Simple Top

I had been looking forward to having a black top for a long time. Now it's here:-)
I bought a sewing magazine to gain several ready-to-make patterns. However, as usual I didn't use it much:-)
I took my old vest and made this pattern: I measured my waist and the length of the top and made a rectangle. I took the height of the armhole from the vest (20cm) and made a mark. At this point I added several cm to the width and continuously passed down to the original waist width. Under the waistline I added in similar way - a triangle on each side to flare it a bit. Then I drew the armholes and drew two halves of the neckline - freehand. So - this is it.

I sewed the sideseams directly and was trying what to do with the rest. I shortened the straps (more the front ones) and deepened the necklines. This did..

Beside knitwear I also bought a fabric that's usually used for T-shirt necks. You can take a look at how it ended up. I wasn't satisfied, the knitwear was stretched impossibly.

Well, I let the edges plain. Fortunately knitwear doesn't fray at all so it doesn't matter. I like it:-D

Crochet without Flower

Sister finally decided that the hat's not loose anymore, so I didn't have to rip as I had expected:-)
If you want to do something like this you might want to mark places where you increase. I tried pins but the fell from time to time.. Fortunately crocheted piece can be easily threaded, that's good not only for decoration but for this purpose as well:-)

Today I finished the hat, if you don't count the decoration (blossom). I made one light brown round of single crochet, two into one big hole in the previous round. Then I had to learn how to make picot from the Net:-)
Picot's a little corner and its made of usually three chain stitches and one slip stitch into the first loop.
I made five chain loops, then pricked into the loop before the previous one. Then three chain stitches and a slip stitch - these are done into every fourth single crochet (you skip two groups).

Crochet's not that bad work:-) When you get the skill it's quite relaxing. And I'm lucky this pattern is rather fast (one double crochet, one chain).
The intended flower will be above one ear.

I hope sister'll like it, the lace is quite strange..

Diary Completed

You can see that the bands have been cut to be smaller than the paper strip and glued to the diary. This is important step. If you stick them loosy the diary will look strange.

Now, I should have glued a mull but I used a Canava instead. It worked quite well:-)

And now to the decoration. I intended to make something like a 3D stamp from millboard and make a squeeze on the paper. In fact it didn't work. I had to think up something else. I glued a strong cord to the millboard for the outer folder. By the way, the pieces I cut out of it were two rectangles in the size of the block I'd made, just some 2 mm bigger in three directions - up, right and down, as I don't add at the backbone. And one a bit narrower than the width of the whole block.

This part's not documented well:-) I cut a rectangle out of a yellow sheet of paper and spread glue on it. I laid the backbone part to the center and sticked Canava on it. The other two rectangles were put a few milimeters aside. I cut the corners of the yellow paper and folded it to the outer folder.

Then cutting the corners more and folding carefully the other side.

Prepared folder looks nice:-)

I took metal scissors to help the letters form themselves. Stroking and tender care:-)

The cord made a nice embossment. I regret not having managed to use the millboard method but this worked better.

Now I put a paper inside the border sheet and spread the glue all over the front page. I removed the blank sheet. Then I sticked it to the outer folder, keeping the 2 mm margin.

This is quite important part and has a big impact on the look of the diary. Now it is almost finished.

I put new blank sheets inside the border papers and let the diary squeeze to secure that the whole diary will be well glued.

Voilá:-)

Blue Poi

I love making sock poi! People pay me for this (instead of all other work I do for them) and it's always kind of a ritual. I didn't forget to lit some candles during the process:-)

This time I had to make two poi - one black-blue and the other blue-black. I made a pattern for one blue and one black poi (with two centimeters added for the seam) and I prepared this nice set of pieces. Like professional cooks do on TV:-)

I sewed the halves together.

I cut a band from a light fabric and sewed it onto the seam to make it smooth and flat.

Well, they're not so bad:-) I just don't like the colour, fortunately the owner did.

And a traditional pocket. I didn't think out anything better that would be linked with blue colour.

Poipoipoipoipoipoipoipoi

Handbag

This is a pattern I made for this bag. The handle's already been sewn and consists of two bands of the same size.
The largest piece is a back panel plus the cover, the smaller ones are a front panel and an inner pocket. Then there's a long band that would give the bag the width and two little pieces for securing the handle.

I turned over the handle and added a seam on each side at a small distance from the edge. You can see how I attached the handle to the center panel using a little rectangle of fabric. I secured this with two seams (I sewed them from the right side as I think that the stitches look mostly better at the side they've been sewn).

Double folding and one line of stitches makes an edge for the front panel and the pocket.

And now the French seam. I tried it for the first time today. When you want to make a French seam, don't turn your work to the wrong side for the sewing but sew it as you wish to have it when finished. Just remember to add a small allowance.

Then turn this all over to the wrong side, fold the fabric back and make a line in a distance a bit bigger than the one you made the first seam with. This is how I resolved the corner, I had no better idea:-P

It should look like this - nice from both sides, no fraying edges. Just what I need for a bag:-)

When I finished attaching the center piece I got down to the rest. I folded the cover twice on the borders and cut the corners at the level of this second line. Some little sewing.

I was looking forward to this:-) I cut this form and lapped the upper brim. The pocket's corners have been cut at the corners, folded in and I added two lines of stitches. Comfortable, nice work:-)

The almost finished pocked on the bag cover. When I decorate it and finish some details on the bag I'll add some more info:-)

Diary Sewing

A few days ago I payed a course of making diaries (books). I decided to use this knowledge to make a present for the birthday of a friend of mine. Wow, this will be a pretty long post again, but diaries have so many steps..
I tore edges of A4 sheets of paper to look "more handmade" :-D I folded them in the middle to create folders - collection of several folded papers.

A printed sheet was inserted into every folder. I printed photos of my friend on my printer. The paper I had was thin and in the result the picture was visible on the wrong side as well. It made an unrepeatable impression. Brilliant.

I had two extra sheets that would serve as border paper. I took two folders and sticked each border paper to one with glue and a strip of paper. The border paper's on the right here.

When I had all the folders complete I laid a twill band on it in regular distances and made a line along their edges, and an additional one at each side.

I pricked the paper with a needle in these marked points. This way they'll be visible from the outside as well as from the inside.

Now sewing the folders together. It's just something like front stitch. You have to start from the outside in.

At the end tuck the pieces of ribbon through the loops. The wide part of the band you sticked the board paper to the folder should be down now (the narrow will be inside the diary). Fasten the cord around the strips leaving a small tail of the cord hanging.

I put the folder to an edge of my table so that I could use my needle easily. When I sewn back I lead the thread around these strips and fastened at the end again.

Here I made a knot with the tail of the cord. This is done only at the first two folders.

At the third folder I made a knot attaching the thread to the previous row. This is the knot that's made from here until the end. Don't forget to attach the cord on every side and keep fastening.

When you have all the folders sewn it should look somehow like this. Wipe the sweat off your forehead and say to yourself that this is not finish but you don't have any time and energy left for the rest:-)

But this was fortunately the harder part of the work.

Plastic Bags Recycling

I found a wonderful thing on the Net today. These sea creatures were all crocheted out of a yarn made from plastic bags.
Here you can see the how to.
According to it I prepared a yarn from one green and two yellow sacks. One plastic bag gives up to about ten meters.

Just in a short - you take a bag, fold it several times in a vertical direction, cut off the handles and the bottom and chop the rest into strips. These unfolded make circles that are to be joined with a knot together to form a double yarn.
Here you can see how I enlarged yarn when crocheting. This is the knot - very easy.

This is a little blossom that came into being. To be sincere the photo is much nicer than the flower itself:-P The flash is something..

As far as the crochet, the leaves are all the same - I made a chain, than one round of stitches back, one around this to the tip of the leaf and back again. This round consists of stitches from the smallest ones to the big ones and back. Upwardly the stitches are: slip stitch, single crochet, half double crochet, double crochet and double treblecrochet. The spirals - I made a long chain and single crochets back.

Adding Colour

I bought several temperas and tried how it would function. There should have been a blank white base but I wanted to save money so I started with the yellow itself.

This is the state after two layers of yellow colour dashed. Not perfect. I had too hard a brush so there are furrows visible. If I stay at this technique I'll buy poster colours:-)

Almost Cloned

So here is the basic shape I made. I cut the edges before I could peel it off the original.

You can spot that the zero layer's not smooth. It's the one I made only with help of water. I'll have to add some paper to this outer side.

The border needs special care. I took a piece of cord and inserted it inside. It will be a buttres for further construction.

I attached it with several amyled strips.

Covered with paper. In this state it's almost ready for painting which I'm particularly looking forward to;-)