52 craft projects // a polka dot skirt

I've been thinking and talking about learning how to sew clothes for years. Earlier this year I even bought two books on that topic and I was determined to get started right away. But then life happened and the books collected dust in my craft book shelf. When I was in Berlin with Sam last week I bought a cheap cotton fabric at a fabric market. Cheap fabric means it's not too intimidating to actually make something out of it.

It's a dark blue fabric with white-ish dots, kind of 50s style. This is probably the simplest skirt ever made: I cut out two pieces of fabric (I started using a free tutorial online but gave up quite quickly and decided to do my own thing), sewed the side seams, made a little tunnel for an elastic at the top and made a simple hem. I used a baby lock serger that made sewing the skirt really easy and quick. Sergers look really intimidating when you use them for the first time but once you get the hang of it it's fun and you can't stop dreaming up projects to make.

My mom got out a vintage 'skirt maker' (a tool to mark fabric on a person to make sure the skirt/dress has the same length all around) and puffed chalk on the fabric to mark the hem. A really simple yet genius tool! The chalk marks should vanish when I wash the skirt.

The fit certainly isn't perfect but it was fun to make and it's a great little afternoon project to get started on sewing clothes. Also, it's totally wearable (unlike e.g. my first knitted 'hat'...) and cheap. Huge thanks to my mom for helping me and letting me borrow the serger!
This is project #21 of 52 craft projects I'm attempting to complete in 2013.
You can see all the other projects I've complete so far here.

52 craft projects // you've got mail

The hallway has been a work in project since I moved in. Its shape makes it hard to decorate. There's quite some white wall space above the dresser but the fuse box is right next to it so we can't drill any holes in the wall. My solution for now is to make a small wall hanging and hang it using two tiny nails.

I made the you've got mail wall pocket by Ayumi. When I browsed through her new book 'patchwork, please!' I knew that it would be the first (but certainly not the last) project I'd make from the book. It was very easy and quick to make. Though I had to rely on some Spanish quilter on youtube to explain to me how paper piecing works again. It's been about 15 years since I've last used the technique - crazy, right?

The colors match my text art perfectly. I divided the top row in two pockets so there's one pocket for my mail and one for my roomie's. There's a large pocket at the bottom to fit larger envelopes. Also I only realized that the wall hanging is crooked after I took the pictures...oops!
Most of the fabrics I used were in my scrap basket. Hence the random selection of colors and patterns.

I followed this tutorial to sew on the binding by machine. I thought my mom exaggerated when she said sewing on the binding by machine looks like crap and I should never do it. Oh well, lesson learned. It does look like crap and I'll never do it again. Unless I'm in a hurry and the person who receives the quilt/project doesn't know anything about sewing and is not a perfectionist.

Also I realized that I didn't inherit my mom's quilting genes. Sadly.

Of course Lina had to make sure she'd be featured on my blog, too. Here she's checking whether she got any mail today.
This is project #20 of 52 craft projects I'm attempting to complete in 2013.
You can see all the other projects I've complete so far here.

52 craft projects // sam's patchwork pouch

I met Sam from Fluffyland (a very cute shop with lots of handmade cuteness - e.g. tiny narwhales with graduation caps!!). She's in Germany to improve her German and I couldn't resist making a little something for her to remember her time in Hamburg and Berlin.
I've had this cute woven Hamburg ribbon in my stash for quite some time now. When I saw the matching Berlin one in my mom's ribbon collection I had to make a project using both.

I opted for a pouch because let's be honest, you can't have ever have enough pouches, right?
I have pouches for just about everything... camera charger, make up, sewing supplies, knitting supplies, medicine, ...
I chose a light interfacing because Sam has to take the plane home; lighter pouch means more fabric capacity! :)

I started with a basic log cabin block using her favorite color and a cute penguin in the middle to match the colors of the woven ribbons. Next I added some strips in different sizes to one side of the block. I made zipper taps to match the green stripe and my label. The zipper is from a flea market. It has been used before but I couldn't resist using it because the color matched perfectly.

I sewed the woven ribbon to one of the solid fabric strips and incorporated it in the log cabin block. Unfortunately it doesn't say 'Berlin' on this one but I think most people recognize the Brandenburger Tor and the Fernsehturm ;)

The lining is an old ikea bed sheet that I found in my mom's stash. All the other fabrics are from my or my mom's ever growing scraps collection.

I'm reeeally behind on sharing all the projects I've done lately. I'll try to catch up before I go on vacation in a week. A wip post might also be necessary because I'm working on a thousand projects (okay, maybe only ten...).
This is project #19 of 52 craft projects I'm attempting to complete in 2013.
You can see all the other projects I've complete so far here.

fabric shopping in berlin - volksfaden & hüco

Earlier this week my mom and I went to my favorite German city - Berlin! I love just about everything about the city and I'm secretly dreaming of moving there one day. One of things I love most about Berlin is that there are many creative people, thus many gorgeous fabric stores!
On our last trip there we went to two store:
Volksfaden in Schöneberg. Getting there is super easy - take the S1 to Julius-Leber-Brücke and there's a small boardwalk that leads right to the Volksfaden shop.

All the decorations in the shop a very cute and the selection of fabrics is amazing - soo many gorgeous fabrics! We've had a hard time choosing but I ended up with a bunch of Christmas fabrics. Making plans for a christmas quilt in August? Yepp, that's totally me.


We also went to hüco - it's a wholesale but the prices are just like in any other fabric store (if not even more expensive.). What's great about the shop is that it's a huge warehouse full of fabrics and zippers etc. The selection is endless! We didn't end up buying anything but it's nice to know that there's a store that offers a huge selection of fabrics for sewing clothes, costumes, etc.

52 craft projects // echino messenger bag

Back in 2011, I made an echino bag. I love it and I've been using it pretty much every day since. in Vancouver I only had the echino bag and a small purse so I used it all the time; when I got back to Germany I took the bag to work every day in the summer, used it when I went grocery shopping, etc. Believe me if I tell you that I used it a lot. After a couple of months the straps started to rip. When I made it I didn't consider that I'd be using it to drag tons of books across campus. My mom sewed the straps back in(with a square and X in the middle etc.) and everything was fine but a couple weeks ago I noticed that the strap fabric starts to fall apart and the bottom of the bag is pretty worn, too. The chino fabric didn't fade at all though and I'm really happy with the quality of the fabric and print!

So when I decided to sew a new bag of course I'd go with an echino fabric again. I've considered sewing a similar bag to my old one but with a zipper to close it. Turns out it's impossible to find a durable metallic zipper anywhere in my hometown. So I decided on a messenger bag instead; I feel more comfy if I have a bag that can be closed properly so I don't have to worry about anyone picking something from my bag ;)

I didn't find a bag pattern/tutorial I liked online so I came up with my own design. I love it because it perfectly suits my needs:
- two elastic pockets on the outside to fit my water bottles (one of them is big enough to hold my trusty nalgene bottle)
- a zipper pocket for my keys on the outside so I don't have to empty my entire bag to find them
- a zipper pocket for my (oversized) wallet
- a '3 D pocket' with a flap that can be securly closed with a snap for my cell phone
- a cute 'bike' pocket for my tissues because I don't have a cover for my bike seat so I have to wipe the rain off pretty much every time I wanna go somewhere
- a keychain hook for my shopping cart chip
- many colorful pockets and tidbits to brighten my day

The flap is pink on the inside (it's a very colorful linen fabric that I got at a fabric market at a bargain price) and it can be closed with two magnetic snaps if it's full. If it's empty I usually don't bother closing  it. The adjustable straps and the bottom of the bag are made usinga very thick ikea fabric. The linen I used for the lining is from the fabric market too. The '3D pocket' fabrics are kokka and the green bicycle is an echino fabric.

I love sewing bags and pockets. I'm sure I'll add another bag or two to my collection this summer ... :)

This is project #18 of 52 craft projects I'm attempting to complete in 2013.
You can see all the other projects I've complete so far here.

the wollmeise shop

When I lived in Vancouver, I got to meet lots of knitters. Whenever a 'modern' knitter(as in someone who is familiar with ravelry) found out I was German the inevitable question would be whether I knit with Wollmeise yarn and wether I've been to their shop. I declined (it wasn't until the summer after I moved back to Germany that I purchased my first skein of Wollmeise) and thought how strange the whole 'Wollmeise hype' was - even 'down to earth' Canadian knitters seemed to start drooling as soon as they heard the word Wollmeise.

Fast forward a year and I've knitted through one skein of fingering weight Wollmeise but let's be honest, I'm not a fan. I prefer more fluffy, 'natural looking' fibers like alpaca and wool over the Wollmeise's merino. But my mom bought a one month unlimited rail ticket for two persons. Considering it doesn't even take four hours to go to the Wollmeise shop in Pfaffenhofen, Bavaria we had the stupid idea of going there... just to have a look and see what the hype is all about. Also eight hours on the train means lots of time to knit :)

It was a ca.15 minute walk from the train station. Not a problem. Unless it's 35°C (95°F) outside and there's no shade and it's about noon. Oh well, I guess someone who's crazy enough to go on a four hour trip to a yarn store across the country can't complain about the weather. August isn't the most popular yarn shopping season for a reason.

Once inside you're greeted by some strings of hearts. I'm not allowed to post pictures of strangers so I can't show you a picture of the entire store but it's a decent sized yarn store with shelves on three sides stuffed with colorful yarn and two couches and a coffee table in the middle. There were about 15 customers when we got there, including Austrians and French people.

If you're not familiar with Wollmeise yarn, it's hand dyed yarn that is dyed in Bavaria. It's famous for the great colors, as you can see above.

They had lots of 'Nobody is Perfect' skeins - meaning either the weight is off or there's a knot somewhere.

The shop is nicely decorated with lots of knitted samples. The name of the colorway of the dressed up skein is 'young mouse' - very cute idea(and gorgeous color!)

Of course we couldn't go to a yarn shop halfway across the country without buying at least one skein each. Well we ended up buying for than just one skein each but you'll have to wait until next week because I didn't get a chance to take any decent pictures of our yarn yet. In the picture above my mom is winding a skein of lace that I bought - the name of the color is 'Ruby Thursday'; isn't it a great color for a Christmas cardigan?

If there are some Wollmeise fanatics out there who haven't had the pleasure of visiting their store yet - I hope this gave you an impression of what it looks like. If you're in the area I definitely recommend visiting their little shop - the staff is really nice and helpful, their selection of colors and yarn weights is great and it's a nice place to meet knitters. Not to mention that it's pretty entertaining to see how people bring empty suitcases to the store and try to fit as many skeins in there as possible :)

taking it slowly

The term is finally over and I'm one of the privileged people who can talk about 'summer break'. I've been taking it slowly - pancake breakfasts at home, lunch dates with friends, shopping trips with my mom and lots of cat snuggles. My body tells me to stay in bed for at least five days and not do anything but sleep. My mind tells me to get off my lazy butt and make stuff. Let's see who wins.

I have lots of plans for this little space for the next couple of months. Is there anything you'd like to see/read? Please bear with me while I'm getting back into blogging more regularly.


ps: I'm looking forward to catching up with you guys! I'll read through all the blogs that I've neglected in the past weeks. If you have a blog that you'd like me to check out, please leave a link in the comments section. I love finding new blogs and getting to know my blog readers!