1 year late, pt. 2

still doing last year’s late posts, this here was my next sewing project.

self-made blouse, Mango jeans, Marimekko bag.

everything in the previous post was done in January 2021, and the next time i picked up my sewing machine again wasn’t until… July 2021. 😛 many things happened in between, including that mental health problem i mentioned here.

seeing this fabric was the first time–after a long while–i actually smiled and could picture myself wearing it again. (even though the base colour is beige. again. albeit a bit greenish this time. i guess i’m starting to like beige!!)

the fabric is from Marimekko, and the print name is Kaksoset (which means ‘twins’ in Finnish, designed by Maija Isola. to see the full print, please search in Google or go to Marimekko website. it’s so cute, i promise you won’t regret it! 😻

as soon as i saw the fabric and did a calculation in my head of how much fabric i’d need, i immediately knew that instead of breaking up the leopards, i wanted both leopards to be on the front piece part… which also means i’d rather not have any seams on the sides of the garment.

well, i managed to do just that, mwahahaha!

but before i go there, let’s rewind a bit to the beginning. because the print is so big, and it depends on where it was previously cut (the fabric’s not sold per print repeat, so you may get the beginning of the fabric at the middle part of the print), i counted that 80 cm of the fabric (around 147 cm wide) should be enough for a boxy shirt.

boxy shirt means exactly that: i didn’t use any pattern, just made 2 rectangles (because i didn’t want the sides to have seams, remember?) and joined them at the back. then i cut the arm holes by copying one of my t-shirts. for the collar, as usual, i used Burda pattern 7936–only the collar stand this time instead of the whole collar, and added about 2-3 cm of the height to make it look more ‘oriental’. i had wanted to do sleeves in the beginning, using different fabric, but in the end i figured this model is much better.

i also imagined that i might want to use it as a vest sometimes with the buttons unbuttoned, so i made sure the inside looks neat too. i added polka dot bias tape to the inner side of the button list, also because i wanted to keep the leopards’ faces & bodies intact and not fold too much to the inner side. for the arm holes, i used off-white bias tape.

and the buttons? they were from Marimekko Outlet, so i imagined it’s like a small reunion between them and the fabric! 😁 i still love the idea of using different coloured thread to sew buttons in place, but since i didn’t have orange/brown thread, i used red instead. it seems to be working just fine.

so this is the ‘new format’ of pics i was talking about. these pics were at least much easier to take (and edit) and a lot more fun too! from now on (until who knows when) i’m gonna stick to this format.

how’s everyone’s 2022 been going so far? better than the previous year, hopefully!

magic mushrooms

in my 10 years experience of sewing, i hadn’t got the chance to sew Finnish design fabrics other than the big brands like Marimekko, Finlayson’s Moomin, and Nanso. to be honest, i didn’t even know much about Finnish ‘indie’ design fabric brands that much, until some colleagues of mine started introducing them to me some time last year. and what a wonderful alternative they are to the other bigger brands!

i had wanted to get my hands on them ever since, but compared to the fabrics i usually buy & sew, these Finnish ones are naturally quite pricey. for example, i usually spend about 5€-10€ for a single fabric for one project, but these fabrics cost around 24€ per meter. so i wanted to be careful when choosing the fabrics to buy from these brands, and not end up regretting the purchase.

luckily for me, some months ago there was an arts and crafts event called Ommel where these brands sold their fabrics for cheaper prices. this event was also where i got to learn about & test the sewing machine i ended up getting (didn’t buy it from the event itself, though). in short, this event was my perfect opportunity to get deeper into my passion of sewing.

after some hours of deliberating, i decided to get 2 fabrics from Verson Puoti. the other one is to be posted later when i have made something out of it, but this first one is called Sienisato.why i decided to get this one is actually another story probably worth telling.

just before this event, i celebrated my 10th year anniversary at my work place. my colleagues had secretly prepared surprise gifts for me, and one of them was a skirt made out of a Marimekko fabric. ❤

i really love that skirt and want to use it everyday, however i found that i only have plain t-shirts to wear with it, either black or white. so i was looking for another special fabric that i can use together with that skirt, and thought that black and white print would be lovely.

self-made top, hand-made Marimekko skirt from colleagues, handmade earrings from another colleague.

but you can be the judge of that! even though i haven’t been using crazy prints that much lately, i do still like to mix prints and colours. now with this Marimekko skirt, i can go all out!

this piece of fabric that i got was cotton jersey, sized 70 cm long and about 160 cm wide. it’s wider than most jerseys, so at first i thought i would still be left with a small piece for some other project. but alas, the first sleeve piece i cut was much too narrow that my arm couldn’t fit it, so i had to cut new ones.

since i promised to really make use of my new sewing machine, i tested different stitches for this project. for the sleeves, since they are still quite tight even after i cut new pieces, i used an elastic stitch (left picture above) which is not really straight but also not really ziggy zaggy, more like a combo of these two. for the added detail, i decided to make straps from black cotton jersey and used decorative stitches on it.

i had worried that the decorative stitches would be uneven when i do it to a stretchy material, but since i folded the fabrics twice (so that it’s 3-layered) i suppose it helped to stabilize it, and i would say my machine did a pretty damn good job! (can you tell how much i love my new machine already?)

for this project, i used the good ol’ Ottobre design magazine pattern that i have used numerous times on different types of dresses and tops. since i am still learning on how to make my own patterns, i did this one the ‘idiot’ way: first i traced the pattern and cut the fabric as they were supposed to be (minus the neck pieces), and then i sewed the sleeves and back & front pieces together, and then cut the neckline so that it would be slightly off-shoulder. then, i added the straps.

as you can also probably guess, i love the result so much! i’m just so proud of myself and my sewing machine for being able to put the lovely print design to a good use. maybe it’s because of these magic mushrooms! also, i’m happy to be able to support these local indie textile designers, i do hope i don’t disappoint them by making this top out of their magical print.