out of hiding

oups! it appears i had disappeared from blogland for what? three months? yeah... let's forget about that and move on to happier subjects.


a lot of my friends have recently dug out sewing machines from deep down in their closets or borrowed them from friends or family and are starting to sew. i'm so excited to know that they are finding ways to learn new techniques and ways of expressing themselves while also expressing love for their family and the planet by heading more into a "handmade life" direction.

so in order to celebrate beginning seamstresses and creating for the ones we love i thought i'd create a tutorial.

i've decided on a simple vest as it seems the most versatile piece of clothing i can think of.
anyone can wear a vest at any age. boys, girls, babies, toddlers, mamas, papas...
making clothing for kids may not seem worthwhile sometimes because they outgrow everything so quickly. a vest fits much longer than pants or shirts. it transitions well through the seasons doesn't stain or wear out easily and this one is even reversible giving you basically two pieces in one!

got the point? it's time to make a vest.

the other reason i thought this would be perfect for a tutorial is that i think it's a good example for one of the biggest obstacles we encounter with sewing... the planning and thinking ahead.
all the sewing required for this is very basic and suitable for true beginners. but putting these few pieces of cloth together in the right order seems very counter intuitive at first. and because most patterns seems to assume that the reader just knows how to do this kind of work, i haven't found the process explained in a detailed way. for me personally purely written instructions are basically worthless. i need images. so this is going to be extremely picture heavy (excuse the yucky water stains on my ironing board) and i hope it works for you.

here we go...




for this vest i'm using a pattern i found in ottobre magazine but you can easily create your own by tracing the shape of a shirt which fits the to-be-vested-person well.




trace the pattern onto left side of one of your fabrics. place fabrics on top of each other, make a decision about seam allowance (i add 1cm all around), cut.





see? two layers. cotton print and purple stuff. i have three pieces of each. back and two front pieces.




begin sewing by taking your outside fabric (cotton print in my case) right sides facing each other. now sew only the two shoulder seams with a simple straight stitch. repeat with your inner layer of fabric (purple in this case).




now spread out both layers (it'll kinda look like a big U or V), open up the shoulder seams and press with an iron if you're using cotton and are a very tidy seamstress (i didn's press. i'm not tidy.). have the right sides of the two different fabrics face each other.




do as much pinning as you feel you need in order to keep both sides in place during sewing. i use very few needles if any, but if this really is your first project, use a lot of pinning to spare yourself some frustration later on. pin along all the outsides of your fabric U or V.




now start sewing your two layers together. start at the bottom of the side seam, stitch along the whole front, up and around the neck, down the front again until you reach the bottom of the other side seam.




now do the same for both arm openings. remember, your two layers are still spread out U or V shape right sides facing each other. this might feel crazy and like it couldn't possibly work to you, but it will! ;)




here's the big U or V. depending on how much seam allowance you used and what kind of materials you're working with you should trim the sewn edges now. you can do lots of little snips where you've sewn rounds, really trim corners if you use a pattern with sharp corners or ,as i did, give it a good trim all around.
in this case i'm not terribly concerned with fraying because i've chosen fabric i know won't hold up very well with lots of washes anyway and we will also topstitch these vests all around in the end, so fraying shouldn't be an issue really.





now we turn the vest right sides out by pulling the fabric through the shoulders. crazy. i know. but it works.




see? right sides out. arm holes are sewn, neck and front opening is sewn. still open are the side seams and the bottom seam on the back.




this is where you might get really confused and it's also where the sewing could get a little fumbly. deep breaths. this WILL work.
you now close the side seams. which means starting with your outside layer fabric you put the fabric right sides facing and stitch along the side seam top to bottom. be careful not to accidentally sew onto the inside fabrics.
then you fumble around a bit more until you have the inside layer fabric's outside seam ready to be sewn the same way.




this picture shows the side seams of inner and outer layer.

repeat for the other side seam.




turn it all right sides out and find that it really looks like it actually might work out in the end! woohoo!


at this point the only part left to sew together is the back's bottom. so you turn the vest wrong side out again, neatly line up the two layers in the back (use pins!) and then stitch them together leaving a hole in the middle big enough for you to use for turning the vest right side out again.




here's the bottom seam in the back. i sewed one side, left a hole big enough for my hand, sewed the other side.




turn right side out. neatly fold in the seam allowance where you left the hole. (again, use pins.)


use your hands or an iron to press the vest into shape now and get it to look clean and even.




then topstitch all along all the sides and armholes. i start right where i left the hole. because of the topstitching i don't need to handstitch to close the hole. it also helps the vest stay in shape through washes and keeps the fabric from fraying over time.




voi-la! here are my first two vest. one for joon and one for mika. making these took far less than an hour each INCLUDING tracing and cutting out the patterns and picking out fabrics.




there are endless possibilities for different designs.
i will be adding button loops and buttons to these but needed quick gratification today so they had to be plain at first.

you could use different shapes, add pockets, do patchwork, use fleece, fake fur, leather, trims, feathers, rig rag, pom poms.... endless variations.


so? are you making a vest today?

back to sewing

whoa. after almost a month away from my machine i finally made a couple things. nothing spectacular, but it feels oh. so. good.

it's all about refashioning during at least july and august, so i'm trying to reset my creative thinking and really enjoying the extra challenges that come with it.

here's what i've done so far...


an old skirt of mine which now enjoys a new life as a cute airy summer dress for joon.


this one doesn't even really count because all i did was shorten a dress into a skirt. but i'm so excited about every minute of sewing i get done and thrilled to have a cute new summer top. AND most importantly this piece of cloth is no longer sitting at the bottom of a closet but actually getting used! what a concept.


super comfy shirt i bought on sale. loved the shirt but hated the print. now the print is hidden under ikea cotton and rig rag and i love how it turned out.


woohoo! now i really hope i can get some more done tomorrow before dave disappears for a weekend of band fun.

the pledge

it's july 1st, a day i've been mentally preparing for the past couple of weeks. the reason today is special? it marks the first day of a 2-month long experiment for me.
i've decided to take the wardrobe refashion pledge.

the official rules as stated on the website are as follows...


1. No buying new! (handmade is excepted; So this allows for Etsy purchases etc!!) All clothing must be Recycled, Renovated, Preloved or Thrifted, or Handmade only for the term. Employment related and special needs clothing (ie sports, school), shoes and undies are excepted from the rules, although you are encouraged to have a go at making these.

2. In extreme circumstances, maybe a special event, or the worlds greatest and most amazing never to be repeated sale that you simply can not pass up, you may use the Get out of Refashionista Jail Free card. You are able to use this card once during the 2 month part of your contract; ie 1 for 2 months, 2 for 4 months etc. Of course you need to fess up on the blog and display the button!

3. You must post on the blog at least once a week to let the community know what you've been up to. This will not only give you brag points, but inspire and encorouge others! Of course you need to display the button on your blog and have copied the pledge in at least one post, and provide a link to your pledge under the button.

4. You need to be honest and admit when you've fallen off the Refashionista Wagon! Go directly to Refashionista Jail, do not pass GO and do not collect $200! Apply for parole once there.

refashioning has long been something of interest to me and i've collected several big moving boxes full of pre-loved (or not so loved) clothing in the past few years hoping that i'd one day put new life into these items and make them wearable again. once i really got into sewing though i unfortunately also really got into buying fancy new fabrics and so i created new items from scratch using new materials and those boxes have remained more or less untouched.

doing lots of thinking about consumer culture lately and having lots of interesting conversations with my awesomely driven creative and independent thinking husband i realize that i must try as best as i can to make use of the resources we have and that unfortunately the only way to change consumer culture is to avoid being a consumer of mass production whenever possible. even if that means being inconvenienced at times. so there are lots of "thinking outside the box" challenges ahead of me and i'm very much looking forward to facing them.

in addition of taking the pledge for clothing i've also promised myself that we as a family will take the spirit of no buying new! re-use! and less is more! to all aspects of life. over the next two months we will only purchase things we actually truly need or which will help enable us need less (i.e. we just spent 100 bucks on a bicycle cart to pull around the children in and will need to purchase new tires and small bits to get our bikes in running order so that we will have fewer reasons to use a car) and when we will try to purchase used items whenever possible.

i will post on the wardrobe refashion blog at least once a week about the wardrobe part of our experiment. if we make other cool discoveries or come up with cool anti-mass-consumption stuff i'll most likely post about it on our family blog.

so now here's the official part...

The Pledge

I, Karoline Stephens, pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 2 months. I pledge that i shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoted, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftiness brings! Signed xxx.

not getting jack done

again.

it's been twelve days since i've touched any sewing tools and i'm very close to losing my mind. we've had a toddler birthday, two sick kids and a whole lot of commotion due to our crazy decision to move to my mom's house for a few weeks. my sister is moving into a new room there which needed a lot of renovation and then we're "swapping" living situations with my youngest brother for a few weeks. which means we'll have a yard and garden to enjoy and we'll get away from the crazy noise level of our downtown living for a while. should make the kids happy and us too.

anyways, i haven't done ANY sewing since the quilt. i'm physically hurting. going through withdrawal. bad withdrawal. BUT we've decided to take some sewing stuff (i'm thinking two machines, the serger, materials and notions?) and set up shop in my sister's old room for the time being. i just got a fancy big sewing book in the mail, bought some more fabrics at ikea and am mentally preparing for taking the "wardrobe refashion pledge" for two months starting july first. so i'm really hoping that this dry spell will be followed by a huge wave of creative outlet and productivity. and i'll let y'all know as soon as i have anything exciting to report.

may the creative spirits be with you and me and let's all hope summer will return to germany within the next few days. the weather has been awfully depressing.

annalie's quilt

fi. na. ly.

i get to share pictures of what i've been working on all week. the suspense has been killing you, right?






more here.

current work in progress

here's some of what we're working on. yes, we! dave said he'd stop after the bag. but he got so incredibly high when it was finished, that he started his next project the same night. now he's working on two different things. first off...



and then there's this secret project of mine... will be a couple of days still til i hopefully get it finished.

some of today's work

made a somewhat quick and somewhat little "thank you!" gift for our very sweet neighbors today. AND i managed to take pictures of it. all in one day. whoa!

featured creativity - dave OR my husband rocks!

sigh. i don't know where to begin this post as the news i have to share are both incredibly awesome and sorta, well, troublesome. maybe these pictures will help explain...








my musician husband made himself a bag. not just any ol' bag. not a silly little shopping tote or a furoshiki or anything simple. no, a really cool bag. using three different materials and lots of detail.
previous sewing experience? he made a funky improvised what we'd call "ghetto" cushion for our rocking chair once and last week he made himself some pants from scratch (pictures to follow soon). and then he made THIS! i'm still in shock. and as i said, i think it's incredibly awesome! i love him for it. the bag is beautiful and it makes me so happy to see him proud and interested and inspired and eager to learn new things... plus, he understands my passion a little better now, too.
BUT and it's a pretty big but, we now have to constantly arrange who gets to sew what when on which machine. i am learning to share my time, tools and materials. not easy but it can and must be done. i suppose most married couples deal with bigger issues.

anyways, dave rocks! i love you, husband.

on the line

serged, washed and now drying... about half of my recent fabric purchases.

yes, yes. i've sucked at blogging. been too busy enjoying summer with the kids and making stuff. i WILL take pictures of recent projects and i WILL upload them soon though. promised.
now back to cuddling the baby...

if only everything was this wonderfully colorful...

been working hard at making the world a more colorful place and i've had a few successes. now i just have to take some nice pictures to share with you. tomorrow maybe.

new favorite thing

and it's no longer mine.

my first little attempt at "quilting" resulted in a pillow for my sister.
it's her birthday today and she's about to move into her new room which will sorta have a pippi longstocking theme. perfect combination of reasons for me to go wild with scissors and the sewing machine.

i'm absolutely in love with the way the pillow turned out. in fact, i could stare at it for hours... so many of my favorite fabrics collected in one random chaotic design. it's perfect and just the tease i needed in order to really get started on our big family quilt. it's like a mouth watering appetizer.

anyways. long story short... here are some pics.









oh, in other really great news... my gran'ma is letting me have my great-grandaunt's very vintage singer machine. it's moving into my sewing space later this week hopefully. yay!

call me crazy

so i've started quilting.

that's somewhat weird because quilting is one of the last things i ever thought i'd do.

it just doesn't seem to make a whole lotta sense to cut perfectly good fabric into lots of teeny tiny pieces only to sew them all back together again and in the end have a big piece of fabric. plus, i'm terribly impatient and it appears quilting requires ridiculous amounts of time and patience.

well, logic smogic and the time and patience i'll just have to find somehow.

i made some space in my out of control chaotic sewing corner, pulled out the scissors and cut half of my cotton stack into lots and lots and lots more little pieces. yes, i used scissors. because i'm too rock'n'roll (read: too poor) for a cutting mat and rotary cutter.

now my ironing board and pfaff machine sewing table are covered in scraps and i'm picking up more fabrics (good folks. finally!!) at the post office tomorrow which will also end up getting cut.

i've done about an hour and a half of reading up on quilting online and of course decided to ditch all the instructions and advice and figure out my own approach instead. yes.

oh, did i mention that i intend for the finished project to be king size? that's where i decided to forget about all the seasoned quilter's advice... everything i read said to start with a baby quilt and i'm dead set on making a massive one right away for our big cozy family bed.

which leads to the cause of this madness. i feel the need to make a big bright colorful fun warm cover for my husband, myself and mostly the kids. so i'm making a huge blanket which will fit all of us now and when the girls are much much older and move on to college or art school or to travel the world, i can split in two pieces and each can take half.


mk. pics? pics.

the past few weeks in fabric

sigh. i feel like bathing in fabric. since that's not really a convenient option, i finally took the time to iron, fold and photograph most of my recent purchases. my husband thinks i'm a freak and he's probably right, but whatever. makes me happy and that's what matters.




14 half yards i received from fabricworm a week ago. love them for the most part. some colors are quite different from what i had expected but that's just what happens when you buy fabrics online without ordering swatches first. my favorite is the wonderland by momo print. i got a couple of other moda prints and i'm in love with the super fine feel of those fabrics... perfect for light summer shirts and dresses.



two pairs of quick summer pants i made for joon. her wardrobe needed some urgent help with the sudden change in weather. ten days ago it was winter here and now it's almost summer. crazy but oh so wonderful.


all those fabricworm pretties with their new friends in my stack of designer cottons. it appears i need to get a second bookshelf for materials some time soon.


this is the stack i got at a flea market last weekend.


and my bargains from stoffmarkt holland: a meter each of flower jersey (3euros), striped corduroy (5euros), boring but unbelievably soft grey jersey (5euros), light olive green flower print linen (2euros) and green and grey striped jersey (3euros). trin still has 2 meters of brown canvas for me which i plan on turning into thai fishermen pants next week.


still waiting for a stack of fat quarters... good folks complete collection should arrive here any day now. and i kinda feel like a five-year-old waiting for santa.



off to go work in the garden. time to start planting veggies in a couple of days.