// Still a knitter

Posted on | May 31, 2011 | 2 Comments

My needles are still clicking — there are maybe three sweaters on active production line — and at least one cardigan at idea level.

I have a thing for mohair yarns, it’s part of the eighties vibe I like, part just that lovely texture. The black and white one is dress length, loose, with giant funnel neck, big enough to wear as a hood. This would be ready in a snap… …but I have lost the sleeve I was knitting… ..yeah, that’s right…

From the shade shifting gray I was about to make a plain sweater with ballet neck — but I tried out this simple texture stitch and loved the result. Well, it will probably still be a simple ballet neck sweater. Ebony needles = ultimate knitting snobbishness…

Posted on | May 31, 2011 | 2 Comments

// Through my fingers

Posted on | September 26, 2010 | 2 Comments

I’m knitting again! Own patterns, clothes I would like to wear. Something warm, soft, fuzzy but lightweight. Feels really good!

This week I was bit busy with one personal style related mini project, will get back to that sooner or later. But my life starts to settle down with the new, much more physically active schedule — and I have to say that I’m enjoying it! I have figured out how to live with my chronic condition and the added activity, I even have some hopes that I’m able to gradually improve my condition. Also I’m hopeful that I’m able to get back more active blogging schedule after next week.

Posted on | September 26, 2010 | 2 Comments

// Recycled lace

Posted on | July 20, 2010 | 4 Comments

I made this quick fix for my vintage lace addiction from quite mundane garments: a second hand crocheted cardigan and a piece of bobbin lace which originally adorned a piece of bedlinen. The cardigan I got for 2 euros from the local charity shop — it was broken, slightly stained and the shape of it was not particularly fetching. But I liked the lightweight crochet with subtly 3d flower motif — and the fact that the years of use had given the fabric certain softness, often lacking from crocheted items. I’m happy how the two shades of white combined look like and how the front turned out — but the back is not perfect, I run about 15 cm short of the bobbin lace to finish it as I had planned. The construction idea is stolen directly from this Magda Berliner top I saw in wonderful Res Pulchrae blog — but the body is slightly longer.

It is not at its best over just a lightweight bikini top (that gives almost zero support and no flattening for my chest), but I’ll bet that it will be an useful layering piece. And I promise that I will not play with the Poladroid all the time — but the pictures were utter crap so I did what I could… (yeah, excuses… =))

Posted on | July 20, 2010 | 4 Comments

// Jewelry DIY:s

Posted on | July 14, 2010 | 7 Comments

Crocheted earring utilizing regular jewelry wire. I need more of it to make a pair. This took about 10 meters — and it is quite large, sweeping my shoulder when I’m wearing it.

A simple chainmail cuff with four to one weave. Just wanted to practice the technique with a very simple item — but I think that I ended up with quite usable piece! Closed with seven parrot locks — but I’m considering making it just a bit larger so I can just pull it to my wrist. And maybe a bit wider, too. But I need more jump rings!

Posted on | July 14, 2010 | 7 Comments

// The black fringe

Posted on | June 5, 2010 | 3 Comments

My DIY:s tend to be simple and not particularly creative. They often evolve around a specific need — like the sheer chiffon skirt / dress I needed for layering purposes — or piece of particular material — or DIY knockoff so simple that it can be created in few hours max.

This time the trigger was an amazing fringe trim I found my neighborhood buttons and trims shop. I have been going there for a while just to see and stroke this amazing stuff, but the price was so steep that I did not want to buy it just in case I would get inspiration one day. The speciality comes purely from the length of the fringes, there is enough centimeters to heal the worst Rapunzel envy complex ever — except that this acetate substitute is raven black.

So I made a simple plan for a plain chiffon dress with fringe layer front and back. Nothing too original, but quite effective. I can layer it over a simple slip and it works as a little black dress — or wear it over a pair of pants or leggings as a tunic. The dress has actually very simple oversized tank shape with identical front and back — I thought that it would be good for the delicate trimming to be able to switch the sides, but goes also displaced when worn quite easily. I don’t care about that, I’m not going to wear this in formal events anyway.

So it was french seams for shoulders and sides, turning the neck and arm holes plus the hem. In this overexposed image you can see a bit of the detail of the fringe:

I’m definitely not a master seamstress but I did try to tackle the challenges of delicate material by hand sewing the turns. It was not 100% success, but after mutilating the fabric with my steam iron the turns look relatively neat. I think that I can live with them. The fringes move so beautifully over the silk chiffon that I’m starting to feel guilty about my lack of dancing skills. The gigantic chandelier earrings are from Lindex and shoes are old Topshop wood wedges.

At my summer holiday I could kick my lazy arse and put little more effort to some project — maybe create something bit more than just useful.

Posted on | June 5, 2010 | 3 Comments

// The magpie does what the magpie does…

Posted on | March 16, 2010 | 2 Comments

Being a Scandinavian I should be natural born minimalist. But no… …I have healthy appetite for all things bright and shiny. And that appetite is well served with this current DIY project: the shameless knockoff of Dolce & Cabbana trinket belt. Unfortunately I ran out of silk satin ribbon before the elastic of the base belt was fully covered — and embroidering the crystals to the grosgrain ribbon is really painstaking work — so it will be a while before I’m actually sporting this. Sew-on rhinestones are awfully expensive — but fortunately I remembered having two rhinestone bracelets, both with broken locks so I just dissassembled them and now I’m reusing the stones in this belt.

Oh, and on my last visit to the local thrift store I picked up something that a belly dancer might wear. Lovers knot might be the least hip technique ever… …but somehow it works for this garment. Back to that later…

Posted on | March 16, 2010 | 2 Comments

// On making: Armadillo shrug

Posted on | January 10, 2010 | 8 Comments

The rest of the zippers I have left are slowly forming a small shrug piece. I used yesterday bit over two hours to pin half of it to place, just to see if I have enough material. And I do!

For me Armadillo shrug is more constructed shoulder piece than zipper piece. I tried to find some neat constructed shoulder stuff from London sales but with bad luck — all things I liked were wrong size, or did not fit me somehow. I try to make this one relatively simple. I hope that it can be slipped over tops but also over jackets to upgrade the shape. The shoulders will get some rigid tulle underneath if the stifness of zippers is not enough to keep them in shape. The sewing should force the shoulder to point upwards even more than in here. The whole thing looks still quite a mess, but it will hopefully arrange in more orderly way later when I’m actually sewing the zippers together.

Next stage is to lightly baste the thing together so that I can remove it from Lotta. Poor Lotta, there might be about 200 needles pinned on her right now. And then… …some handsewing. To be honest, I’m not waiting for that eagerly. But eventually it will be done — and many mediocre TV-series episodes watched while sewing…

Posted on | January 10, 2010 | 8 Comments

// Nude organza corset

Posted on | January 2, 2010 | 4 Comments

I design occasionally some clothes for my own use, mainly knits. Usually it is about a single garment and I have quite clear image in my head what I try to accomplish, especially with knitting I don’t always even bother to sketch my ideas (for example this knit dress just… …grew out from my hands, sort of). But that is just because I’m quite experienced knitter and it just comes so naturally, especially when the construction of the garment is relatively simple. When planning some sewing projects it’s all different, the ideas are all about construction and I really want to think details through. Plus now I’m probably thinking of making something bit more challenging, a very small collection of clothes that complement my current wardrobe — but on the other hand will be an independent mini-collection with some sort of idea on the background. I might get back to that later, but this single garment has bothered me so long that although the big picture is just a faint idea for me right now I have doodled this particular piece to pads and margins for a while now.

The start is usually something like this, a very simple drawing of the item from front & back, maybe some details if they are important. I usually don’t color my sketches in computer, but this time I did, transparency plays a role with this design and it is easier to understand with color. I might go even step further with the drawings, planning the seaming at the same time, those drawings can be quite detailed but present just the garment, nothing else. I’m not trying to make these prettier than they are; they are not illustrations, but just something that help me take a step further.

Ok, I will get back to the general theme perhaps later, but something about this garment. I have a desperate need for an undergarment which has potential to be exposed quite a lot — but does not steal the scene. Traditional lingerie designs won’t do, and I want the garment to have certain amount of lightness, intangibility. So the idea is to make a flesh toned organza corset. All the sections will have 2 to 3 layers of fabric, so a certain amount of sheerness has to be dealt with. Boning and hook and loop tape will naturally show through — and I’m planning to make it part of the design. If the plastic bones look ugly through the sheer fabric I will line the bone tubes with white cotton tape and the effect will be hopefully quite nice. Three bones at the side is bit unnecessary for a lightweight corset that is not meant for cinching, but they provide some extra coverage and some support fot my chest. I aim for quite flat silhouette (as flat as it’s humanly possible for me) and the front of the corset rises so high that it actually hides the cleavage. The corset ends to the real waistline, but the “displacement” effect leaves some fabric to the side to emphasize the shape of the waist.

I’m probably making this one on March or April… …but it was the first one I sketched, so here we are…

Posted on | January 2, 2010 | 4 Comments

About

Location: Helsinki, Finland

Contact: kamicha (a) gmail dot com

I'm especially interested in young designers creations, non-established labels and indie fashion. So if you have something interesting to show, feel free to contact!

You can find Finnish design from both specific and some outfit posts - but both are tagged.

You might be also interested in DIY posts, How-to posts, DIY ideas - or my adventures in Etsy =).

More about me and this blog.