Weekend Project -Tailored Camera Bag

I love my camera and though I have it for almost 5 years, already, I somehow did not make it to sew a proper bag! I even have had a file folder for a long time already, in which I, now and then, saved camera bag pictures, that I liked and found on the internet. 

So this weekend I spend my time looking at those and made up my mind, which kind of bag I liked best. And tadaaa here it is!

The idea for this camera bag is from a blog I found not long ago. Unfortunately, I cannot remember which blog it was (a point to save pictures with html sources!). So if anybody would like to be linked properly, please let me know!

There were no instructions, but I think that a pattern has to be customized, anyway, due to varying camera measurements. I loved how cute it looked and used a Kokka fabric, that I have had in my stash for a long time. It opens on the back and can be closed by using two buttons on the sides and two pushbuttons on the top.

P.S.: Found the inspiration source! Thanks Renaade for your help and inspiration! :D

'877' in my mailbox

Wooohooo! :) Yesterday, a little small package made my day! I won a giveaway on sodapop.

The giveaway was a custom made leather bracelet with a mauve colored enamel copper button by a German design team called 877! Actually, a very perfect statement piece for seamstresses!

They (Sylvia & Daniel) have their studio in Hamburg, that is in northern Germany. They are into old handicraft techniques like enamel coating and use them in their modern designs. They also have a shop on Etsy, which you should definitely stop by! Sylvia is such a wonderful contact and you can have your very own custom made combination bracelet. It was very hard for me to decide, but I ended up with a brown leather bracelet and the mauve colored button. I love it and the leather is incredibly soft. Thank you so much Caro from sodapop and Sylvia from 877!

Wishing everybody a wonderful and creative weekend!!! ♥

Inspired by la môme caoutchouc

I guess most of you know the movie 'Amélie' by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. I loved it, well actually, I still love it though I have seen it already too many times. I was a little surprised as I just noticed that it is from 2001. Time really passes by so fast...!

Anyway, I got Jeunet's new movie 'Micmacs' as a christmas present from one of my best friends. I can only recommend this one to you. If you already liked the fabulous pictures, sceneries and music in 'Amélie', you will definitely love this one, too (see the trailer at the end of this post for more information about the story).

Inspired by the fantastical môme caoutchouc, that is the elastic woman (Julie Ferrier) in 'Micmacs', I made these high waisted black velvet shorts with suspenders. I loved how cute they looked, though I definitely cannot twist my body in that way (that is also why I did not need to use elastic fabric)! :)

Ok, I have to admit, that all I need now is an occasion to wear this outfit. Any suggestions? :)

Micmacs
from vincenttorquato on Vimeo.

And the winners are...*drum roll*

 Ophelia.K from Japan for the pretzel,

Nlitvak from Canada for the terrier

& Paunnet from Italy for the doily flower!

photo by Jakob Esben H.

Congratulations to the winners! I will try to contact you via mail asap to get your brooches on the way! 

Thank you so much everybody for having entered. I wish I could send all of you a little giveaway. It seems as most of you liked the doily flower brooch. I will definitely keep that in mind for another giveaway in the future! :) So come back now and then and try your luck again.

Have a lovely day! ♥

DIY Owl Pin Cushion

So, as already mentioned in my last post DIY Lace Bowls & Giveaway No.2 today I want to share a DIY. Just another idea I got when using that modelling clay. It is an Owl Pin Cushion!

I used some of the material to form the outer shape of an owl and simply added a hand-sewn pin cushion as the owl's belly.

1. Prepare the outer shape of the owl with modelling clay. I made it about 1.5cm thick. Then carve out the owl's belly and form the outer edge until it is smooth. Let it air-dry at least 2 days. You can already prepare the pin cushion in the mean time. For that you cut some stiff paper in the size that it fits easily into the belly. Cut another round piece of fabric which diameter is a little bigger than the one of the paper.
2. Now hand sew around the edge of the fabric all around, but before pulling the thread tight make sure to put your paper piece inside. Now pull the thread, so that the fabric encloses the paper and make a knot.
3. So we have already prepared the base of the pincushion (it is the right round piece on the photo). Now you will need a far bigger round piece of fabric (see the relations on the photo) and some cotton batting to fill the pin cushion. Next, hand sew around the edge of the big round piece of fabric all around and before pulling the thread tight you fill in the cotton batting. If you then pull the thread tight, you will have a nice little ball.
4. You will now have to sew the ball onto the pin cushion's base. 
5. Here you see the pin cushion's bottom, that is its base. The seams of the ball will disappear under the base. Make a knot to finish the pin cushion.
6. And here you go. Simply put the pin cushion into the owl and design a face in the way you like.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial as much as I did.  

And in case you did not notice, yet, I have a little giveaway going on. Simply leave a comment under this earlier post, if you would like to win one of the presented brooches.

DIY Lace Bowls & Giveaway No.2

I found a wonderfully inspiring blog two weeks ago. This time it is a German one, so unfortunately, it is in German only.

Anyway, I wanted to share with you a DIY I found on Caro's blog, that is pretty easy to understand by looking at her photos! Make yourself a DIY Doily-Bowl.

All you need is some modelling clay that does not have to be burned, but is able to air-dry. I did not know about this material before. It is similar to china clay.

So you simply roll the material with a rolling pin to a thickness of about 3-4 mm. Then you take some laces or doilies and push their pattern onto the material with that rolling pin. It is so easy and turns into a wonderful result. All you have to do then, is to make the bowl round and put it into another bowl to give it that bowl shape (take a look at Caro's photos).

After 2 days of drying in room temperature they were ready to be finished with some sandpaper and acrylic paint.

I love how they turned out and am definitely going to do it again!

I made 3 bowls, but had lots of material left, so I decided to make some brooches! I am not so sure about the stability of this material, so they might have to be handled with care. Well, this was my first try, so we will see how they survive everyday life! :)

As you can see on the left, I made pretzels, scottish terriers (for which I used a cookie cutter) and some doily flower brooches (same procedure as with the bowls).

And as a little belated Valentine's gift I would love to run a giveaway for you!
I will giveaway one of each type of brooch to three lucky readers (each reader one brooch).

Simply comment on this post until Tuesday (22nd February) and tell me which brooch (A, B, C) you would like. Do not forget to tell me your email adress.Winners will be chosen with the help of random.org.

Good luck everybody and thank you for always leaving such nice feedback! ♥


P.S.: I also made something nice for seamstresses! I am going to post that one in the upcoming days as a special little DIY.

Little feature on Tali from Tel Aviv

Oh, it is sunday evening again and the next week already waits to get started. Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

Today I would like to share with you a wonderful shop that I found on etsy. Its name is Tush Tush Shop and it is run by lovely and super nice Tali, who is a recent graduate of the Bezalel Academy of Art & Design.

I have had some of her pastel works listed under my 'favorites' for a long time already, but it was just this week that I decided, why not ask her to portrait me? Maybe it is a little strange to let someone portrait oneself, but I thought the portrait might also be nice to use as an icon for all those online social communities.

And voilà! Here it is already! She really worked very fast and I love the outcome. She used pastels on packaging paper. You might recognize that the photo, I send her, was the one from the last post. I thought it to be nice because I have my grandma's fabric on it.

Anyway, I think her work also makes very nice presents for special occasions. She makes private portraits of more than one person, too. 

See some of her works that I liked best and have a good start into a new week!

Sarah by tushtush

The Dancer by tushtush

Seaman by tushtush

Life by tushtush

Feeling nostalgic ♥

The last few days I was feeling very nostalgic. I found this wonderful dotted light weight fabric in my mother's fabric stash and got to know, that it was once bought by my beloved Taiwanese grandmother who died some years ago. 

I fell in love with it at once and knew immediately, that it would become a simple loose blouse. I only added some ruffles on the front and cuffs on the sleeves. I love that wearing it feels like having gotten a belated present from my grandmother.

But I have to admit, that I haven't had so much fear  for making mistakes while cutting or sewing, ever (knowing I would not have the chance to buy some more). This fabric was only about 70cm wide, but fortunately about 2.2 m long.

Click to enlarge

I think this blouse can be well combined with my self-made pantalon alfred. This might be my first self-made outfit! :)

Anyway, to get back to my Taiwanese grandmother. Actually, my mother and I owe to her all our passion and knowledge about sewing. She was a really hard working wife and mother of 7 children.

As I was able to return to Taiwan every summer vacation, I got to see her, at least once a year. We could not talk to each other because she only spoke Taiwanese dialect (in her childhood girls did not enter school) and I am only able to speak Mandarin, but somehow we were always able to communicate. 

She used to call me Aneto...hahaha...I will never forget that and she always wanted me to eat more of her delicious food! Oh, I miss her...

Hope this was not too much nostalgia, but I just wanted to write down some of my memories. Thanks for reading them. ♥

P.S.: And thanks for those lots of tea suggestions!!!

Dedicated to my beloved grandmother

Confession of a tea addict

silver tea cups from 1910, made in Seattle, by Foxtongue

 

 

 

Today I would like to post about one of my greatest addiction being tea!

I admit, that I drink about 1 litre of Taiwanese Oolong, 2 cups of Lemon Verbena and 2 cups of Ceylon Tea, when I am studying at home.

Kind of unbelievable, but I just love tea!

Anyway, I got to know that I might not be the only tea addict and found lots of wonderful tea-related things on the internet, that I wanted to share.

 

And besides, if you do not mind, I would like to know what your favorite tea is? Maybe I should give a try for a new one!

I found this wonderful ring of ASOS looking like a real tea cup! Isn't it adorable, to say the least! All the details in gold and pastel rose make me love it. I am really thinking about getting one for myself.

Then, of course you can find those 'Keep Calm and...' posters everywhere like in this etsy shop. I think this might become my mantra in times studying becomes kind of hard. A cup of tea always lifts me up.

Then a really good song about tea by Kula Shaker. I love it and the whole story it tells. The video is just so much fun.

And last but not least a DIY Teacup Pincushion by BurdaStyle member marykej. If I wouldn't have too many pincushions, I would definitely make one, too. Maybe I will make one anyway! ;)

 

Now, have nice cup of tea! Wishing everybody a wonderful and creative weekend!

Happy Chinese New Year!

 

Thinking about tomorrow being Chinese New Year (year of the rabbit), I was in the mood of handsewing a little rabbit doll. I did not use a pattern and just cut the pieces from scratch. Then I felt that rabbit to be a little naked and that is why I added this vintage looking silk dress and then I just got crazy all over...added a mustard cape and made a little felt bag with some goodies inside...

I guess this is going to be a very fashionable year of the rabbit! ♥