Maija Isola Dress

I am totally in love with this dress! The fabric is just awesome and I am pretty pleased with how the dress turned out. It´s a very simple (self drafted) pattern. I didn´t want to "destroy" the print with unnecessary seams and darts and I tried to do the vintage fabric justice (it´s a Marimekko print from 1962) with a 60ies A-line style. The dress only has darts in the back and dropped shoulders. In the back, I sewed in a semi exposed metallic riri zipper from my stash that is perfectly matching the turquoise main color. The dark stripe in the third picture repeats every yard or so and probably is a result from a not so perfect print - in reality, it is not that dominant.

 

I also put a lot of care into the inside of the dress: I lined it with cotton batiste and used red bias tape to finish the facings and the hems. At the back seam, I left the selvedge exposed because I like that the name of the fabric and the designer is indicated. It seems a bit off-center  because I had to match the print on the outside.

 

Breton Shirt (kind of)

 

I finally got a serger:-) And this is the fist t-shirt I made with it. Plain and simple, almost like a classic Breton Shirt, with some handstitching details.

Entrelac Blanket

 

Huge entralac and garter stitch blanked in 100% wool. I´m waiting for some slightly warmer and sunny days when I can sit wraped in it on the balcony :-)

Smartphone Cozy

I finally bought a smartphone last week and made a cozy for it today: a small remnant of boiled wool and some elastic band to hold everything together.

Red Ped Socks

I made these little ped socks to be worn in my boots. I will never have cold feet again:-)

Some End of the Year Sewing...

Two black tops - one very basic kimono sleeve t-shirt and another version of this top, both made in a viscose knit fabric.

Gloves

Very simple grey gloves made of sock yarn (Fröhlich Wolle Special Blauband). Now that I master the basics, fancier designs will (hopefully) follow.

Green-Blue-Orange

My first knee high socks, knitted toe-up. I didn´t follow a particular pattern but checked several tutorials and then figured out what to do while I was knitting the first sock. I used several new-to-me techniques like knitting the socks toe-up, knitting jogless stripes in the round, afterthought heels (I did these before, I just didn´t know what they were called) and Italian cast-off. At the top, I weaved in some orange elastic thread, so hopefully they will stay up!

Teal Top

Jacquard double knit kimono sleeve top. All facings (neck, sleeves, hem) are cut from red knit fabric. The jacquard knit fabric is from Stofftraum Basel.

Green Knit/Felt Sweater

I bought this green wool knit with felted leaves at Kleiderforum in Freiburg. The pattern is my kimono shirt pattern. I had just enough fabric for a cut on turtle neck.

Maija Isola Vintage Fabric Luck

I scored this beautiful fabric at my local thrift store yesterday! I loved the print and the quality of the fabric, a really soft cotton, not knowing at the time that Majia Isola was a pretty famous Finnish designer:-) It´s a pretty large piece (more than 2m, 130cm wide) and I am planning to make it into a dress. Unfortunately, I couldn´t find any information about this particular print (Maija Isola "rosmariini" Marikangas Maritextil), but I found an ebay listing for her most famous design from the 50ies for USD 150 for 98in. (I only payed CHF 8 for my piece;-)). Please leave a comment if you know anything about the release date or history of this print!

Update: the print is from 1962 - the folks at Marimekko were super kind and answered my email inquiry! Here´s a link to the rosmariini print in different colors and many more amazing designs: Marimekko Design Museum .

Yellow Tabi Socks

I came accross several Tabi socks patterns on ravelry just before I started the toe decreases in the first one of these yellow socks. Just in time to convert a boring pair of socks into something special:-) I followed more or less these instructions (with some minor modifications).

Hot Patterns Riviera Côte d’Azur Knit Dress

This is the dress version of this top- not as originally intended in a red but in a black knit and with longer sleeves for fall :-) I added about 12cm to the tunic version of the pattern to get a knee length dress.
The print on the left side of the mirror is by Jen Hewett.

Boiled Wool Men´s Jacket

Grey boiled wool (Loden), riri-zippers. The pattern is adapted from a Burda blazer pattern (burda 8135 view A, discontinued).

 Detail shots (collar and pockets):
 

Another Green Shirt

Wearable muslin, adopted from Hotpatterns cowl-necked top (which was a free download in 2009). I widened the front cowl-neck, shaped the side seams and added long kimono sleeves. With the wider cowl-neck, there was too much fabric in the bust area. I twisted the "too much" from inside and fixed it with a couple of stitches.