Crepe crazy

So, the Colette Crepe dresses are just everywhere now. I love dresses, I love wrap dresses, and I love this dress too. But, I didn´t pay too much attention to this particular pattern, until I saw Laurwyn´s version! I´m so amazed by her variation, and the way she looks in her Crepe dress! I really really want to make myself one of these. The truth is, the pattern itself is pretty expensive for me (and it gets worse with the shipping price). So, I thought that I would try to make a similar dress with different pattern - probably the same one as I made the Josephine dress with, as the bodice is quite similar to the Crepe bodice (I think). I´m certainly not very good at sewing, but I hope I could accomplish this. I´m going to look at Gertie´s sew along for some tips and help. I don´t really know how to make the skirt yet - it seems like an A - line with a seam in the middle...? The top of the skirt is probably curved then... Hmm, to make things worse I plan to make this dress out of my husband´s old caftan-y shirt; very long and big (funny story will follow! stay tuned :).
If you have some ideas or knowledge that could help me, please share! I´m grateful for any kind of information :).

oh, birthday...

It´s my birthday today! I turned 28. Wow! Nobody´s getting younger, right? :) I´m fine, I think. I enjoy doing what I want - in the evenings (during the day I have to care about my daughter, but she´s a great kid so I´m ok ;). I want to try so many new things: I started to make my first quilt yesterday, and I want to try embroidery (I did that when I was a child and loved it), but the store didn´t have what I needed, so I´m waiting (it´s not very easy for me to just go to another store or town. or just go to a shop, really). I´ve seen many great films recently, few older biographic films about painters, but some new ones, too. Which gets me to... painting! I´m very inspired to paint, but realizing it is somehow difficult. I´m a bit frustrated, it´s almost the end of february and I haven´t finished anything... I have to make some progress real SOON.

Josephine dress

I made this dress recently, it was such a quick project. I wanted to make a sweet pinkish flowery dress for a while, so this is the result (I love pink lately). I bought the fabric mainly because of the name :). A collection of fabric called Josephine? I had to have one of those. I loved this pattern in recent Burda (101/2/2011), but I´m a bit dissapointed by it. But maybe it´s because of the fabric choice... I´m afraid the fabric is not quite right for the dress, but I´m not sure. The biggest issue is, that it´s quite roomy around the neckline and kind of "stands out". I didn´t follow the instructions and simply made facings everywhere, so maybe it´s my fault? Anyway, I think by all means the neckline is very low... and wide. I´m probably going to wear some kind of nice camisole under the dress, otherwise I feel odd. I´m not used to this kind of dress: the neckline and waistline are low; the other dressed I made had neckline higher and different waistline (more like an empire waist). But, I would probably like it on someone else, so maybe I´ll get used to it. The sleeves are too short for my taste, too. If I make this pattern again, I´m going to make them bigger.
I altered the dress so that it is a bit looser in the bodice, because I didn´t want to add the zipper. I like that I can simply put it on over my head and actually like the looser shape better (I think!). This is my first spring dress. It´s snowing outside and really cold, so into the wardrobe it goes. I´m looking forward to wear it with my brown military sweater for nice contrast.

Frida

I´ve seated my Frida on the piano! It´s the perfect place for her :).
photo by my husband.

project living room

As you know, I was very unhappy with our bookcase. I started to hate the dark colour and planned to paint it, but... then I got another idea! I simply turned the painted side so that it faces the wall, ha! :) Now only the bare wood is visible, and it looks much better. I emptied the whole bookcase (so many books! exhausting!), vacuumed every single book, cleaned the bookcase, took some of the LP records to the attic (we don´t have record player anyway) and put the books back.
I love our yellow lamp - I found the shade in my grandmother´s garage. She never got a stand for it, therefore she never used it (for 20 years!) and gave it to me. I bought the lamp stand in Ikea and this lamp is what I love most in our place (I mean, in the furniture and decorating area ;).
night view

my first leather bag!

I finished my leather bag! Wohoo, I´m so happy. I really wanted to make a leather bag myself. Very practical one, with zipper and adjustable strap. I was very inspired by rennes and reMade USA - couldn´t decide between two designs, so I took ideas from both :). I wanted to make a recycled bag, and as I´ve written earlier, my friend gave me old leather pants (quite narrow ones) to do that. I didn´t love the colour at first (I´m more into darker colours), but than it grew on me (and, isn´t it a kind of a fashion "rule", that "older" women should wear more light colours? ;). I struggled with the shape and construction for a while. Than, I just decided to let the material do what it wants! I cut it all apart again and made it differently, and simplified the design. It´s a very simple shape, but, believe me, it was a lot of work... However, working with leather is easier in some ways - no need to finish the edges! That´s great, just the straight stitch all the time :). I´m so proud I made the adjustable strap with the same material - the first I´ve ever made, and the zipper (zippers are difficult for me). The short handles are mainly decorative, but they can be useful sometimes I guess. Another great thing is that I used almost every bit of the leather. That´s satisfying. I had some problems with the lining, I can use some tips how to attach it. In the end I sewed it in by hand. That round badge I got for free from one seller at fler.cz with another puchase. It´s not my style (and maybe not right for the bag), but again, I started to like it with the time. Also, lately I´m very much into girlier things and clothes.
Next, I plan to make a bigger black leather bag out of a jacket I already have! I hope with thicker needle and thread I will be able to sew it with my poor machine...

Frida doll finished!

I finished my Frida Kahlo doll! I´m so happy :). I´m a little bit obsessed by Frida and wanted to have one of my own :). This was so far my most difficult doll to make. The face took me a lot of time to paint. She´s quite tall (taller than my previous dolls), has high heels and red nails. And a tear... I bought the small female deer toy few days ago (I love deers), and then realized it´s perfect for Frida (she had a baby deer as a pet). The clothes are quite shabby... I tried to recreate the traditional mexican style dress, but the bodice was hard to sew.
I´ve been at a big Frida Kahlo exhibition in Wien last October, and it was so great. There were her dresses and jewellery on display, too, and I loved to see them! I´m a big fan of Kahlo´s paintings (and they inspire me at my own painting, too).
To make this doll I was mostly inspired by the wonderful Duh buh duh dolls, as well as some other artists all around the blogs. I´m not sure where to put her... the doll can be hanged, but I have to figure out the right place. I´m planning my next doll, but the sewing part is so discouraging. There is a lot of handsewing included, and it just doesen´t look right, when the dress is more complicated. But I´m very happy with the hair! There is a braid too, but can´t be seen very well.