Spring and Stuff

One of my values in life is to use what you have to it's full extent and not throw anything away until it's fully used, or in good enough condition to be given away or recycled. But I have that same urge as anyone else, to have that satisfaction of a new piece of clothing, to feel that I look awesome in this freshly acquired new attire, to try it on and take it home with me and know it's mine. Oh, yes I do.

The thing is, when you have the skill and tools, you can satisfy that need by making something new out of something old. It doesn't always pay off, just like when you buy something and it doesn't look that good on you after all. Sometimes DIY fails miserably. I have torn my share of sewing gone wrong in consuming anger. But most of the time, when you give it time and consideration and don't do it in a rush, the results are beautiful. When you're successful with DIY clothing or up-cycling, you will love that piece of fabric until it's death. And love is the point. Why else would you give a new life to your old clothes, if not for love?

So, here's one piece of up-cycling I did last summer. An old viscose- velvet skirt, a very nice feel and shine, but slightly tight around the waist and a tiny bit too short to my taste deserved a better life. Because of the un-comfort it remained unused for a long time, but I really liked the fabric and decided to try. 

First I took away the waist and ripped open the pleats on the waist to add space. Now it fit my hip area quite comfortably. Checked my measurements at this point of course!

Then I made a new waist piece from lace and some lining fabric, using the waist line of the skirt as measurement, since it fit my hip line. 

I decided to move the zipper to the side, so ripped the left side open too

Has to be 90 degrees angle in the middle back, and then some curvature. The middle back line is the distance between the hip line and waist. Waist of course a bit smaller. Remember to curve the side line a bit as well, to fit your form

Also at the side, 90 degrees. It's to ensure the seams make a straight line when sewed together.

I don't know where my square ruler is, so it's approximate...

Cutting the pieces from both fabrics. Join the pieces, the right sides facing each other.

And then join with the skirt part. And sew on the zipper, which goes a bit lower than the hip line, so it won't be too small.

Now there's only some stitching left to do. Do it however you want. if you want a sturdier result it might be a good idea to use some buckram in the seams. I chose not to, because it would be visible under the lace, and I was going for a soft, comfortable feel.

The final addition was a little piece of satin on both sides to finish the zipper and prevent it from scratching your bare skin! This can be done by hand if you want a top quality result. On those pieces I attached hooks, sowed by hand. This way the lace wont rip apart from usage.

This DIY/Up cycling can be done to any skirt basically, but you should make sure that when you make a skirt longer this way, you'll still be able to walk in it. Or, if you like, you can make a slit in the back seam to make space for your legs. This skirt happened to be wide enough and i didn't have to do anything else. 

Enjoy! Hypnosis

Back With Many Completed Projects 

and Many More Uncompleted Ones

Wow, it's been a long time since I did anything around here! I've been busy with mainly music stuff, so creativity has not been on hold, but rather flourishing and taking new directions. I've started a band and with that learned a whole bunch of things about music production (Although my role is mainly producing demos for the band. And writing the songs.) Because of this I've also taken a newly found interest in photo editing and graphics. When I need something totally else I tend to turn to painting, mainly with acrylic paints, and that is gradually progressing too. Maybe at some point I'll show it off here.

But the main focus of this blog is handicraft, making clothes and accessories from scratch and from recycled materials, and I intend to keep it that way. There are some works that revolve around music, like costumes for music videos and a couple of costumes for a contemporary performance/music piece. Mostly I've just been making things for myself, though, and taking pictures of the process. Hopefully they are of some joy and pleasure to you!

This project is from a few years back. The shirt was found from a thrift store, must be from the eighties, or at least nineties, in mint condition. I cut off the sleeves and made fingerless gloves of them. The bow ties are from old gloves, fingers eaten away by winter. One of them was used to decorate the shirt. If it ever gets worn out, I'll be able to use the bow ties for something else.

These were madejust by forming the sleeve around my hand, then cuttin away the eccess fabric and sewing the side. The hem of the sleeve was already there, but the other line needed a trim. there's a satin strip and around the finger a piece of satin ribbon taken from some old clothing. You know, those strings with which you can hang your clothes in your closet. 

I think these would be much more comfortable if the fabric was stretchy, but they work just fine. For the perfect look, add some bracelets and rings!

I'll be bach soon with some new thingies and ideas!!

Love, Hypnosis

Something for the Warm Season

As it is a few days after midsummer, and the real summer is just beginning, it's time to up-date the shirts and dresses. I went through my closet for materials and found this hilarious old tee. I must have picked it from a yard sale or something.  It says: " Original Work Wear" and below: "To be worn or not to be worn". I have no idea why there's a skeleton but it's going to be useful in the most awesome shirt of this summer!

Basically I just cut the print-part out of the tee since it's printed on the back, and I want it in front. I had a stretchy lace shirt, the sleeves of which I had already cut and used for something else. It was a few sizes too big (One of the old maternity clothes I still have) so there was enough material and no need to calculate too carefully, as is usually the case when up-cycling. The front piece with buttons was turned into the back piece and vice versa.

After ironing I sewed the picture onto the front piece with a straight stitch.  For sewing remember to use a suitable needle, a jersey needle in this case! You could also apply buckram to prevent undesired moving during sewing, but I didn't happen to have any just now. Luckily the T-shirts cotton fabric was sturdy enough and the lace not too stretchy.

At this point I had this genius idea: Why not show some additional lace by sewing along the lines of the picture and then cutting away the insides? It would hold the picture more firmly in place. When the shirt is washed, the cut edges will roll nicely, giving it a uniquely worn-out look.

After the finishing touches to the print- picture I completed the shirt, using the cotton fabric to prevent stretching in the shoulder seam (Is it called that? It is in Finnish...). I finished all rims with a zig zag- stitch. 

So here it is! The awesome shirt for +25 degrees. And now it's raining outside.

Here's me with the shirt on. It just barely hides my flat chest, but I think with the right bra and the right weather it's appropriate enough. I don't mean to say that I worry about such trivial things, but there is the fine line between daring and ridiculous.

Catchy Headline Here

My friend came to visit and said: "We're going to make dream catchers, I brought supplies!"

So I made one from thick aluminum thread, black yarn, fishing line and various kinds of beads. The feathers were attached with thin metal wire. I think it came out nicely. Don't know about the dreams, though...

I bought this nice chandelier from a thrift store. My daughter wanted it for herself, so we decorated it according to her wishes. I used a few pairs of old ear rings and other broken jewelry to make it unique. However, its still missing a lamp.

New Chair Upholstering

I found this beauty of a chair left beside the dumpster a while back. After checking thoroughly for any bug problems I took it in and gave it a new home. It moved with me to my new apartment and since I'm making a new home just for myself, I decided to give the chair a new look as well.

The seat comes off nicely from it's frame. It was simply covered with fabric and nailed with furniture nails. I took the nails off and noticed the chair had been re-upholstered several times, and the seat was full of nail holes. So nails were out of the question.

The Chair without it's coverings

The out-driven nails and the foam I used for padding

Next I cut the foam padding in shape and glued it on the sides of the seat so as to keep it in place. I placed the fabric underneath and cut it in form as well. Then it was time to tighten the fabric  onto the seat with strings.

Like this.

Last I just gently pushed the seat back into the frame. All finished! The orange fabric is leftover from an old linen table cloth which I dyed and used to make a jacket for my grandma. Re-purpose everything!

Knitted Fingerless

It's spring, I know. The time of mittens and warm gloves is over. It's time to enjoy the sun, the breeze, the rain, and especially the fragrances of blooming trees. But it's still quite cool in the evening, and that's why these fingerless gloves might come in handy. Also, if you smoke. That, I never do!

I used 70 % wool 30 % polyacryl yarn originally meant for socks. The polyacryl makes the yarn more durable, and of course cheaper. These yarns were leftovers from the socks and mittens I knitted as Christmas presents for my friends and family members. The knitting needles were size 3 1/2.

These were made just like mittens, except for decreasing the stiches in the end. Also, instead of knitting thumbs I just bound off the increased stitches for the thumb (totalling 10 or 12 according to size), created four new stitches and decreased them gradually towards the end.  That's how there's enough room for the hand.

Red-black ones I made for myself

The red-black ones rolled from the rim, because I just bound off straight after knitting knit-wise for a while. The blue-black ones I finished with knitting one knitwise, one purlwise, like in the beginning, and then binding off.

Blue-black ones are for my daughter

The end of old things and maybe the celebration of new things to come

I completed my Thesis today. It still might need some revisions and corrections, but the main work is done. I wanted to celebrate, but now I just don't feel like it. I'm too tired to care much about anything. It might be because this process has been such a wearisome one. There are other things, the fact that I live alone now, a week at a time, and my daughter with me the next week. I haven't shared anything about my private life until now, but might as well do so, since there doesn't seem to be a single soul reading this blog anyway...

But if you do happen to stumble across this blog, and happen to be interested in creating things, it might be of some interest to you, what I have been creating these past months.

My main subject is classical singing. I'm also very interested in composing, but haven't studied it except for a few courses. For my final project I was asked to compose "a little piece" of music. What I did was a full six-part cantata for three singers, two violins, two cellos and organ positive.
This combination of instruments was usual in the 17th century music, except the two cellos of course. This was due to the fact that there were no viola players in our school at the time, but plenty of cellists, so I decided to play it safely, and write the piece to players that were available.

My cantata, named "The Voice of Martyrs" centered around the theme of persecution of the Christians. You might think of it as a thing of the past, but it is in fact something that is happening today. Although I'm not currently identifying myself as a Christian, the faith has had a huge influence on me through out my life, and has partly made me the person I am today, so it felt natural to compose a piece of spiritual music.

The piece was first presented in November 2014 in my final concert, and it was a success. But this was only the first part of the thesis. The next part was to write. I kind of hate non-fictional writing.  I decided to link the written part to the composition process, and chose to write about the voice in the context of orchestration. Now, this is a HUGE subject, and I came to realize it in due course. I stripped and stripped the text, until the main part focused on the physiological aspects of the singing voice, and how they affect the way one should compose for it. Then I reflected on how I succeeded in following these self-imposed rules in my own composition process.

And now it is finished. I have some hope of graduating this spring.