Happy New Onion - another jersey dress

I REALLY like my Onion jersey dress pattern (Onion 2017) and have now made a third version, version one here and version two here.

Yesterday I decided to finally do something with the lovely striped jersey fabric I have. There was one metre each of hot pink and grey melange, both with white stripes. Originally I had planned to make some t-shirts, but I got the idea to make a two-tone dress and use the Onion pattern. Well, here's how it turned out...

I'm happy with the dress although I was a bit ambivalent right after finishing it. I didn't know if I liked it in two colours or if I should buy more fabric and make two dresses. But now it feels good and I like it.

I made the dress like my first version, with separate waist pieces. I like it better that way. For my next version (yes, I alreday have another one in mind) I'm thinking of shortening the back bodice and lenghtening the front bodice with a few centimetres. I also like the just-below-the-knee length, usually I feel kind of frumpy dressed in that length but not with this pattern.

The left-over pink fabric was used on a dress for my girl, who loooooooooooves pink. I thought that we could match each other on New Year's Eve, but nope, she went for a RTW-dress with pink fox faces (sounds weird, but it's super cute).

BTW, I'm wearing my brand new headscarf from Christine Headwear which I ordered from Simply wigs, the "nearest" place to get Christine headwear. Simply wigs is great though, they give excellent service. The scarf is made out of lightweight soft dark blue denim (chambray?).

Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY, open to everyone around the world.

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Hugs,

Johanna

2012 in short

It seems popular in the sewing blogosphere to summarize the past year, and I thought to myself: Why not?! 2012 was a half bad/half good year, or more like really bad and then some better... Let me tell you...

2012
(Background: in 2011 I lost all my hair to Alopecia Universalis (caused by stress), which didn't feel so hot...)
January - Started out with the end of a good Christmas holiday, I felt no urge whatsoever to go back to work. And I hardly did, because most of January I was at home because of stress...

February - Finally got a doctor's appointment, where the excellent doctor put me on sick leave because of depression caused by exhaustion ("burn-out"). I was home for three (!) days before my daughter got chickenpox and was home from daycare for ten days. Then I was home for two (!) days before my husband got a stroke (yep, stroke as in bleeding in the brain). The same day he was hospitalised our son got chickenpox, which meant we couldn't go visit my husband in the hospital. I struggled to find people to help me watch the kids while I went to my husband in the hospital (we don't have any relatives close-by).

March - My husband came home from the hospital and was miraculously unmarked by the stroke. We were now both on sick leave, which was both good and bad; good because we got time to spend with each other which never have, bad because I needed rest and silence.

April - I started sewing again, hadn't sewn since before I got the kids which was six years ago. I felt really good and I found sewing blogs on the net to inspire me. I never thought I would have a sewing blog of my own, but after only a few weeks of sewing I started one. And how rewarding! Really one of the good things this year.

May - I try to go back to work but it doesn't work out. I knew it was too soon but wanted to please my boss and the Social security office (which gives you money when you're sick. Bless the Swedish social security system!).

June - My husband starts working part-time after his stroke and it works out well and I (finally) get some peace and quiet around the house. :)

July - We have our summer holiday, four weeks together. One week is spent at our favourite summer spot, Olofsbo outside of Falkenberg. Sadly, this week is kind of a fiasco, bad weather, the kids are understimulated and my husband and I are exhausted. There's no place like home...

August - All summer I have been preparing in my head to go back to work when school starts again and I do! I start with 25% and it goes great. It's good to feel better!

September - I finish the stress management course I've been attending since June and I feel that it has helped me.

October - Work is going so well, that I "upgrade" to 50%. My pupils are so great and I get a lot of energy from them. Sewing and blogging take the backseat while I concentrate on work, fewer projects and fewer posts, but it feels OK. Decided to get a kitten, such joy! But I didn't get to fetch it until Dec.

November - Everything was really good and we were all looking forward to going to my sister and her family and to see their new house. Of course our daughter got tonsillitis while we're there and on Saturday evening she woke up screaming in panic for air her tonsils were so swollen. My sister and I took her to the children emergeny room where we spent three hours waiting. We got great help, but it's always nerve-wrecking to wait. Because of her tonsillitis I didn't get much sleep at all for about five nights in a row and I literally became a zombie (because of my burn-out...).

December - One of the most nerve-wrecking periods of the year at my job, with grading and everything, but this year it went really smoothly and I felt OK, even though my body told me otherwise with eczema and trouble sleeping. I made myself a cosy velour dress for Christmas and I posted about it with pictures where I show my naked head, for the first time on the blog. For me that's a HUGE step.

Ok, there it is, my 2012. Very bad, but good too...

My hopes for 2013:

• I recover fully from my health issues.
• (Though I know there's not much of a chance) I hope I get my hair back.
• I keep on sewing for myself, pretty things that go with my style.
• I feel good about sewing for others (kids' t-shirts and so on) and maybe can make some profit of it.
• My family stay healthy.
• My class and I will have a good trip to Mallorca.
• I will keep staying away from sugar as much as I can (I do feel better without it).
• Loads of other things I can't remember now.. :)

Happy New Year everyone!! (And don't forget to enter my giveaway!)

Johanna

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

So, time for the "5000 pageviews giveaway"!!

First, here's what's at stake:

Yep. that's all of it, but let's have a closer look...

Sewing pattern from Burda. Sizes EU 34-46.

Another sewing pattern from Burda. Sizes EU 34-44.

 Simplicity sewing pattern. Size US 10/Bust 32 ½ ". There are only pattern pieces for the blouse and the dress (not for the skirt or the trousers).

This pattern is very incomplete, but I'll throw it in anyway. The front and back dress pieces are missing (circled in red in the photo). My original idea was to try and copy and enlarge them from the instruction paper, but I just won't get around to it, so I'll give someone esle the chance. The pattern is Vogue size 18/Bust 38".

This is some lightweight stretch denim with pinstripes. The fabric is about 140 cm/55" wide and 110 cm/44" long, should be enough for a skirt!

I will also include a box of cute pins and some pretty blue and white ribbon (2 m/2.18 yds).

So, that's the prize... Well, what do you have to do to get it? Ok, don't get me wrong, I am fascinated by my 5000 pageviews, I never thought anyone would be interested in what I might be doing when I started this blog. Buuuut, all the same I wouldn't mind some more followers... :)

Here are the conditions:

* Follow my blog!
* Let me know that you follow my blog by leaving a comment to this post.
* For an extra chance to win, mention my giveaway on your blog and leave a comment with a link to the post where you mention it.
* The giveaway is international, I will mail the prize worldwide.
* The giveaway is open until Saturday 12 January 11.00am CET.

Good luck,

Johanna

Giveaway coming up!

During the night I reached, and passed, 5000 pageviews! I've been waiting for this for a few weeks now and kind of fun it happened during Christmas.

I had already planned in my head to celebrate this with a giveaway, buuut... I haven't got further than that so in the next few days be on the lookout to see the prize and the conditions!

Bye for now,

Johanna

Happy Trash-mas

Well, one of the definite downsides to Christmas is all the garbage you end up with, and I don't mean crappy present, but the packagings that hold toys and other things...

I foresee a trip to the recycling centre in my near future... Most certainly since our laundry room looks like this at the moment....

Can you believe there were only five of us yesterday opening presents...?!

Bye for now,

Johanna

Merry X-mas!

Hope everyone's having a great Christmas. I'm kind of glad that Chistmas Eve is almost over, it's just so busy. Christmas Day and Boxing day are more mellow and enjoyable.

Anyway... Two days ago I decided to make a new dress for Christmas. I bought some grey velour fabric at one of the local fabric stores and used the Onion jersey dress pattern no. 2017 again. This time without a separate waist piece.

It's very cosy and perfect on a day like today when you eat most of the time... My only problem was that about an hour after putting on the dress I sprayed myself with milk/flour when making the shrimp omelette that has become part of our Christmas smorgasbord. I got it all over the sleeves and the top, I thought I managed to get it off, but no.... The dress is now full of stiff stains... Yuck! Hope they don't show in the photos.... (S**t... They do... Well, now it's done...)

 

The black thing is not a stain, but a wonky butterfly brooch....

Happy holidays everyone!!!!!

Johanna

Onion jersey dress

Recently I bought two patterns from Onion. One was a trouser pattern, no. 4026, and the other was a jersey dress pattern, no. 2017.

Source: shoponion.com via Johanna on Pinterest

I really liked the waist part, that you could create a belt-effect with contrasting fabric. But as it turned out, the waist part WAS a sort of belt/sash, and since I don't feel very comfortable with belts/things tied around my waist I altered the pattern a bit.

Here's how it turned out... (please excuse A) the bad photos (my 6-year-old took them) and B) my bad posture (totally my own fault)) :)

 

 

The fabric is some light-weight cotton stretch jersey. I couldn't resist it at the fabric store even though I know this is my colour, light mustard yellow. I mean, who can resist polka dots?! Not me evidently...

 

 

 

I thought I would take away some of the yellow-ness by putting in contrasting black edges at the neckline and the sleeves and at the waist. And there's where I altered the pattern, I divided the skirt pieces into skirt and waist pieces. It worked out fine, I just put the pleats below the black waist band insteadof directly below the bust.

 

 



The dress was super-easy and super-fast to put together. I traced the pattern and cut the fabric on Tuesday morning and sewed it up Friday night in between dinner and putting the kids to bed. It almost feels like it takes longer to describe the time consumed then it took to make the dress. That's how fast it was.... :)

The length was really good for me, I made the longest version, and I will surely make this again. I wore it to work yesterday with thermotights (it's cold in Sweden) and a black bolero from HM. It was supercomfortable and I got several compliments!

Here's a bonus photo of me with our new parrot cat on my shoulder.... Apparently she likes sitting on people's shoulders, I'm not the only victim... :)

I'm thinking of making something new to wear for Christmas, but I'm not sure of what to make... Any suggestions anyone?

Bye for now,

Johanna

A visitor

Yesterday I had a visit from my aunt, who's only twelve years older than me and more of a friend. She's is a faithful reader of my blogs and couldn't wait to see some of the things from my blog IRL (like the kitchen island re-make). While we chatted away she asked me if I hadn't done any sewing in a while since the blog had been so quiet, but I have!

I showed her two dresses from Ottobre, one Onion dress, a pair of trousers from Onion and four X-mas themed sofa cushions. I forgot to show her the Ottobre skirt. So I have been doing a lot of sewing, but just haven't had time to take decent photos or blog about them. On Friday my Christmas vacation begins and after that I will definately have time for photos and blogging. I can also promise you that the photos will be A LOT better since I got a new camera as an early Christmas present!!

 

Source: dustinhome.se via Johanna on Pinterest

Ok, so I'll be back soon with loads of great photos of stuff I've made. I also would like to send loads of hugs to my aunt who celebrates her 50th birthday tomorrow, congrats!!

Bye for now,

Johanna

Stuff...

I've finally done some actual sewing  today. I write this because it seems I haven't sewn much lately. But I did get some new fabric and patterns.

But first, sewing... Today I completed a muslin for the Ottobre dress I've written about before, it's "the Stitch details dress".

source: ottobre design

I haven't taken any photos yet of my dress, but hold on, they'll get here... It's a wearable muslin, but I'm not extatic about it. I'm thinking of making it up in some jersey fabric next.

A while ago I actually made a muslin for the skirt I've mentioned from Ottobre, but I never got round to blogging about it. It's "the Aztec skirt", but as with the dress, I'm not totally happy with it.

source: as above

Ok, now to my new fabric. I got six different fabrics two weeks ago when visiting my sister. One lovely smooth wool fabric, which I pretty much ruined while pre-washing, not so smooth anymore as felted.... Two dark trouser fabrics, three different kinds of dark blue jersey fabric (I know... but there weren't any other colours and blue suits me...). I also celebrated my pay raise by buying even more jersey fabrics, three different kinds, each more than 3 metres.

I have also ordered two new patterns, from Onion this time.

Source: shoponion.com via Johanna on Pinterest

Source: shoponion.com via Johanna on Pinterest

I hope the patternsland in my mailbox tomorrow! I have already fabrics lined up for both of them! Yay!

Bye for now,

Johanna

Loungewear

Lasst week I wrote about making up these jersey trousers from Burdastyle.com. I was very inspired by a pair of trousers I've seen on the House of Lola site. I thought they wouldn't take long to finish and they didn't!

Source: burdastyle.com via Johanna on Pinterest

Source: houseoflola.se via Johanna on Pinterest

I cut the fabric yesterday late afternoon and was finished by 7.30pm. I made some changes to the pattern. Since most Burdastyle patterns go up to size EU44 I doubted that the trousers would fit since I'm more of a size EU46. So I compared the pattern pieces tto another pattern I had to see what I should change. I decided to add 4 cm to the sides both on back and front pieces. I also made the leg cuffs a little longer, originally the were 19 cm but I made them 25 cm (I have pretty long legs and HATE too short trousers). I also made the waistband a little wider, 10 cm instead of 7 cm (do not feel comfortable in too lowcut trousers).

 

 

I'm happy with the trousers, they're very comfy! But I think I wouldn't have had to add those 4x4 cm, because they are bigger than I had expected, and that's even after taking them in  4-5 cm in the front and back. well, it's a lesson learned if I make them again. I was lazy though and didn't pre-wash the fabric, so maybe they will shrink a little when I wash them.

Here are the trousers combined with my Casual cardi from Ottobre. I feel that I look good even though I'm only lounging about at home in my loungewear... :)

Anyway, I totally recommend the pattern from making some stylish sweat pants.

BTW, we had a really lousy weekend last weekend (away from home and Little Red got really ill, had to visit the emergency room, she could hardly breathe because of a bad case of tonsillitis caused by streptococci, which she later transferred to me, hello tonsillitis!) but before everything tirned ugly I had time to visit a fabric store close to my sister's house. I found some great fabric for only £3/metre. I bought six different fabrics, a total of 14 metres! And some really cheap zippers too. Yay! (Little Red is way better now, and me too, after getting some lovely penicillin. That stuff rocks! BUT you mustn't overuse it so the bacteria become immune.)

Bye for now,

Johanna

Coincidence?

A friend at work has recently started selling these wonderful clothes from House of Lola. I like the style and clothes A LOT, but they are quite expensive so I haven't bought any. These are my favourites so far:

Source: houseoflola.se via Johanna on Pinterest

Source: houseoflola.se via Johanna on Pinterest

Source: houseoflola.se via Johanna on Pinterest

These clothes have been on my mind for a while and yesterday when I picked up the new Burda magazine I found these trousers:

Source: burdastyle.com via Johanna on Pinterest

Lucky coincidence?! Don't they look very similar to the House of Lola trousers? Mhm, that's what I thought, so why not make those gorgeous trousers myself?!

I have already bought the fabric needed: black cotton jersey and knit ribbing, and I have traced the pattern. We'll see if I have time to do more before the weekend, we're going away to visit one of my sisters and that takes some preparation, packing and stuff. So I'd better aim to finish and show them next week.

BTW, if you live in Sweden and want the Sewaholic patterns, but have hesitated to get them from overseas, they are now available from Fagert.se. Good, huh?!

I'm very much into trousers at the moment, and have found these from Onion, which I'm interested to make in a comfy stretchy fabric:

Source: shoponion.com via Johanna on Pinterest

I'm not a big fan of pleats in the front of the trousers, but I like that the waistband is a little wider (deeper, longer, higher?) and so the pleats are set a little lower. I'm thinking of buying the pattern and use the stretchy black fabric I bought a while ago to use for skinny trousers. What do you think, is this a style you like?

Bye for now,

Johanna

PS Taking it little slow with the blog because I'm dead tired most evenings and don't have energy for sewing and therefore don't have much to blog about. Bear with me and I will hopefully get back to normal soon enough.