Adding to my pattern library

A few weeks ago I took the opportunity to order some new Simplicity patterns when sewingpatterns sold them for $1.99 each. The patterns arrived yesterday (that is the downside of ordering from the USA, it takes WEEKS to get them). Here's the haul:

I like the dress and the jacket. But was surprised when I saw this pattern in the package, had no recollection of ordering it... Hello amnesia..:)

Source: sewingpatterns.com viaJohanna on Pinterest

I like the dress, I'm not into peplum tops. Same here, can't really rememering putting this in the cart...

Source: simplicity.com viaJohanna on Pinterest

Not much to say, cute dress!

Source: simplicity.com viaJohanna on Pinterest

I really like the waist detail on this dress.

Source: simplicity.com viaJohanna on Pinterest

I followed Sunni's sew-along of this dress and thought the results looked s good.

Source: simplicity.com viaJohanna on Pinterest

How cute is the dress with sleeves?!!!

Source: simplicity.com viaJohanna on Pinterest

I've been trying to focus on spring sewing, but it's really hard when there's still loads of snow, more coming and the temperature stays constant between 5 and 18 degrees below zero C (23-0 degrees F). Since spring seems a long way away still an because it was snowing yesterday, I decided to cheer myself up and ordered the new Colette pattern, the Laurel dress, and also another Colettte pattern I've wanted for a while, the Violet blouse.

Source: colettepatterns.com viaJohanna on Pinterest

Source: colettepatterns.com viaJohanna on Pinterest

I can't wait for them to come, maybe it will finally be spring when they show up! :)

BTW, if you would like to invest in some new sewing patterns too, sewingpatterns.com has a promotion on McCall's and Burda patternsat the moment, I think (I don't get paid or endorsed by sewingpatterns.com to write this, I just want people to be able to save some money and make some bargains).

What's on your pattern wish list?

Bye for now,

Johanna

Burdastyle t-shirt

I finally got some sewing done this past weekend. I had seen this cute t-shirt pattern in Burdastyle magazine 02/2013 and I wanted to try it out.

Source: assets.burdastyle.com viaJohanna on Pinterest

Since the pattern only went to EU size 42 I decided to frankenpattern it with another t-shirt pattern I have that fits really well. I made it 42 over the bust and 46 over the waist and hips.

I shouldn't have... The t-shirt turned out way too big, everywhere! Iif I make it again I think I will make it size 40 over the bust and 42 over the waist and hips.

Or it could have been the fabric that wasn't compatible with the pattern, but I don't know why that should be, because the fabric is just some viscose jersey.

Anyway, I had to take it in about 5 cm/2 inches on each side at the hips, to get a decent fit.

I added bands to the sleeves and made them and the band at the neckline a solid colour to add some interest. I think the result turned out good.

I would like to make the t-shirt again in a striped jersey, but I have to get some first! :)

I have loads of other plans but I keep seeing great new things all the time, so it's hard to decide what to do next. I have seen some cropped trousers in hot pink cotton sateen which I can't take my mind of, maybe those are next on my sewing list.

So did you get any sewing done this weekend? Do you have spring sewing plans?

Bye for now,

Johanna

Vintage find

I keep reading about other bloggers fantastic finds and bargains from charity shops and flea markets. I keep going to my local charity shops hoping to find something, but in this town they suck big time. Not only are the clothes awful ninties relics but they're also expensive! I don't think a pair of horribly out-dated jeans should cost SEK 100/£10/$15! I never find anything good....

Until today! :)

I found this sixties/seventies shift dress (a style that suits me!), in aqua (one of my fave colours!), in my size (!!!!!!!!!!!!!) for SEK 95/£9,50/$14,50!!! How good can it get?! The only downside is that the dress is 100% polyester, but I guess that's what to expect from that time period. At least the label says it's polyester crepe, which I have never encountered before.

Can you see the adorable V-shaped front piece and the princess seams and the buttons?!!! 

I don't know which of the photos that shows the colour best....

I'm totally psyched that I finally found something good from the charity shop!!! Anyone else who has made a good find this weekend?

Sewing-wise, I just haven't had the time to go on with any projects. The closest I've been to anything sewing-related was this morning when I traced a pattern for a T-shirt from Burdastyle.

Cute style, right?!

Source: assets.burdastyle.com viaJohanna on Pinterest

Anyways, have a nice weekend,

Johanna

P.S. Like so many other sewing-bloggers out there, I have a pet. Surprise! It's a cat!! Just realised I have been holding out on my cutie-pie. So here are some photos to enjoy. Her name is Siri and she's six months old. She's a Devon Rex. (And almost impossible to photograph...)

Pros and cons of Alopecia

If you have visited my blog before you might have seen that I have a medical condition called Alopecia Universalis (AU). There are three kinds of Alopecia:

• Alopecia Areata - where you have bald patches, on your head or elsewhere (not to be mixed up with male pattern baldness).

Alopecia Areata

Source: en.wikipedia.org via Johanna on Pinterest

• Alopecia Totalis - where you've lost all the hair on your head, not eyebrows or eyelashes.

Alopecia Totalis

Source: belgraviacentre.com via Johanna on Pinterest

• Alopecia Universalis - which it total loss of all body hair, no eyebrows, eyelashes, nose hair, leg hair, arm hair, you name it, it's not there.

Alopecia Universalis (this is not me).

Source: alopeciaantics.com via Johanna on Pinterest

I started losing my hair two years ago (March 2011), starting with my hairdresser finding a bald spot on my head close to my left ear. The spot was about 3-4 cm in diametre, but it kept growing and I started losing hair in other places on my head. My eyebrows started to thin out. From March to August I lost all the hair on my head and by November I didn't have any eyebrows or eyelashes. August was also the last time I remember shaving my legs.

"Before" picture from June 2009

Another before picture from November 2010

"During" picture from May 2011

During... from June 2011

Now I look like this. From January 2013

At first I wore a wig to work everyday to try to look normal. I told all my colleagues and my pupils what had happened, so there wouldn't be any weird rumours about me. But by November I mostly quit the wig and went over to head scarfs instead.

One of the first wigs I tried on, didn't buy it though.

My first wig. It doesn't look so bad in this photo, but it had so much hair and  the hair style was very  "celeb fresh from the hairstudio"-not me.

Same wig as above but cut short and with a hair pin in the bangs.

My "real" wig, I bought this to wear seriously. Here it's long, straight from the box.

Same wig as above, but cut shorter. This is the one I do wear, when I wear a wig. It's very light and have a normal amount of hair, sort of comfortable. 

My latest wig, bought this last summer. It was on sale and it's curly like my own hair used to be, well, not THAT curly but still... I thought it would be fun, but I've only worn it out once. Sorry about the weird eyes in the photo...

Now I've been living without hair for a year and a half and I still don't like it, I know that my hair is probably never coming back, but I've sort of come to terms with the situation. Buuuut...... there are some things that bothes me and there are some things that even are positive, even though I don't like admitting it...:) So I've put together a list of pros and cons! (In no particular order).

Pros:

• Don't have to shave legs, armpits or bikini line
• Don't have to pluck and shape eyebrows
• Shorter time in the shower
• Don't have to fix my hair after showering
• No need for hair products, razors, shaving gel, electrical hair appliances
• No sweaty hair in the summers
• No worries about what your hair looks like after swimming in the summer
• Don't have to worry about holding my hair or getting puke in my hair when throwing up (realised this the other day when I had the stomach flu)
• Can't get head lice
• And more I can't think of now...

Cons:

• It's really COLD not having any hair
• Not easy finding well-fitting headscarfs
• Expensive to buy headscarfs (at least the ones I like)
• You can't show your face to anyone without putting on make up first
• If you invest in semi-permanent make up (which I totally recommend) it's crazy expensive
• Wigs are mostly totally uncomfortable, tight and itchy
• The good wigs are expensive
• If you wear wigs all the time, you might have to buy 3-4/year
• People stare at you if you go out without something on your head
• People think you have cancer if they see you have no hair
• My nose keeps running all the time because I have no nose hair
• And more I can't be bothered to write down now...

Well, the biggest downside of them all, which sadly overshadows all of the pros, is that, no matter what, I still feel and look WEIRD without hair.... :(

Anyway, I'm trying to cope and I know there are people out there who are in much worse situations, but it does feel like such a bitch sometimes. I'll be back soon with sewing-related posts, something that really cheers me up and takes my mind off the no-hair situation. :)

Bye for now,

Johanna aka Baldy ;)

Good deal on Simplicity patterns

Hey, just saw that they have a good deal on Simplicity patterns over at sewingpatterns.com. Only $2.99 each! I just ordered six! And even with the shipping they are half the price they're here in Sweden!

Happy bargaining!

Johanna (off to bed..... *yawn*)

Unselfish sewing part 2 - onepiece for my daughter

Since I like to be fair, I also promised to make a onepiece for my daughter. (If you missed my last post, a onepice is a kind of overall/jumpsuit used as loungewear. Acceptable on kids, not on adults.)

She got to choose the fabric herself and of course she chose pink... She's in a very pink period at the moment, the Hello Kitty period has lasted very long. I swear it's true, the third thing she could say, besides "mum" and "dad", was "Hello Kitty".

Anyway, this time the sewing took exactly two hours, started at 6 o'clock and was finished right before 8 o'clock. Everything was already cut out, so I could start sewing right away. The only problem was that i almost forgot the pockets, but I remembered just in time and only had to rip up the seam about 10 cm.

Can you see the cute fabric I used as lining? Yep, those are Dala-horses in different patterns. I'm planning to make a dress for my girl out of that fabric.

She looooves her some pockets...

Little sister and big brother.

Yeah, let's dance with the cat when mum's taking photos!

The fabric I used for both onepieces is velour and printed jersey for the hoodlining, both very easy to sew with. The two things I changed on the pattern were: 1) I added lining to the hood and 2) I added ribbed jersey cuffs to the sleeves and legs, instead of turning over, sewing and putting in elastic.

I'm happy with the result, and definately the kids, but right now I'm not thinking of making more onepieces... :) Nope, onto other plans! Do you have any sewing plans for spring?

Later,

Johanna

Unselfish sewing - onepice for my son

Two weekends ago I was in town with the kids and my son wanted to go to H&M to see if there were any onepieces for him, he's been wanting one since Christmas. If you don't know what a onepiece is, well it's a kind of overall/jumpsuit that you wear as loungewear. They are very popular in Sweden at the moment and they are both for kids as well as adults. On kids they look alright, but on adults.... NO THANK YOU! I'm all for loungewear, but I draw the line at onepieces for adults. They make you look like a big baby.

See what I mean about looking like a big baby...

Source: onepiece.se via Johanna on Pinterest

Anyway, my son wanted one and I thought that was OK, so we went to H&M, but the only decent one we could find was too expensive (I thought). So I suggested we'd go downstairs to the fabric store and he could pick a fabric and I would sew a onepiece for him instead. He thought that was OK so I let both Big Red and Little Red pick fabrics.

I looked for patterns in my sewing magazines, but couldn't find anything useful. But when googling onepiece sewing patterns I found someone who used the pattern from Stoff och stil and thought they were good because they were pre-cut! Oooh, I liked the sound of that so I ordered two patterns, size 104 and 128, along with some loooooong zippers.

Source: stoffochstil.se via Johanna on Pinterest

It was easy enough to cut and sew and I think the whole process took about 3-4 hours. The pre-cut pattern was awesome to work with, it was made of some kind of non-woven stuff, not paper.I didn't even have to use pattern weights because the pattern pieces stuck to the velour I was working with.

I mostly used my overlocker to sew it together, but off course I used my sewing machine for the zipper and topstitching. I added lining to the hood, I already had the perfect fabric for it!

Yep those are helicopters on the lining fabric. Cute fabric right?!

Cute kid too right?! :)

My son was SO happy with his onepiece and asked if he could wear it to school today. That's a satisfied customer for you!

If ever in need of inspiration for new blog photo poses, look at my son... He's got it down....

And yes, the zipper is supposed to go that far, don't know why though...

This was not stash-busting, but at least it was sewing for someone else as was the challenge this month in the Stash-busting sewing challenge.

How about you, do you sew mostly for yourself or for others often?

Bye for now,

Johanna