Nah nah naa!

In a way I'm happy that my sons favorite thing to watch (except monsters inc.) is Futurama..on the other hand I sometimes think all the Futurama is getting to my brain! It might have gone too far when I answer in Futurama quotes and say "nah nah naa" to make a point.

But since I'm already there, this is my favorite character:  Hedonism-bot!

 "Let us cavort like the Greeks of old! You know the ones I mean."

 

..I'm also a fan of the scamming naked aliens.Nah nah naa!

But to at least have some sort of creativness included, I will tell that I'm now attempting to make grown-up-sized pants..in the same style as the fancy winter pants I made for my Lus. I'm not really sure if it will be transferable..but it would be cool if it was...I'll know today when Bambi comes home and tries them on!



As for the inspirationalness of today...I'm listening to the soundtrack from Amelie from Montmartre...

"Le temps n'a rien changé. Amélie continue à se réfugier dans la solitude. Elle prend plaisir à se poser des questions idiotes sur le monde ou sur cette ville qui s'étend là sous ses yeux."

Still alive

And so another Christmas is over..feels nice. Only some minor psychological wounds, so I'll live.   

L & L, cousins and friends

Just wanted to update and say that my sons cousin looked just super cute in her new dress! She and my Lus went vintage together this Christmas. 

..also we all participated in a different sort of present making. I decorated the jars, Bambi made ice-chocolate and Lus put the chocolate into the jars. Some appreciated it more than others as predicted, but this year there has been the least amount of stress possible, so for that it would be worth it anyway. And when it was appreciated it turned into some really fun creative-talk! 

 And A Happy New Year!

¤

Just another day in too many socks...

I generally don't advertise this that much, but I have like 50% of my clothes that I've made my self. I noticed it today when I tried to find something to wear in which I might not freeze to death  right away..and also not look like a relaxed middle aged person. So I felt it was blog worthy!

pile of creations lying around

I do wish I lived in a place where I could find cooler fabrics...

But now! my top 5 list of clothing that I actually wear and I made:

Nr.1 the Housewife dress nr.2 the Gypsy top, nr.3 the Mother-in-law-dress (yes,there is a story) , nr.4 the 60's meets bohemina-top, nr.5 the 1870's jacket.

 Also, since Christmas is coming up for most people...and most of those people revert into some retarded child version of them selves and everyone explodes in materialistic competition while everyone have to be happy, I'm gonna post this picture. Because really, what makes this jolly!?

                                                                 Nah nah na!

Pants and inspiration.

First part: Pants.

I don't know an easy way to put this..but..I'm just really fucking awesome. Not personally I mean (not this time at least), but professionally. Today I made Christmas-present-pants for my sons 3 year old cousin. It took me half a day, hence the awesomeness, and they look perfect! Many people might not agree, mostly because of the fabric i chose, but I'm just gonna take that as a sing of my ingenuousness and say that many people do not understand the beauty of neo-bohemian design.! Yeah, you heard me, I managed to find a reason to use the word "hence".

My only fear is that i might have made them a couple of sizes too big...? Most definitely too long, but that's fixable!

Second part: Inspiration.

This is a little uncomfortable for me since I'm not really the opening-up-to-everyone kind of girl..(have even been called mysterious at times, how fancy). So this is as far as blogging goes: I found a book (or actually my husband-to-be downloaded it to he's phone) that I'm now having a serious book-crush on. "The Picture of Dorian Gray". Much easier to read than expected! Being written in the 1890's I kind of expected my mild to sometimes-not-so-mild dyslexia to get in the way..but happily no! It's the story of a boy gave his sole for eternal youth. My favorite character is actually not Dorian but he's friend Harry. Except he's dedication to shallowness I relate mostly to him. 

The reason it get's into my blog is because it is sooo inspiring! Life-wise, but also in creativeness..not really things specific, but there's just a feeling to it that makes me connect to..something..Point is, when I read the book I feel like I can actually see all the things I could be making..and also..that somewhere there might be someone else thinking just like me. 

And of course the movie also has it's inspirational value! But that's more on a superficial level.

 "Faithfulness is to the emotional life what consistency is to the intellect. Simply a confession of failure." 

Edwardian cuteness, nr.2 !

..getting a bit dress-tired.

So now I've fixed the other one..the nr.2. Nah nah naa! Anywaaay, Here's the dress I made for my mothers new child (and no, it's not called "sister" if there's a 23 year age difference..and ones own son is a year older) and my Lus posing in it!

I do think it turned out very good..even if I made a secret mistake!

Some more inspiration: Ida i Lönneberga

Edwardian cuteness!

This is the continuum of "I'm making dresses for Christmas". Now the first one is done! This one is for my sons cousin. Actually nr. 2 is also done..but I'm not as happy with it as I want to be so I'm gonna fix the last tomorrow...then I will show it of. I'm kind of like that..it doesn't need to be perfect, but it does need to be exactly as I want it.  This is the first time I've gotten to make little girls dresses, and I'm really loving it! It's quick, it's new, it's extremely feminine and I can't wait to get another reason to make more!   

What I have made is turn of the century style child's dresses, one pink and one blue with white aprons. Nr.1 is the pink one..obviously..The good thing about this style is that it's impossible to fuck up. I mean, I always think about that when making something for someone else and I really put my  heart and soul into it...are they gonna know how to wear it or are they gonna fuck it up? Because one would think that people would know by now how to dress (and even more, how to dress ones child ).. but there's still people out there looking ridiculous! And I'd hate to have my creations be a part of that.. But anyway, like I said, these are simply impossible to fuck up! Just tie the apron and you're good to go. If someone does manage to fuck it up I'm gonna blog about it.   

Madicken & Lisabet

"..he's a little runaway?"

My inspiration for this has mostly (and conveniently) been from my sons Astrid Lindgren - movies..he's been learning pranks and I've been learning to dress a child in 1900-ish. Then I've made him dress up in dresses and he's run away from me in them.I wonder if he'd take me more seriously if i let him use my make up first..?

Another happy place..

Rouen, France.

Home <3

Some day soon I'll live somewhere else..hopefully in a place which does not have an igloo as a picture on the weather prediction ..probably not on a pirate ship...but this would be pretty cool! But I do have to fix up my french first..a lot. I just wish I could move away in a gypsy caravan..but then I just might stay in it forever..Then I wouldn't even have to move to move around..I'd love that.

My happy place, pro piracy!

Right now I'd wanna be on a 1600's pirate ship sailing the Caribbean..the good kind, not the real kind of ship! I think I'd make a good imaginary pirate girl. Already have the outfit and the deep desire to wanna settle my disputes by sword fighting ... and I have been known to drink rum at times. Yes! that will be my imaginary future, become captain of my own pirate ship and sail the world (only the warm parts!) in search of chests of gold. No problems with the lawlessness! My motto will be "dead men tell no tales". Oh nooo, the imaginary horror! 

Good thing I found a map in my sons bedroom so I know where I'm going in the world!

 

But I must say..I do think there's things I would like about being a pirate..un-imaginary i mean. So sometimes I have to pirate-up! Like at the pirate party we had to celebrate mine and Bambis birthdays.

Let's see...here we have hostile pirate & tinker bell, me..the soon to be imaginary pirate girl, my soon to be imaginary pirate crew, pirates who possibly already found the chest of gold (!?) and pirates out to smoke and disturb people..on the..next ship..of course.

...This might also be something to learn before entering the imaginary life of a pirate..?

In a not so distant future..

Sometimes when one tries to stop creating in one way, the mind creates something else. It happened to me some nights ago. So far I've done fun romantic and bohemian, accurate and Victorian, whimsical carnies, rural simplicity, and so on...But I have never done scary and ironically hinting! So when I'm done with all my clothmaking... this will be my new creation! Like always, I've made a collage.

I must admit I getting really bored of sewing...and hurting..and all the trying on and testing. it's gonna be nice to do something else for a change.

Early morning imaginations..

...Actually it's very late night imaginations..I don't have thoughts before 11am. Right now I'm trying to not get stressed about Christmas. It makes it a lot easier that I've already celebrated Christmas. What also makes  it a lot easier is my home-made-policy for this year (and probably for years to come) ..and also having friends who care as little for present giving as I do!

So the present making..it's all for relatives, and since I don't care for surprises either (one more thing I've never enjoined having forced on me in the spirit of Christmas..) and I don't have a problem spoiling them for other people I would post pictures, but they aren't really done yet, and THAT I do have a problem with!

 

But the present I'm doing right now is for my sons cousin (but will be enjoined by her mother..since the girl is 1½) and it's an Edwardian dress. I made a mock-up dress yesterday to see how my pattern worked out..my Lus "volunteered" to try it on. Since my son is generally smaller for he's age (and a year older) than his cousin, I'm predicting he'll be modeling for a lot of dresses for the next few years! 

   So far it looks like this...and will hopefully end up something like this!

Todays Happy Place..2nd December.

Cotswold, England.

On the first day of December.

...and the wine did help! so did the sleeping..and I was cool as a picknikbasket on weed at the day of the Christmas feast. After all that stress fixing a party was not so bad..and an awesome party it was! We had  lots of food (potluck-style) including mincemeat pies, strawberry jellocake, Bûche de Noël, more wine and of course..the oh so Swedish meatballs and mash potatoes! But like with all the good feasts I barely got one good picture ..actually they are all pretty crap. Most of the pictures were taken right at the beginning and right at the end..but at least I want to include the pictures of my creations:

 

I've moused my pictures cause the first one was taken in pre-party-stress..and the other one at 4..when people had left and it was 2 minutes til I fell asleep..and between these two there was a lot of laughing, eating and drinking, interesting discussions, some drama and one surprise...how very Victorian!

Right now I'm taking a little break, my only creating is some Christmas presents. I'm generally not a fan of the materialistic mass-hysteria that breaks out around Christmas time..seems like most people just want an excuse to revert to some sort of spoiled child..but this year I am doing presents. Home made ones! I will never cave to the pressure again, hahaaa! 

Soon though I will have an other big project..you see..I was proposed to at the Christmas feast. I said yes. So soon there will be some wedding dress planing in this blog. I am very much not the kind to wait for things...

But I'm not the only one getting married. being in the marriage-boom-age I also have a friend who has asked me to do her wedding dress! Exiting stuff! 

                                Wonder how it will all turn out...?

...hopefully not as it did for miss Havisham...!  

 

Friday afternoon

This is a very short one. Just wanted to tell...my dress is finished...on time..finally! I'm not a fan of big projects on a deadline..I remembered I lose interest really quickly if something else comes in my way. But now I'm good to go for tomorrows Christmas feast! (I'm so gonna have wine to celebrate my accomplishment when my Lus goes to sleep!)


Just wanna squeez it in, thanks to Bambi for all the patience with my unpredictable temper and all the time and space..  And thanks to my Lus for not stepping on the fabric and helping me needle things. Until next time I'll know that 2 weeks is not enough time for that much work. Now, I'm gonna take a chill pill!

Thadaaa!! nr.2

It's now 3 days left and today I completed my 1870's underwear! I must say it turned out really pretty looking. actually I'd like to be dressed like this everyday!

There's a lot of criticism to be found about wearing a corset, and to be fair my corset is not very heavily boned nor extremely tightly laced (like I said, I can breath without issue), but it's really not that uncomfortable. It's about as comfortable as wearing a bra, only in a different way. 

The chemise is all soft and warm and I just LOVE the layers of petticoats! Not that that's really anything out of the ordinary..I wear layers of skirts almost everyday. (People don't seem to know that skirts are so much warmer than pants when it's cold..?)

Aaaanyway, I'm enjoying my new girly underwear and going nuts for it before I start on the actual dress! 

Also...Christmas has been starting to appear in other ways too...check out the Christmas tree.

Housewife on speed!

I realized i needed a break from my designing and clothmaking..it's time to stop when you can't even watch a movie without constantly obsessing about how that dress was made and "i wonder how that would look as a bustle dress"!

So today I was the desperate housewife instead. Because as everyone knows...all housewives are desperate...and I know why! It's not because they can't work and be "free" (how working is being free is out of my understanding) NO, and it's not because it's really hard work (and it is!) NO, and it's not because you have to wear really big rolls in your hair to make your self look pretty and uncomfortable until your husband comes home so you can greet him with coffee and newly baked bread (rollers are actually quite fun!) NO, it's because how ever hard you try..it's never good enough. There's always something more... (I really do sound desperate don't I). 

Like This! one would think that after a day of cleaning ,washing, baking, cooking, wearing a dress, doing my fucking hair, and everything whilst taking care of my son and caring for my sick husband I'd get more than -4 on the 30's housewife test! -4!? I bet it was the"flirting with other men at cocktail parties" and the "being late for appointments" that draged me down..Damn you 30's women and your perfect wavy hair.

I'm always trying for this kind of housewife

 

...but somehow I always end up like this kind of housewife

                        (minus the obvious stupid face!)

                                                



                                    ....and most of all...this kind of housewife

Tomorrow it's probably back to creating and imagining..but sometimes it's actually nice to do something where you don't have to use your brain at all..and THAT, I think, is the reason I'd hate being a real housewife. It's 3 am and that's good night for me.

Water over head.

         I just wanna say that.. I Hate Shawl Collars! 

..a one day project became a three day project, partly because I took a break while making my sons grandmother an Edwardian-apron-dress (nice to be on familiar ground again), and partly cause of that fucking shit pile of a shawl collar! Never making that again! But double breasted vests I might try to do more of... But here it is, the Victorian Christmas feast vest!

Next in line is the peachy skirt to my feasty dress.

1 week and 1 day left..

First of all, I have to blog about my "new" floor-pillow! I found it in the tiny old house where my family keeps random unused things. Actually I was there to pick up a table for the Christmas feast and my son started playing around with some soft animals...and there it was. The same pillow I sat on in front of the fireplace at my grandparents 15, maybe 20 years ago..so obviously I snatched it. Lookin' good in my own livingroom!

But now, back to the feast-outfit. I've been having some problems finding fabric for things..it's just not as awesome as I'd want it to be..everything is just so..midlife-crisis-curtain-making-fabric..! This..and millions of other reasons is why I so wanna move away from the little town I live in. But the finally I found some in a bargain-bin at the fabric shop and then some at the salvation army flee market, so now I can start!
Bargain bins and  flee markets is the shit!
  Right now it looks like this..just a pile of things..(I'll be really proud of my self if I pull this of in a week) but that pile is going to become chemise, bodice,skirt and possibly underskirt (depending on the time and how well things fit that I already have) for me, and waistcoat (vest) and cravat for my Bambi (it would be fun to make a shirt too, but I think that would be tipping it over the edge on my time limit). Lucky for me I made Lucien a new Victorian suit a month ago so that's what he's wearing.

kinda like this, but totally different!

So...tomorrow I'm starting on the waistcoat...good luck to me..!  (I think this is what they call a labor of love..? Also, I totally wont be doing any sewing on my own vintage sewing machine even if my picture implies I would. That's just too much labor, too little love. Also I wanted to brag about having a vintage sewing machine. ) 



 

Thadaaa!!

Now I found an other good thing about blogging! because I blogged about it I know it takes me 4 days to make a corset. Good to know.

So now, after 4 days of bleeding and hurting fingers ( most of the corset has to be sewn by hand..)  and obsessive mind, Here's my first piece of the Christmas feast outfit! 

I'm actually really happy about how it turned out! The more comfortable I get the more I try to go for more boning and more "real looking" ..Hopefully I'll get the patterns I want for Christmas so I can try out the original and compare it to the ones I've come up with on my own.

Weirdly enough, even if I do look pretty laced up, this is really not very tight ( I can totally breath and all!)..keeping in mind that I'll be eating dinner in this. So it's just basically keeping the shape i already have in place for my dress...okay I might make it a little bit tighter later!

                                                            ..hopefully not like this though. 

Midnight in the forest.

This is today(tonight?)s happy place: PARIS

                          ..because going to France is like going home. Vive la France!