New outfit for someone from the past

There is a new addition to my growing pincushion collection. This time, I only had to make half the work – a new skirt for this pincushion doll. As far as I know, the hand painted half doll figurine is made in Germany in the 1920s. It's really tiny, only about 6 cm tall.




Of course, it was not just the skirt. Beneath it is the cushion part that makes her stand up, stuffed with synthetic filling. I also had to add some small stones for weight, so the doll wouldn't fall over. This must be the reason why most pincushion dolls have very wide dresses.




The skirt was made of all the bits and pieces I could find in colours matching the blouse and hat. It's not in twenties' style but perhaps, she is a country girl not wearing the latest fashion. More is more, when it comes to romantic ruffles in this case.




Still haven't put any pins into the skirt, she is only adapting to her new environment.

No holidays for kitchen maids

Those old style wooden pegs are well suited for fastening all sorts of half full food sacks. I thought it to be more fun if they looked like real kitchen staff.




After a short training period, I'm sure, I will not be needed in the kitchen at all. The three girls can work out a schedule among themselves, and each gets to be in charge of one meal a day.




And they always work with a smile.




These other type of clothespins come handy, too, to snap smaller bags and packages.

Sewing machine's new clothes

The sewing machine got a new dress - hoping to get her into working mood more often. Besides, the original plastic cover was just ugly.




There is a small summer wardrobe fashion show on the front to give hints what to make or what to wear. (Despite all that endless snow outside.)

Le beau voyage

When travelling, why not do it in – homemade style. Fabric toiletry bags are so much nicer than the plastic ones. The bags can be made exactly the colour and size necessary to fit all those little things needed to take along to the road.




All it took to make this bag set was actually quite a pile of bits and pieces in black and ivory: light cotton fabric, wadding, ribbons and cord, lace and tulle, elastic band and zippers... Arranged as you go and sewn together in the right order – well, mostly.




La Belle Époque, the amazing era around the turn of the 19th and 20th century, was the source of inspiration for this project. I have collected many lovely pictures associated with that period on my Pinterest pinboard.




Although the times have changed, the combination of black and ivory never seems to go out of style and is still widely and elegantly used.

A little bit of crochet

Found a piece of silk-like fabric in my stash, that looked great but was too small for anything but a scarf. To add that little something, I crocheted two lace trims using two shades of pearl cotton and sewed them on the scarf ends.




Really like these dark teal colour accents.

Takeaway knitting sack

To make knitting projects portable and take them outside now that the weather is warming up, one needs a suitable bag that would blend in with the natural environment.
This drawstring bag is made of linen fabric and cotton yarn, the knitted embellishment, of course, is essential to show that this is a knitting and not sewing bag in question.




The drawing strings are made as knitted i-cord. They end with vintage wooden beads that are attached using yarn tails.

Book with sharp content

This needle book is made of small piece of printed corduroy and black felt. Some flowers on the fabric are outlined with seed beads - it is very convenient to embroider when a template is already provided.




The book cover is padded with felt sheet and another layer of felt is sewn to the inside, so that needles can feel safe and comfortable.




The backstrip is made of grey blue lace, suggesting a romantic sewing story.

Crazy colours against cold

In the midst of white snow, ice and cold, even tiniest colour splashes can feel like a warm Southern breeze. Hot weather is brought to you today by a ribbon embellished pincushion from Bollywood and a miniature crocheted thread basket from the Caribbean:

Heart for the country

With weather getting darker and colder, the cravings for cosy and warming home accessories grow stronger. And the sewing machine is a good quick solution for a change, when most things take forever to make. These cuddly country style hearts were accomplished in no time and now they're just hanging around, bringing out smiles with their funny shape.

Summer in the sewing room

A small wall hanging object can exist both as a decoration in sewing theme and a storage solution to keep all the small tools at hand.
The alternative mission of the hat is to serve as a pincushion, while the bag can hold small scissors, safety pins, thread spools etc.




The piece is made of linen and all sewn by hand, the wires at the top and bottom give it a good hold. Seems like the only thing without a clear purpose is the dress.

Needle patches

It is my strong belief, that workspace and all the tools must be something personalised and inspiring. After all, they will accompany you through all the good and bad working days and they will stay, even if the things you make are bound to go to new homes.
The one thing that I cannot live without, whether working with yarn, fabric or beads, is a pincushion. And it was time to try something new: a little bit of patchwork, more applique, a lot of stitching and a crochet flower... The fabulous fabrics are all vintage home textiles collected from second-hand shops.




All the needles and pins fit together in one place now and can be organised conveniently to different patches.

No colours today

Sometimes eyes get tired of sunshine that lasts for weeks and a grey cloudy day feels very refreshing. In the same manner, all the colours around can seem too much to take every once in a while and it is time to look at things in black and white for a change.

First blog anniversary. With giveaway!

This blog has been in the web wide world for a year now and it has been an interesting journey to see it grow. But what would a celebration be without a cake. I made a very sweet and creamy one for the occasion, with white chocolate, marzipan and sugar decorations, still containing absolutely no calories:




For a chance to win this bead and sequin embellished pincushion, please leave a comment here with the title or date of the blog post you like most (excluding this one!). Feel free to share your blog address, I would like to come for a visit.
The winner will be drawn from all entries posted until midnight GMT (before) May 9th. Good luck!

Meet Mannie

Mannie came to me feeling somewhat tired and neglected. She was really happy to hear that I was looking for an assistant and eager to start working right away.



Mannie is my only helper at the moment, doing fitting and modelling, and hopefully will help out with some bookkeeping and supplies shopping as well in the future. (Haven't told her that yet, letting her enjoy the summer first.)

Mannie before and after the makeover:




First thing, of course, was to make Mannie a new proper outfit.
I needed to find a fabric that was stretchy, textured and of beautiful cream or beige colour. Not an easy task at all, but... accomplished - after going through ALL the fabric stores in the city in two days.
This fabric is probably a mixture of cotton and synthetics and not so stretchy as Mannie's old dress, so I had to make a cut in the back and add a zipper.




To give a matching finishing to Mannie's wooden leg, I painted it with water diluted wall paint in three coats. The outcome was really surprising, looking as if the wood had been sandpapered and lime painted and all...

Belt pocket

This March I took a short course on bead embroidered belt pockets worn with folk costumes on Estonian islands. These wonderful bags were tied around waist and used for keeping coins and other small items. Indeed, this kind of extra pocket comes very handy nowadays as well (although I haven't worn mine yet), perfect for a phone or a camera, for instance.
My green pocket is not what they used to look like, the front side was usually fully covered with very colourful beads in different patterns. Unfortunately, I could not find any photos of the beaded pockets on the internet. I used my own colours and other ancient motives instead, the ones that were traditionally embroidered with thread. Here's an example.