the shirt

                   

shirt - self made

pants - thrifted

i've finally found a perfect shirt pattern

after years of search

..

so far, i tried bunch of different patterns

even drafted one or two myself

some of them looked nice

but not a single one was quite what i was looking for

(and i wanted something that looked 

like that mom's shirt from the '70s

that i often wear, and that you can see here, here or here)

..

and then it hit me!

if i want to have a proper '70s shirt

i should probably use a '70s pattern

..

fabric is rayon chiffon

and i thought it's going to be hell working with it

but i guess it was my lucky day

everything worked like a charm

and this shirt is one of my neatest makes to date

..

and i kind of like the pants too

maybe i'll sew a similar pair

as these are not in the best shape..

 i bought them last winter

when i was freezing my ass off at the excavations site

they were cheap and made out of wool..

i make the strangest choices when it comes to my excavations outfits

can't think of anything more unpractical to wear while working in dirt

maybe a chiffon gown?

bear costume?

atmospheric diving suit?

i'm open for suggestions

as i'll leave for new round of excavations in may

..

mokosha

tale of three little black dresses

dress - self made

just realised that i've made 3 black dresses in a row

..

first, there was a little black dress

in recycled but luxurious sparkly wool knit

(sparkly wool always dreamt of becoming party dress

she eventually became a dress, but is still waiting to go to a party)

..

then there was a littler black dress

in thick wool  (wool that has spent 20 years in closet

not knowing what it wanted to become..

but once the closeted wool was out

she became quite fun, quirky outgoing dress)
..

and finally there is the littlest black dress

made in itchy and see-through 70's polyester knit
using 70's pattern

(she's a real groupie, that one
she has only parties and concerts on her dirty polyester mind
she asked for pink faux fur coat
she demanded heels of impossible height
and when i refused to obey to her tacky requests
she quickly found herself a new host..
i was really lucky to see her go)
..
mokosha

floral pants

 shirt - mom's, from the 70's

pants - self made

winter decided to skip a year

in this corner of the world..

we had indian summer, that lasted until end of december

and now it's apparently spring, for over a month

..

planned to sew a new winter coat

got fabric and quilted lining and pattern ready

but now i'm not so sure i should get into that adventure at all

it's not a coat weather

why bother laboring over coat for days

..

i made a pair of pants instead

and i plan to make few more pairs

and few shirts too
(so i don't have to wear this one all the time)..

i feel that my style has changed a lot

over the past 6 months

i got a bit tired of girly dresses and poofy skirts

and ready to try some other things too..

so today

i wear pants

..

mokosha

plantain dress.. in wool

dress (deer&doe plantain t-shirt, modified) - self made

leggings - self made

finally decided to join the 'indie patterns' party

well.. crash the party, actually

since this is the free pattern

but yeah.. i guess one day i'm actually going to pay for one of the indie patterns

and then i can play with all the cool kids

..
the thing is
that pretty much all those cool indie companies are way too pricey for me
i live in a country where average month salary is 400 euros
(if you're one of those lucky bastards that do have a job, that is)
so paying 20 euros plus shipping
for a pattern that i might use once or twice would be nuts
(especially when i already own hundreds of patterns
in five year's worth of burda magazines
and have enough sewing knowledge to modify them
into pretty much anything i envision)
..
but, don't get me wrong
i have nothing but respect for each and every one of indie pattern companies
i admire the hard work that goes into every design
and i do believe they are doing a great thing
and should be supported by all means
..
so i did what i could to show my support.. i made a plantain!
not being a t-shirt kind of gal
i turned it into a dress..
also - it's made out of wool!
fabric is not a knit, but has a fair amount of stretch
so i decided to give it a try, and it worked..
it's also a rather thick fabric
and i love the way it drapes, but also allows dress to hold this trapeze shape
..
dress almost never happened..
nikola was printing the pattern at his office
and although i told him 14 times to check that there is no scaling
he didn't
my 5cm test square ended up being 4.5cm square
..
after some measuring and thinking
instead of my planned size 36 i cut 42
and hoped for the best
..
i elongated the pattern
and since my fabric wasn't wide enough
added 2 wedges to the skirt side seams
to get that trapeze silhouette
..
made the neckline a bit higher too
it's a short dress
so i tried to balance that up a bit..
sleeves are short because i run out of fabric
..
love how the dress turned out!
it's really flattering and i feel great wearing it
it's also a really really warm one
(but, in case anyone wonders:
yeah, i did wore a coat over it
it's not that warm)
..
mokosha

carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

it was my birthday a week ago

planned to sew a birthday dress

like i did for all the past birthdays that happened in my sewing life

but i failed

..

i'm away from my sewing machines for over a month now

spending time with nikola, at his home up in the mountains

and, although i have a sewing machine here

i lack so many silly little sewing things

that i had to stop my work on birthday dress

before i ruin that gorgeous fabric

..

it's cold and snowing outside

nikola is snowboarding
and that's not my thing, at all

i like snowy white frosting better than real snow

and baking is my idea of fun
so i give you cake!
and i'll show you the dress when it's done
(i believe it might be my favorite one ever)

recipe is adapted from this blog post on sophisticated gourmet

for the cake:

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon fine grain salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

finely grated zest of one orange

1 1/2 cups grated carrots

3/4 cup walnuts (crushed)

1/4 cup sunflower oil

1 cup caster sugar

1/4 cup yogurt

2 large eggs

..

for  the frosting:

300 gr (10.5 oz) cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

3 tablespoons butter (at room temperature)

1 teaspoon vanilla

..

preheat oven to 180 C (375 F)

butter 20cm (8 inch) round cake pan

..

in a large bowl mix 

flour, baking soda and powder, salt, cinnamon

add orange zest, grated carrots and walnuts, mix to combine

..

in medium bowl mix sugar and oil

add yogurt, mix well, add eggs

..

add egg mixture to flour mixture

gently mix with rubber spatula, until just incorporated

transfer to cake pan

and bake until top is firm, and toothpick inserted into the center

comes out clean, about 40 minutes

..

cool the cake completely

meanwhile, make the frosting:

combine the powdered sugar, cream cheese, vanilla and butter in a bowl

beat with an electric mixer, for few minutes, until smooth

(you may need to add more powdered sugar

to get the right consistency)

..

cut a cake in half horizontally

frost both halves, and stack one on top of the other

(and if you're a bit more patient with all that frosting business than i am

your cake is going to be much more photogenic one)

..

mokosha

walnut socks

over the knee socks - knitted by grandma

coat, top, shorts - self made

last november, when i was visiting my grandma

she showed me that new wool she just got

locally grown, hand spun in traditional manner

that she dyed in walnut bath

..

i loved the color so much

and i always preferred how this type of wool feels and looks like

over the commercial wools or those horrible acrylic blends..

it feels real!

can't find the better expression

but i hope you know what i mean..

it's less polished and a bit more scratchy than your regular wool

but i like that 

..

anyways, while i was oohing and aahing over the wool

grandma suggested she knit me a pair of socks

then we talked a bit about what should they look like

and, when i was back in december

these beauties waited for me

..

what i love most about grandma's knitting

is that she never uses any kind of patterns or schemes

but rather creates her own patterns along the way

..

mokosha

black sparkly dress

dress - self made

this was supposed to be my new year's eve dress..

but once we arrived to the mountain cabin

and started warming up for the party

it kind of felt silly to wear a proper party dress

accessorized with hiking boots and knitted socks..

not to mention it would be really unpractical outfit

with outside toilet and everything

..

also - this kind of dress

requires a proper cocktail glass

not a coffee mug stand-in

..

mokosha