Winter is coming – So I made a Beanie

22/12/2018
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Ok, so winter is kind of here already but I've got Game of Thrones on my mind. I've been doing serious closet cleanup sessions lately, taking out all those garment and accessories that no longer work for me for different reasons. That has also included letting go of pieces made from animal fibres. While layering is an alternative for wool, I've struggled to find replacements for some of my beanies. It seems that everything on the market is either wool or acrylic. The few beanies that are made from cotton are made for people with much smaller heads than mine. I've been reluctant to crochet a beanie since the last time I did it, I ended up with a heavy and weird shaped beanie that I rarely used. Tired of googling ethically produced cotton beanies I decided to give a crocheted version another go. This time I would try to find a pattern and make sure I got the fit right. Thank goodness for Pinterest because it didn't take long before I found this simple way of crocheting a beanie, that even beginners can do. You don't have to worry about decreasing stitches, only how big of a fold (or…

I should change my mind more often

22/03/2018
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Up until last winter I only wore skirts and dresses during the summer. I used to joke that my pants are not going anywhere until it's at least 20 degrees celsius. It probably stems from all those new year's celebrations in my youth where i was often freezing my ass off. Even though I now live in Southern Finland where it's not as cold as in Ostrobothnia and the winters in general seem to be getting warmer (ehum, climate change!), that no skirts in winter rule stayed with me. That is until I was confronted with the fact that I was down to three decent pairs of pants I could wear to work and two of them were on the worn and kind of torn side. I didn't have any money to invest in proper pair of jeans (you know, the well-fitting-thick-denim-fairly-produced kind of jeans) and I rarely find pants second hand, no matter how many pairs I try on. So I was left with the option to forget my "rule" and give winter skirts a go! I bought a purple knitted one and then a blue pencil skirt, two skirt types I had sworn to stay away from because…

Green and Peculiar

20/02/2018
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I was going to call this post green goblin and then I remembered that he's a villain and that stopped in my tracks. Interesting how there's many "green" superheroes though. Green Lantern, Green Arrow and not to forget The Hulk! Enough about superheroes and my weird ideas for blog titles. I found this odd green coat a while back at second hand store when I was actually looking for skirts. I call it odd because the fabric is basically as thin as a shirt fabric yet it has a hood, buttons and pockets like any other coat. It was again one of those garments that was somehow just a bit off that I just had to try it on. Since it's a garment that was made in Finland the original price was around 35€ but I think I got it for 10€. Now, who doesn't love a bargain? Weeks later I found the turquoise fabric I got at a clothing swap at school and got the idea for this almost tone on tone photoshoot. The only problem? It was constantly dark outside and fabric was not really big enough to cover the background. I kept postponing the shoot until one…

Kimonos and awkward faces

25/10/2016
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It's funny how one's style evolves. Ever since that red coat, I've been reconsidering things that I would have never worn 5 years ago. I'm pretty much the same size, live in the same city and still consider comfort to be paramount when choosing clothes but my relationship with clothes has changed a bit. I've been reading Garance Dore's posts on change and I guess fashion wise (and hopefully life wise) I'm evolving. I'm letting go of rules and ideas on what works for my body shape or what I need to wear in order to look "presentable" and going with my gut feeling. I'm welcoming the randomness and encouraging myself to really be more playful with what I wear. When I went to Japan I bought a piece that I wouldn't have known how to wear before. The shear size of it, the square shape and the length would have made me leave it where I found it. I had hopes of finding a yukata during my trip but once I found the vintage kimono stores I forgot about finding new ones. I found some incredibly beautiful silk kimonos but the more I saw the more I doubted if I would actually wear…

The shorts that knew too much

Ok, I couldn't help myself, I just love funny titles! The shorts in question are made from that pair of jeans I found earlier this summer. Before I made these I counted I had only 2 pairs of shorts so a third pair was needed. I had to dye the shorts 2 times before I got this colour. I did the mistake of not using enough hot water the first time and the result was not good. I was using a plastic bucket that can't handle temperatures above 60ºC, bad idea on my part. I've now purchased a stainless steel bucket for future projects. Some time around the millennium I had a serious tie dye and print phase. I dyed and printed everything from clothes, bags and even sheets. Not knowing anything about printing techniques back then I found my own way by using book covering film. I cut each X separately in order to be able to align them better. Using book film is quit primitive way to print garments but it works quit well for big and very simple prints. Plus, book covering film is something I always have around as I insist on covering all my books. Voilà,…