A new Year

This year really did go very fast. As always, some positive and negative things happened and I already thought of some resolutions (which I never did in the previous years). I will publish them on my blog and then, at the end of next year we'll see if there is any improvement.

Some of these resolutions are rather silly, and some will be more important than others. Here we go.

- Be more healthy. I have been thinking about ways to eat healthier and at this point, I just really want to. I am tired most of the time so I'm eager to find out if healthy food and regular bedtimes will do something. Next to that, I'll go to the gym twice a week or more if possible, starting next week.

- Teach myself how to properly paint my nails. I really love dark red nailpolish, because it goes very well with 40s outfits. I usually only wear transculent nailpolish but next year I'd love to add some colour!

- Stress less about everything and think positive. Again this is something I really, really want! I stress over just about anything and I also have a tendancy to think very negative about myself if I can accomplish something and so something wrong. I have not liked myself really much for the past couple of months and I hope that'll change for the better soon. It is just a state of mind so I'll have to correct myself everytime I might get sad or angry.

- Be a little more outgoing. Since the speech therapist cured my stammer, I've been talking a lot more and I really love that. I even speak to strangers now and I finally have the guts to use the phone. Yay! Still, I want to be even more outgoing.

- Get organized. My room is a complete mess. My sewing room is. So.. maybe that's why my mind is so cluttered and I feel terribly disorganized. I want to be able to put things back where they belong and find them again. And I also want to have a look at my wardrobe and for once get rid of the things I'll never wear (again) or just don't like and sew some basic pieces like skirts and blouses.

I think that's about it for now. What are your resolutions?

I'd like to wish everyone a very happy new year! ♥

With love,

Jip
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We have a winner!

With the help of a name-pick-generator website, I picked the name of the winner of this giveaway ...

Congratulations Susy! Please send me an email with your address information.

Thanks to the rest of you who entered this giveaway, and don't forget that I also make snoods to order for 15 euros (If you still wish to have one)!

with love,

Jip.

100 followers Giveaway

Finally, when I logged into blogger this morning,  I discovered that I had not only written my 100th post a few days ago, but also have 100 followers now! A while ago I promised to do a giveaway, so I will. 

A while ago I started to crochet snoods and I got quite a lot of orders,  I am even thinking of starting my own little online store where I'll sell my snoods and other handmade items ( just have to come up with a good name.. ).

 My friend Lindsay modelling a snood I made her

So,  I thought it would be a fun idea to make the item that you can win,  a snood with a ribbon in your desired colour!

What do you have to do to enter this giveaway? 

• Follow this blog trough Google Friend Connect  and the Facebook page

•   Leave a comment on this post in which you tell me what you think about snoods and what colour you would like to have.

•   For additional entries, share this post on Facebook/Twitter and post the link of that in a separate comment on this post. 

• This giveaway will be open until Sunday, next week,  November 30  and is open to readers everywhere. On that day I will randomly choose a winner.

• I am not responsible for customs charges or things that get lost in the mail,  I ship without a tracking number because this is really expensive to certain countries.

Good luck! 

With love,

Jip.

Make a long-distance relationship work

Since yesterday my boyfriend and I have officially been together for 1,5 years and I still love him like crazy. I even think I love him a bit more everyday.  We live a few hours away from each other,  depending if he is at home or in the city where he goes to school. Despite the distance and the fact that I stress about it a lot (which I do about nearly everything) I know he is worth it and I know he thinks the same about me.  We plan on living together once we have both finished school.  Perhaps earlier if it is possible.  From there, will see how things work out but already at this time we think about marriage sometimes and just about building a future together. And that feels good.

Changes

A lot has changed since I last wrote. And a lot has not. Yet. 

Fist of all, I passed my first exam! It was not nearly as hard as I expected it to be, and it gave me lots of sewing-confidence as well. This is something that was/is still lacking in other parts of my life and which came to my mind almost everyday for the past few months. I have been feeling really insecure. Since I tried to get over my speech impediment-which I did, I almost never stammer anymore and it feels so great to be finally able to speak and call without fear after all those years- I think rather a lot about myself, but I think this is very normal for an 18-year-old. I think about everything. How I act, talk, walk, look and so on. When I was younger I used to have a lot of confidence but somehow I lost that a bit in the past two years.

What also worries me is that I am terribly disorganized, which I have been since I was very little. 'A cluttered room is a cluttered mind' really sounds like the truth for me now, whenever I tidy up a room or space, I feel immediately better about myself. Today I de-cluttered the sewing room and spending time there is so much more fun now, I cannot wait to finally get to all those sewing projects I have been wanting to do for ages. And tidy up more rooms, feel better and eventually become a more organized person in general!

Sewing has been on my mind a lot lately. 'What if I never learn it?' '... is much better than I am' etc. Every time I sew something ugly I feel like I'll never learn. But when I sew something and it actually looks good, I feel good and I feel that with the time being, I'll learn more techniques and eventually will become a real seamstress.

My boyfriend is studying in Utrecht, which is only 1,5 hours away from me instead of more than 3. The distance is still hard to deal with but it is worth it, I know it! I'll be with him this weekend and on Sunday we're together for 1year and 5 months.Time flies when you're having fun, I love you darling! ♥

How I look is also something that I have thinking about a lot. I dress late 30s/40s style daily, but sometimes I forget that there is no war were I live and that I do not have to wear worn-out dresses, which I have often done just because they were vintage. I often portray a ww2 civilian during re-enactment events and I want to do that as historically accurate as possible. But in the everyday, I would like the things I wear to be a bit more glamorous. I am not re-enacting when I am at home and therefore I don't mind if things are not 100% accurate. As long as they are on events, when it really matters! 

In November, I'll turn 19 years old. As a birthday present, I get a colour analysis from my teacher. Then I will finally know what colours do and do not suit me. And I'll know what colour I will dye my hair. I do not like my natural hair. But I do want a 'new' colour to look good and natural.

I'm sorry for these rantings, but I thought I'd tell you about what goes on in my life at the moment and why I have not been writing a lot lately.

with love,

Jip.

Exam time

5 days. Just FIVE days and I have my very first exam. I'm nervous and learning/reading all the time, I really want to pass. 

The exam consists of these parts:

- drawing 2 sewing patterns -one for children and one for adults- on 1/3 scale (3 hours in total)

- drawing a sewing pattern and sew a garment on 1/2 scale (5 hours in total)

- answer questions about textiles and how to sew various things (yokes, seams, sleeves etc.)

Here are some pictures of things I had to draw/sew:

I had to draw and sew this one on 1/2 scale, I will definitely make a dress with a waist yoke like that.

 

This was one of the drawings I got last week to practise..

 

.. and this is what it looked like once I had drawn the basis pattern and made some adjustments.

 

 

 With this dress we had to make a neck-armhole-facing that was just 1 piece, a really great method instead of using bias-tape and I will use this method again to make myself a blouse this summer!

 

 This one was for practising,

 

 

As well as this one, 

 

And this one. I still have to draw the last 3 pages, so that will be a great exercise.

 

I'm so nervous.. and stressed as well. My boyfriend just had ACL surgery a few days ago and although I know he is doing fine, I worry about him, I don't want him to be in pain.. 

I look forward to the exam, because after that I will have vacation for two months, which means I have a lot of time for sewing, and working (yes, I have a job since last month!) and hopefully I will see my boyfriend again soon, and often. The thing I am not looking forward to is getting up at 4.30/5 AM on June 30.. I have to be in Utrecht at 8.30AM and I will go there with 2 classmates, we'll depart early so we can make sure we can be on time. Whish me luck, as soon as I know if I passed the exam or not you'll hear from me.

Bye for now,

Jip.

Vacation homework : 1940s overalls

At the moment I am enjoying my spring vacation at my boyfriends house, I love to be with him for longer than just a weekend ! He has to work almost every day and in that time I can do my homework. 

source

My teacher wanted me and the other students to sew a pair of overalls. Some are going to make one for a child but I decided to make one for myself because I don't know people with small children near me.. And ofcourse I wanted to make something 1930s/1940s style. I asked my teacher if that was alright and she said it was! The same day I started looking for pictures and inspiration and I found a few images that inspired me.

A really nice Giveaway !

If you like vintage/repro sewing patterns, you should really check out this page. There is a giveaway and you can win a sewing pattern of your choice, as long as it has a $30 value. I'd love to win the 1940s blouse pattern !

Speaking about  Giveaways, only 8 more followers and then this blog will reach 100 followers, which I will celebrate with a Giveaway !

Love, 

Jip.

A new garter belt

Today, I decided to sew a garter belt for myself. My old one is not in a wearable condition and I had to make a new one. And now I finally did !

 

 

Making this was so easy. I made a pattern of my old garter belt and somehow managed to sew it together. It is not perfect, but for a first attempt I am rather satisfied with how it turned out !

with love,

Jip.

A new blouse ! (and a skirt)

Yesterday I spent the entire day drawing and sewing this blouse. We had to make it as a homework assignment, but I liked it so much I decided to make it for myself as well. Although I am not so happy with the inside of the blouse (the serger did not like me I guess), it turned better out than I had imagined and it fits very well.

I made this skirt 2 days ago. It is just a simple 6 gore skirt. Here are some photos, but they are bad quality due to the fact that I took these with my mobile phone.

 

 I used a 1940s button that was on a dress once. But a few buttons were missing so I replaced them.

 The zipper. Maybe it is not the most pretty way of sewing in a zipper, I still find it very historically accurate.

 This is how the waistband looks. Sorry for the terrible quality !

I do not have a full length photo yet, but it looks like this. Would you like a tutorial for such a skirt ?

with love,

Jip.

Blouse refashioning

 A few days ago, I went to a 2nd-hand clothing store and bought a few things, which included this white blouse. I bought it because I needed a new one, and I really love the fabric. It looks so much like crepe ! I also really liked the  cuffs, but I did not really like the length of the sleeves. So, I decided to alter the sleeves !

It was very simple to do. First, I measured how long I wanted the sleeve to be. I pinned and then cut the fabric with a little seam allowance. Then, I took the cuffs, and cut them off the sleeves with 1,5 cm seam allowance. I pinned the cuffs on the shortened sleeves, and created a little pleat at the top because the sleeve was bigger than the cuff.

Now, I have a new white blouse, and I think it looks quite authentic if paired with the right skirt/suit/sweater etc. What do you think ? (The sleeves look quite uneven-but they are not !)

And here a little question : Would anyone be interested in a tutorial on how to make a bolero suit ? Like the right drawing:

With love,

Jip.

A new skirt !

I have been in need for a new skirt for weeks now. I made one months ago, but I gained a little weight since then (luckily, because I was a bit too skinny) and it did not fit me anymore. Last week I asked my teacher if I was allowed to make a 6-gore skirt, and she approved. When I drafted the pattern 

and was ready to cut the fabric, I realized I did not have enough fabric, so I decided to divide the top of the skirt into a yoke and a skirt panel. Yesterday I marked the pattern on the fabric - it was already cut out - and did all the sewing. Today I finished the hem and it was ready for wearing !

 

The blouse is from the 1940s, and I want to copy it. I will draw my own pattern according to my sizes, choose a fabric and start with the sewing. I am also thinking of a matching skirt in the same fabric. What do you think ?

Have you sewn anything lately ?

with love,

Jip.

Suggestions and Ideas

Is there anything particular you'd like to see on the blog ? Any suggestions or ideas ? I'd love to hear them. 

 

Just in time for the deadline !

Remember my post a few weeks ago about the knit-along and the project with which I wanted to enter it ?

Well, unfortunately I was not able to finish it at all.. So three days ago I decided to knit something else :

This little 30s/40s scarf was knitted in less than 3 days. I just love the pattern and the scarf itself !

I want to start making and selling these, just like my snoods. Here is the pattern if you'd like to make it yourself. I finished this just in time for the knit-along, which ends today !

with love,

Jip.

Sewing time !

Happy new year to you all !

I had a great start in the new year, because I celebrated it with my boyfriend ! This year in May, we've been together for a year. Time flies when one is having fun.. although it doesn't go fast enough when I am not with him and miss him. Does anyone have any tips on how to cope with missing your boyfriend while you just want to feel happy, even when he's not there ?

In 2013, I switched schools and now I learn to sew from a very talented seamstress. I love sewing ! It is so relaxing (well, most of the time) and I just love the fact that I can make clothing for myself and others.

I am getting better and better at sewing. Today, after school, I visited the fabric store and bought this pattern :

 

I have been wanting an apron like that for ages ! Now I finally have the pattern. I just can't decide on which fabric to use ..

I've got some off white bias binding. What do you think ? The left one ? Or the right one ? Which one is the most suitable for a 1940s apron ?

with love,

Jip.