Wednesday 29 June 2016

Cross-stitch designs from CHINA

Carol Phillipson's book Cross-stitch designs from CHINA is rich and informative book. It is published on 2001 and is very likely available at second hand. The Chinese designs are not exactly on my taste but I still have it. If you seek designs about dragons, this books has few of them. As it has designs for example of birds, flowers, butterflies and humans. It has even a thread conversion chart for needed shades with Anchor, DMC and Madeira. It has color charts but also black and white charts of selected design which you can easily enlarge by a photocopier. What I like in the book is its informative touch and the fact that designs are used in many ways; wall-hangings, bookmarks, tea-tray sets, cushions etc. If you are interested about Chinese styled stitching, take a look at it.

Tuesday 28 June 2016

Roses after Rain

Perhaps you remember my Burnet Rose? This is that weak stem and tiny piece of root which I planted on summer 2013. Three years ago. But here it is. More than survived. It still is approx only 50 cm high but has become bigger year by year. Today it opened first blossoms and there is more and more to come! It wants to live! I love it!

This is something I planted this summer. If you plant a rose you should not let it blossom; that's what they say. But what can I do. This is a very special rose for a very special occasion. Because of YoungLady I need to let it show its beauty. But I believe in this rose. It is related to Burnet Rose. I will pamper and cherish it and do my everything to make it survive over the arctic winter. It has the same abilities for that as Burnet Rose so we have good changes.

This rose is original for the property. Perhaps planted on late 40's when the building started. I have let her live since we moved in on 2009. She has been very satisfied and slowly turned out to strong rose fence on the NorthSide of the property.

And this my love, this, this is that disappointment that surprised me. I planted her in tears because I didn't know it was her. I desired something else and got her. Today she is almost 2 m high and lays needed shadow on my green house's WestSide wall which is today actually even more important because it is My BunnyHouse now!  I have decided to let her grow even bigger and wider.

I have had enough of our Siberian pea shrub. It forms out original fence to the East Side. The problem with is that it falls down easily... because of the rain, the wind, the snow... I have decided to create a rose fence also to that side of the property. It stands better the arctic weather if you pick up the right one. It seems roses never let you down.

Monday 27 June 2016

WarmUpYourFurCoat -tutorial part 3

So, how are we all? Hope well and fine after Mid Summer Celebration. Now the daily life is back to normal and we are ready for the 3rd and last part of WarmUpYourFurCoat tutorial.

You should have your brand new lining finished by now. Hope you have not been struggling with it if you didn't wait for me for the tutorial part 3.

With tutorial part 1 you learnt to remove the old lining. With tutorial part 2 you learnt how to make new one. And with this tutorial part 3 you learn how to fasten the new lining to your vintage fur coat. Notice that these instructions do just fine with every coat; especially vintage and tailored ones.

You need approx 4 cm wide strip on lining fabric; as long as the front - neck line edge is. You do pretty fine without this strip but it may ease your later sewing. Fold the strip by sewing.

The length I needed for my coat was a bit under 3 m so I needed to continue the strip. When you sew the continuation seam in 45 degree angle it settles in better.

In my coat the strip was placed 4 cm far away from the edge. Take a look at your coat to find out how it is done there. This 4 cm extra is the facing that will be turned underneath.

There are 3 seams you sew. 1st is to fold the strip, 2nd is to fasten it to its place and this 3rd one to fold the facing permanently.

This is how it looks when finished.

Then you need the inner belt (if your coat had one). Pin it well to make sure the slipper satin stays as it supposed to when sewing.

After finishing, fasten the inner belt to its place by sewing it to the new lining. Usually to the right side edge; approx 10-15 cm under the arm pit.

Now it is time to pin your new lining to your vintage fur coat. Don't hurry and use proper time in doing this. If it feels it's not perfect; start it again. Careful work must be done. (Notice the inner belt under the right arm pit.)

Then you need to have leather hand sewing needle. Watch out your skin! It pierces it out easily because that's what it is designed for.

Start fastening from hem. It is straight seam and easy to work with. Usually you don't need there that extra strip for folding.

Use small stitches to tack it there.

This is how it looks out with folding strip. When the coat is in use, the strip rises up and hides the stitches.

Last thing to fasten are the wrist lines. Pin it all in again. I pin it in this way; front side up. When you pin it; duple -perhaps triple- check it out the sleeve has not twisted up!

Then I turned it outside a bit...

...and tacked it all.

New lining and inner belt is now placed there; inside my vintage Karakul fur coat.

At old times -and sometimes still today- they make secure stitches at least in arm pits. It means that they stitch arm pits from lining through padding to the fur / front side. They are made to keep the lining on its place.

I have made many winter coats and overalls for children too and for daily outdoor use. I have created the padded lining in this way showed here. I never used these secure stitches to fasten the padded lining on its place. It never has slipped way. I think it is because modern proper padding fabrics make the lining more thicker so it keeps up its form better. Especially when the padding fabric is stitched to lining fabric to create those air pockets you learnt to do in tutorial part 2. If your vintage fur coat had ones you for sure can make them do. I didn't.

The inner belt is useful to close up the coat better.

When it is closed up nothing can be seen. Really? Take another look....

There is nothing reprehensible in my Karakul fur itself. I found no faded shade nor worn or scuffed fur; not even a single hair. But the padding and lining were useless.

On the left side picture the fur coat is open but it still fits in the pic very well. In right side it is closed up with its new lining and padding and hardly fits in the pic. Still you really can see -not to mention about the feeling- the difference. Just take a look how the coat dangles with old lining and stands supportive with its new padded lining.




Wednesday 22 June 2016

WarmUpYourFurCoat -tutorial part 2

So, did you already went to fabric shop and bought new lining for your old fur coat? Have you followed WarmUpYouFurCoat -tutorial part 1 rules? And you have now all your pattern parts cut and pinned? Yes, good, now we can go forward.

The next thing to do is to create more warmth and solidity for the new lining of your vintage fur coat. You do it with sewing decorative padding lining.

With my BlueBerryPie & VanillaCream PotHolder -tutorial you can learn how to sew exact square decorative padding.

This decorative sewing is actually able to be made by decorative random padding too. You can take a look at this method at According to Tone Finnager where I used random sewing method when sewing the basket to store the tissues.

Here I use the optional extra equipment which usually comes with the sewing machine to create decorative padding. This method is not so exact as you learnt before with the pot holder tutorial. But this is exact enough for the need we have here. I promise, no one will notice you did it a bit easier way.

At the end it doesn't matter which method you use to fasten the cotton wool fabric to lining fabric as long as you fasten it. Fastening creates more air pockets which store even more warmth in. Creating the pockets is the point, not the way of doing it. Whilst you create the warm air pockets you happen to make the new lining more solidity. It looks even more luxurious; despite we aim to recycling.

So, I sew 10 x 10 cm squares.

The back side looks like this...

...and the front side looks like this. Not exact but good enough to get along and get hidden later.

I did some extra decorative design for upper back part. I just did free hand drawing on a pattern paper, pinned it on its place and sew along.

Then I gently rip the paper away and cut of all the thread ends.

And now, when you have done all your useful decorative sewing, only now you sew all your needed folds to the pattern pieces.

After sewing the folds heap up the pieces like you'd be sewing a simple coat. It doesn't matter the padding creates the seams a bit thick. The thick seams make it all just stand and keep up its form better.

Now it is finished: the new decorative padded lining for your vintage fur coat. In the next the 3rd tutorial part we fasten the fur coat and new lining together.

Monday 20 June 2016

WarmUpYourFurCoat -tutorial part 1

You know animal rights are important matter to me. As are the environmental issues too. Not to mention I know few facts about clothing business... and fur business. That is why balancing to wear and not to wear is quite often in my mind.

Well, that's why people don't see me shopping clothes so often. I want to avoid issues about breaking human or animal rights, over production, over consumption, over coloring, pollution, waste and drilling of oil. Just to mention few facts that are closely and tightly connected to fashion business.

I do have fur clothes. I am very aware of fur business problems; as I am faux fur business problems too, especially connected to drilling of oil. Because I am living on the arctic area and having much outdoor life all around the year I need warm clothes. When I was 18 and faux fur got frozen at  the skin of my facial area I needed to tear it off with crying. More I was crying to realize it didn't work in difficult weather than the bleeding caused by the fact the faux fur fibers got off from my face only with the pieces of my skin. Pretty proper frost bites I had got because of it. The bites were still able to be seen after 15 years when the cold weather faced my facial area. Now they all are finally healed up. My heart is not.

But already then I found solution; recycling and wild fur. With wild fur I mean animal who has lived its life as wild and free and is hunted in fair traditional methods; not mass hunting but one man & one game. Some may call it free range or organic fur as well. Neither hunters should be blamed cruel. In Finland hunters do more practical grass-roots nature protection work than people we usually call conservationists. 

This is my vintage Karakul fur coat.  It is old. I don't know exactly how old. But I know I am the 3rd woman to have it. I know how Karakul is made. That is why I am taking good care of my fur coat. Making sure it won't become worth of nothing.

I wore it last time on January 2016. I realized it was getting old and cold. Since that it's been hanging on my veranda to wait for the summer and me having enough time to warm it up. I decided to make a tutorial for you about warming it up so that many other vintage fur coat could live on too.

The fur itself still looks great. It is dark brown. The fabric of lining was pretty fine too despite it was ruptured every here and there.

So, I went to the local fabric shop and bought cognac brown satin and cotton. 2 meters of each was enough. It cost 60,30€. What is enough for your vintage fur goat? Usually the measurement of cur coat's  neck to hem + shoulder to wrist (outside arm) is the right length for the lining and cotton.

Unpick the old lining. Be careful and watch out damaging the skin. In vintage fur coats the lining is usually fastened by hand sewing. Wrote notes about it how the lining was fastened to the coat. It may have several secured tacking by armpits and back area.

This is what comes out after taking away the lining. On the top is black wool lining that is typical for old winter coats before the time of cotton wool padding. The condition of this wool padding fabric turn out to be the reason my vintage fur coat was not so warm anymore. The fabric was very thin and frayed. I unpick the wool too. On the other hand I could have left it there as extra warming layer but it was so useless that I decided just to take it away.

This is was what was left out. Under the wool layer came out the cotton fabric layer. THIS is the one you should not touch unless it is broken. This cotton fabric forms out the buckram for the coat and its fur. You can change it but you need to be careful. See the amount of tacking! Notice: I took away only the satin and wool lining; nothing else.

Next step is to open all the folds and seams of the lining. Then just pick up all the trash away from the lining. Then iron the lining. You can use the old lining as a pattern for the new one! Remember to mark all the folds and write notes if you think you might need. You can use your smart phone camera too for the notes. The point is you just do it again like it was.

Cut the new lining fabric and cotton wool padding. I cut first the satin and then padding. I just pinned it all one under another.

I always use cotton wool padding called FinnFill. It is the best for the arctic winter. Actually around here the quilt makers have started to use it too because the padding feature doesn't fade away during the time like it happens with ordinary cotton wool padding fabrics. If you work with FinnFill you notice the other side of it is smooth and the other striped with fuzzy effect. It comes in this way as pictured above; striped side comes against the lining fabric. The stripes create "air pockets" which insulate very well.

As lining I used "wedding dress quality satin", not thinner lining satin.

Pin it all together; the lining and cotton wool padding parts. There should be something like two sleeves, back side (can usually consist of upper and lower parts), two front sides (can consist of upper and lower parts or central and side parts) and perhaps something else.

That's it. Now you have unpick the old lining and are just about to sew new one. See you later with tutorial part 2!

Saturday 18 June 2016

OhMyCutie!

By MayDay we had BunnyLove in the air. The litter was born on the 2nd of June. So, today the kits are 16 days old. They are still hiding in their nest; which is only a good thing.

On this pic the kits are a bit younger. The kits are mix of Sandy who is Continental Giant and Jytky who is Continental Giant- French Lop - Giant Papillon.

Friday 17 June 2016

BodyButter -tutorial

There are many reasons to make your own BodyButter. Why I make it?

1.) To avoid chemicals. (Skin is our largest organ and it really does matter what you put on.)
2.) Very often on a sensitive skin the best products are the ones you can eat.
3.) It is much cheaper.

Usually I just buy a bottle of some oil for cooking and use it.

Sometimes I make BodyButter. This is how it happens.

I bought 425ml pack of Urtekram's cocoa oil. I melt it in a kettle and mixed in some thistle extract I made last August when I had some fun with thistles.  I poured it all into washed and dried milk carton and let it solidify in fridge. You can use for example olive or other oils to make the mix.

Then I chopped it to smaller pieces and wrapped to cellophane. I used tape to fasten it all. The crumbs I stored into old used can. I warmed them a bit to be able to smooth the crumbs in better.

Wednesday 15 June 2016

Fabulous Knitting Needles

I have started the 1st ever project of our own ArcticAngoraWool AAW. I tried to use my old bamboo knitting needles only to find out they are far too old. They are twisted and cracked!

I marched into my favorite yarn shop to get some help. I bought KnitPro Symfonie double pointed wooden knitting needles; size 3. They are made of birch.

They are so pretty and feel so good. They costed pretty much: 12,30€. But I am really satisfied to them. They are most expensive knitting needles I have ever bought but really are worth of each cent. If you consider to but them; go for it. You won't regret despite they cost much more than bamboo knitting needles.


Sunday 12 June 2016

Re-hemming your valance -tutorial

 
As I told you before I have been going through a lot of stuff with my mom lately. Many things have been threw away. But I found perfect... well, almost perfect valance for my kitchen for the next winter season. The edge looked awful and untidy. I do like fringes but time had really made its job to these.

I took my scissors and cut off the fringe edge, used my serger to neaten it up and moved forward with my plan to save these valances which were made of proper old thick cotton.

I fold the edge to the backside.

Then I started to work with small problem. I wanted to fix it in the way that it can not be seen to the front side.

That's why I tack it in this way and was ready work again with the hem.

I used zigzag to fasten the factory made lace to decorate the valance. I usually fasten the lace in this way. The hem doesn't get too thick when lace is not on the fabric. Besides if the lace is very thin and light thick hem makes it look a bit lumpy.

I was so satisfied with the result. I paid 20€ of the lace. With that money it might have been able to buy cheap new valances for my kitchen windows. But on the other had not as proper thick fabric as this was. And; recycling is good way to save nature resources. Instead of whole new curtains I need just 5 meters of lace.

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