cambie.... the weekly soap

Last year I finally bought Cambie. She (a dress pattern has to be female!) is a pattern that I have been pussyfooting about for ages. She is going to help me sew three wonderful dresses (or at least that is the plan!). Two for work, one for the winter in a dark brown wool and one for the summer in a lightweight grey and black patterned cotton-mix. And the third one in a traditional German woven blue and white check with red/orange details.  The third one is a special dress. I shall tell you more about that one when I get to it though. Just let me tell you it has to be a wow to live up to the occasion I am intending to wear it to.

 The fabric for this dress trio was all preloved fabric that people didn't sew up. The dark brown wool came from a charity shop fairly nearby that always has a tempting stock of yardage (or should that be meterage). I bought it thinking boy's trousers but the rate they get through trousers at the moment, the only thing I would be prepared to sew is leather with steel kneecaps! So after I got over the boys's trouser idea, it went into the stash for a while. The great thing is, now I can count it as stashbusting.
 
The grey and black cotton came from my "Nähtreff". More about the actual sewing evening itself another time. In November last year a local theatre put on a production of "The Fiddler on the Roof". There was a call out in the local paper for fabric and notions to make costumes with. The response was amazing. People brought in truckloads of wonderful fabric and notions. The lace.... people gave their buttons collections... well all that was left after sewing the costumes went into the Nähtreff stash! This lovely cotton was left over and asked if it wasn't used, if it could be earmarked for me. Lucky me... it wasn't needed. So it will become a lovely little Cambie for me. Lucky me. Despite picking it up this year, I reckon as I asked for it last year, that it does not count as a new addition this year. 

As I am making three dresses and using lovely fabric, I decided to make a muslin. That allows me to play with the bodice length too. Madame long body here. I even chose a muslin fabric with a stripe so I could see what went on with the stripes for the third dress.

Stash Building I

In one Facebook group I am in (of the two!) we stashbust. I have pledged not to buy any more fabric this year or last year. Well like nearly all of the others in the group, last year I failed. This year is fairly new, so I am doing alright so far! Having said that I did not buy very much last year. The reason why I have made this pledge is because I have a ridicious stash. It's size came about because of two separate "incidents". 

The first one was an award winning Ebay score. A woman who had inherited her mother's and aunt's house was selling off it's contents. Both of them were textiles teachers and they obviously both had a bit of a fabric problem going on. I think I was one of her first customers and got a Volvo estate boot (trunk for you, Americans) full of fabric for 2€. 

I used to have another blog... and here is what I wrote back then in 2010: 

When I went to collect it
 .......Wasting time looking at material on Ebay wasn't quite so wasted. Look at the loot in this boot. 2€! I challenge you to get a better deal! There are some wild, some pretty and some pretty grim (70's nylon) pieces in there. And there are some that are already calling out to be turned into clothes. Clothes for me, clothes for the Things, clothes for Karneval, clothes for little girls (don't have any of those at home)..... I shall have lots of fun! I do have one question though, what do you do with three meters of purple (or red or yellow or brown) nylon? Any takers?

After I had got it home......

I told you about my award winning ebay steal. Now I am washing and airing it. Good that the weather is so hot (and now windy too). I now have a nice pile of material, such a nice pile that I have no idea where I am going to store it. Yesterday I ironed a lot and whilst doing that I thought about the women who's stash this had been. Did she have things in mind when she bought each piece or did she just buy them? Some have obviously been reduced or pieces with faults. What were they like as a people? Did they sew for themselves, for her family, for friends? 
 

There are two ways of looking at this collection of material (I don't know if there was more): it is what is left over after a lifetime of crafting, all the really nice pieces have been sewn, or there are plans and dreams in still in there. I think the truth, as ever, is somewhere in between. Some of the pieces literally shout out about what they want to become. A pretty pink summer skirt, a child's winter fleece, a Barbie dress (?? that must be the material talking as I haven't come up with such things before!!), a pair of grey autumn trousers.  I am sure you will end up seeing some of these things here. 

Some of the pieces pay hommage to a certain period of time. There are pieces of spun nylon in purple, red, bright yellow and bright blue. There are some horrible beige nylon with light blue flowers raised on the surface. A bit like flocked wallpaper. In this heat it doesn't just look horrible, it makes my skin crawl. What would you do with them? The only idea I had was to ring a clothing museum and ask if they could use them.

From this haul, I have made a mathematics dress (see top photo, blue and black material on the left hand side),  the tent part of a play tent for Thing Two and  a Christmas tree skirt from some of the lime green on the left. All the nylon and fabric that made my skin crawl as well as a good lot of patterns that I felt I would never even like, nevermind love, I gave away. Proud of myself on that one!

As to the second "incident", I'll tell you about that another time.... 

 ,

Getting Shirty II

Remember I started two quilts for Thing One and Thing Two? Well, I have been slowly plodding along. Whenever I have a little sewing time, but no brain to do anything challenging, I have been sewing strips together.

Erinnert ihr euch, dass ich zwei Quilts für Thing One and Think Two begonnen habe? Nun, so langsam nimmt das Projekt Gestalt an. Immer wenn ich etwas Zeit zum Nähen habe, aber mein Hirn nicht so anstrengen möchte, nähe ich Streifen zusammen.

So far I have this many. Not nicely photographed (I really only took it to show my mum) but you get the progress. I still have a lot to do. So far I have only used sleeves from the shirts. I am now going to sew shorter strips with the bits that are left. I would like to keep as many of the backs as possible, but judging by my progress so far, I don't think that is going to happen. Will keep you posted.

Bis jetzt bin ich schon so weit. Es ist nicht gut fotografiert (ich wollte es eigentlich nur meiner Mutter zeigen) aber ihr seht den Fortschritt. Ich habe noch ne Menge Arbeit vor mir. Bis jetzt habe ich nur die Ärmel der Hemden genommen. Ich werde jetzt schmalere Streifen aus den übrig gebliebenen Stücken machen. Auf jeden Fall würde ich gerne so viele Rückenteile wie möglich behalten, aber ich glaube, das wird nicht möglich sein. Ich halte euch auf dem Laufenden.

A "Quick" Wedding Present - Ein "schnelles" Hochzeitsgeschenk

Thing Two's nursery teacher is got married this week. She just mentioned it when I wished her a nice holiday (in 37°C heat). Thing Two l o v e s her and she has made him feel so secure at nursery that I felt a little present was due. But what do you give someone you only know in a nursery setting? I am sure she has enough stuff made by kids. All that stuff that is lovely when they are your own, but I imagine there is a limit to how much you want when they aren't. No handprinted mugs for her! I don't know how she decorates her house, or what kitchen implements they already have... I do know somethings, but nothing that was going to help me on my search for a quick wedding present.

 Thing Two's Erzieherin wird diese Woche heiraten. Sie erwähnte es, als ich ihr schöne Ferien wünschte (bei 37°C.Was für eine Hitze!) Thing Two l i e b t sie. Und weil sie der Grund dafür ist, warum er sich im Kindergatren so wohl fühlt, dachte ich, dass ein kleines Geschenk angebracht sei. Aber was schenkt man jemandem, den man nur vom Kindergartenalltag her kennt? Mit Sicherheit hat sie schon reichlich Selbstgebasteltes ihrer Schützlinge geschenkt bekommen. Solche Sachen sind alle sehr schön, aber wenn sie nicht von Deinen eigenen Kindern sind, reicht es auch irgendwann....also nichts Selbstgemaltes! Ich weiß auch nicht, wie sie zu Hause eingerichtet ist, oder welche Küchengeräte noch fehlen...gar nicht so einfach, ein schönes und schnell zu organisierendes Hochzeitsgeschenk zu finden...

Although many people have all the stuff they need when they get married, I still feel the presents should somehow be home-related. That is what you are building when you get married (at least in my humble opinion and at least most of the time). I wanted to sew something and thought of the kind of things I like.... always a good place to start, right? Well I reckon the sky is the limit when it comes to the amount of serviettes (napkins for all you on the other side of the pond) you can have. Really they are just an excuse for some nice fabric on your table. Upon asking I was told that she liked things colourful and not too posh.

Obwohl die meisten Leute schon komplett ausgestattet sind, wenn sie heiraten, denke ich doch, das Geschenk sollte einen "häuslichen"Bezug haben. Schließlich geht es doch um Nestbau wenn man heiratet, oder? Ich habe etwas nähen wollen und dachte an die Dinge, die ich mag...immer eine gute Grundvoraussetzung, oder?! Kann man zum Beispiel genug Stoffservietten besitzen? Ich glaube nicht!Sie sind geradezu eine grandiose Möglichkeit für hübschen Stoff auf dem Tisch.Ich fand heraus, dass es bei der zu Beschenkenden bunt, aber nicht zu piekfein sein darf.

I came home and rummaged in my stash. Why is it that there never seems to be the right fabric in there or there is the perfect fabric, but you just can't bring yourself to part with it? I rummaged and I rummaged and I thought about Thing Two's nursery teacher. Last time I saw her in a non-nursery setting she was wearing green. Clutching at straws in the hope of making something she likes, I decided on green. I opened up the box of green fabric to be greated by lots of 70s fabrics (an Ebay score which I will tell you about another day). Most of them weren't cotton and the ones that were, were very bold. Great if you know someone likes that kind of thing, not great if you don't. Then I found this provencal green and purple fabric that my mum gave me specially when I went through my long provencial phase. Somehow it had never been made into anything. Perfect... colour, not posh but still nice.

Zu Hause durchstöberte ich meinen Fundus. Warum hat man entweder nie den richtigen Stoff oder kann sich nicht davon trennen? Auf der Jagd nach dem richtigen Stoff dachte ich an die Erzieherin. Als ich sie letztens außerhalb der Kita traf, trug sie was Grünes...In der Kiste mit den grünen Stoffen  
entdeckte ich massig 70er Jahre Stoffe (über diesen Ebaykauf berichte ich später mal). Die meisten davon sind nicht aus Baumwolle, der überwiegende Teil derer die es sind, recht auffällig. Es ist immer gut zu wissen, ob jemand so etwas mag, ansonsten liegt man schnell daneben...Dann fand ich diesen grünen und fliederfarbenen Stoff. Den schenkte mir meine Mutter mal während meiner langen provencialen Phase! Aus irgendeinem Grund habe ich ihn noch nicht vernäht. Er war perfekt....bunt, aber nicht zu aufdringlich und noch nett!

Ironed, measured and cut. I got that done fast. Being a bit of a table linen freak, I decided that they had to have mitred corners. Oh... why easy, when you can make things complicated for yourself. Anyone who knows me, knows that that is a signature trait of mine. I am going to sell it you as "teaching myself a new skill".

Gebügelt, ausgemessen und zugeschnitten. Das habe ich schnell hinbekommen. Da ich ein kleiner Tischdeckenfeak bin, sollten die Servietten mit Briefecken sein. Warum einfach, wenn es auch kompliziert geht?! Jeder, der mich kennt, wird das bestätigen können. Autodidaktin eben!

I perused the internet for an easy pictured tutorial (I don't like videos unless it involves motion) and found this one by Erin of Sewbon. I'd never come across her before, but tada... thanks to her help

Ich durchforstete das Internet nach einer einfachen bebilderten Anleitung (ich mag die meisten  Videos nicht) und fand diese hier von Erin Sewbon. Ich bin voher nie auf sie gestoßen, aber tada...Danke für ihre Hilfe!

 (yes, you can still see the chalk!)
(Ja, man kann die Kreide noch sehen!)

Doing them took hours (good job that the football is on so late), but I'm pretty impressed at the result.

Das Nähen dauerte Stunden, aber ich bin selber beeindruckt von dem Ergebnis (zum Glück läuft momentan noch so spät  abends Fußball).

She gets six. I personally think eight is a better number but I didn't have enough fabric and Germans don't generally do things in eights. I got lucky there.

Sie bekommt sechs Stück. Ich persönlich denke, dass acht eine schönere Zahl ist, aber dafür reicht der Stoff nicht. Und die Deutschen machen eigentlich wenig Sachen mit acht ;0)

Here they are.. hope she likes them.

Hier sind sie...ich hoffe, sie gefallen ihr.

Fashion Revolution Day 2014

(Foto: Sebastian Dammberg & Fritz Straube, Make Up Favoriten)

Fashion Revolution Day 2014

..für uns ein Anlass, nachzudenken!

Wir erinnern uns alle an die Bilder von Bangladesch, wo bei dem Einsturz eines Hochhauses mehr als 1000 Menschen starben. In dem Gebäude waren mehrere tausend  Textilfabriken untergebracht, in denen auch billig für den westlichen Markt produziert wurde. Die Fotos von Verschütteten schwirren mir noch im Kopf. Ebenso zeitnahe Berichte über die Arbeitsbedingungen der Näher(innen). Sie schlafen neben ihren Nähmaschinen und arbeiten für einen Hungerlohn.

Die Arbeitsbedingungen der Näher(innen) sowie die fehlenden Arbeitsschutz- und Arbeitszeitregelungen hinterlassen einen faden Geschmack im Mund.Wenn man einen Top für 1,90€ kaufen kann,aber eine Latte Macchiato mehr als 3,00€ kosten darf, kann es nicht mit rechten Dingen zugehen. Es lohnt sich, einen Blick auf das Etikett der Klamotte zu werfen und unter Umständen doch ein paar Euros mehr zu zahlen. Wir wissen das ganze Thema ist mit Dilemmen gespickt.... billig kaufen = schlechte Bedingungen unterstützen, nicht kaufen = Arbeitsplätze vernichten.... aber für heute reicht ..... 

Billige Kleidung auf Kosten Andere? Nicht mit uns! 

Unser Motto ist seit langem lieber „selfmade“ als das Übliche von der Stange. Wir setzen ein Zeichen und morgen könnt Ihr uns „Inside Out“ sehen.

Da unser Blog noch etwas in den Kinderschuhen steckt, freut Euch auf mehrere Upcycling, Downsizing und Selfmade Projekte von uns. Ihr werdet staunen, was man so alles aus alten Hemden, Shirts und Hosen zaubern kann...