A blog hop!

Also a part of the process... (getting dolled up for a photoshoot)

I have been nominated by the lovely Marie from A Stitching Odyssey to participate in a blog hop! I hade been reading Marie's blog for a long time and always admired her fun yet feminine style, but was given the chance to get to kow her better when I was paired with her in Kestrel's Spring Sewing Swap. So I was more than happy to oblige when she asked me to take part in this little (well, maybe not so little, just try and see how long it goes back!) blog hop. Let's dive in!

Why do I write?
I started this blog as a way to document my sewing and other creative endeavours. From the beginning, it was much more a place for me to record my thoughts about my projects, and hopefully som construction and fitting notes, than a social space. However, with time, I have come to appreciate the value of my blog as a place to connect with others who share my passion. I have really enjoyed meeting amazing people (like Marie!) through my blog, and I am slowly shifting gears towards a content that is more in the spirit of sharing, teaching and inspiring through my projects.

What are you working on?
Blog-wise, I am working on improving my photography, even if that often means booking more photo sessions with my friend :) And as I mentioned above, I am thinking about where I want to take my blogging and how I will be doing that.
I am also planning my fall and winter wardrobe...
But on my sewing table right now is Colette Patterns' Myrtle. Next up is Sewaholic's Yaletown!

How does you blog differs from other in it's genre?
Oh, dear, I cannot even try to pretend that my blog is unique, even in this (relatively!) little community of ours. I do see my blog as very personal in many ways. Sure, it means I put my work out there for the world to see, but I do it primarily for myself, to share my thoughts about a project. No matter how much I do love seeing blogland beeing swept over by hi-low hems, two-pieces and oversized prints (preferably all in one outfit), I try to resist all the trends, an really make things that works for me. I love the inspiration, though.

What is your writing process?
I try really hard to take notes while I sew, but oftentimes, I get too carried away to take the time and stop to write down anything. I do keep my favorite Moleskine notebook by my sewing machine as an incentive, but it does not work so well... I should really learn, though, because I spend an awful lot of time trying to remember what I did when I sit at my computer to write a blog post. So mostly, it ends up being a mash-up of my thoughts about the pattern, the fabric and the finished project. Oh well.


To continue this little hop, I am nominating Alessa from Farbenfreude and Nicolina from Docksjö. Alessa is a smart and colourful lady living in my favorite city, Berlin (I should really go spend a week-end there soon...). She always write thoughtful posts about style and sewing, and I'm always curious to see what she makes next! I have got to know Nicolina through her blog and Instagram, and really enjoy the inspiration she provides. Both in her finished makes and in her meticulousness through the projects. She is also a great inspiration for me getting into lingerie sewing.

100 followers giveaway! And my second attempt at bramaking

Hello!
I have been really busy in the past 3 weeks with beeing on vacation, and am therefore a few days late in my celebration of 100 followers of The Handstitched Files. Bad blogger. I have also been quite busy with this and battling off weeds.


(We bought a summerhouse, my boyfriend and I. Despite it being barely 40 square meters, I find it quite overwhelming. Funny how something that should be quite simple and actually quite exciting can turn into something hard to manage for reasons not really related to the thing itself. Buying a summerhouse turned a few things upside down for me, but it's settling down, I hope. It's also been much more work than expected. The previous owner left everything in the house, down to dessert spoons and rusty pot hangers, wich is both a blessing and a curse. I have lost count of how many times we filled our car and drove to the landfill. At the same time, it is nice not having to buy a thing. It's been lots of work trying to clean the house while repairing a leaking roof, but I think I'm starting to get on top of things. And having grass between my toes while drinking my afternoon coffee is a quite amazing feeling!)

Anyways, it is never too late to celebrate!

I did not have to think really hard to decide what I would be offering. I want to celebrate the joyfullness, the creativity and the open-mindedness of this wonderful little community that we have. And what better than an indie pattern to do that? So I am offering a pattern from my favourite pattern company, Deer and Doe. (I am not affiliated to Deer and Doe, by the way, I just really love Eleonores designs!) My love of Deer and Doe is recorded here, and I have a Belladone and a Centaurée, both already worn several times, still to be blogged (bad, bad blogger). So up for grabs is the pattern of your choice from Deer and Doe's catalog. The giveaway will be opened until sunday the 17th of August, and I will draw a winner on the next day. To enter, simply leave a comment on this post. Why don't you tell me what you have been up to this summer?

Ok, back to sewing! I have LOTS of unphotographed/unblogged projects, but I have been really excited about lingerie lately, so I wanted to share my second bra. This is also Pin-Up Girls Classic bra, although I modified it quite a lot this time. I changed the fabric straps for elastic straps (and this alone would make a world of difference for the sexiness factor of the bra!). I also lowered the rise of the cups. They still provide good coverage, but feels much prettier. Finally, I changed, ever so slightly, the curve of the cup seams, flattening them a tiny bit, which made quite a difference in the final shape of the cups. I am much happier with the fit and feel of this bra, compared with the first. It is very comfortable, too, and way prettier! I have happily put it in my lingerie drawer and use it regularly. The fabric and findings are from a kit I purchased at Sewing chest. It's a great kit, with nice fabrics, and it includes everything for a bra, including lace, powermesh and stable tricot, as well as all the elastics and trimmings. It even has tiny ribbon bows! I find it hard still to judge the quality of lingerie fabrics, but these felt quite nice, and were nice to work with. I did not realise when I purchased the kit, but the materials are not enough for a matching panty, these are sold as a separate kit. Just something to keep in mind! I struggled once again with attaching the hooks and eyes tape, anyone has tips or suggestions? I also had some issues with bulkyness in a few places. Maddie recently suggested hammering down bulky areas, so maybe I'll try this next time.

MMM recap

Alright, I am aware it is almost the end of June, but I wanted to take a minute and reflect over Me Made May. It was my first time participating, and I didn't set myself a sky-high goal, but something I felt was attainable. May was a frantic month for me, and for half of it, I had to spend my days and nights in my Eurovision t-shirt. I pledged to waer a handmade garment at least 3 times a week, and besides for the 10 days of Eurovision, I managed quite well. I did wear the same things a few times... mostly because they are garments in which I feel good. Quite a few me-made items stayed in my closet, unworn. So my biggest lesson learned from Me Made May is to sew things I love and love to wear. It is, afterall, why I sew! I want to have a closet full of beautiful clothes (mostly dresses...) that makes me happy to wear. Handmade clothes are not the goal in itself for me, only a way to achieve my goal: Feel good in my clothes!

The major fail of Me Made May was obviously the documentation of it... I kind of regret now not having pictures to look back to, in order to be able to analyse what I wore. Oh well, September will come soon enough!

I leave you with some pictures of Florence i May...

A dress I made last summer. The bodice is Ava from Victory patterns with a straight skirt and an elasticated waist. I did some colourblocking on the skirt, I really need to to that again. So simple but quite a nice effect. 

The cathedral, Il Duomo. We climbed in the cupola on the last morning, and got to the top. The views of the city were amazing!