Minus Sun

31 05 2012

vest and salwar pants set

I have made a cotton vest and pants set for my friend’s birthday. I have been wanting to make salwar pants for a while as I think they are very cute. Then I thought I also like the concept of jumpsuits but I don’t like the inconvenience of going to the loo and having to strip off. So I thought I should make a separate which would look like a jumpsuit.

This one is the sample version in calico I have made for myself. The vest has three panels at the front. The fabric used for the sides are lighter. The pants are elasticated at the waist and at the hem.

I have used an umbrella stamp I’ve bought from yellow owl workshop for the front side. They have nice stationery which I really like. I wanted to make use of this stamp somehow. It looks perfect!

The year is stamped on the back side.

And this is the final version of the vest for my friend in star patterned fabric in baby blue. The neckline and armholes are trimmed with cotton ribbon and the front side panels are in plain fabric. Two gold buttons stitched in the middle of neckline.

So here is the set. I think it has some feeling of a jumpsuit when you tuck in the vest, I hope? The elasticated waist section of the pants are in the same plain fabric as the one used in the vest top. The same cotton ribbon is used in the waist section as well. That’s it, Happy Birthday!

28 04 2012

crocheted snood

This was another personal project for my friend who wanted a chunky crocheted snood. The wool she gave me was chunky so I used my finger to crochet instead of a crochet needle. It is knitted in a Mobius Strip so it has a single twist. This gives a nice volume when worn.

Wrapped twice around the neck

Hung on the neck, you can see the twist

close up of the loosely crocheted snood

22 04 2012

baby bib

This was my last night’s project for my friend’s baby girl.
It was received with joy today and she is on her way to become the best dressed baby girl.

Made with chambray cotton fabric in pale blue with hand crocheted cotton trimmings and soft cotton herringbone ribbon to tie at the back of the neck. It has her initial “B” embroidered with French knots at the front and my personal label with the date at the back.

The form of this bib with angles is inspired by vintage designs.

the embroidered initial in red

my label at the back, stamped on a vintage ribbon and hand stitched onto the bib

25 02 2012

finished fabric doll

Here is the finished fabric doll with an embroidered face and implanted hair. The seams are done with the same colour thread as the fabric so it is less visible. The stitches go through each part to join them together so that they are attached firmly but this means it’ll have a stitch on the surface. I’ve incorporated gold sequins instead of just having stitches so it prevents the fabric from being pulled in and breaking. It looks nicer as well when they look like metal screws rather than having a trying-to-hide visible stitches.

embroidering the face, even my signature beauty spot is stitched

implanting hair using silk floss, takes a lot of time

even when there is enough hair, the skin of the head is too visible when parted so I have coloured the gaps in with a fabric pen afterwards

the finished hair and face

the joints with gold sequins

finished doll front side

back side

from the side

she can sit on her own

on my palm, this is how small she is

I’ll think of a special way to keep her in a good condition but she can stay in one of my garment samples’ pocket for the time being.

20 02 2012

knitted hat with crocheted pom-pom

I’ve made this knitted hat for my friend’s birthday. She is a hat collector who has a lot of fashion hats but not much hats for daily use. Therefore, my concept was to make a cute warm hat which goes well with different outfits. I’ve used mocha colour alpaca wool for the hat section and off-white colour silk and wool mix yarn with bits of mohair and polyamide for the pom-pom section. I think it’s great and I wish it was mine.

I’ve made the folded up ribbed section wide to keep her ears warm (and just because I like rib stitch). I tried to make the hat not too deep otherwise it will keep coming down to cover her eyes as well!

The main part of the hat is done by moss stitch which also adds some thickness for warmth by its waffle-like texture.

Although I was planning to make a basic hat, I couldn’t resist adding something different. So I’ve decided to make a crocheted pom-pom. I think it looks like a pine cone, cute. Hmm, I might be doing crocheted pine cones for next Chirstmas…

And inside, I’ve added my personal label with her birthday. It’s a curse so that my friend can’t throw it away easily. But luckily, she is in love with it so it shouldn’t be a problem. Happy Birthday!

14 02 2012

fabric doll prototype

Happy Valentine’s Day, I’m in love with her!

After I’ve realised that there’s no way for me to get a working visa while being self-employed, I felt very disappointed that I will have to stop selling my work when my visa expires in 2013. I will have to be employed or I will have to leave UK as well… Although I will continue stocking up my stockist and consider doing craft fairs until then, I lost some sort of motivation to make things for sale. So, this is what I’ve been up to, making a fabric doll for myself. When I don’t think about the price of my work, I can spend time as much as I want and make something really special. This is just a prototype so it’s not complete but here are the images of the process of making my doll.

First, I made a doll using air hardening modelling clay.
In this way, I can create the patterns for each part by moulding fabric around them.
I can also use it as a guide to compare it with the fabric prototypes of each part.

I have done about a hundred prototypes in total to get the patterns right. I tried to make my doll look like a ball-jointed doll with movable joints so it is made out of 15 parts. I paid attention to the curves of the body and tried many combinations of how to attach each section together and where the seams are.

And here is the finished prototype made with calico, filled with toy stuffing.

You can see that she is not flat but made with gentle curves.

The back of the body. She is very flexible and able to do many different poses.

Very cute, she can perch on my palm.

Maybe you’ve noticed already but her design is taken from my girl illustration.
This is it for now but I will blog again when I finish the final doll with her face and hair.

18 12 2011

Christmas presents

Here are the sparkly pieces I’ve made for my friends. I thought it would be better to design something different from the things I make for sale so they are limited editions just for them! I like them so much that I felt a bit sad to give them away. But this applies to all the things I make… Someone might like my works but I like them even more!

This is a silk linen bow tie with an adjustable velvet ribbon. I thought it should suit my friend’s taste for not too girlie but subtly sweet. Embellished with gold and white beads.

This friend has a crocheted collar of mine already and has asked for a fabric one this time. This one is the same velvet collar as I’ve been making but with extra embroidery. Embellished with grey, blue, yellow, and pink beads and lots of french knots with white silk yarn.

This one is a velvet hairband with a silk crocheted flower. She is a cute friend who can have bows on her hair so it gave me a chance to make my first hairband. I am thinking to make one for myself as well but with massive flowers on both sides of the head like earmuffs. Embellished with beads and sequins in gold and blue.

29 08 2011

New York purchases

I’m back from my trip to New York and Chicago. I’ve bought more than 20 things in total! But here, I will just share the tools I’ve bought for my work. All bought from a yarn shop called “purl” in Soho, New York.

Actually, I must tell you about my incident in Chicago before that. I and my parents went on a 2 hour boat tour to see the amazing architecture and the huge lake. It was great but really sunny. Of course, I was wearing a hat, covered in sunblock and my new linen scarf but I felt a bit dizzy in about an hour so I decided to go downstairs, inside the boat to stay away from sunlight. When I stood up, I fainted and that was it. The girl who hates the sun had a sunstroke. I was carried downstairs by my dad and a crew member and lay down for the rest of the tour. I managed to walk out of the boat but when I climbed the stairs(why so many stairs, now?) to get to the street, I went off again and was taken back to the hotel by taxi. Now, I’m fine but my foot which I had to drag for a few days is still recovering from the bruise/scratch I got then! I must get used to sunlight a bit more or never stay in sunlight for too long, which shall I choose?

another pair of gingher scissors for myself
5 inch knife edge craft scissors.

I thought this one has a cool design.
“The self-storing scissor” from Bryson

simple and smart, made in Germany sounds always promising
rolled tape measure from hoechst mass

vintage model thread cards from Sajou
I originally went to “purl” to buy this one!
Sajou does many vintage inspired things, so nice.

09 08 2011

things for me and her

This one is a sewing machine cover I’ve made from one of my toiles to replace the plastic one which came with the sewing machine and broke. Glad I’ve made my toile useful. I didn’t know what to do with it.