Two last minute LARP projects:
1. Pilgrims bag made of uphosltery fabric, silk yarn and an old linen pillow case for lining. The fabric was so stiff, I had to hand sew over all the edges with silk yarn to make them "edgy". Ironing this thing was nearly impossible! On the bright side, the two sides had different colours, so I used the green "wrong side" for strap and... flap? Is it called a flap?



2. Aumônière made of fabric scraps (jaquard and linen). I finished that at the LARP Convention, thus it's a little bit messy.


One day, far in the future, I will beautify the tassels.
Sadly, the only "action shot" I can offer does not show anything clearly. I'm sorry, guys!

(I posted about the belt here.)

Just so you know, wool does not like hot water... A lesson I "learned" more than once.
This particular sweater was shrunk beyond repair, so I used it to make these:

This picture also illustrates how long it took for me to learn another lesson: Coasters are useful!
One day, I'll fix that table... Anyhow, the potholders are made of two layers. The coasters are made of one layer sewn onto some sturdy, yellow polyester felt, which you can see here:

I tried to use all scraps, so the round coaster is made from the roundish shoulder parts of the sleeves, sewn together in the middle.
The only leftovers are:

• the cuffs, which I wear as cuffs.
• the hem. I've already decided to neither make a headband nor an infinity scarf for toddlers out of it. Any other ideas?

Action shot and size reference:

Comments, criticism, grammar advice: bring 'em on!

I love seed bead bracelets and had quite a few of them. But they were all made of thin elastic thread and over the years I've torn them all. But luckily this used to happen at home, so I was able to save the beads. Enter memory wire:




I love them all, but my favourite is the big green one. The last two are made to light up grey days with childhood memories. Doesn't the left one look almost edible? C&c -and corrections of grammar mistakes- are very welcome!
Happy holidays everyone!

Yeah, well, I couldn't throw them away... so I connected these leftover curtain rings with parts from a cheapish necklace. The closure is a bracelet closure I fell in love with because it fits my larp character so well. Of course it wasn't meant to be a belt closure, so I had to fumble it on with some silver wire.
Let's just say it works and has a pretty front.


Comments and criticism very welcome!

Action shot here!

-literally sewn in the last minute (well, make that the 23rd) out of felt (100% pure wool -so warm!), decorated with bobbin lace and eyelet embroidery. (The first one shows the real colour.)


The black and red ones have a rounded 'hem' to keep the palm free from fabric but the top of the hand warm. Could have been a bit rounder though for more 'covering the upper hand powers'. Actually, I didn't hem them because the felt is too thick and doesn't fray anyway. I hope you like them!

So I fell in love with the fabric. But there's not much one can make out of slim strips with pointed ends... Anyhow, I bought all they had, removed all the hair ties and now use one as a cravat/neck tie/ribbon thingy (makes me look oh so school girlish! ) and some sewn together as a lazy belt. The last two scraps turned into these:
The black "bias tape" (= satin ribbon) on the right one was necessary because there was not enough fabric to hem it.


The lace is pleated, not ruffled. And the buttons are adorable! All hand sewn, without any ironing -it was a lazy day!
By the way, the headbands looked like this:

Hello there,

I'm longing for an overlock machine (serger) since I first worked with one. But I'm a poor student and have to deal with my cheap, little, standard sewing machine. Sad
Normally that's fine with me, but recently I tried to re-hem a shirt and it was simply annoying. I used a stitch my manual stated as "elastic" and "for jerseys" (some sort of zigzag, but producing open squares instead of open triangles). It turned out to be quite nonelastic and therefore fabric-stretching. Bah. And I suspect it to be non-durable, too.
My machine offers other "elastic stitches", but they don't seem to work any better.
So I'd like to know: Are there any tricks in hemming thin shirt-fabrics and keeping them in shape? Am I just not that skilled or do I have to ask for a serger for Christmas? (I wouldn't get it, though.) Btw, my machine can deal with jersey sweaters, though. Maybe it's a personal thing between H&M and her (yes, it's a girl^^).
Any advice would be great!
-Or, if any German craftster wants to get rid of an old, not-so-expensive serger... Wink

cherries