clearing little bs

amazing how when you clear your brain of all the little bs you can get a lot of work done.that's the purpose of holidays.

this number however resists. the fabric was bought 4 years ago in japan. it took a couple of years + pandemic to find a  dress pattern which resulted in a minor fup and was put away. got it out again because the fabric is pretty gorgeous.still working on it and success is nowhere to be seen. maybe i should refashion it as a skirt. giving it this week,

neki desu

 

future sewing

my favorite fabric store in helsinki is a small venue but with interesting unusual fabrics.
proof of concept , the above agorgeous textured wool with cotton backing so that it's not scratchy.

a japanese cotton with some faint seersucker texture.

i'll start pattern hunting. as if i didn't have pending sewing projects.

neki desu
 

digi fabric

mesmerizing.
have a great 1st of march!


neki desu
 

of cloth

cotton double knit

four years ago  on my previous trip to japan  i discovered  many things one of them that the japanese have a powerful vibrant fabric industry. not only is their handmade cloth exeptional, but also their industrial woven cloth is beautiful,innovative and well designed.

this time i made a point of spending time in nippori in tokyo after visiting some stores in kyoto.

cotton double knit

                                                                                   

linen knit

                                                                                                                                                    have never seen such a variety of great looking knitted fabric in all materials. went wild with the linen knits and bought about 3 and that was being very judicious.

the cottons are a bit heavy, great for jackets for the oviedo weather.

the linens, still waiting for two, will be floaty langelook dresess.                                               lots of sewing ahead, but waiting for the boxes with the patterns and  all the sewing (tools?) doohickeys i bought. another field day at 
customs for the officials!                                                                                                                                                         

                                                                                                         

                                                                                                          

 neki desu

acts of senseless beauty

have a great weekend!






neki desu

coming attractions

how can one resist lightweight linens in color and stripes? on sale? the dark navy's just for kicks :)

i am slowly phasing into lime green and blues or purples. new life ahead!especially now that i know the style i want to wear.no more thinking about age. free at last!

oh yes, another heat wave coming up at the end of the week.is there anyone who has doubts about climatic change?

neki desu

salvage

linen sheets from my mother in law's chest of drawers. the blue one's from her mother; sheet, cover sheet and pillow cases of an exquisite linen hand embroidered fabric.

thinking about sewing a cool summer number (much less fitted,ahem)  balenciaga wanna be dress with the blue sheets using the border as a hem motif.  have time ahead. first i need to finish a skirt and the eva jumper.

neki desu
 

and now on to sourcing buttons

finished top, quite happy with the outcome.  it hangs well although it looks a bit wonky in the photo because it has no buttons so it is pinned closed.don't know if i'll find the buttons i want: matte plastic squares.

the fabric is nice and crisp and the marriage of aizome and kakishibu zome yarns is a winner.

such pleasure of being in command of all the process from dye pot to final garment.i know; i'm missing spinning, but life's not getting longer.

neki desu
 

yards and yards

meters and meters of wonderful cotton gauze, etymologically from that  ill fated place.

now i only need sunshine to run an ai vat to process some of it.

neki desu
 

a well spent weekend

 another installment of this is fashion because i say so. spent the weekend sewing  the summer wardrobe .
i've lost a lot of weight-not complaining because i'm close to my old self-but that means either sewing or spending time taking in clothes. and i much do the former than the latter.

 i scored this wonderful linen fabric in nippori's fabric town when i was in tokyo. There's  something for everyone in fabric town ; notions  nice quilting fabrics, gorgeous fabrics as well as very ugly tacky ones, upholstery fabrics, you name it. it was made clear there  that japan is a textile manufacturing power.

the bad was that it was golden week and 90% of the shops were closed.the good is that my visa was more than grateful.

back to my fabric it is a bluish grey double weave linen with circular  areas of double weave known to weavers as pockets.

the pattern is a download from tessutti in australia. fun sewing and very  easy wear boho looking ^_^ !

neki desu

little miss know-it-all

 old jeans dipped in indigo to see what it can do to them

yesterday after a very pleasant catch up with ruth and her new baby i headed to the fabric stores downtown in search of jean fabric. nothing fancy, just plain jean fabric.
store nº1
me: i'd like to see jean fabric
saleslady: here
me: but this is not the regular jean fabric.
sl: yes it is. been like this forever.
me: no it isn't this is plain weave, one over one under and jean fabric is twill, 1 over 2 under.
sl: well i don't know about that.
me: well i happen to know about that.thank you and have a nice day.
store nº2
me: looking for jean fabric
salesman: here you have it
me: do you have anything without elastan?
sm: no we don't, but it has always contained some elastan
me: ok can you picture a rugged cowboy perched on a horse wearing jeans of such a girlie fabric? i of course was thinking in rudder terms.
luckily  the salesman had some sense of humor and he chuckled.

thank goodness for the internet. located a  spanish online store that has regular jean fabric in 3 different shades of blue and 3 different weights.
no wonder why fabric stores here are closing down!


neki desu