On presents, and stuff in the mail

Today is my birthday. Happy birthday to me (I have to say that, I've found that birthdays are increasingly not very pleasant as I get older, so I'd better make them as nice as possible!).

As if they had known, there was mail from both Gwyn Hug (who makes the "How Much Fabric" reference cards) and Spoonflower (I think my favourite design your own fabric-site, so far anyway).

I helped translate a text about the Fabric Reference Cards for their website, and in return I got a set of cards, yey! I love freebies. Or should I say favours and returns! Win win situations.

First, the cards. I love them, I'm the typical user. I never know what I'm looking for when I go fabric shopping. I always find fabrics that I LOVE, and of course never know how much of them I need since I haven't decided what exactily I want to make, even though I often have a vision or idea. I can now simply check the charts on the cards in my purse and that way make a much more educated guess than ever before about how much I should get (it will be really interesting to see if it makes me buy more or less yardage than before!).

That tint in the picture is blue morning light for you, I didn't set the white balance (I usually never photograph indoors that early in the morning). Interesting. I must find the white balance-button on my camera (too tired to photoshop it now)!

The Spoonflower "gift" was a fabric colour chart (that made me very keen on ordering their fabric, the colours are brilliant!), and a set of fabric swatches.

I ordered them both through their website several weeks ago, and do I hope the shipping is faster when it comes to their fabrics (they would take a few days to produce too... that + this amount of delay in shipping and I would get very restless from waiting!).

But look at all the colours...  beautiful. I might have to frame it!

As I mentioned, I also got a set of fabric swatches. I miss a thin, organic cotton in the set, but the Organic Cotton Interlock Knit, the Quilting Weight Cotton and the Cotton Lawn are all very pretty, and very nice to the touch. I just wish the last two ones were organic too. I'm quite sure I'll either order a print by someone else, or design one myself in the near future.

I think user designed fabrics is a brilliant, brilliant idea, one that makes the future look very bright! I've said it before; I love the internet!

Naturally, since it's self-stitched september, I had to wear something self-made today. So, here's the first proof that I actually do try to be a dedicated follower though not member of the movement; my drape drape pleat tuck dress. It worked well (but the fabric stretched quite a lot in the "skirt". The boots may not be my first choice for work (more so for parties), but my work boots are having an autumn makeover at my favourite shoemaker's (is that how you write that, really?).

The red hook on the door was an early birthday present from myself to me, it's a metal branch-shaped hook called Branch. I fell in love with it and had to buy it. I also needed a handle on my closet door, so it was kind of a perfect excuse to get one...

I'm considering getting myself a second birthday gift too, Professional Sewing Techniques for Designers, by Julie Cole and Sharon Czachor. I saw it in a shop, really liked it (it's full of sewing techniques, as the title indicates, that are very well explained from what I could see) but was put off by the very heavy price-tag. I've now found it a lot cheaper on the internet (amazon.co.uk).

It seems like the perfect book for me, I really don't know how to sew, at least not how to sew the correct way! 

Does anyone own it, or have any other experience of using it as a reference? If so, is it as good as it seems?

drape drape vol. 2, no.6, drape dress

Now, this dress was a nightmare to sew!

There are only three pattern-pieces, and it looks simple enough, but I actually had to wear it to be able to figure out how to sew the draped cowl-collar. Loads of pinning, not easy when you're wearing a half finished, interestingly constructed garment in a material with loads of drape.

I then took it off, put it on my (almost finished) dressform and was lost again! Wore it once more, pinned a bit more, put it back on the dressform and eventually got it right, phew!

The front piece is one long piece that is wider in the bottom front (with two seams there, the side-seams), wraps around the neck (with one seam all around the neck and center front) to make the collar and is tucked underneath itself and attached to the side seam again in the front, to form the front cowl. Comprehensible?

It's actually a bit difficult to even put the dress on now that it's finished, it looks like nothing when not worn, and totally comes to life when you wear it. I like that about draped clothes, they need a body in them to look good, it's a bit like everyday magic!

The only change I did to the pattern is that I took it in at the side-seams, quite a bit, to make it more fitted. For anyone planning to make it, I recommend comparing the back piece to a jersey dress or a pattern that you like before sewing, to get an idea if it's fitted enough for you. It did look a bit sack-like before I took it in.

Here's the original version in the book. The material I used is a viscose/lycra jersey with a bit of drape, the version in the book is made of silk.

I do wish it would be easier to buy silk-jersey here, I love silk and would be prepared to pay for it once in a while. I guess I'll have to start buying fabric online!

Something I've forgotten to mention about the drape drape-patterns is that you're supposed to mark the material on the right side. I don't like to, so I've marked it on the wrong side so far, which makes following the instructions in the book quite difficult.

I think from now on I'll make all the marks on both sides of my traced patterns (ie transfer them to the back side) so that my projects don't become mirrored compared to the pictures in the books, and I don't have to go through brain-exercise every time I sew drape drape-clothes...

Update: Here's a link to an excellent list of Japanese sewing-terms. I'm going to use it myself!

The easiest shirt ever

This was a bit of an experiment. But I like the result, as simple as it is.

After making 5 pieces of clothing from my new aquisition "drape drape 2" (that I love), out of which 2 were easy, one was reasonable, one was a bit of a challenge and one almost impossible to figure out the construction of, I needed something uncomplicated!

I wanted to try to make as simple as possible a pattern for a jersey shirt, to see how it would fit/hang on the body. The result is a very 1980's, very relaxed but quite versatile t-shirt.

Sorry about the silly hairdo, but I got overwhelmed with a sudden urge to make an assymetric do as I tried the shirt on! Must be a side-effect from growing up in the 80's...(nostalgia is a powerful force)!

The pattern is basically a square, 60x60cm's, with a 30 cm long neck opening and 20cm long sleeve openings. The neckline is lowered 2,5cm's in the front and 1,5 cm's in the back to make it more comfortable. Click on the picture to see a larger version of the diagram!

If you want to make one, you can either make a pattern first, or cut the fabric straight away.

When you cut the material, make sure the greatest direction of stretch is across the chest (it should stretch more horizontally than vertically when worn).

If you’re a larger or smaller size it’s easy to grade it up or down. Every step on the size-chart is 4cm’s in the bust (the most important measurement here), so if you’re a size 36 you should add 1cm on each side and make the square 61×61 cm’s (=4cm’s bigger in total) and if you’re a 42 you should add 4cm’s so that the square is 64×64 cm’s (=16 cm’s bigger in total). Check out a size-chart HERE

Time to sew. First sew the shoulder- and side-seams.

Then fold the edges on the sleeve- and neck-openings and topstitch from the right side of the fabric, etiher with a twin needle (on an ordinary sewing machine), or with a cover stitch if you’ve got a coverstitch machine or a convertible overlocker.

I reinforced the neckline (because of the direction of stretch that makes the neckline stretch more than the sleeve openings) with a strip of fabric (f.ex. the selvage) cut along the ribbing of the fabric, to make it as non-stretchy as possible, that I put underneath the folded edge. I cut it the same width as the fabric I folded around the neckline and a couple of centimeters shorter (I stretched the ribbon a bit to keep the neckline neat and not stretched out).

And that’s it, you’re done!

drape drape vol.2, no.14, gather drape skirt

First, a word of warning: if you decide to make this skirt, do check the size very carefully. It's very fitted, which it should be, but if your hips are 92cm's (like mine) and you decide to make it a size right in between M (88 cm hips) and M/L  (92cm hips) because that size has worked well for you with other patterns from the same book, then think again. Make a M/L.

I actually really like that the sizing of the patterns correspond exactily to the measurements in the size chart. Even though it meant I had to do quite a bit of extra work on it.

Correct size-tables are such a rare thing in the world of sewing (a fact I find incomprehensible).

I had to cut a new - quite big - backpiece because I simply didn't fit into it at first, and I didn't have enough material to make an entirely new skirt. Fortunately it worked quite well! I don't think anyone can tell.

Now that I've overcome that little problem, I love this skirt! It looks almost identical to the skirt in the book, it's really flattering to wear (believe me, I look really bad in some pencil skirts) and despite being narrow it's actually comfortable.

 Here's the original skirt in the book. The only real difference I can see is that it looks a bit more gathered at the hips. I did measure, it said gather to 20cm's, and I did, so it might be due to different weights of material.

And finally, the Acne Lanvin that it totally resembles. Fun. I live in the Acne capital of the world, people will believe I've copied them, but oh, no...

drape drape vol. 2, no.7, tuck drape dress

I can't decide on my feelings about this dress. I really like the drapes on the skirt-bit, but it feels a bit like a pajama with the very wide top-part. That might very well have to do with my choice of material though, which was quite unvoluntary as I had failed to see that it requires a 165 cm's wide fabric. The one I bought for it (a viscose jersey with thin stripes in two shades of red) was only 140cm's wide.

This was the only material in big enough a piece I had at home. I plan to dye it a dark grey or deep blue shade.

The sewing was rather straight forward, not too difficult, but I had to sew the side-seams twice for two reasons: it was way too wide for me at first, and I made the top fold the wrong way at first and ended up with a bit of a bag in the back of it. It was a bit lucky that I had to take it in, that meant I didn't have to unpick any seams to correct the back fold (I just cut it all off)!

There are only two pattern pieces, the sleeves, upper back an front piece are one piece, and the lower back is another.

I do plan to copy the draping on the skirt-bit. I've tried on fabulous Vivienne Westwood-dresses with a very similar drape all over them, I want one! I even bought one on sale that I returned, it wasn't perfect for me (a bit too wide, a bit too short and a nice but not very discreet = wearable pink colour) and still quite expensive, so I was sensible, cried a tear and parted with it...

Update: This is the dress as it looks in the book. I forgot to mention that I omitted the slits in the sleeves. I thought it might be a bit too flirtatious for me to be able to wear it at work, and cold in winter.

Odd. When I look at the pictures of my dress, I quite like that it's black and white and not darker. I may have to wait a bit and actually wear it a few times before dying it.

I'll keep you posted on that one!

drape drape vol. 2, no 4, drape top

This has to be one of my favourite t-shirts! It's SO comfortable, SO easy to sew, and SO not your standard t-shirt! It's the first project I made from my recent purchase, Japanese pattern-book  "drape drape 2".

Other reasons why it's fabulous: there is only one pattern piece, only three seams and you can fold it perfectly flat to store it, despite the drape on one side when worn.

I made one to try the pattern out (the solid grey one), wore it for two days in a stretch (which I normally wouldn't, but it's loose enough to stay fresh for quite a bit longer than normal t-shirts) and made a second one on the third day. Then I stopped myself for a while. Overdoing things is not good!

I can't promise I won't make more of it though! It takes about an hour and a half to make one, perfect.

The first version is made of a rather ordinary cotton jersey, a remnant that I like better and better the more I use it. I only have enough left for one more project now, I wish I had more of it. 

I made the second version in a striped Viscose/Lycra jersey that I bought specifically for this top (auch a rare occasion for me to buy a fabric for a specific garment and actually make it! I must do that more often), I wanted to see how the stripes would end up to get a better idea of how the pattern is constructed. And I thought id would look good (of course...). I made the neckline a bit less deep than in the original version since there's quite a high risk of my bra showing with the first one I made... I still love it. Comfy.

Both tops are made in a size in between M and M/L, which is where I am according the size-table in the book. Actually I'm a M up top and M/L at the bottom, and I'm a bit scared of too baggy clothes so I figured I'd make it a in-between size. It worked for jersey, more about that in a later post!

I'm really glad I bought this book, I've already made a few things from it so: more to follow! And I got a card-reader for the SDHD-card in my new camera that my computer refuses to read, so posting pictures is suddenly a whole lot easier!

I also had the ambition to photograph my clothes in the daylight, it failed, I might just have to accept the fact that I am a nocturnal creature...

Update: Here's what it looks like in the book. This original version is in silk.I think both cotton and viscose worked really well comparatively (especially regarding the fact that the's almost no silk jersey in the shops here, though I do love it).

Drape Drape vol. 2

I'm not sewing anything at the moment. Or, well, I'm sewing a lot, but no clothes, I'm working on transforming my paper tape dressform that I made last christmas to a pinnable, more correct version. It seems to work, but it's a heckload of work and it keeps me quite busy.

But when I found the second volume of Drape Drape on the internet last week, I just couldn't stop myself. Even though the only more complex thing (I also made a simple tank-top that I've actually used a lot) I made yet from volume one turned out tiiiny (I think the patterns are actually true to size, unlike most western patterns, I will give it another go). There are still a couple of dresses in it that I'd like to try, so I'll get back to it.

But volume two is just more... me! I got it from Pompadour24 at Etsy, I do recommend trying that out if you haven't already! It was way faster than Yesasia (that I used for volume one), and I like supporting small businesses (especially ones that enable me to buy Japanese fabrics, books and notions at the click of a button!).

I love the fact that when you open the book there's a picture almost identical to the cover picture, but the model has turned her head and looks at you. Very elegant.

And these dresses... simple with a twist. Just like it should be. And very wearable (the one on the right perhaps with a tanktop underneath. Or maybe just with a simple stitch in the middle front, to prevent indecent exposure).

This grey dress, I think, is the reason I had to buy the book. I'm guessing it will be one of the first ones I try out. The yellow blouse may be one of the last ones, not because it's not beautful (it is!) but because it seems like too much work. Later.

The T-shirt on the left might just be my first project though. And I really like both skirts, but the one on the right is fabulous. Very Acne Lanvin actually.

See? Sister-skirts. This Acne Lanvin is from the Spring 2010 collection, one of the ones I had saved in my inspiration-folder.
Funny coincidence!

Update: The "original" denim Acne/Lanvin is 6195 skr, that's about 830 US$, well worth the effort to make it oneself, in other words... :-)

And now I'm back to my dressform! Like I said it's hard work. And you get sticky fingers covered in felt. This is after a good soap-bath (I later discovered that cooking-oil is a super-efficient sprayglue remover).

This was the state of things this morning. The right hand side is almost finished. It looks a bit tattered because of the remains of sprayglue still on the surface, but I think I'll keep it like this. I like it that all my stitches are visable (very Edward Scissorhands), and to be honest, I can't be bothered making a cover for it. I want to make clothes again after this!

I plan on posting a tuorial for this after it's finished (I've tried pinning in it, I use it as a giant pin-cushion when I hand sew all the seams on it, and it works really well)!

Pleat/smock detail

Still at my parents place. Eager to sew something, I've finally relaxed from work, become creative (it happens, inevitably, after a week or so of holidays) and after a stressful and challenging project like the Burdastyle coat things feel more do-able than they usually do.

But since I'm not at home I won't start anything big (most of my fabric is in Stockholm).

A perfect time to do research and learn new things!

My mum bought a really nice new coat the other day (on the summer sale, though it's a winter coat... well, we're in the north here, winter is always present, if not in reality, then in the back of your head).

The coat is by Swedish designer Nygårds Anna.  Check out her clothes for a bit old fashioned (pre vintage) clothes with loads of nice details, always in "real" materials, linen, cotton, wool. Very nice!

I think the "braided" detail in front was quite clever, and very nice, and I just had to try making it. So here goes!

On a piece of wool (leftover from the Burdastyle coat actually, very convenient!) I marked four parallell lines, 3cm's apart (you can make the "braid" as wide as you want, but 4 lines is the minimum).

I then folded the material and stitched 0.75 cm's from the marked lines, on my machine (my mum's in truth, but they're almost the same) with this foot I could use the edge of the foot as a guide.

I then marked the edges of the folds, 3cm's apart, as a guide for the next step.

Finally I stitched loops around two lines at the time, using a button-hole-thread (thicker than normal thread, "Björntråd" in Swedish), alternating between line 1+2 and 3+4 and line 2+3.

The finished result! Quite nice, isn't it?

This swatch is made with a heavy weight wool, but I think it would work really well in thin cotton or linen too, with a more narrow spacing between the lines, and more narrow pleats.

In fact, I'm quite sure I've seen linen blouses with this kind of smock before, if I don't remember incorrectly. I might just have to try that out, maybe instead of ruffles on a JJ?

Update: And then I found this, also in my mum's closet. A knitted cardigan with exactily the same detail. 

Cool.

Kokong bag

I'm spending a few days at my parent's place and you never know what pops up in their drawers and closets when you have a look around!

A few years ago (or, come to think of it, not a few but rather many now), right after I had left university I was unemployed for a few months (I graduated right in the middle of a recession, and there were no job-opportunities at all around).

This was right after I had taken an evening course in pattern construction and I did a bit of sewing (just sitting around isn't really my thing, at least not for too long).
One thing I made was this bag (the one on the left), inspired by my grandmother's old, red shoe-bag that I fell in love with the moment I saw it.  I think it's from the 1950's or 60's. I didn't like handbags much back then (made me feel like a "tant", a not very flattering word for old lady) but needed somewhere to keep my wallet, lipbalm and brand new (first!) cellphone.

I made the bag to use instead of a handbag, small enough to be quite discreet, big enough to keep all necessary things in, and with a strap just the right length for me to keep it on my shoulder, hidden beneath my arm, two hands free, when I went out (=freedom to dance without having to hold a handbag in one hand). I used it all the time.















Somehow I found out that you could apply to sell your designs at Designtorget, a then new shop where they sold new Scandinavian design, so I applied, and got accepted!

I made the label too, the pattern is from a wallpaper that I photographed in a shop, modified and later also used for my businesscard and a CD with projects that I enclosed with my job-application (the very same wallpaper, in red, was used in many H&M-shops about a year later, I find fashion works in very interesting ways. We all think similarily at about the same time sometimes...).









 Fun to put in my CV and a nice memory, but not very profitable. I probably made less than a dollar an hour.
Oh well.

Shirred dress for Julia

Though I normally mainly (only) want to sew for me, and constantly make plans about what to make next (for me), I love sewing for my niece. Maybe for my nieces when my younger niece Ella is a bit older (she's a 9 month baby now, though a very clever baby). I think so.

But now mainly for my older niece Julia.

I got this quite thin, bright pink, gingham cotton in Stockholm and intended to make a summer dress of it before leaving for France in the beginning of July, but of course I had NO time for it until yesterday. But yesterday I did!

I've wanted to try making a simple machine-shirred dress for Julia for a while. The kind where you put elastic thread in the bobbin of your sewing machine (just roll it up by hand, stretching it slightly) and sew parallell lines along the width of the fabric, which makes the material scrunch up and become elastic.

Here's a better shot of what it ended up like. It took about two hours to make. Great!

I winged it a bit, I began with the shirring, then cut the "sleeves" off, added binding to the edges - that extends into straps - and hemmed it. Julia had told me what length she wanted it so I followed her wish. The top of it, above the shirring, is simply zig-zagged along the edge, vith tiny stitches, I wanted the edge as flexible as possible, without any bulk.

Sewing the shirred bit actually worked as a dream, as long as I didn't sew too fast. You have to sew veeeeeery slowly to keep the thread from breaking! Other than that it's dead easy. I had expected the elastic thread to get jammed at least once, but no, it was very obedient.

And it all looks nice and neat on the wrong side too, I love it when that happens without any real effort!

The only places it looks a bit less neat is where I had to sew twice since the elastic broke when I got impatient and hit the foot pedal too hard thus ending up sewing too fast.

The dress was quickly approved of by Julia who immediately wanted to wear it, and who wore it going home to Bergen (she had worn a dress I bought her for three days non stop prior to that).

I even got to photograph her in it as many times as I liked, she likes my new camera (a Canon EOS550D, an excellent excellent camera) almost as much as I do, when I shoot several pictures at once (it sounds like a shotgun) she almost laughs her head off (and so do I).

Happy child, happy aunt!

Burdastyle coat done, yeeeeeepie! And I'm a problem-solver. WIth a bad memory.

Back again! Did some travelling again (might post more about that in another post, I went to Provence, I love love love Provence!), and spent a few days intensely sewing a coat for the Burdastyle book when I came home. Now I'm finally on proper vacation, it's a bliss!

Sewing for Burdastyle was actually complicated and became very stressful due to - what should I call it - the human factor?

My younger brother borrowed my flat to stay in when I travelled and he and his family visited Stockholm. The friend I travelled with lives in the north of Sweden but had visited family in the south before we left so she left some excess luggage at my place before we left. In my storageroom, at the attic.

I forgot to tell my brother to leave the spare keys - which are attached to my keys to the attic and to my storage rooms at the attic - in my appartment when he left for our summerhouse (where we were going to meet up when I returned to Sweden). But I did remember to ask him to please put my printer up there to make some room for him, girlfriend and two kids in my tiny flat. Beeing an obedient little brother he did.

When me and my friend got home I quickly realised we had no keys to the attic. My brother had brought them with him 600kilometers north.... ouch.

We got home late at night and my friend was catching an early flight the next morning, so we decided I'd borrow a key to the attic the next day, break the lock to my storageroom and bring her luggage to our summerhouse where she'd pass by car a couple of days later and be able to pick it up. Only, at about five in the morning she realised she had put the keys to her appartment in the bag at my attic. She woke me up at six, and had to leave for the airport at six thirty. Panic! What to do?

I ran outside. Determined to find a neighbour who wasn't asleep (very likely at 6am in the middle of summer-holiday-season, not). Half dressed, not showered for a day having travelled home in +35 degrees celsius, hair not brushed for a few days, well, I'm glad I have brave neighbours! And I'm glad I have neighbours who go to work at 6 a.m! And that I met one almost immidiately... who kindly lent me his key for the attic when I tried to explain the situation and nearly began to cry (I didn't look forward to paying for a locksmith for my friend's appartment) even though he had no idea who I was (I think. But then I'm in the board so he actaully might). So about ten minutes after I woke up I was up at the attic, breaking my lock (glad I had an appropriate saw for metal). My friend got her luggage and caught the flight, HUGE relief!

I really would have needed to print the pattern for the Burdastyle coat before leaving for our summerhouse where I planned to sew the coat-variation but since the printer was in my other storageroom, behind another lock, I decided to arrange the print otherwise, which became through my father who kindly offered to print it for me. And did, in the correct scale. Only he printed it double-sided, which was the default setting at the printer he used, before leaving home to meet up with the rest of us at our summerhouse (where there are no computers and no printers). Which I realised friday night, two days before the deadline for shipping, when he arrived. Panic again!

I ended up copying the back of each print at a bookshop in town (no internet cafés or anywhere else to print things available), assisted by my mum, saturday afternoon, and spent the rest of the weekend sewing frantically (glad I had already made all the more compliated of the needed changes to the first printout of the pattern that I made before leaving for France).

This is where I did the sewing, at the verandah. There are worse places to spend a few days sewing! The water (i.e. the
sea) was right behind my back when I got the photo at four am, right after finishing the coat monday night. I love being able to look out the window and see water, and the forest.
 
I had to push the deadline for shipping from monday to tuesday (which would have worked) only to discover (tuesday morning) that the papers I had recieved from Burdastyle for the shipping weren't enough to send it, and that FedEx had to snailmail me an airway bill before I could even think of sending it. Panic again.

I could do nothing about it though and shipped it today, two days late, since you have to arrange the FedEx pick-up before 10 am and the mail is delivered at 11 and FedEx refuses to arrange the pickup unless you've already recieved the airway bill. So although I got the airway bill yesterday I couldn't send the parcel until today.

I can safely say I'm relieved now! And that I hope my "coat" will get to New York as soon as possible!

I wish I could show you pictures of it, but I can't, not until next autumn when the book is published. But I will show you pictures of the dress I made for my niece today. I needed some instant gratification after all the hard work, and I wanted to make her something before they went back to Norway this evening. What better to make than a shirred dress in gingham cotton? Pictures to come tomorrow.

Now bedtime, again...

Surprise!

Well it was to me, at least. I'm usually no big fan of etiher rings or decorated nails.

But this, very pretty! Clean, simple but sophisticated.

Too bad I keep my nails short and get all nervous and fiddly if I wear rings, otherwise I would have given it a shot, come fall!

I borrowed the image from Lady Melbourne, and it's her hands too.

Had to keep it in case I wake up with long nails one day... ;-)

Beautiful Blogger Award

Finally, a post long overdue; just before my long absence I was awarded with the Beautiful Blogger Award by Carolyn at Handmade by Carolyn (which btw is one of my favourite blogs). Thank you so much! I will do my best to deserve it better in the future than in the last month!

With the award follows that I'm asked to perform an A and a B:

A. Tell ten things about me:

1. I love fruit. Especially stone-fruits (peaches, nectarines, apricots, cherries, plums), Swedish apples (they have much more aroma than the imported ones) and exotic fruits such as mangoes, litchies, longans, cherimoyas and, well, durians. I'm not sure my neighbours are as fond of me eating the last one as I am (durians smell!).
I think my love of fruit may stem from the fact that my parents gave us kids exotic fruits (or dried fruits) instead of the Swedish standard "Saturday lollies" that all kids here get. Not too bad actually!

Pictured is a Pakistani Mango. If you haven't tried them, DO! There are very similar Thai ones that are - to my tastebuds - equally nice. It's worth paying a load for them (I paid 10euro's a kilo, about US$12, for this one), they have such a rich, beautiful taste that it's almost impossible to imagine. And they're in season now!

2. I also love old bicycles. I ride my 1951 Husqvarna to and from work every day, except for the coldest months of winter. It's such freedom to not have to wait for buses and trains, and good excercise too. Unfortunately someone liked my bike a lot too a few years ago and tried to break the lock by twisting the whole bike around the rail I had locked it to, result: a bent frame and a mint condition antique bike suddenly ruined. I still use it, but the frame is defenitely not straight any more. Sad.

 My red 1951 Husqvarna on the left, and a recent addition to my collection of old bicycles on the right, another 1940's or 1950's Husqvarna! You can't really tell from the picture, but it's blue and cream, in quite good condition but defenitely in need of some TLC. I was very happy to find it!

3. I'm very annoyed at capitalism at the moment. Not at all things about capitalism, but at the rather common opinion that it's every company's duty to make as much money as possible rather than to try to make the world even a tiny bit better. I would wish that it was possbile to combine the two, and honestly I think it is.
I have a feeling this will make me cut my H&M membership card in two pieces and send it to the company headquarter with a complimentary letter (real soon).

4. I'm not very good at writing short letters. Or texts. Or blog-entries!

5. I have three younger brothers, and two nieces, but no kids of my own (not even a boyfriend, sigh). Nieces all the more loved!

6. I had to show my id-card to prove I was old enough to buy alcohol at our state owned liquor-stores until I turned 36. The legal age is 20. Hah. It wasn't fun in my 20's, but the older I got the more fun it was to watch the clerk's faces (embarresment mixed with surpise)! I don't have to anymore though... (I kind of miss it).

7. Last time I travelled abroad (UK) I lost my passport on the plane back. I don't think I've ever lost anything of importance before so it was quite a surprise! I was also surprised to find that I just had to show my driving license to enter the country again. I spent the whole morning the other day waiting for my turn to apply for a new one (2 hours of waiting...).

8. I love nature. A lot. I constantly sniff the air for loveliness when I'm there. Trees, moss, flowers, rocks... they all smell beautiful and are kind of an infusion of life...

9. One could then wonder why I live in the middle of the city, but I also love being able to go anywhere I like on my bicycle, pictured above.

10. I look blond, but I'm actually a red-head. At least I was until I was five or so. I'm letting my hair stay off chemicals now, no highlights, so I'll soon be back to my own, natural colour (I only ever changed it slightly, but still), kind of interesting! I've found I still have red hair around my temples (wonder what that could mean...).

B. Award five fellow bloggers (Fun. But hard, I like too many...):

I've chosen, out of the last few days' posts in my blogroll, some of the people I find especially inspiring:

Stitchywitch: Green Apples   

Sherry: Pattern Scissors Cloth  

Fouth Daughter: Style Wilderness  

Senasews:  Sew Be Do  

Rachel: Boo Dogg and Me  

Girls! Feel free to just feel a bit honoured, or to pass it on and take the chance to reveal a little, whatever you like about yourselves :-)!