Upcycling, sewing a dress and kringwinkels in Belgium

Hi, my lovely readers, how are you all?

 
Thanks for your positive reactions to my previous post. I'm trying to bring my blogging up to speed with what has been happening during August.

So here is another sewing and upcycling post for a change!

About kringwinkels in Belgium

We are very lucky to have a local kringwinkel in our little village. A kringwinkel is the equivalent of a charity shop in England, you can donate your goods and buy other donations there. They also provide employment and training for people.

Kringwinkels are in most towns, and living around Antwerp, I am lucky to have several to choose from.

I often check to see what is 'new', and I love to image what the story is behind an item. On a few occasions I have seen things that connect to me personally, such as china plates from the Potteries in England (where I used to live before moving to Belgium). Often I have fun taking photos of old things without buying them. Other times I found a nice jacket or other clothing.

However, these days I tend to 'hunt' for crafty stuff. I go through fabrics, crochet doilies and other handmade things, for me they are akin 'treasures'. Of course I need to be strict with myself and make good choices. Not everything is a bargain! I do not buy pairs of knitting needles because no matter how cheap, I prefer working with my nice Knit-Pro circular needles. However, finding someone else's old sewing supplies thrills me. I do not buy questionable acrylic yarn in ugly colours, but I might pick out the one ball of real wool, if I am lucky!

Often it is 'craft at first sight' - I find something and it inspires me to make something new with it!

This happened with the following fabric I located.

It disguised itself as an Ikea curtain, but I could see the dress it would transform itself into.


My Ikea hack - the upcycled curtain dress


How could I resist the lovely printed curtain panel? It was made of thick cotton and a nice length. I love the natural print design.

Here you can see me using my own paper pattern which I had used for my first dressmaking, you can read about it in a previous post of mine.

 This time I shortened the length.

You can see both dresses here next to each other.

My finished dress made from a curtain panel!!!

Later I worked on some extra pieces which I thought to add to make a sort of  'dotty angel frock dress' in my own style. I sewed some pockets and a collar bib by hand which I embellished with some crochet touches.

Upon checking I realized that less was more, and left them off. They might come in handy for another creation!

I really like how the dress looks now, letting the pattern and shape speak for itself.

Extra pockets

 

Matching bib collar

Attending a FEMMA Sewing workshop at the kringwinkel in Niel


You might recall that earlier this summer I mentioned I was taking part in a Sewing workshop at one of my local kringwinkels /charity shops, and yes, I was planning on blogging about it, so here it is, just a little bit later!

Really this played a part to encourage me on my new journey of dressmaking, sewing and upcycling.

This was hosted by an organisation called Femma which provides various courses, in this case it was sewing.

I went there with my youngest daughter, we had both registered for it. On the actual day it turned out we were the only ones (despite some other people having signed up for it!)

So we had the full attention and help of our teacher. We had some really good Bernina sewing machines there. I had brought one of my T-shirt tops that I hadn't really worn much and I bought a second patterned top there to use for this project. After some discussion and measuring, I decided that I wanted to add some panels to my top, which is what I did. My daughter had brought her own sewing project along.

Here you can see one of the finished side panels, with some added vintage crochet lace as a trim.

My upcycled Top with floral trim

My modelling shot (You can tell it was earlier this summer because my hair was really short then. It has grown quite a bit since then!!!)

And here is my instant 'new' sewing box collection with all sorts of goodies. I purchased it on the day of the workshop at the kringwinkel.

I also want to mention that things have been pretty busy this summer. I managed to injure my right knee end of April which caused me quite a fair amount of pain and discomfort. Anyway, long story short, I had an operation on my meniscus 7days ago and I'm hoping to finally get better now, though it might take more time. I also had various dental interventions which should soon be finished.

Crafting has helped me a lot to get through these difficult times. I want you to know I have more things to show you, but I decided to break them down into smaller parts!!!

I hope to see you back here soon...

Thanks for stopping by!!! 😊

A crafty corner makeover, more knitted hats, a bit of colour and an amazing find

Hello my dear blogfriends!

Thanks for your patience, it's been a bit longer between posts this time. Firstly, my daughter came to stay for a second time! So we've been out and about a fair bit and generally things have been rather busy. In addition to that, I'm still suffering from a horrible cold that refuses to go away, this morning I woke up with a nasty sore throat that feels like I swallowed a cheese grater!!!

Let me say another thanks and welcome to all my new followers, it is lovely to have you all here!
Thanks for all your lovely comments on my last post!

A crafty corner makeover

This time I want to show you the result of my tidying, clearing up and re-organising my little crafty corner. Unfortunately I did not take a photo of the towering inferno that was piling up on top of my craft cabinet, so I can only show you the 'after' photos. Let me assure you that this is a huge improvement and it pleases me much more to look at it now! It took me an entire afternoon, so be warned if you start something like this! But of course, you could sort out just a small corner to start with! I know I got a lot more to do!

My craft cabinet after the makeover!

Displaying some favourite little things

My vintage Spool holder

More treasures!

I love buttons!!!

My various drawers that I painted about 2 years ago

A couple of summers ago, I was really into painting my various wooden drawers, some of which I had for years, plus I managed to find some more here in charity shops! Finally I can access these drawers better! And now they house lots of crafty bits and pieces! When ordering your materials, you can be totally creative - lots of glass jars, liquid washing tabs containers, even food containers, biscuits tins etc can all be used. I find it works best for me when I can see the contents such as the buttons in the jars, but other things are best out of sight (in drawers or trays).

The printers tray, and the children's sewing box were also charity shop finds previously!

Do you have any useful storage ideas that work well for you?


Some finished projects

The following 2 projects have been finished meanwhile the week before. Here are some in progress pictures.

This is my second Alpaca Shawl - meanwhile finished!

21.01.15 Finished this hat for a friend

More knitted hats

When my daughter came back, I knitted her a headband and another hat, plus a new hat for myself, all within 2 days!!!

The knitted headband before it was sewn together

Left hat for me, Right hat and headband for my daughter

And here once more, all my recent knits made from Rico yarn

A bit of colour

Well, by now you probably come to expect quite a bit of colour when you come to visit this blog, right? This is a little bit different! Yes, I'm doing colouring in for adults and it is great fun. I tend to buy a weekly notebook/magazine called flow weekly which I use for making notes, drawing charts and more! This is a page that was for colouring in! But I also bought a big colouring in book! Have any of you tried it? I'd be interested to find out!

An amazing find!

Look at this! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it! A handknitted tunic in Autumn colours (sorry, the colours do not come out so well in this picture which I took in the charity shop when I saw it!)

I tried it on and it fitted me fine, so I had to have it! My daughter agreed that it suits me! In fact, I am wearing it today. What is more, I totally appreciate that someone has handmade it (I can imagine how much hard work went into it, not to mention the amount of colourful yarn and how much it must have cost!) Needless to say I only paid a snip for it! Plus I found a lovely grey jumper with mohair and silk (not handmade), that also gives me a favourite comfy jumper feel!

However, all this has not put me off wanting to knit my own jumpers!

I want to wish you all a happy weekend, what are your plans? Have you scheduled in some crochet or knitting time?

As always, I love reading your comments, so feel free to leave me yours!

My Summer Shawl is finished and all about the South Bay Shawlette

Yesterday I finished my pretty Summer Shawl (from the book PUUR Haken)!

Well, the main part was finished thursday evening, including sewing in all the little ends. Friday I played about with adding a border in Purple. The pattern showed a border which went all the way around the 3 sides of the shawl, but I didn't like the idea.

This is what my finished Shawl looks like now:

Do the Butterfly!

Here you can see the pattern really well

Laid out flat (168 x 58 cm)

My own custom border in Purple

In fact, you could say for me this summer was the summer of shawls! 
Up to then, I had never tried to crochet a shawl before. (I made my own crochet Poncho in Primary school, but this is something else!)

Then I came across this pattern and I thought I would give it a go:
The South Bay Shawlette. (In fact, since then I started to collect their many free patterns!)

The South Bay Shawlette - this was my first attempt:

Made with Apilou Acrylic in Coral (164 x 80 cm)

Then came this:

The smallest - crocheted with a 1.5mm hook and turned into a necklace! (16 x 8 cm)

 And a Chunky version or two!

In Charcoal Chunky Merino Wool (92 x 40 cm)

In Deep Purple Chunky Merino Wool with added Border at the point and 2 little yoyos as ties (115 x 54cm)

Ok, I think I got it now, let's get serious! (The largest!)

With the most luxurious yarn: Silky Merino by Malabrigo in colour Indiecita (210 x 92 cm)

Each of the 8 balls of yarn was individually hand dyed and unique

 And one more with a different yarn - thick Cotton!

Yes, you saw this before! Here! (132 x 61 cm)

All together now!

Layering the shawls

All 7 close up

The blue one is my favourite, it feels so soft and I often shrug it on and off whenever I feel a bit cold. It lives on the back of my chair!

The two shorter chunky ones I will wear facing frontwards around my neck for the cold weather.

I also love the idea that you can use a pattern like this to make a necklace, because I love making necklaces from yarn. My upcycling idea is to use this as a piece of lace and sew it to a plain top or jumper, instantly adding new interest!

It has been fun making all of these! At the beginning of the year I decided that I wanted to learn and try out new things with my crafting, trying to push back some boundaries, and I believe that I am doing that. I also come to realize that a lot of being good at something is just practice, practice and more practice. Using one pattern and then trying it with different yarns, colours and ideas is so much fun! I know that I am not finished with this pattern, it has an easy going rhythm. If you have not tried it yet, download the free instructions and save it until you are in the mood for something new.

Do you have a favourite shawl pattern (preferably a free one), that you would like to share here?
(Please remember to link to the original site where it came from)

I hope I have given you all a bit of new inspiration here! It does not take long to make a shawl and soon you could be wearing it as the weather is getting cooler!

And hello to everyone who has recently started reading my blog, thanks for all your lovely comments, I enjoy reading them and hearing from you!

Wishing you all a relaxing weekend, and for my readers in the UK, enjoy your special Bank Holiday!