Part 3: A bit of various techniques and crafts projects.

A school project for the embroidery class: a choker of lace decorated with pearls.

A machine embroidery project at school, satin cover for a notebook, decorated with a layer of black tulle and an emroidery pattern I created. The backside has the other half of the butterfly. I named the notebook "The Book of Insanity and Obsession".

A piece of embroidery, made for the pocket of Jarno's pyjamas. The pyjamas is a fine example of how a bad choice of materials can ruin the whole thing. The cotton velvet was of perfect colour, but unfortunately of weak quality: It was soon worn thin, literally. I also picked viscose satin (lining material) for the edging and collar, because it again had the matching colour, but it got awfully crumpled and water-stained when washed. Well, at least the embroidery turned out okay...

Tiny socks for a baby girl of friend's. When it comes to knitting I follow magazine patterns, as I'm not really an expert. I enjoy it occasionally, though.

One year I made these shawls for Christmas presents, the green one for my Mom, the violet one for Jarno's Mom, and the red one for Kaisa. The crochet pattern is taken from magazine, though I take pride in figuring out how to make the half squares at the upper end by myself. Both knitting and crocheting are, by the way, a very relaxing and calming pastime, great for sitting in a bus going to work or at coffee breaks.

 

Another Christmas present, I made two similar angel decorations like this. The head and the hands I bought ready made, but the arms and torso I made of fabric and wadding according to the tiny basic dress pattern I had drawn. Obviously custom fitted pattern works for shaping the body too... The angel is dressed in traditional pseudo renessaince/classic inpired garb. The wings are ready made too, but I sewed the feathers on them. While I begun the dolls in good time I of course finished them at the last minute (the second one at Christmas Eve).

 

Another crazy whim of mine: To get a bedcover matching my lovely new silk curtains, I decided to make it myself. The quilting pattern (which comes from the faint pattern in the wallpaper) is copied on the underside fabric on pencil. Add wadding, silk, a lot of basting and then go stitching... which was easier said than done, the sheer size of the project in one piece creating some challenge. I could never have managed it with a small sewing machine, but with my heavy one I got through it somehow with only occasional wrinkles. You can easily tell in which direction I was sewing on different parts, however, but by hand I would probably never have finished it, and I really wanted to get it. I'm not sure if I'd try the same again, though, not at least any time soon.

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End of "smaller projects"-gallery