Radiant Red

This radiant red wax block printed fabric is simply gorgeous. At least to me 🙂 It seems like it was just designed to make shining dresses from it. So this is exactly what I did.

As the pattern of the fabric is so beautiful and perfect by itself I decided to sew a very simple dress letting the pattern come into its own without to much bric-a-brac.

To make it comfortable I added two pockets, placed in the seam, where they are perfectly hidden.

At the waist I used a ruffle tape that creates littles pleats while the dress stays flexible. On the right side of the dress the seam of the ruffle tape is only slightly visible.

As the fabric itself isn’t stretchy at all, it was necessary to cut little triangles into the seam allowance before folding it in and sewing the seams of the neckline and the armholes. But with that little trick it worked really well.

So, ready for summer 🙂

Soundtrack of the day:

 

 

 

 

 

Werbung

It’s the details…

When designing new patterns for cloths or accessories, I prefere sticking to clear lines, keeping it simple, without ruches, knick-knack etcetera. Nevertheless I like little extras, not too striking, sometimes only catching the eye at the second or third sight, and  sometimes a bit more flashy.

Here are two examples: The first one is the underside of a pocket flap of a jacket. You can only see it when I put my hand into my pocket to get something out or put something into it. Otherwise it is just a black jacket:

The second one is a black bag to which I added a bias tape with a leopard pattern. The bias tape is just extending some millimeters at the stitching, the rest of the bag is completely black.

Part of the added details are also the labels. I screen print them in different colours on cotton and on Tyvek and I always have a collection of them at home so that I can decide spontaneously what colour to use for the finished garment.

My soundtrack of the day:

Try it – Do it – Make it!

This weekend I am part of the Make Munich, a Maker Festival and DIY Fair, where I am doing funny things together with about 180 other exhibitors 🙂

Today was the first day and I would like to share some impressions from what happend so far before falling asleep immediately…

So, as you can see you can meet me and my sewing machine there:

The Make Munich is not only about DIY, but more about trying things you never did before. At my stand you can design your own Tyvek wallet – which means, you can get a ready made one that you can paint by yourself at the stand or you can sew and decorate your own – than for free. The more DIY – the better 🙂

 

Of course I support you with the sewing machine if you want! I had a really great day with all the people sewing at my stand, some of them for the first time in their lives, but all of them sewing plastic for the first time ever.

I also have a selection of my screenprinted wallets with me and some other things. As I am really tired and still want to preprare some stuff for tomorrow this is all for today – I am already excited about the second day tomorrow. Good night for now!

Make it shine!

Well, besides the fact that my favourite colour is – and always will be – black, I am absolutely fascinated by and in love with wax block printed fabrics. When I see a shop with ankara fabrics I could stay there for hours, looking at all the different colourful pieces of cloth. For me, ankara fabrics make every sewing pattern special, even the most easy one. Here I used them e.g. for sewing tote bags:

The colours of wax block printed fabrics are literally shining. Even if washed a lot of times they stay intensive like on the first day.

Of course they are also brilliant for clothing. Here you can see a baby dress I made out of a wax block printed fabric.

If you would like to see more, have a look at the shop🙂 More clothes made out of ankara fabrics are coming soon!

 

Adding good memories to the wardrobe

Again a post about a bag! But this time, I didn’t print it myself but I reused a neckerchief I got at a street party a while ago. More exactly, it is a purple triangular scarf with a screenprint on it. As I liked the statement as much and the design and as I have a lot of good memories of the party I decided to keep it in order to make something lasting out of it.

I finally decided to sew a bag with it looking a little bit like a normal tote bag but again with some extras. So I added a lining and some inside pockets, one with a zipper and two without.

As you can see I also added a purple piping ribbon again. For the piping I reused shoelaces what I do very often when making piping ribbons, because it works really good, and a purple bias tape.

The bag also has a bottom and side parts to make it more stable and more spacious than a normal tote bag. The neckerchief found its place on the outer side of the bag.

This was a quick and easy made bag, but full of good memories and hopefully long-lasting and accompanying me for a very long time.

My soundtrack while sewing:

Take your time

This bag really took some time. The setting copy is not really new, I already developped it some years ago and used it for a skirt. The pictures are not very good, but you can guess at least a bit how it looks like. However, I always wanted to use it also for other stuff but couldn’t decide what exactly to do with it.

So one day when I was screenprinting and I had some time and some space on a screen left I just printed the motif on some black cotton. Back at home I decided to make a bag out of it, but not just a normal tote bag but one with a piping ribbon, lining and inside pocket. Here you can see some of the steps of the developping process of the bag.

On the inside there is a pocket with a zipper and the screenprinted logo. Both the outer side of the bag and the lining are sewn separately first and then put together.

I only made one unique piece of the bag. Perhaps more will be following or I will again use it for something new. If you like the bag, you can get it here!

My soundtrack while working on it:

Food = DIY <3

Well… I think it is not surprising that for Curiøsa of course food is part of the DIY culture, too. I love cooking, especially with perfect pure and tasteful ingredients. I try buying fresh food and groceries at the local markets but I like to keep it diversified so I always bring food when I come back from travelling and at home I am always on the lookout for food produced by small and sustainable businesses.

And because I’d like to support one-(wo)men and family-run businesses in agriculture that try to make a positive impact on the environment I startet to share my recipes at the blog of my good friends Dragasias Foods.

The first one is about goat cheese, honey, thyme and olive oil 🙂 Get it here! Enjoy!

And concerning influencer marketing: No, I was not paid for posting that 🙂

Developing new motifs: From Cimitero Monumentale della Certosa di Bologna to screenprinted fabrics

Developing motifs for screenprinting for me is like developing new patterns for garments. It all starts with a spontaneous idea. And then a lot of work is following… but also a lot of fun 🙂 Today I would like to share the creation of one of my recent motifs for screenprinting.

I really like old European cemeteries from the 18th and 19th century. I am always impressed by the work that has been done by sculptores, landscape architects and gardeners such a long time ago and I love the combination of art with nature spreading around it. So when I visited Bologna I really wanted to see the Cimitero Monumentale della Certosa di Bologna and I wasn’t disappointed. Besides the monumental sculptures the many small items impressed me. For example this hourglass with wings that I found there:

So I took a photo of it and back home I started to convert the picture into a printing pattern for screenprinting. Here you can see some steps of the preparation of the pattern. I always use digital and analog methods when working on a new motif as you can see:

And here you can see the finished printing pattern for the screen, already copied on overhead transparency ready for the printing process:

I decided to try a free-hand allover print on a piece of black fabric and to make a tote bag out of it.

To keep it real I had to bring it back to a cemetary to take pictures of it ;-))) Enjoy! And if you like the bag or would be interested in other accessories with the same motif drop me a line. I am always happy to make unique pieces upon request!

The tote bag you can see here is available at the shop now!

My soundtrack while working on that motif:

DIY or DIY? DIY!

DIY for Curiøsa starts at the very beginning: with a design idea and the development of a suitable pattern. Nearly all of the patterns I use have been developped by myself. Only if I want to sew something very quick for myself, I sometimes use ready-made patterns. But most of the time I prefer experimenting and trying out new ideas that are on my mind.

When I found this beautiful GOTS-certified jersey cloth @lebenskleidung, I decided to get some to make a couple of t-shirts and dresses out of it. Today I’d like to show you the becoming of the t-shirt 🙂

You don’t need much to sew a t-shirt: about half a meter of your preferred fabric, about 30 centimetres of bias tape for the shoulders to prevent them from wearing out and that’s it. You start with ironing the bias tape on to the shoulder seams and then you sew the shoulders together.

After that you sew the side seams and the sleeve caps:

For the shoulders, the side seams and the sleeve caps I use an overlock, especially when working with jersey cloth, so the seams stay flexible. For the hem and the neckline I use a normal sewing machine with a twin needle:

Of course also the labels are handmade 🙂 I screenprinted them a while ago in different colours.

Here you can see the finished product:

If you like it, you can order it at the shop. If you don’t find your size, don’t hesitate to send me a message. I am always producing on a small scale, but requests for other sizes or colours are always welcome!

My soundtrack of the day while sewing:

The Passenger (recommended Soundtrack for this post; or just for every day.)

In an earlier post on this blog I already mentioned travelling and getting to know new places as a main inspiration for my projects. Today I would like to share some of the impressions I gained on my travels and what I made out of them back home.

Here we go!

Graffiti in Thessaloniki

 

Artwork in the streets of Bologna

 

Object on a wall in Ljubljana

 

Graffiti on the streets of Paris

 

Door of a shop in Bilbao