About that time I went to London and only took like two pictures...

... Ok, that's a lie. I took more than two. But I did manage to meet up with a few awesome sewing bloggers and leave them with only one group shot taken. Here it is:

From left to right: me, Kathryn, Roisin, Roisin's boyfriend Nic and Solvi. We met up for a nice brunch and even though all these people were sort of strangers to me (except for Roisin, who helped me get my greedy paws on awesome fabric before) we hit it off right away. After stuffing our faces we went to Liberty, where I limited myself to sewing notions, and then to an amazing vintage shop where drawers of fabric just kept popping up. I left with the flower print in this picture:

It's a curtain, but a very lightweight one, and I think I have enough for a summer dress. The other fabric is a cotton voile I bought in Brighton after developing an instant crush.

After the shopping we went for drinks at a pub. Again, I didn't take any pictures, but managed to make a quick sketch:

My portraits usually don't really look like their subjects, it's more of a way to get a quick impression, almost like a note in a diary.

After this we went searching for a place to eat and ended up in an amazing marble miracle of a place, but again, no photographs. I was too busy enjoying my crème brûlée. Zoe from So, Zo joined us for dinner, she really is a sweetheart. After all this it was time to say goodbye. It was an exhausting day but the best start I could possibly imagine for my stay in London!

The rest of the vacation was great as well. Here are some pictures I did take:

We went to Brighton to fill our lungs with sea air and meet up with an illustrator friend. It turned out to be a very pleasant surprise: the city was so incredibly nice, with loads of cool stuff to be found. We even made a new friend:

I've identified this guy as a lesser spotted dogfish, but feel free to correct me! I was pretty impressed, finding a shark doesn't happen every day.

We also tracked down my boyfriend's long-lost Spanish cousin.

And then we went to see the location used as 221B Baker Street in the BBC Sherlock series. You can actually rent the flat right now, even though it looks nothing like the set of course.

That's all there is to say right now! I have an outfit post coming up, so stay tuned for that!

Beam me up to Bed

So, I finished school. I don't officially have my degree yet, but I'm pretty sure this was my last year as a student. I'm officially a grown up now.

So what's the first thing to do after presenting my final project?

Why, make some Star Trek inspired pyjamas, dress up as Spock and pose in front of a galaxy backdrop of course. It's only logical.

I made these for Karen's pyjama party, and posting them a bit early (the deadline is on Sunday). I decided to enter since I've been sleeping in some ratty old shorts and any t-shirt I could find for way too long. I had previously thought of the Starfleet uniform as the perfect inspiration for pyjamas since it looks so comfy, and decided to make some appropriate for summer.

The top is the Colette Sorbetto top, a free pattern I never bothered to make because I don't like boxy tops on me. I lowered the nexline a bit, skipped the front pleat and used storebought bias tape to bind the edges. There were no real necessary alterations to the fit, and even though I was right about not liking the shape on me, I do like it as a comfortable sleeping top. It's made up in a bright blue lightweight cotton.

The shorts were traced from a pair I already owned, and have a simple elastic waist. They are made from a slightly heavier black cotton (I do suspect some poly in there) and feel quite sturdy.

I decided to add a little extra touch to the uniform by cutting the shape of the Starfleet insignia out of a make up sponge and stamping it onto the shirt. It came out surprisingly well, I'm curious about how it will hold up in the wash!

That's all there is to say about my pyjamas. Live long and prosper, or should I say, sleep well and prosper?

London Calling

Two posts in one day, while I'm on a break! This is just a quick heads up to say that I'll be on a short trip in London soon (from June 22nd to June 26th to be exact) and I'd like to know if some local sewists would be interested in meeting up for a chat or some fabric shopping. If you are interested, feel free to e-mail me at annekecaramin(at)hotmail.com!

With my brother on my first ever trip to London, about four years ago. Look at that babyface!

I'm still alive!

... Just working really hard to finish my book!

I thought I'd show you a few of the images I've finished so far, and picked the ones that have to do with sewing:

The story is fairly simple: an extremely shy seamstress lives her life dreaming through the clothes she makes for other people, until she gets a rough wake-up call and decides to take control of her real life. All the separate bits of the drawings are hand cut out of coloured paper and put together digitally. Hope you like it and see you soon!