DIY: Cute ragdoll-dress for summer

A few years back I used to work at a fabric store. As a result I still have boxes upon boxes filled with fabric. Last Autumn I went through my whole stash and reorganized everything into neat piles and put them in clear boxes so I could see everything. Since then my fabric stash has been a bit more manageable.

I have vowed to not by new fabric until my stash is greatly diminished, so in order to do that I try to sew every now and again. Since I am also slowly creating a new wardrobe this goes hand in hand with the sewing. Problem is I usually need a lot of time and very good inspiration in order to sew. Pattern creation and new garments take a lot of time.

So last Monday inspiration hit and I happened to have extra time on my hands. Thus I went through my stash in search of fabrics that might match. I wanted to make a lace dress, but I did not have enough lace to make both the top and bottom parts of a full circle skirt dress. So I chose a black chiffon with a floral pattern for the skirt part and a lace for the top and sleeves. For lining I found a viscose with a very nice feel to it and a good weight. So I started cutting out pattern pieces, playing tetris with the pattern to get all the pieces out of my half meter lace fabric.

Top pieces cut.

Once I had everything cut I started with the lining of the skirt. I serged the hem and added a 25cm wide lace to it, ruffling it slightly. I then hemmed the edge of the chiffon but ran into some trouble with my serger. Frustrated and a bit tired already, I decided to cover the hem of the chiffon up with a red velvet ribbon. Some years ago I bought 15 meters of this ribbon and I thought I could finally put at least some of it to good use.

Once the skirt part was done I got started with the top. With both the lace and the lining I started by joining the shoulder seams together. I then attached the unlined sleeves and sandwiched them between the lining and the lace. I had to undo the seams and put them back together again because I was tired and wasn't paying attention to which way I was fastening them, but a frustrating 45 minutes later I was back on track.

Once the sleeves were attached I started thinking about how to hem them. I looked through my lace ribbon stash and found some stretchy, not so wide lace and decided to hem the sleeves with that to give them a neater look. I finished the head opening of the dress in the same fashion.

Hemming the sleeves.

The last thing that remained was to attach the top to the skirt layers. I serged them together and put in a line of strengthening straight stitches. I then zig-zagged an elastic band to this waistline to make the skirt fit nicely and not just hang like a sack from my shoulders. And here is the finished dress:

In all these are the materials I used:

1,2 m chiffon
1,5 m viscose (lining)
0,5 m lace fabric
6 m of 25 cm wide lace (lining hem)
5 m red velvet ribbon
1,7 m stretch lace (sleeves, head opening)
1 m of 0,7 mm wide elastic
black and red sewing thread.

Time: I think it took me about 8 hours from start to finish, including pattern drafting, meal breaks, chatting with friends and going for a walk in between. Had I worked non-stop I could probably have halved the time.

The dress fits nicely and the viscose works really well as a lining fro this dress. In all it feels light to wear, it is super cute and the uneven hem hives it a slightly rag-doll feel. Hmm. I wonder what I should make next.

~Stella

Recipe: comforting ramen

Spring is upon us here in Finland and I am being plagued by the spring cold. So here is my recipe for a comforting ramen dinner. I just used what I happened to have in my pantry and fridge: some greens and leftover teriyaki chicken.

Here are the ingredients:

Salad
Daikon
Cucumber
Avocado

Ramen bowl
Ramen
Soft boiled egg
Red bell pepper
Carrot, about a five cm piece
Two small shiitake mushrooms
About 1 dl of left over teriyaki chicken
Fresh spring onions

Broth
Half a cube of vegetable broth
One package of instant miso soup
Spring onion
2,5 dl water

Making this takes about 15 minutes and is super easy. I never measure ingredients precisely, I just use what I happen to have around and what I feel like eating. But let's jump into making this, starting with the salad:

Making the salad

Prepare a bowl with ice cold water. Start by grating some daikon. I had a piece lying around and grated enough that I could fit in my hand by lightly squeezing it. Julienne the cucumber into thin strips. I used half of a 6 cm piece. Add the cucumber strips to the ice water and let them sit there with the daikon for the rest of your prep time. Peel and slice some avocado.

When you are ready to serve, gently squeeze the water out of the daikon and cucumber mix and add to a bowl or plat together with the avocado.

The ramen bowl

Lets make the eggs first: Bring a good amount of water to the boil and gently lower an egg into it. Boil for 6 minutes and then remove the egg, dunking it into ice water to stop the cooking process. Before serving, cut the egg in half.

Cook your ramen noodles according to the instructions on the package. Mine took about 3 minutes. Pour them into a strainer and run them under cold water until cool to prevent them from going mushy.

For the vegetables: Slice the shiitake and julienne the carrot and pepper. Thinly. Since you will only be adding hot broth to the ramen bowl and won't cook the veggies it is best to slice them as thinly as possible. Slice the spring onions thinly at an angle.

Assemble by placing the noodles in the bottom of a bowl and arranging all other ingredients on top: vegetables, mushrooms, chicken and egg halves. Add the spring onion garnish last.


The broth

Add water to a saucepan and add in the vegetable broth cube, the instant miso soup (or a couple of teaspoons), and the spring onions. I usually save the white spring onion part for this and use the greener bits as garnish. Bring to a boil and simmer for a few minutes. Pour over the ramen bowl.

The cool crunchiness of the salad adds a nice juicy contrast to the ramen bowl. Need more salt? Add a splash of soy sauce. Enjoy while hot with some nice green tea.


~Stella

Review: Witch Casket January Box

It has taken me a while to get there, but I am finally ready to review the first box I got from Witch Casket. I will not talk about every item in it, but rather focus on the general impression and a few specific products. Disclaimer: This is my personal review and thoughts on this subscription box. I pay for it with my own money and I am not sponsored in any way by Witch Casket.

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Witch Casket is a small company run from Britain by mother-daughter duo Deb and Ella. The subscription box was launched in November 2016 and has subscribers in 20 countries. The box does not come with tracking so be aware of this if you consider a subscription. Deb and Ella are however very responsive to e-mail and are active on social media, posting pictures of their caskets shipping out.

At the end of 2017 I decided to order this subscription box. The boxes ship on the 15th of each month and I received mine on the 24th of January. I believe it took this long to arrive because of the Finnish post being very slow sometimes. Anyway, let's jump to the contents:

These goodies arrived in a nice white carton box.

The box was well packaged and the presentation was very nice. The contents were wrapped in a grey silk paper, which made it feel like it had been prepared with great care. The smell of Nag champa incense met me almost immediately as I opened the box. I will not list all the contents, but rather here is a list of the contents that was provided in the box.

The contents as listed on the note that came in the box.

The first two items I picked out of the box were the art print and the book mark, both of which are among my favorites from this box. The print by Tea Cake Art is simply stunning. And as I love bookmarks and Edgar Allan Poe, the bookmark with a quote by him was right up my alley. However, before I continue with other favorites, let me talk a little bit about some other products in the box.

The Witch-beanie is really nice, but I am not sure how much I will be wearing it. The material is listed as 100% acrylic (which I am sure that is not true for the embroidery which is sure to be polyester), and I cannot stand acrylic. I try to use natural materials as much as possible and acrylic is plastic. It is often used as a substitute for wool because it can be made to mimic the feel of wool. But as I mostly use beanies while out in the woods, on hikes and in camp life where my materials have to be able to withstand fire and weather, I would not be able to bring this with me. It does fit nicely however, so I will try to find use for it, or to find a nice new home for it.

Ginger loose leaf green tea.

I drink a lot of tea and always love sampling different teas. This was a nice sampling size: 8 grams of loose green tea with some ginger in it. What I did lack were brewing instructions. Green tea cannot been brewed in too high temperatures as it will turn bitter. But in too low temperatures you will not be able to taste the ginger. I brewed mine in a teapot at about 75 degrees Celsius. The ginger was very subtle, to the point where I could barely taste it, but that could also be due to the cold I am suffering (and ginger is good to drink where you've got that cold going on). In general a basic tea that could maybe have had a bit more ginger in it. Enough for four small teacups or one large teapot.

My favorites from the January Witch Casket.

I already talked about the art print and the bookmark. I also mentioned that the box smelled of nag champa incense. There are 12 incense cones in the package and a small burner to hold your incense. This is always a good basic incense to have and the smell for some reason reminds me of fresh, clean laundry.

The stone is a black line Jasper and is a new stone for me, so it will be exciting to start working with it. I love buttons, so the witchy themed button with "Wisdom begins in wonder" was really lovely. It came in a small organza bag which will surely find its use as a spell satchel.

Lastly there is the book, which is also the theme for the January box: Grimoires, spellbooks and witch's journals. The book is hardcover. It has a small strap for fastening a pen or pencil to it (this would by the way have been a great addition to the box), and an elastic band for keeping the book closed. There is a bookmark band and inside the back cover is a pocket for keeping small notes etc. The pages are cream paper and they are lines.

Notebooks are always good to have. I have not yet decided what to use mine for as I already have more notebooks than I could count. I do know, however, that it will come in handy and be put to good use.

So what are my final thoughts on this box?

• The box was very nicely packaged and the color theme and packaging throughout was well completed and thought out.
• Some of the products seemed more like lifestyle-products than as something to do with magic (eg. the beanie, sticker and skull spoon) but they do follow the general witchy theme.
• There could have been a bit more tea, but the amount included was a good sample size. Brewing instructions would be good to include.
• The emotional healing charm bag kit could have included more information about the separate ingredients included in it. Especially for beginners it would be good to know what qualities the ingredients represent. 

In general I felt like the products tied very loosely together with each other, and there was a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Some items clearly were linked to the theme of spell books/grimoires, but most felt like they were just products with a witchy theme. I am however positively impressed by the box and the quality of the contents. They provide inspiration to a magical life and to perform spells. Receiving the notebook at the beginning of the year inspires making notes about one's magical journey though the year of 2018. The bookmark begs to be used either to mark pages in that journal or in some book on magic one might pick up and read during this year.

In short, I am happy with the box and I am looking forward to reviewing the next one (which arrived earlier this week).

Many blessings!
~Stella

Flea-market haul

I like crafting and DIY a lot. And the local flea-markets and secondhand stores are a treasure trove for finding inspiration for new projects. I do not go as often as I would like, mostly to protect my wallet from bleeding too much.

Now there is one place in particular here that has very nice prices and also stocks a separate handicrafts department. I went there yesterday because I got a tipoff that there was an old guitar there for sale. I found the guitar, an old Landola (which is a local Finnish brand). It lacked strings and the screws were very worn, but that is easy to fix. The most worrisome part is that the neck is slightly loose from the body, probably because of someone putting metal strings on it instead of nylon. I bought it anyway (and managed to negotiate the price). I intend to restore it as I know a carpenter who will be able to help. Then hopefully I will have a very good quality second guitar that I can bring with me on trips or for work.

As I happened to be in this particular flea-market, I decided to go to the craft department, and lo and behold did I find nice things there. At the end of my visit I came away with a large cookie-pillow for making bobbin lace. I have been thinking of buying one but around here they are very expensive. So finding one for a miniscule prize was a real stoke of luck. I will change out the fabric on it and redo some of the padding, as it is a little too soft for my liking. Then I'll just have to find bobbins somewhere, as I won't get far with the two pairs I have.

I also found a very nice 20 cm wide, cream colored bobbin lace. It was in two pieces but together they measure about 3 meters. I paid 5 euros for it, and I'm fairly certain that had I found it at a normal store the price would have been 20-30 euros per meter. I felt amazingly lucky. Now the lace seems old and has some discoloring, so I am debating with myself whether I might be able to gently wash and dye it. Anyhow, it will certainly feature in some future project.

I found a small handbook on traditional wood carving. This will be a gift for the aforementioned carpenter. Lastly, but maybe what I prized most, was a leaflet with diagrams and models for embroidering monograms. It featured many different styles, and gives ideas for arranging letters, and embellishment around monograms. I have been looking for something similar for a while. And it will be a joy to dig into this one.

That is all for this time. Have a nice day!

~Stella

The pain of recreating a wardrobe

Eight to ten years ago I was at the height of my gothness. I had moved away from home to study in a big city. I had no money to spend on expensive goth clothing, but I sewed a lot, thrifted things and got things cheap on sale (like a full length cloak that was half price). As I was really tiny at the time I could fit everything I found at the thrift stores, and if something was too big I could just take it in. I had a good wardrobe. I was happy in my dark clothing.

Here is an old picture:

I was studying Theology at the time and some art students had a photography project going on about people who dressed differently than was expected for their field.

Then life happened. I had to start dressing more "normal" and at the same time I spiraled into depression. I kept sinking for a few years without realizing it. Suddenly my body had matured and I had gained weight. My old clothes did not fit me anymore. I still managed to keep a "going out"-wardrobe, but it got increasingly difficult. In the end I gave up for the sake of my sanity.

For the past year I have been slowly rebuilding my wardrobe. I have a ton of fabrics in my closet just waiting to be turned into creative pieces of extravagance. But for some reason it has been very difficult to get started with sewing.

I have been trying to thrift again, but most of the nice things I find do not fit me. I buy ready made goth clothing if I can find it on sale or cheaply, but only if I believe it will be of good quality and if I absolutely love it. I refuse to buy anything that will just sit in my wardrobe and do nothing. I'm also hesitant to order online because I don't want to get the wrong size. My body has also molded itself into such a non standard form that nothing of standard sizing will fit me properly. Hence my love of lacing closures.

But yes, I keep designing items of clothing that I want to wear. Weather or not I end up making them shall remain to be seen. I have at least gotten started with a new skirt, and as soon as I get a button installed it will be done (and it is turning out sooo pretty).

I am getting there, one clothing item at a time. And I really want to get back to my old level of just being able to sit down and sew three items of clothing a day. Those were fun times.

Some life updates

I hope your new year has begun in a nice manner!

Mine has been very hectic. I started a new job as a music teacher and between lessons and preparing the next day I have had zero time to think about blogging. I have tried to squeeze in some sewing during the weekends so I have a few projects I will show off here as soon as I have time to photograph them. If you want to follow me more closely you can find me on Instagram under the name @stellagreymoore.

Anyway, I love my new job. Yes, it is very hectic, but it is also very creative and challenging in a good way. I find myself pushing forward and challenging myself in ways I had not imagined possible. 15 years ago in school we all had to try playing the drums and the bass guitar. I have not tried them since, which I have always felt is a shame. I have never played the electric guitar. During the past week I have delved into all of these. I picked up my old acoustic guitar again and started playing at home, and I bought an ukulele because apparently that is the hip instrument to play today.

I studied to be a teacher for half a year as an extra part for my degree, but not as a music teacher. I have a degree in studies of religion. So getting my mind set to teaching music from kids age 7 to youngsters age 19 has been mental gymnastics. I am getting there, at my own pace. And I'm having a lot of fun with it. The only downside, as mentioned, has been that I have not had time to blog.

Hopefully that will change soon because I have a few things I have planned. I've decided to try out the Witch Casket box and once the January box arrives I am planning on doing a box opening and review of the content.  I'm also planning some other reviews, and I am planning on trying to put up a few more recipes and sewing tutorials.


That is pretty much all for now. Enjoy your tea and may your new year be productive!

~Stella

December haul: Something to start the new year

Yule has gone by and the holiday sales are on in stores. I tend to go shopping at the time around new year as prices are lower and I usually have more time to spend shopping. This time I got my hands on some makeup, jewelry and stationery. 

Makeup products

One of the local makeup stores has recently started stocking NYX makeup. I have previously tried their liquid lipsticks and I quite liked them. So I went in to look at them. I ended up buying a couple of lipsticks, some lipliners (actually eyeliners, but they will work just fine on lips as well for my purposes), a liquid eyeliner and a eye makeup base.. In a jewlry store I found the nail stencils which I'll be trying out. 

Bats!

I got the ring from the same jewelry store as the nail stencils. The bat necklace and earrings I got in the mail. I ordered them some time back and they are absolutely lovely. The only thing wrong with them was that the earring hooks were on the wrong way, but that was easily fixed.

Stationery.

I also went shopping for some stationery. So I got a new bullet journal, some cute sticky notes with birds on them and some scrap-booking paper. The "Your[sic] one in a melon" (which is horribly misspelled) contains some bigger sticky notes and weekly to do-lists. The smaller pads with owls and lemons also contains different sized sticky notes. I use these quite a lot ans since they were on sale I grabbed a couple.

Lastly I went shopping for some hiking gear. I got a new meal trey set: cup, bowl (both foldable), spork, cutting board, lunch box and a shaker for spices. I also got a few pairs of woolen hiking socks and a tarp. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of these but I will put them to use during spring.

With that I will now sit down with a nice cup of tea and start my new bullet journal for 2018. I wish you all a happy new year! May it be blessed and fulfulling!

~Stella