Mindful and Tees

Yeah NOW the new series has launched!

I have been very busy and kept quiet for a while. And a lot has happened. But what is nicer to write another post and talk about a new project!

Practicing Kundalini Yoga and teaching it made me very aware of the power of words. One word can change my whole frequency in an instant!

The other thing I really love is comfortable clothes. Clothes that I do not feel, that look nice and are of good quality. That is i can cu.

So I combined the two and my new series of Mindful Tees was created. I know for myself how good it is to be reminded of mindfulness and being mindful. And to have a mindful word on a comfortable Tee is just the perfect thing to me.

PEACE was the first word chosen. And funny enough the carving for the print was created under the most un-peaceful circumstances you can imagine, having a bunch of kids run around being excited about Easter. 

LOVE had a similar challenge and having finished those two prints made me really happy. 

In this series I combined sewing by hand and sewing with the machine. Having spent hours with thread and needle and a garment on my lap I have a learnt a lot and trained my feeling for the right tension or better lack of it, construction and most comfortable design to be able to offer a more economic version. Only constructed by machine I added a reinforcing decorative stitch by hand (as usual). Living on a Hand sewn wardrobe for years I will tell you that the quality is so very high and my organic material choices made each piece last a very long time. This might be against the times but I love to have fewer pieces I love and wear them until they dissolve one day.......

So with this fusion I can be sure the comfort is excellent and the the embroidery gives the additional unique look.

Ok, there is so much more to do.

Peace. Love.

Rusty accident, New Moon & a New Top!

New Moon on the wrong day ....

Why is that? I have a moon app and I was really very sure that New Moon was yesterday. I even did my Moon fast yesterday. But then this afternoon I read weird posts on facebook concerning the moon and checked my app and had to find out that New Moon is today, never mind.

A good timing for this post. I worked on a new order, a men's vest and because it is still school holiday I had to squeeze it in somewhere and found a gap. So I developed the pattern and checked and double checked and then when I was happy I started cutting the fabric, wow, this is running smoothly.

Pinned and stitched I put it on my tailor's stand, which is not accurate because it is a men's vest but as it is for a size S, I could at least see its shape and collar. It looked nice. Good that I had a similar vest to compare sizing because it was far too wide.

How did that happen?

I haven't done a top all summer, so I might be a bit rusty but intuitively, I added a bit to the pattern being used to making ladies clothes. I know my patterns and know when I need to cut a bit wider so there is more room for drape and change and fine tuning, so this might be why it happened. 

This vest has a similar cut like my Hand stitched favorite Tank top, just with a men's shape, as in smaller armholes, smaller cut for front and back neckline, and it is a bit less tailored at the waist. 

So no chance for adjustment here unless I changed the pattern and create instead of a one-seam top a 3-seam-top. But the really comfortable thing about this one seam is that it feels fantastic on the body, because no seam is bothering you anywhere and the one seam that holds it together and gives the shape is on the back. So the answer was no, I had to check the pattern again, make sure that the pattern was super accurate and then concentrate to cut it at the line without adding anything.

There was enough fabric left, I started again. 

And what to do with the unusable top? I tried it on had to find out that it looked really nice on me. I never thought of using these differences on a ladies top. That is why I probably like it. The neckline is a bit higher than I would normally go. But because men have wider shoulders there is more space at the sides of the neck and this makes the whole décolleté very interesting and loose. And as men's waist is less accentuated than women's it floats nicely down my sides without touching and comes to an halt at my waist where it drapes. 

I shall finish it and take a pic.... Nice to have a new order and a new top for myself at the same time!

Happy New Moon!
x

Lotus and the Beach

Yoga in progress

My newest challenge is Bound Lotus. I have avoided Lotus in general the last years as I was either too fat or not flexible enough. But now the Baby-fat is fading and this summer had a good aspect as I had nothing else to do at night than doing my Yoga Set, every day. So Lotus is possible now, Bound Lotus still a big mission though. But I must say after 11 minutes with lots of props and some suffering, I feel really good afterwards, just wondering when will I enjoy 31 minutes without too much pain.....

Meanwhile my Hand stitched Yoga Tunic in natural Organic Cotton Bamboo Jersey is finished. The seam is at the front this time, as it might bother me while practicing kriyas on the back. Also, it is neither too wide nor too tight as I want to be able to do inverted postures without showing my belly. I enjoy being aware of my body but do not want to be trapped like a sausage, so I chose the middle way. 

As you can see on the picture, I took it on an outing and this Tunic is really fun to mix with blue and grey. The material is fantastic to wear (Bamboo!) and with the Yoga Bra, the white feels even better, as it breaks the brightness.

The second Top of this special Hand stitched Yoga collection is also about to be finished, already thinking of variations with different seam colours but I might add some coloured versions anyway, as I am not sure to keep it all white....

I love big projects!

bra in progress

Rusty

It has been a long time... I am back on the Island and have to find out that my favorite cardigan has blown away. I aired it before I left for the airport and forgot to take it with me, the other option is of course that it shows up again in 3 weeks time or so, a special quality of the house I am living in at the moment.

The other thing I notice being away for so long does something. It changes perspective but also, it takes a while to get back into a routine. Saying that I spent the last days in a cloud and slowly made my way out, mainly by sleeping and doing nothing. But yesterday I had to do it: I worked on a sports bra.

I love the summer even when it is boiling hot like it was on the continent but also because I can wear the thinnest materials or hardly anything. The bikini top I made was really nice to have with me wearing it non stop. 

But it is getting cooler now, the materials need to be thicker and layers drape over layers, so straps and ties are definitely in the way. Also, for my Yoga routine I cannot have anything bothering me on my back or anywhere else...........



Still some supersoft Organic Bamboo Cotton fabric left I hid in my studio for some hours and started to develop my Yoga sports bra. I am not a fan of bras and never found one that was comfortable and nice looking. And the elastic always bothers me and wires?? Anyway I made this first version especially for Yoga. It has a simple T-shirt cut with one seam at the back and a wide elastic band sewn between 2 layers of fabric. 

I will test it and adapt it for the day version. 

So far: very nice and comfy.