b.s blog

Up next - socks!

2011-01-13T21:20:00.001+01:00

My next knitting project will be socks:

I'm going to use Wollmeise 100% Merino in the "am kalten Polar" colourway. I'm really looking forward to these, socks made from this yarn turend out really amazing: have a look! (link only works if you're a ravelry member - I highly recommend that to anyone who is interested in knitting!)

Delicous cakes! Yarn cakes!

2011-01-11T16:45:00.001+01:00

So many of those gorgeous hand-dyed yarns come in hanks. They are wonderful to watch at - but you can't knit them without winding them into a ball. Even better: a centre-pull ball! There are ball winders to help you do that (something like this for example), but I've never been willing to spend money for this. An alternative would be a nostepinne. I don't own one of these, therefore I'm using my standard egg whisker.

And that's how I do it:

First, let me introduce the protagonists:

A hank of Wollmeise 100% Merino in the "Blaue Tinte" colourway:

And a standard household egg whisker:

First, I untwist the hank:

When I'm alone I just sit on the couch, put my feet on the table and the big loop of yarn over me knees. Then I open my knees until the yarn sits tightly and doesn't go anywhere, but is not stretched too much.

One end of the yarn I tie to the wire part of the egg whisker:

Then I wrap the yarn around the handle of the whisker for a few centimeters:

And wrap a second layer on top of this one:

When you have two layers, you start wrapping the thread diagonally around the handle (white arrow). After each wrap, you turn the whisker a little bit towards you (red arrow):

This way, you get a nice criss-cross pattern:

Keep doing this until you have reached the desired height of the skein:

Then, you go for width: Don't put the thread all the way to the top/bottom of the ball, but stay little bit closer to the center (indicated by the white lines), so that the ball grows to be more cylindrical:

Soon, an edge starts to form:

And it grows ...

And finally, you're done:

Congratulations to your wonderful, easy-to-knit center-pull ball!

How to ...

2011-01-10T23:09:00.000+01:00

turn this

into one of these:

Coming soon!

Christmas dress

2011-01-07T22:27:00.000+01:00

It's a little bit late for Christmas, but I still haven't posted pictures of the finished Christmas dress:

Pattern: BurdaStyle 10/2009 115
Fabric: 100% wool tartan bought at a local fabric store
Alterations: I had to take in the princess seams at the waist quite a bit, and I cut a larger size at the hips, omitted the belt.

I wore the dress for the Christmas Celebration at my parents' place. Paired with a long, black cardigan this dress is quite wearable also at lower temparature - for going outdoors I would add tights and boots! And the festive look would require some make-up, of course ...

Shipwreck?

2011-01-07T18:53:00.002+01:00

This project definitely was not a wreck - it is probably the most gorgeous thing I have ever knit!

The pattern is Shipwreck Shawl, it was published in Knitty's Spring 2009 issue. It definitely is a huge project, but a quite simple knit once you're done with the center.

I used a lovely 100% silk yarn (Phildar Phil Soie). This yarn consists of 3 strands twisted together, I used only two of these for the project. Also, I bought it in purple and only later died it black. About 5000 seed beads were added to the (yo, k2tog) section of the shawl (yes, stringing them was a lot of work). On my Ravelry project page you can find extensive notes on that one!

Currently I'm working on a Sylvi coat/jacket which will be finished quite soon - stay tuned!

Nightsong

2010-12-16T21:19:00.003+01:00

Last Janury, I made a trip to the Wollmeise brick-and-mortar store, and among others, I bought a skein of Lace yarn in the "Roter Himbeermund" colourway. I was looking for a long time which pattern would be used for my first real lace yarn - and I decided on the lovely Gail (aka Nightsongs) lace shawl, which is available as a free download on Ravelry (sorry, only for members - I highly recommend registering, if you're in any way interested in knitting or crocheting).

First was a long night of winding the yarn into a skein, and then some more long nights of knitting - but I really really really love the result:

And a closer look on the lovely lace pattern:

The pattern was easy to knit, and as I did not make it very large it was also quite fast. I've worn it quite a lot as a neckerchief to a white pinstriped blouse which looks fabulous!

So long

Bettina

A Sneak Peek

2010-12-15T15:42:00.004+01:00

A Sneak Peek on my Christmas Dress:

What I have been up to in the last year

2010-12-15T12:32:00.012+01:00

I knitted a lot. Really. A lot.

From my first Wollmeise skeins purchased at the Webermarkt Haslach in Summer 2009, I knit my first lace projects:

The Skandal um Rosi turned into a Lace Ribbon Scarf, a wonderful pattern from Knitty Spring 2008:

ravelry project page

The Gewitterhimmel skein turned into a Zetor lace shawl:

ravelry project page

Tampobata (which I'm still absolutely in love with) became another Knitty pattern: Entomology from the Summer 2009 issue:

ravelry project page

From Grashüpfer, I knit a pair of Butterfly socks for my mom, unfortunatley I gave them to her before I could take a photo. I'll try to get one when I go home for Christmas!

Last Christmas I made myself a Christmas gift: A trip to the Wollmeise brick-and-mortar store in Pfaffenhofen/Ilm. I bought a skein of "Jeton", "Gianduia" and "der letzte Versuch" in 100%, as well as a skein of Lace in "Roter Himbeermund".

From the Jeton skein, I knit yet another Knitty pattern: Kingdom gloves from the Summer 2009 issue.

ravelry project page

There was one more (major!) project this summer, but that deserves its own post!

Am I back?

2010-12-14T22:42:00.008+01:00

I am back!

I have not posted anything in ages. However, this does not mean that I have not been sewing and knitting!
During the next weeks, I'll update the blog with all the knitting and sewing (well, mainly knitting) I've been up to ... but now I'll show you what I'm currently working on.

For this year's christmas I'm going to sew this dress from BurdaStyle 10/200 9 (model 115):

Image courtesy of www.burdafashion.com/it

I purchased a wonderful wool fabric, black-based tartan with red, yellow and blue:

I've assembled both the wool as well as the linen, during the next days I'll finish the dress.

Skandal um Rosi

2009-08-02T10:19:00.003+02:00

Last weekend I was at the annual weaver's market in Haslach, and finally I can understand the hype around the Wollmeise yarns. The colours are great, and the yarn is incredibly soft.
Here's what I bought:

From left to right: 1 skein in the "Grashüpfer" (Grasshopper) colourway, 1 skein in the "Tampobata" colourway, 1 skein in "Gewitterhimmel" (Thundersky) and 1 skein of "Skandal um Rosi" (scandal about Rosi).
For my non-German speaking readers I'll have to explain what's so funny about "Skandal um Rosi". Sometime in the early 80s there was a band called "Spider Murphy Gang" (I even think they are still around), and their most famous song is called "Skandal im Sperrbezirk". It's about a girl named Rosi who takes away all the town's prostitutes' business. In a very 80s kind of way, it's hilarous (for me even more so, because my Grandma is called Rosi). Have a look:

I'm afraid the lyrics are intranslateable (at least I'm too lazy to give it a try ...).

Anyway - stay tuned for a post very soon, because I've already started to knit some pretty things from my new Wollmeise yarns :)

Fawkes, the Phoenix

2009-07-18T21:56:00.005+02:00

Summer has only arrived here a few days ago, and before that I was in serious need of some thick, warm socks. Freezing in July just isn't an option. So I bought some sock yarn and went searching for a matching pattern. The yarn was coloured in bright red and orange tones, very warm colours. So when I stumbled upon the Fawkes socks by Monkey Toes - mere weeks before the new Harry Potter movie started - I knew that they'd be a perfect match.

As you can see, they did turn out quite well and I love wearing them. Well, not right now as summer finally arrived and the temperatures are at least 25°C.
I'm really enjoying my holidays right now, and despite the fact that my knee is still not behaving itself, I work a lot with my horse - mostly lunging, as riding does not work the way I want it too.
Anyway - enjoy your summer, too! (If you are in a place in the world where it's summer. If not: Enjoy whatever season there is ;) )

End of term

2009-06-19T16:42:00.005+02:00

A few days ago, Klemens kindly reminded me that I've lately been noteably absent. This is true, and I apologize. But there's really not a lot to write about right now. It's the usual end-of-term time: Squeezing in a lot of end-of-term studying in between a lot of end-of-term parties. Next week is going to be a bit crazy: Two talks about rather complicated scientific topics, as well as an exam in Spanish, which I don't really speak (or write, for that matter) all that well.

Last night I was at the debut gig of a band some of my friends play in, and they really rock! If you are interested, you can visit them and listen to some of their music on their myspace page.

My knee finally regained most of its mobility, but I've lost a lot of strength, and I still haven't found the right balance between working out enough but not too much. But now I can ride my horse (and even dance a bit *grin*) again, I'm mostly happy :) :) :)

As for sewing: I've continued to work on the Claire Shaeffer Blazer, but this thing really required a lot of handsewing and is still going to take quite some time.

So, what I actually wanted to ask you: How do you want this blog to be continued? Originally, my horse stuff had its own blog, this place was meant to be for the creative (and a bit of personal) stuff. I'm not sure how well those mix, and if the people who want to read about riding etc. wouldn't get bored when having to read about sewing and knitting. So please, tell me what you thing about this!

Mother's Day

2009-05-09T22:55:00.003+02:00

To all you great mothers out there: I wish you a happy Mother's Day!!

This is the cake my sister and I made for our mum. Let's just say I'm really looking forward to trying it tomorrow :)

Lilly rocks the Saustall

2009-04-26T10:20:00.005+02:00

In the village where I grew up, there is a fun project called pigbrother, which I'd really like for all of you to know about - and even more important, to support it :)
(The website is in German)

4 piglets grow up on local farm, and during a time of 6 weeks you can watch those cute animals on a live cam. But you can not only watch them, but you can choose one of them and support it by registering and feeding it with virtual potatoes once a day.

And now I'm at the point where I want to ask for your support. Please vote for Lilly! She's the smallest of the piglets, and we want her to grow!

There are already support groups for Lilly on studiVZ and facebook called "Lilly rocks the Saustall" (in English: Lilly rocks the pigpen).

Among those people who vote for the winning pig, prizes are drawn. Unfortunatley, participation is only possible for residents of Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

All pictures courtesy of www.pigbrother.at

Cherry blossoms

2009-04-21T20:41:00.009+02:00

Quite a few of my fellow students are spending this term abroad (if you're interested, you can find their respective blogs here and here and here ).

Anyway, the two guys who are staying in Japan wrote about the traditional annual celebration of Sakura, the blossoming of the Japanese cherry trees.
Well, cherry trees are blossoming not only in Japan, but also in Austria.

These wonderful blossoms reminded me of a quick scarf that was published in one of the past issues of the awesome online knitting magazine knitty.com: Nagano Sakura

Here are some impressions of my version:

I also finished my project for the 2nd SKC KAL: Karma Tank

My knee is also improving rapidly. After 4 weeks at home (including the 1 week I spend at the hospital), I've been back to university for 2 days now. What shall I say - I think I've never been quite so happy to study again :)
I have to wear a brace that prevents my knee from doing any harmful movements like rotations. Actually, this isn't all that uncomfortable.

The cuts are healing nicely, too. I'll be up to full speed in no time at all.

Anyway. I don't want to end this post with this ugly pic of my even more ugly knee. Something nice of two of our horses having fun instead:

Blood, Sweat & Tears

2009-03-31T19:06:00.004+02:00

Well, no tears, actually :)

I've been absent here for quite a while now - but I'm still alive and kickin' ;)
Last week I had the surgery performed on my knee (that's where the Blood comes in), so I've got a brandnew anterior cruciate ligament. I'm not up to full speed yet, but with lots of physical therapy I'm getting there (that's the Sweat).
Before that, I had to study for an exam, which luckily I passed. Congrats to myself :D

But I've been not lazy on the knitting front: I finished the fair isle sweater:

I used this pattern: Fair Isle Sweater (here it is on ravelry)
The yarn I used were leftovers from my Sylvi cardigan, as well as some skeins of Icelandic wool. They worked pretty well together.

The project I have currently on my needles is Clapotis by Kate Gilbert.
I'm using OPAL Hundertwasser sock wool, and it looks pretty cool right now. As soon as there's something to see, I'll take a picture and post it here.

Anyway, when I'm using a band's name as a blog post title, I might as well put some music on here. Enjoy.

International Women's Day

2009-03-08T20:28:00.004+01:00

So, actually I didn't want to write the gadzillionth blog entry concerning this topic, but after I spent the last couple of hourse browsing through LOTS of wikipedia articles on women's rights, I decided to post something anyway.

Living in a part of the world where as a woman - when you set your mind on it - you can reach about everything, celebrating this day might seem a bit out of place. But even I, an example of the modern, educated woman, have experienced discrimination. There are things that as a woman I have to fight for harder than any man would have.

Even in European countries, suffrage has not been a given until not very long ago. In Switzerland, women only were allowed to vote in federal elections in 1973. Most countries introduced those rights earlier, but still. For a very long time, patriarchal order was considered to be the natural order, the order meant by God. Only when missionaries found Native American tribes led by women, "civilized" women started to demand equal rights.
Not a long time ago, rape in marriage was not considered rape by law. Men exercised the marital rights.
Not a long time ago, birth control was not available to women.
Not a long time ago, women were not given the possibility of abortion.
But there are not only these "hard facts", there's also more subtle stuff. Why is a woman who has many sexual partners considered a slut, while men are encouraged to do the same? Why are women who engage in feministic activities derogatively termed "Kampflesbe"? (I tried hard to find a good translation for this one, but I didn't find anything appropriate).
But I'm optimistic, I'm optimistic that we will achieve equal pay for equal work.
Women in the "fertile period of life" will as likely be hired as men.

But what about other parts of the world?
There are places where education is not available for women.
There are places where women's genitalia are mutilated to ensure they remain virgins and take away any pleasure in sexual encounters, then are sold to the highes bidder.
Places where forced marriages, prostitution, slavelike work are normal fate for women. This list can be continued for quite a long time.
Women more likely are victims of human trafficking, of domestic violence, of rape.

Yes, there is still a lot of work to do, and I'm not quite sure if this work is done the right way. Lots of efforts that are made simply cost money that could be spent more effectively elsewhere. I don't think that it makes society more equal if traffic signs show characters wearing skirts instead of pants ...

Horse stuff

2009-02-24T21:11:00.003+01:00

So. As I already told you, I hurt my knee a few weeks back while skiing. This means that I'm not able to do about anything. Which also means that I'm in serious horsey stuff withdrawal. Because of all the snow we had in the last days, I can't even go out and do other stuff than riding. Riding might even work, but I have no idea how to mount my horse. Standing on one foot is really not a good idea. Trust me, I tried.

However, I went through some pics of my horse, and I decided to show you some.
Kira is a 12-year old icelandic horse mare:

This is she with her son Skáti:

The next pictures were taken during a course at my riding teacher's (you can visit here here: www.baerenfilz.de )

Some more riding pictures, this time taken at my place:

Finally, one of my favourite pics:

Winterwonderland

2009-02-19T10:19:00.003+01:00

Hiya all,

when I awoke this morning and looked out of the window I was amazed. It has been snowing for a few days now (and it still is ...), so we have quite a lot of snow. Today it really looks like some kind of winterwonderland. There are no traces at all in the snow, and it is just perfect. I took some pictures from my bedroom window, they are not really good and in no way mirror how it looks out there. But have a look at this yourself:

Sewing time

2009-02-16T09:53:00.005+01:00

So, I'm back to sewing :)
What's on the agenda: V8333

So far I've copied all the pattern pieces, did some alterations and cut the muslin:

But I'm not lazy on the knitting front, either: I'm done with the first fair isle section of my Fair Isle sweater:

Okay ... that's it for today.
Hugs,
Bettina

Pics ...

2009-02-14T11:22:00.002+01:00

Back again ...

2009-02-13T10:39:00.004+01:00

Yes, I'm still here! After a lot of visits to several docotor's offices last week, I know what's the matter with my right knee: The MRI proved what the doctors in the skiing region and the hospital already said: the anterior cruciate ligament is ruptured completely. Additionally, the lateral collateral ligament is ruptured partially. Luckily, there are no injuries to bones and cartileges.
At the end of march, I'll go to the hospital to have the surgery done, where a tendon from my thigh is removed and used to create a new cruciate ligament. The healing process seams to be better when the surgery is done when any swelling in the knee is gone, so I have to wait.
All of this means that I have a LOT of time at my hands. Winter finally came, and with all that snow and ice outdoors, I don't really dare go out on crutches. As clumsy as I am, I'm gonna fall and hurt my second knee, too.
Therefore, I spend lots of time sitting on the couch, watching TV and guess what: knitting. So, Sylvi is finished:

The colour is somewhere between the colours shown in the pictures (one taken with flash, the other without). As soon as I feel safe to go outdoors, I'll try to take a picture at better lighting, and one with me wearing it.

As you can see, my cat likes this cardigan, too.

A new project is coming along, too. It's a fair isle pullover, where I'm using the leftover yarn from Sylvi. I have quite a lot of this, because I ordered enough to do the coat. The other colours are 100% Icelandic wool, also leftovers from other projects. I was a bit sceptic if those yarns would work together, but it looks fine so far.
This is the pattern page: Fair Isle Sweater, of course it also has a page on ravelry
I'm done with the cuff, and started the first fair isle section.

I hope you won't have to wait as long for the next entry as you did for this one ...
See you soon,
Bettina

Ligaments ...

2009-02-02T22:28:00.003+01:00

Not only my knitting is paused - yesterday I went skiing with my parents and some relatives. I tore the cruciate ligament in my right knee. I'm not really in the mood for anything, so please be patient ....

Knitting paused

2009-01-29T16:10:00.002+01:00

As I showed you yesterday, I'm about halfway through the back. But I have to pause :( Yesterday when washing the dishes I broke a glass and cut my hand. I tried to knit a few rows today, but it hurts.
This isn't too bad, though - I should be studying instead of knitting anyway :)

Speedknitting

2009-01-28T15:52:00.002+01:00

Sylvi is a really fast knit. I cast on for the back yesterday evening and did about half of it.

The second sleeve is finished, as well - I'm not putting a picture of it up here because it looks just like the first one.

A word on colours: The red of my yarn doesn't really look like it does in the pictures. I'll try to take one outdoors, but right now it's snowing heavily.

First sleeve finished!

2009-01-22T10:48:00.002+01:00

After some calculation for the raglan decreases (my row gauge is 20 rows/10 cm while the pattern says 16 rows/10 cm ...) I finished the first sleeve for Sylvi. Because after a while I got bored with so many rows of seed stitch, I decided to add one of the leave-motives from the hood to the sleeve and I really like the way this turned out. It helps create a lovely bell-shaped sleeve (you can't really see this when the sleeve lies flat).

I also like the way the yarn behaves. First, I was a bit sceptic, because the pattern suggests a 100% wool yarn and mine has only 30% wool and 70% acrylic. But in my opinion both the seed stitch as well as the cables look pretty. I'm looking forward so much to having this finished, I can't even begin to tell :)

Little Snowhite

2009-01-19T19:47:00.007+01:00

Yesterday when browsing through ravelry, I stumbled upon an adorable pattern: Baby Snow Dragon (at ravelry). Well, this baby isn't too much of work, so I made her as a short in-between project.
My baby dragon consists of 15 more or less tiny pieces:

And here she is in all her glory - cute, isn't she?

I'm pretty sure I'll make another one, maybe out of thicker yarn, so she'll get a big sister :)

I also cast on the first sleeve for my Sylvi:

As I already mentioned, I'm going to do a heavily modified version, inspired by Diana's.

And with this I'll leave you - I've got some studying to do ...

Arrivals

2009-01-18T10:00:00.005+01:00

Yes, the yarn for my Sylvi has arrived! I ordered Boston by Schachenmayr nomotta at www.woolbox.de in the burgund colorway. It's a beautiful dark read, and I can't wait to cast on!
Still, I want to finish the Jaywalker socks, first. As far as these are concerned, I'm done with the first sock:

A close-up of the zigzag-pattern:

All right, that's the crafty stuff for today. End of term is approaching quickly and I've got loads of studying to do.

It's freezing ...

2009-01-13T21:38:00.007+01:00

yes, it is. For the last couple of weeks, temperatures have been really low around here. And what does the dedicated knitter in such a case? You guessed correctly: she knits a hat. Or, as it is in my case, two of them.
During my christmas break, I wanted to knit a cozy matching set of hat and scarf. I went to a local yarnstore and got a great super bulky wool blend. With needles size 8 the hat was quickly knit, and turned out just the way I had imagined it (I had to experiment a bit, I recycled a pattern for a bag ...).

And I wasn't the only one who liked my hat ... mom decided she wanted one, too. Being the good daughter I ususally am ;), I of course fulfilled her wish, and now my hat's got a twin.

The jaywalker ankle-socks are growing, as well. I finished the heel and am well on my way along the foot :)

BTW: how do you like the new design?

Jaywalker socks

2009-01-11T20:55:00.008+01:00

I'm not really into any kind of sewing right now ... still, I need something to keep my hands busy (except for university-related work of course ...) while waiting for the yarn for my Sylvi to arrive. You probably can guess that I'm a tiny bit impatient ;)
Anyway, when I was at my parents' place this weekend I discovered that I don't have any undamaged hand-knit socks. I had quite a lot of time, but somehow all of them have a hole somewhere. Mysterious, isn't it? ;) So, I'm in need of socks. I've knit quite a lot of simple, basic socks - the way I learned them at school. But row after row of stockinette stitch is boring, isn't it? It's time for something new - I decided to try a classic: jaywalker socks, designed by grumperina (on her page you can see a great gallery with pictures of tons of jaywalker socks).
I'm using Regia Winter Color sock wool (4-ply) in the St. Moritz colorway.

I already used this before, on a plain stockinette stitch sock it looks like this:

I think this will look good with the zigzag pattern.
With 2.25mm needles this is going to take a while, though ...

christmas is over ...

2009-01-08T00:58:00.005+01:00

Hi everyone,

I hope you enjoyed christmas!

This year for the first time I made the gifts for my mom and my sister myself.
Mom got a pullover (Burda Mode August 2008 - ravelry):

This pullover was fun to knit: Not too boring, but easy enough to TV-knit ;)
I used Garnstudio DROPS Muskat in light blue - this color's just perfect for mom.

My sister got a corset (pattern: Doré by Laughing Moon):

Sadly, I didn't have time to take any pictures during the corset's construction. Since I only started in the evening of Dec 23, this can definitely be considered a last-minute gift :D

And as for myself: I already ordered yarn for the Sylvi coat - it's gonna be heavily modified, though.

hugs,
b.

Sylvi coat

2008-12-20T13:06:00.003+01:00

i just was impulsive and bought a knitting pattern:

I bought it here: twist collective
It's absolutely great, don't you think so?

How to sew a Dirndl - Part IV The Leib and finishing

2008-12-20T10:54:00.000+01:00

For the bodice I use a pattern a seamstress drafted according to my measurements during a sewing course.
Cut the pattern, from the rest of the fabric make bias-cut stripes:

The facing of the left front piece was reinforced with fusible interfacing for the button-holes which will later be there.
I also cut the interlining.
The interlining of a Dirndl is worked a bit different than usual: You baste it to the according pieces of your fashion fabric and treat them as one piece:

From the bias-cut stripes I made piping (using the zipper-foot of my sewing-machine) that I placed between the back pieces before sewing: (using the zipper-foot again)

Then I cut the seam allowances of the back center piece and interlining, the bias-cut stripes and the back side piece fashion fabric (but NOT the back side piece interlining) to about 0.5 cm. I folded the seam allowance of the interlining of the back side piece around this and sewed it in place by hand:

Next, I sewed the darts in the front pieces, basted shoulder and side seams and tried the bodice on (I definitely should have cleaned the mirror first ...)

I was quite content with the fit. The folds from shoulder to bust will vanish as soon as the neck-line and armholes are finished, and I'm going to make the side seams a bit tighter (those are sewed when the armholes are finished)
Next, I decided on a neck-line and the line for the armholes. Those edges I also bound with piping, finally I sewed the side seams:

On the left side, the piping is sewed in place by hand:

On me, it looks like this by now:

Now it's time to mark your exact waistline and the position for the buttonholes. I placed them 1.5 cm from the neckline and waistline, respectively, the others I divided evenly. Then I sewed the buttonholes and buttons:

Next, you sew the Kittel to the Leib. Use the threads in the Hansl to pull the skirt ot the right length. The pleats should start and end right between the front dart and the side seam, the rest of the fabric is folded once or twice (the bag should be hidden in one fold):

The Hansl-threads are not cut but braided, so that you can alter your Dirndl. (Also, don't trim the seam allowances on the side seams):

After you sewed the Kittel to the Leib, sew the Kittel closed (up to now, it still was a rectangle of fabric). Leave enough room in order to be able to dress easily:

Now there's only the hem left!
I decided to make a so-called Kittelblech. This is a 15 cm wide piece of fabric in a contrasting colour. I stitched it to the hemline (right sides facing), folded it about 1cm wide and stitched in the ditch:

Important: Do NOT cut any fabric away! This way, your Dirndl remains fully alterable!
Now there's still about 10 cm of the Kittelblech left, I use this for the hem (of course: by hand!)
et voilá:

(I look a bit awkward in this picture ... hemming by hand is not really my favourite work in the middle of the night ;) )

How to sew a Dirndl - Part III The apron

2008-12-20T10:29:00.000+01:00

We're sewing the apron now :)
Again, you start with a rectangular piece of fabric. For the apron of a ankle-length Dirndl you need about 1m of 1,40m wide fabric.
From this, you cut two 12 cm wide pieces for the apron strings and one 8 cm wide piece for the waistband.

We need a Hansl for the apron, too. Its checks are just a bit smaller than the one we used for the skirt:

This strip of fabric is sewed on the whole shorter edge of the apron-fabric:

For the apron, you thread 9 - 11 rows of button-hole thread through the checks. I admit, this is a LOT of work, but it really is worth it. Here's a picture of a finished apron:
from the left:

and from the right:

Now it's time for the apron strings. Not really difficult, again. Just fold the 12 cm wide strips in half, sew them together and make a tip on one end. Turn them around, iron them et voilá:

For the waistband (6 - 8cm wide, about 5cm shorter than your waist) I use fusible interfacing:

Now my favourite piece of work: Pull on the threads you used on the Hansl until the apron is about 35 cm wide and sew it to the middle of the waistband (have I told you that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this fabric?):

The apron strings are folded into a box pleat and also sewed on the waistband:

Fold the edges of the apron twice and sew.
Fold the waistband and sew it in place by hand. Finished :)

Next, we're going to do the Leib (bodice)!

How to sew a Dirndl - Part II The Kittel

2008-12-20T09:36:00.000+01:00

Welcome back :)
The Kittel for the Dirndldress is really easy to make. For a Dirndl that's about the length of your ankle, you start with 2m of 1,40m wide fabric. Then you cut this in half (you should have two 1m pieces of 1,40m wide fabric now) and sew it together on the selvages. If your fabric has a pattern on it like mine does, of course you should match those patterns up. By now, you should have a rectangle of 1m x 2,80m. I don't have a picture of this ... a piece of fabric this large is really difficult to photograph, you likely wouldn't see anything anyway.
Next, the so called Hansl is used:

This is just a stripe of checked fabric, the cheques are about 0,5cm x 1cm. Now you sew the Hansl on one of the long edges of your Kittel, starting and ending about 30-40 cm from the corner (depens on your size - the larger you are, the smaller the distance to the corner). It should now look like this:

For sewing, just use a zig-zag-stitch (or a serger, if you own one). Also zig-zag around the edge of the Hansl that isn't joined to the Dirndl, this kind of fabric frays quite a lot.
Next, we're going to sew a bag. Yes, a bag. And quite a big one, too :)
Cut out 2 pieces that look like this (the exact shape isn't really important, the "bottleneck" should be about 15cm):

Now we cut a slit about 5 cm away from the edge of the Hansl, and 5 cm from the top edge of the skirt: (in the picture, the slit is between the pins)

Pin the first bag-piece to the Kittel along the slit (right sides facing each other) and sew it:

Do the same with the second bag-piece and pull them to the left side of the skirt.
Now, make little "darts" next to the slit in the skirt:

Finally, sew the bag-pieces together and zig-zag the seam-allowances (you could use a serger here, as well.):

Well done now, the skirt is almost finished :) I admit, though, that the next step is really time-consuming. You may have wondered what the Hansl is for ... well, the mystery is ready to be unveiled ...
The back and sides of the Kittel are folded very closely to fit it to the bodice. In order for these tiny folds to be regular, we use the Hansl. Take a long piece of button-hole thread and thread it through the checks. I let a picture speak for me here:

Make sure that the checks of the Hansl and any pattern on the fabric are properly aligned!
Make 8 rows of this.
As a teaser, I'll show you what the Hansl looks like on a finished Dirndl:
On the left side:

and on the right side:

Okay, the Kittel is done! (except for the seam, of course, but we'll do this when the Leib and Kittel are joined)

How to sew a Dirndl - Part I Introduction and fabrics

2008-12-20T09:08:00.000+01:00

As promised, I'm going to again put the Dirndl-how-to up here.
For the international guests in my blog: a Dirndl is a traditional Austrian dress. Depending on where in Austria you live, you wear it on special occasions, but there are several areas where a Dirndl is still worn every day.
Here is a picture of several different Dirndldresses:

(source: Wikipedia)

There is a special kind of Dirndldress: A Tracht
A Tracht is strictly regulated by organisations: the pattern of the bodice, colours, fabric, buttons, what kind of blouse you wear underneath ...
Trachen are typical for their respective local areas, usually there is a version for winter and summer, one for every day and one for festive occasions. Sometimes, the every-day-version is just upgraded for special occasions by using a silk apron ... the diversity is huge! (you can probably tell by now that I'm really fascinated by this ...)
Anyway, I sewed a Ausseer Tracht, which is one of the Trachten in the Salzkammergut (a area in the south of Upper Austria and northwest of Styria). It has a green bodice (called the Leib) out of dark green linen, a pink skirt (called the Kittel) and a violet apron. This colour-combination might seem a bit adventurous, but take a quick look: Ausseer Dirndl made by Fa. Gössl

These are my fabrics:

Of course, the green one is going to be the Leib, the violet one is used for the apron. The pink one at the right is the Kittel, and the pink one on the upper left is the interlining for the Leib.

Okay ... in the next post, we're going to make the Kittel :)

problems ...

2008-12-18T11:32:00.001+01:00

sorry that my blog hasn't been available these last few days ... there have been some technical problems. unless something like a christmas miracle occurs, all of my blog posts are gone.
however, this is a great chance to start over, and i decided to do so in english. as soon as i have time i'll re-post the dirndl-wip, so don't worry :)

so long and enjoy your christmas preparations
b.