Tranformation Thursday I

And more sewing! Actually, this time the lazy kind because I just transformed some old items into something new and fabulous - I believe this is called "upcycling" nowadays. Whatever you call it I'm happy with the result, I liked the fabrics so much that I wanted to do something with it even though I didn't like the cut.

I bought the skirt in a charity shop in Glasgow and I loved the little polka dots as well as the fact that it was from NoaNoa and I got it for less than £ 3! The ugly ruffles had to go though, totally the wrong length (halfway down to the calves  - makes it look like I have even shorter legs than I already have in reality) and the fact that it didn't have a lining made it ride up so I had to add that, too. Surprisingly, this wasn't so difficult! I followed Tilly's tutorial but as usual I skipped a few steps. Since the skirt was already done and the zip of course sewn in I just left a gap for the zip and attached it to the waistband on the top. Easy-peasy!

In the end I added the gold trimming because I have a thing for golden clothes at the moment and I had the bias left over from a another project. Not sure if I will be wearing the skirt on a daily basis but I like the combination. And all of this took me one evening of work; not too bad for me. 

Dress No. 2

As I recently mentioned I challenged myself to make a dress for each wedding I attend (as a guest, as I may point out to avoid confusion) and so far I've been doing good. Well, I've only been to two weddings this year. The result is dress no. 2, a variation of my beloved Marimekko "Pitkä mekko" pattern from the "Surrur" book. It is super simple and because I was short on time I skipped the lining (again) and even a zip as you can easily pull it over your head.

The scallops were my first attempt and a bit tricky I have to admit. I think it takes at least one dress to practice how deeply you have to cut and how to trim the excess fabric to make them look even. I followed a tutorial on the "Über Chic for Cheap" blog which is short but clear and I managed fine. For next time I'll know even better though.

Thanks to my beautiful friend Ilaria for modelling!

Yarn stash - latest additions

As usual I've been buying yarn while travelling. In Scotland I got this really nice tweed yarn at the Harris Tweed shop and I already have an idea in mind of what I'll do with it. And then I actually went out on purpose to get some simple sock yarn because all I had is this multi-coloured yarn which is not great for textured patterns. Here are the new additions:

Scotland

In the beginning of August I spent a wonderful week in Scotland, on the Outer Hebrides to be precise. If you don't know where exactly that is don't worry - think West coast and then West and a little further West and you end up on the islands that are off the Scottish coast between Skye and St. Kilda if that helps. 

In any way, it was a long 7-hour drive from Glasgow to Skye from where we took the ferry to Tarbert on the Isle of Harris. Harris and Lewis are actually the same island, I still haven't understood why they are called differently, but we only stayed on Harris which is the southern part. We camped almost the whole week except for two nights while we were driving up/down and in spite of our awful  £ 20 Tesco tent we managed quite well in the Scottish wilderness. From Lewis we took a ferry south to Berneray (definitely the best part of the trip) and North Uist and from there back to Skye. 

It was pretty much as I remembered Scotland from a trip I took there as a teenager almost 10 years ago but less midges for a change. Can't say I missed them much! The countryside was still as stunning and imposing and the air as clean and fresh. A lovely change from the big city routine! But even Glasgow was much more pleasant than expected; most people had told me it wasn't even worth a visit. But we stayed in the lovely West End near the University and it almost made me wish I was a student again. Definitely a place to go back to!