As a blogger part of the Indiedays Inpsiration-network I was selected to participate in a DIY-project campaign. The task was to make use of Finnish Coffee brand Meira's Cafe Hieno Winter Edition fabric. The print is designed by graphic designer and illustrator Georgi Eremenko, inspired by cold winter mornings and warm kitchens. And hot cups of coffee, of course.
The campaign is a collaboration between Indiedays and Meira's Cafe Hieno.
Btw did you know Finns drink most coffee in the world per year per capita? Eddi has more coffee than water I think. I am a more moderate consumer :)
Circle skirts are very easy to make as long as you know the basics. In the end there is not so much sewing to do. What you basically need to know is the measurements; the radius of your waist circle and the radius of the whole circle (the length of your skirt plus your waist radius). It's that good old school math making itself useful; the radius is the circumference divided by Pi divided by two. The internet has a lot of great tutorials and well explained how-to's on circle skirts out there already, so for measuring and cutting you can check these two out for example: circle skirt math & the circle skirt how-to.
(You can click the images for a bigger view)
I could have cut this skirt out as one big circle (a basic 140cm wide fabric like this is just enough for my measurements to get it as long as I like; to hit the knee) and made a slit for the zipper in the back but I wanted the print to hang in the right way both front and back (cut as one circle it would hang upside down on the other side), so I made my skirt out of two half circles instead, which actually makes it easier in my opinion; placing the zipper in the seam on the side.
As with all things made by hand preparation is king (sadly I must say, as I just like to dig in and get on it right away), so measure and cut properly and be nice to yourself in advance: zig zag all the edges of your pieces - in this case, two halves of a skirt and one waistband - and iron the hems as you go along You will thank yourself a few minutes later then.
I fold the waist band over both sides of the waist line on my skirt. I put a hook in (by hand) to fasten the waistband. I hem my skirts with a rolled hem line, no pinning needed, just roll it up a bit and sew along.
Done!
Since the print on this fabric is in white and gold I was thinking the skirt would turn into something of a party skirt for the Christmas season, so I didn't put in pockets. But now that it is finished I see it can still be styled for everyday wear as well as fancy-smanchy. So I might add a little pocket somewhere after all :)
But, I still had fabric over which meant I could try out another little idea I had; making tote bags.
Well, as with skirts I have lots of tote bags as well, and you wouldn't think a canvas tote bag that special. But you can never really have enough of them. I keep one folded in my purse for grocery shopping. And the thing is a tote out of pretty fabric is a great way to wrap a gift as well - you may remember me liking to pack my gifts in a useful way -less trash more joy - in jars and boxes. And why not in totes too! So now that the gifting season is coming up, why not make a little stash of bags to use for later?
Ta-da, clean and neat on the inside!
Then fold the opening over twice and sew around the edge.
You can of course use this all year round, not just for Christmas. Something freshly baked packed in a cute bag is a lovey present, or, in this case: a pack of coffee in a matching tote makes a great coming-over gift!
