Inspiration for a Knitted Banner/Neckerchief

This weekend, I posted some photos of my epic banner making adventure for the pride march in Nantes last month – and today I want to share some inspiration for another project I am planning to make this summer. I am all into making things with a message, queer/feminist crafting right now! Usually in summer, I am less into knitting, but this year, I discovered the joy of making little improvised neckerchiefs or bandanas out of cotton yarn. At the moment, I am making a striped one and a rainbow one for a baby, but I have bigger plans!

This knitted mini-banner will be one of my Summer of Basics garments!

My Collection of Vintage Sewing Accessories

The other day I came across a photo of vintage sewing accessories and I thought: Why not photographing my own little collection and tell you more about it? I think a lot of people collect vintage craft materials, but also a lot of us start out with vintage material that is handed down to us from mothers and grandmothers… So without further introduction: here is my own collection!

Summer of Breton Basics

Summer is passing so fast this year! During May I had so many ideas of what to make for this year’s edition of Summer of Basics, but the June went by in a blink and now half of the three months is already over! I decided to write about my making plans anyway, partly to make myself stick to it…

It is my first year in this new city, in a new climate (near the ocean!) and in a smaller city than before. This means my wardrobe really needs some adjustments! The weather in the Bretagne is quite different than in Berlin and I am definitely spending more time outdoors (on the beach!) than before.

Me Made May 2018

May is already over! And it was such a beautiful month, full of early summer energy, so many new projects in planning, trips to the beach, meeting old and new friends… Today is the last day of Me Made May, and this marks the first year where I participated more actively, and it has been a great experience in general! I took more photos of my handmade outfits than probably in the rest of the year combined, I wore some handmade things that I usually never wear and I identified some big gaps in my wardrobe. So here is a little overview and my conclusion from this month!

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Guest Post on the Sewcialists!

I am really proud to announce, that my guest post for the Sewcialists is online now! For all of you who dont’t know the Sewcialists (yet): It’s a community-run blog with regular topics (such as „Sewing with Stripes“ right now). They also run a super interesting series that connects sewing and identity called #WHOWEARE. Anyone can submit to the blog, no matter if you are an absolute beginner or seasoned sewing blogger. You can find my article on the Sewcialists blog, or directly here. Have fun reading!

Refashioned Silk Kalle Shirt & A Very Late Summer of Basics Outfit

I almost finished my Summer of Basics Outfit in time, my summer pants and cotton scarf were done on time, but somehow I didn’t quite manage to finish my silk shirt until shortly before christmas. Now that my outfit is done, however, I am even more happy about it! The whole discussion around the Summer of Basics shifted my way of thinking about my new projects. Of course, still a lot of my projects are started for fun, but I am also thinking more and more about filling holes in my wardrobe and prioritizing projects that I need right now (for example a warm cardigan for the rest of winter).

Queer Craft: Close-Knit

I want to explore more about how queerness and crafts intersect. This time, it’s about queer knitting in a movie! The movie I am going to write about is the only one I have ever seen where knitting played an interesting role in the story development, but we never know! Maybe more will follow! Or maybe you have some great movies to recommend?!

I recently had the chance to see the Japanese movie Close-Knit, written and directed by Naoko Ogigami (2017). As the title suggests, the practice of knitting plays a central role in the film. It tells the story of Tomo, an eleven year old girl, whose mother disappears for a love affair one day and leaves Tomo in the care of her uncle Makio. He lives with his new girlfriend, Rinko, who is a trans woman. Slowly the three get to know each other better and navigate the everyday live in this new family constellation. The film is quiet and full of small gestures. Rinko’s identity is not the focus of the film, but rather the complicated familial relationships between the main characters.

A Queer Knitting Club

As I said in my post about my plans for 2018, I moved to a new city and I want to meet people! To be precise, queer people and knitters, sewists etc. So in order to make this plan reality, I created a little flyer and a Facebook group for this Queer/Feminist Knitting Club that is about to start here in Nantes. Join!

A Knitted Patchwork Blanket

I started knitting this blanket last year, before The Big Moving, as one part of reducing my wool stash (other parts meant giving yarn to friends and donating to a kids art school). So it looks like I have been really loving those natural brown-beige-grey-black-white natural alpaca colors and was lucky enough to have a lot of leftovers. So I started knitting pieces for a knitted patchwork blanket.

Another No Frills Sweater!

This is the last project of 2017 and the first finished one of 2018. I knitted the No Frills Sweater by PetiteKnit before, so it was a quite straightforward sweater, perfect for Christmas holiday travels and cozy evenings in front of the TV. It’s the (late) Christmas present for my girlfriend, and the only modification she requested is a mock neck with a folded neckband, like I saw on another No Frills Sweater on Ravelry.