Winter Bird

It has been  a while since I showed anything I have sewn, but yesterday I finished the November block of my Country Calendar BOM project.

I still have not started the October block, because I couldn't find my black fabric for the background. On Monday I bought some, so I hope to finish the pumpkin block in the near future.
Yesterday my daughter Kaija came for a visit, escaping the window renovation in her house. I'll be spending my time with her.

Eight

This is something I totally forgot to show you. In November I visited the big fair in Helsinki, actually four fairs together: Living Countryside, Forest, Handicraft and DIY. It was called the Green Weekend. I'll post about it when I have more time.

Today just this pretty curtain made of paper twine flowers.

Today is the 30th anniversary of our engagement. How cool is that?

Day Seven

Today I want to show you a lighter picture for a change. This is a rag carpet woven by me several years ago. I had it in the kitchen, but originally made it for a bedroom. This is a traditional Finnish way of recycling and using up worn garments and leftover fabrics.

The busy strips are made of a striped curtain fabric, mixed with white sheets. The light blue comes from men's shirts, the pink and yellow from nightgowns. I have woven carpets using jeans and heavy jerseys as well. You only need to adjust the width of your weft strips to the thickness of the fabric used, and you can blend almost anything.

Independence Day

This is  December 6th, our Independence Day. My advent calendar picture with the new snow from yesterday is about as merry and joyful as we Finns are on this special day. We seem to take many things seriously.

        

I belong to the generation whose parents were born during the WWI, before Independence in 1917. Our fathers fought to keep this independence in the three wars 70 years ago. No wonder the Independence Day celebration is a bit serious, especially as it is at this dark time of the year. In the evening we light two candles in the window, and we watch the most boring (and yet so interesting) TV program, a direct broadcast from the Presidential Palace: the arrival of over 1,000 guests in their best dresses (that is the fun part) to shake hands with Mrs. President and her husband; and then the dancing crowd. It would be so much satisfying to watch this show with a female companion. Mr. K is a dear and lovely man, but his comments on dresses are far less than expert.

Clean House

This week I had the unexpected pleasure to offer a training possibility for a student. Her subject was home cleaning. You heard right: vacuuming, dusting, wiping the floors, scrubbing the sauna from ceiling to floor. She worked with me (I wasn't sitting in an armchair and sipping cocktails, if that is what you thought) from 10 to half past two on both days, and did a wonderful job. There are many chores in a big cleaning which are difficult to do when you are alone, but go easily with another pair of hands. I took the big carpets out, because we could lift the tables together, and so on. Christmas cleaning made for Independence Day already.

Afterwards I felt like Raggedy Ann here on the windowsill, very pleased with the result! If you look through the window (we didn't get to cleaning windows because of the below freezing point temperature), you can see we finally have a touch of snow to brighten our days.
This is my 5th Advent Calendar picture. Have a wonderful weekend.

Full Moon

Finally I caught the full moon last night after sewing class:

This was half past eight in the evening, and the moon was already small and high up in the sky. We had a last class before Christmas, and everyone brought something to share. We had hot Glögi (spiced black currant juice), blueberry pie and gingerbread with a chat, and only did a little sewing.

The sun is up for about 6 hours and 15 minutes today in Helsinki, so it is about the same here where I live. Up in the north the sun has set on November 25th and will rise again on January 17th for an hour. Around Christmas are the shortest days of the year, and the sun will be up for about 5 hours and 50 minutes. It helps to think that in six months the sun will be down just a little over 4 hours during the night.

Vintage Thingies 48 - More Simplicity Patterns

This week I'm joining in the Vintage Thingies Thursday again. Coloradolady Suzanne is hosting with a Christmas theme. I will just show you the rest of my old patterns for clothes.

Do you still remember the time when maternity clothes were wide and doing their best to hide the changing figure of the future mother? Like this:

I think it looks great when the young mothers today wear stretchy shirts keeping the bump warm without hiding it.

After the baby is born, he or she needs clothes. The second folder from the left is for dolls' clothes.

The next pattern is again from Stil, I think it was a Scandinavian pattern. Nightwear for about 12 to 14 years old girls.

The last pattern is by Sorja, a Finnish magazine. My mother sewed me this outfit in the 60's. It was a dark blue woollen sailor's jacket with woollen hipster trousers. I don't remember if they were striped, but I do remember the beautiful red suede ankle length shoes I had with them. I felt so fashionable!

This was all from me for this week's vintage. I try to find some Christmas vintage for next week!