Two Eyelets

I really don’t like school. Or, at least I don’t like assignments. I’ve been really stressed out by a couple of them lately, and the stress is by no way gone yet. But that is not interesting to anyone, so I’ll leave of there.

Yesterday, when I was close to screaming and crying from being so frustrated by school, Tobias, who was going to our apartment to do some more cleaning, took me along, so I could get some change (I still stay at his parent’s, but will likely move next week). I decided to work on my wedding dress. So, yesterday I managed to sew the back panels together, and, as I will lace the dress up the back, I got a placket sewn in. It did me a lot of good, like sewing always does.

Today, we went there for a couple of hours, Tobias to study, and me (being frustrated with school again) to sew. I had a hard time getting the position for the eyelets right for some reason. I’ve never had much trouble with spiral lacing before, but this was a pain. In the end I think I got it right, and had two eyelets sewn, in silk buttonhole twist.


And that’s all there is to tell right now. It’s progressing, but slowly.

Wedding Dress Begun

Yesterday I finally started on my wedding dress. About time, I’ll need it in less than four weeks…. I tried on my embroidered blue wool dress, and it fit almost perfectly (except for the sleeves, which I removed a while ago to remake), so I used that to trace a new pattern. The blue dress consisted of a front and two back panels – the wedding dress will have one front-, two side- and two back panels. I think the width of the skirt will be more evenly distributed that way. Also, the blue dress got most of its width from triangular gores sewn into the side and back seams. The wedding dress will not have any gores, as it’s not supposed to be medieval. Instead I have used the full breadth of the fabric for the hem of each panel, so the skirt will have a circumference of about 4.5 meters (177”), most of which will be in the back.

Yesterday I also cut out the fashion fabric (cream coloured velvet), and basted all but the front and one back panel to the lining fabric. I did those today. I plan to treat the velvet and lining as one, and don’t want them to shift before I get them sewn.

I had planned, and looked forward to start sewing today, but found that I had some schoolwork that was to be handed in much sooner than I’d expected. Ooops…

Work on the apartment is slowly progressing. Tobias proved to have some hidden decorating skills (they where new to me, anyway), and quickly organized a “tranquil corner” for us to rest our eyes on, when trying to fix the rest of the mess.

Further down the top shelf, there is now a few of our books and movies, with antique irons as book supports.

Unfortunately this picture is rather dark… It’s slowly beginning to feel like home – most of my belongings agree with most of his belongings, if that makes sense. They look comfortable together, not like intruders on each others space. It does feel a little bit weird that we are both going to live there, though… nice, but weird.

One Month Left

Last Saturday Tobias and his parents came up to my place, and we moved all of my things to what will be our home when we marry, one month from today. It was an exhausting day, with a lot of work, and little rest, but we got it done. My brother A and few friends helped out with carrying, so my mother in law and I could mostly concentrate on packing the last things and cleaning out the apartment. My Mum would have been there too, but she was ill, and had to stay home and rest. She did make us some brownies though, which was much appreciated.

I’ll be living in our apartment as soon as it’s finished, and Tobias will move in after the wedding, but there’s a lot of cleaning (the former tenants left the place in a mess…) and organizing that needs to get done first, so I stay at his parents’ at the moment. He has moved a lot of his things in already, and deciding what things will go where is fun, but a bit tricky. Right now it is a complete chaos of boxes, furniture in the wrong places, and some furniture that’s not been put together yet. In the hurry to get everything packed, I have lost track on where some of my sewing stuff has gone, which annoys me a little, since I really must get started on my wedding dress soon. Tobias said it’s a motivation for me to get unpacked quickly, and I suppose he had a point.

His Christmas present finally arrived last Friday. I’d ordered him a book on Russian wood architecture, which he’d mentioned to me some months ago. It’s out of print, so it took a little work to find a second hand copy. I wasn’t entirely sure I’d ordered the right book, but judging by the “Yes!” when he opened it, apparently I had. Whew. Another addition to our already large, and ever growing library. Let’s just say that a lot of our furniture consists of bookshelves…. On our wish list is a library, but that will have to be sometime way in the future.

And now, another day of cleaning and organizing :)

Embrace Life

A while ago I saw this beautiful British reminder of wearing safety belts. I’m sure a lot of you have seen it, but it’s worth watching again.

Keep yourselves and your families safe from harm in the traffic, and from the pain of loosing a loved one. I know, tragedies can happen anyway, but it’s silly not to try and prevent them if possible.

That’s it from safety conscious Nurse Sarah.

A Tranquil Corner

Yesterday I started to go through my things, throwing away a lot, and packing the rest. Interesting to be preparing to move out, when I’ve no idea where I’ll be moving in… we don’t have a flat yet. My home looks like a complete mess, with garbage bags in one corner, ready packed boxes in another, and many of my belongings scattered over the rest of the floors, tables, sofa and nearly every other surface. Amidst the chaos I try to keep one corner free from clutter. Having that one neat place to rest my eyes on helps me to deal with the rest of it.

The antique sewing machine (which does work) has been in my family since it was new, and was a gift from my paternal Grandmother. I bought the menorah some months ago – I’ve always loved how they look, and it has a calming effect on me. The pumpkins (no idea what they are called) came from my Mum, who grew them last summer.

I had planned on doing my veil yesterday, but started packing instead… ah well, that is important too….

Christmas, New Years Eve and Other Things

Not much to report – life is busy, but not much of it is fun to read about. Christmas was good, I spent it with Tobias’ family. I admit I felt a bit homesick though. I didn’t spend last Christmas with my family either, since I was working then. The homesickness had passed by Christmas Day, though (for those of you who don’t know, Christmas Eve is the big celebration day here). Tobias and I had some very nice presents, witch clearly had our marriage in mind; covers, toolbox, drill/screwdriver etc. Very much appreciated.

I was more than a bit nervous about his gift to me – I knew he was sure I’d like it, which made me even more nervous, since he’d never made me a present before. Not a real, wrapped up one, anyway. When I opened it, it was a book I had seen last spring, and mentioned to him once (not that I have a memory about mentioning it to him), a book about chickens. Different kinds of chickens, their care, food, and housing, everything you’d like to know about them, filled with beautiful pictures. I want to live in the country eventually, and I’ve always wanted chickens, so this was a perfect gift, and proved he knows me very well. I got tears in my eyes when I saw it.

Unfortunately, my gift to him got stuck somewhere (stupid, snowy, coldest-in-a-century Scandinavian winter….), and still has not arrived, which had me greatly disappointed. Ah well, it’ll have to be a New Years gift instead, I suppose. I got him a little something for Christmas instead.

On Boxing Day we, Tobias, I, his parents and siblings all went up to visit my family. They all went home again after a couple of days, but I’m still here. We had more wonderful presents, again with our future lives in mind. I got a food processor (yay, I’ve wanted one for years!), and Tobias got John Seymors book on self-sufficiency. Being almost as interested as me in a life in the country, and likewise as big a bookworm as I am, he’s spent quite a bit of time reading in it, and building castles in the air. Some of them will hopefully be realized in future.

My family and I spent a quiet New Years Eve at home, with good food, snacks and movies. My brother A and I were up way too late, watching a movie, and yesterday I didn’t go up until it was almost 11 am. I missed Tobias a great deal, and even more so after he called me at midnight. Just a few more days though, and he’ll come to visit my family again.

In regards to the wedding, we’re spending a lot of time planning the open house. We have to work to a tight budget, but we’re sure it can still be nice. It just takes a bit more consideration. The plans for the wedding dress are progressing. I’ve bought a lot of cream cotton velvet for it, and the other day I bought the material for the veil. That was a special experience, even more so than buying the fabric for the dress. I’ve made so many dresses, so in a way this one doesn’t feel that much different – not yet anyway. The veil on the other hand is such a unique thing for brides. When my Mum and my brother J’s girlfriend helped me drape it over my head in the shop, to try out how it’d look, it was a very exciting moment. I had to try it again when we came back home. I pinned my hair up in the kind of style I want for the wedding, and quickly sewed the light tulle to a comb and tried it on. It looked almost exactly like I’ve pictured it in my mind. I’m beginning to be exited for this sewing project – and I haven’t been that about any sewing, knitting or embroidering for months, because of the wretched tiredness. Except for the giveaway pincushion some time ago, I haven’t done any sewing, knitting or embroidery at all for months…. It’s about time I return to my normal sewing routine.