Granny squares

A little while ago I decided to teach myself how to properly crochet. I dug out my crochet needles and my entire yarn reserve (thanks, mum!), looked up a Swedish video tutorial on Youtube and off I went! I'll be completely honest with you all - my crocheting skills prior to this attempt were limited to basic potholders, so it took me a good half hour and a whole lot of redoing to figure out what was actually going on in the video. But, once I'd been able to properly wrap my mind around the works of it, I realised that a granny square is basically the easiest thing ever to crochet (hence why I ended up making so many of them - 34, to be precise - in only about three days time). 

Once you get the hang of it, a granny square only takes about 15 minutes to make (and I'm sure there are people out there who can do it even quicker), and you can vary the colours as much as you want - the important thing is that you end up liking the final result (and enjoy the process)! 

(The granny squares can also be used to play Jenga - 

although, as you can see, my tower toppled over pretty quickly)

I've now used up all my yarn, so my granny square project will have to be put on hold for the time being. Can't wait to get started again, though - maybe I'll even try some new designs next time! Feel inspired? There are plenty of crocheting tutorials to be found all over the internet, so go have a look around why don't you! Or, you can do like me, and start with the granny squares. All you need is a needle with a hook, some yarn and a bit of patience. Good luck! 

Simple floral top

I've made myself a new favourite top! I didn't have enough of the floral fabric to make an entire top, so I substituted with some plain black fabric for the back, and I think I made it work! I created the pattern by using a top I already had, placing it on top of a sheet of paper and drawing around it. Easy peasy! If you're a rookie sewer (like me) then this is a great way to get started - pick a simple item from your own wardrobe (one you know fits you just right) and use it as a starting point.

(Sorry 'bout the bad mirror selfie). 

It took me an evening to create this little beauty - about 4-ish hours (or two episodes of Radioresepsjonen plus one episode of Thinking Sideways, hehe). If I can do this, then so can you!

Duvet cover top

A while ago I bought a duvet cover from a second hand shop in Norway. It was a child's duvet cover, so obviously it was too small to be of any practical use to me, but I really liked the pattern so I decided to buy it anyway. I don't own many pieces of fabric large enough to make clothes from, so I decided straight away that I would turn the duvet cover into a piece of clothing for myself. 

I didn't have any precise ideas in mind, but I knew I'd better start off with something simple, seeing as my experience with clothes making is limited to one dress and one top. Luckily, it only took a bit of 

searching on Pinterest to find a pattern that I liked and that didn't look too complicated to pull off:

There was only one problem - the website didn't offer pattern print outs. I did, however, have the measurements, so I decided to draw the pattern myself. After a good half hour spent crawling around on the floor with a roll of paper, a pencil and a measuring board, I had created a pattern of sorts! The website where I found the measurements didn't mention anything about size either (was it a baggy S? A small L? I had no idea), so I figured I'd just have to adapt the top as I put it all together. 

It took me about 7-8 hours to finish the top (including several tea breaks, plenty of re-doing and quite a bit of head scratching) and I must admit I'm really happy with how it turned out! The biggest problem I encountered underway was when I realised (after having sewn all the pieces together) that the bottom of the sleeves were far too tight to fit me, so I simply chopped 10 cm off each one and and sew them up by hand. Also, the fabric was darn difficult to work with because it kept moving all the time, but there's nothing that cannot be fixed with a few pins! 

I love the idea of being able to make my own clothes, and I'll definitely venture into the world of clothes making again in the future - I just need to get my hands on some more fabric first!