Samstag, 20. Juni 2020

Patchwork Jeans Skirt

I'm currently on holiday and have a lot of free time - which is absolutely lovely. But due to the ongoing restrictions, going out much is not exactly advisable. So I am basically staying at home and trying to get creative.
One of the things I absolutely wanted to do, is to improve my sewing skills. And since even shopping for fabric is not much fun nowadays, I'm using old stuff that I don't wear any more. (Plus, it's more fun to to use what I have :)
So yesterday, I browsed Pinterest to get ideas on how to fashion a skirt out of old denim jeans. there are quite a few tutorials around, but the way most of them dealt with the crotch wasn't quite what I wanted. Then I found this picture on Pinterest - and I instantly knew that I had to try this ...




I'm quite happy with the way the skirt turned out. And even though, I tend to wear trousers pretty much all the time, I might actually wear this in public.

Here's a how I did it:
  • I used an old pair of jeans that fitted me around the hips and cut the legs off - it was an old a pair of jeans with holes between the legs.
  • From the legs and other old denim I cut circles (or something roughly circular).
  • With my overlocker, I trimmed the edges of the circles - I had the machine threaded in a way, that either orange or white thread was visible.
  • After deciding on the lenght (I wanted it to end just over the knees), I layed out the patches on the floor - roughly the same way that I wanted to sew them on later. So I knew when I had produced enough circular patches (see picture below).
  • With my sewing machine and in zigzag stitch (with a short stitch length) I attached the patches by sewing along the edges. I started from the top and worked my way down - making sure that the patches and their overlaps were arranged in a way that the skirt got more volume below. 

Mittwoch, 17. Juni 2020

Daisy Potholder

I guess I have more potholders (or coasters or doilies) than anyone actually needs. But I think they are a great project for trying out new knitting techniques or to knit motifs.
Here is the pattern for a circular potholder with a flower motif – an idea that I had for quite a while.
Since this is a three colour intarsia project with three colours that also uses short rows, it can be quite fiddly. If you've never done intarsia and/or short rows before, this wouldn't be the pattern to start - sorry.
It is definitely NOT a beginner pattern.







The pattern PDF is available via


The document is 11 pages long and contains:
  • written row-by-row instructions for knitting this piece – including four photos of the different stages 
  • pattern chart
  • short photo tutorials for the following techniques
    • provisional CO with a crochet hook and how to undo it
    • short rows with wrap and turn and picking up the wraps 
    • intarsia knitting 
    • weaving in yarn while carrying it (backwards and forwards)
    • grafting in garter stitch
  • photo tutorials and step-by-step explanations of
    • undoing the provisional CO in this pattern (i.e. catching stitches in different colours)
    • grafting with colour changes
The pattern instructions and the chart comprise only 2 pages - the rest are the technique tutorials and explanations of their specific application for this motif.


To knit this you need the following materials:
  • Cotton yarn in three colors – I knitted these potholders in Aran and DK weight yarn
    • for Aran, I used a total of 50 grams
    • for DK weight, I used a total of 25 grams
  • knitting needles – straight or circulars: I used 3mm needles for Aran weight yarn and 2.5mm needles for DK weight yarn, i.e. smaller than the yarn usually requires because I wanted a firm texture. 
  • scrap yarn and a crochet hook (about the same size as your knitting needles) for the provisional CO - I used a 3mm crochet hook
  • two tapestry needles for grafting and to weave in ends