Tuesday, September 27, 2011

The Wendy Challenge - Part I

  Wendy, thoughtful as always, took note of my newly discovered passion for refashioning and sent me (among other lovely b-day gifts) some of her old dresses to use for fabric, or whichever way I see fit. It was a wonderful surprise, and I decided to give myself the challenge to turn each of the dresses into something different. So... let The Wendy Challenge begin!
Wendy, grijulie ca intotdeauna, a observat noua mea pasiune pentru modificat haine si mi-a trimis (printre alte cadouri de ziua mea) niste rochii vechi pe care sa le folosesc pentru material, sau in ce fel imi va cadea bine. A fost o surpriza minunata, si m-am decis sa-mi dau eu mie provocarea de a transforma fiecare rochie (+fusta) in ceva diferit. Asa ca...sa inceapa Provocarea Wendy!

I seek permission to place before the jury...
Cer permisiunea de a supune atentiei juratilor...

Exhibit A:
Proba A:

Stripy dress, fits perfectly (turns out we're the same size!). It has pockets and a button-down back, which make it all the more awesome. The length is not very flattering, and there's a mysterious belly hole the purpose of which I cannot fathom. Ventilation? Showing off a potential belly button piercing? Modern design?
Rochie dungata, mi-e buna la fix (cine-ar fi zis ca purtam exact aceeasi marime!). Are buzunare si se incheie cu nasturi la spate, lucruri care o fac si mai faina. Lungimea nu e chiar potrivita, si are o gaura misterioasa deasupra buricului, a carei scop nu-l pot defini. Ventilatie? Posibilitatea de a-ti arata un potential piercing din buric? Design modern?

This has already been dealt with. You'll see the results in a future post.
Pe asta am rezolvat-o deja. O veti vedea intr-un post viitor.

Exhibit B:
Proba B:
White dress, doesn't tell me much. Probably fated to become embroidered tote bags.
Rochie alba, nu-mi spune prea multe. Probabil e sortita sa devina plase de cumparaturi, eventual brodate.

Exhibit C:
Proba C:
Full, flowy hippie wrap skirt. Fits perfectly and looks fine as is. Fine, but not breathtaking. Still thinking whether I should gently approach it with scissors or leave it alone.
Fusta hipioata larga si usoara. Mi-e numa' buna si arata OK asa cum e. OK, dar nu extraordinara. Inca ma mai gandesc daca sa ma apropii de ea tandru cu foarfeci, sau s-o las in pace.

Exhibit D:
Proba D:
A sort of jumper dress. Fits perfectly, but I don't really like the fabric. Should I dye it? Or maybe  turn it into doll clothing?
Un fel de rochie-salopeta. Mi-e buna si asta, dar nu prea imi place materialul. S-o vopsesc? Sau s-o transform in haine pentru papusi?

Exhibit E:
Proba E:
Cute little navy dress, knee-length. This one fits fine too (dammit, I have too many dresses!). Not crazy about the gold thread and the buttons, but that's an easy fix. Very see-through, so it might require a petticoat of some sort. The fabric would be great for making flower-brooches, but I can't bring myself to chop it up. At least not at least after I've worn it a few times.
O foarte draguta rochita bleumarin, pana la genunchi. Si asta mi-e buna (la naiba, am prea multe rochii!). Nu ma omor dupa firul auriu si dupa nasturi, dar asta e usor de rezolvat. Materialul ar fi excelent pentru brose tip floare, dar parca nu-mi vine s-o ciopartesc inca. Cel putin nu inainte de a o fi purtat macar de cateva ori.

Exhibit F:
Proba F:

Very long, very full, very blue skirt.  Looks a bit much for me, I wouldn't wear it. So that gives me heaps and heaps of royal blue velvet to use for...something.
Fusta foarte lunga, foarte larga, foarte albastra. Cam mult pentru mine, n-as purta-o. Asa ca am stive de catifea albastra s-o folosesc pentru....ceva.
 
And, because it wouldn't be a challenge if it didn't force me to do something, I will give myself deadlines for this refashionings. And, because I tend to be lenient with myself, since I'm all I've got, I will only "impose" upon myself one refashion a month. I will keep you posted with the evolution (or lack thereof) of the garments that travelled a long long way across mountains and oceans and rice fields, to begin a new life in Transylvania. And a big thanks to Wendy for providing me with the extra impulse I needed to venture deeper into the misty woods of refashioning.
 Si, pentru ca n-ar fi provocare daca nu m-ar forta la ceva, o sa-mi dau date limita pentru modificari. Si, pentru ca tind sa fiu indulgenta cu mine insami ca doar numa' pe mine ma am, imi "impun" o modificare pe luna. O sa va tin la curent cu evolutia (sau involutia) obiectelor de imbracaminte care au calatorit peste munti si vai si oceane si campuri de orez, pentru a incepe o noua viata in Transilvania. Si multe multumiri lui Wendy pentru ca mi-a dat impulsul suplimentar de care aveam nevoie pentru a pasi mai adanc in padurea cetoasa a modificarilor vestimentare.

 P.S. for my Romanian readers:  Se pare ca Blogger a modificat marimea fonturilor, si cel "mic" e acum foarte mic. Il vedeti asa?

Monday, September 26, 2011

Green Monday

Well, I have a couple of hours left of Monday, so here's my envy target today: Elizabeth from Oh, Fransson!
Mai sunt vreo doua ore din ziua de luni, asa ca iata tinta invidiei mele de azi: Elizabeth, creatoarea blogului Oh, Fransson!


She makes wonderful, bright, fresh looking quilts.
Face niste quilturi minunate, in culori vii si proaspete.

And she came up with the brilliant quick piecing idea which helped me make this quilt.
Si a mai avut si ideea geniala care m-a ajutat sa fac quiltul asta.

Her blog is worth a visit, there's plenty of inspiration to be found!
Merita sa-i vizitati blogul, e plin de inspiratie!

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Mighty Pleased

I recently had to make a baptism gift for a friend of a friend. I was told that a brown and blue combination would be nice, and that it had to contain a quote and the baby's name. But apart from that I was given total freedom... which is not always helpful.
Mi s-a cerut nu demult sa fac un cadou de botez pentru o prietena de-a unei prietene. Mi s-a spus ca ar fi faina o combinatie de albastru cu maro, si ca trebuia sa contina un citat si numele baietelului. Dar in afara de asta, am avut libertate totala...ceea ce nu-i intotdeauna usor.

I racked my brain trying to imagine what the baby's mother (Whom I don't know) might like, and after going back and forth a few times, I came up with the following. Quilt...
Mi-am stors creierii incercand sa-mi imaginez ce i-ar placea mamicii copilului (mamica pe care n-o cunosc), si dupa mai multe pendulari, am ajuns la urmatoarele. Quilt...
 ...cushion...
...pernuta...
  
... and somebody to snuggle up with them:
...si cineva care sa se cuibareasca in ele:
The fabric came from a total amount of 8 thrifted pillowcases (I used every single inch of them!). I must say I am mighty pleased with how it all turned out.  I don't know what was the matter with me, but everything went so smoothly: perfectly parallel lines, no tangled balls of thread on the back, no twisted bias binding, no corner of the quilt being accidentally sewn under, no cursing...none of my usual quilting banes! Just placid, cheerful sewing.
Sursa materialului au constituit-o 8 fete de perna de la second (am folosit fiecare centimetru!). Tre sa spun ca sunt tare multumita de cum a iesit totul. Nu stiu ce mi se intamplase, dar totul a mers ca pe roate: linii perfect paralele, fara bile incurcate de atza pe dos, fara binding sucit, fara sa prind din greseala vreun colt de quilt in cusatura, fara injuraturi...nimic din problemele mele obisnuite cand fac un quilt.

I also employed a trick for easy piecing, which I found here, and which is total genius! Thank you, Elizabeth, for enabling me to come up with the best aligned squares of my life. :)
Am folosit si un truc de unit patratele, pe care l-am gasit aici, si care e absolut genial! Elizabeth, multumesc ca mi-ai dat oportunitatea sa fac cele mai frumos aliniate patratele din viata mea :)

 The quote in Hungarian says  "I have become God's child". I'm very pleased with how my letter applique turned out too.
Citatul in maghiara spune "Am devenit copilul Domnului". Sunt tare multumita si de cum mi-au iesit literele.
As for this little guy, I'm sure he and Kristof will become very good friends.
In ceea ce-l priveste pe asta micu', sunt sigura ca el si Kristof vor deveni foarte buni prieteni.
 But above all, I loved working with this colour combination. I found it so soothing that I just couldn't stop staring at the fabrics. I must make something in these colours again.
Dar cel mai mult mi-a placut sa lucrez cu combinatia asta de culori. Mi se pare asa de linistitoare, ca nu ma mai saturam sa ma uit la materiale. Trebuie sa mai fac ceva cu culorile astea.

Stay tuned for more updates on my craftiness, coming soon!
Ramaneti aproape pentru alte noutati, in curand pe ecrane!

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Probably this summer's best weekend

...at least so far. I think I'm not alone in the belief that the fair was quite a success. For three days, the garden was filled with colourful smiling people. Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen a higher concentration of happy people per square meter before.
Cred ca nu sunt singura cu impresia ca targul a fost un real succes. Timp de trei zile, gradina a fost plina de oameni colorati cu gura pana la urechi. Sincer, cred ca in viata mea n-am vazut o concentratie mai mare de oameni bucurosi pe metru patrat.

The crafters of Mures had been so ready for this to finally happen, so eager to be part of it, and so satisfied once it was done. However, the satisfaction will not be complete unless this becomes a regular event.
Artizanii din Mures erau atat de pregatiti pentru un astfel de eveniment, atat de insetati sa faca parte din el, si atat de satisfacuti la final. Totusi, satisfactia nu va fi completa decat daca acest targ devine un eveniment periodic.

We're hooked. We need more. We can no longer go on without associating with other creative people and exchanging ideas and marvelling at each other's talents and working together.
Am devenit dependenti. Mai vrem. Nu mai putem merge mai departe fara sa ne asociem cu alti oameni creativi, sa schimbam idei, sa ne miram unul de talentul celuilalt si sa lucram impreuna.

I believe this fair is going places. But until then, I'll leave you with a (small) selection of pics.
Ii prevad un viitor stralucit targului astuia. Dar pana atunci, va las cu o (mica) selectie de poze.


Also, make sure to check out Wishes in Motion (who were part of the fair) and their ambitious project.
Nu uitati sa treceti si pe la Wishes In Motion (care au fost prezenti la targ), sa le vedeti ambitiosul proiect.


Last, but not least...
Nu in ultimul rand...

P.S. Special thanks for some of the pics to Raluca & Peter.


Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Hai la Targ!

Imi face placere sa va prezint primul targ handmade din Targu Mures!
I am pleased to present to you the first handmade fair of Targu Mures!

Te asteptam sa admiri, sa te miri si sa cumperi.
Come admire, marvel and shop!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

The Saga of the Twice Made Quilt

I promised you the story of how this quilt came to be, so here it is. This was the largest quilt I've ever made (130cm x 190cm) and also my first man-quilt.
V-am promis povestea facerii acestui quilt, deci iat-o. Asta a fost cel mai mare quilt pe care l-am facut pana acum (130x190), precum si primul quilt de barbati.

I had the idea in a flash of genius: hey, I could stencil those little dancing people he likes so much on some fabric, then turn the fabric into a quilt! His favourite colour combination being green and black, I went to search for some green fabric. The one below was the only green I could find that was cotton, and large enough. I wasn't crazy about the shade, but I figured it might look different once it was covered in LDPs (= little dancing people).
Ideea mi-a venit intr-o strafulgerare de geniu: hei, as putea picta omuletii aia care-i plac asa de mult pe un material, iar apoi sa fac un quilt din material! Combinatia lui preferata fiind verde cu negru, am plecat in cautare de verde. Singurul verde pe care l-am gasit si care sa fie si bumbac si destul de mare a fost cel de mai jos. Nu ma omoram dupa nuanta, dar m-am gandit ca va arata altfel odata ce va fi acoperit cu ODi (omuleti dansand).

I had a forest green fabric paint which looked quite nice, and I made stencils out of a plastic cover from one of my uni folders (what, it was all I had on hand at the time). And I started painting.
Aveam o vopsea pt textile de un verde-brad care arata bine; am facut sabloane din coperta de plastic a unui dosar pe care-l folosesc la scoala (ce, aia aveam la indemana!). Si m-am apucat de pictat.

1270 done, 2348 to go....
1270 gata, mai am 2348...
To be fair, I estimate about 5 LDPs per block, so that would mean I stencilled approximately 250 of them.
Pentru corectitudine, am estimat cam 5 ODi per bloc, deci asta ar insemna ca am pictat cam 250 in total.

As we all know, Murphy never sleeps! I soon ran out of fabric paint. I ran to the store to get some more, but it was that exact shade that they had run out of. I decided to take the next closest shade. I mean, it was just one number down, how different could it be? This different!
Dupa cum stim, Murphy nu doarme niciodata! Mi s-a terminat repede vopseaua pt textile. Am fugit la magazin sa mai iau dar exact nuanta aia n-o mai aveau. Am luat nuanta cea mai apropiata. In fond, era diferenta de doar un numar, cate de diferita putea sa fie? Asa de diferita!
I mixed it with white and yellow and brown and light green and blue and purple in an attempt to get it closer to the original shade, but what I ended up with was a sort of rancid furry mold colour. Oh well, I went on with it, waiting to see what it would look like when cut into blocks. I ended up with blocks that had both shades, and some blocks that had only one of the shades:
Am amestecat-o cu alb si galben su maro si verde deschis si albastru si mov in incercarea de a o aduce mai aproape de nuanta originala, dar am ajuns la o culoare de mucegai blanos ranced. Ma rog, am mers mai departe, hotarata sa vad cum va arata odata ce mterialul va fi taiat in blocuri. Mi-au iesit blocuri cu ambele nuante, si blocuri care aveau doar una din nuante:
I laid out the blocks on the bed...
Am pus blocurile pe pat...
...and YUCK! Nothing worked: the three greens smashed together, with the black border, it all looked awful to me. There was no way I would offer this as a birthday present. Maybe to a half-blind dog to sleep on.
...si BLEAH! Nimic nu se potrivea: trei nuante de verde trantite impreuna, cu marginea neagra, arata groaznic. N-aveam cum sa ofer asa ceva drept cadou de zi de nastere. Poate unui caine pe jumate orb, sa doarma pe el.

Not sure what to do, I left it aside and went to look for fabric for the other presents.
Nu stiam ce sa fac, asa ca l-am pus deoparte si am plecat sa caut materiale pentru celelalte cadouri.

And what do I find? A huge, oh-so-soft sheet in the perfect shade of green! I'm sure Murphy was snickering down at me while I was standing in the shop, wandering if I should laugh, swear or just buy the damn sheet. I bought it.
Si ce gasesc? Un cearsaf mare, super-moale, in nuanta perfecta de verde! Cred ca Murphy se prapadea de ras in timp ce eu stateam in magazin, intrebandu-ma daca sa rad, sa injur sau sa cumpar naibii materialul. L-am cumparat.

So off come two more plastic folder covers, to be turned into larger stencils, and the process begins again. This time, though, I decided to pre-cut the blocks and only put one large LDP in the middle of each, to save me some time. Also, no more green paint. Black will do, thank you very much. Here's what the first blocks looked like:
Asa ca sunt sacrificate inca doua coperte de dosare, pentru a fi transformate in sabloane mai mari, si procesul reincepe. Insa de data asta am decis sa tai blocurile dinainte si sa pun numai cate un OD mare in mijlocul fiecarui bloc, ca sa mai economisesc timp. De data asta fara vopsea verde, e bine si negru. Iata cum au iesit primele blocuri:
Excited about the obvious improvement, I almost forgot the drudgery of having painted and ironed another 45 LFDPs (little friggin dancing people). I got some pretty well aligned seams too:
Entuziasmata de imbunatatirea evidenta, aproape am uitat efortul si plictiseala de a fi pictat inca 45 de OND (omuletii naibii dansand). Am nimerit si cusaturile destul de aliniate:
Being such a large quilt. I had nowhere to stretch it out in my house. So off I went to take over the landlady's porch: (don't worry, I swept and mopped it 3 times before laying out the quilt)
Fiind un quilt asa de mare, n-aveam unde sa-l intind in casa. Asa ca am ocupat terasa gazdei: (fiti fara grija, am maturat si am mopuit de 3 ori inainte sa-l intind)
Sandwich, pin, quilt, border and the quilt was done in the nick of time.
Straturi, ace de siguranta, quiltuit, margine, si quiltul a fost gata la tzanc.

End results:
  • a much improved night's sleep
  • lots of leftover rancid mold coloured paint
  • lots of ugly LDP quilt blocks I don't know what to do with. Any suggestions?
  • most of my uni folders now have no covers
  • I don't want to see another LFDP for a long long time
  • painting polka dots on a square of fabric suddenly doesn't seem such a big feat anymore
Rezultate finale:
  • un somn imbunatatit
  • o gramada de vopsea de culoarea mucegaiului blanos ramasa
  • o gramada de blocuri urate cu OD ramase, si cu care nu stiu ce sa fac. Sugestii?
  • majoritatea dosarelor mele de la faculta nu mai au coperta
  • nu vreau sa mai vad nici un omulet dansand pentru foarte foarte multa vreme
  • brusc, pictatul de buline pe un patrat de material nu mi se mai pare asa mare lucru

Monday, July 25, 2011

Green Monday

Dear hypothetical readers,
Dragi cititori ipotetici,

As I've been discovering more and more crafty awesomeness in the blog world of late, I have decided to revive the Monday of envy.
De vreme ce in ultima vreme tot descopar minunatii in lumea blogurilor, m-am decis sa reinviu lunea invidiei.

Today's envy target: Tilly and her buttons :)
Tinta de azi a invidiei: Tilly si nasturii ei :)

Reason for envy: I'm never going to be able to make such professional-looking clothes
Motiv de invidie: Niciodata n-o sa fiu in stare sa fac haine care sa arate asa de profesional cusute.

She didn't even discover this hobby that long ago, and look what she can do already!
Nici macar nu si-a descoperit hobby-ul asta foarte demult, si deja uite ce stie sa faca!
I mean look at this! Pockets lined with pretty fabrics, and truckloads of buttonholes, and scalloped edges and....
Pe bune! Buzunare captusite cu materiale frumoase, si stive de butoniere si margini rotunjite si...
Not to mention she's so cute.
Ca sa nu mai zic ca-i draguta foc.
Darn!
La naiba!