Another silk blouse

First of all I want to thank you for the very nice, sweet comments on my previous post - I felt/ feel deeply touched. As a matter of fact, your words are an encouragement for me to continue. It's good to make a halt once in awhile and take a deep breath. It's good to redefine, to re-plot the lines and think about which direction to go. And your words have helped me in doing so. I started blogging for fun and want to keep it that way!  And the photographs so many of you seem to appreciate will be a part of it as will the crafts, but not only.

That being said, I used my little break to sew - I finished this blouse from another Japanese pattern book and I made a skirt with my very own pattern. But more about the skirt later.

In case you're wondering, the blouse comes out of this book: Ma petite garde-robe. Tendances à coudre. by Yoshiko Tsukiori (not sure if it's available in English). I stuck to the pattern for most part except for the finishing where I chose to go with French seams and hand-sewn mock French seams, because of the flimsy sheer silk I used. Because of the delicacy of the silk I also basted most seams - all the basting and French seams (more than) doubles the work but the result is so much nicer.
And there's something about the process too which I really like and which I had completely forgotten about.
The slow pace of sewing by hand is almost meditative and very soothing.
Stitch by stitch it happens right under your hands.  A piece of garment, unique by its nature...

A little frayed...

It's been a while since my last post. My postings have been highly irregular lately, to say the least. I was feeling under the weather last week, literally, which explains part of my absence here. But I've been thinking also. About which way things should be going here. And to be honest - I don't know.

From the moment I started publishing tutorials, my blog has become increasingly popular. A couple of nice projects have come along thanks to that which I'm really grateful about.
But it has put some strain on me as well. And right now I find it very hard to find a balance. I do not want to publish tutorials or DIY's just for the sake of having DIY or tutorial in the title, attracting the huge numbers of visitors - the ultimate approval. I feel pressured to come up with new and better. It keeps me from doing other things, more meaningful things perhaps. I'm fighting with numbers and that's not what blogging should be about. Not for me, that is.

So, that explains my little retreat. Instead of spending time online, I have been sewing. Slowly. In between things. No rush. Stitch by stitch. And I really enjoyed it.
I even took time for photographing the pieces of frayed silk scattered on the floor, before picking them up...
And it felt good...