shivskill

[shivskill]

this stuff goes slowwwww slow but it’s sooo fun & pretty :] 4yds at ~60ppi is definitely gonna be on the loom for a hot second but i can treadle from memory so its very relaxing <3

[shivskill]

🧵 I’ve been tatting (frivolité) for a while now — it’s quiet, meditative, and surprisingly addictive.

A simple thread turns into lace. Knot by knot.

I know how hard it is to start when every diagram looks confusing and you’re not even sure which shuttle to buy.

So I put together a beginner-friendly guide — just what I wish I had when I started.

It’s a PDF, with photos, slow steps, and a little project at the end.

If you’ve ever wanted to try tatting, this might help.

No pressure — just sharing something I love.

You can find it here:

[shivskill]

i made two more of these for a friend! they turned out beautiful!

for the one i made for myself i didn't follow instructions and used bias binding for the seams, but on these i did two different things: b&w one did as instructed (subtracted a couple mm from the lining so it doesn't show on the outside), and green one, as the fabric was more slippery and less structured, i just made both the outer and the lining the same and topstitched the whole thing. pretty pleased about how they all turned out!

really pleased with myself specially about the b&w one <3

fully forgot i had created this blog very specifically to share my creations (most of them fiber or needle related) so i just spent the past couple of days mortifying every single one of my 20-ish bluesky followers with the saga of my sewing the megan cami top by loveless jamie in size 6

ive come to correct that mistake and hopefully start a diary of sorts of the projects/art/whatever i get to do this year and onwards

id been dreaming for a while of making a halter-grey-patchwork thing heavily inspired by jogakbo (a certain type of korean patchwork), more specifically these examples by youngmin lee:

so when i saw the megan cami pattern i kinda put two and two together and decided that 2025 would be the year i would get over my fear of fucking shit up and actually get to use my sewing machine for its intended purpose starting with a garment that felt simple enough for me to not be intimidated about it and complex/beautiful enough that id actually want to add it to my wardrobe

the pattern itself is very clear, instructions are easy to follow and i honestly had zero issue on that account, which surprised me because it was my first time actually printing, taping and following a pattern! i sized up on my measurements just to be safe and went for size 6 instead of 4, and the top fits me really well; still i might try to make one in size 4 just to check the fit for that one too

for the patchwork itself i gathered some grey/black linen and linen-like fabric and scraps i had gathered thinking about this precise project, and just got onto sewing tbh; i had some little prior experience with patchwork because last year i made some curtains for my house in this style but i mostly just went with the vibes for this step

(look at my curtains i love them)

some pictures of the patchwork coming together. i just kept adding pieces until the pattern fit on the fabric, taking care of avoiding seams where the darts were going to be, and trying to minimize them on the neckline as well to avoid unnecessary bulk.

the pattern itself asks for the top to be lined but a) im sweaty and b) i dont really like lined garments for the most part, and in this particular case i wanted for this top to feel breezy and light, so instead of closing the seams with the lining and sandwiching the straps between those layers, i made things unnecessarily complicated for myself and did the whole thing with homemade bias tape. i also ignored the strips instructions and chose to use the bias binding of the armholes as ties to adjust how high/low i want the neckline to be on any given day

it mostly went well! i looked up how much sewing allowance the pattern had, cut that up, pinned the shit out of the things, and even if there is a bit of gaping at the armholes i feel really happy about the result!

and that was that! its still missing my hand embroidered tag where i put my name and the date of completion (which i will update once its done), but otherwise i begun and completed a fully wearable garment in 2/3 days :] pretty pleased with myself over this one and pleasantly surprised to discover i can manage to make alterations to a pattern and still end up with something nice

[shivskill]

Newest finished piece!! Pretty happy with this! The leaves look a bit funky, I think I'm still using too much tension and maybe not enough bobbins for them. Super happy with the stems and the petals! And hey look! My square lead works are becoming more square! The new technique learned in this one was crossing over a braid. So for example the two bottom leaves use the same bobbins and are not sewn on separately.

Pattern 7 in the Technique of Honiton Lace by Elsie Luxton

[shivskill]

I also took this off the pillow today

My first piece of Ipswich lace!! This was a surprisingly big mental challenge to do. I haven't done a ton of work with gimp threads so it took a lot of concentration to figure it out. Also my first time using a full working diagram like this so that was also a learning curve. The biggest issue with this though was the thread. I just don't like silk. It's so slippery and unravels so easily. I've had this much done for a couple of months I think and finally today decided that one full repeat of the pattern was enough and we are calling it done 😂 I did enjoy the pattern and plan to make more Ipswich lace in the future! But it will definitely be with cotton thread and maybe with a bolster pillow. Also I need to wait until I have more bobbins lol. This was the pattern in the book that required the least number and I was using a mix of square and Midlands which was kind of terrible 😅

Pattern # 8 in Lace Samples from Ipswich, Massachusetts, 1789-1790 by Karen H Thompson

[shivskill]

poem tag by Morgan Ritter

[shivskill]

Self portrait

21x23 cm, embroidery, seed beads

[shivskill]

Can I Please Eat In The Computer Room Tonight? by Nicole Nikolich (2025)

[shivskill]

oh yeh we're drawing on fabric again lol

[shivskill]

qualeasha wood, "bed rot," 2024, woven jacquard, glass seed beads, and machine embroidery

[shivskill]

Woll dress, 1880

[shivskill]

by Elsa Olsson/Fevernest, 2019

[shivskill]

Thinking about how wild it is that enshittification starts as a way for the rich to squeeze the populace for more money but ends up infecting everything so even luxury products decline in quality. They’ve got more money than fucking God now and for what? Literally they can’t even buy fun nice stuff for themselves because they killed craft.

Anyway this post is about Dhaka muslin but it’s also about everything.

[shivskill]

“A Day for Destroying Things” by Katy Batsel

[shivskill]

honest to god forgot to update HOWEVER here is my current progress on this

i have not had the time/motivation to push it further but higher powers willing ill finish this year lmfao

lady eboshi single strand chainstitch wip and this might be the best face ive embroidered this far. lines are finally done, now we move onto the color filling!

[shivskill]

“ perverts “ — filet crochet by me

[shivskill]

fully forgot i had created this blog very specifically to share my creations (most of them fiber or needle related) so i just spent the past couple of days mortifying every single one of my 20-ish bluesky followers with the saga of my sewing the megan cami top by loveless jamie in size 6

ive come to correct that mistake and hopefully start a diary of sorts of the projects/art/whatever i get to do this year and onwards

id been dreaming for a while of making a halter-grey-patchwork thing heavily inspired by jogakbo (a certain type of korean patchwork), more specifically these examples by youngmin lee:

so when i saw the megan cami pattern i kinda put two and two together and decided that 2025 would be the year i would get over my fear of fucking shit up and actually get to use my sewing machine for its intended purpose starting with a garment that felt simple enough for me to not be intimidated about it and complex/beautiful enough that id actually want to add it to my wardrobe

the pattern itself is very clear, instructions are easy to follow and i honestly had zero issue on that account, which surprised me because it was my first time actually printing, taping and following a pattern! i sized up on my measurements just to be safe and went for size 6 instead of 4, and the top fits me really well; still i might try to make one in size 4 just to check the fit for that one too

for the patchwork itself i gathered some grey/black linen and linen-like fabric and scraps i had gathered thinking about this precise project, and just got onto sewing tbh; i had some little prior experience with patchwork because last year i made some curtains for my house in this style but i mostly just went with the vibes for this step

(look at my curtains i love them)

some pictures of the patchwork coming together. i just kept adding pieces until the pattern fit on the fabric, taking care of avoiding seams where the darts were going to be, and trying to minimize them on the neckline as well to avoid unnecessary bulk.

the pattern itself asks for the top to be lined but a) im sweaty and b) i dont really like lined garments for the most part, and in this particular case i wanted for this top to feel breezy and light, so instead of closing the seams with the lining and sandwiching the straps between those layers, i made things unnecessarily complicated for myself and did the whole thing with homemade bias tape. i also ignored the strips instructions and chose to use the bias binding of the armholes as ties to adjust how high/low i want the neckline to be on any given day

it mostly went well! i looked up how much sewing allowance the pattern had, cut that up, pinned the shit out of the things, and even if there is a bit of gaping at the armholes i feel really happy about the result!

and that was that! its still missing my hand embroidered tag where i put my name and the date of completion (which i will update once its done), but otherwise i begun and completed a fully wearable garment in 2/3 days :] pretty pleased with myself over this one and pleasantly surprised to discover i can manage to make alterations to a pattern and still end up with something nice