Krama in Cambodia

Hello fellow travellers!

Can you guess from the picture where I am? I arrived in Cambodia. As a fashion designer I couldn’t miss the fact that everyone is wearing a similar scarf here. It’s called a krama and it’s part of their traditional clothing. It’s a simple but quite big scarf which they wear in a million different ways.

They use it as a fashionable piece, a headscarf, sarong, towel and even to carry babies around! Even I was surprised of all those ways to style a simple scarf. You remember I did a blog once about different ways to wear a scarf? You can find it here!

I made my own krama with fabric set PN-0164689 'Summer Flowers'.

Do you like it?

Enjoy your day!

Dollie

Life is better in a bikini!

Oh hello there,

Do you like my bikini? I designed it especially to come to Bali. One of my friends is living here so I had to stop by on my trip around the world. She has her own swimming pool, the perfect spot to hang out in my bikini. The towel and my beach bag come in handy when visiting the pool.

Do you want to make this outfit yourself? Here you go with the pattern. Print it in A3 format and you can sew your own bikini!

And to make things easier, here's a tutorial to help you sew this bikini.

Have a lot of sewing fun!

See you later, alligator!

Dollie

Aye aye Vietnam!

Hi there,

 I ended up in Vietnam today. On the picture you can see me on the Mekong, the most famous river of Vietnam. I’ve already spotted some Vietnamese people wearing their traditional clothing. The traditional Vietnamese garment is the ao dài. It’s mostly worn by women nowadays, but can also be worn by men. It exists of a tight-fitting silk tunic, which is worn over pants. Ao means ‘shirt’ and dài means ‘long’.

Nowadays, the ao dài is worn for weddings and other formal events. It’s still the uniform for female teachers and students in high schools in the South. Also flight attendants, receptionists, female bank staff, restaurant staff and hotel workers in Vietnam are wearing it.

 The traditional ao dài changed over time. It’s not disappearing but it has become more adaptable to modern life. People are changing the design and material so that it’s more comfortable to wear it doing daily life stuff.

 A couple years ago the modern ao dài turned up. It was modified at the collar, the sleeves and the length of the two flaps. Instead of wearing pants underneath, people choose to wear culottes or skirts inside. Different materials are used, like silk, brocade or voile.

 I really love traditional clothing. It breathes the atmosphere of the culture of the land I’m visiting.

 What is the traditional clothing of your country?

 See you soon!

 Dollie

On Wednesdays we wear pink! – Mean Girls

Hello there,

Travelling the world is pretty exhausting. Time for some relaxation. I came to Thailand to find some rest. At this Buddha temple, I’ll meditate for a while. When my head is empty, I can get so much inspiration for my designs.

We all know the famous quote from Mean Girls ‘On Wednesdays we wear pink!’, right? But did you know that in Thailand every day of the week has its own color? Monday is yellow, Tuesday is pink, Wednesday is green, Thursday is orange, Friday is blue, Saturday is purple and Sunday is red. They believe that matching your clothes with the right color of the day will bring you luck. Luckily I have some pink in my shirt and skirt today!

Do you have lucky color?

See you!

Dollie

Inspiration of the day

Hi guys,

 I landed in Singapore, the shopping heaven of Asia. There are so many shopping malls here, I won’t be able to see them all. I got a lot of inspiration here, because of all of those beautiful clothes I see hanging in the windows.

 That’s why I decided to get creative with some leftover fabric. While designing a lot of clothes, I always have so much leftover fabric. I think it’s a shame if I would just throw it away. So I thought of some useful things to do and make with leftovers. Time to be creative!

 Bandana

This one is so easy. Just measure your head, cut out a triangle and tie this around your head. You can use this one in two ways: in its original triangle form or rolled up as a hair band.

 Scarf

A lot of different scarfs are possible. Cut out a triangle for a draped triangle scarf. You can also cut out a long rectangle for a regular scarf. If you sew the ends of this rectangle together, you have a cirle shawl. How trendy is that?

Bracelet

This one is maybe the easiest of them all! Just cut out a small ribbon from any fabric you like and tie around your wrist. If you want something more creative, you can also cut out three ribbons and braid them until you have a band that’s big enough to fit around your wrist.

 Done!

 I hope I inspired you to use your leftover fabric instead of just throwing it away.

There are still so much more possibilities for crafting with leftover fabric. Do you have any ideas? You can always let me know!

 Love,

 Dollie