Today I offer you a poem on Substack: Fire and form. Or two, really, clashed together and woven into each other in an interesting format.
One of fire, the other of writing. One written in the form prescribed by the other. Read as it is or listen to me reading it for you. The poem comes from the invitation of week 1 in a 7-week writing course I’m taking. I spend a lot of time writing and shaping and find myself growing as a writer, peeling the writing onion to get to the deep stuff. You can read Fire and form here. Enjoy!
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. Do subscribe!
I share essay-style writing on Substack. Come and have a look!
I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for joyful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons are an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the book Knit (spin) Sweden!by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
I use a lot of writing journals, for different kinds of writing. One for morning reflections, one for a secret project, one for writing whatever wants to be written and one for a seven-week writing course that starts in just a couple of days. Today I show you my just finished journal cover.
I do have a store bought journal cover for my secret writing project, but it turns out that it isn’t in a standard size, so none of my A5 journals fit. That was my cue to make one myself.
You can see a short video reel of my journal cover on my Instagram.
Material
I wanted to use material that I already had in my stash. As a premium member of the Berta’s Flax Guild I have a box of membership gifts from Christiane Seufferlein who runs the guild. In the stash I had the perfect fabric for the cover, a hand woven piece (cotton I think) from a German dowry somewhere between 1900 and 1950. The lining is a fabric sample in printed linen my friend Cecilia wrapped a birthday gift in.
The spine is reinforced with an extra strip of fabric and secured with sprinkled sashiko stitch stars. Two ribbons for closing and two pen loops inside the bow.
The embroidery linen yarns come from flea market finds. I bought the linen bands at an estate sale after a textile profile who passed away during the autumn. I bought the sashiko thread new, but for earlier projects.
Model
I actually started out browzing for journal covers to buy, but when I decided to make one myself I put on my inspiration goggles instead. First I was leaning toward an envelope type of solution with a button on the front, but after a while I simplified my plan to a plain model where the jackets of the journals are slid into the cover pockets to help stabilizing the structure. Ribbons at the spine keep the journals centered and in place. Loops for a couple of pens and a simple bow tie to close the construction.
A simple pocket model for my journal cover. I slide the first book under the left ribbon and the jacket into the left pocket.
The first thing I did after cutting out the pieces was to add a strip from the main fabric as a stiffener for the spine. I also spent many hours stitching the stars across the spine to keep the spine in place and for reinforcement.
I slide the left book underneath the first ribbon and into the left pocket, the middle under the second ribbon and the right into the right pocket. All the books sit snugly and the journal covers are sturdy.
Sashiko stars
The star section is my favorite detail in the project. I was brave enough to stitch them without a template, I just used the checquered fabric pattern as a guide. I did all the horizontal lines first, then added the diagonals, one direction at a time. This resulted in a sweet rhythm where my thoughts came and went in the same pace the stitches did. The wonky stars and sliding arrangement add a nice contrast to the right angles of the woven pattern.
Cross-stitched monogram
When the stars were strewn I added the monogram. I kept it simple with a cross-stitch from Anna Bauer’s Mönsterbok, a book filled with patterns for both cross-stitching and knitting. I can’t manage one stitch for every one thread in the aida fabric anymore, and doubling the distance between the stitches was still quite fiddly. I really need a new prescription for my glasses.
I just love pulling the aida fabric threads out after a cross-stitch embroidery. The photo is a screenshot
Finding a suitable colour to stitch onto a checquered fabric was a challenge. Even if the apple green is quite close in hue to the light blue, it still stands out a little from the jumble of blues.
I sewed the main fabric and the lining together, including the two ribbons for the inside of the spine, and then added a seam around the edges after I had turned the right sides out. This is where my plan was to stop the embellishing and folding the pockets into place, but a poem came my way and shook me about.
When a poem shakes your foundation
I was introduced to this very short, but potent poem by Cleo Wade:
A message from today, by Cleo Wade maybe don't tomorrow your life away
I love a good word mischief, and brutally turning an adverb into a verb is such a lovely way of giving a poem the space it needs to be and breathe in the world. So I knew I needed to stitch it onto the pocket of my journal cover.
Backstitching
I found a backstitch font, 2×3 stitches, and started stitching, with the help of the same aida fabric I used for the monogram. It was very fiddly to sew the tiny stitches while at the same time making sure/hoping the needle caught the main fabric too and not just the aida fabric.
By changing a few photo settings I got the clearest possible of the image. Still, only I know what the words say, by memory and not by actually deciphering the words.
I knew there was a big risk the poem would be unintelligible and I almost gave up, a couple of times. But I realized this was for me and I didn’t care if the letters were wonky and jumbled. The poem was there to remind me to write whatever wants to be written, to today my writing now instead of tormorrowing it away. I needed to work the words through the stitching and have the memory of them sizzling in my hands. My fingers are still sore from the intense needle spelling, but the words are there, helping me keep the focus.
More writing
Next week I start a seven-week writing immersion led by Beth Kempton. I have taken many of her classes, including the Book proposal Masterclass that resulted in a book proposal that landed me an agent and a book deal. The journal cover is finished and packed with notebooks and pens, ready to spill across the pages. I can’t wait!
The journal cover is finished! It fits three journals, two pens and a box of extra cartridges.
I do miss being so intensively in the project, though. I’m thinking about sewing a small wallet for cards and small stuff. We hardly use coins and bills in Sweden anymore, so I would like a different model, more card shaped and with secret spaces and pockets. Do you have any pattern ideas?
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. Do subscribe!
I share essay-style writing on Substack. Come and have a look!
I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for joyful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons are an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the book Knit (spin) Sweden!by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
I’m sitting on a of meditation pillow on the floor, picking a Gute lamb’s fleece while listening to a livestream with my favourite writing inspiration Beth Kempton. Two bags are on the floor; one is filled with bundled sections of wool, staples holding on to each other at the cut ends, the other with an airy mass of newly picked individual locks, light and considerably softer. A pile on the floor with mostly kemp and felted parts.
The gifts of a primitive breed
The breed is not new to me, I know its challenges, or perhaps my challenges with it, but I also know its gifts. All the things I learn from exploring it, from handling a primitive breed.
A Gute ram lamb, not related to the one in this post.
A fleece from a Gute sheep can have coarse outercoat together with the finest undercoat. It also most probably has kemp, those short, rough and quirky fibers that usually break and fall out. They may seem undesirable to us, but they have a purpose for the sheep; to keep the staples open to bring in air for warmth, and upright to keep moisture out.
An unseparated staple in the center. To the right a flicked staple and to the right all the kemp that came out from the flicking.
The combination of fiber types is intriguing and my fingers keep pondering, wandering across the fleece. This lamb’s fleece has very fine outercoat, though, not yet fully formed into the rough structure it can have as an adult. Still, a fleece like this brings me closer to how the fleece on the original sheep was constructed; fine undercoat and coarse hair, albeit in slightly different proportions. The fleece grows to protect the sheep and I get to learn from it.
Pondering hands
I ponder with my hands across the fleece, systematically picking staple by staple. My fingers search for tip ends, curly, fine and silky. The cut ends have compacted slightly and I need to work to make them loosen their grip. Fiddly, but doable, and some of the kemp – located at the bottom of the staples – is separated from the other fibers in the process. I know that more kemp will fall out and result in a soft yield after my picking.
This Gute lamb’s fleece has lots of kemp, but also the finest undercoat you can imagine. In the loupe image you can see black kemp as well as fine and medium fibers that are probably undercoat and outercoat.
Another gift from handling fleece from a primitive breed like the Gute sheep is that I know I will find gold, one way or another The colours, the fineness and the silky shine. What may look like a rough and bristly fleece is indeed a rough fleece, but it does in also have great potential. It could be turned into a rug, upholstery, a fulled fabric or sturdy socks. But with the fine undercoat and not yet adult outercoat in this fleece I could also make something very soft. A lace shawl perhaps. Yes, this prickly-looking fleece could actually be wrapped around my shoulders in an openwork pattern, flaunting the beauty in the simple fibers.
Further exploration
I tease a few locks and am astonished at how easily the kemp separates from the rest of the fibers. What remains in front of me are silky soft and remarkably fine fibers.
Teased and unteased to the left, spinning in the center and a laceweight yarn to the right.
Look at the picture with three sections of wool in The gifts of a primitive breed above. In the center you see a whole staple. The light wool to the right is a similar staple that I have teased with a few strokes with a flicker. Almost all of the kemp is gone. You can see the flicked out black and white kemp to the left of the whole staple.
I carded the teased wool and spun it on a 9 gram double cross (Turkish style) spindle into a laceweight yarn. There is definitely kemp left in the yarn, but given how much has fallen out already, I trust the remaining kemp will fall out eventually. And if it doesn’t I will be humbly reminded of the fleece as a protection for a living being, that I am grateful to learn from.
This and other things is what my fingers reflect over as they walk their way through the hills and valleys of Gute lamb’s fleece number 8 on a Thursday morning, and later ponder further on the page, writing the experience down, joyfully.
What do your hands ponder about when they walk through a fleece?
Happy spinning!
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. Do subscribe!
I share essay-style writing on Substack. Come and have a look!
I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for joyful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons are an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the book Knit (spin) Sweden!by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
A Swedish Gute fleece shorn after wind and rain call to me and I add it to my fleece stash, filling it with stories to knit into the loops of the yarn I spin. Read the whole essay on Substack: The wind in the wool.
When I release the fleece from its paper prison it poofs up as if taking the biggest breath after having held it for days. It keeps inhaling, slowly, until the mass is relaxed, staples quietly reaching, whisker-like.
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. Do subscribe!
I share essay-style writing on Substack. Come and have a look!
I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for joyful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons are an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the book Knit (spin) Sweden!by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
When I got my manuscript back from my editor I had the delicate task of reducing my word count by a third. I was helped by looking for giraffes. Read the whole piece on Substack.
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. Do subscribe!
I share essay-style writing on Substack. Come and have a look!
I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for joyful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons are an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the book Knit (spin) Sweden!by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
A couple of weeks ago I launched this year’s free five-day challenge. I call it Be Kind. Through five days the participants get five challenges and the invitation to reflect about them under the theme of being kind.
Over 250 people have taken the challenge so far. As a teacher I get the privilege of reading the comments. The kindness you are showing yourselves and your classmates in the course is truly heartwarming. So many of you discover new ways of looking at the spinning process and your part in it. And while you are finding ways of being kind to yourselves, you are being kind to other spinners, just by sharing your experiences in the classroom.
The kindness in the spinning community
I see this every time I create a five-day challenge. There is so much kindness in the spinning community and I get to experience it first hand. While I do put the course together, you do the hard work – the challenging of your habits, movement patterns and ways of thinking about spinning. Even if I know you will make lots of progress, I am always amazed at the discoveries you make, just by stopping and listening to mind, body and spirit. In that regard, all the challenges I have made are about being kind. One student writes in Be Kind: ”Each day I looked forward to the next lesson. The course has encouraged me to experiment and has reinforced the idea that there are no real mistakes only chances to learn and possibly make more discoveries that can feed into future spinning and weaving.” It is comments like these that remind me over and over again of the kindness in the spinning community.
I do genuinely thank you all for your commitment and reflections. If you haven’t taken the challenge, please do, and be kind to yourself while at the same time contributing to the spinning community. If you have taken it already, do share it with your spinning friends.
And I keep writing. The cross-stitch sign on the door says Jag skriver, meaning I write, and is a kind reminder to my family not to disturb me.
A book update
Meanwhile, I have revisited my book for the first time since I handed it in to my editor in September. I got the book manuscript back from my editor last week and it was sweet to pay the script a visit again, with a fresh glance. There were some smaller adjustments I needed to make, but the big thing was that I need to get the word count down by up to a third. I knew it would happen, but slicing a script written from the heart is still a big thing. With the four month break from the book, though, the words aren’t still vibrating on my skin and I can take a step back and see the text from a more mature perspective. And I will be kind to myself when I do.
Happy spinning!
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. Do subscribe!
I share essay-style writing on Substack. Come and have a look!
I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for joyful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons are an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the book Knit (spin) Sweden!by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
Today on Substack: What is it about January?, a reflective piece on things we start in January but abandon in March. For many people it is getting your body moving, for me it is usually new food experiments, including this year’s overnight fermented bread frenzy. Read the whole piece on Substack.
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. Do subscribe!
I share essay-style writing on Substack. Come and have a look!
I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for joyful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons are an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the book Knit (spin) Sweden!by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
Sometimes you just need to make something, have had the making of it sizzling in your hands. This happened when I watched Bernadette Banner’s tasteful video about making a modern length Victorian walking skirt. Spoiler alert: Apart from an occasional skirt twirl, there is no spinning in this post.
A couple of years ago I stumbled upon a video by Bernadette Banner, a costume designer with a huge YouTube account where she documents the exploration, reconstruction and reinterpretation of fashion history. In the video she explores how she can create an Edwardian walking skirt in a contemporary length. For some reason I was totally fascinated by the project. I do have a soft spot for the late 19th century fashion, and I realized I needed to make a skirt for myself.
The ensemble
I am very happy with the result and astounded that it all went so well. It must be because of all the hand stitching. In the pictures I am wearing the skirt with a linen shift underneath, from the Berta’s flax guild. I don’t think it is visible, but it does a lot for the presentation of the skirt. I bought the bloomers a couple of weeks ago at a textile sale after the death of a textile antiquarian and reenactor.
Flat front and gathered back for a silhouette typical for the Victorian era.
The jacket is my creation, including spindle spinning, two-end knitting and embroidery of the sleeves, weaving the bands and hand sewing the bodice. And some machine sewing. The blouse on the indoor pictures once belonged to one of my Austrian great-grandmothers and should be contemporary with the skirt model.
The model
Bernadette refers In her video to a pattern from Truly Victorian, and that’s the pattern I bought too. I did browse through the description, but for the most part I followed Bernadette’s clever guidance in the video.
The Victorian walking skirt in a modern length is finished! With pockets and rose lining. The blouse once belonged to one of my Austrian great- grandmothers and should be contemporary with the skirt model.
The skirt has seven gores, a simple waistband and a 20 centimeter [8 inch] stiffener panel at the bottom of the skirt. Bernadette has shortened the ankle length original model to about 60 centimeters [24 inches] from the waist, and added the stiffener at the new length. I chose a similar length for my skirt. Like Bernadette, I also added side pockets. The fitting is flat at the front and sides and gathered at the center back, giving the skirt a bell shape.
Fabrics
My main fabric was a wool/linen fishbone twill from an Austrian weaving mill, available for the members of the Berta’s flax guild. Earlier this winter I finished a pair of trousers using the same fabric. I bought a linen/cotton fabric with printed pink roses on Swedish eBay for the lining. I am a firm believer in roses for any lining. For the stiffener I used an antique coarse linen fabric, also from Berta’s flax guild. And oh, a diagonally striped scrap fabric for pockets.
A wool/linen fishbone twill for the main fabric and a linen/cotton rose print for the lining of the Victorian walking skirt.
The wool/linen fabric is drapey and heavy, as is the antique linen fabric I used as a stiffener at the bottom of the skirt. All in all the skirt weighs one kilo.
Basting
The skirt is flatlined, meaning that the main fabric and the lining are sewn together for every gore, as opposed to a lined fabric which is made up of two separate garments – one in the main fabric and one in the lining – and then sewn together at the edges. Apparently this technique was common in the Victorian era.
To succeed with flatlining without creases or bubbles, I basted every main fabric and lining counterpart together. This of course took time, but made the result so much neater and the process so much more relaxed than with a million pins. An I enjoyed sitting on the floor with the gores spread like sunrays around me, basting my little heart out. Once all the pieces were basted – main fabric gores with the lining, and the stiffener with more lining, I assembled them with my sewing machine, a 1965 Husqvarna 2000, way younger than the skirt model.
Pressing
You may have heard this a thousand times, and so have I: Be sure to press your seams neatly. This time I did. I knew from when I sewed the pants in the same fabric that it is a bit mischievous, so I pressed the flatlined seams thoroughly with a towel and steam. And it did the trick. It really is such a simple technique, but often neglected.
Trimming and hand felling
Every seam was now four fabrics thick, which is not ideal. I can’t change that, but I can ease the bulk by trimming the seam allowances. For the gores I trimmed the lining to be able to hand fell the seam allowance of the main fabric over and around it. Seven times. I didn’t bother hand felling anything that would eventually be hidden by the stiffener, though.
The antique linen stiffener is trimmed underneath the rose linin (left)g, that I am hand felling onto the gore lining (right).
The gathering at the back was a bit fiddly with the flatlined fabrics, but not much more than it would be with a single fabric. It looked a bit meager at first, but when I put the skirt on it was just right. I sewed the waistband onto the wrong side with the sewing machine and hand felled it on the right side.
When I sewed the skirt together with the stiffener at the bottom I trimmed the lining on the skirt part and the stiffener on the panel part. A thorough pressing and presto, a neat bottom seam. The final touch was the hand felling of the top of the stiffener panels.
Needle in hand
With the hand felling no seams and no raw edges are visible on either the right or the wrong side of the skirt. Oh, the satisfaction! And I quite enjoyed the hand stitching. A natural colour linen thread that I waxed, an antique silver thimble (from 1885, so contemporary-ish with the dress model) and a cushion on the floor and I was stitching away across the roses, happy as a clam.
I’m hand felling the panel lining onto the gore lining. To the left you can see the hand felled seam allowances of the gores.
Another sweet thing about hand stitching is the time it gives me to plan ahead. With a machine seam, anything can go remarkably wrong in a second – a fly sewn onto a trouser leg or a piece sewn back to front. I actually did sew the back pieces of the skirt panels the wrong way (one the machine), but with the tendency of the main fabric to fray I didn’t’ t want to risk ripping the seam, so I kept it that way (and attached the stiffener panels the wrong way too to match). But when I sewed by hand, the slow speed gives me the time to see and plan ahead. Many times I didn’t even have to pin the seam allowances, I could just fold them as I went. There will be more hand sewing!
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. Do subscribe!
I share essay-style writing on Substack. Come and have a look!
I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for joyful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons are an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the book Knit (spin) Sweden!by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
Today I offer you my brand new and free Be Kind five-day challenge. Every day for five days you will receive a theme to explore with the purpose of finding your inner spinning guide and being kind to yourself.
In this practical challenge you will get five text lessons over five days where I encourage you to be kind to yourself while you explore your spinning process. In each lesson I give you a background, an example and a task to work with.
What it’s about
The purpose of the challenge is for you to find ways that work for you, in your context, your skill level and with the tools you have. The goal is to explore your spinning process with an open mind. You can take this challenge at any spinning level. The challenge is just about you and your process.
To take part you need
a spinning project in any stage from raw fleece to yarn.
Around 30 minutes a day to work with the challenge
A clean and dry jam jar
pen and paper.
What you will do
You invest in this course as much or as little as you want to. Through my introduction and examples I encourage you to make your own challenge from the context you are in right now. You are welcome to explore the project you are working on at the moment, through the different themes in the challenge. There is also an opportunity to learn from other spinners who take part in the challenge and to extend the challenge beyond the five days and make a routine of exploring your wool on your terms.
The challenge is in written English, but you are welcome to write your comments in any language you prefer. Most of us can use a translate app to read comments in foreign languages.
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. Do subscribe!
I share essay-style writing on Substack. Come and have a look!
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons are an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the book Knit (spin) Sweden!by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for mindful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
A year has gone and it’s time for a 2024 recap – a walk through the posts and projects during the year. Pour yourself a cuppa and dive in!
In the beginning of this year I wrote about my intentions for the years. These were
Write, write and write some more
Follow a textile
Connect with fibery people.
I did lots of writing, both for my book and for other purposes.
Writing Listen to the wool
I have had my book Listen to the Wool in my heart for many years, but after I signed a contract with a U.S. publisher in October 2023 it has been for real. I have written regularly, but the writing took new proportions from March and then during the summer until I handed it in to my editor half-way through September. And of course I wrote the writing process here on the blog.
A writing retreat in March, writing through the summer and photo shoots for the book.
In The anatomy of a chapter I explored the winding ways through a chapter and all its qualities, textures and secret passage ways. I went on a Writing retreat in March and stayed in a tiny house and had the time and the space to just write my little heart out without bother anyone. And do some dancing. I also invited you Behind the scenes of some of the photo sessions my husband and book photographer Dan and I did. Finally, in Press send I took you to a second writing retreat where I finished the manuscript by reading it aloud. It took eleven hours.
Writing on Substack
In May and June I took the River of Words online writing course by Beth Kempton and started a Substack account where I published most of the pieces I wrote during the course. Since then I have been writing there regularly and I invite you to come and have a read. If this blog is where I write mainly about wool and spinning and an occasional other craft, Substack is the space where I write for the sake of writing.
Through a few different fulling projects I have followed a fleece from fleece through yarn, weaving and eventually fulling. I presented the Fulling candidates I had for my weekend At the fulling mill with my wool traveling club in May. I turned three of the fulled fabrics into Fulled pillowcases.
At the fulling mill, fulled pillow cases and a Gute weave fulled by foot.
One of the fabrics that didn’t full very successfully in the mill got a rematch in a tub where I spent a few hours Walking waulking.
My friend Lena is shearing Frida, one of her Dalapäls sheep. To the right, Milis’ Åsen forest sheep.
I said no to most course inquiries, but I did teach my five-day course A spindle a day at Sätergläntan Crafting institute. This was the fifth year I taught it and as always I learned a lot in the time I spent with the students. I also published two short lectures, Tease your wool and Card your wool. Through the writing courses I have taken I have also connected to other writers and got lots of inspiration from them.
Hands in the fibers
While I have invested most of my time on writing the book, I have had some time to dig my hands into fibers as well. Mainly wool:
2.One of my daily joys is cold bathing. This is from the December solstice of 2022.
Listen to the wool
A couple of weeks ago I got three suggestions for the front cover of my book Listen to the wool, and after the new year I expect to get an edited manuscript from my editor to dive in to, probably more than once. I look forward to it, even if I am a little scared too. But with my editor and my agent having my back I know I am in good hands, as is the book. I have no release date yet, but I am thinking the second half of 2025.
I will keep writing about spinning and other occasional crafts on the blog but also on Substack for the sake of writing. You are welcome to both of these spaces, all free of charge.
Thank you for reading what I write and for you sweet notes of appreciation. They mean the world to me.
Happy spinning!
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. Do subscribe!
I share essay-style writing on Substack. Come and have a look!
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons are an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the book Knit (spin) Sweden!by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for mindful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
