a pickle-lover's wardrobe staple
a construction break down of a quilted pickle costume
hi there,
Yes- when I mentioned that I love pickles I truly meant it.
This year I crafted a quilted pickle costume and I am so proud, probably as much as my children are embarrassed ;)
With planning ahead for this newsletter I had been utmost convinced I would also be able to show how I pickle some gherkins and it turns out I was completely wrong about that. September quickly turned to October and then time rushed and we are at the end of November and obviously gherkin/ cucumber harvest time came and went and yet I have not managed to pickle some for the future.
My -very ambitious plan- had included making cucumber relish and pickled cucumber experiments to share with you during the autumn and yet=
Here I am dressed in my quilted pickle costume, waving at you with our that experience to share and kind of ok with it- learning to accept I cannot always get everything done that I dream to do.
So, it will have to wait until 2023 for me to share those experimental pickle-stories with you.
Instead, I thought why not include a quick break down of how this costume came together and what I will be using it for.
(includes a secret)
ingredients:
for this costume I have been gathering ingredients ever since early October when I found a green onesie, aka the gherkin overall at Deptford Market when meeting up with friends in London.
We were joking that I should dress as Edamame, and I might -come 2023- adapt this overall to be a edamame pod- so brace yourself for next years fancy dress .
But in the end I decided I truly wanted to be a pickle, because I love pickles.
At the relatively local to me secondhand, the Berlin Stadt Mission shop near the Behmstrasse Bridge, which some of you might have already seen in previous vlogmas shows, I found a bathrobe in a deep green made from a very soft velvety material.
I was excited to have quite a bit of extra fabric as it had a ruffled shoulder situation.
That day: I also found a cushion, an extra bath robe belt plus the belt already part of this bathrobe.
When I got home I went to work and cutting apart several broken pairs of tights used my sewing machine to quilt long lines in order to create the bumpy texture of a cucumber.
tools:
I used scissors to chop the sleeves of, to cut the tights into two longish shapes .
I used the sewing machine to stitch welts and also a needle and thread to hand sew the ends of the quilted raised lines, where I basically wrapped the bathrobe fabric around the material of the tights and shaped it in a free style fashion to create stream-line body hugging welts.
I used safety pins to hold together the bathrobe/ pickle costume.
- - - -
the elaborate instructions and how-to-wear a pickle-lover’s costume will be shared in the upcoming daily pages of Yarnchix zine No13, which you can
a) subscribe to via the Patreon / yarnchix letters tier
b) purchase via my Etsy shop as a digital content
The No13 issue of the yarnchix zine “for you” will be an email zine/ digital throughout December and I will print, produce and make it available as its analog form through my shop come January 2023.
the SECRET: This costume will be used next week in order to create a fun moment during our annual December celebrations at work. I work in a Local yarnstore here in Berlin called Wollen with many lovely colleagues and we gather as a complete group next week at work, we will have some food and there will be a quiz. We will listen to some music and chatter, and I plan to sneak away and create a fun game for my colleagues whilst we are there:
German Christmas tradition here in the Eastern areas of the country involve a fun game: After Christmas, on 25th December someone hides an ornament shaped like a pickle (the Christmas Pickle) within the greenery of the Christmas tree. Whoever finds this Christmas pickle first, then wins a little treat including a jar of pickles and there is much whoop whooping and yay yay silliness.
I hope my colleagues will find me, as I am a rather large pickle I think it might be over quickly and I have some fun lined up as a prize.
Thank you so much for reading this far and I hope you enjoy my slightly silly pickle content this week.
Also: do not worry, there are a few TRUE pickle experiments happening in my kitchen currently and I cannot wait to share more,
much love from me in Berlin,
with a smile and a wave,
Yours,
Mimi
Mimi loves
reading:
‘Daughter of the Moongoddess’ Sue Lynn Tan
‘The First Woman’ Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
knitting:
I am casting on the fest vest ready for our stashvent count down calendar period where I knit one stripe per day (I hope;)
I have recently been sent a sponsored copy of Minipom and love it!
I am ready to cast on the mini Kordy from our swap table October event for
a friend of my knit group called “Liebes Wedding strickt”
we have our monthly gathering tomorrow 29th November from 19:30 at Lobe Lokal
ideas for cool presents:
‘Many Moons/ Lunar planner 2022’ Sarah Faith Gottesdiener
new one available here Many Moons 2023
illustration artist, colleague and fellow pickle lover Caroline Frett
made the
&
I am making some pocket cats and
they will come along to the
xmas Kunst Klatsch pop up on 3rd & 4th Dec/ Prenzlauer Allee 10 /from 2pm-6pm
watch this space in case any of these cats have not found a home next weekend as then they will pop in to my Etsy shop.
if you enjoyed my newsletter today please do tell a friend :)