Do It Yourself, Do It All Yourself

Gabi modeling her incredible cashmere coat, which she spent months hand sewing, worn with silver Lanvin heels

In the spirit of our upcoming DIY event with Urban Outfitters, I thought I would share some of my friend Gabi's astonishing recent work, which she's been doing since she moved to Sweden. Gabi is one of my friends from New York, and when she came to visit Stockholm with me two years ago, she ended up meeting one of Jimmy's best friends, Tobias. Now, we're both married, and she lives in Stockholm. She used to work at Dennis Basso, and since moving to Sweden, she's been concentrating on doing her own pieces, and is planning on starting her own line soon. Gabi says that since there are limited resources in a city as small as Stockholm---no good Japanese food, no amazing fabric stores, not enough sewing supplies, etc, etc---she's really taken to doing everything herself. In addition to making all of her own clothing, Tobias and her cook nonstop, learning to make whatever they want to eat since it's much easier (and much more inexpensive) than going out to a restaurant and finding it. They made Jimmy and I an amazing sushi and sashimi dinner when we visited, and I got to see all of Gabi's latest creations.

Gabi has always been the most incredible seamstress I've ever met, and it's really jaw-dropping to see the couture sewing skills that she acquired while working at Basso applied to her own designs. She spent almost three months making a cashmere coat with the most intense smocking pattern, hand sewing almost the entire piece. I only wish that everybody could see and touch this gorgeous thing in person, which is perfectly lined, flouncy, and has the bonus of being functionally warm for the cold Swedish winter! Gabi also showed off a few of her other creations: a super-futuristic silver leather skirt she made right before she left New York, and a cake printed dress that she whipped up in a couple of days. While her pieces are far from your average at-home DIY (she's a professional after all), I do think it's inspiring for all at home seamstresses and DIY-ers, no matter what skill level you are at!


Details of the smocking on the front and the sleeves

The crazy looking pattern that Gabi anal-retentively followed to create the intense smocking

Gabi's silver leather skirt with oversized pockets, worn with a vintage floral dress and Lanvin heels.

Another close up of the piping details on the skirt

Gabi made this cake-printed dress with self-covered buttons in a couple of days

The open back detailing of the dress

A tiny dress that Gabi was in the process of making for our friend Andrew's doll. I brought the finished dress back, and you'll see it modeled on Snejana soon!

Tobias making a portion of the sushi and sashimi feast that Gabi and him prepared for us that evening!

-Tiffany