Fabric

In my plan of using fabrics in my stash(collection) were ideas for 8 garments, sewn from 7 fabrics. In the meantime I've sewn 4 garments from the original plan, added a wrap top and a pair of pants (never posted about that one, just black linen pants). That means that 3 fabrics were not used yet. Considering the amount of time I had to sew, it's a good result. I'll make a new plan including the unused fabrics sometime this fall.

The New Look dress and jacket was not included in my plan, and I had no fabric that made a good combination. Good reason to shop for fabric, which was what I did last week. This is my fabric combination for this:

A bit out of my normal color scheme, which basically is white/black/blue/red and sometimes purple. I love the bouclé fabric with all the colors in it. It perfect with black too. But for September I wanted something not too dark, so no little black dress.

And in the remnants I found this dark pink color, which doesn't show very good in the picture, but makes also a lovely combination.

 

Still hope to get the dress done this weekend. And Vicky made a good observation: the dress seems less cut away than on the pattern envelope. I didn't change that part of the pattern, but might do it, as this is the distinguishing feature of this dress. I must check whether it won't show the shoulderstraps of my bra if I cut it in more.

New Look 6799 - muslin

After the skirt came out so good (thank you for all your nice comments), the pressure on the New Look dress/jacket combination is a bit less. In any case I can wear the skirt to my friends party, so this combination will be needed a bit later in september, which means that I can complete it after the holidays if needed. As I'm finally have some time again (it's been too crazy for too long with work) I shouldn't stress about sewing, don't you think?

The dress I plan to make definitely needed a muslin, in fact, it needed two. 

This is the first muslin I made, and when I tried it the camera batteries were not charged, so no pictures on me. I have only sewn a New Look t-shirt once, so I'm not familiar with their sizing and how accurate it is in patterns for woven fabrics. I went by high bust measurement and just wanted to see how that was in upper part of the dress. The neck band was fine, the rest of it definitely too small, also in the waist area. Of course I made the hips much wider. The armhole was too wide and showed gaping, so I knew I had to change it.

Time for a second muslin in a larger size (I've sewn both on Saturday afternoon/evening, it's not a difficult pattern). I took out space from the armhole and transferred the space to the bust dart. Now it was a bit too big, but easier to correct. My daughter pinned out some space center back and the side seams. I need a bit more space in the back at the armhole but further I'm ready to cut it from the real fabric. The skirt will be longer, I didn't have more of this "muslin" fabric. My final fabric will be a plain apricot color.

 

Of course there was no time to find a better place for pictures. DD was slightly impatient by this time.

BWOF - craft

I must correct an assumption some have after reading my post on the craft items in BWOF yesterday: the 16 craft pages are not all like the examples I gave. Some are sewing/fashion related, like how to make things from scraps (a.o. sleeping mask, detachable collar, keycord) and embellishing with rhinestones. For me these come in the category "not my style", but I don't object to having these in the magazine.

It was the prominent place the craft / crockery items got (7 full pages in the first halve of the magazine) that really triggered me to write yesterdays post. There are 4 patterns for white blouses that are published only on the last two pages!! I only saw that these were for patterns and not just inspiration the second time round.

For comparison I took 2 older issues, October 2008 and my favorite February 2009 and compared those with the August issue: both had no craft items in the first half of the magazine, and only 6 craft pages in the back of the magazine (the normal amount for BWOF, the pages I always skipped). No sewing/fashion crafts.

And: it doesn't seem that the amount of patterns has decreased a lot.Hope that it remains that way, I DO love BWOF. Of course there are changes to magazines sometimes, but I surely hope it doesn't go too much in the craft direction.

I love this skirt

When I started there were 3 questionmarks for me: how would the fabric be on me, is the piping  a good idea or not, does the high waist style suit me?  And I like the outcome very much. To be very honest, I think there could be a little more space at the hip area. I must make sure not to gain weight (still trying to get a few kilo's off it actually).

Full review is here, after not publishing reviews on my last few projects because of time reasons, I would like to keep adding to the invaluable database Pattern Review is.

The pictures of the finished skirt:

BWOF August - too much craft items

This morning I received my August issue of BWOF. Of course I'm happy to receive it in the month preceding the actual month it is issued for, I know many of you have to wait longer. But I'm disappointed in the direction the magazine is going. There's too much craft items in my opinion. As long as they're sewing/fashion related I don't have a real problem with that, though those are mostly not my taste, but tastes differ. The last pages of the magazines were always for craft items, and I seldom had a good look at them. Even in my crafting days, they were not very inspiring to me.

But now they have 16 (!!) pages of craft items, about half in the center pages of the magazine, and nothing to do with sewing or fashion. For me they are taking the wrong direction, I'm not very inspired yet by the patterns (but that can change when I pay closer attention) but the amount of craft items annoys me.I hope they don't continue this way.

Tell me, what is your opinion, do you like the craft pages? Are you inspired by these items made from "old" crockery or would you prefer sewing/fashion information?

I'm going to write about my skirt, very sewing related.

serving tray from mosaic and a clock made of a dinner plate

painting a shadow and a decoration object

The worst to me: a candle stand and a lamp base made of crockery

Some inspiration and plans

My skirt from my previous post is coming along nicely. Tonight I managed to squeeze out an hour to sew and made fitting adjustments. The fit is now right and I'm liking it. Next step is making the lining. Shouldn't take too much time, but could take me a few days with my present amount of sewing time.

 

In the meantime I like to share my next project, that I want to finish in the next two weeks. Being a bit optimistic here, as it involves making  muslins too. I want to make both the dress and the jacket. I want to wear this to a birthday party of a friend that will be held shortly after I return from holidays, making it necessary to have it finished before I leave.

I received some great patterns from Robin, she sent me designer Vogue patterns and I sent here lingerie fabric and notions. I'm so happy with those patterns, very inspiring. Let me show a few of them:

	This might be a great combination for fall, the collar is speaking to me (I have a preference for special collars and necklines). There's a beautiful bouclé fabric that I pick up everytime I'm browsing in my fabric closet, and never know which pattern to use. Probably I would show the buttons instead of using a hidden placket.
	For this jacket I'm thinking of a lovely white, structured cotton I have, which is just a bit too beefy for a normal shirt. It might be great for this pattern, making a "blousejacket"
	My all time favorite: Claude Montana. Will I finally make a coat? That's very questionable at the moment, but one can always dream.

BWOF 01-2009-112

For this fabric I originally planned a bit flared skirt, but as happens often, I changed my plan and am making this pencil skirt. It took me a long time deciding to do the piping or not, as I was afraid it was too much and giving too much width for me. I decided it wouldn't be a big loss if it didn't work, and it gives me a chance to check this high waist style on me too. I see it as a test project, of which the outcome can be a wearable skirt. My dressform is not my size, so it only shows the general idea, and has nothing to do with the fit on me. the second picture is a bit ridiculous with the belt on it, I do have a defined waist, but not like this!

If it works this will be a nice summer skirt which will be great with a simple black top (or perhaps the dotted black fabric from my plan).

What am I sewing?

Not a lot I must say, first it was awfully hot here (the weatherforecast I mentioned in my last post was right), and then I was just too busy doing other things. In small time slots I managed to make a lingerie set again, and I'm very happy that I finally got the right fit again. In the sew along some ladies started to name their sets, and I am following that and call mine 'blue summer sky'. The lycra is the color of the sky, the lace the same color with just a bit of white in it.

An impression of my set.

ETA to answer JoanneM's question on the shoulderstrap: I bought the strap (and didn't alter it) at Kantje boord, a famous shop with lingerie fabrics and notions in Amsterdam, where all of what I used in this set came from.

The red/white blouse is a succesful piece for me, I've already worn it twice. Thank you for all your nice comments. Creative cotton asked whether it was suitable for beginners. construction of this pattern is described step by step and I think you can do it when you have some sewing experience. The gathering in the side is a bit tricky, and the collar with stand is not very easy, but explained well.

I still have a few weeks before our holidays, and realized that in early September I have two occasions where I want to sew something nice for (not very formal though). I won't have enough time when I'm back, so I plan to sew something before we leave. It must be something versatile, as the weather in September can be very hot, but also pretty cool here. More in my next post.