Sigrid - sewing projects

Merckwaerdigh – BHS10 – Construction, part 4

2012-02-13T22:12:00.001+01:00

The final part of the posts showing how I made the BHS10 pattern.

A small length of the shoulderstrap is attached tothe inner part of the band. I sew with the full length of the strap and cut off after stitching. This is much easier than trying to stitch with only a small part of the strap left to sew.

Stitch the rest of the shoulderstrap in the middle of the slider.

Pull the strap from back to front through the ring at the back, go through the slider as shown in the picture below.

Sew the other end to the top of the side cup. I’ve attached a ring at this end too, forgot to take a picture of that separately.

This is the front, detail of the cup and shoulderstrap.

Technically the bra is finished now. What remains is the little detail of the bow.

And I couldn’t help myself, I unpicked the hook/eye closure and sewed it again with matching thread. How obsessive is that?

Inside of the finished bra

Outside of the finished bra. The light was not very good when I took these pictures.

Thank you for your lovely comments on these posts. It’s so nice to read you like the bra or the way it’s constructed. Or even are inspired to try making a bra yourself. I hope these posts will help you a bit with that.

Amy asked if I changed the band for using stretch lace: no I didn’t. The important thing was to find an embroidered lace (which I often prefer for the look of it) with stretch. Most of those laces have no stretch at all, and these are unsuitable, as the band needs stretch. That’s why I combined lace and lycra in my red version of this bra.

Off to some other sewing and shorter blog posts ;)

Merckwaerdigh – BHS1- Construction, part 3

2012-02-12T23:18:00.001+01:00

A very picture-heavy post. Difficult to break it in two posts in a logical way, so I’ll make it one long post.

First the cups are stitched in the band. I’ve used 1cm seam allowances. Be careful at the top of the bridt to match the cups at center of the bridge. I usually try to have the lowest point of the scallop of the upper cup to be at the top of the bridge.

The next step is to sew in the first step of the wire channelling. After this step the elastic is attached first.

As you can see in the picture the wire chanelling is sewn at the very edge, with a normal length straight stitch. It’s pinned on the side of cup. It will be folded down to the band.

Important: leave about 2 cm unstitched at the side of the cup. This is needed to sew the elastic in.

A picture where you can see clearly on which side the wire channel is attached.

Measure the length of elastic needed. I always use 20% less than the length of the pattern piece.

Check the width of your hook and eye closure. the picot edge of the elastic must be at the end of the closing.

Stitch the elastic with zigzag stitches tot the band and the side of the cup. The pluche side of the elastic is on top, the picot edge pointing to the lace.

Detail, and I agree if you think I should have used a better color thread ;)

Trim the seam allowance, turn the elastic and topstitch with a triple zigzag. Be careful not to sew the wire channel while topstitching (how I know this is a risk?)

Topstitching on the inside

And on the outside, hardly to be seen in the lace.

At the bottom of the band I used the elastic with the picot edge pointing to the inside. The scallop needs all attention, the picot edge shouldn’t be seen. (In other bra’s I do it the same as described above, it’s only this pattern with the straight scallop that calls for this).

It’s only sewn with a triple zigzag stitch.

Now it’s time to finish the wire channel: trim the seam allowances and grade them so that it’s not one thick layer.

Pin and topstitch from the right side. I do this once as an edgestitch very close to the cup, and once at the outside of the wire channel.

The wire channel is on top of the elastic at the bottom of the cup.

I need a very narrow bridge, the wire channel is crossing here. At this point the second row of topstitching stops at the point where the channels meet. This way the wires can go to the top of the channeld. Whether this is necessary depends comletely on your shape.

Here you can see the wire channel going over the elastic on top of the band. Both ends of the channel are closed with a small, narrow zigzag stitch (the second side after putting the wire in!). I always cut my wire channels a bit too long and trim later.

The hook and eye closing is attached with the eyes on the left and the hooks on the right.

And now the bra is almost finished, Pictures in the next post.

Merckwaerdigh – BHS10 – Construction part 2

2012-02-09T13:03:00.001+01:00

After constructing the band as in previous post, the next thing to do is making the cups. The cup-pattern consist of 3 parts. I’ve made 2-part cups in the past with good results, but the bra’s with 3 part cups have my preference. This one is different from the Rebecca Sewy bra that I’ve often made.

The parts cut in lace. This time I will not interface the lace. It’s stable enough to use on its own. This really depends on the amount of stretch the lace has. For me most stretch lace is not strong/stable enough for the cups.
If you look closely you can see that my pattern piece on the right is not as long as the paper pattern. I’m a bit short on lace and wanted to keep a bit for a panty, so I’ll make the lace part of the strap shorter.

With this pattern, carefully mark the notches, I made mistakes there in my red version. Cut the parts on the scallop with the lowest part of the scallop at the actual stitching line for the side cup and at the edge of the upper cup.
At the top of the upper cup narrow elastic is sewn with a small zigzag stitch. While stitching the elastic is stretched a little bit. This will ensure the cup will lay smoothly to your skin.

Then the upper and under cup are sewn together, followed by topstitching. For this I use the edge stitch foot. Very accurate for this kind of topstitching.

Upper and under cup sewn together. I haven’t cut the seam allowance very narrow. With this kind of embroidery the embroidery will come loose if there’s a very narrow seam allowance only.

Next step is sewing the side cup to the upper and under cup. The side cup is on top, stitched with a zigzag stitch.

On the side cup I’ve used the narrow elastic again on the part for the shoulder strap. It might not be very necessary for this bra, as the strap part of the cup is shorter. When you use the length of the pattern this is more important.

Next post: sewing the cups in the band / wire channelling / elastic

Merckwaerdigh – BHS10 – Construction, part 1

2012-02-05T13:56:00.001+01:00

A post I haven’t done for a long time: showing how I make a bra. In this case, the pattern I’m using is the Merckwaerdigh BHS 10. It’s the one completely made of lace, as shown in the drawing at the bottom right. Another vairiation I made you can see in this post, there I combined lace and lycra. This time I want to make the all-lace variation.

Let me say that this is my interpretation of construction, I didn’t even look at the instructions provided with the pattern, just using my experience. I have no affiliation with the company, just like a few of their patterns.
This lace variation calls for a stretch lace, as the band will need stretch. I often use non-stretch lace for the cups and most stretch laces are not firm enough for me without an extra interfacing in the cups (obviously depending on your cup size). There are a few tule laces available though, that have some stretch and are firm enough for the cups to use without interfacing.
Only then: I like a bit firmness in the band, so I’m using an extra interfacing layer for the band. In the picture below you can see the inner structure for the band. The center front is a tule without any stretch, the bridge mustn’t stretch at all. The sides are a kind of powernet. Firm but with stretch. These two are sewn together.

The pattern has a center front seam, the band is straight at the bottom to be able to completely use the scallop of the lace. (I’ve made a straight center front this time, the pattern has – v-shape, nice but more complex to sew).

Attaching the inner layer sew at the center with the inner layer at the right side of the lace. Trim and turn. Edgestich the top of the bridge.

To hold everything together, I’ve used a zigzag stitch to the edges of the cup and top of the band.
Inside of the construction (center part is cut a bit small at the lower edge, but will be covered later).

The outside

Completed band. These two layers will now be treated as one.

Next post: the cups.

DVN skirt finished

2012-01-20T19:52:00.001+01:00

Pff, that took me an aweful long time to finish, though it’s not very difficult. I’m very happy with the result. Carolyn asked in an comment why I hadn’t used a fabric with print or flowers, as that is more “Dries van Nooten” inspired. The simple answer is that I couldn’t find matching fabrics in a colorscheme I like. I was inspired by the boucle fabric and found matching fabrics for that.

In the first picture I’m wearing it in combination with a rtw jacket. All pictures have too much shadow from the flash.

To start with I used the skirt of Vogue 8781, a pattern I want to make a few other items of as well. The skirt has a high waist and I had of course to blend between sizzes.

I made a full pattern for both the back and the front and sketched the lines for the different parts. The faux leather part for example is a part without seams, it goes from the front around the back and then to the front again, so it was a bit careful thinking and planning. As said, I’m happy with the skirt now, though halfway I wasn’t sure about it.

It’s been a while

2012-01-13T20:23:00.001+01:00

Not talking about my unfrequent blogging right now. It's been a while since I last showed you some lingerie I made. These were made in December 2011, as a break from other sewing.
The first one is a Merckwaerdigh pattern, BHS10. I made it years ago and have worn it till it almost fell apart, though it took me till last month to make it again.

The pictures show the bra without shoulderstraps, I thought I had everything I needed, but those were missing. In the meantime I have finished this one, only didn’t make new pictures.

The V center front is part of the pattern, a nice detail, though it made construction a bit harder. Next time I will make the center front a bit less wide, just a little fit detail.

This brown one is the TNT Sewy Rebecca bra. I made this so many times now, nothing new, except playing with the lace placement a bit.

Most fabric and notions as always from Kantje Boord in Amsterdam.

2011 almost gone

2011-12-31T16:53:00.001+01:00

DVN skirt

2011-12-17T15:59:00.001+01:00

The skirt inspired by a Dries van Nooten skirt is still a work in progress. I did some sewing in the past weeks, made two muslins and a knit top and a cardigan. I’ll show them later, they’re not very special and I didn’t find the time to blog.

In real life the faux leather doesn’t have as much shine as the picture suggests, but I’m thinking of unpicking it and make it with another fabric. I’ll give it some thought, have the skirt hanging in my sewing room and just not sure what to do. Doesn’t matter, I’ll do a few other things before finishing this.

One and a half week ago I had the great pleasure of meeting Pauline in The Hague. She was the one who inspired me to sew the lace twinset. This is her blog: P’s thrifty sewing blog. It was a real pleasure, we had a lovely chat, a lot sewing related of course. She showed me some wonderful things she made herself and took with her on her travels. Her own lace twinset among them. Thank you Pauline for a lovely evening, hope we’ll meet again.

Thank you

2011-11-26T16:56:00.001+01:00

Thank you for all your kind comments on my last posts on the lace twinset, the blouse en the fabric for the skirt. It’s good to have my mojo back and I had hoped to make the skirt this weekend, but I’m having a terrible cold and stayed in bed for quite a while today. After a shower and dressing I do feel a bit better, but not clear enough in my head to sew. Hope the cold will go away quickly.

A few answers/reactions on the comments: Kathererine H, thank you for your ideas about fitting the blouse, I will use the ideas on my next verson.

Karin wondered about postage and the time the Style Arc pattern took to arrive: the postage was 25 Australian dollars for 3 patterns. I ordered them on a Sunday and arrived on the Thursday one and a half week later. Postage is something a supplier can’t do anything about, but it’s quite expensive.

Belinda, thank you for your observation on the issue of the sleeve. It’s something I must think about, it might very well be that is an issue.

And I agree with Marie-Christine, that the back might be a bit large on me.

The skirt: the first picture is the favorite for most of you, and mine as well. So that will be the combination I’ll use. I did make the pattern on Thursdaynight, so when my head is clear again I’m ready to go.

For those interested in the Style Arc patterns: I have the Chelsea pants pattern and want to try that soon.

Dries van Nooten inspired skirt

2011-11-24T19:31:00.001+01:00

One of the goals of fabric shopping at the fabric market last week was to find fabric for the Dries van Nooten inspired skirt. I wanted something with either black or navy. Brown is not in my wardrobe any more.

Of course I couldn’t find the exact fabric, or even fabric that came close. What I did find was a bouclé fabric in red with black, a plain red and a structured black fabric. Today I found the fourth fabric. The pattern will not be difficult, the base is a pencil skirt, plenty of those in my stash or in Knip or Burda magazines. The combination of the fabric is the more important issue. Some variations below. The top part will be the boucle in red and black, the variation is in the other 3 fabrics. The plain red must nog be too loud in my opinion, therefor I think that either the first or the last picture gives the best impression for me.

From the structured black I bought enough to make something to go with the skirt, though I own a black jacket that will probably work as well.

Style Arc – Jenny blouse

2011-11-23T20:25:00.001+01:00

The Australian pattern company Style Arc gets a lot of (mostly positive) attention lately on blogs and reviews on Pattern review. Of course I couldn’t resist and ordered two patterns and got one free. The shipment arrived last Thursday, and you can tell the sewing bug hit me again, as this has been finished on Sunday!

The Jenny blouse is a classic blouse with darts in front and back, collar with stand and cuffs with a sleeve placket.

Some features of the Style Arc patterns:

Patterns are in one size only. For this blouse no problem for me, but might be more challenging in the pair of trousers I’m planning to make.
There are no detailed sewing instructions for every step, but a sewing order is given.
For this pattern detailed instructions were included for collar with stand (good) and the sleeve tab/placket (couldn’t understand it at all, I tried on a scrap, gave up and used David Page Coffin’s placket from his book shirt making). The instructions are on the site too (heading Tutorials)
A little piece of suggested fabric quality is sent with the pattern, which I like
Seam allowances are included, but can be different on several points. In this blouse the general seam allowance is 1 cm (3/8 inch), but on the collar, stand and neckline only 6mm. I LOVE this, as I don’t like the large 1.5 (5/8 inch) seam allowances and having the collar with narrow seam allowances from the start worked very well for me too.
Four levels of difficulty are given: easy, medium, challenging, experienced sewer. This was in the challenging category. In my opinion the last two categories could be switched, this is a pattern for someone with more sewing experience, but I don’t find it challenging.

The result on me, I will wear it tucked in, so I included a picture for that as well.

I used size 12, based on bust measurement. It is just a bit too snug for me, as you can see by the lines in the front. Also my fabric was a bit too thick and I had difficulty pressing it well. Good quality shirt fabric is very hard to find here.

I used a ribbon with a little shine and sparkle on the front.

As said above, the placket by David Page Coffin, not from the pattern. The sleeves are less “puffy” than the drawing suggests. there is one pleat, but no gathers.

The back, also some lines that shouldn’t ideally not be there. Suggestions for improvement welcome!

I do like the end result. For a first, unaltered pattern this is pretty good. It needs a small fba in the front and some change in the back too, but the length of the blouse and the sleeves are good. Or should I have used a size 14?
Also the pattern pieces are drafted well, the notches are correctly placed. My first experience with Style Arc is positive, though the cost of patterns and shipping will make that I won’t buy a lot of them.

Lace sorbetto top + cardigan on me

2011-11-19T12:19:00.001+01:00

To complete the posts about the lace twinset knock off, the pictures of the top and cardigan on me. Chilly but sunny weather made it possible to have some outdoor pictures, thought it’s still difficult to git the right impression. To really knock this off I should have used some long pearl necklaces, but I don’t have any, neither did my daughter, so it still looks a bit plain. Next time I go shopping I will try to find something to go with it.

I’m really in the mood again, next project almost ready… stay tuned.

Sewing related weekend

2011-11-16T20:33:00.001+01:00

Past weekend I’ve spent in wonderful company. Almost all of the ladies present at the PR Europe meeting in Brussels from April this year met again past weekend in The Netherlands. We even met two new ladies, Lauriana and Lilian (not in the picture).

On Saturday we started at the Gemeente museum in The Hague.

Marta, Sheila, Valerie, Lauriana, Hilde, Joana, Valerie (from OZ), Clare, Samira, Margaret.

Currently in the museum is the exhibition Fashion and Art, which was very nice to visit. Afterwards we went to Amsterdam, where we had wanted to visit the bag museum, but had just too little time after a lunch and very quick visit to Kantje Boord, but Amsterdam is nice to explore. Some pictures from the exhibition, where you are allowed to take them as long as you don't use flash light.

The zipper is under the black center part.

These sleevecaps reminded us of the Burda dress that was on the cover last year (September 2010?)

After dinner at my friend Valerie’s house we did an ugly-fabric swap. A standard at PR weekend (though this was not a PR weekend at all, but fun anyhow). This was the ‘ugly’ fabric I ended with. Think it will be a lining for a jacket or vest.

Sunday we visited one of the famous fabric markets. It was an indoors market, with an enormous amount of fabric stalls. Most of us left with quite a bit of fabric. This is my haul. Mostly knits, for not too complicated quick projects. I also bought fabric for the Dries van Nooten skirt, that’s for another post.

The weekend was as wonderful as the weekend in April. Thank you all ladies for such a fun time. And of course we were already talking about the next time….

So much to tell

2011-11-14T22:40:00.001+01:00

I’ve done a lot of sewing (related) things in the past week, enough for a few posts. I”ll start with the real sewing bit: I did finish the lace twinset. And the cardigan was such an easy piece. I cut it at 8.45 pm this evening and finished it only an hour later! OK, I used the Jalie cardigan pattern that was ready to use, so no need to trace. But from cutting to finished project in an hour is pretty fast, while I thought I might be more difficult due to the special, open fabric.

In my previous post you can see the inspiration pictures.

This is the finished top. I’ll try to get pictures of me wearing it, but at the moment it’s difficult to have daylight pictures, which is what this needs. This is a picture heavey post anyhow.

For the top I used the sorbetto pattern that I also made before. I used the same blue silk as the top in this post, but now as an under layer. I used the layer of lace and silk as one after pinning them together.

I basted the darts before sewing them:

For the interfacing I used sheer pro elegance from Pam, and the technique to make it neatly finished as described in this tutorial by Lori. It really makes for a neat finish.

On the left the facing before turning inwards, on the right the finished facing.

The hem was serged and I stitched it by hand.

As said I used the Jalie cardigan pattern, no. 2566. For the front I cut it a bit longer and wider to get the look of the inspiration cardigan. This is all what was possible with the yardage I had.

The two together:

For the edges I used a rolled hem. Though I thought this might not work, a quick test made clear that it worked well. From a book I have I learned that it's better to have a bit more fabric in the rolled hem and this was the trick I needed to have nice rolled hems. For normal serging I always have the most narrow width (1), for this I used 3 to 4 cutting width. It gives the machine something to roll ;)

Plans – or how do I get back to sewing?

2011-11-07T15:39:00.001+01:00

My own feeling on my sewing in this year is that it didn’t make for a lot of new, wearable garments. I declared a lot as wadders, or have long periods of sewing very little. I said it before, it’s the way it is, the way life is. But I would very much like to have my old enthousiasm back, trying new things, new patterns, new techniques, try to knock off a garment etc. I thought it might be a good idea to make a little plan, to get really started again (and don’t hold me up to it, it’s very subject to change ;))

The plan:

new tops, knits and woven (I need some brighter colors in my winter wardrobe, the amount of black tops is huge),. On the list are definitely this top from the latest Ottobre woman magazine

and this one, the Jenny shirt from StyleArc. I only ordered the pattern yesterday, a new pattern company to try! As it must make its way from Australia to Europe, think it will take at least a week to get here.

A lace top, inspired by this post from pdiddly. I will combine a navy lace with some silk I bought in Brussels as under layer and use the Sorbetto top pattern. If there’s enough lace (hope, hope), I might make a cardigan of it too.
a skirt, knock off from Dries van Nooten, that I published about earlier. Next weekend I will meet a lot of ladies at a fabric market here in The Netherlands (most of them were in Brussels in April too, but also a few new people to meet So looking forward to it ladies!). I defnitely will try to find fabrics for this skirt.
a pair of jeans. I will join the Lynne’s Jeans sew along, must get me started on jeans. I’ve traced a rtw pair a long time ago to copy it, but never got any further then that.

That’s enough plans for the moment. I hope to finish these before the end of the year. Being optimistic!

A different wrap

2011-10-28T18:18:00.001+02:00

The October issue of Knip Mode showed a nice variation on the wrap top or t-shirt with a twist. As I needed something not too complicated after my jacket, I did sew this last weekend. And still have no pictures of me wearing it!

Look at the neckline on the two pictures, a bit strange to have this from the same pattern don’t you think? The left neckline is much higher than the right one.

The line drawing, more representing the idea of the blue version than the pink one.

There are “step by step” instructions in the magazine. To me they were not clear! For a start the pictures are too unclear to really see what is being done, and having used a printed fabric doesn’t help much either. I do prefer the instructions they had before, with drawings. If using pictures, they should have used a plain fabric. I tried to follow the instructions, and made a hem on the wrong part of the neckline, so in the end just did what I think was best. It’s a muslin more or less, wearable but could have been better with clearer instructions.

The result of my collar. Not too bad, but I can just get my head through it. I will try to get pictures of me wearing it.

Vogue 1064 – finished at last

2011-10-22T16:33:00.001+02:00

It took me ages to finish the jacket. This was not because of the pattern, it isn’t that difficult. You know how it goes: other priorities, the weather was very good for a few weeks with summer temperatures here, not the weather to sew a winter jacket and more of such things. It also made/makes me reading only very few blog posts of other bloggers, rarely commenting too. I apologize for that, I love to read on sewing and get inspiration from all of you who blog.It’s just the way it is right now.

This is the result on me:

I’ve sewn a black pair of trousers (very much needed) as well, but they still needed a final press. Today a family member was available to make pictures during daylight, so you see it with my old jeans and I didn’t bother for the black trousers to be pressed first ;).

Back and side view. I might add a chain to the hem as in a Chanel jacket. This fabric might need it, especially in the back. I took out some space from center back. After doing the muslin I added a fba and did not make a new muslin. Then when the body was made it was too wide in the back. It already showed a little in the muslin, but after adding to the front it was too much.

The very bright fuchsia lining:

Sleeve detail. In this picture you can see the fabric and its colors best.

Mostly I followed the instructions, only added hair canvas interfacing on part of the front and a back stay of silk organza, which I’ve done in previous jackets. It is a really nice pattern and I would like to make it in a plain fabric sometime, which will show the darts better.

The review on Pattern Review is here.

Meeting a diva

2011-10-12T19:46:00.001+02:00

Yesterday I had a lovely sewing related day. I “took a day off” from work, or rather left work for what it is (I’m my own boss, so no one to ask for a day off) and drove up to the north of the Netherlands together with my friend Valerie where we met sewing diva Els.

We met at the store Beauty vof, specialized in notions for tailors. There the owner of the shop gave us a tour showing the things they sell. Great for future reference too, as they sell online as well, though the webshop is interesting only to readers who speak Dutch, as the site is in that language only. After that we had lunch first, came back to the shop to buy quite a few things, and had tea at Els’ home. It was a wonderful day, and Els is as nice in real life as she is through sharing her knowledge on the Sewing diva’s blog. It was great meeting you Els, thank you so much!

Me, Valerie and Els

Valerie and Els discussing sewing?

Now I really must get some sewing done, I’m being quite absent here….

Mixing fabrics

2011-09-23T19:22:00.001+02:00

Is not what I am doing yet, but designer Dries van Noten certainly is doing this in a very inspiring way. Lindsay T and Carolyn already made beautiful garments inspired by his designs.

Last weekend Dries van Noten was the guest editor of the weekend-supplement that comes with our newspaper. And it was a great supplement, the skirt on the cover immediately caught my eye:

Think I will try to find some fabrics to make a skirt like this when I go to one of the fabric markets that are held now.

The picture of the front is from the Dries van Noten website. If you like mixing fabrics (which is rather new to me), do take a look at his website. Very inspiring.

And my actual ewing: very slow progress, hope to do some substantial work on the jacket this weekend. BUT: there is a forecast for beautiful weather, so I might be enjoying that instead of sewing inside the house.

Another Vogue pattern

2011-09-10T20:32:00.001+02:00

As I said this week: the dress is out for the moment. Too complicated to get it the way I like it.

There’s another Vogue pattern that has been in my stash for a few years and have wanted to try for a long time: 1064, an Anne Klein jacket. I’ve checked before and did it again yesterday, but there are NO reviews on this pattern and it even is out of print now. Not popular apparently, but I like the style with all the darts and the waistline shaping it gives.

After my disastrous Knip mode jacket in early summer, I made a muslin first. Size 14 was the largest in the envelope I had, a 16 would have been the size to use by bust measurement.

It is a bit snug in the bust area, I already did a fba (Sandra Betzine method from het book Fast Fit) on the front pattern piece.

The back looks a bit wide, but I must not make it smaller, because I won’t be able to move easily anymore. A little shoulderpad will probably make a difference too.

All in all I’m quite happy with the muslin. Now to decide which fabric to use.

Give away

2011-09-10T20:18:00.001+02:00

The Sewy bra pattern is for the 5th commenter: Rustyboobz=Andrea.

Hope you will like it. Please send me your mail address (you’ll find my e-mail address in the sidebar) and I will send you the pattern this week.

Give away

2011-09-07T20:09:00.001+02:00

No news on the dress from my previous post. I do agree with some of the comments that I should add the skirt part to evaluate the fit better. But I don’t like the top part enough to continue it. I’m not fond of the cut-on sleeves and honestly I think I need to do a FBA to make sure the top remains closed decently. Too much effort for me now, not in the mood for such a complex change.
I did make a bra, of which I don’t have a picture here (time really is an issue at the moment and I don’t want to photoshop a picture). It’s the pattern below, the Sewy Linda bra.

I have the pattern already a few years, made it for the first time more than 2 years ago and didn’t like it that much, though I wondered whether it was the fabric/lace I used at the time. I wanted to give it a try again, and though the fit is OK, I still think it’s not “my” pattern. Time to let it go. Anyone interested?
Sizes you can see on the picture (click to enlarge) and the instructions are in German.
This give away is open to anyone, anywhere in the world. Leave a comment on this post if you’re interested and I’ll do a draw on Saturday.

Vogue 1257 – muslin

2011-08-27T23:20:00.001+02:00

I had no idea what I would sew next after finishing my trousers. Tonight I traced the Vogue 1257 dress that I ordered recently. I liked the pattern when it was published ordered it, and decided to make a muslin. There is one not so positive review on PR and I was cautioned to be aware of the length of the bodice, the reviewer warns for a short bodice (high waist) while the picture and line drawing don’t show that.

Measuring the back it really appeared short. I added 5 cm (2 inches) to the bodice. It was a bit of a puzzle how to do that on the front. This is what I did, it will be easier to understand if you have the pattern yourself.

I drew a line about the pleats and made an angle at the center front line to the side seam. Then I shifted the part with the pleats down and for the left part I made sure that the waistline remained the same. With the blue line I made a correction on the space needed. The new center front line made me wonder whether there would be enough space at bust height. And the only way to find out was making a muslin.

The muslin is made of a remnant of an earlier project. I had just enough for the bodicee part and had to cut the sleeves a bit shorter.

You can see I need the 5 cm extra in the waist. The sleeves are very snug, the front is kept in place with a pin, but I didn’t use the elastic as described in the instructions. That will make a difference, but it certainly is rather low now. Think I could use a bit of extra space in the bust area, not sure however how to do that.

I’m on the fence of making this dress or not. If I do it will certainly be from a plain knit like the pattern envelope. You can see that the print on the sleeves has a different direction than the front, this is because the sleeve is part of the front bodice pattern. Now I made the muslin I also know how I would have to change the pattern to make separate sleeves, which I consider doing. They have to be a bit wider (and I don’t have full biceps!), which is an easier change when the sleeves are separate.

To be continued…. or not.

Burda trousers

2011-08-26T22:55:00.001+02:00

I’m blogging for more than 4 years, and I’ve already quite a few posts with new trousers and fitting issues. And I don’t even mention all my fitting failures here. Sometimes I got very near, sometimes I didn’t succeed at all. It’s sort of looking for the holy grail, coming close but never finding it. Every time I think I’m there, then there are unwanted wrinkles when I use another fabric with more/less drape.

I think this pair is not perfect, but pretty good. What I learned in these 4 yours of making pictures, also from the back of my clothes, is that there always will be a wrinkle here or there, depending on the way I stand. This pair is comfortable, is made of a thin wool which makes it suitable for every season and is very, very basic.

SewDarnLucky asked for a tutorial on the waistband. I don’t know of one (perhaps I should make one), but perhaps the pictures in this post make it clear.

On to the next project…..

Trousers - almost finished

2011-08-23T23:07:00.001+02:00

What a lot of (long) comments on my Burda post. Thank you, it was so nice to read all your opinions about it. I keep hoping Burda will publish something fashionable and interesting again soon. I've been working on a pair of trousers, inspired by a rtw linen pair I bought this summer and was happy with . It was a bit lower style than I usually wear/make and the fit was good. But it shrunk a bit when washing and I couldn't really copy it. So I browsed my Burda (!) magazines and found a similar style in the May 2006 issue.

I made a muslin and to my great surprise it almost fitted as it was. I only had to let out the side seams at hip height a bit extra. I don’t have pictures of muslin or trousers yet, but I am very happy wiith how it looks in general and especially on the inside. I like a good inside finish.

The fabric is a very beautiful, thin wool and I interfaced till the knee. It will be my first “fall” project.

Like I did before I changed the pattern for the waistband so that the center seam is transferred to the inside.

The zipper has a fly shield.

Hope to show finished pictures later this week.

Burda magazine

2011-08-21T17:40:00.001+02:00

I haven’t written about Burda Style magazine for a very long time. If you have been reading my blog for a while you know that I was very disappointed in the way the magazine developed and ended my subscription last year. I browse it in the shop every month and never bought an issue in the past 12 months, the patterns were either not attracting me, or variations of what I already have.

Last week I browsed the new September issue, expecting a lot of new fall/winter fashion and of course hoping to find some patterns to like. Not so, and I’m even more surprised to find a large collection of what they call “Country look”. They offer that as “trend” for 2011/2012 in a small catalogue of the new envelope patterns for the next season.

Who wants these patterns? Is there a market to do this kind of patterns so regularly? Just wondering, it must be so because otherwise they wouldn’t make these, but I so much would like a more current look from Burda and patterns I want to make immediately. It used to be like that very often. I am so hoping they will change something soon. I tried, but I can’t really see these pattern changed to something I would want to wear.

New envelope patterns.

The September issue, pictures from BurdaStyle website:

Sorbetto (twice)

2011-08-18T15:40:00.001+02:00

This top is so easy to make that I made a second one right away. This is a lovely pattern that can be easily worn on its own as a summer top, but will suit me well as a top to go under a jacket as well. Both versions are in silk, the navy is a silk I bought in Brussels during the PR weekend in April, the black has less drape and was in my fabric collection since a year or two.
The differences between the two: on the black one I omitted the center pleat and I made it with facings on the neckline/armholes. You can see perhaps that the shoulders are less wide and the neckline a little deepter than the blue version. That’s because the seam allowances are turned, which is not the case with the bias tape finishing. I like the lines of the black version better, even though the difference is not very large.
Because of my long torso I cut 3 cm extra on the hem just to be sure.

For the black one I traced the facings as shown in the next picture.
UPDATE: this is the back. If you do this don't include the pleat in the front!

\
Construction is a bit different then, this is how I did it:
- sew the side seams of the top
- sew the side seams of the facings
- with right sides together, sew armhole and necklines, but STOP THE STITCHLINE 1.5 cm (5/8”) BEFORE THE END of the shoulder seam
- sew the shoulders right sides together, folding the facing away
- stitch the shoulders of the facing by hand (or stitch in the line of the shoulderseams of the top), folding one end over the other on the inside)

This pattern defnitely is a keeper, I’m sure there will be more Sorbetto tops in my future. A big thanks to Colette patterns for making this available!

The pattern for the Sorbetto you can find here:http://www.colettepatterns.com/files/free-patterns/colette-patterns-0003-sorbetto.pdf and on the blog SewWeekly a pattern for a short sleeve is published. Also in a “7 day of Sorbetto challenge” you’ll find a lot of inspiration for variations on this pattern.

Sorbetto

2011-08-16T22:58:00.001+02:00

The feedback on my Patrones top is one of the reasons I like the sewing community on the internet! Thank you for your comments and inspiring me to try the Sorbetto pattern. The Patrones top indeed needed too much alterations and was not basic enough to give it another try. (Mici, your suggestion of a TNT pattern and changing that is very true, only I just don’t have a TNT top pattern).

I had seen the Sorbetto pattern being made very often by other bloggers and reviewers, but discarded it because I just don’t like the printing, putting together of all the sheets and tracing again. So I just didn’t think of it as a possibility any more. Wrong! Today I downloaded the pattern, printed the page with the test square first (no scaling should be on in the printer settings) and when that was the correct size right away, I printed and taped the pattern together.

Certainly not something I like and won’t do for a pattern that I have to pay for. Then I want a magazine sheet to trace or an envelope with the complete pattern in it. But this pattern is FREE! No complaints then on the download format.

After reading some of the reviews on Pattern Review, I traced size 10 by bust measurement (size 10? I’m a size 14/16 for Vogue patterns!), tapering to 12 at hip height, which I later removed again.
Also I made the dart shorter, which I think is better, as it would have gone far too much to the front if I had kept it the way it was.

This is the result of my muslin, with a seam center front because of lack of muslin fabric.

As you can see in the side view, I’ve pinned some gaping away. That’s all I changed and this is how I transfered the change to the pattern:

Marked the fold with lines over it

Folded it out, now you can see how much fabric must be taken in. This method of marking I saw in a Threads issue in an article by Kenneth King.

Then marked it to the pattern piece.

Cut the upper dart line and the line of the new dart (left line in the picture) and shift the pattern piece so that the dart at the armhole is removed and the side dart enlarged.

True the armhole line.

This is a quick alteration. I even finished my top in black silk tonight! With some changes in the finishing, more about that in the next post with pictures. As it’s black and it is already dark here, no good light any more to make pictures.

From muslin to finished top was only a short 2 hours.

Back to sewing

2011-08-15T22:01:00.001+02:00

Hello again, it’s been a while since I did some sewing and blogging. Haven’t been on holiday all that time (of course) but my sewing mojo was completely gone and is only just returning. Yesterday evening I was suddenly triggered to sew a muslin of a Patrones top. It turned out to be too small and I did sew a second muslin.

I’m looking for a pattern for a top that I can use for woven fabrics and can be worn on its own or under a jacket. This pattern had my attention from the start.

This is the line drawing

The picture from the magazine (Patrones Joven number 5). Does really show the pattern don’t you think?

This is my muslin, the armhole had a little gaping which I pinned out.

Side view

The back.

To me it’s clear that this is not fitting as I would like. The front would need a little fba, but I don’t like the position of the darts. The back is not very good either, my bra straps (which are always on this position) show and would need some extra space as well.

All in all: not sure whether I’ll continue with this pattern, think I’m going to browse my Burda issues for a pattern for a non woven top to prevent another wadder. I have 1 meter of black silk I want to make a top of, and I’ve had enough wadders this year already.

I should be sewing

2011-07-06T23:11:00.001+02:00

At least, that’s what my closet tells me. Looking at my summer clothes, especially those suitable for a holiday in the south of France soon, makes it very clear that I should have some new clothes. But there is very little time for sewing and my sewing mojo has completely disappeared. I’ll make do with some rtw.

I would like to thank you all for reading my blog and for the lovely comments on my last two jackets. I’ve seen quite a few new names in the comments, so nice you are reading and taking the time to comment.

I’ll be away from blogland for a few weeks. Trying to get some energy again and hoping to find my mojo back for fall sewing. See you sometime in August or September again.

Have a great summer!

Mwah – not enthousiastic

2011-06-26T22:50:00.001+02:00

The past week I spent my sewing time with this jacket from Knip Mode March. I liked it mostly from the line drawing, as the pictures don’t show it too clear. Though it’s a good example what a different look you get from using a differnt fabric or when wearing another style clothes with it. It has sleeve vents, single welt pockets and a collar with a corner taken out of it (don’t know how to say this in English).

The fabric I used was from my stash, bought last year in a sale for about the same price as muslin fabric. I skipped the muslin stage for that reason, just wanted to see how an unaltered size 40 would be on me. That size is the correct bust size for me. My experience with Knip Mode is that I don’t have to alter the length above the waist, as they draft for taller women than Burda does.

That assumption was right, but I don’t quite like the result on other points. And strange enough: half way this week when I tried it on I thought it was better.
The bust dart is not in the right place (too much to the side) which gives strange space at the sides. In the picture this is even exaggerated, as I am standing and DD kept sitting in her chair while she took the pictures.

The sleeves might be a bit longer as well.

Also the opening in the collar is a bit lower than I thought it would be and around the bust it tends to go outward. I´m inclined to say that a button would be needed higher on the front as well, though there´s no space for it.

I think the issues have to do with my figure more than with the pattern, which was drafted well and was in general not too difficult to sew. For the single welt pockets I referred to Kenneth King´s book Couture techniques and the sleeve vent I used the tutorial I once made myself (see the tab Tutorials above). The sleeve went in very smoothly and didn’t have too much ease. I added a sleevehead but no shoulder pads.

For me this is another “result not as expected/planned” project, nothing really lost except time, but it confirms the need for a muslin when I make a new jacket pattern. I worked on this jacket almost every evening in the past week, which is a pity if I won’t wear it. A muslin would have cost me only one evening.

The Chanel style jacket

2011-06-18T22:41:00.001+02:00

is finished. After making the muslin end of December, it took me till last week to finish it. I was sidetracked by other projects and life during the past months. The only thing missing is the chain in the hem, which I didn’t have and will add later.

I wrote a full review on PR here. Here are the pictures:

I did give extra thread below the buttons, but could still be a bit more. I really like the waist shaping, a detail I added. The original is very boxy, which is not so good for me.

Looking serious again, and in need of a new haircut very soon.

The special detail of this pattern, the 3-piece sleeve.

The back, think it turned out quite nice.

A glitch in the instructions. In step 82 you are told to attach the facingn with catchstitches, in step 88 you have to fold it out again. Took some unpicking almost invisible stitches. Did not quite like that.

Also in step 89 the instructions omit to tell to attach the lining to the sleeve till the top, while in an earlier step it says start 10 cm lower, which is the correct thing to do. This I saw before sewing, so no harm was done.

Dress and cardigan

2011-06-05T21:37:00.001+02:00

Two weeks ago, after my ling erie set and in my desperate mood that my sewing was not going the way I wanted I went shopping for some notions and came home with two fabrics and two patterns. More or less to console myself and to get a quick start. The Burda pattern I just cut, instead of tracing it, what I usually would do. Though I was not completely taking risks, I made a quick muslin of the upper half of the dress to make sure there was enough space in the bust area and to see how the armhole would be. Burda is very consistent in sizing and this time I took the size 42 for the upper part, tapering down to 46 at the hip area. It was almost right the first time. I took out 1 cm in the back arm hole because it had a little gaping problem and took out half a centimeter of the back shoulder at the side of the arm. Otherwise I didn’t change anything.

The waist is not completely “fitted”. There is a bit of extra space. Enough accent on my waist as it is now, think that if I fitted it more, the hip area would be too prominent.

I did line the dress and was stupid! I had sewn the zipper and back seam, the shoulder and side seams and then thought: there are some tutorials on lining a sleeveless dress on the internet. Let me check how it’s done. To be remembered of the fact that the order of construction is completely different. So I had to do it different, which involved some hand sewing the lining. Live and learn, I’ll sure remember next time. If you don’t want to be as stupid as I was, check this or this tutorial

Thanks Rose, I used one of your zippers here!

The picture on the envelope and the line drawing.

I can wear this dress with a jacket, I even have two (one black, one grey) that I can wear with this dress. But I also made a cardigan to go with it. It’s a pattern from a new pattern line: It’s Afits. A bit of a strange name to me, I think I read it’s from the German company that also makes the Abacadabra children patterns.

First the pictures from the envelope:

The minimal instructions are in Dutch and in German. For my version of the cardigan the instructions tell you to zigzag or serge the edge or leave it as it is, because knits don’t ravel. Well, that’s not what I like, so I cut 2 cm extra on the edges, interfaced them them with strips of Pam’s tricot interfacing and topstitched with a double needle. I quite like the result, especially as this only needs a little more than 1.5 meter of fabric.

And to finish off this already picture-heavy post a picture of one of my roses: Félicité and Perpétue. The buds are dark pink, but opened they have beautiful white, small flowers. I’ve been working in my garden a lot this long weekend, but I also did some sewing. Next post will show some results.

Waistband construction

2011-06-01T22:29:00.001+02:00

Thank you all who commented on my previous post asking how to change a straight waistband to a shaped waistband. It’s been very, very helpful. This time I used an existing pattern (Vogue 1066, a Badgley Mischka suit) but now also know how to do it from scratch.

I placed the sideseam notch on my pattern pieces and adapted to the length of the pattern.

The fabric was bought at the Antwerpen fabric market during PR weekend. It’s a bit heavy and has a lot of drape. Also the waistband (which is partially on the bias from being so shaped/curved) tends to stretch a lot. My solution to remove the stretch from the waistband was inspired by a technique in the book "Couture sewing techniques” that I wrote about earlier. It’s not a technique from the book, but only inspired by.

The fusible interfacing that will be ironed to the front band is cut with the center front on the grain. The center back is almost on the bias. I’ve cut another interfacing piece from silk organze, but with the center back on the grain. This I stitched with rows of small stitches to the fusible part of interfacing (on the non fusible side!). Only then I ironed it to the waistband. Almost no stretch in the waistband any more. Both the fusible interfacing and the silk organza were cut without seam allowances.

To complete it, I cut a strip of silk organza straight of grain and sewed that in the upper seam when sewing front and back waistband together. This I’ve seen before, mostly done with a selvage edge from a lining fabric, which works perfect as well, only I already had the silk organza on my table.

Powerderpuff asked for some pictures to see the difference between a shaped and a straight waistband. Thought that’s a good idea, and since one of my recent disappointments was a pair of trousers with a straight waistband here they are:

The grey is the shaped waistband, the brown to the right straight, with a very firm interfacing. You can see that it gapes.

In the back, my daughter didn’t quite get the message and didn’t see that the waistband is not completely visible, but I think you’ll get the idea. On the right is the gaping of center back in the straight waistband. In the shaped waistband there is a steep angle in my pattern. Somewhat like this:

Well, I’ve only to hem the trousers and make a buttonhole + attach the button. Should be finished tomorrow.

Straight waistband to shaped waistband?

2011-05-29T22:27:00.001+02:00

I have a question I can’t find the answer for with Google and the PR boards/knowledge base. The answer is not in David Page Coffin’s book on trousers (more a man’s view on waistbands) or in “Pants for real people” (only advertising a certain interfacing). So I’m trying my readers: I have used a straight waistband on a pair of trousers, but want to change this to a shaped waistband. Is there a special method to change this? Anything to take into account to change? Or can I take the pattern pieces for a shaped waistband from another pattern and use that?

Simply something I haven’t done before. Thanks for your thoughts/ideas in advance.

Resuming the Chanel style jacket

2011-05-27T22:33:00.001+02:00

After the set of last weekend, my positive sewing mood returned. I did sew something new, which I will share with you as soon as I have pictures. After that I was considering a lot of options, and decided to resume the Chanel style jacket. I didn’t like it was still unfinished and even my family members started asking when the jacket would be finished. Time to work on it and get it off the “to-do/UFO list”. Mind you, it’s not finished yet, the sleeves have yet to be done, but there is more to show you than the mere construction pictures I showed till now. These are the first pictures of the jacket in a more assembled state.

Detail of the collar and front with trim.

On my dressform. Unfortunately (or luckily, depends on the way you look at it) my hips are a bit less wide now than when the dressform was made. On the dressform there is not enough space to have the center front straight.

A much enlightened picture. On the inside of the collar I used another fabric. Knowing myself the threads on the outer fabric will irritate me immensely (I take out every label of a rtw top, because it scratches as my neck).

As before, I used a combination of the couture construction method and the more rtw construction. I took the pattern for the collar from the rtw construction method, but assembled the couture way. In the couture construction the collar is a rectangular piece of fabric that you make into the right shape.

The outer collar is interfaced, then the trim attached. Next step is sewing the outer collar to the jacket. The inner collar is then hand sewn to the outside collar. Though I did sew the neckline of the inside collar by machine. One of the things I learn from this project is that I don’t like too much hand sewing . Better: it is confirmed, I never did like it.

A new set does the trick

2011-05-21T21:53:00.001+02:00

The week ends (or starts) with a positive note. I’ve sewn something that I love, that is quick, isn’t it? A new lingerie set in 1.5 evening. It fits, I’m very satisfied with the result. It doesn’t bring me closer to what garment I want to sew next (still feeling undecisive about that, I will take my time), but it’s nice to have sewn this. I can’t imagine myself not sewing, but the results of the past months (I even remembered two other projects that were no success) were not encouraging. This cleanses the palette and will hopefully be the first of more positive experiences in sewing again.

For those of you interested in some more details the following pictures.

The bridge has a seam center front, as to make it possible to have the scalloped edge of the lace on the bottom.

The scallop of the lace looks to be round here, but it has a seam at the bottom of the cup, which is far from obvious. How I do the elastic on the inside of such a scallop edge I have described in this post.

The inside. The sidepanel, bottom and side cup have a non-elastic layer to stabilize. This is also transparent and exactly the same color as the base fabric of the lace, so you can hardly see it in the pictures. I keep my seam allowances in the cup a bit wider than usual. If it is trimmed very short, the embroidery will come loose easily (how I know??)

My bridge has to be very narrow. This is how I overlap the chanelling for the wires. The wires go up till the top, but the second row of topstitching ends lower, where the two channels meet.

The “downward hike” as described by Beverly Johnson is my default back now.

Thank you

2011-05-19T22:51:00.001+02:00

Thank you for your kind comments and suggestions to get back to sewing things I love. The remedy for me will probably a combination of several recommendations, mainly rest, re-orientation on what I like and want to sew, get inspiration in shops and browsing (sewing) magazines. Sewing a lingerie set will be the next thing. Marie-Christine suggested that and I bought some lovely lace last Saturday and yes, that’s something I can sew easily and feels so satisfying to do. I’ll use the Sewy Rebecca pattern that I'm sure of it fits, no experimenting with a new pattern now.

(picture is a screenshot from the Kantje-Boord website)

Marie-Christine made another remark that struck me: “Hard balance isn't it, keeping oneself awake with enough experimentation, and keeping oneself satisfied with good results?” I’m missing the experimental sewing very much. Trying a new technique, get out of my comfort zone on a special project. Must try to do that soon again as well. You might see some lingerie experiments in the next weeks. Think my general garment sewing is on hold for a little while.

And also, I’ll eat some chocolate (good advice as well ;) and take some time with friends on a terrace (Valerie??).

What to sew?

2011-05-18T22:51:00.001+02:00

A no picture post, which is an exception for me. I’m so disappointed in my sewing lately, I seem to sew more wadders or clothes that I don’t love/like than clothes I like to wear.

The result of past months (and on most I haven’t blogged before because of the disappointment):

Wrap blouse from Burda September 2011: shoulders were too wide, more drop-down style. Could be remedied by adding little pleats in the front and back. But the front doesn’t suit my figure. The back is fitted, the front should be changed to a more fitted style. Still thinking about how to change the front, because I love the fabric.
Knip Mode pants: wadder, fabric too stiff, fit no good at all
Knip Mode top from the May issue: pattern basically OK, but style no good on me
Pair of trousers of beautiful linen/silk: I put on a straight waistband that’s too stiff and I should have used a shaped waistband instead (can I still change that?)
T-shirt of which the neckline is too wide because I didn’t realize that the new neckbinding technique needed a seam allowance and I had cut that off in my pattern. It’s fine under a jacket, so not lost. But not motivating.
Pair of blue linen trousers, which I almost finished this evening. Good fit, but seems a bit high in the waist. Also the blue color I liked so much at the bolt, is reminding me when I wear it of a workman’s overall (no offence meant, just not the style I’m looking for).

Has this ever happened to you? What could/should I do to get back into sewing things I love? There’s the Chanel style jacket to be finished, and I love it till now, but my need in general is for more casual clothes .

Meeting

2011-05-15T10:40:00.002+02:00

In the past week Cidell, Trena and Lynn (~~who has a blog but I can’t find it right now~~, thanks Peter for giving the link) from the US were making a bike/boat trip through the Netherlands. An opportunity to meet those lovely ladies in real life, together with some of the ladies who attended the PR-weekend in Brussels last month: Joana, Sheila, Marta and Hilde. We met on Thursday night for a chat in Nieuwpoort, a small city near Rotterdam where their boat had anchored for that night.
On Saturday we met in Amsterdam for a visit to the famous Kantje-Boord shop, which is the shop for lingerie fabrics and notions and went to the Albert Cuyp market.
What is it that sewing brings you together so easily? Thank you all again for a great time. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves mostly.

Group picture of Thursday evening Joana, Lynn, me, Marta, Hilde, Cidell, Trena

Joana showing and getting input for the bags she makes

Cidell and Trena, of course both in outfits they made themselves.

Browsing magazines.

At Kantje-Boord, the pictures say it all: there is so much to choose from.

Lynn

Cidell, Sheila, Hilde and Marta

We ate some “poffertjes” at the Albert Cuyp market, these are small pancakes.

And I finished the evening together with Sheila and Joana in a Portugese restaurant. As Joana is of Portugese origin, she helped us with the menu. The starter was burning!

I jumped on the bandwagon

2011-05-08T20:25:00.001+02:00

Today I just felt like leaving the ufo’s and doing something else for a quick result. And it worked. In 2-3 hours I made Vogue 1250. Inspired by Carolyn I bought this pattern. It has several reviews on Pattern review already, and I added mine here.

I made it basically as it is, lengthening the upper part and the skirt by 3 centimeters. And I made the back facing a bit shorter, to make sure that the neckline wouldn’t gape, which knit necklines often do is my experience. I pulled on the facing while pinning it and in the end cut off about 2.5 centimeters off.

I tapered down to a larger size at the hip area, but it could still use a bit extra fabric, but with other underwear this will do. My daughter was remarking about my serious looks on pictures, and she made a few while teasing me, but though they had me smiling, they didn’t show the dress well, I’ll stick to the unsmiling pictures.

Next time (and I think there will be another version this summer) I’ll change the pattern to have side seams and no center back seam in the skirt, makes it a bit easier to adapt sizing as well.

Progress: nothing to show

2011-05-07T14:42:00.001+02:00

The title of this post says it all. I’ve attached the trim to the front of my jacket, been busy with the pair of trousers I showed the pocket detail of, but nothing finished yet. While I had no UFO’s left in fall, I’ve got 4 now: jacket, trousers, blouse and a lingerie set. Time to do something about it.

To my defence (as if I need an excuse) there was little sewing time in the past week because of a nice 5-days away with my family to Barcelona! A wonderful city we absolutely fell in love with. Such a nice athmosphere, so many beautiful buildings all around, friendly and green parks. We had been warned extensively before we left for pickpocketing (oh, are you going to Barcelona, be careful, you loose your belongings before you know it). As in any city with a lot of people you have to be careful with your belongings, but I never felt unsafe, not even in a crowded market place. I’ve been to areas in other cities that felt worse.

No fabric shopping this time or anything sewing related. We walked a lot, saw a lot of Gaudi works and visited the Picasso and Miro museum. And still so much we didn’t see. The most impressive to me was the way the light came from above in the Sagrada Familia. I’ve tried to capture it in a picture (in the center) but it doesn’t do justice to the real thing. It was exceptionally beautiful.

The only sewing related thing I did was buying Patrones. To my surprise some stalls even sold back issues. So I bought 3 issues. Now I have to finish something and then think about starting something new. Inspiration enough, as there are also the last Knip Mode magazines to choose from, and some patterns I recently ordered. Time to get sewing so that my next post can be sewing related again.

Have a nice weekend all!

Pocket opening - using silk organza

2011-04-22T22:55:00.001+02:00

With the warm weather we are having at the moment (25 degrees Celsius, very hot for The Netherlands in April) I’m longing to sew linen trousers and not doing much hand-sewing. I’m also enjoying the sun, having a lunch or a cup of coffee in the garden is so nice!

For the enforcement of the pocket opening I used a technique I found in the book “Couture sewing techniques” by Linda Maynard that I bought recently. It’s a wonderful book with a lot of special techniques that I’d like to try. Like Ann said in her review of the book (must be the same book, though my version has a different cover) it’s not about haute couture techniques. The techniques are more high end RTW and as I’m striving more towards high end rtw for my own sewing than real couture techniques, this is a book I like and will use more in the future.

These are not the complete instructions of the book to sew the pocket, but I like to show the way the opening is made.

For the pocket opening a strip of silk organza is used, cut on the straight of grain, 3 cm wide. Fold the strip in the length and iron it. Place it on the seamline of the pocket (wrong side of fabric), clip where necessary to make the curve. Stitch in the crease.

Sew the pocket facing with right sides together, the stitchline just beside the previous stitching.

From this point I made the pocket opening like I always do: trim the seams, clip where necessary, turn and topstitch.

This is the result on the inside of the pocket.

And here you can see the trimmed seam allowance and the silk organza. Nothing to be seen after completing the trousers.

Other projects

2011-04-20T20:31:00.001+02:00

In one of my previous posts I mentioned I was working on other projects besides the jacket. In the past days I did finish a t-shirt and a lingerie set.

The t-shirt is from the above New Look pattern. I made this pattern before and used size 14, which I found to be a bit large. Now I used a 12 and think it’s a bit snug. The difference is the amount of stretch/drape in the fabric I suppose. This fabric has less stretch.

The fabric is a mostly cotton knit that is part of the fabrics planned to use as described in this post. I now used 3 of the 5 fabrics. The pants in the brown was a wadder.

The neckline has a detail I copied from a rtw t-shirt. In that shirt it is placed lower, but the neckline of the rtw is cut deeper as well. In this shirt it didn’t look as good, so I placed it higher.

The pattern has a center back seam, which made it easy to apply a bit more waist definition.

Perhaps I should take out some fabric horizontally next time?

And my latest lingerie set, an unusual color combination for me.

Continuing on the jacket

2011-04-13T22:48:00.001+02:00

There’s more than one project in progress at the moment, nice because when there’s time to sew a bit but I’m not in the mood for the jacket, there are other things to do. Bad, because it means the jacket has not enough progress to my taste. All my own doing, no complaint, just a fact. Tonight I did continue and you’ll get a first view of the trim I’m using. Its difficult to get the colors right in the pictures. The last one shows the colors best on my monitor.

The front of the pocket

The back, the lining is sewn mostly by hand to the pocket.

And on the jacket front, also hand sewn. Tomorrow night is the next pocket. It’s time consuming!

Brussels/Antwerp fabrics

2011-04-11T19:28:00.001+02:00

Past weekend was the Pattern Review weekend in Brussels. It was the most wonderful weekend: we did a lot of talking (sewing and other subjects), shared a bit of experiences and projects, laughed a lot, visited a beautiful and special fabric store in Brussels and some of us went to the fabric market in Antwerp on Sunday. Our host Sheila opened up her house to us, which was very, very nice of her to do. She has a wonderful sewing room we were all jealous of. Not very big, but so well organized.

Did I finish my jacket in time? No way, it is still in the same state as it was in my last post. Did I buy fabric? Of course. Today I washed and dried them, but they’re not ironed yet. Therefor the wrinkles in the picture. From left to right: a fabric of unknown content but with a beautiful drape for a pair of trousers, white linen/cotton for trousers/jacket, knit with grey/off white stripe, blue linen/cotton again for trousers, blue silk for a blouse and a silk voile for a tunic. Very basic fabrics mainly, to be made into basic garments. When? Some hopefully soon.

Sheila, Claire, Valerie from Australia, Valerie from Amsterdam, Lista, Hilde, Joanna, Martha, Margaret, Samira, Katharine: thank you so much for a wonderful, relaxing weekend. Hope to meet you all again soon.

Machine buttonholes

2011-03-29T23:07:00.001+02:00

I did test the buttonholes (of course). First with black thread, mainly because that was on my machine from a little in between job for a friend of my daughter. But it also helped to clearly see what the result of the buttonholes was. I also tried a buttonhole with a rounded end, but that is not my favorite on my machine, I don’t get that one quite right.

The first one on the left was the default buttonhole, center right with a different setting, top right with a filling tread. That was the one I chose to use, and I tried it with the right color thread too. This is the one bottom right.

And guess what happened? After 5 trial buttonholes with no problems the first one on the jacket went wrong!! I unpicked it and did it again, but what a pita!

On the picture below you can see the fill thread. You pull on the thread so that the closed side of the fill thread will be on the end of the buttonhole. This way it also reinforces the point that will get the most stress when the jacket is worn closed.

Here the thread is pulled through (on my machine it goes smoothly over the bottom thread, the upper thread usually gets a few stitches and can’t be pulled through anymore).

The tail ends are cut off and here is the front with all the buttonholes. I didn’t open the buttonholes yet.

Jacket – working on the inside

2011-03-25T23:29:00.001+01:00

Some pictures of the work on the inside of the Chanel style jacket. Thank you for the tips on recovering lost pictures from a memory card. I didn’t use it this time, as there were only 2 or 3 pictures on my jacket lost, the rest of them were intended to be lost, as I’m doing a photograpy course and doing a lot of testing photo’s that were not worth keeping. But it’s good to know, I might need it in the future.

I’m not following the instructions in every detail. I’m using a not too firm hair canvas as interfacing on the front, instead of normal sew-in interfacing. I want to be sure the top doesn’t flip over like a jacket I made 2 years ago. This might be too much for the original style, but it’s my jacket, you won’t see this when it’s finished.

The lining and the interfacing on the front are quilted to the fabric, but not in every so many centimeters, but in pairs of two, spread over the pattern pieces. The instructions tell you to adapt the quilt lines to the pattern of your fabric, if applicable. I made sure the quilt lines are between the vertical black threads in the fabric. You can still see the diagonal baste lines that were done before machine quilting.

The interfacing on the front and the back (with lining, looks much more wrinkled than in real life.

Instead of only using an oval piece of interfacing at the location of the buttonholes, I used a strip of thin interfacing over the full length. My handsewing is not great, I’ll make buttonholes by machine, sure with better result than hand sewn buttonholes would be with me.

And per instructions: tailors’ tape on the front.

And the back neckline interfacing.

Hope to do some work on the jacket this weekend. And perhaps do some blog reading again, there’s not enough time in a day ;)

Rolled hem on thin fabric

2011-03-19T22:42:00.001+01:00

Progress on the Chanel style jacket is slow, as expected. I do plan to share my progress and a few construction details with you, but to start with I accidentally erased the first pictures from the memory card. And Sheila, I don’t want to raise the bar for anyone but myself. It’s been on my to sew list for a long time, I’m happy I finally started it, but not quite sure how long it will take, it might be quite a bit longer than I thought.

To differentiate a bit, I’m working on a blouse as well, part of the new spring garments I want to make. This is a sheer, thin fabric as you can see in the pictures, the grid shows through the fabric. I tried to serge the edge of the collar that will be folded to the inside (it’s a wrap blouse) and didn’t get it right. In a Dutch book on serger techniques using a water soluble stabilizer was advised. I didn’t have that anymore. Instead I used a fusible table, ironed it in the seam allowance and then serged with a rolled hem on the inner edge of the tape. This worked perfectly and the hem is straight and a bit firm.

Next post either on the blouse or the jacket.

Slow sewing

2011-03-12T23:11:00.001+01:00

And this time I’m not referring to speed of sewing or the lack of finished projects lately. It’s time for a more complicated project again and I’m starting a Chanel style jacket. The pattern was very kindly lent to me by Jane (you know who you are) THANK YOU again! The “deadline” I have in mind is the PR Brussels weekend April 9-10, so there are almost 4 weeks to go. The pattern is by Claire Shaeffer and has two variations: the couture construction with quilted lining and the more rtw construction method. I will follow the couture construction, which has 99 steps. A few less for me, as I will omit the upper pockets for obvious reasons. Still a lot of steps to do, and I want to take my time and perhaps sew an easy top in between.

The fabric I’m using is the bouclé in the upper left corner. I showed this picture in an earlier post with my spring fabric plans.

The muslin was made end December and this is the second version. First I made a size 14, a size I’ve used for Vogue tops before. It was too small everywhere, so then I traced the 16, which was pretty good.

I’ve given a bit more waist definition to the pattern, because I didn’t want it too boxy. Further I took a bit out of the front shoulder seam, the center front remains more straight that way when worn open. I posted about this alteration in this post (scroll down a bit).

The back doesn’t look very good in the picture, but it’s better in real life and with a shoulder pad, which I didn’t use in the picture. The sleeve is a bit strange: it feels a bit snug at the inner side, but has a lot (too much?) space in the sleeve head. I will follow the instructions and sew the body of the jacket and then sew the muslin sleeve in the jacket to check on the fit then.

And something most of you won’t understand: I cut away all seam allowances from the pattern, except the hem allowances. Working with seam allowances is difficult for me on complicated patterns like this. All parts have to be thread traced on the seam line, better not have the seam allowances then anyway. Isn’t it strange that I prefer patterns without seam allowances? European patterns never have seam allowances, so I learned to sew without them and like to work with the actual seam line. A lot easier when matching plaids or stripes too.

A skirt for spring/summer

2011-03-11T22:10:00.001+01:00

Absent from blogland for two weeks again, but this time not so much to show. The Knip mode pants that I showed a detail of in my last post is a wadder. The fit in the back is no good at all and the fabric too stiff. In the next weeks I will continue my efforts to make a good pants pattern. I have lost a bit of weight, so I need to start again.

I made this skirt from the March Knip Mode issue. It’s an A-line skirt with side pockets and pleats that go over the waistband. When I received the magazine, the fabric used for the skirt immediately appealed to me and I ordered it online from Jerseyfashion. The fabrics they sell are mostly expensive, certainly if you compare it to US prices, but the fabrics I’ve bought are of very good quality. Just a happy customer, though I must say that though this fabric is a beautiful quality cotton, it is not really a bottom weight quality. It’s more a cotton I would use for a shirt. I would never wear a shirt with this print, so just used it for the skirt. I did line the skirt and used fusible interfacing where the zipper was inserted.

It’s nice to have this in the closet, with a white blouse or t-shirt it will be good on the first spring days. For the moment it’s still too cold here to wear it.

The front and back

Details of the pleats in the front

The magazine picture and line drawing. I think it’s one of the very few times I made a pattern in exactly the same fabric as shown.

Tops

2011-02-25T23:02:00.001+01:00

Thank you so much for your congratulations and kind comments on my last post. Lucky there were quite a few people to help me eat the cakes, otherwise I would certainly not have fit in my clothes anymore ;)

Katharine, the green fruit are grapes (in halves), not olives.

Though I haven’t posted very regularly lately, I’ve seen quite a few new names in the comments on my last posts: thank you for reading and leaving a comment. I’m a very irregular blog reader and commenter myself at the moment, I’m sure I’ll be back on track sometime, but not right now.

The last weeks I’ve sewn a few tops, which were none of them very difficult, but took me ages to do the last finishing touches. This time pictures on the dressform only.

A tunic from Knip Mode November 2010. A very sheer fabric, must be worn with a camisole underneath. Don’t remember when I last used a thin, slippery fabric like this, but it went well. The cuffs and neckband are interfaced with Pam’s Pro sheer elegance, a wonderful interfacing for this type of fabric. I’ll wear the tunic with a belt.

Next Simplicity 2603 (the wrap cardigan pattern, a top is included too), a simple basic.

Another basic and new pattern company for me: Christine Jonson V-neck tee no. 714. I loved the versions I had seen in blogland and in reviews. It has a little similarity with Jalie 2682, but I love that is has no horizontal line under the bust like the Jalie pattern. The shoulder seam is a bit too far to the back for me, so that I’ll have to adjust when I make it again, which I certainly will do, the neckline is wonderful.

The last item is a co-production with my daughter. The pattern is from Knip mode February. She likes it very much, I’m not so enthousiastic about the “pockets” in the side seam. They basically are just an outward corner on the side seam, turned to the inside. Could have been drafted better. Daughter happy, so it’s fine with me.

And last picture in this picture-heavy post: detail from the pants I’m working on. Not sure whether these will fit. As the fabric was as cheap as muslin fabric is, I just went ahead and thought that if it wouldn’t be ok, only a little time would be lost, no expensive fabric. By now I know there is some tweeking to be done, I’ll keep you posted on the outcome.

Update

2011-02-18T21:50:00.001+01:00

Over two weeks since my last post, quite a long time. I have been sewing a bit but have not written about it, nor made construction pictures. The first week I was busy organizing a small birthday party. Normally I just keep my birthday very quiet, but this time (the milestone of 50 was reached!) I thought it a good occasion to invite family and friends. Which was very nice to do and see and talk to everyone. A bit of baking was involved:

No, not much time for sewing when all these things have to be made. I like baking though, and my dh told me it was allright if I did this, but that we would order the savouries and salads for later in the afternoon. He was very right about that.

Well, on the sewing side: I’ve been sewing this set:

As usual, all the fabric and notions are from Kantje boord in Amsterdam. Don’t you love the shoulder strap embellishment?

There are some other projects I’m working on, I’ll show them when they’re ready. A tunic which only needs cuff buttons, a shirt with only a hem to be done… this weekend probably.

AND: I’m updating the tutorials blog. A very slow affair. I’m checking the links and try to add new links to tutorials.Something to be done in little steps. Robin had the nice idea of a button in her sidebar to refer to the tutorials site. After a little experimenting you can see the result in her and my sidebar, and since yesterday also on Nicole’s blog. If you want to link to it too: feel free to do so. If you know a tutorial that is worth adding: let me know.

Plans for spring

2011-02-03T12:53:00.002+01:00

I’ve read it on several other blogs from sewista’s in the northern hemisphere too: I’m soooo tired of winter. We don’t have snow anymore, but it’s cold, the days are often grey and cloudy. I do notice that the days are getting longer, it’s always such a pleasure to notice that.
Right now I’m working on a lingerie set, but mentally I’m preparing for spring sewing. Time to dive into my closet with fabrics and see what I have to start with. Quite enough, don’t you think? I’m not committing to not buying fabric, as that is a commitment I’ll certainly break (especially as a Pattern Review gathering is planned in Brussels in April. A visit to the Antwerpen fabric market is part of the plan!).
There are more plans than time probably, but I’d like to start with two capsule plans for the moment. The first one is in light colors: top left will be a Chanel style jacket, to the right is a beautiful cotton with a woven stripe that’s hardly to be seen in the picture. It will be a blouse, just like the silk below it, which I bought in New York last August.
Bottom left is an ivory fabric that will be a pair of pants. The plan should be extended and should probably include a few simple knit tops and another bottom.

The next plan is very different in color. More bottoms than tops at the moment: the brown top center is heavy bottom weight cotton. I’ll probably try another style of pants with these, there were so many nice ideas in the Knip Modes of past months. Bottom left is a linen/silk blend for a pair of pants, bottom right a linen that will be a skirt. Top right a knit fabric for a t-shirt and top left a more or less sheer fabric for a tunic. Probably a tunic from Knip Mode, think it was in the issue of September.
Other patterns still to be decided upon, it was just nice to get out the fabrics and see that I had quite a bit to get started for spring. My own impression from my fabric closet is always that I have too many dark fabrics and it surprised me to find enough fabrics for two plans that are not mainly black or have to be worn with black.

ETA: you were all right about the last project: nothing ventured, nothing gained. It's what happens.
And Shams asked whether there is a source for old Knip Modes. Alas, the online shops that sell Knip Mode usually only have issues till a few months back. The September 2008 issue is not to be found anymore. There is a local site (I assume that Craigs list is something similar) where people sell their stuff and regularly older items are sold. But it's only in Dutch.

Nice idea, no success

2011-01-28T22:18:00.001+01:00

That’s how about I feel about this little project. In the end I chose the plain knit fabric to work with, mainly because I had enough fabric of that to make a matching sleeveless top to wear with the cardigan I had in mind. I chose the Jalie pleated cardigan pattern, which I made before in a print. This time no print on the whole but only dots at the shawl collar. It doesn’t look too bad on the dressform, but it’s too much white on me and the fit is no good. This was not too clear in the my previous version. Because of the plain fabric the folds/pleats and too spacious back are very obvious now. It’s a very nice fabric, so I already started unpicking the pleats and I will use the fabric for something else. Live and learn. Just wanted to share the idea with you, which I still like, but could have better done in a darker fabric.

Active wear

2011-01-25T16:25:00.001+01:00

The gym pants and top are finished. Some detail pictures have to be done again, as they were not good enough to publish. My sports bra was in the washing machine, therefor a normal one underneath.

The contest on Pattern Review was a good motivation to make these kind of garments. I have never done that before. I like the result, but prefer another kind of sewing. I plan to sew a jacket to go with this set, but not sure whether I’ll finish that before the deadline of January 31. Being under continuous stress of deadlines for work, I just don’t want to put a deadline on my sewing. If I get it done, fine, if not, there will be other contests to participate. I wasn’t doing it to win, but it worked well to start me on this.

For another top I would say the back needed adjustment, for this gym top it’s ok as it is. The armhole might be a bit high, probably from stretching the binding a bit too much there. I used a variation of Kay Y’s technique for the binding, but used only 3 layers and worked from the front to the back). Next time I would do it different, as the topstitching is not very visible, because the stitches disappear partly in the fabric, as this is cut in the length of the fabric. This is one of the pictures that was not good).

For those in the Netherlands: I ordered my supplex fabric from Pixie. Good quality and quick delivery is my experience. It feels like the same quality fabric as my rtw gym pants. Only don’t wash a colored fabric with white the first time! I was so stupid to do that (my mind must have been elsewhere to trust that it wouldn’t harm) and the white is now not so white anymore, but not pink enough to think that it should be , bummer). I’ll probably dye it in a darker color.

A dress – again

2011-01-23T16:24:00.002+01:00

Thank you for your suggestions on my fabric choice. I will sew it next week, and decide then what to do.
You might know that I’m not sewing dresses often, and now I’ve sewn my second dress within two months. It’s number 12 from the Knip Mode February issue.

I love to wear the blue knit dress I made end of November, and thought it would be nice to sew this one. Suggested are “step by step intructions” in the center of the magazine, but these are not there. I could have used them. I made a Jalie twist top a long time ago, and thought I would sew the front in an hour or so (ever optimistic). The first evening I pinned in several different ways and didn’t get it. Concluding I was too tired to understand it, I left it. But even at the second attempt it took me quite a bit of time to grasp what was intended.

ETA: when I was looking for the instructions on the Knip mode website, there were none (last weekend), now they are here. Thanks Margreet for mentioning this. I used my normal size 40 for the upper part, tapering down to size 42/44 at hip height, which gave me perfect fit, no other changes).

Might have been me, but for those of you who might want to make this dress, this is how the notches come together. The yellow arrow indicates the opening.

Fold the cut on facing at the neckline of the front (on the shoulder there is a marking where to fold)
Sew the center front seam (the small vertical part in pattern part 1)
Sew upper front to skirt part till center front
This is where I got confused, it’s the red dots on my picture that have to be sewn together
Fold right side of upper right part together, matching (blue) notches and stitch till notch (near the yellow arrow), leaving an opening
From the right side, pull the left upper part through the opening and sew together
After this it’s as easy as sewing a t-shirt

And finally: the result of the dress on me:

The neckline is as low as shown in the magazine, so I’m wearing a camisole unterneath.

New fabric

2011-01-18T22:52:00.001+01:00

There really is some sewing going on at my place. The top of the active wear set is almost ready as well. Tomorrow I will set up my coverstitch and finish both the top and the pants. In between I spent some time on a dress from Knip Mode February. This post is about fabric though, spring fabric! I’m making all sorts of plans in my head for spring. One of the projects I’m thinking about is a cardigan like this one which I found on the Anthropologie site.

I’ve seen a cardigan like this before in a shop, with very sheer fabric as collar/shawl and have wanted to make something similar since.

These are the fabrics I bought, and I’m not sure yet about the combination to use, most likely it will be the first one. I can make a top from the same fabric to wear with it. This is an off-white, stable knit. The other fabric is cotton, a less formal look.

Any thoughts?

Accent strip on gym pants

2011-01-14T23:23:00.001+01:00

How long does it take to make a pair of gym pants? Such a simple project and still not finished. It sums up my week, too busy to sew, too busy to read blogs (I’ve clicked the “mark all as read” button when the unread items were more than 400, so sorry I can’t read all your inspiring posts!).

Let me share what I did on these. I’m copying a detail from a rtw pair which was also in the Knip Mode gym pants, though I’m using the BWOF pattern now. I mainly looked at the rtw pair to see how the ‘piping’ was done. It isn’t really piping, it’s more a wider strip of fabric .

I’m sure my rtw was not exactly made like this, as the industry has special machines to make this, but the result looks the same.

I started with a strip of fabric twice the width that will be on the outside plus the seam allowance. Then sandwiched the strip between the seam, basted with a large zigzag stitch.

Then I serged the seam (this time with black thread, on my sewing machine there’s red and I didn’t want to change, no one will ever see this besides my blog readers).

The strip of fabric on the right side after serging the seam.

Now I folded the strip and pinned it. This is where the twice as wide as the end result is helpful. I folded till the seamline and the strip will be the same width and thickness everywhere.

Last step: topstitching with a longer straight stitch. This is where I examined my rtw pair closely, and it really was not a stretch stitch.

For topstitching I used a walking foot, to make sure it wouldn’t shift.

WIth only the waistband to attach and hemming to be done, I do hope it won’t take a week to show the result.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Knip Mode February – a touch of spring

2011-01-07T20:32:00.001+01:00

Yes, the fabric for my muslin is horrible, I’m glad to use it and throw it away afterwards. Marie-Christine wondered why I make a muslin for gym pants, and I can imagine that wondering. The stretch will be a bit different, but it gives a better indication now than the original pattern. I want to use piping or a strip of another color on the side and make pockets, so I want to know how the fit is and not just cut a strip of fabric off on the side after sewing it. The muslin only took half an hour including changing, so that’s not a lot of time and no fabric really lost.

Currently my sewing is not going fast, and that’s an understatement. I’ve had a severe cold this week and we were redecorating our bedroom. My sewing room was filled with other stuff till yesterday afternoon. And there was work too of course. Today a huge inspiration arrived: Knip Mode February 2011. They always publish about 3 weeks before the actual month. I’m not joining the 12-jacket a montn sew-along at stitchers guild, because I won’t come anything near 12 jackets this year. The February issue of Knip mode gives a few nice jackets though, so I might sew a few in this year.

Like Burda every spring there are some navy-themed garments (black/white), but they are styled very modern. Melissagave a good impression of the January issue with all the pants/trousers. I’m very happy that I subscribed this year.

My impression of a few favoriets. My daughter browsed the issue before me, and thought the jacket in the top left corner was designed for me. What do you think?

Must make more time to sew.

Gym pants muslin

2011-01-06T23:09:00.001+01:00

Though I would like to sew the top or jacket, I’ll have to start with the pants of the active wear set I want to make. Not the most interesting part, but the pants take up most of the (black) fabric and I can’t cut the top or jacket before the pants are cut. The remains of the black fabric will determine what I can use for jacket and top(s).

In the same issue of Knip Mode as the top, there is also a gym pants pattern. I made a muslin of the top and it was fine (will make a picture later). I used the size that I needed by the size chart for the top and did the same for the pants (2 sizes larger). For the pants I thought that it looked large. So I compared it with a pair of rtw gym pants I have. This is a very good pair, and relatively new, but there is a large hole in the bottom part of one of the legs. Still wondering how that came to happen.

Look at the difference! And the rtw pants isn’t even very close fitting.

Back to Pattern review to search for other (magazine) options hoping that something would show up from a magazine I have (this is the way I found the Knip mode top pattern, Melissa had a review of that one, so no coincidence Melissa!). Burda 11-2007 showed up with a few reviews for a pair of yoga pants. I traced those within the Knip Mode pattern, I marked the lines, quite a difference. Time for a muslin, as the other rtw pants I have, are smaller and have a closer fit.

A quick muslin showed me that:

- it was too wide, I took in 2 cm on the side seams and 1 on the inseam. That’s 6 cm in total!

- the front had a strange pleat, I compared it to my rtw pair and changed the curve , much better

- a little extra height is needed in the back

I’m not going to show these on me ;), the fabric was bought many years ago for DD, at 17 this fabric no longer has any appeal to her (or me).

In the end I think I could have used the pattern 2 sizes smaller. Next is sewing these in the good fabric.

1-1-11

2011-01-01T21:59:00.001+01:00

The first day of the new year started with rain and sunshine here, very different weather from what we had the past few weeks. I am happy the snow has melted, though colder weather is predicted again.

Two 2010 projects were not shown here yet: a jacket and the famous Jalie scarf top. This top was counted in my total, as I published a picture of the fabric and when I saw that, I was reminded to the fact that I didn’t show it.

How is it that when you cut such an irregular fabric without paying attention, you end up with two almost identical parts on both sides? I didn't wear the top yet, too cold and if I'm going to wear it, it will be without the bow, just with the ties down.

The other is a Burda jacket (February 2010, no. 101). Not a difficult jacket at all, but it took me forever to finish. Yesterday I wore it to the friends we spent New Years Eve with, and I only made the buttonholes and attached the buttons an hour prior to leaving.

Sewing plans for 2011? As usual I don’t have any special resolutions or plans. It would be nice to have time to be a little more creative again. A Chanel jacket is on the list, I have a winter (dark colored) fabric and a spring colored fabric for it. Can’t decide yet what I want to do.

The first project will be active wear though. I had a black supplex already and have ordered white and red to go with it. The Pattern Review contest for active wear is in January. Good to get me started.

I want to make a pair of pants, one or two tops and a jacket.

This is the fabric

And two of the patterns I will use: the top from Knip Mode February 2007, the jacket from an Ottobre issue.

First I’ll make some sketches to decide on how to use the colors. After a few weeks of hardly any sewing I’m longing to get going again.

2010 projects

2010-12-30T23:28:00.002+01:00

It’s been a very hectic December month (as with most of you I think) and tomorrow is already the last day of 2010. I’ve counted my projects and I made 28 garments. Still one jacket almost finished and not shown yet, which will make 29.
Half of the garments were tops, either woven or knit fabrics. Two major projects in a coat and very complicated jacket which took a lot of time. On the other hand 3 or 4 very easy knit tops.
Plans for 2011… I’ll discuss them in my first posts of the new year, for now I leave you with the pie-chart and my very first slide-show of projects (hope it all works).

Have a wonderful last day of the year. I wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Skirt

2010-12-12T00:21:00.002+01:00

Last weekend and week was very busy, with a lovely Sinterklaas day last Sunday. Kbenco, how nice that you made your children speculaas. We had that too, it really belongs to the tradition (as are chocolate letters and ‘banketstaaf’, a pastry with almond paste in it).
There was not time for sewing till last night and I finished my skirt (except for a button and buttonhole). It really fits well, but I think it’s a tadd too short for me. I’ll try to add pictures on me later and I’ll do a review with a bit more construction details. All in all it’s not a difficult skirt, the hem is gathered and attached to the shorter lining, creating a special hemline with a balloon (?) effect.

ETA: picture of me wearing the skirt. It would definitely have been better if it was longer.

I’m taking a break from blogging till the end of the year. It’s a very busy time and I feel that I need to take some rest. If I’m getting to some sewing I’ll show you results later.

I wish you all a very good holiday season!

A skirt

2010-12-03T23:04:00.001+01:00

It’s been a long time since I’ve sewn a skirt. From my reviews I learn that the last one has been September 2009, over a year ago. I’m usually attracted to skirt patterns that have something special. This pattern is an example of a pattern I’m immediately attracted to, though I’m not sure whether the style will suit me. One thing I find dificult with skirts is to find something to wear with them.

I’m making this from a rtw skirt I bought last year. Lots of fabric that had to be draped, held together with two buttons and small belt. I never managed to drape it again as it was done in the shop, it always looked strange and I never wore the skirt. But it had a lot of fabric in it, which I use now. It’s grey/blue in color with black (or very dark blue) dots. It’s not very difficult till now, the picture shows the detail that you see in the magazine picture too. Don’t think it will be finished this weekend, the Dutch have “Sinterklaas”, a local variety of Santa Claus, and I’ve some preparations to do for that. I wrote about that tradition in this post (3 years old, time flies!)

The pattern is again from the December Knip Mode, like the blue dress of two weeks ago.

Knip mode dress looks like Kwik Sew pattern

2010-11-29T09:41:00.001+01:00

I just received an e-mail from Pattern Review. To my surprise I see a KwikSew pattern advertised which has a top that has the same collar as my Knip Mode dress.

It’s Kwik Sew 3826. So if you’re interested in making a similar dress, but can not buy Knip Mode easily, I think this is a great pattern to use.

Answers

2010-11-27T18:32:00.001+01:00

Forgot to respond to a few comments that were given on the dress. Mary Nana remarked on the length Knip Mode drafts their patterns for a higher average length than Burda or the big 4. She is right, with 1.74 m I'm even 2 cm taller than the length they draw for. I never make length adaptions for Knip Mode patterns, which I do for Burda. Something to consider when you start working with their patterns. The Dutch in general are tall (together with the Scandinavians I think). I have two nieces who were about 1.85 m at the age of 14/15, not so uncommon here. My daughther with 1.68 is considered the "small one" of the family.

Jane M asked whether it would be possible to make this as a knit top. Yes, I think it wouldn't be difficult at all to change the pattern to a top, you will have a beautiful neckline that way.
And Lia asked why I didn't use a serger. That's because of all the layers that are in the front, I just felt my sewing machine could better cope with that, and I have more control with my sewing machine than with my serger.
ETA : And I even forgot to answer 1 question, thanks for reminding me lin3arossa. The fabric I used was viscose (rayon) jersey. Not too thick and with a lot of drape.

Finished garments

2010-11-27T15:12:00.002+01:00

Thank you all for your lovely comments on my dress. I wore it this week and it’s so comfortable, and plan to wear it tomorrow again when going to a birthday party. As I already said, there were a few things almost finished before starting the dress and I did finish them all last weekend, but there was absolutely no time this week for taking pictures (or sewing for that matter). I did “sew” through reading blogs in between, always a nice break when you’re stuck at your computer whole day. Didn’t leave too many comments though, but I really love to read about sewing and the projects other bloggers share.
If you like vintage patterns: visit Denise’s blog for a chance to win a beautiful vintage pattern. In between her lovely patterns, she shows the sewing rooms of so other bloggers and professionals. Always nice to see those and get inspiration from. I haven’t sewn vintage patterns yet, still think I should try one at some time.
Enough said, some pictures of the blouses and pants I made. I might or might not do reviews, perhaps I rather do some sewing this weekend.
First one is the same patterns as the blouse with the special cuffs I made recently from the BurdaStyle February 2010 issue. Only this time with smaller collar and normal cuffs. DD had not too much patience with taking pictures and didn’t notice the strange fold before she took the first picture. It normally isn’t like this, I wore the blouse this week and it’s a pleasure to wear. 100% cotton in a good quality.

Next is the Patrones blouse. The only pattern I liked from the fiesta issue, and I traced it before I sent the issue to Elizabeth. It has some nice details, like the little piece at the shoulder and the pleats at the sleeve. The line drawing suggests pleats at the shoulder too, but that’s not the case. It’s a well drafted pattern, it went together smoothly. The cuffis are a bit too wide for my liking, and all the fabric of the pleats in the lower part of the sleeve might be a bit much. Time will tell, I didn’t wear this blouse yet, too early to tell.

Som detail pictures:

The a-symmetrical stripe could only be matched in the wider stripes.
Collar with stand was on both blouses done by Pam’s method.

To conclude: a pair of black wool pants. I’ve worn these for two days, so a little wearing-wrinkles. I’ve been trying to make a tnt pants pattern in the past few weeks, and I’m still not there. Apart from the wearing wrinkles there are still a few in the back that shouldn’t be there. I will be working on that issue again. I would like to thank my friend Nancy K for her help during my fitting experiments. I’ve sent her pictures of quite a few versions, and her opions and ideas have helped a lot. It seems that pants fitting is a continuous struggle. I’ve been working on this a few times before, and sometimes wonder if I ever will get it right.

December hasn't even started

2010-11-21T14:13:00.001+01:00

and I finished a dress from the December issue of Knip Mode. In general I’m quite happy with it, the neckline is a bit deep and the collar tends to flip to the outside. Think I will open up the center front seam and pull the collar a little bit farther in. Doing this and keeping it together with pins helped a lot.

I like the drafting of the pattern, though I think there’s one marking point missing in the center front piece. Not a lot of trouble with my sewing experience, but could be difficult for others. I used a size 40 and only tapered down to 42 at hip height for the back pattern piece.

Melissa, who made the same dress last week, already noted that there are a lot of layers at center front. The fabric must not be too thick. I did not use my serger for the center front and neckline but used a zigzag stitch. The marking I missed was for where to start gathering at the center front piece. Pinning and basting everything together before sewing helped me in visualizing how this got together and decide that the gathers all had to be below the pleated end of the collar (the part thats folded over), so that there would be no extra gathered layers of fabric at the point of the pleats.

I followed the detailed construction drawings, but changed (after unpicking) one step: the instructions tell you to sew upper front and skirt together and then sew the neckline and center front. I first finished the complete upper part (gathers, neckline and sewing center front), and my last step was sewing the upper part to the skirt part. I unpicked the seam I had already done for about 2 inches. For me this was easier to work.

Conclusion: I like the dress and I like Knip Mode better than BurdaStyle at the moment. Think I’ll start the new year with a subscription.

1 blouse done

2010-11-19T23:26:00.001+01:00

But… no pictures yet, sidetracked again. Sigh, why do I do this? Because sometimes a pattern is so inspiring that you have to make it before finishing other things. Today I found a dark blue knit, bought 3 meters, washed it and put it in the dryer. Tonight I cut the pattern from the fabric and started sewing. Not finished, but will be tomorrow.

It looks black in the pictures, but it's dark navy blue.

For those of you who consider making this dress: try to get wide fabric. My fabric is 1.60 meter wide and this means you don't have to cut in a single layer as Knip mode shows with the 1.40 meter wide fabric they used. AND you can cut the main piece on the fold, which means you won’t have a seam in the collar. You still need 2.5 meters of fabric. Mine had shrunk considerably or wasn't cut to 3 meters initially, I didn't check before washing, but I ended up with 2.50 meter of fabric. This is the dress in progress. When it's finished, I have to sew buttons to the other blouse and hem a pair of black pants. End of the weekend I hope to have 4 (!) garments finished.

In search of a pattern

2010-11-16T15:53:00.001+01:00

I’ve been searching the internet for this pattern: Vogue 8259, the Claire Shaeffer pattern for a Chanel style jacket.

I can’t find a site where it’s for sale. Does anyone of you have this pattern (size 14, but 12 or 16 would do as well, don’t know which sizes are together in the envelope) and wants to sell it to me, or exchange it with Knip Mode magazine? Would love to hear from you.

You are awesome, I’ve had two replies on this request, so I’ll be sewing this jacket sometime this winter. THANK YOU!.

Knip Mode December

2010-11-11T17:38:00.001+01:00

Little time for sewing this week, and when I wanted to do a little on Tuesday evening around 11 pm, the electricity supply failed in our part of town, just when I was doing some edgestitching. It was solved somewhere during the night, but no real sewing done any more, it’s been a very busy week.

I had seen Knip Mode december on Monday, wanted to buy it immediately, but even that didn’t work as planned, I only bought it today. This is a great issue again . It has patterns for the holiday season, these are more “down to earth” type than the Patrones issue I gave away. More reflecting the Dutch style in general (after all, it’s a Dutch magazine).

There are patterns for men too, as well as sleepwear, both of which I never sew, nice for those who do.

This is my favorite, if I had 2.5 meter of plain knit fabric I would make it right away. I only have a printed knit which is not so suitable. It’s high on my to sew list anyhow.

I lightened the picture a bit, and still you can’t see it very well. The line-drawing shows the lines better. The other dresses are nice as well.

The jacket in the next picture remembered me of the Burda jacket I made, it has a lot of similar features. The skirt is one of my other favorites from this issue, not sure about the style for me.

The sleepwear / lingerie section. Looks very nice, though I still don’t think I’ll make it.

For copyright reasons I don’t want to publish too many pictures, here’s a link to a preview Knip Mode publishes.

Cowl neck top – snoop shopping

2010-11-08T19:17:00.001+01:00

Snoop shopping on the internet I found this top. The brand is Robbi & Nikki and I simply love the style, the color is a lovely grey, but the price is a bit high at $175. I must remember this one for spring/summer, this is too cold now and needs to be worn on its own. Or perhaps I should add sleeves.

Striped shirts

2010-11-07T23:11:00.001+01:00

Two shirts are in the sewing queue, and I’m making them at the same time, as both need white thread. So first I took all the steps of cutting, marking, interfacing for both shirts, and now I’m sewing them taking the same steps. The pattern is different, but the main steps are the same.

For both I did sew the collar with stand first. For this I use Pam’s method, which I find easy with good results. I’ve done the method described by David Page Coffin (and described by several bloggers, including me) with good results too, but find it more complicated.

You’ll find a lot of these tutorials and links to Pam’s tutorials as well on my tutorial blog here.

A picture of the first collar, a cotton fabric that I bought recently (you’ve seen it as the contrasting fabric on the wadder shirt). I have a beautiful pants fabric to go with it, but the pants fitting is a struggle (I’m working on that too, but am not post pictures here).

The other fabric is cotton with some manmade fibre in the black stripes. It’s been in my stash for a few years, because I was afraid to work with it: the stripes were in the width of the fabric, and it has a lot of stretch. This makes it more difficult to work with, and I must use my walking foot to get good results.

The collar and stand on this one is attached. Next step is to do that for the other shirt. Now it’s bedtime.

On the multi-cup pattern

2010-11-04T23:30:00.001+01:00

As some of you rightly saw, I’m not too disappointed by the wadder. This just happens sometimes. I do have more of the white fabric, I’m thinking of using another pattern for the body part and use the collar and sleeves.

I’ve been giving the pattern drafting some further thought however. It was the first time I did use a pattern in which different cupsizes were included. But how to determine the size to use?

a. On the envelope, you determine your size by (full) bust measurment

b. In the instructions, you are told to determine the difference between your full bust and high bust, with a clear drawing where to measure. Based on the difference between these two measurement, you dertermine to use A/B/C/D cup pattern pieces. But nothing is said about the basic size to start with.

Women with the same full bust measurement (pattern size) can have a completely different cupsize, this depends on how your proportions are. Someone with my full bust measurment can have an A-cup, or an E cup, while I’ve a D-cup. When some years ago I discovered the need of doing a FBA (full bust alteration) the way to go is start with your high bust measurement and alter the pattern to fit your bust. This way you’ll get better fit in the back and shoulder area. It worked and I was happy to have discovered this method. Perhaps the same would be true for the Vogue pattern, and would it be better to choose your pattern size by high bust measurement? I’m not trying, but as this is a new pattern and many would want to try it, perhaps this is something to keep in mind.

The Patrones is for

2010-11-04T17:51:00.001+01:00

The 3rd person who commented: Elizabeth001AU, please send me the necessary info to get it in the mail to you. My e-mail address is in the sidebar.

Hope you will enjoy it.

Shirt wadder

2010-11-03T15:05:00.001+01:00

I pinned the sleeve into the armhole and that didn’t look too bad. There woud be almost no seam allowance at the point of the ‘corner’ as described in my post from Sunday, but that wouldn’t be too bad.

During construction of the body of the shirt, I got the feeling that it was too wide and that the extra space for the bust was at the wrong place. This is a pattern with pattern pieces for different bust sizes, and I used the D-cup, which is the correct size according to the instructions.

When I had sewn shoulder and side seams it was time to test. For me this is completely not working. It is much too wide and the bust space is too much too the side. Lucky it’s not expensive fabric, pity about the time already invested in the collar and sleeves.

I’m going to sew another shirt from the Burda pattern I used last time and sew a muslin for a pair of much needed pants. Quickly forgetting this pattern.

Patrones fiesta – party issue, something for you?

2010-11-02T23:09:00.002+01:00

Patrones fiesta

Last week I bought the latest Patrones issue, but overlooked the fact that this is the Fiesta, or party, issue. Lots (and I mean lots) of party dresses. My need for these dresses: none. I’ve browsed the magazine several times now, checked all line drawings too and am convinced that I will not use it. I might trace the blouse on the cover, but that will be all.
Anyone of you interested? I’ll give it away but will ask you to pay for postage (paypal). Postage will be Euro 6,16 within Europe, and Euro 10.45 for the rest of the world. That is what I will have to pay at the postoffice. I’ll do a draw when more than one of you is interested. Draw is done!.

For more pictures from this magazine click on the above picture.

Working on a shirt

2010-10-31T22:26:00.001+01:00

I’ve had quite a productive weekend. I made one knit top that I’ll show you later when I have a picture of me wearing it.

Further I’m working on Vogue pattern 8689, a new pattern for a basic shirt.

I learned to sew using Burda and Knip Mode patterns, without seam allowances. And till now, almost 40 years later, I'm still not used to working with patterns that have seam allowances. I miss the feeling for size, the curves and most of all: how the seams fit together. I've been sewing the collar and the sleeves already, and from the blue marks, that will fade away with water, you can see that I marked the seamline where the cuff has to meet the sleeve.

That was needed, because I used the method to attach a cuff as described by Sherry from the blog Pattern, Scissors ~ cloth. The cuff is not sewn to the sleeve first, but the sleeve is put into the cuff that is sewn together already and then topstitched. By the topstitching the cuff gets attached to the sleeve. Pretty neat method.

When cutting the pattern pieces, I wondered about the front part having a corner, but thought that that would be corrected when the seams were done. I find that patterns with seam allowances often have strange corners, that upon sewing the parts together turn out well. This time something strange is happening. Don't you think this is strange?

Of course I first checked the pattern pieces. I always trace my patterns, so I could have made a mistake there, but no, I used the correct pieces and traced them correctly too. Then I drew the actual seam lines on the pattern pieces and pinned them together. Same corner is showing.

In the drawings of the instructions, a smooth line for the armhole is drawn. Don’t you hate it when you encounter something like this? It stopped me for the moment. I will continue later, and see what happens when inserting the sleeves. The pattern is so new that there are no reviews yet. I’m curious if someone else has found this to be a problem.

Parting shot: I couldn’t help myself, going to a shop to buy some sewing notions I needed, I fell for this bouclé fabric and it came home with me. I plan to make a short, simple jacket from it, Chanel style, but not with the elaborate original construction method.

What's next

2010-10-27T20:11:00.001+02:00

Wow, what a lot of nice comments on my coat. Thank you! And it feels good to have all things finished, though that wasn’t for long. I’m making pants again. I still don’t have a TNT pants pattern, so that’s what I’m working on now.

I’ve sincerely thought about making another coat (from the september BurdaStyle magazine), but decided against it for the moment for various reasons, the most important one being that I need a few more basic additions to my wardrobe right now.

My next projects will be pants, shirts and knit tops. Barbara from the blog Sewing on the Edge is doing a white shirt project, followed by many in blogland. Though I’m planning a few shirts, I won’t join, as not all of my shirts will be white. I’ve some striped fabrics I want to use, and a combination of fabrics. But I’m looking forward to see what everyone is coming up with, I hope to be inspired to try a new pattern or technique as well, and probably I’ll sew a complete white shirt too.

One shirt I will be making is a remake of the shirt below. This summer Threads had an article on combining fabrics for shirts and it reminded me of this shirt, that I made last year. I wrote a review, but made it during my short time leaving blogland so I never showed it here.

It’s was a very nice shirt, but I only wore it once. The first time I wore it was on a day I had two business meetings. The first meeting was with someone I’ve done projects with for many years. After a while he went out of the room to get us coffee, and upon his return he told me (in a very careful, gentle way) that my shirt was tearing in the back! One of the seams had come loose, how horrible. I was lucky he knew me well enough to mention it, so for the next meeting I wore the scarf that went with my coat over my shoulders and back. Completely not matching, but at least covering the ruined blouse. I thought the fabric was a good quality, but the weave was not stable enough for the narrow seams I had used. Live and learn. But since then I have wanted to make another version.

I’m thinking of using this cuff/placket again, which I made 2 years ago and still like.

Last UFO done

2010-10-24T16:02:00.001+02:00

Last week I finished my coat from the September issue of Knip mode. With this there is no unfinished sewing project any more. Feels very good I must say.

The pattern did not provide a back facing part. I made that myself, which is very easy of course, but the way it went together with the front facing was not so easy now. Wish I had realised that earlier in the proces. But anyhow, I’m very happy with the coat, so is DH, who likes it very much.

The pictures (and excuse my face, it shows how I feel, chilly and not very well). The coat is wide enough so I can wear a jacket underneath.

Fully buttoned up

The back, I think I will attach the belt with a few stitches, it tends to go down too far as you can see, while it was carefully pinned by someone else at the right length.

Inside, I love the red lining.

Piping detail. I think I’ve done almost all the piping details twice. When I tried the coat for the first time, I thought the sleeve tabs were too short, so I took them out and made new ones. For the back one side came out more narrow than the other, one of them had to be done again.

Wherever possible, I used another fabric at the backside to prevent too much thickness. Absolutely necessary with this thick wool.

When I bought this fabric in Paris last year during the Pattern review weekend, I wanted to buy 3 meters. There was another 1.5 meters left on the bolt and I got the full 4.5 meters at a discount. I thought I could make a skirt from the remaining part. This pattern calls for 2.8 meter of fabric, but by matching plaids and cutting the front on the bias, I used the full 4.5 meters of fabric, with only scraps left.

My sewing space

2010-10-19T09:24:00.002+02:00

Most of you will have seen that Denise of the blog The Blue Gardenia does a series on sewing spaces, and guess what? Today she features my sewing space. Take a look, also at the other sewing spaces she shows (most of them far more organized than mine) and at the beautiful vintage patterns she sells.

BurdaStyle February 2010 - 113

2010-10-11T23:02:00.002+02:00

The blouse is finished and I kept all details from the pattern, including the cuffs. I wore it today, worked on it at my computer and they didn't irritate me. I won't make a jacket with zippers at the sleeves for example, because I know from experience that these are disturbing me while I'm working.

I'll write a review later, but I don't have time for that now. I've taken no detail pictures yet either. It was an easy blouse to make. I used french seams, and this gives a nice finish to the inside too.

The fabric is linen in a quality that makes it easy to work with, collar and cuff interfacing is from Pam, wonderful quality as always.
The main thing I altered were the buttons on the cuff. In the pattern the buttonholes are inside the cuff, but I made them in the double layer of the cuffs, so the buttons are visible on the outside of the cuff. It was clear that the cuffs would ‘fall down’ when done as described.
You can see that from the BurdaStyle picture too, a detail of that picture is below. I changed the picture as it is a white blouse on a white background, in which the details are hardly visible. This is a link to the picture on the Burda website.

The length is in between the length of blouse no. 114 and 113, which are basically the same patterns.
It’s good to make a few of these quick projects. I’m mentally preparing for pants again.

A few things in between

2010-10-06T23:12:00.001+02:00

Thank you all so much for all the comments on my jacket. So many of you took the time to leave a comment, which is very much appreciated.

I found lining for my coat, but will finish the coat a little later. Perhaps strange, but I felt like a few simple things in between.

This weekend I did make a new set of lin gerie, something that is to me (certainly compared to jackets and coats) easy and uncomplicated to make (yes, it really isn’t that difficult!). I tried a Merckwaerdigh pattern, BHST2 for the first time. I adapted the pattern for the upper cup a bit, but otherwise I mainly used the pattern as it was.

To complete the set I made a panty from another Merckwaerdigh pattern, that I used before. Both were finished in one afternoon and evening, quite a contrast to the previous project.

Now I’m working on a Burda blouse from the February issue.

It’s quite a fitted blouse, and my initial reaction to the pattern was to make the collar and stand smaller and not make the special cuffs. Then I realized that I was planning to make it again to a very basic blouse without special details anymore. Well, I decided to go a little out of my comfort zone regarding blouse styling, and used the high stand, larger collar and the special cuffs. Though I’m not quite sure yet whether the cuffs are there to stay.

The instructions (which by exception I obligingly followed ) say that you have to make the slit in the sleeve with one side overlapping the other side. No Burda, not with this kind of cuff, no overlap needed! You can see it in the technical drawing too. Of course I only realized that after I had sewn the first cuff to the sleeve. I can’t remember I ever made such cuffs, so this is not something I know by earlier experience. Burda should know. These are for cufflinks, as the instructions tell you to make with two buttons.

Jacket pictures

2010-10-03T20:02:00.001+02:00

After the initial muslin was made in July, the jacket is finally finished.

The selftimer pictures I took yesterday were all aweful, so I asked DD today to make them. I had quite a few issues with this fabric, which was difficult to work with. Though being the matchy-match type, the lines are not continuous in the sleeves, as I was a little short of fabric. I cut the sleeves later, thought I had quite enough, but not enough for plaid matching. I’m lucky it’s not a very distinctive plaid, so it’s not very visible.

Seeing the pictures I must check whether it’s just the way I stand: it looks like the buttons are not evenly postioned.I was convinced I sewed them on right.

I like the way this jacket is on jeans. It makes it a bit less formal.

In answer to what Robin said on my last pictures: all pieces were interfaced with fusible interfacing before proceeding with construction. The back stay is a piece of muslin cotton.
The shoulder stay was applied to the fusible interfacing for the front before applying it (the interfacing as you would use for a jacket for which no stabilizing interfacing was used).

This pattern is rated in the magazine with 3.5 dots. I checked a few Burda magazines, but couldn’t find a pattern with 4 dots. This one certainly qualifies I think: the band, welt pockets with flap, notched collar, bound buttonholes are all special. What does a pattern need with Burda to have 4 dots?

To conclude: I like this jacket very much, fabric and construction gave me some headaches and frustration at times, but it was well worth it. The ‘history’ of the jacket, my meeting with fellow bloggers in New York, and the fitting session with Kenneth King, makes it a special memory jacket.

BWOF jacket

2010-09-30T23:11:00.002+02:00

How nice to read your comments on the fabric I showed. When I use it, it will be for a top, as I only have 1.5 meter (less than 2 yards). There were some ideas I didn’t think of myself, so it was a good idea to post a picture. Thank you for the inspiration.
Looking back in my posts I found that it’s been almost a month since I last posted about the jacket I’m making. The consequence of working on two major projects at once, getting sidetracked and time issues. I’ve sewn the lining and apart from sewing on the buttons and inserting the lining, the jacket is finished. Next post will show finished pictures.
I realized that I’ve never shown the muslin in detail, and want to do that now, to complete the total picture and for my own reference later.

~~Well, I hope the pictures will be visible when I publish this post. I see new options in my Picasa webalbum, but only one picture is showing in my draft in Live Writer. Never had this problem before.~~
The muslin was made in the way that is described by Susan Khalje in the latest Threads issue. I got the instruction through Robin, who did a class with Kenneth King and Susan Khalje last year and invited me to the fitting session with Kenneth King. The second picture shows the line KK drafted on the center back. His line indicates where the center back should have been, there is more space necessary on my left side. As I wrote earlier, it was wonderful to see him working on the pattern. Super fast too.
On the inside of the jacket I interfaced the front, made a shoulder and back stay. Difficult to photograph when the jacket is almost finished.

What was I thinking

2010-09-29T21:03:00.001+02:00

Shannon from the blog Mushywear posted a picture of a fabric that she bought and now feels like “what was I thinking”. She wrote too “How about a challenge? Pull it out and share what you come up with. I'd love to see it!”.

I’m taking up the challenge. Here’s a picture of a knit print that I bought this spring and since it arrived (bought it online) thought “what was I thinking?” I might use it and see how it is on a pair of black pants, but still think it’s not my style. And anyhow, what pattern would you use for such a fabric?

Notched collar

2010-09-28T17:59:00.003+02:00

Nothing to show you at the moment, but following a link in a comment on Lindsay T’s blog I found the tutorial for the notched collar I used a few times now on the SewStylish blog. My experience is that this method makes constructing a notched collar relatively easy, with great results.

There were a few comments asking for the fabric of my Hotpatterns tops. I don’t know the exact content. I bought it at the market cheap (3 euro/meter) and it was the only bolt with this soft, drapy quality. I washed it, put it in the dryer (which I seldom do) and it remained very soft. Hope to find the same quality for myself soon.

Teddie (from the Netherlands) asked where to buy Hotpatterns patterns: the answer is to buy them online, the only sources I know are the Hotpatterns site itself and Sewingpatters.com.

Hotpatterns – 3 graces top

2010-09-21T23:15:00.001+02:00

I got sidetracked, and finished the cowl neck and foldover version of the Hotpatterns 3 graces top which I started on Sunday. I traced a size 10 as I thought the pattern would run large. No such luck, I should have gone by my bust measurement on the envelope and used a size 12. The pictures of the (unhemmed) top are of my daughter (though she is a size 8). She likes the tops as well, doesn't mind them to be a bit loose fitting so they will be worn.

Full review is here on Pattern Review. I like these tops very much, and will certainly make them for myself too. They are not very time consuming, just a few hours for both tops.

I thought the cap of the sleeve a bit high with a bit too much ease for a knit top. Here a comparison with a Jalie sleeve (2449).

And something I don’t understand in the pattern. It’s the shoulder seam. the paper pattern parts are pinned together, notches matched and then this strange line came about. I haven’t seen this mentioned in reviews, so probably I’m missing something. Just don’t know what. Instructions are not helpful here either.

As I concluded my review on PR: though I had some minor issues with this pattern, I certainly like it and will make it again in a size that suits me better.

After jacket and coat

2010-09-20T17:53:00.001+02:00

Thank you so much for all the lovely comments on my coat. I thought it was special, and you certainly confirmed that feeling. I’ll show you the coat on me when it’s ready. Might take a week or two,still haven’t got lining.

The jacket has had more progress in the last days, and will take about one evening to finish. Somewhere this week I hope.

Time to think of the next projects. In summer I thought I would make a few “capsule” plans, 4 or 5 garments that would go together. For the moment I’ve given up on the idea of a real plan, and will sew what comes to my mind and what I fancy at a particular moment.

This will be my next projects:

Hotpatterns 3 graces shirt. I confess I already did some work on these yesterday. More on my experiences with this pattern later.

This blouse from the September Burda magazine attracted my attention from the start and after seeing lovely versions on PR, this is high on my to sew list.

And I’ve bought myself some new lingerie fabrics at Kantje boord. For the first set they even had applique lace for the shoulderstraps. How special. After a recent cleaning out of my lingerie drawer, I need to make a few new sets. Nice in between projects.

Getting somewhere

2010-09-14T22:53:00.001+02:00

A first picture of my coat. It’s not finished as you can see, but you’ll get the impression how it will be.

I don’t have lining yet, I have seen a lining in red with some black in it, but it was in a shop not close to where I live. I’ll shop for lining soon, and in the meanwhile I can further finish this with the facings, hemming, shoulder pads and sleevehead…. Enough to do, and there are already countless hours in this coat. And there’s still the jacket to finish. How I long to sew something that will be ready within two hours (think my next project will be a knit top).

SaskiaB: I went to the HEMA and their ‘zoomband’ was sold out here (never knew they sell it). For the remaining seams I used a double sided adhesive tape (vliesofix), but it was less easy to work with than the double layer of fusible interfacing. But your thoughts (also Marie-Christine) were very much appreciated. As are all comments!

Flattening a seam

2010-09-10T21:10:00.001+02:00

The fabric for my coat is a heavy wool, after pressing the seams open, they don’t stay flat. I thought of handstitching them down, when another solution came to my mind. On the Threads dvd Sewing techniques Louise Cutting shows a method to hem a garment with two layers of fusible interfacing. This week I was reminded to this technique by my friend Valerie, who showed me the skirt she made in real life. She used this technique for the hem. I interpreted it for use in the seams of my coat.

This picture shows the pressed seams not staying flat. I used white because I was out of black fusible interfacing, it will not show in my fabric, so it didn’t matter.

Two layers of interfacing, fusible side on the outside, stitched with long lines of straight stitches (only for convenience, you could do it one at a time)

Cut strips of the interfacing, close to the stitching line, and as wide as the seam or a little less.

Put a strip under the seam allowance, with the stitched line on the outside.

Press the seam allowance.

After pressing, the seam remains flat.

Tip: I have mainly straight seams on my coat and used the interfacing straight of grain. If you have curved seams, make strips of fusible interfacing from a piece of interfacing that is cut on the bias. Then you will be able to follow the curve better.

As said, you could use the same technique to hem a garment.

And answers to questions: the fabric of the piping is a kind of black velvet, the only fabric in the right kind of black that was not too thick. In the meantime I’ve made another example with a narrower buttonhole. And I’ll be playing with fabric straight of grain and on the bias. The tabs will be on the bias, while the sleeves are straight of grain for example.

Matching plaids?

2010-09-08T17:03:00.001+02:00

I know I’m a very matchy-matchy type and that’s not everyones preference. Perfectly alright with me, but this jacket in October Knip Mode hurts my eyes. Couldn’t they at least have tried to match the left and right front?

Despite the aweful fabric placement, I like the style of the jacket and there are more patterns I like.

Jacket and coat

2010-09-05T22:56:00.001+02:00

I didn’t do as much as I thought I would today. It was a glorious late summer day and I spent the morning in the garden, that needed some pruning and cleaning after weeks of rain and storm. The afternoon was spent with a great walk through the woods with old friends. In short: a perfect day.

This is the jacket in its current state. I made the collar, sewed the facings together but that’s it for this weekend. But ít’s definitely getting shape.

Now that I’m really using the dressform, it has a few things that are different from the real me: its hips are wider (could be caused by the little weight I lost), the waist is a little too high and the neck circumference too large (difficult to make paper tape fitting very close to someones neck). It means that it’s not the perfect tool I hoped it would be. Did you see the professional dressform Robin is having made? With all the different stages and measuring in between that will be perfect. I will make do with mine, but I loved to see how hers is coming along.

A detail of the pocket.

And of one of the bound buttonholes. Needs a little pressing at the top, it has a little crease, though if pressing doesn’t help, this crease won’t be seen when the jacket is closed.

In yesterdays post I wrote about the wintercoat I’m making. It’s from the Knip mode September issue. I’m making view B with the tabs on the sleeves of view A.

First muslin (sorry, no pictures) in size 40 had perfect fit, IF it would have been a jacket, but absolutely too small for a coat where I want to wear a jacket underneath. So I upgraded to a size 44, which was much better.

I experimented with piping, (I do know how to make sewing time consuming) , here on the tabs for the sleeves. As you can see the top one is better than the one on the bottom. The back is in a thin, solid black fabric. In this way the tab is not too thick. The first picture is best showing the color, the second one is too yellow. The opening for the buttonhole still has to be made in the back of the tab. Think I like the piping and will use it.

RTW detail

2010-09-04T14:24:00.001+02:00

Last weekend I did some shopping with DD, the main objective was to find something for me and I was lucky this time. I even found a pair of rtw black pants that fit! Really special that, as normally when rtw pants fit in the hips, the waist is way too wide. Only the length was too long. Easy to alter, but still has to be done.

As I love special necklines, I couldn’t resist this cardigan from the summer collection that was on sale. It’s from a very soft jersey and feels very comfortable. The neckline detail is easy to copy, which I plan to do sometime.

The cardigan has a 5.5 cm wide band (like this Jalie pattern 2566, but wider)

The front and the band are finished (serged) separately after which the band is attached, leaving small parts open. The tie that is pulled through the openings is as wide as the the band. The tie is longer than the band, as it’s wrapped around.

I think this give a nice detail to the cardigan. In this one a little band is attached (the silver one), just to give it an extra touch. Thought some of you might like to see such a detail.

I also tried another cardigan, which was nice but too expensive for what it was. It reminded me of Jalie 2919, a pattern I made in a print that I wasn’t happy about.

Think of this cardigan in a solid jersey, the band/shawl collar made in the same color, but of a more sheer fabric (not jersey). I don’t remember the brand and couldn’t find a picture that came close. It gave a really extra touch to the cardigan and I’m already thinking of two fabrics I have to combine in that way.

In the meantime I’m working on two projects: the jacket from my last posts and a winter coat. I’m only having small slots of sewing time, so progress is not too fast. I do hope to finish the jacket at the end of the week.

First hurdle taken

2010-08-25T21:18:00.001+02:00

This jacket is not a quick project by any means. It has a lot of technical details that I don’t do often: welt pockets (with flaps!), bound buttonholes, special rounded band on the edges. On the other hand a jacket is never a quick project.

After spending a lot of time cutting, I interfaced all pattern pieces with fusible interfacing (pro weft fustible interfacing from Sew exciting). The fabric alone was difficult to keep straight while cutting and not stable enough in my opinion. This just gave it the little extra it needed.

From that point I used the pattern pieces as if they were fabric only, and interfaced the front completely with a bit more sturdy interfacing and made a shoulder stay. I’ll be making the inside of the jacket in the same way as the jacket I made in May. You can find the pictures here.

After interfacing and careful marking of the location of the pockets, the first sewing was done: the welt pockets. I made some samples with the 7/8 gros grain ribbon I bought especially for the technique described by Kenneth King. I adapted the instructions to work with the sewing foot I have (he used a quilt foot that I don’t have, but it’s only for correct positioning of the needle, it took me two samples to find out what the combination with my foot/needle should be). After making those samples the actual sewing in the jacket was not very difficult. Time consuming, precise work, but not difficult any more. I love that method.

For the pocket flap I used the great instructions of Kay Y. The lining is just a bit smaller than the outer flap, which makes sure the lining doesn’t show on the outside.

I’m still not sure about the bound buttonholes in the band. I’ve considered making a buttonholde in the seam between band and main body, but on my muslin this made the band turn upwards. If I make the buttonholes in the band, they will have to be positioned a little different, to make sure the button doe’sn’t go over the edge. I’ve still some work to do on this jacket before I have to finally decide on that.

Coincidence

2010-08-22T15:56:00.002+02:00

Karin from Sweden commented that she saw the Norwegian crown princess in the same dress I made in April in a magazine in yellow. I couldn’t resist to google “norwegian crown princess yellow dress” and quickly found a few pictures of it.
I can’t easily find out from which year/month the pictures are, but it’s definitely the same style. The pictures come from a site “royalsforum.com”, but think copyright is elsewhere. Is the picture on the left a runway picture? If yes, anyone any ideas who the designer is?
ETA: Palma, thank you for the link. Guess who published the runway picture before? Carolyn (sewing fanatic diary). Now I had a clue, further searching shows the image in the rtw fall 2009 collection from Valentino. Here you can see it on Style.com. Nice to know I made a copy of a Valentino dress without knowing I did. It is fun to find something like this.

And this was my dress from a Knip Mode pattern, quite similar.

Patrones

2010-08-20T23:35:00.001+02:00

During the week there was no time for sewing, I did buy the new Knip Mode September issue and the Patrones no. 295. Knip mode has been reviewed in the meantime by Melissa with a lot of pictures already.

Patrones has a mix of fall patterns and summer/festive dresses.

As I already mentioned, no plus-size patterns in this issue, a special plus-size magazine is announced at the last page.

I love the jackets in the issue, there are a lot of them and some nice pants patterns too. Of course I will not get to make them all (if any) but one can dream. The most special one is this one, with the special darts and welts/bound buttonholes at the center.

Two others with nice lines.

The dresses are absolutely not for me: mostly bare shoulders, too much summer, not my style. But nice for others.

To conclude: houndstooth is a big hit again. Both Knip Mode and Patrones show a coat with it.

When I was at Macy’s in New York (how crazy that sounds now) I saw a coat in about the same weave as the fabric I bought in Paris last year. Guess what is on my list to sew this fall.

Fitting session

2010-08-18T20:40:00.001+02:00

Here are the pictures of the session at Kenneth Kings studio while he was fitting my jacket.

I traced a size 42, tapering to 44 at hip height. After tracing I already thought that it would be short for me above the waist. The pocket would be very high and I added 3.5 cm above the waist.

Further I noticed that the dart under the collar is visible, and you can see that in the magazine picture too, where they show the plain version. KK changed the position of this dart, changed the collar and it will be laying a bit more to my neck and less flat.

The most important change was in the back, he made separate pattern pieces for left and right, to accomodate a not symmetrical shape at hip height. Robin already said it too, it was impressive to see how fast he works. If you click on the second picture, you’ll see a front with a bow that he made, testing a pattern from a Japanese pattern book.

Some pictures from the morning, also showing Robin while Kenneth shows us a fur jacket he made. It was such a special event, he is such a great designer and it was such a pleasure to look around and see some of the garments he made up close.

Apart from designing and making fabulous clothes, Kenneth King also shares his knowledge in his Threads articles and his books, in which he shows technique with a lot of clear pictures and often new approach to doing things. Below a test weltpocket for my jacket, made by the method in his book Cool Couture. It will get a flap in the jacket, but I don’t want to spill too much fabric on samples before cutting the jacket. The fabric is from Sew It up, and I forgot to note the contents, but it’s not all wool.

I’m definitely ready for fall sewing, today here it looks like fall already: dark clouds, raining and temperatures around 20 celcius (below 70 fahrenheit). I’ve many plans (and too little time), a lot of inspiration online and in the new Knip Mode and Patrones magazines. September Burda is promising to have some great patterns for me again. I received the Patrones today, and if you like jackets, wow, there are a lot of them, some of which I like a lot. Though if you are plus-sized: there are no plus size patterns in it this time, it looks like they are publishing a separate plus size magazine soon, like Burda does.

A rant and some sewing done

2010-08-15T21:31:00.003+02:00

Early June I published about the great index Peacock chic had made of the Burda (BWOF) magazines. Just before I left for vacation, I got an e-mail from Ann-Marie (who pointed this wonderful resource to me) that the flickr album is no longer available. I understand that Burda sent a legal notice to remove the pictures! I am so sorry to hear that, it was such a wonderful resource.

Though I somehow can see Burda’s point not wanting this, I would suggest them to make an accessible, user friendly site themselves. Then they wouldn’t have to bother so much about this (my personal opinion of course) and get positive attention for their own site. And I do sincerely hope that it was not my post that gave it so much attention that Peacock chic had to remove the album.

Back to my sewing. Jetlag did last longer than I expected and I didn’t work on the jacket apart from preparing fabric, interfacings and finding all that I need for it. But I longed to sew again, so thought it was good to finish a bra that had only a few little things to be done and sew the accompanying panties. I first showed a picture of the bra on April 2, when it was almost done. Well, it was an UFO till yesterday. I almost messed up the panties (must be the jetlag), but it was ok in the end.

I used red elastic as extra accent at the shoulder straps. The picture shows right and wrong side.

Side of the bra, the back has a ‘downward hike’, which for me helps that the back remains low and doesn’t creep up.

Center front, made as described in this tutorial.

The side/back panel was made stronger by using powernet as interfacing. The cups have a more thin interfacing (non stretch).