Merry Christmas

Also here in the Netherlands there is more snow today than I care for. I’m happy for my children that it’s vacation time, so they won’t have to go to school on their bicyles tomorrow. Instead they can enjoy the snow, though they’re a bit too old to play in it.

I planned to show some pictures too, but my camera is playing tricks with me, the memory card shows my sewing projects, but not the snow pictures I thought I had taken. Pity, as they would have been great to remember how high the snow was today. We are not used to these amounts of snow, most years we don’t see any at all.

I won’t be blogging the next two weeks. No looking back to the sewing projects of 2009. It’s been a hectic year for me in which I’ve done less sewing than I hoped for. I’d like to start 2010 with sewing a small winter wardrobe (January/February). But it might come to nothing: I thought I would have sewn a jacket before Christmas, and didn’t even trace the pattern. But I will be trying to at least come up with a plan for a wardrobe, I still am intrigued by that idea, but don’t want to be in a timeframe or contest with specific rules.

 

Wishing you all a very good and peaceful Christmas.

Posting this anyhow

Thank you for your comments on my previous post. Though I thought I was getting these comments because of the subject of the post, it appears to be a more general invasion. When I caught up reading the sewing blogs a bit on Wednesday night, I saw more posts with complaints on these comments and quite a few of you indicated in the comments that you get those irritating comments too. Chosen the wrong public I guess.

For the moment I won’t bother anymore, other then removing the messages as soon as I can and being a bit more careful again on the words I use for the ’unmentionables”.

The sewing matters: this afternoon I left my computer screen, having “square eyes” from too many programming hours this week. Left the laundry and ironing for tomorrow, the cleaning for my cleaner on Monday (lucky to have found one this summer) and finished the item I was working on. The fit is great, which you won’t see from the pictures. The accompanying items are cut and will be finished very soon.

A bra

It’s been quite some time since I showed some ling erie on this blog. As interlude I’m sewing a new set. The lace for this set was bought quite some time ago, and I waited sewing it till I had my pattern fitting me again, I like it so much that I didn’t want to risk it on trying a new pattern with it.

One of the things I’ve changed on my pattern is the downward hike on the back. It’s a technique described in the “bra makers manual” of Beverly Johnson, intended to make sure the back doesn’t go up. She also describes this here.

As always I’m trying to get symmetry, but did not try it for the bridge part of it. The embroidery is rather full/thick, a seam on the bridge was no option this time.

This set will be finished grey elastic and shoulderstraps, the exact color that is in the lace too.

Pants again

Let me start with showing a picture of the two pattern pieces for the right side waistband. The lower is the outside (good) fabrid, the smaller the inside. I made similar alterations for the left side of it.

As you can see, it is a shaped waistband, so Katherine h, you can try this too if you would want to. Not the complete waistband is cut on the fold, only the center front partially.

A detail from the finished waistband.

As interfacing I user the Pro Tailor deluxe interfacing from SewExciting. Mici asked what was so special about Pam’s interfacing. Well, the quality is outstanding, it’s much better than the vlieseline that is available here and it’s great value for money. It’s 150 cm wide too, while vlieseline is only 90 cm wide. And she has a sale now!

The inside with lining and zipper fly.

I like garments that look good inside too, even if I'm the only one who ever sees this. This was something I found disappointing in David Page Coffin's book, as he never uses lining, and doesn't care much about the look on the inside.

Pictures from my pants are not very good, to show you something of the details I had to alter the images a lot. Daylight pictures are difficult now. I wore these pants today, and they feel very good. The wrinkling is not to be fussed about. As pants shape differently with every move you make, there will always be a wrinkle/pleat somehow, but I think that this quite good.

 

A fysiotherapist concluded a few months ago that my left leg is a bit longer than my right leg. It’s strange to see that reflected in the pictures I make for my blog. I’ve noticed before, and you can see it here again too. For the picture I show it with my shirt tucked in,  but normally I wouldn’t wear it like that. Today I wore it with a short jacket that I made two years ago.

To conclude a reply to Rebeca, who commented on my previous post yesterday, asking for help finding a free pattern: Rebeca, I think you get a better response to a question like this if you post it in a more general sewing forum like Stitchers Guild or Pattern Review. The comment section of my blog won’t get that much attention. For the shirt you’re looking for and the purpose (costume), I would go for a t shirt and a rectangular piece of fabric for the cowl, if possible/necessary  cut on the bias.  Good luck finding/making what you need.

Pants – waistband

After one more (undocumented) muslin I decided I could make the pants in the final fabric. They’re almost finished, the lining has to be sewn and set in. Buttonhole, button and hemming are then the last steps, planned for tomorrow evening. The first picture again shows a wrinkle.I’m not showing it yet, it also needs a good pressing and I’d like to wait till it’s completely finished for the final evaluation.

For the finishing of the waistband I was inspired by the book ‘Making trousers’ from David Page Coffin. I’m not overwhelmed by this book (and certainly not by the irritating music on the accompanying dvd, which you can’t turn off first time, as sometimes there is a tiny bit of spoken information) but it is inspirational, what as such is good. One of the eye-openers was to make the waistband on the fold and make the inside waistband shorter. It makes for less seam allowances when sewing the button hole. Hope you get the idea from these pictures (as said, lining still to be added).