Two garments drafted

These two garments were almost finished when I went on holiday, but there was just not enough time to finish them then. I came back with a a lot of ideas in my mind and almost started something new. But…. I promised myself to not start too many things and keep procrastinating finishing. Thus I finished these and there is nothing in the ufo pile (not counting the muslin for the jacket).
The top is drafted to my own measurements and basically a knock off from an Ottobre pattern. It’s an easy and versatile top that I now have in 4 variations and I love these on a hot day. The fabric I bought in fabric in the trip I made there with my sewing friends. After serious consideration I decided to buy it. It’s a lovely, lovely silk and feels so very soft to the skin. I said to my daughther that we should always be wearing silk. It took a bit of tweaking when cutting out as I had only 1 meter. The facing is cut in two parts and the binding for the armholes was cut off-grain, but certainly not on the bias as I would have wished.
I’m quite happy with the fit, only the bust dart looks a bit low,

The skirt was drafted after an Knip Mode skirt from the August 2013 issue.

I closed the pocket seams in the end, as they were standing off. The photos are not so clear and show a few wrinkles but it is a comfortable skirt.

Seeing the photos I like the top better with the tan color.
A few construction photos:
The under collar of the top was cut on the bias and I “favored” the seam of the upper collar. It makes for a nice edge to the collar.

For all seams I used French seams. The first pass I made with the serger and very thin Serafil thread which adds hardly any bulk. I don’t always do seams of tops like this but this fabric was worth it.

Back from the UK

I’m back from a wonderful holiday in the UK.

My husband I did a lot of walks in the first week, we visited Pauline and Mike in their new home, spent an afternoon with sewing friend Vivien and her husband and in the last week our children joined us. We had the most gorgeous wheather, my face and arms haven’t been as tanned in years. Home was very far away for a few weeks, as was blogging and blog reading for most of the time. It was good to take a long break.

Before I resume my blogging about sewing (a sleeveless blouse and a skirt were almost finished before I left) a few pictures of the last weeks. Pauline is holding samfire in her hands that we picked on the shores and ate that evening. I can so understand she has limited time for sewing at the moment.

I am aware that during these weeks my country was struck by the horrors of the Malaysian airplane being shot down and so many people lost their lives, most of them Dutch. The horrible aftermath that is still happening. I have no words for this. Only wish the violence in the world would stop. So many areas of conflict and war. Horrible.

BB

Blogging Break that is. I decided there was not enough time to work on the jacket prior to our holidays. I only prepared all pattern pieces, also for facings and lining and will not start cutting and sewing till I’m back from a  holiday in the UK.

Hope you all have a lovely summer (or winter in the southern hemisphere) and enjoy it, sewing or otherwise. I’ll be back in a few weeks.

Jacket muslin

Remember my struggles with fitting a jacket last year? I lost count of the amount of muslins I made, the tweaks I made to patterns to get it right. These struggles with fit have led me to learning pattern drafting (better). I had some basic knowledge of it from a few lessons in the past, but never did work on it properly.
I’m convinced now it is a good approach for me. Last week I drafted a pattern for a jacket, the same idea of jacket I made  last year. I wearit but after all the work I’ve done on it I still think it could be better. It was made from a Burda pattern which I altered and altered…

The muslin of my self-drafted pattern. Could not find shoulderpads which will help with the fit in the back, but otherwise I’m pretty pleased with the result. Remember this is also not interfaced or otherwise stabilized. Just muslin fabric. Taking it to class tonight to hear what my teacher thinks.