Happy New Year!

 

Blouse from October Burda

Thank you for the nice comments on my posts! I'm having trouble commenting on blogger, even on my own blog at the moment, so therefor a general thank you and no reaction in the comment section itself. Hope I can find the problem and solve this, as apart from posting myself again, I also started to read other blogs again and would like to be able to comment. 

My most recent make is this Burda blouse from the October 2022 issue. Being a lover of special necklines, this immediately got my attention and ended high on my "to sew" list. 

The fabric is a viscose from Atelier Brunette, with good drape and easy to sew. I bought it last year in a fabric shop in Denmark, it's a holiday souvenir. 

I didn't like the sleeves had no cuffs, so I added those. 

If you made Burdastyle magazine patterns, you know that the instructions are not very detailed and more an order of construction (unless it's the pattern of the month, which this wasn't). As the neckline is not your everyday neckline, I did read the instructions! They  have you put on the collar first, attach it to the inside and only then add the zipper at center back. Which is not very neat in my opinion. Or I have understood it wrong ;).

I followed the first steps: sew the center of the collar, clip and turn and sew one side of the collar to the body. As the next step I inserted the zipper, so that when turning the collar, the top of the zipper is wrapped neatly inside. As last step the inside of the collar was handstitched to the neckline.

When there is no band to be attached above the zipper, I don't sew the start of the zipper tape, where there are no zipper teeth. In that way you can more easily fold the end out of the way and the fold of the fabric is more smooth.

A burgundy red suit

I realised that I have not published anything of what I've sewn in my sewing week in October. The coat plan was abandoned because I was so unsure of the pattern and didn't want to spend that precious sewing week and ending with a garment that I was not happy about. Well, we can always change our minds😀

So I worked on a suit instead. Burgundy red, quite uncommon for me but I have decided that this winter I would not only sew black ;). My winter wardrobe was getting a bit boring!

Both garments were made with Burda patterns. The trousers are from the March 2019 issue, the jacket from the August 2019 issue. 

As always the inside got some extra interfacing, shoulder placket and sleeve head. 

A special lining is always fun! 

I've worn the suit a few times already. Thought it might be formal, but it doesn't feel that way. 

A knitted shawl

This is a shawl I finished recently, the Iney shawl. The pattern is published inthe book 52 weeks of Shawls. Well, for me there is not enough time to knit a shawl in a week, certainly not this one. It took me almost a year, though I admit there were periods of weeks that I didn't work on it.

About two years ago I bought a kit for a cardigan from Christel Seyfart and after knitting the body I was not happy with the project. Which was pretty irritating, as at the time I had already countless hours of knitting done. This is a photo of the cardigan as far as I got. It is in a plastic bag, waiting for inspiration on how to finish it, if I ever want to do that.

I learned quite a few things from it though: fair isle knitting in the round, felting ends of yarn together so there is no need for weaving in the ends AND not to buy a kit as I like to do things my own way.

When finished there were only a few ends at the start and the end to weave in, while you can see there are continuous colour changes. I used a lot of the wool that was left for the shawl.

Pretty pleased on how my "floats" look (the strands of yarn at the back). 

Knitting a shawl in the round means that at some point you have to cut your knitting. This is called a "steek". Often described as terrifying, but it wasn't that bad. After cutting the edges were knitted, enclosing the steek stitches.

It was not the easiest pattern to follow, the instructions are full of abbreviations which make it difficult to read. As stated before, I like to do things my own way, so I changed a few minor details which made working for me easier. 

It's a very warm, comfortable shawl and I'm pleased with the result.

What a week

The sewing week with my friends was everything I expected it to be and much more! As one of us said after we returned home: still glowing. We filled the space with chatting, laughing, cooking, pattern tracing, sewing and a bit of knitting too. Add some walks, visit to an English seaside town and a meeting in real life with someone I know through Instagram. It’s been wonderful!

What did I make? Not the coat I wrote about in my previous post. It felt like an uncertain project and In the end I preferred to work with patterns I was sure about. I made a suit (pair of trousers and a jacket) and worked on a pair of jeans. 

All from patterns I used before. Not completely finished but very close. I forgot to bring shoulder pads for the jacket so got stuck in the last phase. The jeans still need the waistband and hemming. Some backlog with work to do now, hope to have them finished next weekend.  

Let me share a few photos from my sewing week.  A couple of my friends made the Debut skirt pattern that I published last month (they were my testers, thank you again!) and we all wore the skirt for photos😃. It was so very special to see them together and in all those different fabrics.

Preparing

October again, for me that means that I will travel to the UK for a sewing week with my friends. I'm so excited, as this is the first time since 2019 that we can do this (for the obvious reason that the pandemic prevented us from doing this in 2020 and 2021). We have been doing this since 2012 and I really missed it.

Next week we will be in Kent again. At the moment I'm deciding what to take and make during the week. One thing I want to do is make a coat. Not a very complicated one, using fabric that's been in my stash for a while now. I want to prepare cutting and marking before leaving. 

The pattern I have in mind is a relatively short one, from a magazine called Fashion Style, which originally is German and I have a Dutch copy. 

I've never used this magazine before and after tracing the pattern yesterday I am not very enthousiastic about it. First I think that the line drawing doesn't match the actual pattern. In the line drawing it looks like a "swing" coat, with more room at the bottom. The pattern pieces are very straight though. Most photos show the coat worn open, which makes it unclear to see how it's meant to look.

I don't care much for instructions, but I think that the pattern pieces should be clearly shown and indicate what lines are included. The only instruction for the front and back is that you have to "glue them together". Because I'm a pretty advanced dressmaker and have worked with magazine patterns a lot, I can make out that they mean that the front and back are on the sheet in 2 parts. 

Even more important is that there are more lines on the pattern sheet for the pattern pieces than shown in the magazine. Those lines are not mentioned anywhere either but they are very important. If you don't use the correct lines for the fabric and for the lining, you will have a lot of difficulties or mess up completely. Won't write the details down here, as they are not relevant when you're not making this pattern. Needless to say that I don't recommend this magazine. 

In the end I checked the pattern thoroughly, added a bit to the side seam, hoping to get a bit more of the "swing" look. Next time I should draft my own pattern 😉

Dress for my daughter

 I wrote about my fear of cutting the fabric for this dress and of course I did cut it. I left it on the floor for a night before taking my scissors and do it. In the meantime, the dress is finished and the wedding of my daughters’ friend was last Friday. 

We both were happy with the result and she felt very good wearing it. It was not the easiest of fabrics to work with, it had been a long time since I had sewn with pure silk. I didn’t want visible topstitching and after seeking the advice from a friend I used a prickstitch. Being very critical myself there are a few points where I could have done this better, but it’s okay😊. With my daughters’ permission photos of her wearing the dress.

Debut skirt, my first pattern published!

Today I published my first pattern on Etsy 😃, the Debut skirt. A milestone for me. It's been so much work. I had thought it would involve a lot of time, but it took even more time than I thought. Those last steps, when each time you think you're nearly there! If I had known in advance, I would probably not have done it 😁. 

The pattern comes in A4, US letter and A0 (copyshop) size and illustrated instructions. 

Without further ado, here is the link to my Etsy shop. 

You will find 2 patterns for the same skirt. The difference is that there is a regular (green background) and an hourglass (red background) version. 

For my Dutch readers: Dutch instructions are included as a separate file!

Let me know what you think. I'm open to constructive criticism. And when the pattern/style is not for you, that's perfectly fine. 

Fear of cutting

Do you have fear of cutting fabric? Even after so many years of sewing I have that fear occassionally. Like with the project I’m currently working on. 

My daughter will attend a wedding in a few weeks and asked me to make her dress. She had found a photo on Pinterest of the dress she would like. My daughter, like me, likes non-fussy garments, so the lines of this dress are not complicated. Easy-peasy you might think but simple lines require precision. The fabric is a lovely silk in an unconventional width. 

The inspiration photo

You get the general idea, but details are to be decided upon by yourself😊.  

I decided on princess seams and made a pattern, based on very old Burda pattern.

The fabric is laid out on the floor and I have added the pattern pieces and indicated cutting lines with chalk. Now finding the courage to cut it! And in case you’re wondering: I did make a muslin first.

Skirt variations

 

It's a special experience to see a pattern that I drafted made by others. In this case my Debut skirt. 

I'm grateful for having such wonderful sewing friends. In the video you see me wearing my own versions and three others, made by a friend living close. She was so enthusiastic about it that she made three in a row :).  Lucky me that I could wear them for photos as she has a size close to mine. Another friend made a muslin and informed me that the fit was spot on. The instructions are being proof read and cheering along the way made me get this far. 

Waiting for a few more test results, then the pattern will be published officially!