For the record

For the record I'm publishing these photos. I know the design lines are difficult to see, especially in the front because I used a remnant piece of dark navy linen and because there was not enough of it a piece of muslin fabric in the back.  You can see that it's straight down at the front and back. By the size chart I'm a size 42 in the bus area and I used 40 because of my narrow back. My reason was that I could do an FBA easier than changing the width of the back. On the back it's still too wide and there's no need for an FBA.
Of course I graded out at the hip area. There's more than enough ease in this area, even though I'm the largest size in the middle set of hip circumferences (see my post from yesterday). Imagine this circumference at the hips for someone whose hip size is 12 centimeters smaller!





I'm still loving the design and despite this thinking of a way to make it work for me. Perhaps I have to draw it based on my sloper. Not this week though.

I don't have confidence in the "drafting adjusted to the size chart" from Knip mode. Back to Burda and Ottobre!

Knip mode dress

Can someone explain why photos in magazines often seem to hide the main feature of a pattern? This dress for example, from the March 2012 issue of Knip mode. The main feature is the crossover at center front and it’s completely hidden by the necklace and hands of the model.

Look at the line drawing. Quite a nice pattern.
 
It was the line drawing that convinced me to try this pattern. I used fabric that I bought in the UK on my last trip visiting Pauline. Who already made other outfits of the same kind of fabric in different prints.  It’s a very nice knit, good drape, easy to wear.
This print was used in another color scheme in rtw dresses for prices up to 100 uk pounds. Nice to know my dress only costs 15.


A quick and easy dress. I’m wearing it today and it feels very good. It would have been a tiny bit better with two back darts, I might add them.

2007 ufo

I had one project from 2007 still unfinished: the Knip mode skirt I made earlier in grey. Tonight I finished that one (after a lot of ironing first, those things have to be done too...)




















On my first skirt Summerset suggested to make it with more visible topstitching, and I'm very happy with that suggestion, this skirt shows the design lines much better. It's not too flattering in the hip area but I will wear this with a jacket or top over the waist. I'm only showing you the details of the skirt like this (perhaps I shouldn't, too embarassing!)

What I see too is that I must shorten the sleeves of my shirt. I already thought they were a bit long, but they're obviously a bit too long.

My daughters jeans are coming along nicely, she's doing a lot on it herself, but I do topstitching and I have put the zipper in. The fit was not too bad, a little too much space in the front crotch area, but that was easily solved. We'll work on that this weekend.

And what next for me? I have so many ideas in my head, patterns and magazines, that it's difficult to choose. The only thing I've cut out is a lingerie set (not surprised, are you?). It's a set with a partial-band bra, I'll try to make pictures as I go, so that I can show you how to do that. That is, if you like sewing lingerie, or are tempted to try.

And I'd like to make one of these patterns, which Cidell has sent me in December (we exchanged for Knip Mode magazines, thank you so much Cidell, and I hope the Knip Modes are soon with you)

The shell in the upper right corner I want to try with an underlining of silk organza, a couture technique as described in an issue of Threads.

And there's a lot of blouses in BWOF I like, pants I "need". I'll keep you posted.

2008 starts with projects from 2007

A few projects from 2007 to start with.

First of all my DD's Christmas dress. It's BWOF 11-2007-107 with a few alterations. She was so proud and happy with it. On Christmas she wore it with the BWOF short jacket I made her some time ago , which was a really nice combination.
Technically it's not a great sewing work, and I'm so not going to show you the inside of this one! DD helped as much as she could to get this dress finished in time. The fabric was very slippery, and I stabilized the top part with fusible interfacing. After that it should have had a full lining, but there really was no time for that (this dress was made on the Sunday before Christmas). On Linda's blog I found a great instruction for lining a sleeveless dress. Next time I want to try that.
The details on alterations for the pattern you'll find in my review on PR.





Second the vest was finished, I still needed the right buttons, none in the house that I could use, so I had to shop for them. Today I finally managed to go to a store with notions. This is the result. The armholes are a bit wide, but wearing this over a blouse or turtle neck will not show this too much I hope.











Last item is the first project of 2008! The wrap top of BWOF January 2008. The review is here. I made it on New Years day, in about 3 hours, from starting to trace to finishing. Quite a good start of sewing this year. I like it very much.













In my last post I said I would tell of my sewing plans for this year. I have no firm resolutions. Never make any at all (that is, not especially on January 1).
But in the sewing department I would like to:

• make a spring wardrobe (swap), which will mostly consist of my favorite source for patterns: BWOF and Jalie
• improve my skills, the books of Claire Shaeffer and Sandra Betzina will be my guide (any other suggestions I highly appreciate)
  
• make a collar with stand without problems
• make a coat for spring
• maybe buy a binder for my coverstitch
  
• renew my pattern drafting skills, I once did a class in this (must be 15 years ago at least). And I'm thinking of doing a class again, and I stopped doing my lingerie class. Might do that instead of it.

And what's up next? DD will keep me busy, she wants a high waist jeans from Knip Mode, and has found two white blouses from the BWOF January issue she would like.
See who comes first in that, because there were also two I like (and one is the same as she, and we don't have the same size).

The jeans is cut, but I'm a little sceptic on this one, as I don't have much faith in Knip pants patterns. Perhaps I'm wrong. Let's hope so. Basting first! DD surely wants to have it finished before she goes back to school on Monday. For me the holiday is over now, tomorrow I have to get some work done.

Knip skirt finished

Two weeks ago I posted a picture from the Octobre Knip with a great skirt and I had to make it. In my wardrobe plan it takes the place of the other Knip skirt I intended to make. This is the result. I tried to make the pictures clearer, but the lines simply won't show.


I like the skirt, but not the fabric I used. It wrinkles very easily, so I'm going to make it in a better quality soon. A full review I'll post on PatternReview.

And yesterday I went shopping with a friend in the lovely old city of Leiden: great fun but what did I find: jeans that FIT! Very dark blue jeans, I don't have to alter anything and can wear it without a belt if I want to. That is a rare find for me, I can tell you that there's nothing so frustrating for me as trying skirts or pants, if they fit in the hip area, there's a huge amount of space in the waist.
Gone is the need to try to make my own jeans very soon. Out is the McCall jeans pattern for the moment. Will make it some time, but not now.

Other things I'm working on:

1. The wintercoat. Yesterday two books I ordered were finally delivered, from which I hoped to learn more ways to make bound buttonholes (and a lot of other things too, a post on the books later). I did once do those buttonholes, but years ago. Now I have 3 different instructions to make them, and I'm figuring out which way works best for me. I'll let you know.
2. A lingerie set, in which I'm exploring a few new things, also to be continued later.
3. A top/jacket for my DD. She wanted a short jacket, which is so in fashion here now. She saw 90 Euro jacket in a shop, that we're trying to copy. Burda 09-2007-106 is the starting point. It needs to be shorter and DD wants a few pleats in the front. So this is the altered pattern piece for the front.
   

A Knip top

Some of you may already seen my review on PR, but DD wants to learn sewing. I love that these skills are passed from mother to daugther. My grandmother sewed a little, my mother a bit more, and I can't seem to stop, so where does that lead my DD in the future?
Though it does not always work, my sister can't even sew a new seam in a pair of RTW pants, she just never was interested and still couldn't care less about sewing. Am I lucky with my daugther.

Besides that, DD is trying to knit. That's something I've given up on a long time ago. I can do it, and even knitted complex patterns, but after a serious RSI problem 10 years ago I stopped, and don't feel like starting again.
But it is very nice to see how the seed of love for fabrics, yarns and patterns grows (but primarily in the female line).

Skirt finished

My skirt is finished. The invisible zipper and the seam below the zipper took some time, but the result is fine.
I'm not so fond of the finished skirt on myself. After all the fabric would have looked better with a wider pattern. But it was a good experience working with this voile.









How to combine a french seam and invisible zipper?
This was my main concern before I left the project for more than a week.
In the end I did it as follows:

1. machinebasted the fabric to the lining, to treat it as one layer
2. inserted the invisible zipper using my special foot for inserting invisible zippers
3. cut the seam 3 cm below the zipper
4. made the french seam
5. manually stitched to close the 3 cm

Pin marks the end of the zipper, first stitching of French seam is done














Finished zipper from the outside












Finished zipper from the inside

First post

This is my first post into this blog.
No sewing projects under construction any more. Today I finished the last of a couple of garments. I've been thinking of starting a blog for a while, and this is a good point for me as I will start with new things.
Perhaps blogging about my projects will help me finish them before starting something else (which I'm in the habit of doing).

I'll start with a skirt.
This is a pattern from the Dutch Knip magazine from October 2004. I've made it before in dark winter colors. This time I'll use a cotton/silk voile from EmmaOneSock. The difficulty in this skirt is that the fabric is sheer, so I want to use French seams and an invisible zipper.



















This is the photo of the skirt in the magazine and the line drawing.






















I will use a white lining and made the lining pattern as a pencil skirt, without the ruffled part.