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!

The new Knip Mode drafting to the size chart - a rant

Probably the title of this post says enough. This post is a rant and I completely understand if you click away and read something more interesting.

As I said in my last post Knip mode claims they changed the way their patterns are drafted to make sure they have a better fit. Because of this I started making a muslin of the jacket. So glad I didn't take my good fabric to start with.
I made the body and am that disappointed that I probably won't bother to attach the sleeves or the collar. It's basically shapeless, as on the model in the magazine. So perhaps I should have known better from the start. But the line drawing showed such nice shaping....

For me it's totally unclear how Knip Mode thinks their patterns will fit better. This is what it says in the magazine: The fit of the patterns is optimized. The patterns used to be big and are now better adjusted to the size chart. The size chart is unaltered.

This is my translation but it basically says they will stop making the patterns (too) big compared to the size chart. Great, it's good when you can choose your pattern based on a size chart and know the patterns have realistic ease compared to the style of the garment and you don't have to choose a size (or two) smaller because you know the patterns of the company are always bigger than expected.

But why, WHY are there only 3 hip circumferences for the jacket pattern? Knip modes' size range includes all sizes from 34 to 56. Yet there are only 3 hip lines on the patternsheet, one for sizes 34-38, one for 40-46 and one for sizes 48-56.
That means that someone with a hip measurement of 102 centimeters (size 40), will end up with a garment that will fit someone with a hip measurement of 114 centimeters (size 46) as well. That's 12 centimeters of extra ease. In the size range 48-56 it's even 24 centimeters!

Below is a photo of one of the pattern pieces where you can clearly see the lines for the 3 groups of sizes. It's the same for all pattern pieces in the hip area. In the shoulder/bust area there are individual lines per size. The fit in that area is better, but it all ends with a waist/hip pattern in 3 sizes.

Last point of attention is that size 40 is probably not in the right group. On other pattern pieces the size 40 line ends up in the line for sizes 34-38.

Enough said, I think I will call it a day on this jacket pattern and will not buy Knip Mode for a long while. I will make a photo of the muslin in its present state, even if it's just for the record.

How fast do you sew?

The new issue of Knip mode has a pattern for a jacket that has my name written on it. One of my sewing friends posted the technical drawing in our whatsapp group yesterday and I bought the issue the same day when doing my grocery shopping. The fabric it's made of isn't showing it very well and on the model it looks a bit shapeless, but I love these lines.

It has an intriguing description: an outstanding jacket with special design lines. It needs advanced sewing skills and at least an afternoon of sewing.



In which world is this ever "an afternoon of sewing"????? Tracing and cutting will take up that afternoon (at least!). Putting it together, topstitching, single welt pockets, hook and eye closures, collar with stand.....

I'm planning to make a muslin this time, as Knip Mode has changed its sizing and now claims to be drafting to the size chart more exactly. Read: not as much ease as there used to be.
If it works out as I hope I will probably use zippers for the center front closing and pockets. I'll use a different type of fabric too.

Random projects

This post contains pictures of a few projects I made in the past months. I didn't take notes of any details, so present them with their line drawing and only minor details.

StyleArc - Sadie top
I've made this before and made a verwion for myself and one for my daughter (the striped version).


   












Vogue 8972, also a dress I made before in plain linen fabric. This time around I made it in a print, but as not to lose the design lines, I used piping at the waistline, the neckline and the armholes. Definitely a more formal dress. Made from cotton with a touch of lycra, very comfortable to wear. One of my favorites at the moment when I need a formal dress.

This is from the July 2019 issue of Knip mode, pattern no 11. The pattern has a center front seam, but I cut it on the fold.

A trial run as the fabric was a bit brighter than I thought (online fabric shopping has its surprises). It's a nice top and I made it in plain white too.

Finished project - coat

Think that I said it already: I have quite a few projects that never have been published on this blog. Sometimes this bothers me, as my blog is also a personal story of my sewing journey. When I see blog posts that I have written, say 8-10 years ago it sometimes strikes me that I have forgotten about a project or see a project that was loved, but worn out in the meantime. I like this keeping track of my projects, so I decided to try to publish more of my projects, even if it's something that it's not very interesting to others.
In this post photos of my coat, of which I published construction photos here and some random photos of a few projects made in the past few months.

Knip mode dress–October 2017

There is a reason my jacket is not finished yet. I’m too easily distracted sometimes. I’ve been sewing dresses. One of them is a dress from the Knip Mode October issue.

A relatively easy dress to sew. The back darts of the line drawing are not in the pattern. My full review is on Patternreview.

In different light the colour looks almost purple on my screen. It’s a warm, dark red in real life.
In these pictures you see that the pleats of the skirt are done first, then the bodice is attached and the pleats of the bodice partially cover the waist seam.

Sewing, not blogging

It’s been a few weeks again. I’ve been sewing, but have not taken the time to write blog posts. Apart from time, it has also to do with a feeling that there’s nothing new to tell. I’m sewing basic things, some I’ve sewn often before. Like this blouse:

The pattern is from Ottobre, with a few changes for fit (mainly hip area). Over the years I’ve sewn several variations, from plain white (always useful) to very colourful ones, like this new one. I bought the fabric recently and it’s a lovely quality cotton. A lot like Liberty cotton, but Liberty prints aren’t my style. I liked this fabric because of the irregular print and the many colours. A lot of combinations are possible. A teal skirt in exact the right shade is on my to do list. A summer top that’s a nice variation from my default black/white theme.

Which brings me to the next top, made from a viscose (rayon) fabric that’s been in my closet for a while.

This is the Knip Mode pattern (April 2017 issue) that I showed in my previous post. Nice result though the neckline is a bit wide on my narrow shoulders. I’m pleased with the look of the darts in the neckline. I will probably wear this top quite a bit during summer but will not use it for the silk fabric that I considered using with this pattern. It’s a quick make with no surprises. The neckline has a wide facing, which is easier to sew than a strip of bias binding.

There are a few other garments “in production”. More on those later.

Knip mode dress

The last of the three unfinished objects is a dress I started in the last week of December. In the same spirit as the Burda challenge Marianne from Foxgloves and Thimbles started a Knip Mode challenge to sew more from her Knip mode magazines. I don’t have as many of those as I have of Burda magazines, having had a sort of love/hate relation with the magazine. I loved them around 2009/2010 when they had some really good and original designs. Since then I’ve occassionally bought the magazine as mostly their styles did not attract my attention but I must say they are improving. I must even confess that browsing through the issues I have there are quite a few patterns I want to try and I took up the challenge (again without fixed rules) and will try to sew at least 6 items from other magazines than Burda.

This dress is not very original, but it suited me for the fabric I had. It’s a mix-and-match pattern with several skirt and collar/neckline variations. I used a different skirt variation then the one in the line drawing.

After washing this fabric it was not as beautiful as it was on the bolt and I left it in my closet for quite a while. Rummaging through my fabrics I saw it and thought it was a shame not to use it after all. It was pretty straightforward sewing, no surprises. I used a size 38 for the back neckline and 42 at bust level. It’s easy to merge between sizes and a “fba” like this mostly works for me in a knit like this.

I did sew a zipper in the side seam, as I was afraid I could not get into the dress, the waist having no extra width.

I like the top part of the dress, but not so sure on the skirt. I shortened it because the original length was way too long and made it matronly. Shorter is definitely better, but perhaps a pencil skirt style is better on me.

Knip mode top and Vogue pants

Black is always a very hard color to photograph. Seeing the pictures from yesterday on my blog in daylight, they even are more black than I saw them in artificial light.

Today a photo from me wearing the top, which always gives a better indication about fit and style than a dress-form photo. It helps I have a tripod and remote control now. Still need a bit of practice using that.

 

The colors are very much lightened so you can see the pleats of the neckline. This top has so many layers that I advice a very thin knit for it, otherwise you will have problems sewing the shoulder seams. This consists of 5 layers of fabric (double layer collar with gathers!, front, front facing and back shoulder). Knip mode is a magazine like BurdaStyle with sheets where you trace the pattern from. In this case very difficult as there are many lines for all the sizes included and two pattern pieces were in the same area as well. I think the pdf pattern would be useful in this case, instead of tracing it. Knip mode has extra instructions (in Dutch) on their website. Reading them the first time it seemed clear as mud, but when actually doing it with the pattern pieces it worked fine. For the (Dutch) readers: an asterix * is missing on the pattern that is referred to in the instructions, but if you got that far you’ll probably see how it’s done.

The trousers are Vogue 1417, for which I wrote a blog post on the great draft and instructions for the pockets. This pattern had some great design lines. Not so sure about the style on me, too narrow at ankle height.

 

Two posts in a day…

This one with a preview of a Knip Mode pattern from their latest issue, June 2016. Intriguing neckline, sure to catch my eye and immediate desire to make it.

 

Intrigued by a skirt

This February the Dutch magazine Knip Mode had a skirt in the pattern collection that I was immediately attracted to.

There's only one version in the magazine, hemming is not very well done and as so often there is a difference in the line drawing and the actual pattern. In the line drawing the design lines of the front are straight, in the actual pattern these lines are curved, as can be seen in the photo. I prefer the straight lines.



I traced the pattern in the size based on my hip measurements. When I checked the circumference I was a little shocked to see so much "negative ease" there was. The skirt is intended to be made from a fabric with stretch, but it would be a lot of stretch for me and my hips are wide enough without stretching fabric over them.
So: back to the drawing board, literally (almost, it was the floor, looking forward to a bit more space).

My creative space, a mess! Original pattern pieces, my skirt block with lines drawn into it. The worst part is not captured in the photo ;).

I plan to make this skirt from a fabric with almost no stretch. The instructions in Knip Mode indicate no zipper because of the fabric with stretch they used.  Even if I would have used that kind of fabric it would not do for me, the difference between hip and waist measurement is too big. So I will add a center back seam and incorporate a zipper. 

I use my skirt block in combination with the original pattern to get a pattern based on my measurements. Not very straightforward, there are still a few decisions to be made in the distribution of the darts but that's for tomorrow. 

I'm not sure whether I'll succeed and whether the style will suit me,  I'm in an experimenting mood. 

Knip mode dress – quick muslin

The dress got priority and tonight I’ve sewn a quick muslin of the top part. It isn’t that difficult, just a lot of pleats to fold before stitching the shoulder seams. As long as you mark all notches carefully, this is easy. I made this in a little over an hour (cutting and sewing).
But…. again I think they didn’t try the pattern before publishing. The right shoulder is ok. It will be difficult to sew the facing  and I would have constructed it a bit different, and will do that when I sew it in fashion fabric. The left shoulder is not good.  In the photo of our queen wearing the dress you can see that the left shoulder is a bit upright, but moves down again in the back.

I found this picture too, where the left shoulder is folded over.
  
Knip Mode’s version: very high and the edge of the  facing (which of course is not added to this muslin) would be visible and there’s not enough room for folding.
 
My enthousiasm for the pattern has gone a bit. I like the right shoulder but would have to redraft the left shoulder part and the neckline. What do you think? Should this be a “normal” shoulder with perhaps one or two pleats. Would it make it more wearable? I know I have to add some space to the body, it’s too tight and the armholes have seam allowances that I did not cut off. With this result it will definitely not be ready before Easter.

My head is spinning

Having bought so many new fabrics in the past months, especially in the past month and having met with sewing friends my head is now spinning with ideas/garments to sew. I just don’t know what to start with. Do you know that feeling? There’s a knit top, a knock-off skirt, another blouse, a bra set all fighting for priority but the next thing will probably be another dress.

In my drafting/sewing lessons I drafted a shirt after a Marfy pattern and it looks I’m getting there with the fit far more easily than before.

A peek of what I’m working at. The lines in the front are even, just not properly done at the dressform.

 

Yesterday I bought the May issue of Knip Mode, which was an issue to give me a lot of inspiration again, especially a dress I must make.

This will most probably be my next dress, the pattern is traced, fabric decided upon. I will compare the pattern pieces with my draft (as much as I can, they are complicated pattern pieces). I might even try to sew it before Easter. I’ll need a quick mock-up for the top. It’s one of the patterns that is inspired by the dresses our (new) queen wears, showing photos of her rather then of the dress sewn up. This always makes me wonder whether the pattern has been tried by Knip Mode themselves. They had some patterns like that in the past that were not very correct. Only one way to find out…. make it.