2010 projects

It’s been a very hectic December month (as with most of you I think) and tomorrow is already the last day of 2010. I’ve counted my projects and I made 28 garments. Still one jacket almost finished and not shown yet, which will make 29.
Half of the garments were tops, either woven or knit fabrics. Two major projects in a coat and very complicated jacket which took a lot of time.  On the other hand 3 or 4 very easy knit tops.
Plans for 2011… I’ll discuss them in my first posts of the new year, for now I leave you with the pie-chart and my very first slide-show of projects (hope it all works).

Have a wonderful last day of the year. I wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Skirt

Last weekend and week was very busy, with a lovely Sinterklaas day last Sunday. Kbenco, how nice that you made your children speculaas. We had that too, it really belongs to the tradition (as are chocolate letters and ‘banketstaaf’, a pastry with almond paste in it).
There was not time for sewing till last night and I finished my skirt (except for a button and buttonhole). It really fits well, but I think it’s a tadd too short for me. I’ll try to add pictures on me later and I’ll do a review with a bit more construction details. All in all it’s not a difficult skirt, the hem is gathered and attached to the shorter lining, creating a special hemline with a balloon (?) effect.
   
ETA: picture of me wearing the skirt. It would definitely have been better if it was longer.


I’m taking a break from blogging till the end of the year. It’s a very busy time and I feel that I need to take some rest. If I’m getting to some sewing I’ll show you results later.

I wish you all a very good holiday season!

A skirt

It’s been a long time since I’ve sewn a skirt. From my reviews I learn that the last one has been September 2009, over a year ago. I’m usually attracted to skirt patterns that have something special. This pattern is an example of a pattern I’m immediately attracted to, though I’m not sure whether the style will suit me. One thing I find dificult with skirts is to find something to wear with them.

I’m making this from a rtw skirt I bought last year. Lots of fabric that had to be draped, held together with two buttons and small belt. I never managed to drape it again as it was done in the shop, it always looked strange and  I never wore the skirt. But it had a lot of fabric in it, which I use now. It’s grey/blue in color with black (or very dark blue) dots. It’s not very difficult till now, the picture shows the detail that you see in the magazine picture too. Don’t think it will be finished this weekend, the Dutch have “Sinterklaas”, a local variety of Santa Claus, and I’ve some preparations to do for that. I wrote about that tradition in this post (3 years old, time flies!)

The pattern is again from the December Knip Mode, like the blue dress of two weeks ago.

Knip mode dress looks like Kwik Sew pattern

I just received an e-mail from Pattern Review. To my surprise I see a KwikSew pattern advertised which has a top that has the same collar as my Knip Mode dress.

It’s Kwik Sew 3826. So if you’re interested in making a similar dress, but can not buy Knip Mode easily, I think this is a great pattern to use.

Answers

Forgot to respond to a few comments that were given on the dress. Mary Nana remarked on the length Knip Mode drafts their patterns for a higher average length than Burda or the big 4. She is right, with 1.74 m I'm even 2 cm taller than the length they draw for. I never make length adaptions for Knip Mode patterns, which I do for Burda. Something to consider when you start working with their patterns. The Dutch in general are tall (together with the Scandinavians I think). I have two nieces who were about 1.85 m at the age of 14/15, not so uncommon here. My daughther with 1.68 is considered the "small one" of the family.

Jane M asked whether it would be possible to make this as a knit top. Yes, I think it wouldn't be difficult at all to change the pattern to a top, you will have a beautiful neckline that way.
And Lia asked why I didn't use a serger. That's because of all the layers that are in the front, I just felt my sewing machine could better cope with that, and I have more control with my sewing machine than with my serger.
ETA : And I even forgot to answer 1 question, thanks for reminding me lin3arossa. The fabric I used was viscose (rayon) jersey. Not too thick and with a lot of drape.

Finished garments

Thank you all for your lovely comments on my dress. I wore it this week and it’s so comfortable, and plan to wear it tomorrow again when going to a birthday party. As I already said, there were a few things almost finished before starting the dress and I did finish them all last weekend, but there was absolutely no time this week for taking pictures (or sewing for that matter). I did “sew” through reading blogs in between, always a nice break when you’re stuck at your computer whole day. Didn’t leave too many comments though, but I really love to read about sewing and the projects other bloggers share.
If you like vintage patterns: visit Denise’s blog for a chance to win a beautiful vintage pattern. In between her lovely patterns, she shows the sewing rooms of so other bloggers and professionals. Always nice to see those and get inspiration from. I haven’t sewn vintage patterns yet, still think I should try one at some time.
Enough said, some pictures of the blouses and pants I made. I might or might not do reviews, perhaps I rather do some sewing this weekend.
First one is the same patterns as the blouse with the special cuffs I made recently from the BurdaStyle February 2010 issue. Only this time with smaller collar and normal cuffs. DD had not too much patience with taking pictures and didn’t notice the strange fold before she took the first picture. It normally isn’t like this, I wore the blouse this week and it’s a pleasure to wear. 100% cotton in a good quality.
 


Next is the Patrones blouse. The only pattern I liked from the fiesta issue, and I traced it before I sent the issue to Elizabeth. It has some nice details, like the little piece at the shoulder and the pleats at the sleeve. The line drawing suggests pleats at the shoulder too, but that’s not the case. It’s a well drafted pattern, it went together smoothly. The cuffis are a bit too wide for my liking, and all the fabric of the pleats in the lower part of the sleeve might be a bit much. Time will tell, I didn’t wear this blouse yet, too early to tell.
 
 
Som detail pictures:
 
The a-symmetrical stripe could only be matched in the wider stripes.
Collar with stand was on both blouses done by Pam’s method.
 

To conclude: a pair of black wool pants. I’ve worn these for two days, so a little wearing-wrinkles. I’ve been trying to make a tnt pants pattern in the past few weeks, and I’m still not there. Apart from the wearing wrinkles there are still a few in the back that shouldn’t be there. I will be working on that issue again. I would like to thank my friend Nancy K for her help during my fitting experiments. I’ve sent her pictures of quite a few versions, and her opions and ideas have helped a lot. It seems that pants fitting is a continuous struggle. I’ve been working on this a few times before, and sometimes wonder if I ever will get it right.
 

December hasn't even started

and I finished a dress from the December issue of Knip Mode. In general I’m quite happy with it, the neckline is a bit deep and the collar tends to flip to the outside. Think I will open up the center front seam and pull the collar a little bit farther in. Doing this and keeping it together with pins helped a lot.

 

I like the drafting of the pattern, though I think there’s one marking point missing in the center front piece. Not a lot of trouble with my sewing experience, but could be difficult for others. I used a size 40 and only tapered down to 42 at hip height for the back pattern piece.

Melissa, who made the same dress last week, already noted that there are a lot of layers at center front. The fabric must not be too thick. I did not use my serger for the center front and neckline but used a zigzag stitch. The marking I missed was for where to start gathering at the center front piece. Pinning and basting everything together before sewing helped me in visualizing how this got together and  decide that the gathers all had to be below the pleated end of the collar (the part thats folded over), so that there would be no extra gathered layers of fabric at the point of the pleats.

I followed the detailed construction drawings, but changed (after unpicking) one step: the instructions tell you to sew upper front and skirt together and then sew the neckline and center front. I first finished the complete upper part (gathers, neckline and sewing center front), and my last step was sewing the upper part to the skirt part. I unpicked the seam I had already done for about 2 inches. For me this was easier to work.

Conclusion: I like the dress and I like Knip Mode better than BurdaStyle at the moment. Think I’ll start the new year with a subscription.