A few more projects to share - slowly catching up.

Once again, it has been too long in between blog posts. I have returned to full-time work - but it is a little less crazy than at the start of the year so I think I am keeping my sanity. Sewing helps with this, but I am not the type of person to sew when I am busy.

This dress is my latest version of the Skater style dress (but using a pattern that I had in the stash). The pattern is Kwik Sew 3472. I ended up tracing a new pattern after sewing my last dress because the last dress was basically hacked there were many adjustments I needed to make. I traced a smaller sized bodice, reduced the length of the bodice and lower hem by 5cm each and my my regular sloping shoulders adjustment.

The fabric is a crinkle knit that I bought at a designer fabric sale last year. The neckline looks crooked because the crinkle unfolds after you cut it and the hem in raw because I needed to cut it straight. When I took pictures, the hemline is not so bad after all, the neckline I can live with. I had to make a knit slip to wear under this as it is a little on the sheer side. I used the pattern pieces as a guide and kind of winged it and it worked out. The edges are finished with picot elastic.

Next up are black wool pants. A bought this great herringbone weave black wool at my local Bargain Box store for a song. The pattern is from a Burda Easy Fashion magazine. I made adjustments years ago before having a pants block done and made some in a navy/black wool. They are always so comfortable and hang nice so I thought I would make it up again, even though I have the same pattern traced up and adjusted with the pants block. Somehow my adjustments work better.

I know skinny pants are the thing, but I just love the cut of bootleg pants.

Just chucking this picture in here, because I use this blog and refer to previous makes when I am sewing new things. I bought this sweater knit fabric at the designer fabric sale last year and it is lovely. However, it is very much like a hand knit and just horrible to cut up and sew. I had to overlock all the edges before I sewed them together. There was distortion and the whole thing just annoyed me. On top of it, the neckline became super stretchy and the cuffs where lumpy. 

I made this months ago and the other week I decided to give it a shot and wear it to work. It is actually quite snuggly and the neckline eventually stretches out at the back as well as the front so it doesn't look as bad as when you first put it on. There is no way I am refashioning it due to its unstableness, but I will be worn at least around the house. The patterns is Kwik Sew 2874 version A with version C neckline.

Lastly we have the outfit I entered in the local show in May. There was a casual wear category this year, right up my ally, so I made a tee and some jeans.

The t-shirt is Burda's gathered sleeve raglan from issue 2/13 (# 127), which I have made before. The jeans are Jalie of course, I think this is my fifth version of the pattern. Like last year's pair, I straightened the leg seam.

I really like the cut of the Burda shirt. I did have another top that I planned to enter in with the jeans which had seam details the went with the semi-circle topstitching, but it did not sit well on my body.

I spent ages topstiching with my old Princess machine, which inspired my Mother's Day gift of a Singer 99 with hand crank.

I still have a pair of pants, a dress and three tops to photograph at least. No doubt they will make it onto the blog at some stage in the future. Thanks for reading.

Blue burda pants

Wednesday was my only free day this week and I made full use of being at home to sew these pants. The pattern is the pants pattern from the 1/2009 edition of Burda Easy Fashion magazine. 

I was inspired to sew these blue pants after seeing a pair of green pants on the Mod Cloth website. Seeing as my Winter staple consists of grey and black pants, these blue ones are quite a leap forward for me. I think they will be fun to wear on a bleak Winter’s morning.

I used the pants block drafted by Steph  to alter the pattern. The alterations are so easy to do and the fit makes the pants fit spot on. I am not sure if I overdid the crotch by scooping it out some more but the fit is very comfortable and I like what I see when I look in the mirror.

I have also taken inspiration from the Colette blog  (Are your clothes made to last, How to sew a blind hem ). I blind hemmed my pants as per usual but I turned the hem under for a cleaner finish. Normally I have my overlocking showing inside. When I was sewing the pants, I also was extra mindful about finishing it as well as I could to ensure long life and staying power in my wardrobe.

This is the last weekend of my holidays. I want to work on making an outfit for the boy for a costume party coming up. And I want to dye some silk knit fabric. I have to spend some time thinking about what else I could make in the next few weeks. That is one of my favourite things to do.

Can't have enough pants - my cheater moment

I have been wanting to try these pants for some time. I have made the pattern up as shorts (well, long shorts) but not the full length with the flare. I love my flares. These pants have been muslined and adjusted (shifted the back legs towards the centre a la Sew-4-Fun, added length to side seams). It seemed to make a real difference at the muslin stage, but I can't see any real difference in the real thing - well, I will explain later.

Front view

 Back view

Everything was pretty much straight forward, apart from not having made pants like this for a while and stretching my brain on the waistband/fly front/pocket order and treatment. The faced yoke is a little more tricky when it comes to inserting the fly than a regular waistband - I would prefer to sew the waistband onto the pants as a whole but you need to sew it on to the front and then back and then sew the side seams later, because of the pockets.

Now, have a look at the problem I have been trying to remedy. The diagonal lines under my butt. Blah.

                                     

Well, I can correct the problem without changing the pattern I have found - I just stick my butt out a little bit. Just a little. I tend to stand with my hips tilted forward which creates all sorts of wrinkles. I am still trying to figure out if I am cheating (and just need to learn to stand a different way) because I can't seem to get the wrinkles out any other way. Any opinions?

I love Burda because

1. One issue can have many fabulous patterns
2. I can easily morph two or three patterns together
3. They are drafted so well.

This dress is #109 from Burda 5/2010. Actually, the dress is also from 3/2009. I traced the 109 and then layed it over another tracing to get the flare that I wanted. I like swishy over hip hugging. I actually wanted the neckline from #140, a plus size, but at the timeI did not feel like grading down a few sizes, I just wanted to sew.

The fabric is a cotton stretch, which is a dream to sew. I used the facing that came with the pattern, since I think it is crazy to add a lining to a Summer dress. The fabric is surprisingly opaque.

I took in the strap seam an extra 1.5cm, I suppose to account for my sloping shoulders. But I did forget to take out under the arm to compensate before cutting and sewing on the facings, so I did just fudged it a bit and called it a day. When I tried it on, I had the whole horrible, stick-out thing happening at the back, but it mostly went away when I extended the dart an extra 1.5cm.

I have already traced another pattern but using #106 to get the square-ish neckline that I want. I think that will be a lot more flattering on me that this ultra wide neck. I do like the way the straps widen towards the top.

I traced Burda Easy Fashion (2009) #4 pants a while ago. I liked that they have a wide waistband with a little fly and button closures (rather than the fly all the way up). I am pretty sure I traced the size 40 (which is my hips size, not my waist, I figured I could take the waist in). I actually traced these off between lengths, for long shorts. No way would I ever wear shorts like that.

I used a stretch poly rayon bengaline. When I tried them on, I was really dismayed. They were pretty tight. The pockets sticked out, making me look wider. And they come right up to my natural waistline (which is high, I don't like them that high). I really wanted to chuck them, because I really thought that the sizing must be different for the Easy Fashions. It is not apparently, and when I layed it over my other pants patterns, it was the same. Maybe I have put on a little weight.

Now that they are finished, I realise it is a pretty good fit after all. And I like how the bottom of the leg starts to flare out.

I was ultra confused about the pockets, which extend out to the fly, and because it is all in German (and being to lazy to find another pattern with a similar pattern piece), I just slapped it together any which way.

My next pair of shorts is going to be from Jalie 2909 (or 2908, the stretch woven pants anyway, not the jeans). When I layed this pattern over the Jalie one(have misplaced my tracing, argh), they are a similar draft, but the Jalie has a narrower waistband and no pockets. I do like to have pockets (to shove pens in when I am at work) but maybe I will be able to add bound pockets to them, like a pair of Esprit capris that I have.