Flower Blouse

The Pattern:

All good things come at least three times... Yeah I am too lazy to trace new patterns - so reused the same pattern as for the Wallpaper Dress und Psycho wave blouse... The good thing about reusing patterns is that you get better and better in sewing them. You kind of learn from your mistakes... Mostly. I did a better collar indeed, but the extremely curved hem got wonky. What I changed is that I omitted the waist elastic and used pleats instead. The pattern had also too wide shoulders for me.


The Fabric:

Here is the post about it, when I purchased it.


The Blouse:

I have a feeling it got a bit of a Dynasty or Dallas style to it. And I somehow love it... I like the contuinity of the print that cannot be distorted through the pattern.






Funny Backstage Fact:

I somehow look stoned it this pictures - there is an easy explaination about it. I put the camera on the TV. And on the the TV was running a crime serie and I was watching it while I was making the photos. That is maybe a good visual about the effect of watching on humans...

The Details

I made the images before I put in the labels... I love them! I have so much fun putting them in.

The Porcelain Blouse:


Double placket.


Pleated and rounded collar. Otherwise the same as the pattern.




The side elastic on the outside.


The fabric... I love the outlines the most. It is such a silky, shiny cotton too...



The Flower Blouse:


These are more of a preview.


The pleats instead of the elastic.


The back. Ivory topstitching.



Cuffs.


Collar, front joke and shoulders.



Rounded hem.


PS. Thank you all for the award - I will check it out as soon as I have some spare time - it could be the weekend though...

Porcelain Blouse

The Pattern:

All good things are done at least twice... Is the same pattern as the Owl Blouse.


The Changes:

The only change I did is a but different collar ( I will post details soon) and the wider belt.


The Fabric:

Again an old favourite being sewn at last. Here you can see it - the black one follows in the next post. I must say they are almost an year old!!!

The Blouse:

The owl blouse

The pattern:



The pattern is from BWOF 6/2008. The blouse is explained in a step by step technical drawings tutorial in the magazine itself.
A pretty unusual blouse pattern - the sleeves are actually a extension of the yoke. It has a double placket - my first time making one and it was surprisingly easy. The good thing about those is that you don't have to bother about finding the right buttons, since one doesn't see them. I like the solution, since I sometimes have blouses that I think will look better without buttons.
I made two changes - a shorter belt and I gathered the sides using pieces of elastic after I sewed them instead of gathering and sewing together.
The Fabric:

It is a 100% swiss cotton. Remember when I bought it?

The Time Investment:
I needed like 30 min tracing, 30 min cutting the fabric. Then it was around 6 hours sewing on two separate days. Very straight foward project.

The Blouse:







Details:







I used different technique to attach the collar stand to the bodice. It paid off looking a lot cleaner than the one I used till now - the one that BWOF is picturing in their step by step tutorial too.
You can look up the new technique there -Part 1 and Part2 on the Behind The Seams blog.

Wearing the coat

So I didn't found anybody to make the photos on the outside this weekend - to be honest I didn't search...
So I made them inside.

Open Collar:


Hood:


High closed Collar:







Back:

Here are the problems starting and I see them in the photos more than in the real life. First the darts are making a bit weird silhouette in some positions.



Than the real thing - I displaced the darts a bit to get white/white rows together. And I thought it is not that obvious as it actually is. Now I am in a dilemma - do I redo the dart and have a white/white and black/black double rows or I live it like this...




The lining:

A single peek at the ugly lining. The sleeves are made out of a thinner fabric to reduce bulk.



The fabric:

I bought the fabric on ebay. I paid 12 euro for 2,5 meter without the postal cost. The ebay shop adress - it is on german, but they surely ship internation if it pays off for you. The fabrics they offer are changing the whole time.

At last a coat!

My coat is done at last! And thanks god it is still winter - It would have been mighty stupid to get it done in spring, since I opted for a very thick padded lining.
Winters in Berlin are quite cold, you know. We had an extraordinary cold weather last week. It have been like -22 C in the night and -12 C office lunchtime temperature. So like in a kindergarten in office everybody is being sick for weeks and it being the infectious nest it is , I got sick this week too. So the whole story to explain why the lining is a bit ugly - I sewed it in anyway, but my concentration skills were running low.
So I guess I wont be showing a lot of detail on it.
The pattern for the coat is from the BWOF 10/2008 :


I liked the rounded shoulder panel a lot. But I had to do some major changes . The pattern is a bit boxy for me, the worst being the sleeves. They are too wide and make you look as if you are wearing your grandpa's old coat. Which is OK if you refashion it. Which I did.
So I took a lot in at the shoulder panel and at the sleeves. I added some darts at the waist for more fitted look and I didn't have that much time to bother with the pockets so I made the in the side seam. It wouldn't have worked with the darts any other way.
I also made the coat longer for a larger cold protection area. A detachable hood came with the same purpose.

So first some flat lying photos. I will try to make some outside images of me wearing it on the weekend to get some foggy atmosphere.

Woven Labels

I am so happy - I managed to order some labels for my self-made clothing!
It is quite fun to have them. I wrote "ceregana!" there cause this is mostly my user name at all possible applications and I just couldn't think of anything else. It was a bit like when you are being asked to say something in your mother tongue and you cannot bring out a word...
Off course later I noticed that my blog is actually called sewable...






The labels have a glue film, so you can just iron them on. I ordered them there. It was extremely easy - just fill in the text and there you go.

Update: Sorry, I know the website is in german...
It is just easier and cheaper for me to order in Germany- check this one http://www.namensbaender.de/ they have english too. But I just googled woven labels - stoff etiketten - and found it. I am sure that will be possible in almost every country.

Square skirt the actual piece

So here it comes the skirt I actually sewed using the pattern I explained in the previous post. It is a comfy no-thought skirt that I wear all the time. I need to sew more of this daily wearable skirts, but I made it with a bit of twist this time just to get some variation. Don't have to run around with a clones of my clothes, only in a different colour.









Here again the corner hem if I you didn't get it from mine somehow not that precise explanation...




I think I will dedicate this month on a very easy quick pieces, since I don't have a lot of time and concentration skills right now anyway. Next project will be a easy elastic waist pant, that still looks chic enough. Than some cardigans.
Talking about cardigans I must say here that Burdastyle announced that they are not going to have free patterns anymore and start selling them all, even older ones. I stopped downloading their stuff long time ago - just cause I have my Burda subscription and they have same or similar patterns, cheaper and quicker for me (all the printing is boring and I don't have a printer at home right now). I understand their need to make cash, but I think they solved it in a rather rude way, changing policy without a notice in a day and than explaining it was always the plan. If it was always the plan, they should have said so beforehand. It would have been something different then.
Saying that I am not quite sure that if I draft a full pattern in the future, I will publish it there. Maybe I should find a way to do it on the blog, since I had problems with the fact that through publishing it on Burdastyle page, they gain the exclusive rights on the pattern. They always have been very nice, but I am left with the feeling there is some transparency missing.

Square skirt pattern

I am turning into weekend sewer/ blogger. This first week of the year was a very busy one - I had to finish a concept presentation for Friday and worked some extra hours. I tried to sew a bit on Tuesday or more to cut out the coat lining. It ended in me cutting 3 pieces wrong. On Wednesday I just used my 2 hours before sleeping to work on a panty pattern/muslin. It turned out to be a quick and relaxing project emptying pleasently my head just the right way (Almost equal to nice cold bottle of beer. But only almost!). I will work on this pattern and make a how-to on the blog. It is easier than I thought and I am excited about this.
I thought that I haven't posted a pattern tutorial in a long time, so I made an easy one on a skirt I did during the holidays. Hope you enjoy it!
As always click on the images to get them larger.










I will post the skirt itself next!

Happy New Year!

... and Merry Christmas very very late... I wish you all a very healthy and lucky 2009!

I haven't posted for while, having a lot to do at work and coming home too tired to post. Even too tired to sew a lot. I still started on a warm winter coat!
But first I got myself a new sewing machine for Christmas - it is a great improvement to my old, with all its small problems connected machine. I bought it by Amazon and they had a major price reduction.


I love it, cause it makes everything a lot easier - it even has a start/stop button allowing to sew some long straight and boring or just decorative stitches without the pedal. It has 91 stiches and 5 one step buttonholes. I always hated doing the 4-step ones, and my older machine made them awful.





On the sewing front I've done one blouse with the new machine. It is not perfect but OKish for the first try:







And the coat just needs lining:

Kind of wallpaperish...

I just know that when Matthieu sees this dress, he will say it looks like a wallpaper... And then diplomacy will win once again and he will add that we just have different taste...
I even had some fun imagining that conversation.
I know the print is a bit weird, but I somehow love it. The navy and red combination is great and the graphic flowers are nicely abstract. The fabric is a blend - 32% silk and 68% cotton. Very soft and it has a bit of a silk sheen.
The same pattern as the psycho wave blouse, just lengthen it a bit.
I did better work on the collar this time (I cut it after I've sewn the bodice. As most of the time expected with me I had to lengthen the collar pieces, since the neckline has gotten longer...).



I used flat felled seams again, topstitching with a red thread.



I can only recommend this pattern - it is easy and quick. I made the dress in like 3 days/3 hours sessions. It is still comfortable and not too tight, but in the same time give the impression of a well fitted garment.


The next photo is funny - I stand so stiff with an empty stance and the dress has a slight retro feel, the result being a bit messy Stepford wife...







I have a new strategy. When I am watching a movie I just use the time to trace and cut out patterns. Then I store them for better times...

Psycho wave

The finished blouse on me. I think I put the elastic a bit higher that the waist and also made it a bit tight. But actually it doesn't matter that much. It is an easy and quick pattern, the only difficult part being the collar. But if you are collar profis I guess it is a piece of cake.
My new bug is making the buttonholes few weeks later...






And it looks nice.

Psycho wave details

First the solution of my dumbness:


I had to cut the felted seam out ( the fabric wouldn't bear all the tearing and unstitching) and then I had to cut some length on the other side too. So the pattern is a bit different because of that, but I doesn't seem to have a great effect on it anyway.

The pattern is the Burda 09/2008 Nr. 126 B. All in all I will say it is an easy going pretty quick pattern. I found it refreshing after the whole dress puzzle with a lot of pieces and plaid matching to make something quicker. It is also flattering and easy to fit wit the elastic. It will make a great shirt dress too.

I used flat felled seams (thanks Dalila!) everywhere and it is really a very clean inside:



And outside:



Certainly they are not perfect - there are a few wonky spots, but I am still happy with them.

What I really messed up is the button placket - in the original Burda pattern it is a complicated thing that is somehow folded backwards. To be honest I wasn't that much into it and thought it is unnecessary work so I didn't even tried to get it...
So what it happened at the end I made the placket just as I always do, but forget to check with the collar width. Consequence - the neckline opening was longer. OK. Next solution - put a small piece of fabric at the extra length and improvise with the collar ending ( Anyway I am always screwing up collars with stand when it comes to attach them to the bodice. Any good online tutorial on that?). OK. Next consequence:



Ugly...

Not sure how they are sewing the cuff in the original modell. I just opted for my standard procedure ( scroll down with the dot com dress and you'll find the tutorial) - iron a bias tape and sew it on. Then I just sewn on the cuffs. Easy.

Inside:


Outside:




The elastic is done the same way as with the Coat Elisabeth project. Self fabric stripes are being stitched on and then the elastic is fixed at both ends.

Inside:


Outside:


The hem was easy this time - thanks god it is a straight one. I just rolled it and ironed it flat. Next thing I did different as usual is that I fixed it from the inside. Same with the placket. Mostly I hate the fact that on the right side I looks fine but on the inside the seam is to much in or out... Stitching from the inside helps...



The blouse on the outside. I will post next time some images wearing it.

Zig Zag Plaid

I bought this plaid last time in Kassel. It is not my favourite colours, but it is growing on me more and more...
I had 2 meters of fabric and I wanted to make a shirt dress. Having more then enough fabric I thought I should play more with the plaid than I usually do. So I decided to fit the pattern diagonally.
Emamanuance asked me how I fit the plaid pattern - I will make a small tutorial on my way doing it. Patience is significant part of it...
It will probably take some time, since I should find some fabric to do that.

The small pleats at the neckline are fabric tubes that are pleated, ironed flat and fixed with one stitch each, which hidden underneath the next pleat. The neckline itself is being faced and interfaced...



I used the JJ shirt pattern of burdastyle as a starting block for the bodice and took the original sleeves. To lengthen them I cut a rectangular fabric piece and made a tube. The end of the tube is finished with elastic. The upper end is cut a bit curved - since the original JJ sleeve is curved too. That was it.



The skirt I just drafted in a very easy manner using my measurments...



I finished the hem using a self fabric bias tape. I hate curved hems - mostly I am messing them up, so I took a different direction this time.








Answer update: Hey Melissa, yeah the sleeves are nice but beware how much you take in at the side pleat... I make them a bit to narrow there and when I lift my hands too much the seam is cutting in my arm... I think maybe putting an elastic there will be more suitable.

How dumb can one be?

... and this are felted seams...