A Fabric Post...

A fabric post is always related to a perpetual popping of new projects in my head. And here and there is a moment of not knowing what to do with a fabric...
I am constantly wanting to make new things and mostly it is just not realistic in our 24 hours 7 days pro week world.
I was on a two weeks work related (a lot of work...) stay in Kassel. Believe it or not this small town has one of the coolest fabric stores around as I've mentioned before - Alfatex. They even had some Burda Magazine garments on display there for a few days, so I was able to look at how they are sewn up. Nice.
It was good I was too busy to go there more than twice in the time... But I still managed to spent money I didn't want to spent on some fabrics as a well-behaved addict.

First my main addiction - silk!
A snakes print Crepe de Chine - for a blouse I have exactly pictured in my mind.



Weird thing is I am not that wild about animal prints and in the same time I have a snake phobia. I don't really have a thing against snakes, I just tend to get panic attacks when I see them. Nothing to do about it - I always push myself into the terrarium in the zoo in a healing attempt, but haven't been successful yet...
So in a some unpredictable psychological twist I fell in love with this fabric and got almost obsessed with it...

A silver silk I grabbed in the last moment while paying for the fabric above...
I noticed afterwards that it has 7% elastan and stretches in one directions. That is just killing me - not because it is a bad thing. It just calls for a tight pattern. But tight and shiny...
I am envisioning a loose shirt and I have a bad feeling the whole time not being up to its elastic potential...


A orange dotted Crepe de Chine silk I got for no money of ebay. I am going to use it for the Tessuti awards challenge so I am not going to tell you what it will be in its next reincarnation.



I actually wanted to buy some plaid and then again plaid, but was left with money for only one... It is a shirt tunic waiting to happen.



Another silver thing. Not sure I like the metallic stuff at all. It was kind as spontaneous getting this as the silver silk... It is a cotton silver jeans fabric. Will be making jeans out of it...


I am in need of comfy pants and this fabric was really cheap on sale - it is a cotton with 10% elastan - very stretchy and very thick, with a soft inside. It may be a bit stiff to sew but I will make some jeans out of it again. Love the colour - a cold greyish blue.



A cotton batist I got as a present for a friends birthday. It is more petrol.


Winter is coming, coat sewing too... My lovely wool plaid for a great winter coat - I have bought the fabric last year on ebay.



I almost finish the idea of the coat and should be starting on the pattern soon. I am planning it as a really slow pace project doing every step really carefully.

Current Projects

First is my attempt at some curtains. I must say somehow till now I always had some unorthodox curtain ideas... My last curtains were made of milky white latex. This time I got some organic cotton knit from ebay. I paid 6 eu for 20 meters so its fine.



Surprisingly it is a tube... When I cut it open it is enough but I have to buy some cotton tape to keep it from getting a tube again.



Maybe there will be some left for a blouse.
Next project is a coveted second Swing Dress. I find the other one so comfy and flattering I just have to make another this summer. And I left all my pattern blocks at Kassel... So I need something I can just measure up first. This is the fabric, it has definitely something retro-curtainisch, a viscose jersey:



And at the end - a new love of mine. I got this 1.50x1.00 meter 100% silk really cheap from ebay You can get some great silks there sometimes. Did you noticed the phenomenon, that most of the beautiful silks have awful old fashioned prints and is difficult to find a "cool" silk?
It said silk satin, but I will say it is more Crepe de Chine, no satin shine here. I just felt in love with the colours. The best thing still is the weirdness of the flowers - my science fiction, futuristic soul just adore their freakishness. They remind me of a cartoons of alien planets, I was watching as a kid.




The problem is I don't know what to sew out of it. A blouse definitely, but somehow it has to be special. The only idea I have is the usual shirtlike thing. But I don't really want that. Please, please give me some ideas and inspiration!
Funny backstage fact: Do you have an obsession with repeating numbers too?

I won! I won! I won!

I am a bit ecstatic right now! I am able to be drawn for a win... Never happened before.
I got this beautiful "Autumn Strokes" 100% Silk Crepe de Chine from Tessuti:




Colette was so kind to make a big giveaway and I proposed a nice wrap dress with a kimono style. Now since I get the fabric as a present I think I will give the pattern back to Colette as a present too and maybe she will publish it on the Tessuti blog. Kind of closing the circle. First sketch- it somehow looks more like a Caucasian thing mixed with a kimono now:





Congrats to all other winners! Christina I am eager to see what you do with your fabric!

Bye Bye Kassel fabrics

Hm leaving Kassel has some disadvantages... One is leaving Alfatex. I am so spoilt with this store. They have a permanent sales department too and I feel bad if I pay more than 1,99 eu/m for a fabric. Silks and cottons and knits and wools...
I guess I will always put my visits back so I can shop for some fabrics.
So here are the last Kassel bought samples (as always you can enlarge them to see all the glory):



A lost-chickens-in-a-conifer-forest fabric. A 100% cotton voile. Very soft and very yellow. Didn't know I like yellow, but somehow I am starting to appreciate it.
Look at the next one for a minute.



Feeling dizzy, ah? Did I said I start to appreciate yellow? This one is baptised psycho wave by me. It is a 100% cotton batiste.




Have a recent obsession with plaid. Love, love this one!

Next are some fabric I didn't remember I had and found in the wrong place after packing.

Got this one from a best friend when I was moving in this place - like 4 years ago. She thought it may fit to my furniture. I didn't even had sewing machine at this point, haven't sewn since my teens...




It is a stiff cotton. I kind of love it now. I have enough for a top I think (forget the furniture).
The next I bought 2 years ago and just didn't know what to do with it. Still don't. Maybe some family presents at the end...




The green is much stronger and more yellowisch. The red is more into orange than pink. It is 100% linen. The colours are extremely neon like. You won't be unseen even in a 1 km distance. Even if this has its advantages (heavy traffic and so) it kept on scaring me off...

A Flower Muslin Thing

My camera batteries are running low and I just forget to charge them the whole time. Silly me. So when I charge them I will make some better photos of the top. It was a medium quick sew - I will say it took like 3-4 hours with cutting, sewing and topstitching.
The pattern is still in works and is meant to become a dress. I won't tell you what fabric I have for the dress and what the skirt part will look like to keep the surprise. And in the same time I still have some project unfinished that I talked about like the bwofy ( it is 30 degree outside and I just can't finish the wool jacket... not that motivated there...). So this time I will talk after I finish.





To the problems - I feel that the sleeves should be maybe a bit shorter. I like the neckline but there is a real problem with it. It is gaping and I get this with every square neckline I make. I am not sure how to fix this problem. Any tips there?


P.S. Oona that is my Jonny fabric - silk chiffon with black flower dots. Not the same as yours but same concept. I want to make the lining green or blue so I don't look like a flower bride...

And again some fabric sharing...

First does anyone of you have the same problem with the blog as I do? Every time I try to open it in firefox it is telling me that the address is not right but still opens the site. Any idea how to kill this message?

So back to the post... I bought some fabric again, I know that just a few days ago I promised myself not to do it any more, but they had 20% off the whole week! And they have some very cheap remnants...
First a happy strike! Remember I wanted to do my 80s dress but was afraid the whole time I wouldn't have enough fabric - there way a miracle or something similar and I found a 2 meter remnant piece! Now I can play a bit more with the pattern. And it cost me 6 eu. It is a a silk cotton blend with a subtle sheen.
Photos are enlargeable once again.



Then two fabric at 1.99 (without the 20%!). They are 40% silk and 60% cotton and I think something like a voile. The first one is for my mum, cause I think it is totally something she will like.



Second is something I totally like. It will be reborn in a shirt dress, maybe with a 60s vibe.




In my mind a good old fashioned plaid is getting hip again. It needs only an unusual shirt pattern. It is 100% cotton and I got it for the same price as the above. I think even ruffles can work with this one.




And this is a 100% silk I got some weeks ago for 3 eu per meter. Not sure if I like it that much. It was just cheap and silk in the same time and I couldn't resist. It will make a good dress maybe. Any suggestions?




I must stop buying fabrics...

Update: Yes! It was the clock widget! I killed it so everything is OK!

Further Confessions of a Fabric Junkie

As you may have noticed on several occasions my name is Geri and I am a fabric addict. I just have to be in the same part of town as the fabric store and soon after I am finding myself with some yardage home and a blank period in my head...
Two days ago I promised myself I have to sew first all the stuff I have and today I woke up in a dear need of a blue viscose jersey...
So here are the weeks finds:
First - remember the colourful tetris flower fabric I made a T-shirt of? Found same in black and white. But it is not a knit - it is a stretch cotton this time! I think it could be a cute dress...




Still flower themed there is this cute knit which will be a top in a later reincarnation.




Another very soft viscose jersey meant for a T-shirt, but I think I have enough for a dress.




Pretty dotted cotton batiste - maybe similar blouse (maybe with a pussy bow instead of the ruffles) :




And here is the place to mention my personal manbitch (Matthieu). I was buying my blue viscose jersey when I just saw this fabric today. It was a real love - I loved the graphical flowers, loved the black yellow combination and the best thing about the fabric to me is the fact that the black is a lack print. I found that is really cool - like the cool in "coolness".
Then Matthieu came home after work and said to me (I didn't even asked him!) - "Oh what an awful fabric! Looks like a shower curtain!". Well I never!




I still love it though.

Black BWOFy

So this weekend I am starting a new project. It is getting kind of summery here but I still want to make a light wool jacket... Weird I know, but I think it can be very useful on chilly evenings so I am up to it!
The original version is this one.



It has been perfectly made and extremely helpfully explained by Tany. And there are some other great version1 and version2. Showing all these I must confess I am going to change the model - I tried to accept it, but this lampshade sleeve just didn't grow on me. And I am a bit dull in being afraid to get cold with shorter sleeves...
This is what I am making:



A bit boring indeed but the versatility is appealing to me. Or I need something more demure in my wardrobe for the moments I go for the unnoticeable yet chic casual way.
The fabric I am going to use is labelled a wool linen addressing the way it is woven. It's black:



It is soft and quite thin so I might not be too warm on the other side. Don't know what lining I will use. Lets live and see.

Update: Just got the idea to maybe funk it up with some piping. Don't know what colour or material though. Any suggestions?

Yet another update: 75% of the votes till now go for pink. Guys, sorry but I am not the pink kind of girl (yes, I know, I like it in graphics) but I actually own only one pinkish T-shirt and it is more fuchsia... And I wear a lot of black. So I am thinking maybe grey or even silver piping. Or even gold (I treasure gold for its kitschy potential). Maybe black lack piping but this can get cheesy...

Berlin The Second

On my last day in Kassel I bought 2 fabrics. I am not quite sure what I will do with them, but the thing is they are somehow not typical for me. I was somewhat sick and feverish and I was stressed with all the packing. So I am quite eager to see what I will make of these, cause they are kind of a lunatic buy.
The first one is quite cute Swiss cotton. I like the colours and the print - reminds me of three eyed owls with five fingers...



The second one is something I never buy - a print corduroy. I just don't like printed corduroys. But I got seduced by the grey red combination and the print. I know I will never make pants out of this fabric - I hope I will never do... I still have mixed feelings - sometimes my personal repulsion against printed corduroy (I like it on others though) breaks the surface and in the next moment I am lulled by the print and colours again. It will be an interesting project...
You should enlarge the images to see the print.


So today Berlin images are of the Karl Marx Allee - a huge street with huge buildings (very cool and hip apartments nowadays) previously in east Berlin. In the back you can see the TV tower on Alexander Platz (square). Is indeed only 10 minutes walk from here. Or biking - everybody owns a bike in Berlin.





And I promised to put Matthieus book shelf in this post - he just built it himself! The images from above are taken from his place in Berlin.

The pattern!

Coat Elisabeth Pattern

I drafted and uploaded the pattern at the end. Had to do a small battle with the print-at-home pdf. Till now I am winning but maybe it won't download or something and get its final revenge that way...
You must have a burdastyle account to download it, but the account is free anyway. They have a lot of other nice free patterns so that is great opportunity to join!
It is in my size - 36/38 in BWOF - I never graded something but here are some grading tutorials:

sleeves
bodice
lenghten
pants


Hm. There are no pants parts in this pattern, but I thought I may link it anyway. I think the principle is always the same.
A note to be made - the fit at the shoulder is so that you cannot wear a thick pullover underneath if you cut it in your measurements.
If you want to read all the posts on the coat - a sew along and instructions so to say - click the Coat Elisabeth tag on the right side.
In between I haven't done any sewing, cause I invested my sewing leisure time into the pattern preparation. But I managed to purchase some fabric and make a real bargain - even the selling lady was impressed. And that says something...
First a not-that-a-bargain-but-anyway-great fabric - it is a 100% wool linen. Never heard of this one before. It is called this way because of the weave art - the same as in linen. The fabric is very silky and smooth. It was on sale for 3.90 eu (19 eu before) and I will make high waisted wide legged pants out of it.




The real bargain was a luxurious men suit fabrics once in dark grey and once in anthracite for 1.99 the meter. It is 100% wool and drapes beautifully. I had to buy the whole pieces - they were remnants. I think I got like 3.20 of each. They will definitely become spring pants and maybe a jacket.





I love buying great fabrics on bargain.

I bought a ponge silk too (no idea what ponge silk is) but it looks like this and I will use it to underline the yellow dress.



Bye for now!

Dot Com

I didn't had the possibility to print my 80s dress pattern, so I started something else in the mean time to keep me busy. I decided to make a shirt dress. I will be keeping track on the progress, which will be a bit slow, cause I don't have a lot of time for sewing right now.
The fabric is a fine cotton with a great sheen to it. It was on sale for 3.90 eu and I got 1.50 m of it. I got some black thread and I used scraps for the interfacing.
Total Cost: 6.95
Again click on the images to enlarge them.



I used the same pattern as for my blouse, since it is already altered to fit me. But I cut it out again in order to position the pieces better on the fabric. And it is also nice to have this pattern separately - I can imagine to use it again and again. I drew a new collar too, but you will see it in the process.
The seam allowance is included in the pattern but I still cut it out larger, cause I wanted to finish it using french seams.
The cut pieces and the original pattern compared to the new one:



First step is preparing the pieces. In this case it means pressing and interfacing. I added middle weight fusible interfacing onto the collar stand pieces. Than I ironed a lightweight interfacing on the front placket and under collar pieces. I pressed all the pieces in the right form. This takes some time but spare a lot of nerves afterwards and it is easier to get the details neat:



So I started sewing by attaching the front placket to the middle front piece. First I pressed it the right way. The unpressed side is being attached to the front piece, stitched together and than pressed inwards into the placket. Then I ironed the placket into its final position - the fold of the placket is done in a way that the back part is a bit wider then the front. That is important for the fixture.




To fix it I am making a stitch on the right side of the garment just between the placket and the front piece.



Here is an image of the french seams finishing.




A good tutorial how to do it you can get here. The next step will be to sew the bodice together.