Sewing confessions : here are mine...

I just read Tasia's post about UFOs and thought : "Lucky me, I don't have any UFO yet!"...but then I thought twice and remembered Iactually had some UFOS, and even several projects which I had not yet even begun. Here's a list :


First of these projects was a 3/4 circle skirt which I wanted to make in a heavy sort of wool fabric. I started doing the maths for the pattern (self-drafted), bought the fabric (first time I ever regretted buying fabric, it was quite expensive (for me at least) and I took a hell of a lot of it, like 4m)...and then thought showing up to work in a huge skirt would be far too dramatic. So I did not even cut my fabric and left it at that.
Now, I don't hate 3/4 circle skirts. Nor do I hate the fabric I chose, a thick black fabric (have to check the components though)with a textured pattern that reminds me of the "wave" patterns in some Japanese designs.
However, on a scale of 1-10, the likelihood it's ever going to be made one day is 0. But nevermind, I'll find out someday how to use this fabric. A coat, maybe. When I'm not scared of attempting to make a coat anymore.

Second on my list, is Butterick's infamous Walkaway Dress. I had fallen in love with the pattern illustrations at my fabric store, and bought some fabric to make it - tiny cherries on an off-white background, but then I read the critics, on how the modernized version of the pattern didn't look like the illustration at all...so, another project that stopped even before it started.
I actually quite like this pattern and think it would be great if I could make it look as good as it does on the pattern envelope - and I even found a tutorial to reach that goal!
So, will it get finished someday? On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it a 5. I 'll probably make a Walkaway dress...but not in a near future.

Third : Colette Pattern's Madeleine bloomers. I wanted to use remnants from some old flannel PJs which started to fall apart, and make some sort of wearable muslin to begin with. Hacking off my pyjamas took ages...and when I lay the pattern on them, I found out I didn't even have enough fabric. Disappointment ensued.
I don't have any fabric suitable for this project right at that moment, but I really like the pattern and will most certainly make it someday. So I'll give it a 7.

4th and last : Sewaholic's Lonsdale dress, blogged about here! I planned to make it in a navy polkadot cotton fabric, and I dropped it as I had just made my 2nd bodice muslin. My holidays were coming to an end, I went back to work, the weather for summer dresses passed...and I put the Lonsdale on the UFO pile, to work on projects that were more suitable for winter.
But not for long - I definitely hope to finish it and wear it next summer as I love both the pattern and the fabric I chose. So it's going to be a 10 for the Lonsdale!

So, here's for my UFOs...what about yours?

From "blah" skirt to cool top

Remember this skirt I was talking about a while ago...?
This one :

Well, here's what it looks like now:

Although it probably does not qualify for the name 'crop top', it is still quite high waisted and looks better worn with accordingly high waisted bottoms.
I wore it to a jive dancing session last weekend, was perfectly comfortable and got lots of compliments about it. Needless to say I'm quite happy with it!

A birthday present in the making...mission complete!

Well, my boyfriend's birthday was almost a month ago...but fear not, he got his present on time! (well, almost : hardly a week late!)

the front...

...and the back...

The pattern, as previously mentioned, is Kwik Sew 3484, which, I repeat it, is true to its name. 
The buttons are wooden ones and I made handworked button holes (my man said he liked them better than machine-made ones!) following Charlotte's tutorial, which I highly recommend.
All in all it went quite smoothly, apart from the fact that I was quite puzzled by the tiny seam allowances : 6mm...hope this shirt is not going to rip apart all of a sudden!

Looking back on one year of sewing...Part 1

So, I can say now that I've been sewing for a year (a little bit more actually, since I actually started in August 2011). In order to - sort of - celebrate my "sewversary", I've decided to take a look at what I've made ever since. Now watch out, this is going to be a long, photo-heavy post (and the pictures are not really good, they were taken in haste, early in the morning, before going to work...sorry for that!) .

First, are these 2 circle skirts, which I made in Alexander Henry cotton, ordered without taking my measurements first...

 The waistband on the first (the pink tattoo one) is a bit saggy, which led me to do a very tight waistband for the second (with the Day of the Dead print), and the finishings are really rough - if you put aside the fact that I finished the hem with bias, as both skirts wouldn't have been long enough for my taste il I had made a proper hem. However, these skirts are nice and fun to wear, they have been on heavy rotation this summer and will be worn again.

My very first zipper...sigh...

A close-up on the tattoo print...

...and isn't this Day of the Deads print great?

After the skirts, was this top that I refashioned - originally a cowl/shawl neck top (I don't know the exact word to describe it), but as I have rather broad shoulders, it kept riding up in a way that annoyed me. 

So I cut up the "shawl" part at the back and prettied it up with some black lace. I quite like how it turned out and it looks great paired with the aforementioned Day of the Dead circle skirt, enhancing its Mexican vibe.








Then come this dress - made from Simplicity 7275. 

It took me 4 MONTHS to complete. Yup, that's it. From September to December 2011. Maybe not the best pattern choice for someone who has only sewn a couple of circle skirts before that. I mean, gathers, a zipper (my circle skirts both have zippers, but not that long!) and a lining? As if all that wasn't enough, I chose to make my life more complicated by making it in a plaid fabric.
I have to say, I had a hard time understanding how to insert the lining...and if I had to do it again I would choose another fabric (although the right accessories can minimize the somewhat dowdy look of this dress - I often wear it with a red bolero, pearls and skull cameo necklace, "zombie pin-up leg" brooch, red tights and fun shoes like my Miss LFire Land girl).
However, I like it and value it in spite of its flaws, so I'll keep wearing it until I get tired of it.)

Now on to the flaws...a gaping neckline...

...unwanted puckers here and there... 

...plaids that don't match, busted seams at the back slit which I will have to fix...And yet, this garment has taught me how to use a pattern and how to face some issues, and I think I will come back to this pattern sooner or later (I'll probably make a more summery version with a flared skirt). No need to say that the Crepe Dress, which I tackled after this one, seemed easy as pie to me.

Well now, I did think this post would be long, but it's actually longer than I thought. So I'll leave it there for the moment, stay tuned if you want to read about what I did after that!

XX

A possible refashion...

I bought this skirt from H&M, maybe 2 years ago. It's kind of nautical and rather comfy...but there's not much more to say about it, because it's a rather "meh" piece of clothing, not very vintagey, and it's made of a very stretchy jersey which, IMHO, is not the perfect fabric for a garment which can be submitted to being pulled. 

However, if you look at it upside down...

Am I the only one to see a possible batwing top in this upside-down skirt? Of course, it has yet to be cut and given a shape of some sorts - I don't know if I'll go for a cowl or bateau neckline, or what the sleeves can be made to look like - but I think there is some potential for a top here. Something that might look like this one or that one. And it would probably not be submitted to as much pulling and stretching as it was in its "skirt" form.

Maybe I'm going to tackle this...once I'm done with my boyfriend's shirt (I had to add one button hole and therefore it's missing a button. Duh.)

A birthday present in the making...

 There you go :

Yes, it is a Lonsdale bodice peeking out from under the shirt muslin. Yes, I'm not really any good at tidying and storing stuff away. But on the other hand, my muslin/fabric/scraps stash only consists of a big shopping bag which is already overloaded. And I have no room anywhere else in my flat.

For the first time in my life (if you except last Christmas when I made coin purses for all the ladies of my family), I am sewing for somebody else than me. The recipient of this gift is Carl, my boyfriend, who turns 27 at the end of this month! Happy birthday to him!
The pattern I'm using is Kwik Sew 3484, which has actually proven true to its name, in spite of the fact that life and being tired have somewhat been getting in the way of my sewing lately. I'll be making a mixture between views A and B of the pattern : I initially planned to make the whole shirt in the Tiki fabric that was left from my Lily (so view A), but as I haven't got enough of it left, I will only make the back, the pocket (from view A), and an inset on the front (see view B) in Tiki and the rest will be plain black cotton. And I found some nice wooden button for the closures.
The Mister has tried the muslin on and is happy with the fit...so I'd better get going if I want to have it all cut, sewn and ready to be offered by the end of the month!

A pledge to myself (and whoever cares to witness it)

Even though I started sewing a little more than one year ago now (more on that in a forecoming post), I still consider myself a beginner...but even so, when I find myself window-shopping in my spare time, I often say to myself : "Oh wait, with the right pattern and fabric, I could totally make that for the same price and even for less, and this would not involve people from far-away countries working their asses off and getting paid less than shit..." 
So there you go :

 "I, Juliette, do hereby swear, from this day henceforth, to try and make as much of my own clothing as I can..."

...that, for the moment, still excludes pants, outerwear, lingerie, knitted items and shoes, but hopefully this list wil get shorter and shorter as time goes by.

And that makes me think : sewing my own clothing is all very nice, but where does the fabric come from? How could I make sure that the fabric I'm using did not involve the work of underpaid and badly treated people? And make sure that this fabric remains affordable?

If anybody can give me ideas - apart from refashioning - to find fabrics that don't cost an arm and a leg and were made according to the respect of human conditions...I'm all ears!!

Spoonflower contest

I have recently discovered Spoonflower, this virtual place of temptation for us sewists who cannot often find our printhappiness at regular fabric stores...and, even more recently, have discovered that they were hosting a printed fabric contest on the theme of typewriters : 

Click to vote!

Being currently involved in a non profit organization (organizing car shows and rockabilly-themed events) as secretary, you can guess these designs caught my eye immediately. I could totally imagine some of these printed on cotton (that could be a basis for a great circle skirt!) or on silk or voile - which could totally be used, for example, to make a Sencha blouse...what do you think about it?

I'm back (from unproductive holidays)!

Hello everyone!
So, after a month of absence - which includes 3 weeks of well-deserved holidays - I am back. This all gave me time to rest, see friends, stay at my parent's for a while...but not to sew very much, I'm afraid. Mainly, because my dear Christine has been having a few more fits. I took her back where I bought her (they also repair the machines there) and was told there was something wrong with the pedal, which they very kindly swapped with one that worked without charging me anything.
Nevertheless, I managed to whip up a few things. First was this Sorbetto top (pattern for download here), which I made using an old linen tunic I didn't wear anymore. 

Front of the Sorbetto...

The sewing in itself was really quick...but first I had to rip apart all the seams of the old tunic. And that wasn't quick. After I finally succeeded in it, there came disappointment : even without doing the front pleat, it seemed like I wouldn't have enough fabric to make it. I was about to give up, when I realized - don't ask me why - that it would be (almost) OK if I turned it back to front. So I did. 

...and back (the buttons where initially at the front of the tunic). I still had to  taper the  seam allowance to about  5mm (1/4 of an inch) so I could sew all the way up to the armholes, but finally, I could do it!

I also wanted to have sleeves, so I had downloaded and printed Mena's sleeve pattern (available here)... but I lost it (and still haven't found it yet, which is kind of creepy because my flat is not so big). So I grabbed my faithful nonwoven interfacing and tried to draw a quick'n'dirty sleeve pattern of my own. It is by no means perfect, and I suck at setting sleeves in (mind you, it was my first try after all)...but the result, in my humble opinion, is wearable. 

Here's another project I tackled after the Sorbetto...You might have recognized Sewaholic's Lonsdale dress. After checking my measurements, I first thought I'd need a FBA...but it turns out I actually need...aargh...a large waist adjustment (or a good diet...but it might be quicker to just adjust the dress for the moment). I have made 2 muslins of the bodice so far and have yet to decide if I carry on (if I do, the final version will be made in a navy blue polka dot cotton lawn) or put it aside and try to complete it for next summer, because someone will have to a have his birthday present finished by the end of October (and I'm still waiting for the pattern).

Even on Betty, it looks too tight...

Finally, here's a last project : DIY saddle shoes. I know, these H&M sneakers don't look like saddle shoes at all...but they finally should if I succeed in following this tutorial. Besides, it will have been far less expensive than the actual thing. 

Here are my shoes, taped (not obvious because I used crystal-clear tape) and waiting to be painted.

Well, have a nice day everyone, and stay tuned for more news!

The Lily Diaries Part 5 - Aloha!

Well, actually it's been finished for more than one week now, the last of the catch-stitching having been done in the morning of Saturday July 21st, and it's been worn twice, but I could'nt get any pictures taken before last Sunday...

Anyhow, there you go !

In case it doesn't show, I'm quite happy with the result...

Invisible zipper? FAIL. "I don't have any teal invisible zippers, but if it's properly sewn in you'll only see the zipper tab!", man at my fabric store said. Well then, I guess it's not properly sewn (and the zipper hasn't been pressed after sewing, either, which might help making it less noticeable). Nevermind, I'll do better the next time.

I wanted to try and finish the seams properly but only half succeeded in it. Some of my seams are very...roughly finished, and some - front and back seams in the bodice - were bound with some bias trim, which, I think, gives more shape to my bodice. I also finished my hem with some catch-stitched lace trim, but have no pictures to show you (those I took yesterday evening were too dark, blurry and useless).

Well now, on to some "technical details" concerning the project and pattern : 

Pattern : Colette Patterns Lily.

Fabric : Alexander Henry’s "Tiki Island" 100% cotton fabric in blue, plus some off-white cotton voile underlining, black satin for the straps and flaps and nonwoven fusible interfacing.

Notions : invisible (ahem...) zipper.

Any difficulties ? None whatsoever, though I couldn't figure out at first how to put the neckine facing in place (I thought the straps would be sandwiched between the flap and the facing, and would therefore be in the way when it's time to flip the facing to the inside of the dress...but I finally understood how it had to be done and from this moment on it was OK). Oh, and some burnt fabric, but I'll be more cautious with my iron next time.

And it's not a difficulty, but the underlining process took quite a lot of time. I'm glad I did it all the same, as it gives a nice thickness to the fabric and makes it (or so it seems to me) almost not wrinkly at all.

As for the pattern, I tweaked it a little bit - made the bodice longer to fit my long torso (well, not so long, but longer than whoever this pattern was initially made for) and also lengthened the skirt so it falls below the knees for a more 50s look.

Wear again ? Hell yes! I think this dress is just awesome for week-ends and evenings out. Not to mention that it's pretty comfortable. The bodice is fitted, but not so much that I cannot breeze, and the skirt doesn't ride up as I walk, something that always annoys me. So, all in all, I'm very pleased with the fit.

Make again ? Most certainly. I think this pattern is very versatile and could be made in many fabrics to make it look more or less casual or dressy - I'd love to make a denim version, playing with the wrong and right side of the fabrics to make the flaps, putting in some copper buttons to make the flaps lie down, gold or red topstitching and - why not? - making a cuff to the skirt instead of a hem (inspired from this skirt)...
As far as difficulty is concerned, I'm a little puzzled by the "intermediate" label. Indeed, you'd best take your time while making your muslin and fitting this pattern, but once the fitting is done, the sewing part is really easy!

I also think this pattern could be "de-constructed", in a way, to make a kind of a playsuit set, with the bodice as a top, the Iris shorts, and a flared version of the skirt (with a waistband, and maybe a button-down skirt)... what would you think?

Have a nice day everyone!

Looking for the right pattern...

A little parenthesis in my Lily-themed posts...(but don't worry, the 5th and final part of the Lily Diaries should be online pretty soon!)
A while ago, I stumbled upon this picture while blog-reading (I don't know who was the original taker and owner of it, but I first saw it while reading Tami Lee's blog, Tami herself having taken it from ImageShack (here's the original link)) and have been looking for the right pattern to make the same dress, or at least something similar, ever since :

As I said, I don't know who took this picture, nor do I know who is featured in it, so, whoever you are, do feel free to claim the property of your picture!

I have no idea what the back of this dress looks like, but I think I'd like it to be a rather low, V-shaped neckline.
I think it could look particularly gorgeous in a Japanese fabric, like for example this one :

or these (sorry, I can't put the image for some reason, so you'll have to go and check the links) :
http://www.interiormall.com/cat/nsample.asp?ID=245859&t=932
http://www.interiormall.com/cat/nsample.asp?ID=245854&t=932

So...anyone got an idea about a pattern that could be used to make a dress like this one?


Thanks for your answers!


XX

The Lily Diaries Part 4 - All is rather quiet...

...on the sewing front. Actually, I did try to work on my dress this week, but got stopped by an ironing mishap.
On thursday evening, I had decided to cut my pocket and neckline flaps in advance so they would be ready when time comes to sew the whole dress together,and when the moment came to press, I was all, "why the f*** is this bloody iron leaking like that???" Frequent answer to this kind of question is, RTFM. So I did. Handbook said, "your iron might be leaking because it's not hot enough". OK then, let's heat it up, shall we?
Well, heating up did stop the leaking...but it also burned my fabric and left a huge stain on the sole plate of my iron. You could guess how disheartened I was when I saw that my neckline flap was useless due to the huge hole in it...so I went to bed, and that was all for this day.
The next day I reported my adventures on the CP Forum...and was lucky enough to get an answer from Helen, thanks to whom I shall be much more careful when using my iron in the future. Thank you again, Helen, for reminding me that the steam CAN be switched off.

Therefore, during the week-end, I hacked off the burnt part from my neckline flap and replaced it, and was able to press all my flaps nicely. I also started basting my underlinig on my fashion fabric, and understood that I had overestimated my abilily to get this dress finished over the week-end. It seemed to take me AGES, and it's not even over yet - but probably because, a) I'm doing it for the first time, and b)I'm trying to keep the print as matchy-matchy as possible. I'm lucky I had ordered twice the amount of fabric necessary fo the Lily, because it seems the first piece of fabric I cut will not be enough (hopefully, once I'm done with the dress, there should remain enough fabric to make a shirt for my boyfriend...fingers crossed...)

On the right of the image, you can notice my already-underlined side-back bodice pieces, which I tried to  overlap on my fabric so I can place the back bodice pieces close to them and make it so that the print matches.

Well...all in all, that was quite a wordy post, especially seeing that I had not much to say, actually. So I will leave you for the moment with pictures of hot rods, music and even burlesque (well, after all, my blog is also supposed to be about rock'n'roll, isn't it?) from an event I attended this week-end.
 (NB : these are bands and artist I actually saw live during the week-end, but as I could'nt get to take as many pictures as I wanted, some of them will be from YouTube and so not my own.)

A friend's hot rod. The organizers of the event  had decided not to invite  many car owners this year, so there were mostly customized bikes and only 2 cars in addition to this one. As i like cars better than motorbikes, I was a little bit disappointed.

Hope you enjoy the music!
And this week-end, I think I should be able to finish my dress...just wait and see!

The Lily Diaries Part 3 - Fitting the muslin

Hi everybody!
Last week you were left with a picture of a strapless and zipperless Lily...but I worked at it during the week and here's how it looked on Saturday :

Sorry for the mirror picture...on top of this it's the only full-length mirror in my flat, and not the best thing in front of which to take pictures. Maybe it's not really obvious, but the waist was actually too high, which makes my hips look huge.

So...Here are the critics for this first muslin :

• waist is too high
• skirt is not long enough (but this is only a matter of personal taste)
• there seems to be some excess fabric at the back just above the bum, but this point apparently is only the result of the waist being too high.

Therefore, after taking a few measurements (how much length should I add for the waisline to sit at my natural waist, and for the skirt to fall just a little below my knees for a (in my opinion) kind of more authentic 50s look?), I sat with my non-woven pattern, pencils, scissors, tape and more non-woven interfacing and started slashing-and-spreading my pattern where it was needed. I proceeded that way :

First I drew a line on my pattern pieces. I chose to draw it 2cm above the bottom of each piece.

Then I cut...

...And taped it onto my sheet of checkered non-woven interfacing. I love this stuff, it's really so useful! And after taping, all there's left to do is re-draw the lines between the upper part and the lowest, cut it...

...and voilà! My four bodice pieces, with extra length added! Seems like they're going to match quite well, won't they?

Then I did the same to add some length to the skirt. Afterwards, I traced my new bodice on my muslin fabric...

Why do cats always choose to sprawl on your fabric when you're doing something that requires focus like tracing or cutting? Luckily, this is only muslin fabric...

...and then ripped apart the bodice from the skirt on my muslin, to sew the new bodice on. (I chose not to make another muslin for the skirt part, as I didn't think only lengthening it would dramatically alter the fit).
And by Saturday evening, when I went to bed, everything was sewn in place except for the zipper.

Having a busy Sunday (due to a meeting of the organization I am part of, which is currently organizing a gathering of hot rods, custom cars, choppers and so on, with garage and rockabilly concerts, DJs and other cool stuff), I could't sew a lot, but still managed to hand baste my zipper so I could try on my muslin, and...

IT FITS!My hips don't look as huge as they did now, do they?

And from the back, no sign of too-much fabric left anymore! It might look a bit tight , but that's because I left a big seam allowance as I sewed the zipper on. I won't let it that big when I sew the dress for good.

All in all I had the time to get a good deal of work this week-end, as I even traced the patterns pieces on my underlining fabric and cut them roughly before going to bed. If I can find the time this week, maybe my dress shall be ready to be worn next week-end...

Have a nice week everybody!

The Lily Diaries Part 2 - A muslin...and a name for my sewing machine

Hi everyone!
Well, this time I tried to keep to some sort of a schedule, so this post still relates recent event (more than in last week's post at least).
I think we were talking about the Lily, weren't we? Well, here's how it went so far.
On Saturday, I drew the pattern pieces on my muslin fabric and cut them...

This is Gipsy, who seems to think my muslin pieces make a purrfect cat bed. She got all cranky when I  made her get up to take what I needed.

 And by 6 PM on Sunday, this is how far I'd gotten :

No straps and zipper yet, everything is held together at the back with a few safety pins, but  it looks as if we're going to get there, doesn't it?

Pockets!These were so much fun to sew in place!

Once this was done, I began sewing my straps. I had noticed my bobbin thread was a little bit loose...and this is when my machine chose to give me a bit of a fright. As I had taken the strap I was working on back from under the needle, my machine began to sew by itself (I swear, my foot wasn't on the pedal!!!!), the motor revved up and didn't stop when I switched it off. I had to unplug it and it had gotten so fast the needle broke and the bobbin holder began smoking.


So this is how my machine earned herself a name : Christine. I know, she's not a '58 Plymouth Fury. But she's red. And she's got a bitchy temper.


That same evening, after going out for a drink with my boyfriend, and letting Christine some time to cool down, I managed to sew my straps on (sorry, no pictures) and began hand-basting my zipper.


Have a nice week everyone, see you next week-end to talk about fitting!

The Lily Diaries – Part 1 : tracing and cutting the pattern

Last weekend was the kick-off of my Lily project (sorry, I promised news before Monday in the last post, but I lacked the time to…do it on time, actually). After fabric shopping (off-white cotton voile to underline my main fabric, fusible interfacing, black satin for the contrasting flaps, a zipper and some fabric for my muslin…oh, and the infamous invisible zipper foot mentioned in the post before last, though I have yet to understand how to install it on my machine…maybe I’ll go back to the shop and ask the guy who sold me the machine for advice…) I started tracing my pattern on non-woven interfacing (I just cut roughly around the pattern pieces and didn’t cut them to my size. You never know, in case I had a dramatic weight variation or had to make something out of this pattern for somebody else…) and then I cut it. I now have the main pattern pieces (just bodice, skirt and shoulder straps) cut in my size and, if needed, it is my non-woven version of the pattern that I will alter, and not the original.

Pattern tracing workshop coming soon…

I also used tracing paper (not pictured here) but chose to do without the tracing wheel after a while because the markings were too faint.

In progress...

 …And here are my trusty pattern weights. Yay for canned tuna and soy beans!

Next weekend: cutting the muslin and putting it together. And maybe start to work on fitting, if I have the time.

See you!

Happy birthday…and some sewing news !

Last weekend, I celebrated my birthday (I’m now 29, if you care to know). I was rather spoiled, as you can see.

(Sorry for the blurry phone pic. You might have recognized Colette Pattern's Lily, Sencha, Violet and Ginger, as well as Sewaholic's Lonsdale. Yeah, I know. None of these patterns are actually listed in the to-sew list I tried to make a while back…)

And of course, among what you can see, is my next sewing project…a guess, anyone ? No ? Well, here’s another clue :

Ah, this is becoming clearer now, does’nt it ? I think the Lily would look quite great in this fabric, and I’m even happier with my choice since I saw that a well-known blogger lady, whose good taste cannot be questioned (in my humble opinion at least), is also going to make a Lily in a Hawaiian inspired fabric.

Now here is what I will do : I will try to cover all the steps in the construction of this dress, from  cutting the pattern pieces to sewing the final hem on the finished dress. I won’t be calling this a sewalong, as I am not yet a skilled enough sewer to give any sort of advice. However, of course, you will be welcome to bear with me as I go through the steps until my Lily is done, and comment as much as you like if you have any piece of advice that might be useful.

Having a rather heavy work schedule, I have to warn you that the process will be a slow one, and that I will probably not be as well organized as other bloggers might be. But keep your eyes peeled, I’ll try my best to give you more news before next Monday !

See ya, all !

XX

Introducing...my faithful sewing sidekick.

...There you go. Apologies for the somewhat cluttered background  - I never claimed to be a well-organized person (well, in some areas of my life, such as at work, I try to, but given that I work far from my home and don't spend a lot of time here...well. To the point, now.)
This is what I bought, about one year ago, when I decided to get into sewing. After my birthday, I came into the shop of this sewing machines retailer which I had noticed a while ago, and said, "Hello Sir, what could I get for 200€?" and the answer was..."If that's all you got, then don't buy a new sewing machine, you woudn't get anything but crap that will fall apart after 6 months!". OK then..."However, you can have a second hand machine with a one year guarantee for 100€". Agreed!
And so this is how I got my first ever sewing machine. This model is a Husqvarna Vanessa 5610. I don't know how old it is...I'd say it's from the 70s or 80 judging on how it looks ( a guess, anyone?).
Not having an extended experience of sewing machines, all I can say is that I like it well enough, and basically it does what I want (well, sometimes the main thread and bobbin thread kind of "knit" themselves, if you see what I mean, but apart from that...). It is rather simple to use, with no electronics ( I hope the fact that it's entirely mechanic will allow it to last for some more time...fingers crossed!). It was sold with a handbook, which has come in handy more than once. It doesn't do automatic button holes, but having never used a machine that does, of course this isn't something I miss. The thing that confuses me for the moment is the feet. I have 3 or 4 feet, which do not exactly match those listed in the handbook (well, I understood what the regular foot and zipper foot are for, but I'm not sure about the 2 others), and I think I will have to buy an invisible zipper foot for my next project...stay tuned for that!

Another one down, 12 to go!

Yes, I'm referring to my to-sew list.



Introducing…my version of Gertie’s « layer cake crinoline ». Slightly modified. As I was in the process of making it, I actually decided I didn’t like the length of the « slip » part. So I shortened it by 10 cm (about 4 inches) and added a 3rd tier at the bottom, the same length.

What I’ve learned from this project :

· working with a fabric I really wasn’t used to – organza (I think my organza is a synthetic. Polyester maybe). At first I really thought it was a pain in the…um…neck, because the fabric is so thin, frays easily and is so hard to keep in place.
· And working with elastic. Which was fun, in my opinion.
I wasn’t sure of what it would look like at the beginning, but overall I am rather pleased with the result. From the outside and if you don’t look at the inside, that is. My seams on the inside are actually quite messy, and there’s one thing that confuses me. In the tutorial, to gather the tiers, Gertie advises to sew a piece of cotton string, using a zigzag stitch, on the top of the parts you want to gather, and then pull to gather the fabric. So I did (used kitchen string), and it worked. But once everything is sewn, what to do with the string ? Leave it in place or take it off ?

Well, I’m off to ask Gertie herself !

XX

Some Cuisine. And a fun pic.

Up to now, no "cuisine"-labelled post had been published on this blog. Consider it done, even if the cook involved here is not yours truly.
Here is what I have now been seeing for a few weeks in  the windows of a bakery, not far from my home :

Sorry for the crappy phone picture. But to the point, now.
As you all know, Easter was a few weeks ago. And at the same time, here in France, we are in the process of voting for a new President. And this baker had the idea of decorating his window with racing chocolate eggs (you can't see their bodies behind the "Arrivée" sign, but yes, they're chocolate eggs!), each of them standing for one of the candidates...now, it's a bit of a pity I did'nt take the pic last week, when the 8 other candidates were "still in the race"...but still, it's fun, isn't it?
And who will the last one be? We'll know it on the 6th of May...and when we get there, don't forget to vote!

NB : I just posted this picture because I thought it was fun. If anybody wants to discuss politics, please don't do it there. There's plenty of specialized forums where you can do just that.
As I said before, this is NOT a politics blogs.

On my to-sew list…

 What I already have :

•  Butterick’s4790 « Getaway Dress » - I read online that the pattern, « as-is », did not fit as well as suggested on the cover illustration, so I will use the instructions provided on this blog. My fabric will be a small cherries print on white cotton, I already have some red buttons and have yet to find some bias tape to finish it ;
• A crinoline to wear under the aforementioned dress – I am actually in the process of making it these days, using Gertie’stutorial which she re-posted a little while ago! I am using some burgundy Bemberg lining I already have, plus some synthetic organza in the same shade (which is a pain in the butt to work with by the way). I first followed the tutorial faithfully but I've decided yesterday that I needed to change some things...Anyway, once it's finished (and it should be soon, or so I hope), I think you might see how it looks.
• Colette Pattern’s free Madeleine bloomers. I’d like to make these in black or white eyelet cotton – to begin with.
•  I also want to make myself another Crepe, in this fabric…

• And I’d like to make the full-skirt version of Simplicity 7275, in this fabric. 

I’d make it as a summer dress and trade the lining for facings, which would make it easier to wear in the summer.

• Colette Patterns (yes, them again !) Ceylon, which I plan to make in a lightweight, pale blue denim with red piping (and red buttons).
• BurdaStyle’s Kasia skirt - though I don’t know yet which fabric I’m going to use.
• I also have an important length (4 meters if my memory’s good !) of a thick, black, textured fabric (some wool blend I think), with which I wanted to do a ¾ circle skirt, but I finally shied away from the projet because I think I would have felt dramatically overdressed going to work in a New Look-ish skirt. Instead, I think I’ll turn it into a wintery version of Colette Pattern’s Peony dress.
• I also downloaded Vivat Veritas’s free ½ circle, scallopped-waistband skirt, but I think I wont' make it right now.
• I also plan to make another Simplicity 7275 view C (yes, another, as this pattern was my first-completed - though not yet blogged - sewing project)…but I want to make it in black and red houndstooth fabric, and I would add cap sleeves and a peter pan collar. Oh, and I’d make the collar and the bow belt (and perhaps some bias finish for the sleeves) in black vinyl or faux leather. Now that would be wicked, wouldn’t it ? (Haha, just kidding. Maybe I won't do that until I've acquired these skills, and it maight take somme time.)

·         Aaaand last but not least, I got the Colette SewingHandbook as a Christmas present ! So that makes me 5 more patterns to try. 

Phew, now that’s one long post. Looks like I have lots on my plate, too, especially for someone who took 4 months to finish her first dress and 3 for the second. Dunno how long it will take me to do all this ! Will it be over at the end of this year ? Just wait and see… 

But wait this post isn’t over yet. Told you about what I already had, but not about what I’d like to have :

• Basically, everything by Colette Patterns (except from the Clovers and lady Grey – I should exercise first because I tackle such projects)…and to think they have released new patterns …I can already hear my bank account protesting (but wait, my birthday is in hardly more than 1 months now, so maybe it’s not going to suffer that much ?)
• Sewaholic’s Lonsdale dress. Love.

·         And that’s all for the moment. (And that’s enough, I think.) And you? How do you manage your to-sew list?