Charlotte's Airelle

I haven't been sewing for myself a lot these past few months, mostly because I was actually busy with...my first order (Well, sewing it actually didn't take THAT long, but as I couldn't see my "customer" very often, the fitting process seemd to take ages!)!

This Deer and Doe Airelle blouse was made for my sister's birthday. She supplied the fabric, a beautiful green/black linen, we chose the pattern together...and there I went!
As she is rather busty, I was afraid I'd have to do a FBA but that actually didn't happen.
Here are the modifications I made to get something that fits :

• I cut a size 38 (which corresponded to her high bust measurements) at the top, then graded to a 40 at the waist, and made the whole top 5 cm longer ;
• I added an invisible side zip and a little slit at the back of the neck to make the garment easier to put on;
• Surprisingly enough, I had to remove some fabric in the bust area, both in width and length, otherwise it would have been baggy ;
• I also moved the front dart so they pointed in the right direction, and made them deeper;
• And finally, I added a bit of  black piping on the shoulder yoke, both at the front and back. I also made little pleats instead of gather when I attached the yoke to the front part, because my gathers really looked like crap.

Unfortunately, due to some mobile phone problems, I can't show any pictures of my sister wearing it...but the fit was spot on and she was really happy with it!

Outfit Along is back!

Well...I'm in!

I'm going to knit Hetty in black Drops Paris, and sew a Lily in watermelon print (for the skirt and neckline flaps) with a solid black bodice. I also plan to modify the skirt and make it gathered, with patch pockets, instead of the pattern's slim skirt.

Fabrics, sewing pattern... and my Hetty, already started! I've knit the back, right and left front, and I'm about to tackle the body.

Head over to Andi or Lauren's blog if you want to know more about what's going on!

MMM 2015 - Wrap-up and musings

Well folks, Me Made May is over! I got a bit lazy on my photo-taking last week, so you'll have to take my word for it : I wore at least one memade item everyday. However, there have been some outfit repeats and it did'nt seem interesting to me to document these.

Here's the list of all the me-mades I've been wearing : B5895 (unfortunately not wearable anymore now, since I fell and tore it at the knee), Aiken Sweater, Hawthorn dress, Dolores dress, Myrna cardigan, Wearing History pants, refashioned top, Hortencia Cardigan, Day of the Dead skirt (mentioned in this post), refashioned skirt with embroidered waistband, tattoo skirt, Sorbetto top, Moneta dress, Lonsdale dress, Jazzy Ginger skirt, Lobster Picnic Blanket skirt, refashioned yellow top, Nix shawl (not blogged - yet - but can be spotted in a few pictures), and a red Miette cardigan (not blogged yet and almost finished - it's still waiting for its buttons and reinforced button bands!)

And...here are my thoughts on the experiment :

• I need more casual dresses because it's an easy way to look put together without much fuss;
• I need more tops;
• I need more bottoms;
• I need to go back to sewing spring/summer garments;
• I need more "neutral" garments, a big part of what I currently have in my closet has been sewn when I was just beginning and was attracted by every bright and weird print I could set eyes on...  It's OK for weekends and holidays, but I don't think it fits in an everyday wardrobe;
• I'm starting to have a nice range of cardigans to choose from, which is always nice to take an outfit from one look to another!

Although it's been interesting to read why some people did NOT take part in mmm2015, I'm not in their case...and I have to admit I found it interesting and helpful to be a part of it!

Apart from that, I'm going through a bit of a burnout right now. I thought being unemployed would mean I'd have more time and energy to sew, but it's actually quite the opposite. I'm training quite hard because I have a test to enter a training course in a few weeks, and I don't want to miss it. This, plus looking for a job to fill in before my training starts, is very time-consuming, and I have no motivation left for sewing. On top of this, I do have a garment to sew, which is actually an order ; although I've made quite a few muslins, I'm still afraid it's not going to fit, and I'm dragging my feet...

Well, all I have to do is motivate myself to get it done quickly so I can start sewing something I really want to make!

Some Cuisine : Tuna/Avocado salad/spread

Cocktail hour (or "l'apéro" as we say in French) is back with summer. And, with it, some recipes usually enjoyed with a drink, before supper.
I usually like tuna salad, but some of the recipes I see use dairy products or mayonnaise, which tend to make the whole thing too liquid and/or too fat. After reading a few vegan blogs (I'm not vegan myself but I'm interested in other ways of cooking, and how vegetal products can be used as substitutes for other stuff!) this idea came to me : why not replace the mayonnaise or cottage cheese in my tuna salad with...avocado?

I tried...and let me tell you, the result does not disappoint!

So here's my recipe (should serve 4 persons, as a side for drinks before lunch or dinner) :

• 80g canned tuna
• 1/2 ripe avocado
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1small shallot (with its leaves)
• 1 pinch black sesame
• 1 pinch white sesame
• salt
• 1 tsp wasabi powder (I'm not very precise there ; it's actually better if you taste and add as much/little wasabi as you like.)
• optionnal : thin-sliced radishes for decoration

Put the tuna (without its juice) and the diced avocado in a bowl. Add the lemon juice.
Slice the  whole shallot very thinly, Add the sesame, salt and wasabi powder and mash the whole. If the avocado is ripe enough, you should normally be able to do it with a fork.

Note : if you want to use a food processor, it's better to add the shallot and sesame at the end so it doesn't get crushed.

Serve with a good bread, add some sliced radish on top if you like. Enjoy!

Me Made May 2015 : I'm in!

For the first time in almost 4 years of sewing, I finally feel up to taking part in Me Made May! So here it goes : 

 'I, Juliette of http://cuisinecoutureandrocknroll.blogspot.fr/, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '15. I endeavour to wear at least one hand-sewn, hand-knit or refashioned item of clothing, six days a week, for the duration of May 2015.'

I'm not promising anything there, but I'll try to document it on FlickR. And perhaps make weekly recaps on the blog.

Who else is joining?

Finished : cigarette pants

Well, these took a long time to finish...and I can thank my sewing buddies for the fact that they're actually done now!

The pattern is B5895 - a "pattern by Gertie", which I had already used previously to make capri/pedal pushers.

Pocket detail - I used some scrap fabric remaining from one of my first ever sewing projects!

This was my first time using the rotary cutter I got for Christmas... and I don't want to go back to classical scissors!
One of the reasons why it took so long for me to finish is because I made a stupid mistake : I forgot that I had to be careful of the nap directrion, so I layed the front of the pants out on the fabric one way, and the back another way, and I found myself with a back and a front that looked as if they belonged to a different item of clothing...So I ripped everything off (I could have kicked myself, I had already assembled my pants - even made flat-felled seams on the inside leg -  and only had to sew the waistband!) and cut a new piece for the front of my pants.
Fortunately, this was one of these 5€-for-3-meters coupon from Les Coupons de Saint-Pierre, so I had plenty of fabric left...I could even cut a Chataigne skirt in what was left!

Now...I'm not used to talk about my life here, but I feel there's something I must say now.
Long story short, I've been dismissed from my job because of some disagreements with my employers. I'd like to take a training course before going back to any kind of job search, but training doesn't come out cheap and getting it funded by Pôle Emploi won't be easy. Which means stressfull times ahead for me. This is somewhat draining my energy and takes the fun out from things I like doing, like sewing.

Fortunately, I have some great sewing buddies, and we had planned a meeting : nine girls, sewing machines, sergers, food and drinks...everything you need to complete a project!
This meeting gave me the kick in the ass I needed to finish my pants, and I could even borrow a serger to get some proper seam finishes!

To conclude this post, I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to all my sewing buddies...this meeting really was like a breath of fresh air to me! 

  

Gimme some Rock'n'Roll : Demented Are Go

For those who know them, I'm not sure these guys need an introduction...For those who don't, you can find more informations on Wikipedia (in French and in English). And if you want to hear what they sound like, go check YouTube.

They happened to play on last Friday evening in Orléans, not (too) far from where I live, and my boyfriend and I didn't want to miss it, because psychobilly gigs are really rare non-existent in our area, sooo...we went!
And we didn't regret it!The venue was not really big and the crowd took some time to warm up (to the annoyance of 6 Feet Down, the French band who played the opening gig) but the show was really great!
Funny enough, even though Sparky (DAG's lead singer, for those who don't know) downed quite a few wine glasses, beers and so on (all the while putting on a hell of a show), he still took the time to check on a guy who was apparently totally high (or down, that was hard to tell) on drugs, just to see if he was OK. So, who says punks and rockers can't have manners?!

All in all it was a very musical weekend for me, as I also got to see Al Willis and the New Swingsters live on Saturday evening! Sure, it was more sedate than DAG, but a great show nonetheless!