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!