Guess who's back?!

Hello?

...

*cough cough*

...

Anybody there?

Mind you, I wouldn't blame you. 7 months without a post! But I'm back now, and although I've spent some very intense seven months (training to become a webdeveloper, and now I've found a job in the same place where I've done my internship, woohoo!), that doesn't mean I have been without making!
What have I been making, you might ask?
Well...here it goes.
I've knit socks. A fair few pairs. Some for me, some not. And I'm not done with socks yet, so you can expect MOAR sock pictures on this blog!

Tardis Socks for my boyfriend...

Hermione's Everyday Socks for me...

...and the same for my sister...

Broken Seed Stitch socks...

Plus 3 other pairs I haven't photographed yet!




I've knit mittens.

I've knit a snood for my Gran...but unfortunately she didn't even have the time to wear it :,(

I've knit a Chuck sweater. And an Aiken dress.

I've sewn a Negroni for my boyfriend. That took me a looong time, mainly due to poor fabric choice I think. This sort of double cotton gauze/voile is sure to be lovely to wear in hot weather, but it was a real pain in the ass to sew!

I've also made myself a Moneta (this is my third, btw).

And I'm currently making a Kim dress and a Vianne cardi for the Outfit Along 2016.

Soooo...I guess you could say I'm back in the saddle, making-wise!

Fall/Winter (and FESA) sewing and knitting plans

Hi all!

A Negroni in the making...

I'm currently working on my boyfriend's Negroni, but already thinking about my next selfish makes for this Fall/Winter and for FESA (go check Sarah's blog if you want to know more about FESA!)!

- I've started making a knit dress based on A. Satterlund's Aiken pattern. I'd like it to have a slit in the back (maybe I'll have to reinforce it with grosgrain) and I still don't know how I'm going to finish  the border. I don't want to make ribbing because I don't want it to look like a giant sweater... Well, I'll see what I can make!

- I'd like to make a Ceylon dress. This was one of the first ever Colette Patterns I bought back in 2012 and I've never made it yet because I was a bit afraid of so many pattern pieces. I have a rather heavy viscose, with a nice drape, which I think would pair well with this pattern. The only thing is, it has a directional print which runs diagonally to the grain, so I think I'll have to cut some of my pieces (such as the midriffs and yokes) on the bias if I want to maintain some symetry and sort of break the pattern at the same time. Also, some of the pieces would have to be cut twice instead of once and on the fold...Well, that sounds like a fun project, doesn't it?

Planning for my future Ceylon...You can't see it from there but the fabric is actually a dark navy blue, and there are small, dark red triangles next to these little arrow thingies.

 - I'm not sure I'll have the time to make them before the end of the year, but I also have my eyes set on this blouse from Tonje Thoresen's Couture Vintage book, which I'd really like to turn into a dress, and on Gertie's shirtdress from her first book. What? You think I'm obsessed with shirt dresses? Noooo...no I'm not. *cough cough*

-I'd also like to make a BHL Anna dress, probably in a wool plaid, and with longer sleeves (alteration explained here).

-I've seen some thick knit poly grey and black houndstooth fabric at Toto which I think would make a nice wintery Moneta;

-Finally, as far as knitting is concerned, I haven't decided yet what I'm going to make once I'm done with my Aiken dress. Maybe knit a Mary Mead cardi, and/or a pair of socks?

Well, that's more than enough to keep me busy till the end of the year, don't you think? Some of these projects might get made, others...well, I'll see. I'd like to make stashbusting projects a priority, but I'm not sure it's going to happen!

What's been on my sewing table...

I haven't been posting a lot here lately, but believe me (and you would know if you follow me on Instagram ;) ), that was not for lack of sewing!
It's not always fun to be unemployed, but I must say that having more spare time is a change for the best...all the more so when it allows me to be more productive in terms of sewing! However, what I've sewn lately is more suitable for cooler weather and I haven't had the opportunity to take photos of me wearing those garments, so proper posts about these will come later.
So here's what I've been up to lately : 
I've made this Sencha blouse ...

Embroidered neckline...

And fun vintage square buttons!

 And this Chataigne skirt, which I think will be a great match for the above top...

Admittedly, the right side may look a bit plain...

But look at this wrong side! Sacred hearts, polkadot bias, lace-trimmed lining, oh my!

I've also ordered fabric for a Bombshell Swimsuit, which I may (or may not) start this week or next week...

And I'm also planning to make a Negroni shirt for my man.

And also, in other words, this is post #100! Woohoo!

Finished : An unplanned Moneta

Here's another sewing project which wasn't part of my plans for this summer/year, but it still happened!

Sorry for this unglamorous grocery bag! Although, I hadn't noticed until now, but it's got stripes, like my dress - and in that crappy artificial light, you could almost think the stripes on the dress are the same color as the bag's! So...not so unglamorous I'd say!

This is Colette Pattern's Moneta, made in a cotton jersey I got at Toto for something like 3€.
It's going to be nice to wear in this hot weather, but let me tell you folks...this fabric was a BITCH. As it's super thin and shifty, it took me hours to try and match stripes on my folded fabric, until I finally decided to cut it flat. As I thought it would be too much trouble to try and lay the skirt's pieces on my fabric and keep the stripes matchy, I decided to just cut two gathered rectangles. Even that, though, was not easy ; as I couldn't match my stripes at the selvedge (no matter how hard I tried!), I tried to make them match at the fold and in the middle of my fabric, by sticking random pins in the middle of my fabric (see picture below).

Can you spot the pins?

The final garment is a bit short compared with what I'm used to wear, and I think there is a thread tension problem around my sleeves and skirt hem - the upper thread - or should I say, one of my upper threads (how weird is that, seriously?!) - looks like it's too loose. 

Ugh, that's an ugly hem...

But I like it anyway, and I hope it's going to last the whole summer...at least! If not, I can still redo my hems!

Outfit Along : Finished dress!

For the Outfit Along 2015, I chose to make a mashup between Colette Pattern's Lily (it's currently Colette's Pattern of the month, so head over to their website if you want to grab a copy for 15% off!) and Tilly and the Buttons' Picnic Blanket skirt.
As I didn't have to underline my fabric, this dress was much quicker to make than my first version!
I used the pattern I had tweaked after my first version, but it was too big...so I had to take the bodice in at the side seams by 3cm (1.5 on each side). I still think it could stand to be a little tighter, but it looks OK this way and at least my dress is not uncomfortably tight!
I used a black stretch cotton sateen for the bodice and pockets, and a watermelon print cotton for the skirt and flaps at the neckline and pockets.

I added a notch at the neckline flap and made halter straps instead of regular straps.

My zipper would be more invisible if I had bothered to give it a press...but one part of it is black on black, and the other is hidden in the skirt's gathers. Soooo can we say it's *almost* invisible?

This pic gives a better view of the pockets. I used the original pattern piece but made my pockets 5 cm shorter so they're not so deep. Even though, they're still roomy enough to contain my phone and keys! 

Here's my faux waist stay. I even made a facing of sorts to hide the zipper edge and center back seams.

And here's the hem!

I've just finished knitting my OAL cardi, but it's still waiting for its buttons and reinforced button bands. I hope I get them soon enough, and I hope the temperatures are going to drop ...it's currently far too hot to wear a cardigan, even just to take a picture of 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!

Finished for FESA : a Goth(ish) Moneta

...or the dress that took a long time coming!

No mirror picture this time, I thought I'd take advantage of the natural light coming from my bedroom's window. I still prefer to see picture of worn garments, but at least I managed to get something that's not blurry and gloomy-looking! 

This is Colette's Moneta. The bodice is plain black jersey from Mod'Tissus (local fabric shop), the skirt was made with this lace print jersey :

Source : Place des Tissus

Not many alterations there, just raised the back neckline to make it more office/special professional event-appropriate (I also love the original back neckline, though!) and made the skirt 5 cm longer (only to shorten it in the end because I thought the dress looked frumpy. Duh). However, depending on the fabric, the next version might need an armhole/neckline adjustment to prevent it from gaping.

Everything went quite smoothly until I got to the shirring part. I first started using a normal foot + narrow zigzag stitch, but the shirring looked uneven as fuck. Then I tried gathering with the "string technique" (which Lauren explains here) and my gathers looked OK, but I thought it would look super bulky as I had to sew the elastic on top of the gathers. Finally, I rummaged through my sewing machine's notions compartment and dug out this roller foot. In addition to that, I did lots of matching marks on my elastic and skirt waistband...and eventually got something correct!

As if that was not enough to slow me down, I also broke my twin needle (that's what happens when you forget to check stitch settings) on a Sunday, and therefore had to wait one more week till I could buy a new needle.

Which I broke, too, the week after (fortunately this was at the end of the hem).

Then I thought my skirt was too long, so I bought a 3rd (and a 4th, better safe than sorry...) twin needle (which I didn't break, yay!) to make a shorter hem.

And finally, I got something I like! 

However, in spite of these little problems, the dress itself was really an easy make and it's very comfy! Chances are I'll make more than one!

FESA is back !

Sarah's Fall Essentials Sewalong is back! Basically, FESA consists in making warm, cosy and easy to wear garments for Fall, and as there are several categories you can choose to make any garment you like and as many as you like...which means that pretty much any sewist can join in with whatever she (or he) is making between September 1st and November 30th! Pretty cool, isnt'it?

The only thing I managed to me make last year was Wearing History's overalls, which did not turn out so great...but at least I see now what I must do to make them better!

This year, however, I feel like I could be more productive during these 3 months (yayyyyy for learning to knit!), so here are my plans :

• In the "Fabulous Frocks" category, a "Goth-ish" Moneta, which I'm going to make in a lace print over beige background jersey for the skirt, and plain black jersey for the top (version 3, with the 3/4 sleeves) ;
• In the "Chic Chemises for Cool Climates" category, Andi Satterlund's Aiken sweater, most likely in Cascade Lana d'Oro (in color 1036 or 1058 H, not sure yet)
• In the "Fashionable Foundations for Frosty Weather" category, a Chataigne skirt (following Estelle's tutorial for turning Deer and Doe's Chataigne shorts into a skirt), in a brown wool mix I have in my stash

Well, that makes three garments, let's see if I'll be able to make all of them!

Interested in FESA? Then pay a visit to Sarah's blog Rhinestones and Telephones if you want to learn more about it and join in!