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!

Outfit Along : an update

Hello folks!
Here's my little OAL update :

Bad picture, but it's lucky it's dark, otherwise you would see what a mess my flat is ;). As you can see, Myrna is growing quite well (I'm currently halfway through the waist shaping). However, the same can't be said about my dress...the pile of fabric on which I put my ball of yarn is actually going to become a Hawthorn, but for the moment it's only been prewashed. I made a first muslin of the bodice, which proved I'd have to make it a bit longer, I started tracing the other pattern pieces...and that's as far as I went for the moment.

I hope I'll be more productive next week-end!

Finally joining OAL!

When I first read about Andi and Lauren's combined knitalong/sewalong, I was interested, but not sure I could do it as I still had unfinished projects, and future projects that originally involved neither of the patterns they wanted to make.

However, now that I've finished my Miette and almost finished a 3rd version of Wearing History's Smooth Sailing pants (see versions 1 and 2 here and there), I'm free to join the Outfit Along party!

The principle of the Outfit Along is basically, to sew and knit during the same period 2 garments that are meant to be worn together, the knit garment being Andi's new pattern, Myrna, and the sewn garment Simplicity 1803. That being said, as Andi says in her presentation of the challenge, you don't have to sew or knit both patterns if you don't like one or both of them, as long as you sew one garment and knit another!

And that's fine by me, because I'll be choosing another dress pattern (not that I don't like Simplicity 1803, but I don't have it in my stash and I don't want to lose time having to order it and wait for it to get in my mail box).

Soooo...Here's what we've got : On the one hand, credited as "the Dress Pattern", is Miss Hawthorn, coming straight from the Colette Patterns studios in Portland Oregon, which I'm going to make in navy swiss dot cotton (underlined in navy cotton voile) :

And on the other hand, credited as "the Cardi Pattern", is Lady Myrna by Andi Satterlund, which I'll knit using Cascade 220 in the 7827 colourway (aka Goldenrod).

If I have any left, maybe I'll make a Summer Belt too!

A few more details : the Outfit Along starts on June 1st and ends on July 31st, and you can get the code for the button on Andi's blog.

Well, now that everything is settled, I'm off to order my wool ! See ya!

Celebrating Victory!

Hi everyone,

My Sew For Victory project is now complete !

( Another building hall picture…I originally wanted to have a little photoshoot outside, but in the pouring rain ? No thanks !)

To celebrate Victory, what’s better than music ? Well, it just so happens that the fabric I chose for this is music-themed ! I found it on Spoonflower and it was designed for a « History of jazz » contest that took place a few months ago. Guitar, piano keys, double bass, drums, sax, trumpets, clarinets…there’s a whole big band on this fabric, perfect for a 1940s/mid-century soundtrack !
Well now, on to the patterns and the details.
I used Colette’s Ginger skirt pattern, and the size 6 fit me with almost no alterations. I just slashed-and-spreaded the skirt pieces to make the whole thing a bit more flared, and I also just lengthened it a little bit for a more (or so I hope !) period-appropriate length. I also made my left back waistband pieces longer, in order to have an overlap which allowed me to put a skirt hook-and-eye closure at the waistband.

I also tried to include more vintage-ish details, such as patch pockets …

Hey look, I can actually put my hand in the pockets now !

Another pocket detail. These buttons looked pretty cute to me, but on second thoughts I think they look more 70s than 40s…Could anyone confirm that ? If it is so, I guess I have to train my eyes at identifying vintage buttons…

…A hand picked lapped zipper, instead of the invisible zipper the pattern called for…

Please be kind, as it was only my second time inserting a lapped zipper ! I actually made a first go at it with my sewing machine, and I think I would have left it as it was if I had been sewing a solid fabric with a same colored thread. But the orange thread showed a little too much for my taste on this fabric, so I went for a hand picked lapped zipper. It’s not perfect – either I lack training, or handpicked is just better for non-lapped, centered zippers – but I think it still does the trick...

…and bound seams.

(picture coming later)

So there you have it – a jazzy Ginger ! I hope the weather gets better soon so I can actually wear it !


And for now, I’ll leave you with a picture of my faithful sewing help :

No, Kitty. Nothing is going to hatch from that pincushion, no matter how long you sit on it…

Fall Essentials Sewalong 2013 : a muslin

Sorry for the phone pic in my small wavy mirror...but I couldn't just go and take a picture in front of the mirror of my buildings hall wearing an unfinished garment, amirite?

First thoughts :

• The pattern is said to run small at the hips, but apparently it should be fine for me ;
• As with my 2 versions of the Smooth Sailing pants, I'll have to make a flat seat adjustment and remove some length from the front crotch seam;
• I'm a bit astonished to see that the legs are just the right length (in fact, they might even be a bit short if I want to wear it with the hems rolled up), considering I had to remove something like almost 4 inches (about 10 cm) from both my Smooth Sailing pants to make them the length I wanted;
• I'm not sure about the waist : is it OK, or should I make it a bit smaller (FYI : it's slightly too big in the 2 aforementioned pants)? Hard to decide, as everything here is held with safety pins!
• The front bodice should be OK, however the back bodice looked a bit too small, but maybe just because of a bad placement of the shoulder straps;
• I was a little bit perplexed by the waistband : it's too small for me, even though I'm a 28.5-29 across the waist and it's supposed to be 30 inches long, and it's smaller than the waistlines of the pants and bodice. What the f...udge is going on there? Maybe I'll just cut it very long and shorten it to suit my needs.

That's all for now, see ya!

Fall Essentials Sewalong 2013 : My Palette

Well, it's actually not a palette as I don't think I'll be able to sew more than one garment. Therefore, only one color and one fabric.
I'll make my overalls in a fabric I already have in my stash : 

Linen/viscose blend from Toto, bought with no particular project in mind...Had actually already bought something very similar for a Ceylon, and as I was afraid I wouldn't have enough, I bought 2 more metres, only to find it wasn't exactly the same color as what I'd bought first. Never mind, I know how to use it now! 

Added to this : 

• Anchor buttons left from  my B5895,
• white thread (from stash)
• And some bias trim (not pictured here.)

Started tracing my pattern yesterday evening - stay tuned if you want to know what's going on!

Taking part in my first Sewalong!

I often see people planning sewalongs all over the web...However, much as I would be interested to join in, there's always a hindrance. Either I don't have the pattern this particular sewalong is about, or I feel I don't have the skills, or the schedule seems to set a crazy pace I feel unable to follow.
But...this morning, as I was browsing my blog list, I fell on Sarah's latest post, announcing the Fall Essentials Sewalong...and it so happened that, for once, the schedule was right for me...and the (very un-restrictive) different categories of garments you could make for the sewalong did allow me to make something! So here i come!

I'm currently finishing another shirt for my boyfriend...but if I'm lucky, I should be done by September22nd, the day the sewalong starts!
And here's what I'm going to sew : 

While some of you may question the "essentiality" of overalls (and yet, in my opinion, they totally belong in the "Fashionable Foundations for Frosty Weather" category!), let me explain why this fits the bill for me :

• they are perfect for a look that's vintage, yet casual, and doesn't make me feel as if I were wearing a costume (i mean, as opposed to a dress+heels+big hair+make up...I love vintage style but I'm not really the high-maintenance kind of girl!) ; 
• they offer more coverage than pants, which is a bonus now that the weather is getting colder ;
• they could go with lots of tops and shoes ;
• and I happen to already have everything (fabric, thread, buttons, interfacing...) in my stash to make them almost straight away!

Want to be part of the sewalong? It's happening over at Rhinestones and Telephones!