Skirt tough love

Hello! How's your week going? I can't tell that mine's been the best so far but I hope things will get better. Now I have something cool to show you -well I hope so^^- it's a skirt from the September 2007 issue of BWOF and it's really my favourite design ever! I made it when the magazine came out, it was one of my first garments as I was learning to sew properly and it came together so easily I always told myself I should make another one but then I lost that very Burda.
Fortunately I found the pattern sheet yesterday :) I was so pleased, it was hidden between other patterns, I couldn't believe my eyes! Not having the instructions wasn't a problem as it's really simple to sew, however the problem is the sizing: I thought I would cut a 38, which usually fits me and can even be a bit big but here it's too small. I traced the pattern following the second line since sizes usually go 36-44 but it seems to be 34-42 with this one :( I'm glad I used a remnant from one of my mum's dresses and not the beautiful taffeta I was picturing for it, I'll take the bigger size for this future version.
Anyway I feel like wearing that damn skirt, I like it too much! I'll wear it when I go walking and I know that I won't have to sit, that should do the trick^^.

Here you can really tell that it's too small, that zipper is crying!

Cute pocket detail

See you later friends!

Another take on Simplicity 2311

Hello, I hope everyone's doing fine today! I'd like to show you what I've been working on this weekend:




It's the second time I make this 1940's top; previously I had done it out of Japanese fabric and this time I used a remnant from another retro project, it's light cotton and the detail which I really like is that the stripes are weaved into the fabric and not printed. I was a bit concerned because the red dye tended to bleed but after washing it in cold water the problem was solved. I'm glad that I managed to match all the stripes on the side seams and on the tucks and darts, I put big blue buttons from my stash at the back and I finished the collar with self made bias. The only problem is that I should have reinforced the back with interlining but I forgot and now it tends to sag a little :(
I know it's quite a blousy top, not extremely fitted but I love it nonetheless and there'll probably be a third version someday! Oh by the way I made the skirt too out of a strange, heavy stretch fabric and I wear it all the time, it gives me the daily fix of navy blue I used to get with jeans :) See you friends!

The wallflower

Hey there, how are you? I haven't posted much lately but that's because I'm preparing Me-Made-March so I'm saving some new garments for this challenge :) Still I have two tops to show you and I'm sure you'll understand why I chose this title when you see the first one:



The fabric is called Antique Roses and it's a quilting cotton that reminds me a lot of wallpaper patterns hence the wallflower reference! I should also mention that I've had it for a few months so I'm still following my stash busting oath^^. The design is a Pochée top I had already sewn a few months ago and that I love! The pintuck pleats at the front as well as bust darts give it a nice shape and I'm fond of the narrow shoulders and slightly puffy sleeves. Actually I made another one in a row but I didn't have enough fabric for the pleats so I had to leave them out:



This time the fabric is some flowery lawn I had at a bargain price -there's this local shop where I often buy cheap flowery lawns to find later that they are knock off of expensive Liberty prints^^- 2 years ago. Finally I was able to take a picture of one of my mum's dress variations based on this pattern:


Here I simply added a fake button placket with little ruffles. And yes it's one of my cheap flowery lawns :) My mum told me that some coworkers asked her where she had bought her dress so it got me thinking that such a garment costs 5$x1.5+1$ for the zipper -I've had the golden buttons in my stash for years- so that makes it 8.5$, I LOVE sewing^^! See you soon friends, have a lovely weekend!

LBD!

Hello there, how are you? I hope you're having a great weekend :) Mine is going on quite well, I've just completed my very first little black dress! Indeed, even though I've had little navy dresses or little flashy dresses I had never tried the classic, black version simply because it looked too classy to be worn at school or at the bar^^. However I've been in the mood for femininine outfits recently and I can proudly say that I now wear skirts and dresses as often as jeans so I've overcome my fear of the LBD and here it is:


It's a super simple design from Fait Main, a French crafts magazine, the bodice has French darts in the front and classic darts in the back and the skirt is the same in the front and the back with 6 pleats. I had to gather the neckline a little to get rid of fabric excess, I finished it with black bias tape as well as the armholes and there's a handsewn regular zipper at the side. I know this dress by heart since it's my mum's favourite one, I've made at least ten versions of it for her -I really need to take pictures of them so you can see the little variations from one to the other^^- so it took me like 2 hours to make it, including handtacking the bias tape and sewing the zipper. I'm showing you the dress without any accessories but I found (and washed!) an old white collar I had made when I started to sew again a few years ago and I'm going to try and make a removable bib to dress it up a little. Big necklaces would also work well I guess, a bolero or a frilly cardigan too... I'll see how I can make it more interesting :) Since then see you friends!

Skirts

Yes, it's that post again where I show you cute garments that I'm going to wear once before putting on jeans again! Maybe I should try hypnosis to cure myself from wearing them all the damn time. So, today's projects are 2 skirts made from old Burda magazine issues: the octopuss fabric one has a tulip-y front thanks to 4 pleats (but a very regular back). I added a bow because and I had to do a sort of cuffed hem because I forgot the allowance when I cut the skirt. The side zipper is hand sewn and I finished the waist with folded bias.

Photoshop mastery to get rid of a stack of shoes!

Now for the second skirt I used a very basic design, it's a pencil skirt with 2 darts at the front and the back. I used a terribly cheap remnant of synthetic fabric, the print was a little off but I managed to get it more or less straight.



Alright, have a nice weekend friends, see you!

Happy Chinese new year!

Hello, happy year of the Rabbit! As my mum and I are fond of Chinese astrology we always celebrate when a new year starts :) I made her a top for the occasion using some fabric we bought in Fukuoka last year:



How convenient, it has little rabbits on it^^! The design is the sleeveless version of the previous top I've blogged about, here instead of piping I sewed some big white ricrac to show the front yoke.
That's it for today but I hope I'll have a skirt to show you before the weekend :) See you!