The dress I forgot I did, and I really don't know why.

Rock and roll everyone!!

How could I forget that I had made this super cool dress?? It's all part of my plan to sew more intelligently, and by that I mean, making things that fit into my life and are more current.

I know I said I was going to make a special unworn garments in London, but I figured, why not posting those pictures, who knows when the husband is going to be free?

I had some fake leather left from my previous shirt, and I also had some wool. I have to say that, when I bought the wool I was not really sure what to do with it. It's a bit thick and I didn't get a lot, so, what to do with it?

I had barely enough to make the dress. At fist I was going for a warm sort of shirt, but the winter is so mild, and I love short dresses. And also I was watching Project runway and really loved that dress from Michelle Lesniak Franklin:

I also had some studs, kind of, in my stash (I love having a stash, it really makes sewing easier).

 

I just glued them on the fake leather. Really fun to make. But I omitted them on the back, because I was afraid I would fell them while seated in a sofa. And sofa time is important!

lapped zipper

 As you can see, the front has no pleats. It had at firt, this was a big mistake! All those pleats, bah! It was awful. It created too much volume, I had to take them of.

The dress has no dart, the one you see is from the lining. I should really stop trying to make garments with no darts. I takes an awful lot of time to figure out, and the fit is always less good. Maybe it's a nice option for women with a small bust, but it's not my case, so I should just abandon the idea and begin loving darts!

I love darts!

Yes, just like that. 

But hey, I think I am doing not too bad this year considering that the weather is really not helping. In Germany Winter is supposed to be cold. So I bought fabrics for snow... And it has never snowed this year! See, I can take pictures outside without freezing.

That's all for this one, nothing complicated, it feels nice to wear.

I just wish I had a fabric shop nearby with normal prices, I think I would make a few dresses out of wool again, but in spring colors (I also wish I had bought those fabulous boots I saw in Rennes, they would look sooo nice with the dress).

Anyway, I have to do with what I have, my stock of warm fabric arrives to its end, so hopefully the weather will stay warm, and I will authorized myself to dive into spring sewing in a few weeks. In the mean time I have some interesting ideas, you'll see soon!!

cheers.

Again in London?

Bonjour tout  le monde!

I have been busy those last few week preparing a trip to London and being there! It's why I didn't post anything . But I sure did some work.

I love London, the buildings, the museums, the shops, and all that Britishness. I just can't get enough of it.
As you can see I went where all seamstress should:
-Savile row where I got to see Patrick Grant, one of the Great British sewing bee judge and owner of Norton and Sons one of the tailor shop on Savile row (and by seeing, I mean he was siting at his desk and I was on the street lurking inside to see people sewing!),

-and at the Liberty store. You know how much I love their fabrics. And the shop is really beautiful. It's Arts and Crafts decorated, and yes, you can buy all of their fabric, but no, I didn't buy any. I don't need any at the moment, I'll buy some when I'll be back in France.

I did made some garments for the trip, and ended up by taking none of them!! After all, I didn't really need new clothes. I am waiting for my photographer to be free and I will do a special London  non-used clothes!

Cheers!

vive les couleurs !

 Bonjour tout le monde,

in the spirit of my new year's sewing resolution, I made yet again another top. But this one is not purple! 

The colour is a bit bold isn't it? Looking at it on picture, I realise I colour-blocked it! How did this not occurred to me while doing it?? My my, I don't know if I should ever go back to work with this empty head of mine.

Anyway, I think I took the idea of the colour back in November when I window shopped for ideas, but I really don't remember where. Any idea anyone?

What I know, is that I got inspired by a blouse worn by Shirley in Community:

It's beautiful no? At first I wanted to have some gold as well, but after trying it on the mannequin I decided it would look completely costumy, princess of space costumy even :-)

It's so awful it makes me laugh!
Side note, I really want to do something with this lamé but it seems to have a very vulgar vibe...

Here is my pattern, minus the collar who is just a very simple officer collar, do you say that in English? The correct term in French is: col officier.

I think it differs from a Mao collar just by the round form of the tip.

I decided to make the side and middle back seams with a French seam. Witch turned out nice, but caused a problem when I realised I had to give in a little space. 

See the line at the arm's seam? It's taring because I was trying to change the shape of my arm hole and removed to much cm in the back. 

On the good side, this top allowed me (trough my mistakes), to correct my basic pattern. I think that I finally have the perfect sleeve and arm hole!! This is a big deal for me, I have struggled with those problems for a long time.

The fabric is so soft, in France we call it "peau de pêche", literally peach skin, is it the same in English?

I have noticed on TV that the dart on this sort of top are usually placed more to the side, mine just go trough the bust point. It's how my book says to make them, I suppose it is a bit old fashioned. As is my book probably, it talks about sheath!

I made the pants two years ago with a nice stretch wool, I wish I could find the same fabric in other colours, it is so perfect for making and wearing warm slim pants.

I was really not in a smiling mood that day, my excuse is that it was only 7 degrees outside. But hey, I don't complain, it's warm enough that I can pose outside. Usually the weather is much colder in Germany at this time of the year, but with all the storms coming from the Atlantic, no need of my fur hat this year!

 

Oh, look! Is it Spring I see coming? 

Noooo, my dear husband reminded me that in Germany it can snow until April! April?? Are you crazy? I don't have enough fabric to keep on making winter outfits, and you know what? I don't want to!!

But I know I have to listen to reason, and make clothes according to the weather.

I think I might even make a coat, that idea really pleases me. And it might not even be purpule (or maybe just a bit:-))!

A bientôt !

Comfort sewing

Bonjour tout le monde !

Last week I tried to make a bra, but instead of following the instructions of my book I tried to make my own pattern, and let me tell you it was NOT a good idea.

So I decided to comfort myself by making something easy and nice to look at.

Some lavender bags! I have left overs pieces of Liberty fabric, too small to make a garment out of it and too big to through away.

Isn't it lovely? 

It's the easiest project ever. I took a rectangle of 26 cm x 9,5cm. Folded it in two, sew each side with a straight stitch. Used my zigzag scissors to cut the three edges turned inside out the bag. And that's all! Added some pretty ribbons to close them, and it felt so good to achieve something so easily.

Now my closet smells amazing and look super romantic!

Have a good week-end everybody.

Sticking to my new year's resolutions

Bonjour tout le monde !

As you know, I have vowed to create more current pieces. I felt that the clothes I was making, were a bit old looking, and this is not how I picture myself. So here we go, here is my take on a very current trend in fashion: leather!

new shirt and pants made by me.

My inspiration came from the series "Under the Dome". One of the characters had a nice wardrobe and this shirt struck me as being at the same time elegant and sexy (maybe because of the cleavage:-)).

The shirt has no visible darts and two patched pockets.  Soooo, I tried to make a pattern with no bust dart.

Yes, I roll my eyes! Let me tell you this: it was a nightmare. I don't drape, I create my pattern directly on paper, and the method I know to avoid having a bust dart was not working here, and as I don't know how else to do, I struggled quite a lot to find a way to make it work. Here is the technical drawing of the shirt:

And because a first draft can always be a bit, how can I say it? Challenging. Of course I made a rooky mistake: I didn't measure my side seams and guess what happened? Yep, the front was longer than the back :-(

But you can't see it don't you? Haha, I might not be right each time, but a few years of sewing and a fabulous wool fabric saved me. Did I tell you I realized my error when everything was already cut and partially sewn?

This is how I hid my forgetfulness:

 

First I had a fabulous fabric, bought in Rennes at TOTO soldes, back in November. It's a light wool, a bit sheer, soft, and really warm to wear in winter.

I gathered the front and attached it to the back, then sewed without making any folds. And then, I used my iron to flatten the gathers, and it worked. But I think it's only because the fabric was wool. As we say in French: "ça rentre". Meaning it takes the form that you want. Thank you marvellous fabric!

I decided to cut the collar in only one piece. As it is fake leather it holds on itself fine, Afterwards, I thought I could have done the same for the button hole plackets and the wrist band. But maybe because of the buttons it's better to have two layers.

I don't know why but I wanted to have pockets, but not patched pockets. So this is what I did.

 

I thought that maybe the pockets would show through the fabric, but no, so good for me. I don't think I should put something inside though!

wrist band

I have decided that I should have more shirts. But not like this one, I didn't keep the pattern, because of the problem with the side seams. I will make a basic pattern ( with bust darts!) that I can reuse over and over. A working lady never has enough shirt in my opinion :-)

In conclusion, I really want to make the most of this last months of freedom to built a collection of basic pattern who will be easy to reuse when I'll be back to work. Pants are also on the list. I already have a pattern for my bathing suits (I know, indispensable for work!), I finally have the sleeve ( also a nightmare, must have weird arms), underwear, shorts, Chanel vest. That's not too bad. Now I just have to focus on my goal!

I wonder if other people also built a collection of basic patterns?

à plus tard!

New year, new beginnings

Bonjour tout le monde!

Last November when I went back to France, I did a tour of my favourite shops to gather some ideas.

One thing I noticed, and liked, was strass. Yes, strass on clothes!

So I bought some back home, and finally made a DRESS!!!

I bought the strasses (?) at La Droguerie, it was really fun to make. I have already washed the dress and they hold perfectly. 

I love this shop, you can find there everything you need to make jewels, ribbons, buttons, you name it, this shop is a dream. I MISS YOU!

Here is an image of the pattern I made:

The dress was intended for the holidays, to have something pretty and warm to wear.

As you can notice the shape is pretty loose in the front, I have two darts in the back because I don't like to look like I'm wearing a bag.

I thought it could be also a good garment for when I go back to work. I tried to balance the large shape by making it a short dress.

I added two pockets on the front, I love having pockets in my dresses.

The fabric is a nice wool, purple... I know, again purple. I suppose I got a little obsessed by this colour this winter. The dress is lined except for the arms.

The dress looks really good when I move, yes, yes, trust me!

I thought that the zipper would make the dress look more current. It is this year's goal, I am trying to be more on the trend. Not because I want to be trendy. But because I happen to like this year trends. It's also nice to have some guideline to my creativity.

Oh, another great advantage to this kind of shape: you can eat and eat and no one will see it! It's the perfect Holidays dress. I can tell you that I didn't deprive myself from cake. And no one could tell!! Yeah!!

Still tying to make up for all I have made lately and had no time to blogg about. What a life :-)

A bientôt.

2013: busy or lazy?

Happy new year everyone!

I thought it would be funny to make a final round-up of 2013. I have never counted the number of clothes I make in a year, and I really like reading about other people achievements. So here we go ! 

Have I been super productive or lazy in 2013 ?

11 garment for Winter, mostly tops, only 1 dress and 1 skirt (I added some I didn't have time to blogg about).

The hat is your favourite of all of my post, maybe because I gave the pattern to make it. You doesn't love free patterns?

As I am not currently working I find myself in need of very few garments. And also last winter was really cold here so dresses were not really needed.

Oh yay!!! Summer! I miss you dear warm sun.

12 garments. Hum, knowing that summer only lasted 2 months, I should revise my plans for this year, and sew more for winter.

But there is a bias here: summer clothes are faster to make, no sleeves, no long stitches. And funnier shapes. I am guilty, I really prefer sewing clothes for summer, what can I do?

I made two bathing suits that fit properly and were worn almost every day. 

 

For the first time I made underwear and I really enjoyed it. I am still tweaking the pattern for the bottom, but the last tangas I made were OK.

I have not made a lot of bra, but I plan on making a dress with a nice bra top. 

And of course my trusted camies. They are really useful, if I had some silk on hand I would totally make some out of it! So chic!

Most worn piece: 

I said when I made them, that white shorts were a basic in my summer wardrobe and it was true. Those are made of stretchy fabric and don't have any sort of closure. 

Most controversial:

This ensemble is really funny and eye catching! I am thinking of making the key hole a bit bigger. And yes, I did wear it in front of people.

Summer colours:

White is THE base of my summer wardrobe, always. I use more and more fabrics with flowers but still no geometric prints.

 Winter colours:

It seems that purple is the dominant colour here. It's funny, I kind of noticed it already, because, well I wear the clothes I make! But now it seems a bit silly. I should try something new no?

A total of 30 pieces, not counting the ones I made for my friend's babies and my niece and nephew (mostly because I forgot to take pictures:-)), and those I forgot about!

Looking back on what I made is a fun exercise. 

I didn't make an excessive amount of garments, but I don't really need that much clothes. I need a purpose to make clothes: for the beach, cycling, for work, for gardening, weddings... But what can you make when you don't do this things anymore? I would almost miss work, almost.

I didn't have a really busy year, and yes I have been a little lazy. I bought some fabric to make my husband clothes, but did nothing with it, hihi.  

Being away from a decent fabric store, forced me to change my creative process in a way I don't like, so, that's an excuse.

But hey, I still appreciate my stash! I had also the good idea to stack notions witch made my sewing life easier. 

In conclusion I think that what I enjoyed doing the most  this year, is the bathing suits. I had so much fun doing them and wearing them, I will certainly make some more this year, because guess what? I have what I need in my stash!!

A bientôt.