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.

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!