Vogue 9260

A quick tip:  If a color doesn't particularly agree with you, just put on more lipstick.  A personal tenet, which has gotten me through some yellow, orange, and lime green days.

I wasn't sure if this particular shade of mustardy orange would look good with my new blond 'do, but I actually really like it!  I've made up Vogue 9260, a pattern for either jumpsuit or romper, the only variations being the length of the trousers.  The fabric is a lightweight rayon crepon from Denverfabrics, and even though it wrinkles immediately, I would happily sew with it again in a heartbeat.  I love the lightness, the breeziness of the stuff.  We get sticky, humid 100 degree days here in New Jersey, and sometimes you need something with 8 inches of ease and lots of holes for air circulation.

Here's a slightly awkward side view.  It's the only one I have because my photographer is not exactly a professional.  Or eager.  Or willing.

 Speaking of holes, I have fallen in love with grommets.  They're so easy to put in, and they look so professional--people say "really? You made that?"  and if I can detect just a hint of suspicion that I'm lying, my day is made.

In hindsight, when I added an inch in length, I should have added it to the shorts as opposed to the bodice.  Sometimes the elastic dips under my belt, which I wear at my natural waist.  I also should have used a less flopsy interfacing on the front neckline.  I used a lightweight cotton poplin as a sew-in interfacing because I didn't want it to be too stiff.  Looking at the photos, however, I think I could forgive a little stiffness.  *wink*  (eww gross)

I'm a pretty big fan of Vogue 9260, and I can tell because in the week since I completed it, I've already worn it 3 times!

BurdaStyle 08/2016, 110 and 102 - Pleated Trousers and Ruffled Blouse

The Russian Burda website is like the most beautiful open secret for Burdastyle enthusiasts.  Obviously, anyone can visit and see the multitude of pattern reviews done by very skilled "needlewomen," but it's the sort of site you must be introduced to by someone else already in the know.  After you're introduced, it becomes one of the most useful sites for finding reviews and inspiration--not to mention previews of upcoming issues!

All of this is to preface my favorite term for those who sew:  Needlewomen!  Nearly every review on that site begins with (translated automatically by Chrome) "Hello fellow needlewomen" or some variation thereof.  The term has a certain Balkan charm, and I've decided to adopt it.

I mean, really, what kind of options do we needlewomen have when it comes to terms for ourselves?  Sewer is obvious, but contains whiffs of the gutter.  Sewist is a little too hipster-y.  Seamstress, a bit too industrial revolution.  Nah.  Needlewoman is what I call myself, for a needlewoman I am.

Sadly, needleman doesn't have quite the same ring to it.  Tailor is appealingly brisk, but it refers to a specific type of garment making.  I would suggest "man of the cloth," but people might get the wrong impression.

The first month of this new year was full of family business and busy days and nights--no time to sew.  February, despite having to catch up on work from last semester and keep up with the current one, has given me a little more time.  These pants are one of the first projects I completed this year.  I think I like them.  The red/white striped ruffle-front blouse was completed last year, but I like them together as an outfit.

The trousers are Burdastyle 08/2016 110, and the blouse is 08/2016 102.

For the pleated trousers I used a golden beige linen/wool blend fabric.  Lightweight, which drapes well, and very comfortable.  It doesn't crease as badly as pure linen, but it's easier to care for than pure wool--win/win!  I modified the pattern slightly by shortening the wide waistband and adding a tab in the front, with a contrasting button.  I think it's a subtle little detail, but cute.

The ruffled-front shirt went together well, but it's a bit boxy for my taste, so I think I will usually tie it up or wear it tucked in.  The front is dart-fitted, but the back has a pleat and no shaping.  The armholes were a little snug, and not as scooped in as I think they ought to be, but that's easily fixed!  I really like this blouse, with the tiny band instead of a collar, the bias ruffles, and the fun options for customization with buttons and stripes.

The fabric is a lightweight, crisp cotton shirting with no stretch.

The second shirt is similar, with a boxy fit and a band instead of a collar, but it was made years ago from a Simplicity pattern.  I'm not sure which one!  It's the oldest thing I made which I still wear.  The busy print helps obscure the bad topstitching, and the french seams have made the airy cotton lawn stand up to dozens of washings.  Definitely a favorite in the wardrobe!

Thank you for reading!  I encourage any feedback, constructive criticism, whatnot.  Always looking to advance my knowledge and skills.

New Look 6183 and an Ignominious Sewing First

It all began when I downloaded the Burdavisor program which allows you to view the contents of Burda Style back issues including line drawings and magazine/mannequin photos.  It's pretty neat, and I have a tendency to get sucked in on rainy afternoons!  One day while browsing, I came across the plus section from May 2010 which gave us a glimpse into the life of a very glamorous and feminine Italian (I think) woman.  Well, glamorous as a housefrau who cleans and cooks and pleases her man in silky dresses can possibly be.

Liberated woman or not, her dresses are beautiful, and this one in particular struck me:

I couldn't find a copy anywhere, however, so I looked around for a similar dress and found New Look 6183.

Very similar, especially if that ruching at the front were gotten rid of.  Which is exactly what I did!

I think it came out really well!  I love the seaming on the skirt, which moves nicely as I walk.  I'm pleased with the way it fits as well, but I don't usually have many fitting challenges to begin with, so I just did the usual FBA and taking in at the waist.

The zipper looks like it sticks out at the back neckline, but it just wasn't zipped all the way up!

I did make some slight modifications to the pattern, but nothing major.  I lengthened the bodice pieces about two inches and moved the gathers a little closer to the center, where most of my fullness is located.  I also cut a 14 in the bodice, graded into a 10 at the waist, then out to a 16 at the hips.  It worked pretty well, I think.

The sleeves I cut without modification, but after hemming them, I gathered the lower 6 inches tightly and sewed little green buttons on top!  I added a self-bow out of a small tube of fabric at the center of the V-neck, but it gets a little lost in the print in these photos.  I think in the one below, it's a little clearer.  Also clear is the pretty great fit!

The fabric, once again, is from DenverFabrics.  It may be found right here.  It's a lightweight polyester crepe, but I really lucked out because it's not static-y or sweaty feeling like a lot of polyesters.  It has a really nice, almost dry feel to it, and a subtle sheen.  

And of course, my sewing first:  I accidentally melted a little of this fabric!  It was the very bottom of the center front seam, and just the edge.  I forgot to turn my iron down from my last project (which I haven't shared yet), and felt so dumb!  Luckily, it was all hidden away in the seam allowance!

Burda Style 01/2015 #126 -- Vintage Dress

I love BurdaStyle magazine.  I love the tracing, I love the anticipation of waiting for it to arrive, I love the roller-coaster of emotions as I try to follow the instructions.  I love the styles (August 2014--ON TOP of the culotte phenomenon), the photo spreads, and the silly, most likely trip-induced crafty projects often featured.

Oh, and I love this dress.  It's simple enough to have a vintage vibe without being a costume, and I've styled it two different ways and took photos in front of my shower curtain.

I did change the pattern a little bit.  I decided to forgo the inset waistband, and instead lengthened the bodice by two inches.  I also left it unlined, because I like the cheeky look of a short slip underneath a sheer dress.  The dark poly chiffon is just sheer enough to show the slip without leaving me feeling completely exposed.

This first look is more innocent and schoolgirl-ish, with saddle shoes and a ponytail.

Here's the second look:

Am I pulling it off?  That look of decadent Italian voluptuousness?

 Here's a detail of the bodice:

The neckline was finished with a machined baby hem, while the sleeves were hand-rolled.

I cut out a size 44, my usual size in Burda, but instead of removing all the extra fabric from the waist as I usually do, I decided to leave it a bit loose so it could just be a pullover dress.  I had visions of borderline grungey '90s floral dresses--kinda loose with little ties at the back to hold some of the volume in check.  Once I tried it on, though, I realized that that's not really the look for me.  I like to be cinched in tight.  Like, hindering blood flow kind of tight.  It's what gives me such good posture.  So, after making the dress extra loose in the waist and forgoing a zipper, I decided to make a matching belt.

This little puppy is made of black wool twill with four layers of cotton flannel sandwiched inside to give it body and strength.  Then quilted to the edge of the earth.  Have you ever tried to stitch parallel lines in black, on black, in the dim Tungsten glow of a non-efficient antique lamp?  Trying is a charitable way to describe it.  I'm surprisingly happy with the way it all turned out, though.  I like the look of the D-rings and the way I was able to contour the belt.  I had intended for the contour to be a little more pronounced, but the quilting may have stretched the smaller edge a bit.  Not sure.  Still fits.

The center back has an overlap of the diagonal lines of stitching.

And apparently a lot of cat hair.  

Now that I know how easy it is to make belts like this, I think i'm going to make some embellished ones for the summer--pastels with organza flowers and rhinestones.  Just cutesy enough to make a cynical hipster grimace, but not quite vomit.

Vintage Butterick 6615

I don't know what I'd do if I Etsy didn't exist.  How would I fill my weekday evenings if I couldn't browse countless vintage patterns?  Homework?  As if.

It was during one of these sessions that I came across this particular silhouette that seems to have been pretty popular in the '70s.  [Side note:  I own all three of those patterns and made up the first one, the Vogue, twice, then lent it to my sister and don't know that I'll ever see it again.  C'est la vie.]

Finding myself in need of a spring-appropriate maxi dress, I turned to vintage Butterick 6615 and a length of floral rayon.  

I'm easily influenced by the envelope illustrations

Little white ruffles are a recurring theme in my sewn wardrobe.  They're nice on hems, but I think my favorite place to stick 'em is in a deep neckline.  

It's a little loose in the back, but it tightens up after being washed.  The fabric has a very soft texture which grows a bit as it's worn.

As you can see, I cut view B, and added the useless buttons of view A.  They don't look even, but that's because the bodice curves in under my bust.  I did do some slight modification, mostly changing the gathers into pleats and shortening the sleeves.  In fact, I took about four inches off of the sleeves and lowered the neckline significantly both front and back.  Before these mods, it was starting to look pretty sister-wifely, which is definitely A Look, but not the one I'm usually going for.  

I also made an FBA by modifying the princess seam to match my princess seam block (incidentally the only block I've ever made).

The pattern itself was very simple to sew, mostly because I've done this silhouette before.  The real difficulty lies in the princess seaming and the pivot at the bottom of the side bodice.  It's breezy and feminine, and has a faint whiff of the Regency about it.

I made it two weeks ago, and have worn it four times since then.  That's something I tend to do with all of my sewn clothing!  I get obsessed with wearing each new piece everywhere!

Thank you very much!

Vogue 9046 - The Beginning

I never muslin things.

There.  I said it.  It's true.  I usually have very little trouble fitting patterns, so I measure them, cut extra wide-seams in the shoulder area, then get started.  This very very rarely fails me, and when it does, the problem is usually a little less room than I'd like in the bust area.

Not so with Vogue 9046, the Claire Shaeffer dress with a million tucks.

The inside of the tucks.  By number 17, I was starting to crack.

The outside, which hasn't been properly pressed in this picture.  Seriously, so many tucks.  Do you know how long it took to mark them all?  Neither do I.  Time ceased to hold meaning for me.  I'm pretty sure, for a brief moment, I forgot the taste of bread.

These tucks turned out beautifully, though.  All 38 of them.  I was happy, and excited to sew my sleeves in, and thought they looked perfectly normal.

Until I tried the damn thing on.

Disregard the filthy mirror (It's a dusty basement mirror) and focus on where the armhole sits.  That's like halfway toward the front of my boob!  And at least four inches below my armpit proper.  Unacceptable, but not something with which I usually have to contend.  Vogue 9046 has just issued a challenge, it seems

There are other fit problems, including the waist being too big, which I expected, and also the tucks in the front being too short, giving me an unfortunate potbelly.  These are easily fixed by adding tucks to the center back and extending the front tucks a few inches.

No idea what I'm going to do about those sleeves, though.  I'm thinking sleeveless, but then I'd have to do something about the ludicrously enormous armholes.  Hmm...

Simplicity 1419 - The Russian Wodka Dress

I used to really like the Lisette line of patterns for Simplicity.  The first collection was like an adorable exercise in coordination--the colors, the fabric swatches on the envelopes, the little names they all were given.  But then I actually made some (the Passport dress and the Portfolio tunic, if you must know).  The early ones almost uniformly lacked bust shaping and ended up being kind of unflattering for someone like me.  Simplicity 1419 changed all of that!

For this dress, I added an FBA and some extra waist darts (bringing me to 4 in the front) for the proper fit, then changed the skirt to the formula I like best.  It has two inverted pleats at the front, which usually are placed directly underneath the waist dart, and either small pleats or gathers at the back.  On this particular dress I used pleats.  Made this way, the skirt has a nice flat front which I prefer to one with fullness all the way around.

Checking on cookies.  You mean to say that you don't do Industrial Christmas Baking dressed like this??

 The fabric is Russian vodka, circus, ballet, and flag print which is definitely a little unusual for me!  I tend to stick to solids or small florals, and leave the crazy prints to my sister, but I had my eye on this fabric for years and finally decided to pull the trigger a couple of months ago.  I'm so glad I did because it's got a hand like buttah and a drape like silk--all while being easy-care rayon.

It looks like there's a line of stitching above the waistline seam, but I think that's a crease in the fabric from where I had the apron tied a bit snugly earlier.  

I cut a size 14, but did a 3-inch FBA and took out additional width in the waist with an extra dart.  I think the back ended up being a size 12.  This pattern definitely runs a little bit big!

I swear, this kitchen has the worst lighting ever.  But the best ovens!

From the side you can see the sleeve I modified.  The pattern's original cap sleeves were not my cup of tea.  At all.  Originally, I thought that a puffed half-sleeve with darts at the bottom, like a mini leg o' mutton would be nice instead, and give me a bit of coverage in the winter.  Nope.  Frumpsville.  In a fit of frustration, I cut two inches off the bottom, hemmed it, and then gathered the bottom 3-ish inches at the outside and sewed a little self-bow on top.  It's twee, but it suits the silly print!

I welcome any suggestions, critiques, advice-s, etc!  Thanks!

Burda 08/2014 #112 Or, Not my finest hour

From BurdaStyle's August 2014 issue come these pink knickers.

Since making them in September, I've worn them only twice.  I loved them in the magazine and perhaps overestimated how flattering the early-20th-century-newsboy look would be on me.  They are supremely comfortable and kinda kicky, but I can't help feeling enormous in them. And that's after shaving a good two inches out of each leg (which explains why the pleats don't close)!  Originally they were absolutely billowy, even in the weighty polyester/rayon crepe suiting I chose.

I was hoping to look like this:

But it came out a little more like this:

The buttons are rather pretty faux-horn which I took off of a baby-sized trench I bought at the Salvation Army for that purpose.

This was my first attempt at a fly zip, and while it's not entirely even, I'm not unhappy with it.  I tried to rip it out and do it again, but soon realized that a permanent mark would be left from the previous line of stitching.

This is the leg opening.  After the disaster that was the waistband buttonhole, I decided to just go with loops.  And never sew with this particular type of fabric again.

Here you can see just how high the rise is, as well as my zipper!  Um, these will never be worn with anything tucked in.

 The back view.  Part of me loves them, and part of me just thinks that they give me old-lady pancake butt.

I really like them from the side! 

In all, I'm happy that I made these, because I learned how to do a fly zipper opening (although I definitely need some more practice) and also because I think they are a bit fun, especially for lazy days spent baking/decorating or picnics at the park, or any other time I don't necessarily have to look my best, and don't want to wear a dress.  

This picture is just gratuitous.  I accidentally set the 2-second instead of the 10-second timer on the camera--then ran in front rather than just let it go.  I think it's the funniest picture of me, double chin, Febreeze and all!

Burda 6832 - Rust

When the new Autumn 2014 Burdas came out, I had my eye on 6830, but since Jo-Ann's decided to have a sale almost immediately after they were released and that never happens, I grabbed Burda 6832 as well, just because I love unusual collars, princess seams, and fake buttons.

I'm very glad I did, since I've made two versions already during this semester (how I measure all time), using both variations.  The first is made from a rayon/linen blend from (where else?) DenverFabrics.  I didn't love the color when I first saw it as I thought it was going to be quite a bit redder, but it's grown on me and I think it suits my complexion.  That's quite a relief because I have 6 more yards of the stuff  (it was $1.99 and I had big plans)!  There are some drawbacks, which, I suppose, is one of the dangers of using $1.99 fabric.  The main one is that it's bagged at the back already, and the hem now looks sort of puckered or something.  This bugs me because I interfaced the hem and reinforced the CB seam with Hug Snug.

Anyway, I made View B, but with the shorter sleeves of View A.  I don't usually use directions, but found that it was necessary in order to understand just how the collar and its facing went together.  Don't be alarmed, though!  These directions, while not illustrated as fully as a pattern from, say, Simplicity or Vogue, gave me only the mildest of headaches.

These buttons are non-functional.  Don't care.  YOLO.

You can see here that the collar is buckling a little.  I'm not sure how to fix this, because only the facing is interfaced.  You can also see the extreme wrinkling that this fabric is prone to.

See that hem?  GRRR.

The dress itself is comfortable and very pretty.  I did my usual princess seam adjustment, where I just follow the curves of my princess seam block and it all came together.  The back was pretty big, but that was easy to adjust because of the center seam.  For the second version, I just cut the back one size smaller, grading out to the original size in the hips.

I like the sleeves, but I'm not in love with them.  I think they're cuter on the model than they are on me, and they have a habit of bunching up under a sweater, which added to the wrinkling makes me a little crazy, but I'm not going to change them.  They went right into the armscye with very little ease, which is nice.  I also love the high armhole and the shoulder seams which are actually on my shoulders!

The insides are pretty basic, I just pinked all the seams (this stuff is so dense--it does not ravel!) and narrow-zig-zagged the facing.

I definitely think I may make this a third time, just because it fits so well with minimal adjustments, and because its so customizable.  I think a version with LOTR Elvish-style embroidery around the collar would be really beautiful, or a dark version with hand topstitching tracing the seamlines, or colorblocked no, wait, that would be horrible.

I hate colorblocking.

Stay tuned for version 2!