simplicity 1755 Leanne Marshall shirt dress

As I am still in a pickle over the Carven dress finishes I decided to leave it be for a few days and give myself a rest with this little beauty:

I am using view B with sleeves with a couple of alterations: no fabric belt with bow; the sleeves and dress are in the same fabric (grey spotted lawn from Bangkok fabric haul) and finally I have cut the collar in a white cotton lawn as well as the sleeves turn ups. I'm not lining the bodice either. I will post pictures this weekend as it's coming along at speed. Instant sewing gratification for my last weekend of freedom!

Carven style holes dress

In the middle of packing for move I am still struggling with my Carven dress holes and how to finish them. I do like the 3d rose tulle but is it right for this dress. I have hand sewn it in place and this is what it looks like on the dummy:

I am not sure at all....

Spotted dress, bovver boots and bicycles

And I am in full lust mode

Mumsy or sickly sweet

I'm going to have a bit of a moan so stop reading now if you don't want to feel offended.

The resurgence of interest in sewing is all well and good but I wish there was some stylish sewing media and inspiration available. Stopping by WH Smith 'craft section' is a depressing experience. There are 3 choices available to you:

1) What I call the 'academic' magazines : sew today (english version of vogue sewing), threads, Sew ... informative but tend to be on the dull side.

2) The German Magazine, yep i'm talking Burda  style here... what can i say? what i want to say is they should take out the word 'style' from the cover cause Karl Lagerfeld it ain't.

3) My worst nightmare: the cutiepie overdose magazines with pseudo trendy amateurish projects nobody in their right mind would ever want to make let alone wear. the names alone bring me out in cold sweats : mollie makes (i want to parody the song mollie, mollie wtf is Mollie), Crafty, cloth... and the worst I saw was something called 'homemaker'! come on ! somebody is taking the proverbial piss here with a name like that , we are in the 21st century. There's loads more all as bad as one another.
I think the publishers of those rags have read Marie Claire Idees at some stage and aim to reproduce it for the British market. But it doesn't work and lets be honest 100 idees was a lot better than MCI. 100% BETTER.

I just wish somebody would come up with a new 100 idees concept which doesn't serve cheap feeble projects . but that's not going to happen

Candyfloss Jacket project

As my new job and move beckon I am reviewing my wardrobe. I am in need of a smart in-between seasons jacket and I have a hankering for a tweed Chanel inspired number.

A project like that isn't cheap but if you look at it as an investment and think of the cost of an ordinary mass produced jacket versus a Chanel you are making a wise investment.

I spent £55 on my supplies

first I selected the following pattern:

The Threads and Simplicity collaboration patterns are great, you've got a capsule wardrobe that is on trend yet classic all for £9 including postage

The fabric requirements are economical and I can see myself making all the items eventually. I particularly love the peplum blouse.

When you talk 'Chanel style' jacket you think Linton tweeds and I fell pray to this beauty:

£26 a meter is a big Ouch but this come in 140 cm wide and the Simplicity only requires 1.20 meter

I am not a big fan of the bling jackets with shiny trimmings and gilt buttons but I have a couple of meters of this cute gros grain velvet pompom ribbon in my sewing stash . I got it from French haberdashery website Mamzelle Fourmi. I will use it to trim the jacket:

Yes, it seems my brain has been taken over by candy floss.

And as I hate sewing buttonholes I ordered some furriers hooks and eyes from McCulloch & Wallis to discreetly fasten edge to edge.


 And now for some more pink:

La quintessence de Dior comment Christian Dior envisageait la haute couture

McCall's 6986 Wine Dress and assorted banter

I have to pre warn my potential readers that major changes are afoot which might disturb the flow of posts: I have been offered the job that I have been wanting for the last month.
At first it was just a rumour of a job, then there was no job , then it was on again and finally they offered me the interview I had been wanting and they liked me! So, in 2 weeks time I will be no longer one of the great evil, unwashed foreigners who are such a drain on the long suffering British taxpayer, I will be one of the tax payers myself ; albeit a non British one.

Well; that was a nice bit of controversy (let's just hope I've got no daily mail readers lurking in my readership). To be near my work I will be moving with the BF to a town in Wiltshire which has got more than 1 street! Woohoo!

So there might be less sewing in store for a few weeks and less blog updates.
Anyway as the Vogue cut out dress lace trimming is lost somewhere in the post, I thought I decided to squeeze a new project in between:

This is as far as I've got with it.

I picked up this cotton sateen in Fabricland and I loved the colour and the slight stretch which I thought could come in useful as I know vintage patterns tend to be on the snug side. If it says on the envelope it's a 28 inch waist you're not going to get 30 as it goes on modern patterns. The downside of the fabric is that it's not top notch quality but then again as with all Fabricland stuff it's very good value for the money (£3.99 a meter in 150 cms width is fine by me).
I have a couple of vintage 1960's buttons in a similar colour and I am debating which will make the best match:

so far the top one has my vote, but it could change.

That will be 3 then...

I've had a bit of a pattern splurge today

and this one too

I have a wine coloured cotton sateen and a 1960's button that will do the perfect job for the McCall's 9869 red dress. that's the autumn sorted.

2 posts in one day

 

As the weather is so crap I'm thinking of winter already . I've got some winter weight viscose printed  jersey in my stash of fabrics and when I saw the above pattern on etsy I could not resist. Off to the ruminating project pile for a while.

Prada Menswear Spring 2014, start saving now

'

Yesterday Miuccia Prada showed a few women's dresses and outfits amongst her men's collection. I particularly love the classic Hawaiian printed dress above with the rich contrast of deep red print against the yellow embroidered sleeves and the black skirt. There is a 1940's feel to the dress silhouette but it's romantic without being twee.
I also like that it's a spring weather dress with 3 quarter sleeves so it can be worn for more than 1 month of the year. Is Mrs Prada thinking our weather has gone haywire and making allowances for it?
The ukulele lady printed bag will become an instant cult classic. I can already see the copies in my foggy head. They can copy all they want but it never is as fresh or clever as the original. Classic Prada at her best.

More digressing and the Vogue 8900 dress cut outs mincing is nearly over

Okay so lace was a non starter for me . I like it as a fabric but I just didn't fancy it for the look I had in mind. I think I went for a scutter around the shops Wednesday ( i'm talking middle England ordinary high street shops here) and they seemed be full of cheap looking lace inserts cotton or otherwise plastic derived.  That was enough to put me off the lace idea completely.

I did some online research about 3D lace and trimmings and then I came upon that trim in a lace seller shop on Etsy:

oh my! I just hope the picture is a true reflection of what I've ordered cause I fell in love with it straight away though I know it's not in keeping with the original design I had in mind. The trim is over 3 inches wide and will fit perfectly in the cut outs. I have finished the edges already and will hand sew it in place so If I get bored I can cut it out without ruining the dress.

Vogue 8900 bias binding finishes progress or digress?

I am not sure what criteria Vogue have used to describe this dress as easy but the cut outs and binding finishes don't really come to mind as an easy project for a beginner. Too many pitfalls waiting to catch me out . But I'm trying my hardest here

The pattern instructions for finishing the armholes , neck and side opening suggest cutting your own tape in lining folding, basting the strips and sewing to edge as mini facings.
There is no added interfacing.

I've been starring at the Carven toile versions for days now and for the fabric not to flop and keep the neat line around the edge I figured you would need more than just soft binding made of lining fabric.

I also read Erica B's blog report on her finished dress and she makes it clear stabilizing the edges is the key to success (thank you Erica).

So I bought a stiff cotton organdie partly folded bias ribbon.
This is very odd when you first handle it as it's very stiff indeed with a texture like paper. But, when you steam iron it into place it becomes soft and manageable so perfect for bending around the curves of the dress edges.

Let me just say I did an awful lot of hand basting, steaming , more basting and more hot steaming and I'm still not 100% convinced of the results :

beginning of Binding experiment

During, in between and after

And from the outside. I'm happy the dress has got body but I'm hoping the wavy effect is due to the dummy not being the right size AND NEED OF MORE IRONING.

I tried on the dress at basting stage and bf said fit is okay but I need him to take pictures of me in nearly finished dress to see it it's got a smoother fit.

Ah well it's not finished yet so we shall see in the next couple of days if it turns out okay.

Vogue 8900 Carven inspired dress dilemma

lace panel or cutwork panel? that is the question. I like the cut work effect and whilst clearing the flat (I will be moving soon) I found a linen table cloth with cut work details that I could use as inserts. the white linen has got more body and would keep with the spirit of the Carven designs:

Whilst the blue lace I 've got is very pretty I am worried it's too limp for the main fabric.

sewing inspirations and why I sew

I tend to look at what my favourite designers do as a starting point for my projects. I look at the shows pictures, the designer websites and then I look for fabrics and patterns that match what I want to make. putting everything together into an actual sewn garment takes the time and is the fun creative part of sewing and it's not that difficult.

 So for example I saw these Miu Miu spotted coats and dresses and the inspirations in March:

 

I love the contrasting collar and the candy colours

Then I found the grey spotted cotton fabric in Bangkok in May

 

Following on my 'spotted' obsession I saw this coating double faced wool fabric on Truro fabrics website which I love. it's only £19.99 a meter .

so far i'm still weighing my options so I've not splurged on that fabric but it's in my 'possible' mental pile.

Then on sunday I came across these 2 vintage patterns on Etsy and as they were cheap as chips and exactly the look I had in mind I pounced:

 

 

so here I am halfway though my design thinking process.  I know this look will be copied by primark and all on the high street but that's not what I want to achieve or want to wear. And what I eventually sew won't be as cheap as Primark but it will be a lot cheaper than a Miu Miu dress and the quality I achieve will be a lot better than Primark's.

 

idleness cured

Up to 2 months ago I worked for a large company as a French something or other and then they went in search of cheaper labour and we were sent on our way to the dole office with a generous amount of money to cover our living expenses for a few months.

The first thing I did was to go on holiday and indulge my Miu Miu handbag obsession.
During my travels, I also decided to prepare for the idleness that laid ahead and to start sewing.
I already had a sewing machine, my trusted vintage Elna Stella/Lotus so I invested in fabrics, trimmings and buttons.

The bf and I went to Paris and Thailand and I picked up lots of treasures along the way.
Since we came back 3 weeks ago I have been looking for a new job which is so far proving elusive but the sewing has kept me on the straight and narrow side of sanity!

So far I have made 2 dresses and a blouse.

First effort was the famous Macaron dress from Colette patterns which I made from a glazed crumpled linen I bought in France with 2 kitty buttons from La Droguerie. I picked the buttons and patterns because they both reminded me of the Miu Miu 2010 summer collection.

Overall I am pleased with the way the dress turned up. The fit is superb and I didn't have to make any alterations.

The next dress was Vogue 1353 Kay Hunger design. For this, I used a paul smith linen and cotton fabric from the Croft Mill fabrics website. The lady who runs it has some real gems at very reasonable prices.
As an afterthought I decided to hand sew (this morning) a pleated bronze ribbon from la Droguerie to the neckline; just to give it a bit of an edge on the original design. I sewed the size 12 and I have no complaint about the fit: Vogue patterns are very generous with their ease allowance. I am a 36'' bust which they say is a 14 but I used their 34 '' measurements because I read on other blogs their fit was on the large side . I guess it's sheer luck on my part.

The original plain neckline

With added ribbon.

Then I made a blouse with a cute kitty print cotton fabric I bought in Bangkok for 150 baht a meter (that's about £3) . As an aside, the fabric shops in Bangkok are amazing, they have a great choice of locally produced cottons as well as Japanese ones and the prices are much cheaper than in the UK. I bought all my fabrics at the store on the corner of sukhumvit soi 21 (opposite side of the road of terminal 21 shopping mall) and at the fabric room on the second floor of central world. both shops have a great selection of cotton fabrics.
For the blouse I used a vintage simplicity pattern from the 70's but made the Peter Pan collar less humongous:

cute kitty galore close up

and here is a sample of some of my Thai  fabrics purchases:

 The spotted cotton I plan to use for Vogue 1970's dress pattern I just got from Etsy and I will post this later. I am planning a Miu Miu inspired project based on the autumn collection she showed in March.

And I actually want to make 'a linen skirt' out of this linen print which mentions a linen skirt! But we shall see later in the summer.

My new project is a Carven inspired Vogue pattern and a few sewing blogs have already mentioned the similarities in the designs:

I bought a silver threaded denim from Truro fabrics and as i'm a bit self conscous about exposing bare side flesh I bought a small piece of blue corded lace from Stone fabrics for the side panels.
Here are the 2 designs (Vogue is the red dress)

I cut out the dress yesterday so it will be a few days before i can post more pictures but anyhow
I want to carry on  posting my sewing progress as I go along and maybe engage dialogue with fellow sewing fiends out there. So let me know what you think.