Category: Inspiration

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Inspiration

Happy 2013!

As is traditional, I like to take the first of a new year to take the opportunity to look back on what I’ve sewn in the previous year. So without further ado, here’s a visual reminder of 2012!


Click the image to see it better, or right-click here to see it in a new tab to get a better look!

Tip: If you’d like to skim back through the posts for the above projects, you can click Gallery in the upper left menu, which will only show you finished projects, without all the magazine reviews and in-progress reports getting in the way!

By a mere glance at the collage, it looks like I’ve sewn less this year than in past years, but really I just became more efficient with my photoshoots and so most of the photos contain more than one garment! That, and there were a few that weren’t properly documented, oops.

The Year in Stats

In terms of pattern companies used this year, I made: 11 Burda magazine (more on that in January as I finish up my Year of Burda), 6 Papercut Patterns, 5 Jalie, 4 Pattern Magic, around 4 self-drafted, 2 Manequim magazine, 2 Young Image/My Image magazine, 2 Pattern ~ Scissors ~ Cloth, and one each from: Lekala, Simplicity, Vogue, So… Zoe, Christine Jonson, Wiksten, and KnipMode (oh how the once-mighty have fallen!).

By my count, I made: 19 Tops, 15 pairs of Trousers, 4 Dresses, 4 Skirts, 3 Coats/Jackets, plus two slips and a handful of pairs of panties, an iPad cover, some running armbands, and a boat skylight cover!

But the biggest number of them all – 21 of the above were for running! omg.

Inspiration, Magazine

Patrones 320

Yay! The in-laws were holidaying in Spain recently and were kind enough to pick up two issues of Patrones for me! I was planning on showing you both at the same time (the other is a reprints issue, No.22), but in my limited evenings this week, I’ve been using my available time prepping fabric and tracing out patterns to sew over my Christmas break, and scanning isn’t nearly as much fun in comparison.

In the meantime, here’s the first issue, full of new winter patterns!

Patrones 320

Here are the patterns shown on the cover – a nice button-down shirt with pintucks, an amaaaaazing biker jacket, and some nice slim trousers/jeans. I really like the deep green velvet they used here, too.

Another slim trousers + shirt + jacket combo, this time in a more equestrian style. I’m not keen on the massive bow on the top, but I really like the jodhpur detail on the trousers.

Inspiration, Magazine

Manequim November 2012 (yes, another one!)

I have no idea why, but Manequim magazine always produce two November issues. In all the other months, it’s just the usual one issue per month, so I have no idea why November is any different. Does anyone know why this is? Is it a cultural thing in Brazil perhaps?

In any case, here’s the second November issue – my review of the first November issue is here if you’d like to compare the two.

Regular readers will already know that I don’t “do” shorts, but it doesn’t stop me admiring the design of these elegant petal shorts.

This multisize, long sleeved blouse could easily work for colder weather by just using a different fabric, and it’s paired with yet another pair of cute shorts, this time with a retro curved hem.

The summer jacket is nice, but I’m more interested in the oh-so-versatile tank/vest underneath, since it’s in my size, and always a good thing for summer, but also for lingerie and layering.

Inspiration, Magazine

Burda magazine December 2012

First of all, thank you all so so much for all your lovely comments on the vintage wiggle dress! Due to another crazy week at work plus coming down with a rotten cold, I’ve been even less equipped than usual to reply to as many as I like, but rest assured I do see every one of them (they’re emailed to me, so no matter how old the post is, I see what you wrote!), and I’ll try to work through the backlog of replies soon.

But rather than waiting on little ol’ me, have a look inside the latest issue of Burda magazine, because they’ve gone and ended this year with a bang, my oh my…

How much do I love this dress?!? It’s so good they’ve put it on the cover, and then again inside, with long or short sleeves, and floor-length, or knee-length hems. When I was shopping in the West End with my mom a few weeks ago, I swear I saw this exact dress across a crowded department store, so I’m pretty sure it’s a designer knockoff – maybe Christian Dior? Does anyone know? In any case, it’s a Tall dress (boo! so most of us have to remove some vertical length in a few spots), but there are illustrated instructions for this one (which you can view in the pdf here since the long version is up for purchase on the English BurdaStyle.com already).

I know the tech drawing for this sequin tank is pretty plain and boring, but it’s all about optimising a very special (or expensive) short piece of fabric, and this sequin version reminds me of a RTW Express navy blue tank seen here. I also quite like the stretch leather trousers, but the likelihood of finding stretch leather outside the NYC garment district is quite slim…

I like the pairing of this peplum jacket and jodhpurs but those trousers mysteriously look like the exact same trousers from the recent Burda Easy magazine but with an extra inner leg seam cutout… Sneaky Burda, sneaky.

Inspiration, Magazine

Manequim November 2012

I wasn’t overly impressed with last month’s issue of this Brazilian pattern magazine (Remember there are other Brazilian pattern magazines too!), but this one’s got enough fancy party dresses in it to keep me happy, even if it’s overly summery for my personal use right now!

Now here’s some pattern versatility we can all use: a detachable peplum to wear with any skirt, trousers, or dress. This lets you be totally on-trend without any commitment, because when peplums go out of fashion again, your skirt/trousers/dress can still be worn without it!

Manequim are so good at the short cocktail dresses, and this little sheath dress has a really intersting crossover neckline and some cool pleats at the hips to add interest.

The designer inspiration feature revolves around Kate Spade this month, and I really like this dress in particular, because it doesn’t have a waist seam, which seems to be fairly unusual for this silhouette. The jacket is covering the neckline in this particular shot, but the square neckline is really flattering, too.

Inspiration, Magazine

Manequim October 2012

You can always tell when I’m lukewarm about a particular magazine issue – it’ll not appear on the site for ages after it arrives! All I’m going to say is that the November issue arrived in my postbox last night and that’s given me a kick to actually share October’s with you, which didn’t really contain much for me….

Don’t get me wrong, if you have lots of kids to sew for, then this issue’s for you! But that plus the dearth of summer fashions just means I’m not all that excited by it.

I actually LOLed when I saw them describe the High-Low hem as “mullet” hemlines!! That’s fantastic! (No pattern’s here – it’s just the street style section)

Some of the kids’ patterns are fabulous, but then we have… this. Weird sweatsuit trousers with a pouch over the crotch. Of course!

Here’s a nice top with an illusion neckline and sleeve bands. I’m not fully on board with Camp Sleeveband, but I can see the advantage of keeping the sun off your shoulders without going to a sleeve. I remember in 2010 when Burda had them they seemed strange and shocking, but now I think they’re a lot more mainstream.

Inspiration

Goings On

I know everyone goes through periods of extreme busy-ness and stress, but I feel like the past 6-8 weeks have just been nonstop with barely a pause to catch my breath! You’ll have to accept my apologies for not going into these various sewing happenings in full – I’m saving my writing time for my finished garments!

So, without further ado, a catchup on the last few weeks’ goings on…

1. The day after I arrived back from Amsterdam, my parents arrived for a visit! Among other things, they brought with them a big stash of Suziplex wicking lycra that Lakaribane bought for me by request while she was in Montreal recently! I think I’ve lost track of the number of international borders these 5 meters of fabric have crossed, but I am so happy to have more, because the three running leggings I’ve sewn with the stash I bought in March are my favourites ever.

2. I recently went on a bit of a Young Image magazines and envelope patterns binge, so I sat down with my mom while she was here and she picked out some designs she thought my niece might like for her Christmas present…

Inspiration, Magazine

Burda magazine November 2012

I don’t think this is the best issue of Burda we’ve seen in a while (remember how amazing August and September were??), but there are still a few patterns worth mentioning, and even a few worth buying!

I really like these slim trousers omg but they look identical to the ones in the January 2012 issue that I made! Seriously, I inspected the tech drawing and pieces and it really does look like this is an exact reprint from January! To be honest, I like my grey trousers so much I was thinking about making them again, but now I might make this pair instead purely so I can compare the two.

Here are those slim trousers again plus a top with a boxpleated peplum. I really like this peplum top, but I think the one I made two months ago is probably enough for me for a while!

This long trenchcoat is rather nice, though it has an asymmetric back vent flap that just looks wrong (but is easy enough to change).

Inspiration, Magazine

Burda Easy magazine FW12

I’ve been aware of Burda Easy magazine for a while, and I even bought one a few years ago, but I don’t usually like the designs so I usually steer clear. But I really liked a few of them in this issue, and it was staring me in the face in a French supermarket a few weeks ago, so I couldn’t pass it up. Coincidentally, I bought it at the same time as the Fait Main magazine I already shared with you.

If you’re not familiar with Burda Easy, it’s published twice a year in several languages (but not English), and has illustrated instructions for simpler designs. The patterns come on tissue and are printed in such a way that they don’t overlap each other so you could cut the out rather than trace if you’re that way inclined. They don’t contain seam allowances, which is the norm everywhere except the US.

I’m not sure about the colourblocking on these trousers, but I really like the design lines and I always love a front-leg seam. The short sleeved jacket here is also cute, and has variations for full jackets and waistcoats, too.

I really love the seam lines on this boxy top, and I like the way they’ve used different black fabrics to play around with texture (the miniskirt’s very on trend with that hemline, too!).

Inspiration

Amsterdamage – lingerie and marathon edition

What a weekend! I’ve been to Amsterdam several times before, so I felt zero need to see the tourist sites (though I did take a boat tour, more for the hour of sitting than anything else!). For me, this weekend was all about sewing and running, my two favourite pasttimes! I flew in Saturday morning and fellow sewing blogger Lauriana met me at the station to drive to the legendary Kantje Boord.

If you’re not familiar with Kantje Boord (and let’s be fair, their website is appalling), it’s a specialty lingerie haberdashery and fabric store, and is pretty much the only one of its kind in the world as far as I know. But it’s pretty far out of town, well away from the usual public transport, so I was very grateful to be driven there and give my legs a rest!

I’d heard stories about Kantje Boord, and I was not disappointed! It’s a tiny shop, but it’s stacked floor to ceiling with everything lingerie, lace, and elastic you could possibly imagine, and in every colour of the rainbow.

There must’ve been several hundred different kits (with everything you need to make a bra and panties in matching colours), but I decided what I’d rather make is another Ruby Slip, but in camisole length, with matching panties, so I instead focused on the wide laces, of which there must’ve been 3-4 times as many as the kits! Once I settled on a lace, I then crawled around the floor to get matching picot lingerie elastics to match it and my fabric swatches I’d brought from home.

So here’s what I bought! It might’ve been a bit more than I pledged, but I stayed away from the tempting Wall of Crazy Lycra, and only bought pieces that matched what I already owned!