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In Progress

A few wedding colours

If you recall, my two bridesmaids, Pip and Gez, had already agreed on the dress pattern they wanted, BWOF 09/2008 #132, the Gant Exclusive Design dress.

But neither were too excited by the silk jersey colour choices I brought home last time I was at Goldhawk Road, so I was expecting Saturday’s fabric-and-shoes excursion to take a while…

…but no! Both found the colours they loved within five feet of walking in the first shop! Classic Textiles had clearly restocked in the last month! Woohoo!

Gez fell in love with this silver silk jersey (which we bought the last of, bwahaha), choosing peach silk charmeuse (satin) for her dress’s “cummerbund”:

Inspiration

I did not sew this dress

I finished my birthday dress yesterday, so it just needs a final pressing and photoshoot this weekend before you get to see it on Wednesday! But in the absence of pretty green silk photos to coo over, I thought I’d do something different and share some photos of this amazing RTW dress I bought recently.

I bought this dress (now sold out) from AX Paris for an absolutely astounding £20! By the time I got to it, most of the sizes were sold out, so I took a chance and bought my pre-illness size with the thought that it’d be a fantastic goal dress later this summer. To my surprise, I was able to get into it and get the zipper up, but it was not pretty without the girl’s best friend, Spanx, so you’ll get to see it on Susan instead (though as it turns out, Susan needs some Spanx, too, as I couldn’t get the zipper entirely closed on her!) –

In Progress

30th Birthday dress – muslin

My 30th birthday is fast approaching, and even though I make myself something special every year to wear on the day, this year I wanted to sew a fabulous dress using some emerald green silk charmeuse (satin) I’d bought years ago and stashed away in the hopes that someday I’d recreate that Atonement dress. I was really excited to see in the Burda WOF March online previews that there was a dress that suited me perfectly – gorgeous gathered, yoked shoulders with floaty sleeves, falling down into a deep V neck with a swooshy gored skirt and plenty of back detail, and shown in my chosen fabric – Burda WOF 03/09 #116.

The timing would be tight, though, since I usually only receive my subscription copy on the 15th or so of the month, but I thought I could pull it off. But then Burda updated the website with the full information, showing it was a *&£@^% petite pattern! Argh! It’s always the way that the designs you like the most aren’t in your size, and with the timeline, I really didn’t think this was meant to be…

Inspiration, Magazine

Thank You!

I’ve been so touched by all the kind thoughts and words that everyone has sent to me since I spoke about my illness here. A few of you decided to send cards and gifts, too, which just blows me away! I never expected such an outpouring of camaraderie and kindness, and for that, I thank each and every one of you.

These adorable wooden koala and kangaroo buttons are from Sandra in Australia, through whose quest for instructions on the KnipMode twist top, I discovered the pattern myself!

She got them from this local shop, and I really must find the perfect place to use these as an accent!

Then I got a mysterious package in the post with a card from Cidell!

Inspiration, Magazine

FIMI magazine

Most of my sewing patterns come from pattern magazines these days, partly because they’re so much cheaper than envelope patterns here, but also because I find the variety of styles so much more appealing than the Big 4 these days. So when a pattern magazine comes along that I’ve not tried before, I find it difficult to resist! I’ve already shown you the insides of Patrones, Burda WOF, and KnipMode and also La Mia Boutique, so I thought a lot of you might be interested to take a peek inside F.I.M.I. Magazine, too!

What you’ll see here is the Summer 2009 issue of FIMI magazine – they appear to only print four issues per year, one for each season. It’s Dutch magazine, but instructions are in Dutch, English, German and French, which is something I applaud for getting new sewers into pattern magazines, as they don’t seem quitue so scary when they’re in your native language. The pattern sizes are simply S-M-L-XL rather than the numbered sizes I’m used to, but I haven’t had a chance to make anything from this issue yet to see how true to size they are. The physical size of the magazine, however, is bigger than most magazines which are A4 (UK) or 8.5×11 (US) and big, thick, glossy pages – I couldn’t fit it all of this in my flatbed scanner!

Here’s the cover:

Gallery

First-rate Brit chic!

The title is from the cover of my much-loved issue of Burda that I was going on about last week, which also gave me BWOF 08/2006 #113:

I bought some beautifully soft mohair sweater knit from Classic Textiles last time I was at Goldhawk Road (1.5m at £8/m), but I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it until I went skimming through my magazine archive and saw this sweater. The mohair knit is a very open weave with an abstract star/flower pattern running through it, so I knew that whatever I’d make would have to either be lined or be worn with something else underneath (both to show the pattern and also to protect modesty). I chose the latter.

I had only one week’s notice to make something new to wear to my British citizenship ceremony, and I thought the pairing and the “British chic” pattern were too good to pass up! But I had a very busy week and weekend, so I only ended up finishing it the night before! Phew!

Here I am during and after my ceremony at Southwark Town Hall earlier today, pleased as punch!

Gallery

A spring turtleneck in cream wool jersey

I bought some beautiful cream wool jersey from A-Z Fabrics on Goldhawk Road last time I was there, and I figured it’d be the perfect all-season fabric for layering or for wearing alone. By the time I bought it, though, my funds were a bit depleted, so I only grabbed a meter and a half as it was quite pricey at £10 a meter. I was instantly imagining it as a turtleneck but without any fully formed details in my mind. Then I was reminded of BWOF 08/08 #118 (an issue I’d previously overlooked) and saw that this was definitely what I had in mind, albeit shortened to a top.

Inspiration, Magazine

August 2006 – the best Burda issue ever

I’ve heard quite a bit of talk from other sewers that the February 2009 issue of Burda WOF magazine is the best one yet. I really don’t know what’s wrong with me (ha!), but I’m just not that into it. I mean, there are a few basics I like, but nothing that’s really screaming make me now!

For me, the best issue of Burda will always be August 2006. Let’s start with the evidence, in chronological order…

The first garment I made from this issue was BWOF 08/2006 #101:


Velvet jacket

Inspiration, Magazine

Recent KnipMode roundup

Last week I went on a bit of a spree and bought the November through March issues of KnipMode in one go. I usually get a couple at a time to save on shipping, but in this case I hadn’t bought since October so I was playing a bit of catchup (I should really just bite the bullet and subscribe already!). While I was on Naaipatronen.nl anyway, I figured I’d try another sewing magazine I’d never seen before and also bought FIMI magazine, too (more on that later).

I’ve spent the last few evenings thumbing through these and picking out my favourites, so I’ll let you in on a few gems here now in case you want to grab them before they go out of stock (it seems like the issues I write about tend to sell out directly after, ha!). So, working on chronological order, here’s my picks.

First up is KnipMode 11/08 #8b, a really gorgeous silk and gorgette dress that’s in the running for my birthday dress.

Gallery

KnipMode & KwikSew Lingerie Set

Wow, I’m really falling behind with my photos, it feels like so long ago that I finished all these lacy bits! But then again, I bought the brown and turquoise bra kit from eLingeria.de way back in January 2008 so I suppose a week or so isn’t much in the lifespan of this fabric!

The kits from eLingeria.de give you all the bits you need to make one bra and two panties – really soft, stretchy microfibre, stretch lace, elastic, bra straps, underwire channeling, hooks, and the strap loops and findings. The only thing I needed to buy extra were the underwires, since they’re so size-specific. I really enjoyed sewing these, and having the kit meant I didn’t have to gather all the materials in matching colours on my own, so I’m definitely going this route again. €20 for a matching lingerie set is a steal, even with the current exchange rate!

The bra pattern is KwikSew 3300, which I extensively reviewed when I sewed my first bra toile a few weeks ago, only this time I used the right elastic so it fits!