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In Progress

Couture sweatshirt update

Despite having an incredibly busy week with something on every night, I’ve still managed to make some good progress on my “couture sweatshirt” interpretation of the Patrones Halhuber jacket…

I’ve really only got to do the hood, which involves interfacing and attaching the eyelets for the drawstring, making the drawstring, sewing the hood edge with a twin needle, and attaching it. All that sounds like way more work than it actually is, and will probably only take an hour or so. And then I’ve just got to attach the zipper to the centre front panels…

But then I decided that I really like front pockets on sweatshirts (and I’ve always got tools, keys, my mobile, and/or tissues in them!), so I’ve drawn up some suitably angular ones to add on.

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Race tops and new patterns

It is an enigma that, while the overwhelming majority of 10k race participants are slim and svelte, race shirts given away to participants are always enormous!

I had two race shirts made out of the nice wicking polyester that were way too big to wear (hanging down to my mid-thigh! And I’m not exactly Tinkerbelle…) but too nice to let rot in my wardrobe, so I cut them up!

I used the same KnipMode pattern as before, but got lazy and just serged all the edges with my white woolly nylon thread and didn’t bother with the elastic. The armpits were a tad too high before, so I lowered those, but otherwise just approached this as a no-nonsense reconstruction to get some wear out of garments I previously wouldn’t touch.

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Satin cowl blouse

You’ve seen it in the tweed and satin three piece suit, now it’s time to reveal the blouse on its own!

Marfy 1210 is the first Marfy pattern I’ve ever sewn, and if you’re not familiar with them, Marfy patterns come with no instructions, no technical drawing, no layout diagrams, nothing. You don’t even get any other sizes – just the one you’ve ordered, in pre-cut tissue, just like vintage patterns.

So the above is all I had to go on, plus a few cryptic phrases rubber stamped onto the tissue itself (if you thought “Burda-isms” were bad, hoo boy, you should see Marfy!). Still, I knew I was up for a challenge, and to be honest, the construction wasn’t any more different than dealing with KnipMode or Patrones when I can’t understand the instructions.

There are a lot of things I like about this blouse, but there are also a fair amount of things I’d change if I made it again.

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Tweed capelet

Almost a year ago I saw and instantly fell in love with this Trina Turk capelet:

Around the same time, the lovely ladies at Go Patterns sent me their new capelet pattern, #2002 after I was so impressed with their little black dress pattern. Really, how nice of them!

Looking at the two together, I instantly saw the possibilities, but didn’t quite get around to finding the right fabric or the time last winter, but this year it all came together to form this sweet little capelet…

Inspiration, Magazine

Patrones 272 – the Fall fashion holy grail

The new September Patrones that’s on sale now is quite possibly the best they’ve ever created. Almost everything in it is wearable, and made with normal fabrics you can actually buy without having a couturier’s budget and contacts – entire sections full of classic winter coats, tons of CUTE capes and cropped jackets, and a plethora of wool trousers. One whole feature is JUST high waisted skirts and trousers, and another is entirely vintage dresses! Even the maternity section is styled in such a way that every piece can be worn by the breeding and non-breeding alike (showing two photos of every piece).

I’m actually feeling overstimulated and giddy just flipping through it.
#264 used to be my favourite issue, but this one has totally trumped it.


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Inspiration, Magazine

KnipMode twist top now in Plus sizes!

Plus-sized ladies, you need to stop right now and go buy a lotto ticket, because today is your lucky day!

You may remember earlier in the summer I made a blue twist top from the April 2008 KnipMode magazine, and then my mom fell in love with mine so much I tweaked the sizing and made her one, too. This is probably my favourite pattern of the entire year – I have to restrain myself from wearing it more than once a week, and I even turned it into a dress to get more wear from the pattern.

Well, everywhere that I can see is sold out of April’s issue (it’s proved VERY popular!), so imagine my surprise when I opened up the October issue and saw that they’ve reprinted the same exact top, but in Plus size!!

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Black biker trousers

Continuing on with my need to fill my wardrobe’s trouser-shaped void, I decided this time around to try (gasp!) a different trouser pattern! But since I still wasn’t sure how well BWOF 05/2006 #112 would fit me, I opted to sew it up in the leftover black cotton drill from Simon’s pirate coat so that nothing would be lost if the fit was awful.

Frankly, I should’ve trusted Burda more – the fit is even better on these than on my casual TNT (“tried and true”) pattern I’ve been making for ages. These trousers have a seam running down the front leg that goes right into the pockets at the waist, and I think this extra seam really helps to shape them more closely to my legs.

I couldn’t wait for the photoshoot to wear these, though – so forgive the wrinkles! By this point they’d already been out for a friend’s birthday cocktails followed by langostines (yum!) in Soho, plus a full day at work. So just trust me when I say that there are no fit wrinkles when they’re fresh…

In Progress

Silver linen dress in situ

I’m a bit late in getting the photos from last weekend’s wedding off James’s computer, but I know some of you were waiting to see how the silver linen shift dress and the matching fascinator looked together, so here you go!

This banner was actually up outside the venue advertising an upcoming wedding expo, but it was too good for the bride and groom (and us!) to pass up for photos…