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Inspiration, Magazine

Burda magazine February 2014

I don’t know what happened this month, but I appear to be the last person on earth to receive their February issue! Some people were already posting reviews of their sewn garments a full week before mine arrived in the postbox, not fair! But better late than never, here are my picks…

First up – this dress isn’t particularly earth-shattering, but it’s a nice classic shape, with short- or long-sleeve options, and a clever little central hidden kangaroo pocket in the skirt, too. I’m definitely eyeing this one up as a possible birthday dress for March, especially since I’ve got all that luscious silk twill that Dilly gifted me when she came to visit!

I know there are a lot of sewing ladies online that go ker-ay-zee for anything with buttons in the back but… I seriously don’t get it! So, you have to have someone help you get dressed whenever you want to take it on and off? How is that a good thing?! I’m not convinced by the central pleating on this dress, either, which might end up looking less than flattering…

I’m not entirely sure what it is about this wide, cropped blouse, but I absolutely love it! Maybe it’s the cocoon-shaped sleeves, or the back yoke, or the nice V neck, but I really could see myself wearing this a lot with leggings. I don’t think it’s quite as successful with the full skirt Burda’s paired it with, however.

Inspiration

Londoners – Come sew with me! Panty Party 13th Feb!

Remember around this time last year when I released my free Lacey Thong pattern and had that big Lingerie Sewing Week extravaganza?! Well, in the intervening year I’ve of course sewed way more lingerie and released more patterns, but I still love my little ‘Thongs and wear mine all the time, so I thought I’d share the love and have a full-on PANTY PARTY!

It’s in the evening of Thursday 13 February, so you can de-stress after a long day at work by playing with frilly lace…

That’s right – come and sew with me and we’ll make Lacey Thongs til we run out of free tea and biscuits and/or start wearing panties on our heads. I’ll cover all the basics of lace placement, attaching lingerie elastic, that cool “burrito method” of enclosing the crotch seams, and you’ll get to go home with some saucy little panties just in time for Valentine’s Day. Or a Me Party, whatever floats your boat.

The panty party venue is at the Thrifty Stitcher’s studio up in Stoke Newington (a quick walk from Canonbury overground, or there’s plentiful buses), and all materials will be provided, including the aforementioned coffee, tea, and bickies.

In Progress

The Sherlock coat – progress report

I mentioned briefly back in December that, for James’s birthday, I gave him the promise of a custom-made coat in the style of the one Benedict Cumberbatch wears in Sherlock. Or as it will henceforth be known, “the Sherlock coat”.

A few others online have made this coat (including a few FehrTrade readers, hello!!), but I found the most helpful resource to be this livejournal entry from a lady who sketched and measured a lot of the details after analysing screen grabs. This was a big help in taking James’s TNT short jacket pattern and adapting it to look more like the coat on screen!

I first made an approximation on his paper pattern and sewed up a muslin. From this the only real fitting problems were that the upper back was too tight, and the Centre Front needed to be shifted by about an inch, but it was otherwise fine. I guessed a bit wrong on the collar and lapel shape though, but it was fairly easy to just draw a nicer shape onto the muslin itself and transfer it to the pattern.

Once the muslin was settled, I then bought the wool coating (delayed a bit as Crescent Trading were closed over the holidays) – not the exact black and grey small houndstooth used in the original (simply because I couldn’t find any locally), but instead a black/grey/brown check which still had the same feel. I also bought the black acetate lining at the same time, but the black cotton flannel for underlining came from Minerva.

I then settled in for the mammoth task of cutting out all the pieces in wool, underlining, interfacing, and lining, then fusing the crap out of everything that needed interfacing. With two patch pockets (and flaps), plus two welt pockets, two back belt pieces, sleeve cuffs, and a collar, (not to mention facings!), there was a good day taken up just by fusing alone!

Inspiration

Dawn's Psychedelic Rainbow PB Jam Leggings

When was the last time you actually LOLed at a sewing blog? Because I just did, twice, reading Dawn’s (aka “cabinbaby”) post about her PB Jam Leggings. Seriously! She totally nails the self-defeating runner inner dialogue there, too…

You all know I’m partial to super loud patterns and bright colours when I make my own leggings, but look – I have a fellow kindred spirit! Rainbow colours and psychedlic swirls weren’t enough for Dawn, no, no – she even used rainbow variegated thread, people! I totally applaud the use of the gymnastic poses in showing off all the finer points of the leggings, too.

One thing Dawn talks about in her post is using your serger/overlocker to make a mock-flatlock stitch, like you see on a lot of RTW sportswear. I haven’t found the regular overlocked seams to be a chafing problem for me, but I know a lot of people are more sensitive to it, and you can do your own flatlock stitching at home with just a few tension adjustments…

Read more about her versions over on her site, Two On, Two Off?

Inspiration, Magazine

Manequim magazine December 2013

Brazil may be on opposite seasons for those of us in the Northern hemisphere, but there’s a lot to love in this issue, and importantly, lots of separates that can be layered and thus worn nearly all year round! Let’s take a look at my highlights, shall we?

First up is a group of Plus-sized patterns, all made up in white. The dress and shorts are alright, and the trousers have some interesting pleated godets at the hems, but ooh, look! It’s that jacket I loved from the first November issue (seen here on the right), but graded up to size 48!

The designer style this month is Emanuel Ungaro, and when I first looked at these two, I thought the one on the left was a skirt pattern, and the one on the right was a dress, but they’re actually the other way around!

Inspiration

FehrTrade patterns – now in size XXS!

Apparently all I need to do to spur myself into a frenzy of activity is set a reasonable goal like I did yesterday when I stated the updated patterns would be ready “later this week”, because I buckled down and finished them that very day!

I’ve graded down to a size XXS using the same size grades as before, which puts this new size’s measurements at Bust 84cm (33in), Waist 63cm (24.5in), Hips 90cm (35.5in). And remember, both my patterns are drafted to be 90% of body measurements, so if you’re an inch or two smaller than this, the finished garment should still be snug against the body.

If you’ve already purchased one or both of my patterns, you should be able to log into Etsy and download the updated file from Your Account > Purchases (if someone could confirm this for me, that’d be great!). I’ve only done some minor cleaning up on the other sizes, though, so if you don’t need the XXS then it’s probably not worth re-printing, re-trimming, and re-taping (although I timed myself yesterday and the XYT pattern took me less than 15min!). Oh, and I fixed a minor numbering issue on the XYT Workout Top pattern which meant there was no Piece No.5. Oops!

Gallery

Mint X Back Workout Top

I hope you’re not too sick of seeing all these versions of my workout patterns yet, as I’ve got a few more yet to show you and I’m saving some of my favourites for last!

I’m also very pleased to report that I’ve been able to go back and fit in an XXS size (84B 63W 90H) into both patterns – the leggings files are totally done and the top only needs some elastic calculations and that’s done, too! I’ll be updating the files within my Etsy shop later this week, and I’ll make an announcement when they’re up, too. All previous customers will be able to download the updated files should they wish (but there’s no real change to the other sizes so there’s no point in re-printing and re-taping if you’re not an XXS, really).

But enough of the housekeeping, let’s see the sewing!

For this version I chose to make the X-back version in some highly treasured and amaaaaaazing “space dyed” Hint of Mint supplex from RunnersFabrics (on hiatus til the end of the month due to a Canberra -> Perth move!). I browsed through my Bag O’ Lycra and found I had an old race tee that was the exact same colour as the supplex, so I used that for the upper back portion. I’m still chuffed about how well these fabrics match every time I put it on!

For the shelf bra here, I used nude power mesh I’d picked up at Kantje Boord when I ran the Amsterdam marathon back in 2012. It’s a bit too cold here to wear the top on its own on my runs, so I’ve been wearing it underneath jackets and loving the support – it’s plenty enough even for my long, 2+ hour runs at the weekends.


(Seen here paired with my mesh-insertion leggings I made last spring!)

Inspiration, Magazine

Manequim magazine November 2013 (yes, another!)

Manequim always have two issues in November, apparently because there’s “too much summer to contain in one issue!” or something to that effect! There were quite a few things I like in the first issue but this one was mostly shorts, swimsuits, and Plus-sized patterns (all being things I don’t really wear) but there were a handful of highlights…

First up is my very favourite garment of this issue – a silk tank with chiffon inserts and contrast bands! It’s paired with some tie-waist trousers and also a casual jersey skirt, too (despite the styling, this was not in the style of a particular designer – just a bumper summer clothing feature).

You’d be forgiven for not seeing anything special in these trousers, but omg look at the tech drawing! Those curved seams, that topstitching (or is it pintucks? Or pleating?)! If only these were in my size…

Inspiration

Kathy's Purple & Polka Dot Workout Tops

The version of my patterns I want to share with you today is special because Kathy is the only one of my pattern testers whom I’ve met in real life! Not only did we meet when I was over in Baltimore last year, but we actually went for a run together in activewear we’d sewn ourselves, too!

Kathy’s no stranger to sewing activewear (and she’s got almost as big a lycra stash as I do!), and I love that she chose to make the T-back version for herself, because I really think it’s the most versatile version! She’s used some black athletic mesh for the vertical portion, but you can pretty much use any fancy trim you have on hand – lace, sequins, fishnet, or just contrast fabric like she’s done.

This wasn’t enough though, as she’s gone and selflessly made a polka dot version for her niece, too! I totally freaking adore the polka dot fabric, and I love that she’s paired it with black mesh for the Y back, and then finished the edges tee-shirt style for a bit of contrast.

Read more about her versions on her site, Kathy Sews!

Gallery

A Drape Drape winter tunic

I found myself on New Year’s Day wanting to sew something fun and just for “me” rather than my blossoming business. So I looked through my patterns (helpfully online so I did this part while still under a duvet!), selected a pattern then proceeded to trace, cut, and sew this up in an afternoon. Definitely fun, definitely me!

I appear to be the first person online to make this tunic, from the third Drape Drape book, number 9. Sizes were S/M or L/XL and since it’s Japanese sizing and I’m like a 2XL, I made the larger size and crossed my fingers it’d be ok in a jersey. It was!