According to Karl Largerfeld (as quoted in October BurdaStyle which has ONLY JUST arrived here), you are either born with style or you are not. I can almost imagine him sighing whistfully as he added, "it's unfair."

I think style is on a cline. Some people have oodles of it and are way down one end, some have next to none and are down the other. All the rest (of which I include myself) are somewhere in the middle - good days, bad days, successes and failures some great looks, some not so great.

Although I admire stylish people tremendously I do not feel great envy that I am not in their camp. I am much more interested in following ideas though, and as I have said before, I have a soft spot for ugliness and frumpiness that will never see me looking sharp and chic. That's the way I like it. I would never in a million years pay a consultant to tell me how to dress.

All of this is a long winded way of saying that I was drawn to this fabric, a silk crepe, because of its ugliness. The colours I knew would suit me, but this fabric had an unpleasant nannerish quality that repelled a lot of people (hence on the sale rack) but suckered me in.

While I was flicking through some summer back issues of Burda I kept coming back to this dress, although I had a lot of doubts about the pattern, my instinct was to give it a shot.

Burda 06-2010-106



Because silk crepe is very slippery I had to take a lot of care on what would otherwise be a very straightforward pattern. I stabilised the neckline with bias strips of interfacing cut from the pattern measurements to hold the neckline and stop any gaping, and I interfaced where the zipper was going in to firm it up. I also did some hand basting, which is the most effective way I know to tame slithery fabric. I didn't even toy with the idea of french seams, because I didn't make a muslin and so wanted to be able to alter the seams quickly and easily.....there, I've relieved you of the torture of impeccable finish but an overlocker (serger) is plenty good enough for me.

Front view



Back view



The one regret I have is that I didn't hand baste the sleeves. Because they were set in the round I was lulled into a false sense of security that there was not too much easing required but they are not sitting flat which means there was far more curve in them than I thought. Never mind - who's looking at my shoulders with a neckline that low?

This pattern was designed to be an apres beach cover up and its relaxed style meant I felt no guilt at all at using a rolled hem finish on the sleeves and hem. (rolled hem: right needle 4, top looper 4, bottom looper 6.75, width medium, rolled hem setting length 1.25) Yes very low end ready to wear but once I'd decided to neaten the edges on the overlocker I was well on the way of that slippery slope called nice'n'easy construction.



So that's my very last sewing achievement for this year. I am off to Nelson for Christmas to bully my sister into letting me help her sew a dress. She wants to sew it herself blog friends, and she doesn't want to do a FBA but insists on making everything 2 sizes too big instead. I cannot allow that to happen, especially if beautiful fabric is going to be harmed in its making.

The "shapris" pant

Capris can be modern and sharp or they can be terribly aging. I saw a young girl in a beige pair yesterday that would be too old for an 80 year old.

In the shops here I saw a really nice pair of light denim capris that the stylist had rolled up to the knee. I thought that was a fresh way to wear them, 17 or 70 and have knicknamed them the "shapris" - the short capris.

I used Ottobre magazine, 02-2007-14 , but hemmed them without adding the cuff so I could roll them up. I also used the pattern for the bird styling, but because it is only for one pocket I decided to make a little story and add something else to the other pocket.

I followed their instructions and traced the pattern onto soluable stabiler which I pinned to the fabric and top stitched over. This is what it looked like before I ran it under the tap. That stuff is amazing - with a bit of water it breaks down and washes away.



I showed them to my husband and said, "can you make a story out of these 2 pictures?"



"hmm, is it a ball and a bird - a Christmas direction?"
"no"
can you give me hint?"
"freedom"
"huh?"
"let me spell it out to you - c - a -g -e + c - a - n- a- r- y"
"Oh I see now."

I'm not sure he did. Doesn't matter. I'm pretty sure the pockets will be mostly covered by light tunic tops anyway.

I wasn't able to get the back crotch right - the length is good, but there's both a smidgin of "pouf" and "wedgie" which I could not remove by scooping out the curve more, taking in the back or side seams, so I throw up my hands and say, "good enough".
I'm going to get out my favourite best fitting Burda pants and draft the back off them next time.



Burda are famous for their fit and I've totally worked out how they fit me now, but I do have a little more work on my hands sorting out the Otttobre - the amount of wearable ease added to base measurements seems greater if this pattern is anything to go by.

At any rate, with the heat and high humidity we've been experiencing recently (temperatures in the mid to high 20's (high 70's) and humidity in the 90% range) a smart short that is not too short is just the ticket. I can see me running these to the ground over the next couple of months, that is if pre-school holidays and an adventurous toddler at home doesn't beat me to it.

Summer time, and the sewing is easy.

Wow this summer sewing business is so easy. I feel like I just look at my sewing machine and a garment is completed. Good thing too it means I can get quite a bit accomplished between tanties (life with a 3 year old, said between rolling eyes and gritted teeth).

So here we have another Ottobre tee (02-2010-09), this time in a plain fabric and smaller in strategic places. Much happier with this version, less happier with the linen skirt (02-2010-15). If there was any wisdom to adding large pockets to my generous thighs it'd be the same variety as adding breast pockets to my fulsome bust.

However, the thing I love about linen is no matter when you've ironed it, it always looks creased. This basically gives me permission to never iron it, but pretend that I have: "goodness look at those creases in my skirt, that's linen for you, you'd think this skirt had never been ironed in its life." Pa ha ha



The pockets are just enormous. I'm thinking I'd have no trouble packing a picnic lunch in these:



The back view - there was supposed to be a back vent, but I sewed it into a concealed pleat. Think about it for a moment, you bend over to pick up a child, there's a gust of wind, and you are not wearing your "what happens if I get hit by a bus" underpants. I think you'll agree that making these into slits would be a bad idea:




I have been having strong urges to make another coat so like the dieter who chooses the low fat version I'm going to make a summer jacket instead.

That'll keep me out of trouble for a while.

PS - getting back copies to Ottobre is too too easy - just go to their website, scroll through the editions at the bottom of the page and order one. Yes, it really is that simple.

It's as easy as 1-2-3 with an Ottobre tee

December 1 rolled around and I did not start sewing a coat. I'm cured!

I did however, like the idea of sewing the ruffle crazy tee in a plain colour so that the ruffles just add texture. I went out and bought some fabric, and while I was laundering it ready for sewing I decided to have a go at another Ottobre tee, using up this knit that had been loitering in my ahem *stash* - you know I hate having stash but these days my purchasing has been outdoing my speed in making things up and unfortunately there has been some accumulation.

It's hard to see from the photo, but the fabric is a pale blue grey with white polka dots. Cute!



One day I'm going to surprise you all by doing hair and make up. Next time I hope to surprise you with a bottom to match the top. Baby styling steps people, baby styling steps.



I used the famous Ottobre 02-2007-04 tee, this was best pattern on Pattern Review some years back. I sewed a 40 back, neck shoulders grading out to a 42 at the side, and a FBA which I pivoted out into the gathers at the front and side of the tee. This means my tee has more front gathers than most, but they are such a charming feature I consider it a bonus. Although technically a little tight through the bust I am much happier with the fit overall with this tee.

Now I am sure you have noticed I've been playing around with my blog template again. It features coffee beans, who could resist?

Applying some discipline

I have been having an internal war. It goes something like this:
"I need some summer clothing."
"So go out and buy it."
"I can't."
"Why not."
"It would be expensive and professionally sewn and it would look nice. I don't like "nice", I like odd and kooky and home sewn looking."
"that's just as well then. But you still don't have any summer clothes."
"I'll make some."
"no you won't."
"well if I won't go shopping then I'll just have to, won't I?"

And on it goes. I have decided that the only way to resolve this little battle is to set myself a task, and a deadline. The task is to sew myself some summer clothes before Christmas. If I have not done so, then I will let my sister take me shopping and force me to buy something lovely from the shops.

So then, the challenge was to find things that had a little bit of kook, but were wearable and summery. For wearable styles you can't beat Ottobre magazine, and if you have never checked them out before, let me be your enabler.

They publish only twice a year for women, and you can get a "women's" only subscription by scrolling down the subscription bar on the site. Once you have subscribed they roll it forever but at only twice a year it's hardly a huge outlay. They use ordinary women, nicely made up, in easy to wear every day styles and - my personal favourite - they complete the look with sensible shoes. Those shoes were made for walking - hardly a heel in sight. (on a side note, on the first date I had with my husband, he looked at my Kumfs trainer and said, "those look like good shoes for walking." I knew then that the relationship had potential.)

They also give their patterns adorably old fashioned names, like "vera," "lucinda" "Bertie" "Ethel" "Nanette" which makes me wonder about what's going on in Finland these days. The English translations are excellent, fluent and full, no talk of "front slits" and "abuttment lines" these instructions actually make sense.

The drafting - so far- is as I would expect. I cut this at a 44 with a 3 cm FBA and it's just right through the bust, too big in the back neck and shoulders which is exactly what I'd expect from a 44. I do enjoy the fact that it grazes over my lumps rather than committing them to the camera for all to see, but I will experiment with sizing a bit to see if I can bring in the upper chest area. The hip is also too big, and so the tee doesn't hold to the sides. Still, who's going to be looking at that? I bet you're all just rivetted to that crazy sleeve:



Righty ho, a piece of summer sewing completed. We are on our way! The big challenge will be December 1 when the winter sewing Pattern Review contest starts. If I can get past that little piece of temptation without sewing a coat, we know we are on the road to recovery.

Ottobre 02-2010- 9 "Katherine" top

Ta Da!

BurdaStyle 09-2010#113

The welt pockets are set into the front dart. I added a second dart from the waist to add a little more room to the bust:



The back has a large pleat that emerges from the storm flap - the storm flap is flared to allow for a generous front reach:



Lining with vintage viscose:



Well, it did take me 3 weeks to make this coat, so I was right about that. These days sewing for me happens between 7:30- 8:30pm with the last vestiges of energy remaining to me from the day. So I potter about on the machine, making bite sized progress. An hour a day, most days, gives me a coat in 3 weeks.

I really enjoyed the first part of this coat, got bogged down in the middle, and coasted through to the end. Surely the middle part of a long project is the time when most projects languish, when the first flush of energy is gone and the end is nowhere in sight.

This coat was very easy for me to make, but it is without question the most detailed, of all detailed Burda projects, that I have ever made. We have 1) collar with stand 2) decorative top stitching 3) storm flap 4) belt 5) wrist bands with 2 length settings 6) gun flap 7) 18 buttons 8) epaulets with carriers 9) lining 10) welt pockets set into front darts.

That is a lot of detail, blog friends. Funnily enough the details made it easier for me to sew because I could break my sewing sessions into completing a single detail. This is not a coat for people who want the smell of victory after a minor skirmish.

On me, yes I know, leggings and Birkenstocks .... but need I remind you it is the middle of summer here, and I refuse to boil for the sake of a photo shoot:





I am now really desperate for some summer clothing and if I was wise I'd make some. I hate shopping and like to make my own clothes, but at the end of the day I am a hobby seamstress first and foremost, which means I must make whatever I feel like, without reference to when and how it will be worn. That's just the way it is. I've tried fighting it but it's no good: for me it's all about the journey, and the destination is forever a mystery.

I will have to force myself to do something: some shopping or some summer sewing. Hmmm, I wonder which will win?

A bit of this, and a lot of that.

I have been busy sewing blog friends, but I have been sewing a big project and so it will be a while before I will have a "ta da" moment.

First off, I did a Palmer/Pletsch knit weekend course with the lovely Carol Mill, which is always a treat, not the least because it involves spending quality sewing time with fellow enthusiasts, child free time and Carol's delicious lunches. I do have some things to show from that, but not today because the knits I chose to work with were wool, and it is very humid today.

Following on from that with some more inappropriate seasonal sewing choices, I am in the midst of sewing the Trench from the September issue of Burda (09-2010-113). I have mostly finished the outer, with lining to cut and sew and buttons and belt to finish. It has details for Africa, some of which are partially finished and I can show you here:

collar with stand and top stitching detail, epaulet with carrier and top stitching detail etc etc ...




I have also been trying to de-clutter my sewing room with better storage solutions. Instead of lumping everything in together, I have been collecting beautiful containers from the Sally Army to house each notion individually, thus making it easier for me to find things, once they are labelled.

For safety pins:



For my sets of retro buttons on cards, this biscuit tin:



Threads with ends taped down and stored thus:



To house my needle selection:



And this holds all my elastic:



Well, I have lots to get on with, so I'd best get back to it - see you in another week or two with a new trench!

Shirt dress by night.

Today the sun is so impossibly bright I have resorted to deep shadow, and lo! I caught a breeze:

Burda 06-2008-108




I fell in love with this piece of silk satin when I saw it at Centrepoint. Originally I thought 'tunic' but the thing about tunics is that they do shorten your legs, which is not so good when you are short already. So then I thought, "it's just got that nerd appeal of a shirt dress, but it would have to be one without too many seams, because I don't fancy matching that check."

Because I purchased the fabric first, and counted on making a tunic, I did not have enough to make the dress and match the check at the side seams. That's when I said to myself, "this will be a lesson in "good enough" sewing, because even now, even before I cut it, I know that with mismatched side seams it can never be perfect."

It's not just mismatched side seams - it's mismatched everything - I didn't even have enough fabric to single cut the facings - they are all joined by a centre back seam.

We'll call this "considered rebellion" - a mis-confluence of lines and patterns. It adds to the nerd appeal by being slightly disconcerting.

Despite the mismatch of lines, I did make this rather carefully - I hand sewed bias strips, hems, and collar stand. I hand basted sleeves and collar into position. I used tissue to stabilise the buttonholes and very carefully placed the buttons to ensure the front lines met.

Making sure the front lines meet:


hand sewing all the hems and edges:


( I figured in the long run hand basting would save me time - think of all that unpicking I avoided when I got impossibly wonky seams from such slippery slithery fabric.)

I used buttons from my box of a thousand buttons that I bought online. I never thought I'd have occasion to use these ochre ones, not being a colour I usually use, but they look just right with both this and the previous dress.

And so now my imperfect dress is done, and I'm perfectly happy with it. To quote Voltaire, the enemy of the good is the best.

Have you seen 'Eat, Pray, Fall asleep' or whatever it's called? (I dragged my poor husband to it who would have walked out if he could, "vacuous self indulgent nonsense.") I did enjoy it, I have to confess, in a vacuous self indulgent kind of way and I did like her shirt dress with thin belt, large earthy hessian sack looking bag and roman sandles in her Italian stage, and decided that was a look I could easily replicate. Me, I do love a good shirt dress.

Burda 06-2008-108




The sleeve is simply adorable:



The technical view - I left off the elastic frankly there was no spare fabric under the bust to pull back in!



This is, in fact, another muslin. I have been making a lot of wearable muslins recently, because I've realised it's such a good idea to wear something for a day to find out not only how it looks, but how it functions. There are 2 immediate changes I would make to this - I forgot that a full bust takes up both width and length, and I have to shorten back the front tucks by an inch. Also, I'd add some side pockets - I always need to carry a tissue and keys. I'd also consider putting the elastic at waist level, instead of empire line level.



This is my incentive to make a muslin: this beautiful silk satin, it's quite heavy, with a lot of body, almost twill like in its weight, but without the diagonal weave.



So hopefully soon we will have shirt dress by day, and shirt dress by night.

Getting acquainted with La Mia Boutique

Dress (LMB 10-2010 #37 )with hood has gathered shoulder seams, elongated arms and ruched lower side seams:



Well it's Labour Weekend here where people all over the country celebrate the 40 hour working week. Parents will drool at the idea. I have had some more sewing time though so here's my weekend's effort.

Another muslin. The tricky thing about sewing in opposite seasons is that you are dying to make something but can't reasonably expect to wear it for another half year. Because my LMB is air freighted it is exactly 6 months ahead. Burda is shipped to NZ, which takes 2 months, and so by the time you actually get round to making anything you are pretty much ready to wear it.

I decided I did want to break the ice with my LMB and thought I'd give this easy knit a crack in a light polycotton knit, instead of a winter wool. I thought I might try it as a sporty summer look - a knit dress with a tee and leggings underneath and birkenstocks.

As always, there are challenges to surmount:

First of all, there was the small matter of translating the instructions. I faithfully typed them in to Google translate.


Google translate: curl your shoulders behind the front with a running stitch, petit point, to match those of the back.

Translation of the translation: gather the front shoulder with gathering stitches until it measures the same length as the back shoulder.

Google translate: sewing the two sides of the cap along the center line, press the edges together to the right and hit back on the right with two stitching needles.

Translation of the translation: Sew the two sides of the hood along the centre line, press the edges to the right and topstitch down with a twin needle on the right side of the garment.

So you get the gist. Obviously Google translate's sewing vocabulary isn't that hot, but it's actually not too hard to figure out the basic idea.

I am teaching myself sewing Italian. I can now read about a quarter of the instructions without a dictionary, so I'm confident within about 6 months I'll have it mostly sussed. (I did a year of Italian at university, so the basic grammar and structure of the language is familiar to me, it's really just a matter of picking up the specialist vocabulary)

I have to say the designs have grown on me a great deal. It's definitely a magazine aiming to appeal to the hip and cool. I'd say it's marketed at the 20 -30 year old fashion aesthetic but that's OK by me, I know how to nanna things up.

My husband gave this dress the thumbs up. "It's modern." My husband is no fashion expert, in fact sartorially speaking he's a pretty simple guy. That's why his opinion is so useful. He thinks it either looks good, or bad, and it's really that simple.

Oh and thank you for all your advice on my last dress. I'll give your suggestions a try.

All's well that ends better

Hot Patterns 1080



A number of you asked about the ending of the last post and I did elaborate in comments, but if you missed the end of the story, it went like this: I told the woman my name, watched her face fall as she joined the dots and smirked to myself as she made a hasty exit. Obviously the episode unnerved me, but not overly, because actually her actions set in motion a series of events that lead me to the man I eventually married. So all is well that ends better.

Which is what can also be said of this bag. It's taken me forever to make it. If you'll forgive the pun, the instructions on this Hot Pattern left me real cold. I nearly ditched it half way through it was not coming together in a way I was liking, but I was using more of the leather from Nick's and I'd hate for Skippy to have died in vain. (There is something about sewing leather that brings you so much closer to its origins than say, just buying a leather handbag; it also makes it impossible to throw a bad project out.)

In fact, the perfectionist in me sat down and wrote 2 pages of edits to send to the designer, but all I'll probably end up doing is sending them an email that says, "did you ever get anyone to trial these instructions?"

At any rate, I totally love the bag, as I am huge fan of Vivienne Westwood.

The original:



The Hot Patterns' hommage:





Shall we now have a good look at what they did right? I love the internal pockets, the shape and style of the bag, and its size. It's handy it can be hand carried or over the shoulder. I love that they used the cool parts of the original bag - the shaped handle pieces, and the corner protectors.

Really useful internal pockets:



On the other hand, the handles are awkward and would be much better rotated on D-rings. This construction technique doesn't work so well on such a light bag where the cording is not well supported, and the handles are so big.

The weight of these handles really pulls the front out and they sit awkwardly when the bag is put down:



Also they have you bind the inside with bias tape rather than attach a separate lining. Much harder, much messier. Avoid if possible. Those are my big gripes, but I have lots of smaller ones too - cough cough 2 pages worth, to be precise.

For those of you who have sewed the Amy Butler Weekender bag, it is a much harder bag to sew than that, and frankly it needn't have been. That's the sad part, I could be making more Hot Patterns stylish bags, but I'm too scared to, if this bag is anything to go by.

This bag is my first foray into Spring/Summer sewing, gingham and beige say warmer weather to me. They also say "boring" so I have to find a way to spice this bag up a little. When I first showed this to my husband, he said, "oh it's lovely, it's about time you got yourself your own toilet bag."

Perspective

Skirt for Aunty (Burda 07-2010-126)



Dress for niece: (Burda 11-2008-139)



I had always hoped to have a little girl to sew dresses for. Now that I have actually sewed a little girl's dress for my niece I am supremely grateful I had a boy. I made so many mistakes on this dress - in too much of a hurry - to have it finished on time, and frankly, to have it finished so I could go back to sewing for me me me.

First of all, I mistook centre front for the side front and cut the pleats the wrong way round. That was no big deal, what was a big deal is I sewed the bodice front to the back, and vice versa, so that the zipper did up on the front! There was just no ignoring that error. That's when I gave myself a good talking too, slowed down, recut and resewed the bodice pieces, and thanked god for my little boy.

For those of you who love to see a smug sewer get their come-uppance:



Once I finished that little piece of sewing I liked the idea of giving myself a "project runway" type challenge. Make something for a little girl; using little girl's pattern and fabric as inspiration, sew something for a big girl. I decided I liked the idea of the sewn down pleats, and would use the leftover pieces of fabric to sew myself a spring skirt.

Burda 07-2010-126

The wind is blowing out the back pleats here, but you get the idea:


From the front:


The welt pockets are cut on the bias and set into the side seam, inserted hard up against the invisible zip. A pain to sew and you don't really every get to see them, so let's call them, "the why bother welt?"

Yes, there is a pocket behind that welt:




Sometimes we moan about things only to have something worse happen and realise our former gripes were so small and petty. Whatever I have complained about Burda instructions in the past (and their welt pocket instructions on this skirt are as incomprehensible as ever), it pales in comparison to working with instructions in Italian. It's all about perspective.

And how's this for perspective. Yesterday I took my son to a park to play. I bumped into an old work colleague there who had had a drunken fling with my boyfriend at that time. She looked at me and said, "I know you from somewhere, what's your name again?"

See, it's all about perspective.

Housekeeping

Thanks to Michelle for this award. So sweet of you to think of me!

Now I am supposed to write 10 things about myself that you wouldn't otherwise know.
1 I was raised as one of nine children.
2 I have a strong dislike of second hand clothing. For the reason why, see 1 above. (I was 8th position).
3 My undergraduate degree is in Classical languages.
4 If you start a sentence, "the amount of people that" and someone corrects you with "the number of people who" and you want to know who is right, I am your woman. I taught English grammar for years.
5 I have always loved crafts, long before they were popular. The moniker "Mary Nanna" was given to me by a friend who was mocking my love of these old fashioned arts.
6 I still meet my friends for dinner on Thursday, as I have done every Thursday for the last 7 years. It's a good ritual to have - then you don't have to get over the inertia of "let's catch up" - you've got a catch up automatically programmed into your life (and a child free evening out once a week).
7 I have one child.
8 I don't like driving.
9. I don't like my husband's driving. (He's an Aucklander, which makes him an Auckland driver)
10. I lurve deeply - and with all of my being - coffee.

And now I am supposed to pass this on to 5 people, but I always find these things hard to do. That would show favouritism, and as middle child, every thing has to be FAIR. So if you would like to run with this, pick it up and off you go!

In other news, just when I had given up hope of my La Mia Boutique ever turning up, it turned up! First impressions mixed. For a start, I was really surprised by the fit and construction. Very home sewn, and I don't mean that in a good way. The patterns are a mix of modern youth, European high fashion (ie kook) factor, and sweet. There are about 40 patterns per issue, with a sprinkling of children and plus size in the mix. There are about 4 sizes per pattern 38,40,42,44 or variations on that theme. It appears to be an all round "women's" magazine, with horoscopes, beauty advice and recipes added to the mix. Also, like Ottobre magazine, all clothes are 'wardrobe' ensembles - in other words, you can make every part of the outfit - the skirt, the top, the jacket all will be patterns within the magazine.

Some of the patterns really intrigue and I can absolutely see this adorable jean jacket in my future:



Here's the first page of the technical drawings:



Some fairly wonky decorative tape application. I actually find this quite affirming:



No one say "unmatched plaid":



And this is just crying out for a broad/square shoulder alteration and a high chest alteration:



I can see I am going to get a lot of entertainment out of this magazine, one way or another. It does go to show how much Burda is in a class of its own when it comes to finishing, fabrics and styling.

I may flirt with other European magazines, but I can see that Burda will be my one true love.