Warderobe architect

Latley my sewing motivation fell asleep a little bit. I can´t motivate myself for new projects and I´m having a hard time with desicion making. And as I wore off store bought clothes a while ago I really need to build up a good basic warderobe. With this in mind the warderobe architect challenge from Coletterie came at a perfect time!

While I was down angina I had a lot of time to overthink and plan my warderobe. My core style is mostly based on comfortable clothes. I hate it when clothes pinch or squeeze or annoy me in any way. I mostly wear straight cut pants that sit on the low waist and I hardly wear skirts. I don´t know why because I have a lot of skirts and I like them. But in my everyday life I mostly go with pants. For fancier events I love dresses. I almost every variation except with gathered skirts. My tops are mostly unicolored and Renfrew like. Sometimes I love a good button down shirt. The easiest style element are the shoes. I basically have only three types of shoes: Converse, winter shoes and running shoes. What I really love are jackets and coats. In many styles and variations, they´re my favorite garment to wear 🙂

My patterns are:

– Renfrew top

– Heavily modified Jalie 2105

– McCalls 7018

– Grainville blouse

– Oakridge blouse

– Archer shirt

– Bruyere shirt

– Undercover hood

– Coppélia cardigan

– Ottobre jeans Lady fit

– Modified Thurlow pants

– Ooh la Leggings

– Bellatrix blazer

– Robson coat

– Pavot coat

– Belladone dress

– Cambie dress

 

When I´m fabric shopping I tend to grab whatever catches my eye without thinking of combination possibilities and colour matching. This left my with a warderobe full of clothes in a lot of colours but hardly anything that goes together. So I tried to find out which colours I like to wear and fit me.

I came up with these basic neutral colours that go along with everything:

These are my nearly neutrals that are easy to combine:

 

These are my statement colours, they should only be paired with the neutral or nearly neutral colours. I´m not so sure if I like the orange. I just felt something missing in the palette but I don´t think I´ll want wear it.

 

I included a lot of blues and greens, which are my preferred colours for clothing. Suprisingly I don´t have that many garments in these coloures. It´s about time to start buying fabric with a little bit more thinking!

So, that was my part for the january challenge. Let´s see what february brings along!

 

A lovechild and other little things.

I love holidays. I have so much time to sew, everyday I make one thing 🙂

A few weeks back my husband  and me planned to take our niece to the Musical Mary Poppins. She spent 2 or 3 days with us and was a little bit concered because she didn´t have any “fancy theatre clothes” with her. So we digged through my Burda magazines and she picked out a pattern “with long sleeves, it´s gonna be cold”. The fabric is a eyelet cotton in ivory she found in my endless stash (one fabric down, yeah!) and called for a seethrough lining.

She was so happy with her fancy dress that she planned on wearing it for christmas, too. And yes, she did wear it!

Here she is, happy with her brand new sonic srewdriver (“from the 9th Doctor, because he is the best”)

On the day we made the dress she told me that she saw a girl in a onsie pyjama once. After a little bit of hesitating she asked me if I´m able to make her one. I orderd Jalie 3244 and a cotton jersey with owls. The pattern featers pocket, which I love. Everything needs pockets 🙂 So, here´s the cutest pyjama which my niece will get tomorrow:

Now to adult stuff again. Last week I tried out the Finlayson pattern for myself. I took the smallest size and made it up with the collar, not the hood. It´s the perfect slouchy sweater! It fits my husband as well, he will get a hooded version soon. I was wearing the shirt all day long so I decided that I needed another one. For this one I wanted a more fitted look, so I took the much used and loved Renfrew shirt pattern and lined it up with the neckline of the Finlayson. For a more sweater than shirt feeling I graded the side seams of the front and back pieces between armhole bottom and hipline.

The fabric is a stripy cotton wool knit. It was so slippery to handle so I had a hard time matching up the stripes. All in all I´m satisfied with the matching and I absolutley love this Finlayson-Renfrew mix!  I have enough stripy fabric left over to make another shirt – what is it going to be?

 

Lola for the snow

Sorry for the shitty pictures in advance, I took them with my phone today.

Yesterday afternoon I read that it´s suppodesed to start snowing in Vienna (and I hate snow!) the day after. So I finally digged out a fabric, I´ve been storing for a few months now. It is a 100% cotton fleece. I alway thought that fleece is just made out of polyester and other plastic-y stuff. But I found a shop in Germany, that sells cotton fleece. I ordered 2 different colours – one petrol and one corn flower blue. At first touch it doesn´t feel as soft as regular fleece at all. But when you wear it it feels like a dream. So comfortable and snuggly that I didn´t want to take it off anymore.

Anyway, yesterday I decided that this awesome fabric will turn into a Lola from Victory pattern. I saw the pattern quite a while back but thought it was cute enough but nothing special. But as my butt always tends to freeze in the cold winter wheater I decided that I need a sweater that covers it as well. So I gave Lola a chance.

I love the triangle in the front, a fancy detail to make the front more interesting. For the ribbing I took a stripy cotton one from my left over stash. I was so hard to keep it in line, that´s why the stripes are not 100% perfectly lined up.

I made it up in size 4 which fit great. I didn´t make any size alteration although the sizing chart suggested a straight 6 at the hips. The fit is very comfortable but still flattering. I topstitched every seam because the fabric got really bulky and I wanted to force it to lie flat.

I wanted full lenght sleeves, so I lenghtend them to the same lenght as the Undercover hood sleeves. I just forgot to adjust the lenght of the ribbing as well. So in the end I cut the sleeves at elbow lenght and put in a 10cm piece of self fabric. I kind of like the look of the elbows now 🙂

I wanted the pockets to lie flat on the hips, so I wedged out a few centimeters of the pocket pieces to match the side panels. My husband put his tablet into one of the pockets, they are amazingly roomy 🙂

I didnt have enough ribbing for the hemband, so I just left it off and turned the seam 2 cm up. I´m so tiny so the missing lenght is not really noticable.

As it turns out, I LOVE this pattern! The dress feels absolutley cozy and the seamlines make it much more special than any other sweater would have done.  As the snow really came today, the second fabric will definitley turn into a Lola, too 🙂

 

 

 

My blue Anna

In october I attended the wedding of a former collegue and very good friend of mine. October is a hard time to figure out what to wear. It can be really cold or still quite warm. It took place in the mountains, the alps, so I expected it to be more on the cold side. So I wanted to wear a floor lenght dress, to keep my legs a little warmer than they would be in a cocktail lenght dress. Since quite a while I was eyeing the Anna dress pattern. The thing that held me back were the kimono sleeves. I´ve never made or worn a garment with kimono sleeves and not looked like a professional boxer in it. As the date of the wedding neared I couldn´t make myself excited about any other pattern. So I decided to risk it.

My next problem was the fabric. I had my eyes set on this gorgeos blue satin. But when I went to the shop to buy it, it felt just wrong. Very plastic-y and frizzing with static. So I asked the shop clerk for another fabric in exactly this colour. We spend about an hour looking. Most of the fabrics had this cheap looking sheen or felt not right. Finally I settled for microsatin, which had this amazing matte back side, which I used for my right side. It was kind of expencive but it was the best choice I had. Vienna sucks regarding to fabric shops.

 

Anna came together beautifully. I chose the floor lenght variation with the V-neckline and the tigh high slit. The pattern pieces fit together perfectly and it was really fun to sew. I stitched down the neck facing and slit down by hand which took a while but was totally worth it.

 

I took the shoulder seam in about 1,5cm and shortened the armhole for 5mm. The bust pleats hung too low, so I lenghtend them about 1cm.

 

The fabric made the dress so floaty, it was a joy to walk and dance in it. I guess it is the most comfortable fancy dress I´ve ever worn/made. And the best thing: I didn´t look like I had hideous broad shoulders in the sleeves! They looked…normal! I´m just realizing how crazy my hair looks. Well, can´t look too fancy 🙂

 

Market day

This weekend was a very exciting one. My friend Angelita and me had the chance to display our makings at a market in Vienna. There´s this pretty cool venue called the WUK where the designmarket “lights 2014” was taking place. As of my friends baby twins I´ve really been into sewing baby clothes which I sold at this market. The 3 days we were there it was awesome. We met so many nice people and had so much fun!

Our display was so colourful!

 

 

I really hope we can do this again next year! And a really big thank you to all of the people who came to support us!

Now I´ll go back to sewing adult clothes again, I have enough of crazy prints and tiny hats for now

 

 

Time away

It´s been a long time since my last blog post. I have a lot on my mind (and to do list) right now. In the beginning of december a friend and me habe the opportunity to sell homemade stuff at a local design market. So I´ve been sewing childrens hats and socks nonstop in the last month.

I made a pattern with the help of my iron in 3 different sizes for the hats.  I traced the tip of the iron 4 times lining up so I´d reach the wanted circumference of the head. They fit newborns, 1-2 year olds and 6-teenies. On wednesday we had a photoshooting with my mother which was a lot of fun. Woody and Mordecai had a lot of fun, too 🙂

 

 

 

The pattern of the socks is an – very much – altered pattern from a sock sewing book. They´re originally made out of one piece of fabric. I rounded the tips of the toes and the heels and separated it from the sole. I wanted a cleaner finish, so I added a ribbing on the top. This way I can mix and match a lot of different fabrics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ooh La, it´s Alma!

The last two days I was a sewing whirlwind. My last fabric shopping trip left me with a stash of inspiration and possibilities to explore. First I tackled my childhood enemy: Leggings. I always hated them Seriosley. I gues under a skirt or dress in winter I´m okay with them, but never warmed up to this type of pants. Well, they´re not really pants. My dislike for leggings became stronger as more and more girls on the street started wearing them in the mst horrible ways possible. Imagine black underwear in white jersey pants. Too tight leggings with too short shirt. My list of unflattering ways to dress with leggings goes on a long way.

Then I saw the Ooh la leggings from Papercut pattern popping up on my computer screen a while back. I instantly loved the lines of the pattern but didn´t buy it. Just because they were leggings. Next I saw Lauren from Lladybird with her awesome plaid Archer. And she wore it with leggings and it looked so great! So I started keeping my eyes open for a Ponte knit. After a long time of searching I found out, that the term “Ponte” doesn´t exist here in Austria. The fabric is called Romanit jersey here. I found a black cotton one, and an olive green wool one. For my first (yes you read right, there are more to come.) pair for leggings I used the black fabric. Sewing them up was a breeze. The instructions are very clear and easy to follow. I cut a size XS and shortened the waistband for 6cm, so that it would sit just above my hips.

Sorry for the weird coloring in the picture, it was already nighttime when I took them. I have to admit, the leggings feel awesome! They´re really comfortable and soft. The fabric is sturdy enough to not feel like jersey. You can´t even see the outlines of my panties, as you would with knits. At the same time the Romanit is soft and drapy. What an awesome fabric!

The lines of the pattern make the pants look like horseback riding pants.

 

As I was already in sewing mode, I cut into my beautiful flowery cotton lawn to make an Alma blouse. I made Version A, as I did with my nightgown blouse. I cut size 0 and was again able to leave out the zipper. I love the line of the pattern. It´s so flattering without being to dressy and is oh so comfortable as no other blouse can be. I hardly wore blouses in the past, maybe at an event when I had no dress (in a dresser full of dresses) to wear.But this one won me over.

As I´m not a girly girl I never imagined myself in a flower print. Somehow I really liked the pattern of the fabric when I saw it. Now I´m glad I bought it because it´s the perfect match for the Alma. The fabric feels wonderful. Kind of like voile, just not seethrough. It has a great quality for a small price! I ordered 2 yards and still had a lot left over when I made the blouse. In a fit of craziness I managed to cut out a second one! Only this time I made a round neckline without the V. My hair makes me look like I´m shining.

 

And at last: The fusion of Alma and Ooh la. A comfortable outfit for going out and crashing in front of the TV at the same time.

 

Anchor Archer

Today I finished my first Archer. I saw them popping up on blogs for a long time now and always planned on making one. I do wear button-ups a lot, mostly in some kind of plaid. Somehow I never got around actually purchasing the pattern and get started. A few weeks ago I found this wonderful printed chambray and orderd 2 yards. I don´t know exactly what drew me to this fabric, as I´m usually not the nautical kind of a girl.

I made a couple of changes on the pattern though. I cut out size 0 but graded to a size 2 on the hipline. I pretty much ignored the instructions and just went along like I always sew button up shirts. But I did try out this tutorial for putting in a collar. It worked great and I´ll use this method from now on as it´s a lot easier!

I exchanged the placket for the one in the Tyler shirt because looks much more sophisticated that way. I love the angled corners on the cuff! I cut the fabric for the cuff on the bias, as the button band, the pocket and the back yoke to break up the pattern of the anchors.

 

I´m very proud how the anchors line up. Usually I´m too lazy to bother with this  and avoid fabric pattern where I have to do it. But it looks really good and looks very tailored 🙂

I made a smaller pocket as the original one looked ridiculouslly big. I never use these pockets, they´re only for decoration 🙂

I really like my first Archer, there are more to come in the future. I´m planning on making a flannel plaid one. The summer here in Vienna surely calls for one.

 

 

Vintage nightgown comes back to life

A few months ago my grandmother passed a nightgown on to me, which she got from her boss when she worked as a maid for a family. The nightgown, as beautiful as it was, was already falling apart. Almost all the seams where ripped and the gown had holes in various places. It was made out of a delicate silk crepe de chine, so my grandmother asked me to make something for myself out of it because it would be a waste to just let it rot in the attic. Challenge accepted!

The white colour was already turning yellowish and on a few places you could make out tiny faded lilac dots.

The constructions was quite simple. Basically it was just made out of two reactangles with holes for the arms and a neckline with a facing and a collar. On the waist it has ties to bring it in shape. Due to the construction I guess that the nightgown is from the 1920s (anyone has a different guess?) Sorry for the fuzzy picture!

As you can see, the gown was already fixed a couple of times, espaccially on the front of the neckline. After two turns in the washing machine with the silk programm the yellow tone faded and it got a nice off-white colour to it now.

 

It took me a long time to get myself to cut it. I was terrified of messing it up! But when I got my Alma blouse pattern in the mail, I finally kicked myself in the butt and started.

 

The pattern pieces JUST fit on the nightgown with avoiding the damages of the fabric. So no spare fabric for messing anything up. I made view A without the ties without any size alteration. But I did leave out the side zipper. After a lot of pondering over it I decided I didn´t want the zipperband peak through the sheer fabric. I tried it out and I can wiggle myself in without much effort. I did french seams, so that no seam finishing would shine through and avoid the delicate look of the blouse.

I´m very happy how it turned out and can´t wait to show my grandmother! She´ll be very pleased, but she´s always pleased with whatever I make – evening gown or pyjama.

The Alma blouse is very comfortable to wear, I like it a lot! It feels a little fancy but still casual enough to wear it with jeans or a mini skirt. There´ll be more to come for sure! Sometimes I wish I had a job where I can dress up a little. A white silk blouse for a day in kindergarten is probably not a good idea 🙂

 

Prom dress – quick lookback

Do you remember the prom dress I made last month?

The girl got voted promqueen 😀 Although I didn´t know that we do that in Austria…

 

I didn´t get any pictures of the prom itself so far, I only have one more for you, from the final dress rehersal. My sister told me that she loves her dress, so I´m happy 🙂

I think I need a dress like this for myself, I like the classy feel of it…