Catching up with Myself

Hi Everyone,

Very sorry I haven't posted in so long. I have been sewing, sometimes life just slips by as you all know. I have been enjoying all of the new Spring fashions and I'm hoping to get into spring prints and colours soon. Above are outfits and tops I made in February and March.

The navy and ivory striped top in the upper photo is my most recent addition... I totally love it! It was a Burda magazine pattern  2010/10/112. I liked this pattern very much because it is a classic sailor top. It fits so well and the fabric is more of a sweater knit with a tiny slub in the ivory. I found the fabric in a second hand store, I couldn't resist it and best of all it only cost $4.00. I really like the long sleeves too. Makes me feel like more of a recycler and very environmental. The grey black and white jersy knit was the first top I made with this pattern from a couple of remenants because I just wanted to try out the pattern but I ended up liking it very much. The grey and tan stripe was the second top I made of the pattern, didn't buy enough fabric for long sleeves..raglan tops always take more fabric. The grey strip was from Fabric.com and it is rayon and a stretchy component. It is so light and I really have enjoyed wearing it too.

Below that I'm showing a two piece dress that I made for Valentine dance we enjoyed. What a difficult time with the top. It is a Burda top 2011/10/137. It is supposed to have a straight neck line, but after I put it together the front opening was so low that my bra showed, not a good look for me!!
I had to redo the front and bring up the facing so that it was a height that would work and then of course it draped but I liked the softness of the drape and just added a seam down the back to get rid of the extra fullness, the pattern really did seem to large. I honestly haven't a clue if I did something wrong with the original pattern since my directions were in Russian, literally, LOL,  Since I've wanted many of the more recent Burda's I've been fortunate to find quite a few internationally. I thought I could figure out the simple pattern and I'm sure I did but it really didn't work. Anyway I ended up loving it and made a skirt of my own design with just a wide elastic waistband. The skirt worked great with a deep red top I had in my wardrobe too for another dance.

The bottom photo shows a skirt I made two weeks ago to go with a top that a Couture Seamstress had made for me that I love. She very kindly sold me extra fabric for the skirt and I used pattern
2009/10/137 from an older Burda magazine. I really liked it. The top was made by my friend Alida's Gowns, you might like to check out her beautiful website. She really inspired me to start sewing again. I love the top and skirt together and it looks much like a dress. I also made a couple of pairs of pants in navy and black. I have many more ideas I want to make so I hope it doesn't take me a long to get back to blogging next time.

Hugs, Jean