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

Red Print Top and Skirt with Red Cardigan each from Burda Patterns

 

Above you can see the skirt, top and cardigan I made and wore to a Chinese New Year's Dinner and Dance with John.  I thought I would like a dress but I really find the versatility of two pieces quite wonderful. This skirt goes with other tops I own and the top can be worn with pants or another skirt but I did like the way they both resemble a dress when worn together. We had a wonderful time and the knit was very comfortable. I also made the red snake skin belt from vinyl I had on hand. I wrapped a vintage buckle with narrow stipes of the vinyl to cover it. The necklace I made a while ago from crystal and red glass beads, I was so please that the colours matched the ourfit. I also wore red snakeskin look shoes. That is the fabulous thing about sewing, it can make you feel very put together.

I really enjoy making this top from a pattern in Burda January 2009. It was especially interesting because my magazine was in German which I do not speak so I just put it together the way I figured it should go together and it worked, yeah!!

The skirt was from Burda December 2011 and I really like it, it worked well out of the knit. This knit was not too stretchy and has a very soft feel to the fabric. It has a zipper on the left side.

The last item I made was the cardigan from Burda August 2011. This was different than the Simplicity I have made cardigans of already and starts with the waterfall higher and the sleeves and length worked perfectly. I had this fabric for so long it was wonderful to finally get something useful out of it. The colours went so well too. This was a good fabric to use because both sides of the fabric looked the same for the waterfall effect.

Thanks so much for looking and all of your inspiration on your other beautiful sewing blogs.
I need another red outfit for a dance this Saturday for Valentines and I think I will wear this skirt with a red top I have in my wardrobe already.

Cheers, Jean

Aqua, Chartreuse top and Brown Boucle Cardigan

I finished this top and cardigan last week using the same two patterns that I mentioned in my blog here when I showed the teal outfit and top. This top was made of the same knit fabric as I showed in a previous blog, I love the fabric, it feels wonderful but my goodness it stretches. I was so pleased to see that is coordinated with a necklace I bought last year.

The boucle fabric for the cardigan I had had for years, it made up very quickly and it was so nice to finally make something out of it. I really liked the fringe on the selvage of the fabric and thought I would like to feature it so I cut the front with the edge along the selvage, tapered the sleeves more and added a cuff of the reverse with the fringe too. It is a bit heavier for a waterfall cardigan but it drapes well and it is warm, I also made it a couple of inches longer than the pattern. It looks really nice with an apricot silk shirt blouse I wear, probably because of the collar of the blouse and the sheen is a nice contrast to the boucle matte look. The boucle knit fabric has lovely tiny shiny loops of chartreuse, apricot and gold.

I'm having fun this week working on a skirt and top for a Chinese New Year dinner dance we are going to this weekend. It is the first time I've traced a pattern from a Burda magazine and it fit!!!

Deep teal knit outfit

I love having this blog as a journal of my sewing and to save links I have enjoyed.

Here is an outfit I made in November when I really started on a roll with sewing. These were easy patterns that fit and worked well. I also made a slim skirt out of the top printed material that looks like a dress with a belt. I really love all the mix and match possibilities with sewing if I get enough of each fabric to make different outfits. I had some fabric left over of the deep teal so I made a scarf that I can wrap twice at my neck or just use it like the bottom photo. The top is a really cool fabric and great for dancing, I made it from an older pattern from 2003, 3968 Butterick, adding to the length of the arms and body and taking it in down the sides. The 6 gore skirt is from 6735 New Look and I like fullness and flip of it. The cardigan is 1945 Simplicity, nice cut, made the sleeves a bit longer. The cardigan sketch on the pattern is not the same as the photo and the folds start much lower than the sketch. You can see the patterns I have scanned in blow. I also made a pair of slim fitting pants in dark teal crepe that really add to the outfit as well.

Pink Flair Top

I finished this knit top and I love it. The knit fabric is so soft but very stretchy... I had to make the V neckline higher. I made the maroon necklace a couple of years ago from a vintage necklace and dark amythist bead chunks. I love the vibrant colours with such an artistic swish of design.  I like the diagonal line of the pink. (diagonal lines are supposed to be slimming). I did lengthen the body and the sleeves. I have bought quite a few tops from Olsen's and really like the way they fit, so I have been adapting most of the patterns I have made to be the same size as their knit tops. I have made this pattern before and enjoy wearing it dancing because the lower neckline is cooler. We line dance (19 years now) and ballroom dance so keeping cool is important to me. I also have this fabric for a top in aquas so I'm looking forward to making it.
There is a small amount of fabric left over and I'm thinking a small cowl might work well on the top.

Burda 8082 pattern... I really liked the different way the sleeves were set in, they go to a V at the upper shoulder.

Navy Lace over Satin Skirt and Knit Top

I've been needing some new skirts for dressy and ballroom dances. The lovely Kat from Petticoats & Peplums made a beautiful blue lace over satin skirt last week for Sew Weekly. I loved the look of lace over satin. It reminded me of some nave satin I had bought a few weeks ago. I found some border lace and looked through my patterns to try to find a pattern that would take less than 1M of fabric and show off the border design. An older Burda 3584 worked really well. The slit is very handy for dancing too. I should mention that the two navy colours do work well together, they look quite different in the photo.

Before Christmas I found a remnant for the knit top. I thought it would be good for the holiday season and dancing because it is stretchy enough for lifting my arms. I used a pattern I had made a couple of times before, New Look 6735. I cut the neck a bit lower, made it and the sleeves a bit longer too. It looks nice with the necklace I bought in Ponta Delgada in the Azores when visitied on a cruise around Great Britain last year.

I wore this outfit to a dance on Saturday and it felt great. I scanned in the two pattern covers below, you can see the slit in the skirt better I the scan.