Vintage Simplicity 7124

I do like fall. It's my birthday season after all. Although it's still a bit too warm for my taste, the leaves are turning beautiful shades of brown and red. I love that!

So I made a dress with some red in it, to celebrate fall. It's one of my first knit garments, but it's a very stable knit and I didn't encounter a lot of  issues while sewing this. I used a 'straight crooked seam', which was suggested in the fantastic Professional Sewing Techniques for Designers. It worked really well and the seams are stable enough. I used bias tape to hem this dress and also for the sleeve hems.

I just love the flowery print. Usually I don't really like to wear grey, but combined with the red, I don't mind.
The pattern I used is Simplicity 7124, a pattern from the sixties. I didn't change anything, except for a sway back alteration.

I would love to make this pattern again, in a crisp cotton without a print. I love the fact that knits are so comfortable, but I think cotton would perhaps result in a more interesting (and sixties) shape.
And one last picture to show how happy I am with this dress!

Oh the pictures!

I have to admit something... It's not that I'm not sewing at the moment - though it's going rather slowly compared to the last few months - but I hate taking pictures with the self-timer.

I hate having to run back and forth on high heels and never being able to take the exact picture I had in mind. It's so stressful (and perhaps I'm too clumsy).

I like it when I have my personal photographer around, though: Mr. Lientje Driel. Sadly, he and I have very different work schedules: I work a lot of evenings and he works on Saturdays. That means we only have Sundays and sometimes Monday evenings together to get the job done! Not easy, with a little one running around. (Not yet running actually, but it won't be too long...)

So I took a couple of pictures from something that involved sewing, but not myself ;-)

Yes! I made some sort of ottoman. It's really comfy and Lily loves sitting on it, to read a book. That's a winner :-)

Playing and Eating!

Enough talk about babies sleeping (or not sleeping...)! Soon enough they grow out of their swing chairs and you need a high chair so they can sit at the table together with the rest of the family. 

I must admit that we enjoyed this moment so much that we splurged on a new Ikea baby chair, instead of hunting a second hand one.

The chair was a bit too big though, so I made a cushion for our daughter to sit more comfortably.

It's made out of a beautiful cotton and I filled it with some special soft filling, used for cushions. I used four buttons on each side, to keep the filling in place.

Now that Lily doesn't need the side wings anymore but still likes a soft cushion, we fold the wings backwards.

So what did I do with the fabric scraps, left over from this project? I made her a cool clipping toy which she absolutely adores, using this tutorial!

Turquoise Sorbetto

My sister celebrated her 26th birthday in June. I made her a wonderful present, if I may say so myself (hehe): a Colette Sorbetto top.

I used the same fabric as for the sash on her Crepe. It's a cotton/poly blend. 

This top is actually the second try. I messed up the first one completely. That happens sometimes, right? You think something is so simple and than you completely ruin the whole thing: I ironed it on a setting that was too high for the polyester, so it melted a bit. The armholes were too tight, the whole top was too short, the darts wouldn't sit right and the bias tape wouldn't stay on.... A disaster!

I'm very happy that the actual gift turned out all right!

I made my own bias tape from a fun print I found in our local haberdashery Veritas. They sell all kind of fun fabrics in fat quarters and even smaller bits. Practical if you want to make some bias tape without having to buy too much fabric!

My sister loves her top and has worn it a couple of times already (at least that what's she's led me to believe!).

Summery Crepe

We're having an Indian summer. Instead of planning my fall wardrobe, I'm still thinking about bright summery dresses like this one.

Summer!

It's a Crepe from Colette Patterns I made for my sister. The fabric is cotton from Liberty of London. I underlined it with a simple white cotton to make it a little more opaque. You may recognize the Liberty fabric from this baby peasant blouse I made for my little one.

The sash is made from a cotton/poly blend in a beautiful turquoise.

The back

 

The dress was really easy to sew. I used the pattern pieces from my own Crepe dress (post coming soon!) and adjusted the fit a little bit. I made a Small Bust Adjustment and repositioned the front darts a little bit. I also made some changes in the back and adjusted the cap sleeves. I think it fits my sis beautifully and all in all I'm very happy with the result.

 Liberty! Yay!

This dress was originally made for a wedding my sister had to attend. She has worn it already several times and thinks it's a really comfortable dress and chic at the same time. That's always a winner!

Look, I can do the Marilyn!

The Sew Weekly!

  Hell yeah!

The Facts
Fabric: Cotton/polyester blend as fashion fabric + cotton for the lining
Notions: Zipper
Pantone Challenge colors: Vivacious!

  Pattern: 

 

Year: 2013

Time to complete: 6 hours
First worn: Today
Wear again? Yes!
Total Cost: 30€

I love pink, huh, I mean Vivacious!

I actually made this top last week. It was supposed to be the muslin for another top in the Pantone Fall Palette (Acai and Koi). But life got in the way and I won't be able to finish the other top for The Sew Weekly deadline, so luckily I made my muslin in Vivacious, which is also in the Fall Palette! Hah, foresight ;-)

The back

I made this top in a cotton/poly blend. It's kind of see through, like lace, so I decided to line it with a simple pink cotton. Unlike lace, the combinations of both fabrics proved to be a bit bulky for a top... However, I do like the look of both fabrics combined, so that makes up for the bulkiness.

 Silly face!

I didn't make a lot of changes, I only lowered the neckline and took the back seam in a bit. I'm happy with the fit though.

Oh, and this might be the one Burda pattern that isn't actually too big! Luckily I cut out a size 38 and not a 36 as I had originally intended!

 

 I love those jeans!

On a side note: the jeans are a refashion from a pair of my boyfriend's jeans. He'd bought them too small and they fit me perfectly! I skinnified (is that even a verb?!) them and added exposed zippers to the side. Love them!

I'm sorry the pics aren't perfect, but it is getting dark outside so early already!

The Pattern and Notions Swap

A couple of weeks ago I decided to join The Sew Weekly Reunion. Great was my surprise that there was also going to be a Pattern and Notions Swap. I registered just in the nick of time. 

I was really excited and a bit scared at the same time to get the name of the person I was supposed to send a parcel to: Adey Lim. I mean, seriously, what can a humble seamstress like myself send to this sewing Wonder Woman? I don't really have a lot of vintage patterns and neither do I have a whole stash of vintage notions.... So, I sent her a modern pattern and some modern notions with a vintage touch. I hope she likes what I chose for her. Lesson learned: it's really hard to chose something for someone else!

When I came back from holiday, a surprise parcel was waiting for me. I opened it as soon as I laid hands on it and found these wonderful goodies (I especially love the buttons with the flowers on them):

 Yes, the little bag with the pink bow are really sweets and I love them!

I also received an e-mail from Mary with some lovely pdf patterns (some of which I had been eyeballing for some time!).

In the meantime I'm getting ready to make something for The Sew Weekly Reunion. I've already made a test version, which turned out all right (I'll blog about it soon). I can't wait to finish it and show you all!