Colette Patterns Spring Palette Challenge: #1

So, as promised, the first piece of my spring palette challenge was Simplicity 2250, a really cute and flouncy little number.

Simplicity 2250

Originally I was leaning towards view C (with the contrast) with the straps of A, but I ended up not doing the contrast so I guess it counts as view B with view A's straps. Either way, I'm quite pleased. I'm a little bit excited because I've decided to do my first ever pattern review in the way I've figured is somewhat standard in sewing blogs. Okay...

The finished dress; you can see how difficult it is to discern the darts and such

Pattern description: from envelope: "Misses' dress in two lengths, jacket and tie belt." I just did the dress, not particularly keen on the jacket (based on the drawing alone).

Sizing: 14-22, I made the 22 out of the habit of making the largest possible size since I cannot ever take accurate measurements of myself, and then altering later.

Fabric used: This lovely cotton I found at Joann's while I was in the States, which I bought 3 yards of in case I could find a project for it. 

I completely fell in love with this; after my first Simplicity dress (which I'll post about after it's done washing), which is brown with a similar blue polka dot print, this print made me want to work in a particular palette

Notions: a 30cm zipper (the pattern calls for 12'', so that's the closest I could get. It's light blue and, in theory, should be invisible).

Did it look like the photo or drawing when you were through?: Yeah, it totally does.

How were the instructions?: The bodice darts and pleats are a bit complicated, which is part of its charm, and I've only ever done very simple darts and tucks under the bust, so I was a bit nervous. The instructions were fairly clear; I didn't even try to understand what was happening with the invisible zipper instructions, but that could've been because I was nearing the end of the project and was ready to stop. There were a couple of steps where I had to sit, smoke a cigarette, and figure out what the hell was going on, but I always triumphed, and after I figured a step out the instructions and pictures made sense. I put this more to my lower level of experience than anything else.

isn't that lining pretty? I got it at Sezon ages ago (I can't remember what for) and it looks just great with this print

Construction notes: I'm still not sure how I would've tackled an FBA on this beast of a bodice; I'm lucky it ended up working out all right. The lining has princess seams, so that would've been easier, but I wasn't too bothered about getting that right. The pleat markings were a bit confusing (maybe because I briefly forgot what a pleat would look like) so I think I messed up the bodice pleats, but the skirt pleats came out fantastically. Also, I switched the two back panels by accident. Again, my fault.

I was so pleased with myself at this stage

Any changes? Yeah, as mentioned above since I didn't do an FBA the bodice hits below the bust lower than it normally would, so I only lined the front of the bodice and not the back (the pattern calls for an underlining as well as a lining proper, but I skipped that bit). I also just gathered where I wanted to, instead of how the pattern dictated, because I got all cocky.

Close-up of the bodice detailing, which, again, is a bit hard to work out because of the print

Likes/dislikes: I really liked the pattern; I think it would look better with a horizontal stripe (to show the darts and pleats better) but I love it with this fabric. Plus it was fairly easy to follow and I didn't have to change really anything.

Would you do it again? Would you recommend it? Yes and yes.

Conclusion: Anything that makes me feel nice while I'm wearing it is great, plus it's got a little bit of a Betty Draper vibe, and that's never bad. It came together easily and logically (after I used some logic, of course) and gave me confidence to work with other patterns. So I'm quite pleased!

Check out that rack. No joke (also I just realized it kind of matches that wallpaper, which is ridiculous)

Colette Patterns Spring Palette Challenge

So I've decided to take part in the Colette Patterns spring palette challenge, which is very exciting (and timely, since I decided 2 weeks ago to use a palette for once!). This is what I've come up with:

I haven't decided what will be what yet (except the second dress from the left on the bottom row) and I have to wait a teensy bit until I get the rest of my fabric. We'll see how it goes!

So, clockwise from the top left, we've got:

Simplicity 2403 - a lovely PR pattern; I modified it a bit so I'd have the ruffles and the longer sleeves, although I may make it sleeveless, I can't decide. 

Colette Lady Gray - I can finally do the sew along, months after everyone else on the internet has finished! I like the idea of a spring coat, maybe in that cerulean...

Simplicity 2443 - a Cynthia Rowley knit pattern; depending on the pieces I might try to mix up the colors a little (a little colorblocking, if you will).

Simplicity 2947 - a Khaliah Ali pattern which I'll probably make shorter (but not short enough to be the tunic) and I might use a print, if I can find an appropriate knit print for it.

Simplicity 2250 - a Cynthia Rowley pattern, again, which I already have the fabric for (it's brown with light blue birds and sea foam green leaves, I adore it) and have already cut out the pattern bits (not out of fashion fabric, mind you) but am having a bitch of a time fitting the bust because of all the damned darts.

and Simplicity 2598 - another Khaliah Ali pattern, this time for a cardigan which I think I'll make with 3/4 length sleeves and in a solid color.

Okay, well, I'm gonna get back to fitting 2250!

Long-time-coming update

So I know it's been forever and a day (or, more accurately, two and a half months) since I last updated this blog. Which is what always happens when I try to keep a blog. But I'm (tentatively) back! This post is just an update on things I've been working on/finished... I hope to get two more things (at least) done this holiday weekend, so hopefully there will be another post soon. Okay, time to get into the crazy-long update!

First: things I've finished.

In The Sewing Book: An Encyclopedic Resource of Step-by-Step Techniques there are several pattern for practice; for Nikki, a friend in Moscow who has fantastic dinner parties, I decided to make her a set of four placements from a pattern in the book. This was actually a really fun project because it involved making my own bias tape (actually cut on the bias WHAT) and quilting, which was super fun.

I started with some light green cotton, and to quilt it (since I can't find quilting batting anywhere in Moscow) I used a pink fleece throw I got at Ikea years ago. I cut the green fabric and then inserted the fleece between two pieces of the green.

Then I would randomly sew a diagonal line straight down the middle of the fabric sandwich...

... and, using the stitch with the needle to the farthest side of the foot, I would line up the foot flush with the previous line and stitch again. This created a very uniform series of stitches.

I then finished all the stitches going in that direction.

Next, I started going diagonally in the opposite direction, perpendicular to the first set of stitches.

I used the same method of measurement and the same process...

... until I had finished the quilting part of the placemat (obviously this picture was taken before some much-needed thread-snipping).

Next I trimmed away the excess fleece and used my contrast fabric, a lovely green gingham to make the utensil holders.

I had to sew the napkin ring on, which was a pain and a chore (as you can tell by the awkwardness of this photo).

Bias binding time! I cut several strips of the gingham on the bias and then stitched them first to the front of the placemat...

...then tugged them back to the back side, encasing the open sides. Supercute!

So I finished that a little while ago. I also made these mini-bloomers from Colette:

They're in a fantastic day-of-the-dead print I got from Season. I gave them to Vaskova.

I also refashioned a long-sleeved shirt (based on this refashion) from an old TopShop tee and the rest of one of the dresses (including the covered buttons) from the apron project:

I am somewhat pleased with it; I think I should have made the ruffles longer, to give more volume, though.

I also made a cover for Ethel from an old dress I bought at a thrift store in Beloit (with the edges bound by some of the pink sheet left over from my Sencha muslin):

I also refashioned another long sleeved top based on the "Chilled Ripples Shell" from Anthropologie:

Really I just liked the neck line and all the ruffles, so here's my version (on an old sweatshirt from TopShop, made with some bits from one of the skirts Tasha gave me).

I feel like there's more that I've finished but either I didn't take photos or I'm mistaken. Anyway, on to the projects in mid-swing!

I've been working on a quilt for my niece; my sister decided to decorate my niece's room in pink, brown and white, so I thought I'd make a quilt in those colours. I got three sheets from Ikea (since I thought they'd work well as bedding):

The pink one with the print is actually a duvet cover, so it's like it's two-ply; on the one side is the pink with the print and on the other the pink is replaced by white, so it still fits in. I decided to do a rail fence quilt (seems easy enough, and pretty!) so I made a template for the size of piece I wanted:

And cut out stacks of the pieces from each fabric.

Then I stitched them together in sets of threes, and started piecing them together. I'd say I'm about halfway done with the quilt right now:

and I really really like it! It's taking forever and a day, though, and I need good long periods where I can just sit and straight stitch for hours, which are few and far between. I did this while watching the first two "Rocky" movies, so I had to keep taking breaks to cry. Ridiculous, I know.

So now I'm working on some dresses from patterns; I bought some new pattern magazines on Thursday...

...and I also finalllllllllllllllllly bought some pattern tracing paper, which it turns out is SO EASY TO USE I DON'T KNOW WHY I'VE BEEN AFRAID OF IT.

There were several great things in the magazines; in the one on the left there was a pattern for this skirt (which I bought some chiffon printed with newpaper pages for) AND LEGGINGS. I'm obsessed with leggings (I hate tights, I never wear trousers, so winter in Moscow can be a very uncomfortable place BUT this winter I've fallen in love with leggings) and now I can make my own! I want to make zebra-print, and a pair with one black leg and one white leg. YES.

In the magazine on the right was this little number, which seems very very easy to make (it involves gathering and making elastic casings, both of which I could probably do in my sleep) and comfy. Also, how cute is that guy? Germans, man; I moved to the wrong country. Isn't it nice to see pretty girls in pretty clothes in plus-size magazines, with adorable dudes too? I think it's nice. And by nice I mean awesome.

Anyway, I got these sheets from Ikea to make the dress above with:

The second picture is a brown that matches the brown in the print, I don't know why it's so grey. I think I'm gonna use the print for the skirt and the brown with the stripes for the top, but I'm not 100% sure yet. I feel like that will be mildly ridiculous, so I have to think some more. Although I've already traced and cut the pattern pieces from the magazine, so I'm ready to roll.

I also bought some fabric for the Carmen Sandiego dress, which I'm making this weekend too, hopefully:

I accidentally bought some horribly sheer red stuff on Thursday which broke my heart when I started working on it BUT I can use it to make an underskirt for this dress. I also bought a little baby Christmas tree yesterday at Ikea so I want to have this dress ready so me and the rabbits can pose for Christmas card photos. Ridiculous, right?

Okay, so I'm going to get to work on the peasant-y dress. Maybe I can have it finished by dinner tonight? I hope so!

Project Runway Season 8 Episode 2 - Marie Claire Challenge

The second challenge of this season's PR was to create a piece which best represents the Marie Claire woman. It was way too hot and I did not want to leave the flat, so I decided to do another refashion. The first thing I chose was this blue dress from H&M Moscow, which I love but is a knit and so calls unneccessary attention to my tumtum and, ironically, doesn't stretch enough for my bust:

I love the colour, though, and the tubing-combined-with-drawstring tie:

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it, though, so I looked through the rest of my stash of "Things I like but never wear" and found this dress from New Look in Cardiff:

It's a bit short and tight at the bust but the print is so adorable! I loved the pockets, too, but we'll talk more about them later. I decided to make an elasticated bodice out of the New Look dress and make a skirt with a ruffle out of the blue.

First things first, I cut the bodice from the skirt of the New Look dress:

Then I removed the pockets (which I briefly considered transferring to the blue skirt, but then thought that might be too much)...

... then used my new sewing gage to measure how much to turn over for the elastic casing at the top.

Then I fed the elastic through and left the bodice alone for a little while.

I cut the bodice off of the blue dress, decided how long I wanted the skirt to be and cut off the remaining bits to make the ruffle. I zigzag stitched the bottom of the ruffle and made a gathering stitch along the top:

And then I gathered and stitched it to the base of the dress.

Then I pinned the bodice bit to the top of the skirt...

...and stitched them together.

Looking good! I then pinned the casing for the drawstring to the back of the dress...

...and stitched it on.

I threaded the drawstring through the casing and TADA a new dress!

I still have the bodice from the blue dress so I'm thinking about making it into a shrug or something wear over this (as a friend said, that would take it from day to night). I'm very pleased with this little number.