Monthly Archives: August 2018

Eye-catchers #20

sewing community, ,
An eye-catcher is a person or a thing that attracts the attention

The online sewing community is very visual. So, every day I see heaps of sewing related images on social media and blogs. Some of them catch my eye because they make me think or they give me inspiration. Here, I want to share these eye-catchers with you.

ideas for sewing

 

Follow below what caught my eye the last months:

 

Tiina’s Japanese Dress

Cotton Friend

Thanks to the fun summer photo challenge #sewingagogo I discovered this beautiful dress made by Tiina.  It’s a pattern from the Japanese sewing magazine Cotton Friend. I was immediately attracted by the sharp design of the front. The instructions are only in Japanese but apparently well illustrated. So far I’ve never sewed a Japanese pattern but this dress really inspires me to give it a try.

 

The Frances top from @maxantonia

Frances Top

The simple line of the design of this top combined with the remarkable finish of the sleeves immediately caught my attention. I love this version by @maxantonia in blush pink cupro. Also, this Frances top is a free pattern from Fibre Mood, a new pattern book/magazine company. Once you register you can download it and more, the instructions are available in 4 languages (Dutch, French, English & German).  When I searched through the site some more I discovered Fibre Mood is stationed in my town. It’s always great to discover some sewing souls in the neighbourhood.

 

Beck’s Kabuki Tee
Kabuki Tee

When you don’t have enough fabric but you’ve got your mind set on using this specific fabric for the pattern you want to sew; you have to go right to the limit. That is what Beck did with the Kabuki Tee from Paper Theory. The result is stunning and totally my thing. The way Beck placed the fabric accentuates the absolute crisp design of the Kabuki Tee. Look at these square shoulders! I was so in awe that I immediately started sewing a Kabuki Tee myself and designated Beck as my Sew Style Hero.

 

The Kobe top made by @katilulemakes

Kobe Top Patercut

When you look at the front of the Kobe top from Papercut patterns you may think it’s a classic top, but the back gives away the unexpected and stunning design. I was instantly taken by this version by @katilulemakes. A perfect combination of fabric and pattern! Maybe I could still make one for these warm fall days that are coming…

 

@sewingblue’s sewing

ideas for sewing

@sewingblue is a Swedish sewist who I admire tremendously. She has great sewing skills and everytime she posts on Instagram I am totally in awe. So I was not surprised when I read the capture of this photo that it told the story of a great—and yet new for me—sewing technique. It’s about a clear finish on the inside. She uses a seam allowance of 2,5 cm. After stitching the seams the seam allowance is folden and then stitched to the body about 1 cm from the seam. You will see the stitching on the bodice but this gives also a neat effect. Hats off for this kind of sewing!

So, did anything catch your eye recently?

The Magenta Ogden Cami from True Bias that took forever to sew!

Completed sewingprojects, , , ,

Well, I wasn’t going to sew a new Ogden Cami this summer; I sewed already three versions (cami, maxi dress & dress) last summer. I even didn’t bring the pattern with me to our holiday house. Then I went home for four days to celebrate my mother’s 80th birthday and—never not sewing—started sewing the presents for a sweet little girl that was just born. In my search through my fabric collection for suitable fabric for the baby, I stumbled on this piece of magenta leftover. I don’t know what its origin is, or its composition because I must have had it for more than 25 years. When I held the fabric in my hands it said: “I’m perfect for an Ogden Cami!” And so another Ogden Cami jumped to the pole position of my sewing queue.  I grabbed the pattern and put it with the fabric in my luggage back to Italy. This was going to be a sew for maximum 3 hours, I thought. Man, was I wrong!

Ogden Cami True Bias

The magenta fabric

Like I said above: I don’t know the origin and the composition of this fabric. I found two pieces in my collection: one small part with cutouts from a small waistband and a bigger part of 65 cm on a width of 114cm. The fabric has a medium weight and some drape. Perfect for an Ogden Cami!

Ogden Cami

The sewing struggle
Struggle #1 Not enough fabric

When I decided to make the Ogden Cami I roughly put the pattern on the fabric and thought I could fit it. Alas, after trying several placements I had to admit that the piece wasn’t big enough.

Ogden Cami

But no worries! I had a good experience with the self-made striped lining for my Jill Coat so I could expand the fabric with some fabric straps. When I browsed my bags of fabric I saw the leftovers of my sheer Venus Kimono. The selvedge of this fabric has these strange stripes which I found perfect.Ogden Cami

My work order to expand fabric
  1. Cut out the back piece as economical as possible.
  2. Cut the remaining piece of fabric in two.
    Ogden Cami
  3. Assemble all the fabric pieces together to make one strap. Here I made a mistake to match the top of the first strap with the lowest point of the neckline. When I did a test placement of the pattern I noticed that because of that I had not enough fabric for the hem. I tried to unpick the strip but I used a small zigzag stitch to prevent fraying.  Needless to say that trying to unpick was hopeless.
    Ogden Cami
  4. Make a patchwork with small scraps so you have a perfect rectangle.
    Ogden Cami
  5. Stitch the strap to both sides of the line you cut. Cut out the front bodice. Tadaa!
    Ogden Cami
Struggle #2 The bias binding

As I squeezed the bodice out of the small amount of fabric I had, you can imagine there was absolutely nothing left for the lining. No worries! I’ll finish the neckline and armholes with self-made bias tape! That would be easy, because I had my bias tape maker with me. I succeeded in cutting out two squares of 14 cm of the magenta fabric and one square of 15 cm of the sheer fabric. Of course, I wanted the bias tape to match with the fabric of the bodice. bias binding

Although I’ve made continuous bias tape before, I struggled a lot with these small pieces and I just didn’t see how I had to make the loop. Also, due to their fluidity and devilish character both fabrics were very difficult to put marks on. So I made a sample in tissue paper and then the light went on.bias binding

Sewing the first line of the bias tape on the bodice went smoothly. For finishing the v-neck with bias binding I used the little dart technique that I learned sewing my Chari Dress.bias binding

The second part of the bias binding finish, the fold over, was hell! Because of the small squares of fabric I used there were a lot of tiny seams in the bias tape. And again, these fabrics—although starched— wouldn’t let themselves fold. So I basted the more tricky parts. This made it easier to sew the folded over bias tape.Ogden Cami

Then finally I could hem the bodice. I couldn’t believe that this Ogden Cami was finished. It was a 4-days journey!

Ogden Cami

Conclusion

Am I happy with my Magenta Ogden Cami? You may think I am not but I am! Since I finished it I wore it non-stop and I love wearing it. Just like my other Ogdens, this is a perfect wear for these hot days. Will I sew more Ogden Camis? I guess the answer is no but you’ll never know when I find another piece of fabric that talks me into it!