What I Sew

I was working on my 2016 overview when Saturday Night Stitch posted her 2016 hits, using an infographic. I found this such a cool idea that I copied it shamelessly and made my first infographic ever.

What do these numbers say?
In one sentence: I sew for women, using a pdf pattern from an Indie Pattern Designer!

41 sewing projects
I am a little disappointed about this number because one year ago I pledged to myself to sew one item a week. Until September I was on track—using #wgsewing16 on Instagram keeps me up-to-date—but after August my sewing mojo decreased dramatically. Currently, I even have 5 WIPs, all started the last trimester of 2016. But hey! I did sew 41 things, didn’t I?

5 hits from 2016
Because you can approach this from different angles I find it a little difficult to select five hits. Do you choose the most worn? The toughest sewing-challenge? The best fits? The ones you get the most compliments for? So here are my 5 sewing hits from 2016, randomly picked.

Nino Jacket * Paulin Alice
It was on my #2016makenine and it is one of my favourite things to wear. I haven’t taken it off since November.
I picked a sublime wool from The Fabric Sales. The pattern was challenging with belted buttonholes and belted pockets but there are very good instructions on the Pauline Alice blog.

NO.7 VANLØSE * How to do fashion One of the five paper patterns I sewed this year. This pattern from How to do fashion, a Danish Indie Designers, comes in a very beautiful package.
I used this floral crepe Lucy, bought from Mon Depot. For this project I made muslins for the first time ever and it paid off. I had to do some alterations at the trousers, I even had to shorten them! The first time that ever happened.
Because we had this real hot weather in September I could wear it a lot and I love wearing it.

Rushcutter * In the folds
I already acknowledged the greatness of this design on Instagram. New for me was sewing French seams and thanks to the thorough instructions, it worked out fine. I loved this dress so much, I couldn’t help myself and immediately made two, both in cotton.

Hudson Pants * True Bias

The comfiest pants ever! I sewed 4 this year, do I have to say more. The Hudson Pants for men is definitely on my sewing list for this year.

African Wax Prints

Sewing with African Wax was on my wish list for a while and I’m glad I finally did it last summer. If you wonder what African Wax prints are and where they come from, Tamara from Zoona Nova Design wrote a very interesting post about it. The fabrics I used are from Hi Target, which I found in my local fabric shop.
I made the Brooklyn skirt from Seamwork and the Velo Culottes from Sew This Pattern out of it. The rigidity of the fabric gives both patterns some body, that I really like.

These are my impressions about 2016. My wishes for 2017 are coming soon.

A warm and happy Sew Year to you all!

New blog
You are never too old to start something new and it is never too late to start a new sewing blog. For a while now I’ve been feeling like I want to tell a bit more about my sewing-encounters so I’m giving it a try. I hope you’ll enjoy reading it.

The Wren dress
Last summer I already sewed two Wren dresses for E., my daughter-in-law. The first one was a wearable muslin in an old rose lightweight jersey which was a perfect fit. Then I sewed the ‘real’ dress in a woven mint crepe—what was I thinking?

Therefore I had to broaden the bodice to her measurements to make it fit. Also, because she is very lithe, and the front has quite an opening she was able to put it on over her head without a zipper.
I loved sewing the Wren dress and adored the end-result in both fabrics. So, when I found this beautiful midweight jersey at Stofferia in Cologne I knew it was perfect for another Wren dress, this time for me.

This fabric has a nice stretch, feels very soft and is very drapey. Excellent for this model. And I loved how it turned out, like secret pyjamas.

Pattern matching is my thing but this print is so full that I could lay my pattern pieces randomly. The neckbands are even upside-down.

The Wren dress comes together easily and I find the instructions from Colette patterns very clear.

Wren dress Colette Patterns — I find the lower neckline a nice touch in the design.

Alterations
* Being a #sewingtall girl I lengthened the bodice with 6 cm. Especially because I found it rather on the short side when I made the first two Wrens. Now it hangs perfectly on me.
* To cover more cleavage I crossed the body pieces 2 cm further than the original marks.
* With the previous dresses, I struggled with the clear elastic, so now I used a small and soft regular elastic. Stabilizing the elastic with a few stitches on the two side seams and CF and CB also helped, but it remains a chore.
* The instructions also tell to use a twin needle for hemming but that is not really my cup of tea. I always have problems with the tension. Instead, I use the fagot stitch that is programmed on my sewing machine.

New sewing machine
We were lucky to receive a serious tax refund this year so I could gift myself a new serger. I have a 25-year old 3-thread Toyota whose tensions I couldn’t get right anymore.
Wow, this new 4-thread Juki is really a queen. No threading and tension problems. I serged all the seams (except the insert of the sleeves). This even speeded up the whole sewing process.

Will I sew more Wren dresses? I think I will and I am even considering about a Wren top like Jess made.

Sewing-encounters of the first kind

What I Sewed – 2016

2 new things and 1 not really new