Tag Archives: sewing

Blog Tour: The Madrid Dress from Coffee and Thread

17th June 2019Completed sewingprojectsdress, indie patterns, sewing, wgsewing19Wis

Hello, my lovely readers!

Can you believe it? This is my 100th blog post! I never would have thought that I would reach this milestone when I pushed that publish button for the first time in December 2016.
Although it wasn’t intentional, it is kind of fun that this 100th post is part of a blog tour which is a first for me. So reviewing the Madrid Dress from Coffee and Thread is the birthday party for my 100th blog post.

The Madrid Dress pattern

The Madrid dress is a Bohemian inspired faux wrap dress or tunic with a tiered skirt. It offers three length options and three sleeve variations and comes in sizes 2-20. It is designed for woven fabrics with drape.
I particularly love the faux wrap bodice of the design and I went for the maxi dress with straight sleeves, not the flared ones.

For the maxi dress, there are 5 pattern pieces and two facing pattern pieces. The pattern is available in A0 format so I let it print by Paternsy.

Based on the finished garment measurements I cut out size 18 and didn’t grade between sizes. Being a tall girl I lengthened the bodice with 3,5 cm. There’s a line on the front and back pattern piece to indicate the best place to lengthen (or shorten) your pattern. But don’t forget you have to lengthen the front facing too, for which there is no line indicated. You can draw it yourself by putting it on the front piece.
To be absolutely sure the maxi dress was a maxi dress I lengthened every tier with 1 cm.

Madrid Dress — Why does it always start to rain when you want to take pictures?

The fabric

I bought this special African Wax fabric at Goldhawk Road in April 2017. Last year I tried to make a maxi skirt out of it but this went wrong completely. So I’m glad I could recuperate this fabric for the bodice and I had enough left for the tiers. Because, boy you need a lot of fabric for these.

The sewing process

Sewing the Madrid Dress is not difficult. The instructions are concise and clear. Every step is illustrated with crisp designs. I never had to scratch my head to figure out how to go on.
After sewing the bodice I tried it on and I was able to get it over my head although I accidentally closed both side seams. So I decided to omit the blind zipper.

One thing that takes time is the gathering and the sewing of the tiers. Like I said hereabove these tiers are magnum!! You stitch two rows of gathering stitches, one inside and one outside the seam allowances. I use a different colour in my bobbin when I stitch gathering stitches. This makes it easy to know which thread to pull to make the gathers, always the bobbin thread!

Conclusion

I’m SEW happy with my Madrid Dress! It’s the first time in my life that I have a dress with a tiered skirt. And I love it! I wore it already and the width and the fluidity of the skirt make it a dream to whirl. I’m convinced this dress is going to see a lot of wear this summer.

One thing though to be careful about is when you descend stairs to be aware that your husband isn’t close behind you because he already stepped twice on the third tier!!

If you are looking for a Bohemian inspired faux wrap dress or tunic with a tiered skirt go for the Madrid Dress from Coffee & Thread.

So thank you, Olga and Claudia, for taking me in on this blog tour.

During the tour, Olga offers 25% off on any of the
Coffee & Thread patterns with the code ‘madridtour’

The story of the Mashup Skirt

9th June 2019Completed sewingprojectssewing, skirt, wgsewing19Wis

Many many moons ago, somewhere in 2013, I pinned a picture of a skirt on Pinterest. I loved it so much that I made it the front picture of my ‘Skirts Board’. Also many moons ago, in March 2014, I bought two pieces of fabric to recreate this skirt. And then this project got buried in my sewing queue…. until two weeks ago.
Then Me-Made-May 2019 came along and I created three wardrobe capsules. With my third wardrobe capsule, I gave myself a bonus: “I could replace any of the selected garments with a freshly sewed garment.” And boom! Out came the idea of sewing this Mashup Skirt out of the depths of my sewing queue!

The Mashup Skirt pattern

Although the example skirt is an A-line I decided to make a flared skirt because I love flared skirts just a tiny bit more. I used one of my oldest flare skirt patterns that I sewed already a zillion times!

The only adjustments I had to do to the pattern was to divide the front and back pattern piece in two to be able to get it out of the limited fabric I had. Only 0,5 m of each colour!!

The divided pattern pieces of the front and the back.

I cut the pieces out the two fabrics to achieve an even coloured left and right side. Mashup Skirt

A scallop button placket

The one thing I had to draw myself—and alas drawing is not my strongest feature—was the scallop button placket. How did I do it? I drew a template of one scallop and used this to compose a string of scallops on tracing paper. I included an 0,75 cm (presser foot width) seam allowance. Then I had a scallop button placket pattern!

The Mashup Skirt fabric

Like I said hereabove I bought this midweight linen at the Stoff Schnäppchenmarkt in Cologne in March 2014! So this project definitely counts as a stash buster project! I bought two pieces of the same quality in two different colours. I think this helped with the success of this project. But what was I thinking when I bought only 0,5m of each colour!?!

For the button placket and waistband, I used a leftover from the curtain fabric of my Seamwork Brooklyn skirt. For the back of the button placket, I took some black lining. This reduced the thickness.

mashup skirt

The Sewing Process

Sewing a flared skirt is rather easy. The new thing and the feature to focus on here is the scalloped button placket.
I cut out two plackets: one in fabric and one in black lining. I stitched them together using my presser foot as a guide.
scallop button placket

scallop button placket

Before turning the scallops I clipped and notched the curves. Then I placed the button placket between the two centre front seams. So you stitch through 4 layers of fabric. Here you experience the advantage of using lining for the back of the placket. At the inside, I graded the seams and pressed them open (two seams at each side).

The buttons have a vintage vibe but I bought them new at my local haberdashery shop. I sewed them on with my machine after stabilizing them with wonder tape at the placket.

mashup skirt

Some sewing hickups

When you’re sewing not everything always goes as planned. Sometimes it’s the sewing gods that let you down. Sometimes you just make stupid mistakes. Both happened during sewing this rather simple skirt.

After perfectly putting in the new blind zipper it broke when I closed it for the first time!! This never happened to me before. The only thing you can do then is rip it out and put a new one in!

When I serged the hem the last scallop got to the wrong side. Totally my own fault! Not enough focus.

mashup skirt

At first, I hemmed the skirt as narrow as I could. Remember the small pieces of fabric I had. Then, when I saw the pictures I found it a bit ridiculous to hem through half a scallop. So I cut off about 3 cm and rehemmed the skirt. This gave a much better look.

Conclusion

I’m SEW happy with my Mashup Skirt! I’m a little proud of myself f I or realising a design today that I had in my mind since 2014! And it came out just as I imagined. It’s been two weeks now since I finished the skirt and I already wore it a lot. It’s a pleasure wearing it and it’s suitable for many occasions.
Will I make another one? Maybe? I don’t know if I want a second or more Mashup Skirts in my wardrobe.

*** We were able to shoot some great pictures at the Pieve di San Giovanni in Campiglia Marittima. ***

mashup skirt

Me-Made-May 2019 | It’s a wrap!

1st June 2019sewing communityme-made-may, mmmay19, sewing, wardrobe capsuleWis

Hello, my lovely readers!

It’s the first of June today so Me-Made-May 2019 is officially finished. If you read my blog regularly then you know that I approached MMMAY19 differently this year: I made three wardrobe capsules with 30 me-made garments.

So at the end of May, it means that not only I did I finish my third wardrobe capsule but I finished my total wardrobe capsule experience. Below, you can read how it went.
Spoiler: I loved it!

My third capsule: ‘Everything goes’

The only parameter for the ‘Everything goes’ capsule was that it had to be me-made. The previous capsules contained also some rtw clothes, so this time I wanted it to be 100% me-made.
I gave myself a bonus: ‘If I would finish a new garment within these 10 days I could change with a previously selected one’.

Day 1: 4+10
Day 2: 3+6
Day 3: 1+8
Day 4: 5+9 (new)
Day 5: 8+9 (new)
Day 6: 3+4
Day 7: 6+7
Day 8: 1+2
Day 9: 7+9 (new)
Day 10: 6+10

I documented every outfit with a photo on Instagram. Click on the links of the days. Below you see my overview starting with day 1 in the left upper corner.

Me-Made-May 2019 Wrap

How did I feel about the-everything-goes-wardrobe capsule?

I must admit that when I selected these 10 garments that I was a bit skeptical that I would manage to make 10 different combinations. But I did! More, I am very pleased with the result. Of course, the new skirt— which I wore 3 times—gave me more combinable options than the Snowball high neck dress.
A second reason why it went so well is that 5 of the 10 garments were solids. That really expands the possible combinations.

New combinations?

Again there were a lot! I think it had been a year since I wore the Seafarer top and the Julia Sweater. So all these pairings were new and I renewed my love for both tops. I will definitely grab them more out of my closet in the future.

Me-Made-May 2019 Wrap

I told you already I so loved my approach to Me-Made-May this year. Not only did I wear at least one me-made garment each day of May but these all belonged to one of the three wardrobe capsules I created. Creating wardrobe capsules was new for me and I followed the guidelines of the 10 x 10 style challenge. I recommend these if you thinking about creating one for yourself.
I’m particularly proud that I was able to dress fit for all the occasions of life for 30 days and I never changed outfits during the day. There were even 4 flights last month.
Another benefit is that I discovered several new combinations I could make with my garments.

Conclusion

I’m a happy sewist who has a fond memory of Me-Made-May 2019!

Me-Made-May 2019 | Second wardrobe capsule round-up

22nd May 2019sewing communityme-made-may, mmmay19, sewing, wardrobe capsuleWis

It’s the 22nd of May and that means the start of my third wardrobe capsule for this year’s Me-Made-May. For MMMay19 I created three wardrobe capsules following the guidelines of the 10 x 10 style challenge.

Starting a new one also means I finished my second wardrobe capsule. You can read below how it went and how my third wardrobe capsule looks.

I did it again!

Yes! I managed to dress 10 days with 10 different outfits using 10 garments. I called it my ‘Something Red’ capsule and I interpreted red with major liberty!

red wardrobe capsule

Day 1: 3
Day 2: 5 + 8
Day 3: 7
Day 4: 2 + 10
Day 5: 1 + 3
Day 6: 4 + 5 + 9
Day 7: 7 + 9
Day 8: 1 + 2
Day 9 : 6 + 9
Day 10: 6

I documented every outfit with a photo on Instagram. Below you see a capture of my grid and I love the ‘Something Red’ vibe it radiates. My overview starts with Day 1 in the right-under corner.

red wardrobe capsule

How did I feel about the red wardrobe capsule?

First of all, I’m not particularly fond of the colour red. It’s not a colour that I gravitate to. So I’m rather proud of myself that I could make this work and enjoyed doing it. I managed to dress with something red 10 days in a row and my dressing was fit for all the occasions of my life. Teaching, dinner with friends, lazy day, school meeting… Even the chilly weather could be attacked by wearing red tights and my cardigan. By the way, this red cardigan is the winner of this capsule. I wore it 3 times!

New combinations?

There were several! The African Wax Brooklyn skirt paired with the colour blocked Seafarer top is absolutely a winner. I also enjoyed the pairing of the same skirt with the red striped Ali sweatshirt. I’m sure I will wear these combos again!

My third capsule: Everything goes!

For my third capsule, I wanted it to be 100% me-made. So I couldn’t work around one colour, although blue seems to be a little dominant. I call it the ‘Everything goes with everything’ capsule.

n°7 Vanlose trousers – How to do Fashion
Julia sweater – Compagnie M.
Wanted Tee – Vanessa Pouzet
Faux Wrap skirt – Knipmode
Kingfisher top – The Sewing Revival
Hollyburn Skirt – Sewaholic
Juniper Cardigan – Jennifer Lauren Handmade
n°7 Vanlose top – How to do Fashion
Snowball high neck dress – Waffle Patterns
Seafarer top – Sew Much Ado

Bonus: I give myself permission to change any of these garments with a freshly new made one within the next 10 days!

On the first day of my ‘Everything goes’ capsule, I wear my monochrome Seafarer top with my blue Faux wrap skirt. Who says you can’t combine black and blue?

How is your Me-Made-May 2019 going?

Me-Made-May 2019 | First wardrobe capsule round-up

12th May 2019sewing communitymmmay19, sewing, wardrobe capsuleWis

It’s the 12th of May today, which means that I finished my first 10 x 10 style challenge for Me-Made-May 2019. You remember that for this years Me-Made-May I levelled up my pledge a little. Instead of picking a random me-made garment every morning, I created three wardrobe capsules.
Below, you can read how it went and how my second wardrobe capsule looks.

Did I succeed in my first wardrobe capsule?

I did! I managed to dress 10 days in 10 outfits that were combinations of the 10 items I selected for my Green & Black capsule.

wardrobe capsule

Day 1: 2 + 4
Day 2: 5 + 7 + 10
Day 3: 3
Day 4: 5 + 6 + 9
Day 5: 7 + 9
Day 6: 8
Day 7: 3 + 1
Day 8: 6 + 5
Day 9: 1 + 4
Day 10: 8 + 9 (not photograped)

I documented my outfit every day with a photo on Instagram. This is a capture of my grid so Day 1 is in the right under corner.

How did I feel about it?

First of all, I am a little proud of myself that I made it and at the end of the ride I enjoyed it. There was some unusual chilly weather some days and that annoyed me a little. Without my pledge, I would have worn something else these days. Here the black V-neck pullover came to the rescue. I wore this and the black T-shirt for three days. So that makes them the winners of this capsule.
My striped Nanöo top was only combinable with the grey skirt so that makes it not a very good capsule member.

New combinations?

Although I’ve worn the greenish box pleat skirt a zillion times before, I’ve never combined it with black tops before. I’m sure I will wear this combo again.
This challenge also brought back my love for the grey Seamwork Brooklyn skirt made out of a curtain sample. The combo with the very old RTW rib cord turtleneck is also new and a winner.

Posing with Produce

My second capsule: Something red 💃🏻💃🏻

So it is time to compose my second capsule. I dug in my closet once more and although it is evident to select separates—as they are easier to mix and match—I selected three dresses. It turned out an eclectic selection again, but that is my wardrobe.

wardrobe capsule

Ten garments with something red in it. This capsule is 90% Me-Made. I’m glad I could increase this percentage, the Black & Green capsule was 60%. For the third capsule, I’m going for 100%

Ali Sweatshirt – Sew DIY
Seamwork Brooklyn skirt
Telma dress – Vintage en retro naaipatronen
SJ-Tee – Papercut
Julia Sweater – Compagnie M.
Moneta dress
Sureau Dress – Deer & Doe
Flared skirt – Allemaal Rokjes
RTW cardigan
Seafarer top

Telma Dress

On the first day of my Something Red capsule, I wear my Telma Dress. I sewed it in 2016!

How is your Me-Made-May 2019 going?

Top 5 of 2018: reflections & goals

22nd January 2019Sewing keeps me sane2018MakeNine, sewing, sewing overview, wgsewing18Wis

Woohoo! January is rolling like a high-speed train and February is already peeping over the horizon. So it’s high time for the last part of the #sewingtop5: Reflections and Goals!

2018 Sewing Reflections

Some things I learned about my sewing in 2018!

#1 The joy of basting

Basting does not slow down your sewing, but, it helps your sewing. I bast both by hand and by machine. Basting by hand gives you control over these difficult, sometimes curved, seams. I also baste my zippers when I’m using challenging fabric like pleather or if I want the print to match.

2018 sewing goals — Basting a curved hem by hand.

You can also baste with your sewing machine. Herefore I use a straight stitch with stitch length 5. This is very handy when you’re sewing with knit fabrics. I always machine baste neck bindings and sleeves. This way you can see the result and eventually, make some corrections. Afterwards, it’s easier to put these basted seams under your overlocker.

Once in a while, I baste the whole garment—even put in a zipper— with stitch length 5. Especially when I am a bit unsure about the fit. I make sure that then I have some extra seam allowance.

#2 The joy of hand sewing

It goes in fact hand in hand (!) with the joy of basting! Last year I often sewed some parts of the garments by hand. Usually the finish of the waistband. I find it easier than stitching in the ditch at the front side and trying to catch the seam at the back. It was Brooks Ann Camper on the ‘Love to Sew Podcast‘ who inspired me to do more hand sewing. She said: “It’s much easier and faster to unpick hand sewed stitches than machine sewed stitches!”

2018 sewing goals

#3. The joy of making a muslin!

2018 sewing goals

I made a muslin for my Vogue 9075 Jumpsuit. Being a tall girl I did want enough ease in my jumpsuit to be able to put my arms up when wearing it. Making a muslin is a bit more time consuming than basting but it so worthed when you preview fitting issues.

#4 The joy of prewashing your fabric!

Like I told you in my 2018 misses I did not have the routine to prewash all my fabrics. This led to the minor disaster that some of my me-made garments shrunk after being washed! So after that calamity, I prewashed all my fabrics!

#5 The joy of measuring!

I totally embrace the saying: ‘Measure twice, cut once‘! I do this now systematically. I measure all my pattern pieces and compare the results with my measurements. Sometimes I pin them already together to omit the seam allowances in my calculations. I find this very rewarding because I often use patterns intended for woven fabrics with knit fabrics and vice versa.

2018 Sewing Goals

Well, here I am going to be very brief. I only have one sewing goal for 2019. Actually, there are two!

#1 Finish all—ALL—my UFO’s and WIP’s!

I’m not going to list all the UFO’s and WIP’s I collected the last 4 years— yes, I know some of them are that old! At the beginning of 2019, I had 9 of them.
Today, 3 weeks into the new year, I’m happy to report I already finished three of these sewing projects. Including the boxers for my sons which I started in September 2016!

#2 Don’t create new WIP’s!

This is also a simple goal. In 2019, and for the rest of my sewing life (hmm!), I am going to try not to start a new sewing project when the one I’m busy with is not finished!

Do you think that’s too ambitious? We will see next year!

Previous on the #sewingtop5 series: Hits, Misses & Highlights

Top 5 of 2018: misses & highlights

9th January 2019Sewing keeps me sanesewing, sewing overview, wgsewing18Wis

Next up in the ‘Sewing Top 5‘ are the 2018 misses & highlights!

M i s s e s

“Misses” is a very elastic concept! It could be some projects that totally went wrong, or that you didn’t wear. It’s also possible that you have sewed your garment ok but that when you wear it doesn’t feel like you. Or maybe you destroyed it by accident!

These are my 5 misses in random order.

#1 The Highland Wrap Dress by Allie Olson

2018 misses & highlights

This pattern checks a lot of my boxes: a sleeveless, maxi, V-neck wrap dress. Perfect for hot Summer days. So I started sewing it last June. In fact, if I had participated in the #sewtogetherforsummer, I would have chosen this pattern.
What went wrong? I think the type of fabric is wrong. This rayon gives the dress an airy and drapey feel but it made it very hard to sew it. But I kind of managed it until I got at one of the final stages: the arm facings. Here it went all kind of bumpy and I only finished one arm. And the bodice turned out too big.
What can I do about it? Unpick the already finished arm facing and redo it to make a crisp finish.

#2 The Kabuki Tee from Paper Theorie

Kabuki Tee

It is really with pain in my heart that I put these two Kabuki Tees under my misses. I adore the pattern; I used two of well-loved fabrics; I like the challenge of sewing the angels; I like them on hangers and still, I’m not happy wearing these Kabuki Tees.
Why? I think the boxy shape of the pattern is not suitable for my body type? When I see other sewists wearing it—check #kabukitee on Instagram— and looking good in it, everyone is kind of thin.
What can I do about it? Maybe I could wear them so that they’ll grow on me? I do have some fabric left so maybe I could lengthen them with a border?

#3 The shrunk Mesa dress

2018 misses & highlights

This happens when you don’t prewash your fabric. There’s a risk that your garment will shrink in the laundry! As a result, this Mesa dress is at its shortest now! Luckily it’s a summer dress so it’s still wearable but I can’t pick up something from the floor.
What can I do about it? Maybe I could lengthen it with a strip of fabric.
Note to myself: Prewash all your fabrics!

#4 Maxi Brooklyn Skirt

2018 misses & highlights

I lengthened the pattern of the Seamwork Brooklyn Skirt—which I already made several times to a maxi skirt. I thought I did it correctly by adding substantial length to the hem. I measured it accurately but apparently, I did something wrong. Anyway, what was I thinking because I know that you can’t lengthen a half-circle skirt in this way.
What can I do about it? I am going to reuse this fabric for a jumpsuit I am planning to sew this Summer.

#5 Creating (more) WIP’s

This was already one of my misses last year 🤦🏻‍♀️! I’m glad though I finished two of them. I reused the fabric of the sweater for my son and finished the Hudson pants for my daughter-in-law. Alas, I created some new ones. So this is going to be my goal for 2019: finish all (ALL!) my WIP’s and don’t create new ones.

H i g h l i g h t s

Life isn’t only about sewing! Or is it? So here are my non-sewing highlights of 2018. If you are a regular reader of this blog then you will notice that these highlights not so different than those of last year. Except for number 1 of course!

#1 The birth of our first grandson M.

grandson

This is THE highlight for us for 2018! The first part of the year there was the excitement of the anticipation and after his birth, he brought so much love and joy to our family. We all adore him and love him to pieces!
Of course, it’s super fun to sew all these cute little clothes for him!

#2 Podere Santa Pia

Podere Santa Pia

Staying at our holiday home—Podere Santa Pia—in the South of Tuscany, Italy keeps being the best thing of our life. It’s even better if we are there together with family and friends. To keep the memory alive we take a goodbye picture every time we are leaving this paradise: #ciaosantapia.

#3 Spending time with family and friends

2018 misses & highlights — My father and mother celebrating my father’s 85th birthday. He is holding is first great-grandchild.

2018 was an intense family year. There was the 85th birthday of my father, the 80th birthday of my mother, the 60th anniversary of my parents-in-law, the birth of two little babies, and two big family gatherings: one at my husband’s side of the family and one at my side of the family. And of course, the pizza nights with my crowd. These were all great days!

#4 Starting to walk

Rosa Dress Tilly & The Buttons — Walking through the city and discovering all kind of great backdrops.

I am so not into sports. I have absolutely no talent for it but I wanted to improve my condition. So last September I started to walk with the ambition to walk every day. And I am succeeding. The last 4 months of 2018 I walked about 5000 steps each day. For me, that’s 100 % more than before! I love doing it and I do feel an improvement of my condition. Also, it’s nice to take these walks in the city and often my husband is accompanying me. Last year we had real luck with the warmest autumn since ever so that made these walks even more agreeable.

#5 Visiting musea

Sean Scully at the Pont — Standing in awe in front of a Sean Scully painting.

I can be totally flabbergasted by seeing a good art show. This year I had the pleasure to see two interesting art shows at the Museum De Pont in Tilburg. First, at the beginning of the year, there was the Jubilee show, Weerzien, which showed all their acquisitions. Later, in May, we visited the Sean Scully and Rineke Dijkstra show. Both shows gave me a lot of food for the soul!

Next up in this series: reflections & goals.

What I sewed in 2018 –Top 5: the hits

4th January 2019Sewing keeps me saneindie patterns, sewing, sewing overview, wgsewing18Wis

Nope, we can’t ignore it any longer. The new year—2019!—is definitely here. That makes that I can look back again and reflect. What kind of sewing year was 2018?
Like the previous years, I collected all my sewing data in an infographic and here below you see the result of my 2018 sewing!

What do these numbers say?

I sew mostly for women, using a pdf pattern from an Indie Pattern Designer. Although, compared to previous years, it isn’t that pronounced anymore. There is a shift in who I sew for. In 2018 I sewed more for babies. How else could it be with the birth of our first grandson! This joyful event is, of course, THE highlight of 2018!

2018 sewing — M. wearing his long sleeve sweater. Free pattern from Dromenfabriek.

54 sewing projects

I was a bit surprised by this number when I did the counting. I didn’t have the feeling that I sewed approximately 1 item per week! Say what? The previous years this was somewhat of a (hidden) goal that I could not reach and this year it came to fruition without special effort. Of course, with the 13 Bombazine Mitts, which I sewed in January, I took already a big jumpstart.
And yes, these 54 projects are ALL finished projects! Alas, I also have 7 (seven!!) WIP’s! But I am going to catch up on them!
Another thing that helped to get this high number of finished projects is that I didn’t lose my sewing-mojo this year. Last year, I didn’t sew every day and certainly not 300 times like I set out to at the start of the year, but there wasn’t a significant period of non-sewing!
A new item that I checked for this year is for how many projects I used fabric from my stash. It’s about 47%. This figure could be higher but I’m already pleased with it. Even more so, because it came naturally. It was not a specific goal of me to sew as much as possible from my stash.

sewing 2018 — Buying new fabric or searching through my stash?

Top 5 of 2018

Gillian form ‘Crafting a rainbow’ has this nice challenge for your #sewingtop5. I enjoyed following this last year so I will do it again this year.

2018 sewing

Top 5 Hits

The first thing I want to share with you is my sewing hits! My hits are sewing projects that give me the most joy! And this joy can be caused by several things: from the pleasure of wearing it, the challenge of sewing, the first time tackling a particular technique, or the gratitude you receive from the person you sewed for…

Here is my selection of joy for 2018.

#1. My Jumpsuit

The Vogue V9075 Jumpsuit is without a doubt #myproudestmake. Why? I made a muslin for it so I would not have any fitting issues. This paid off. The fit is perfect!
This is also my best fabric-pattern combination of the year: a cotton and silk blend that I bought at Goldhawk Road in 2017. This counts for sewing from my stash! And I wore it a lot and with pleasure!

#2. The Statement dress

When you make a summer dress in a red/black plaid then you make a statement dress!! This dress gives me so much joy. Why? I had severe grading to do and it worked! The pattern matching is impeccable! And last but not least, my daughter loves it and that makes me happy!

#3. The Jill Coat

It was such a good decision to put a lining in the Seamwork Jill Coatigan. Even more, to put two buttons with a loop closure on it so this coat is totally suitable for Belgian winters.
I particularly enjoyed all the hand stitching I did because of the furry character of the fabric.

#4. All the baby clothes

I started sewing baby clothes in November 2017 when the first grandson of my brother was born. Then in 2018, there was the first granddaughter of my other brother and then in August our little treasure was born. Sewing all these cute baby clothes is great fun and these projects are great stash busters too!

#5. The Kingfisher Top for my daughter-in-law L.

I was over the moon that I could cut out the Kingfisher top out of one panel of Lotte Martens handprinted fabric. This panel was 60cm by 150cm. I had some serious pattern tetris to do but it worked. I was even more over the moon when L. loved this top I made for her birthday! It makes me happy when my family loves and wears the garments I sewed for them!

Next up in the top 5 of 2018 are Misses & Highlights, and Reflections & Goals.

Sewing seconds or more…

16th December 2018Completed sewingprojects, Sewing keeps me saneBurda, indie patterns, Moneta dress, sewing, sewing inspiration, wgsewing18Wis

If you read this blog regularly you know that I ask myself every time when I finish a garment: “Will I sew some more of this pattern?” Often I do but I never showed them to you. So now with December being the traditional month of overviews, I checked my sewing archives and found several second sewings (or even more…).

So, here are some of them.

The Moneta dress from Colette patterns

I sewed my first Moneta dress for the Moneta party in February 2017 and the urge to sew another has always been there. Then, when I was sewing my Beryl Bomber dress I put the leftover fabric on Lola, my dress form, who was already wearing my Wren dress. It was then that I noticed that the two fabrics worked together. Luckily, I had enough leftovers from both fabrics to cut out a new Moneta dress with 3/4 sleeves.
I made no alterations to the pattern and the sewing went super smooth. In hindsight, I should have made the bodice a little wider because this fabric has not the same level of stretch like the one of my first Moneta. It’s a little on the snug side but I’ll leave it this way.
I did not use clear elastic—I hate sewing with clear elastic—for the gathering of the skirt but a small, regular white elastic which I had in my stash. It worked out perfect.
One small sewing secret: I didn’t hem the sleeves and the skirt. I wore the dress already several times and the fabric doesn’t fray at all. So I am just going to leave it this way!

The Ali Sweatshirt from Sew DIY

Ali Sweater DIY

When I finished my Ali Sweatshirt, E., my daughter-in-law, was very enthusiastic about the pattern. So it wasn’t hard to find something to sew for her birthday! I used two brushed sweater fabrics from Chat Chocolat: Mackerels for the bodice and Mackerels- the essential for the yoke, sleeve and cuffs.
The birthday gift was a huge success. She likes the sweater a lot and that makes me very happy!

Ali Sweatshirt DIY

The Kingfisher top

Kingfisher Top Sewing Revival

When I finished my Kingfisher Top I knew without a doubt that I would sew more very soon! I proved to be right.
Here again, two things came together. My other daughter-in-law’s birthday was nearing and there was a sale of Lotte Martens handprinted fabric in my neighbourhood. I love Lotte Martens handprinted fabric. I used one of her panels for my plisé skirt last year.
When I saw this panel with the copper birds I knew immediately that it would be perfect for a top for L. There was only a minor problem: the panel was 60 cm by 150 cm.
To make it work, I divided the sleeve in two and cut them on the bias. As you can see in the photo I only have some small pieces of the fabric left. Kingfisher Top Sewing Revival

Just like with the first Kingfisher top the sewing was a walk in the park. For the binding of the neck and the sleeve cuffs, I used some peanuts brown rib I had in my stash.
This birthday gift was also a huge success. And seeing somebody being very happy with something I sewed makes me (again) very happy.

Kingfisher Top Sewing Revival

The Burda Turtleneck Top

Burda Turtleneck Top

I loved my Burda Turtleneck Top so much that I immediately sewed another one the same week. I had this soft jersey in my stash for about 3 years so it was about time to use it. Again this pattern proved to be very easy to sew. One of the joys of sewing a pattern for the second time is that you already know all the tricks.
I am so enthusiastic about this pattern that I have cut out the third one. Alas, this is one of my WIP’s. I cut it out in April but I have to tackle it soon. Like I said: ‘It’s an easy sew. Just a few hours work!’
Burda Turtleneck Top

And you? Do you have sewing seconds??

The Snowball high neck dress from Waffle Patterns

9th December 2018Completed sewingprojectsdress, indie patterns, sewing, wgsewing18Wis

The Snowball high neck dress from Waffle Patterns was already on my 2017MakeNine and my 2018MakeNine sewing wish list. When I first saw this pattern back in August 2016, I was charmed by the lines and the shape. I immediately bought the pattern and then it got pushed to the back of my mind… like so many things.
I don’t know how your sewing mind works—hmm, I don’t even know how mine works!— but it was the sew frosting challenge that made me think about this pattern again. In fact, I wanted to sew it out of the piece of Mahlia Kent fabric I have (one hundred percent frosting!) but I didn’t have enough fabric. Then I thought I could make a wearable muslin out of this metallic fabric to see how the fit went. Maybe I had to take in some seams and then I still could use the Mahlia Kent fabric. As you can see, that didn’t happen.

The Snowball high neck dress pattern

It’s the first time I sewed a garment from Waffle Patterns and I liked all of it. As the idea of sewing this dress came up on a Saturday night I hadn’t the time to use Patternsy to print an A0 format. So I printed 24 pages of the pattern and glued them together. There were very clear marks so it didn’t take long.
The Snowball high neck dress consists of 10 pieces: 7 pieces for the dress and 3 pieces for the facing. To give the facing a smooth fit the back facing has shoulder darts with curved dart legs. This is a classy tailoring technique that I like.

Based on the finished garment measurements I cut out size 48. I made no alterations on the bodice and lengthened the hem with 5 cm.
After the first fit—I machine basted al the seams with a stitch length 5 and hand basted the zipper— I slightly narrowed the upper front bodice above the bust.

snowball high neck dress waffle patterns

The fabric

I bought this fabric last Summer at the market in Castel del Piano. As with all the fabrics I buy there I don’t know what the exact composition of this fabric is. Probably a poly combo. It has this metallic shine and depending on the light it varies from colour. It’s more beige-ish than greyish though!
This fabric has a medium weight but for this pattern, a more sturdy fabric might have been better.

snowball high neck dress waffle patterns

I didn’t have enough fabric for the facings so I used some blue gingham from my stash. snowball high neck dress waffle patterns

The sewing process

The sewing was plain sailing. I enjoyed every bit of it. The instructions were spot on and illustrated with clear drawings. I loved the drawing of the little iron to indicate which seams should be pressed!
For inserting the blind zipper I followed my own method which is rather simple. First, I hand-basted the zipper and then I stitch it with my blind zipper foot.

snowball high neck dress waffle patterns

Conclusion

I’m very happy with my Snowball high neck dress! I don’t consider it a muslin any longer but a perfect wearable dress. Though I particularly like the design of the high neck it takes some time to get used to it. Probably I should have interfaced the facings—which I didn’t🤦🏻‍♀️—so the collar would stand more.
Will I sew another Snowball dress? Maybe! But then I surely would use a fabric with more body.

snowball high neck dress waffle patterns