The Flowery Skirt

Yellow jacket La Mia Boutique 2/2010-3 finished

Yay! It's finished! I wore it yesterday evening and people liked it. :-)

To recap - the body and sleeves have been lengthened

               - the pattern has been adjusted for narrow and forward sloping shoulders

               - the fabric is a heavy knit, present from Grandma

               - I stretched the fabric with the iron but the soaking to get it back to shape didn't work. This fabric has nothing to do with natural fibers, obviously. To save the thing  I used crochet cotton and embroided spirals. (Now I'm scared to iron the hems..)

               - I made polymer clay buttons for embellishment.

 

 

Buttons detail: Cute and fun!

Embroidery details: Add another layer of interest and dynamic to an otherwize broad uniform yellow area.

 

Well, the jacket is warm, bright, cheerful and unusual. I love it!

 

A jacket, a T-shirt and a dress

UFO

Finally the yellow jacket! Done halfway. I redrafted the pattern with all the adjustments and it looks fine. Right now it's drying on the rack because I made a mess while ironing. Turns out this fabric doesn't like to be ironed. It's another heavy knit I got from Grandma. I had to soak the jacket to let the fabric shrink back into its original shape.

Muslin

Burda 8/2007-105. Nice pattern, bad fabric choice. Not wearable. No stretch in it. Old pajamas and boyfriend T-shirts should not to be reused for snug garments. Anyway, the pattern needs adjustments so it's not a big waste. Not to mention the plunging neckline...

Sunday market find

A nightgown that will be turned into a shorter dress. It's too big, the bias tape has to be replaced 'cause it's worn out, but the fabric, a light cotton, is perfect. And I love the flowers!

 

Have a nice and creative day!

Z's pants La Mia Boutique Uomo autunno/inverno 1997-98

He is so pleased with his new pants! The best ones, he sais. :-) Light as air and keep him cool.

I made two  muslins. The first was too big. The second needed only some twitching. I think the result is pretty nice. But the thing I'm proud of is the matching of the lines at the side seams! This plaid is asymmetrical. Every piece had to be cut individually. I just wasn't able to match the vertical lines also. Maybe some other time. But I'm not a perfectionist. Fortunately. Otherwise I would have already gone mad with this pair of trousers.

 

Comfy! :-D

(Psst! I'm secretly making a linen pair. Don't tell him!)

Stripey jacket La Mia Boutique 2-2010/3 finished

Needs few more details. Neater sleeve hem finish and I'd love bigger buttons (and a gigantic flower corsage). But, hey! It's so nice! Thanks for all the encouragement to finish it!

 

 

I altered the pattern. The yellow jacket pieces are waiting to be sewn together. I'm happy. :-D

More coat inspiration

As if you needed some more...

Small selection of patterns from Burda and La Mia Boutique:

 

Top La Mia Boutique 1/2010-2 and the Curtain pants

You all know the big love my little reuse/recycle/refashion genie holds for squeezing pattern pieces onto little fabric scraps, don't you? This little cutie top was made from the remnants of SMOTx3 . There's virtually nothing left. Nothing even to use for half a pair of panties. Assolutamente niente.

For the pants I used curtains. Yes, draperies. Old sun faded cotton red curtains I got from my ex boyfriend's mother a looong time ago. Dyed the fabric purple and sewed the pants. A slightly discolored portion of the fabric that didn't dye well is visible between the back pockets and yoke. If you look closely. :-) I'm wearing them now. They 're quite comfortable. I used this pattern.  Also I learned that the creases under the derriere form because the waistband doesn't hold the pants tight around the hips or waist so the weight of the fabric pulls down. You can use a belt as an antidote, though.

Since the sewing machines were threaded white I finished another top from scratch and one more is half done. I haven't decided on ruffles yet. :-)

Tomorrow.

Oh,yes! I forgot to remind you that there is still plenty of time to enter the Birthday Month Giveaway ! Come play along!

Ciao!

Blouse love

Just bought the latest La Mia Boutique at the news stand. It's the January issue.

My favorite:

 

Looks so wonderfully retro. Sigh, now I desperately need to find the appropriate fabric for this blouse...Yes!

Top La Mia Boutique 11/2004-7

The knit fabric used for this top comes from my newer stash. I tried to place the pieces of the pattern carefully but ended up with a not really pleasing giant bib effect anyway. How do I always manage to mess up with the front pieces? Must be time to change the placement method!

I tried to mask the problem with an asymmetric ruffle and buttons.

The front is now more balanced in its color and pattern madness.

 

The pattern is nice and simple. Obviously it was drafted for a smaller frame so I should elongate the body before using it again. The armscye fits much better than Burda's. And I guess that the creases that form around the bust should disappear by adding a bust dart. Am I right?

Is there a particular reason why the newer shirt patterns come without bust darts? Old Burda patterns used to have them. Even elbow darts. Now, I know that stretchy fabrics mean confort but they often don't  smoothly follow the curviness of your body. Which results in creases even with the lightest and most elastic knit. Wouldn't it be worth adding two more seams to our work for the sake of a flattering shirt without creases? I would like to hear your opinion about this.

Top La Mia Boutique 9/2008-8 reworked - WR

Hmm, I'm a little confused now. I was sure I wrote a post about this top when I made it, but just couldn't find it. Odd. Well, anyway, the pattern is nice but rather loose fitting. Which I found curious considering the cut. I thought I would wear it as it was. Ehm, no, I didn't. Even though I love the fabric.  Finally I got around to altering it. I shortened, narrowed it and added a panel to the front because the v-neck went down to under the bra! Now it's finally wearable.

Also, when I was trying it on yesterday evening it downed on me that it could be tied on the back of the neck, not just in the usual bow. Now it is hot, don't you think? :-)

Flanel snowflake skirt

In the right mood today I tackled the UFO pile. Three pieces got finished!

Let's begin with this:

Little A line skirt , a bit over the knee. The pattern is from La Mia Boutique. I already used it for the violet corduroy skirt. I wish I had more fabric to make the skirt longer.

Oddly enough, when I saw this fabric I thought of snowflakes not flowers. What do you see? Flowers, snowflakes? Little doilies perhaps? :-)

I cut the back pieces carefully to avoid messing up the embroidered pattern and I'm very happy with the result. The facing and lining are recycled.

I have the perfect shirt fort his skirt. Now the only thing I need is the perfect pair of shoes...or boots...hm..?