I'll sew you

(Sorry, no pictures this time, but I hope you will be so nice to read my post. Thanks). Having had a few days free from work, I've had lots of time to read loads of blogs. And as I already expected (and hoped), lots of you have done some kind of year-review. I would have loved to do one myself but my blog is only a few months old, my digital camera only a few months more and I can't even remember all the things I sewed this year. But.. if I look back at 2009, what do I see? - Lots of sewing. Some of the things I made were really great. Most of them just great. And some of them I have never worn. And thát's not a good thing. It made me realise that I have to think very carefully before I decide on an outfit or a fabric. Most of the times I went wrong was when I really liked the fabric before it was cut, but once it was made into a garment it was looking funny-strange-not to my liking. Lesson learned! - A new sewing-machine, as my old and dear Pfaff died s...

In less than an hour I finished this garment. Cutting the fabric took more time than sewing it. When  I had finished it and put it on I had a real mwah-feeling about it. First thing I thought was: I don't hate it but I am definitely never, ever gonna wear this outside my home. Than a question: If I only wear this at home, will I get a lot of wear out of it? And at that point the love for this garment started to grow. I could see myself using this in the summer as a quick pull-on when I get a bit chilly. Or on other days when you don't want to wear a sweater but only a shirt is not enough. Or if you want to read in bed and you need something to keep your arms and shoulders warm. Man, I can tell you, I took these pictures today and as I write this post I'm still wearing it. The love keeps growing. Isn't that amazing? But it has a problem: On my left side the ribbing is standing out, like a little pocket.  That's actually the main reason why I don't want to ...

The year has nearly come to an end. I've sewn quite a lot. Since I started blogging in september, I've shown you everything I have made so far. So here goes one more time: Again, I'm very, very happy with this blouse. I was not sure wether this puffy sleeves would still be in fashion, but after browsing a lot of the stores lately I can safely say that they still are. I had forgotten how cute the buttons are.. Don't you agree on that?  Funny thing: If you keep looking at this picture (slowly move your eyes up and down at the line where the shadow is darker) it seems like the fabric on the right is laying on top of the left side. Which is not the case of course, it's the shadow that's playing tricks with your eyes. The left side with the buttonholes is lying on top of the right side on which you can just see the line of stitches peeping out. I'm not done sewing yet! I still want to make the Slinky shrug. Yep. Got everything washed and dried and am r...

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all my fellow-bloggists and their families Starting blogging this year has been a wonderful and exciting experience. I'm glad I've entered this sewing-world in which we all love to take part. Thanks for all your comments and thanks for all your wonderful blogs. Thanks for the relaxing time they give me and the distraction from everyday's worries. Thanks for inspiring me and thanks for all the sharing and caring. Lilian

Last wednesdaynight it started snowing in Holland. So now we have a beautiful white world surrounding us. I love it! Makes me think of my youth when snow was a rather common thing in the winter. Now we sometimes have years when it's not snowing at all, or there is not enough snow (and frost to accompany it) to let us enjoy such a view. So I enjoy this very much. It brings out the little girl in me that got so excited when snow was forecasted. The anticipatition of waking up in the morning to this wonderful white world that had so many promises in it. Couldn't wait to go outside and play in the snow. With the years I've grown a bit wiser of course. I stay in and enjoy the view from behind my windows... Well, I had to go out to take these pictures of course. But I made sure there was some hot coffee waiting for me when I got back in :) Today is the first time I see my own neighbourhood this way because in this time of the year I have to leave for wor...

First of all a big thank-you to the commenters on my latest post, for the compliments on my blouse-under-construction. They are well appreciated. A second big thank-you to Sigrid who suggested a link to a tutorial for sewing a collar with a stand, the way I've done on this blouse (and some blouses before). This is definitely the technique I was talking about, Sigrid. And as I promised, for everyone who's interested to read and see more: http://off-the-cuff-style.blogspot.com/2008/05/collar-part-2-hotpatterns-blouse.html . As you can see this is part 2 so check out the other parts too for a complete tutorial. After a busy week, today I finally had some time to do more sewing and I finished both sleeves. I love the way they are finished at the cuffs, it's so feminine. The cuff is just wide enough to put my hand through (which is normally a lot smaller than the pattern suggests). Here's a detail: (I promise you the sleeve was there first ...

The blouse I started working on last weekend is still under construction. There's not so much to say about it except that it is coming together just fine. I am working on the sleeves now and one is partly finished. So this is what I came up with so far. (The sleeve is not attached but lies draped over the shoulder, click on picture for sharper details): It was too small at first but by letting out the darts and the sideseams a bit now the fit is just fine. Strange actually....I used this pattern twice before and never had any fitting problems. (And those blouses still fit! in case you're wondering if this could be caused by gaining weight). It is a bit too short to my liking and I am mad at myself for not checking that before I cut the fabric. It seems lately I start making more and more of these stupid mistakes. (Sorry if I sound a bit harsh but for someone who has been sewing as long as I have this is a mistake not-to-make). I will have to make sure the hem will be as s...

A cursed pattern. Is it possible? I don't know, you tell me. When I decided on my next project, a blouse, I started thinking about what I would write about it on my blog. I thought it would be fun to show the two blouses I already made from the same pattern. And to write a little bit about them. Then I realised that both blouses had suffered some major accidents. First let me show you the pictures and then I'll tell you. They look ok, right? Well, let me tell you that I had to dye the blue one because of brown stains that were left on it when I stupidly washed it together with a brown skirt. I had only worn it a few times at that point! Luckily I did manage to save it from the bin. But if you look close (click on the picture) you can see that the thread I used to sew the buttonholes is a lot lighter. So was the fabric.... It's still ok, I can wear it and I'm thankful for that. (The colour I chose to dye it in was actually as blue as the colour of my dressform, b...

In the post I wrote yesterday I talked about the Slinky Shrug-pattern. I forgot to mention how I found out about the existence of this pattern. So I'll make up for that: If you want to see it already made and get some great tips, then go over to the blog of The Sewing Divas by clicking here . Mary Beth wrote a post about it and already made one up! And thanks Sigrid for your comment in which you mentionned the post of Mary Beth. I did found it there initially, but your help is highly appreciated. And now I wrote this I feel like I want to thank all of you who leave comments on my posts and everyone who takes time to read my blog. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy yours. (And if you don't have a blog yet, start one. It's fún !!) Please feel free to leave a comment any time. I absolutely love it. With my blog I try to give back what I receive from the sew-and-blog-community. I read so many sewingblogs, I thoroughly enjoy them and I will try to...

This morning I wanted to clean my sewingroom. Or at least tidy up a bit. But I didn't get much done. After finishing my skirt yesterday the thought of a new project hasn't left my mind since. I started flickering through all my sewingmagazines and came up with lots of ideas. I wrote that I own about 12 pieces of fabric and therefore am not allowed (self-imposed rule!) to buy anything new but have to sew with what my stash provides. So I decided to look in my stash and see what was waiting there for me. And guess what? The major part are summerfabrics ! Now, I can't go sewing summerthings in winter, can I? So, what does this mean? YES, I CAN BUY MORE FABRIC. Silly rule, actually. I think it origins from the time that I didn't sew up that much. I sewed regularly but not as much as I do now. I bought one, maybe two pieces of fabric and sewed them up before I bought new stuff. I didn't have a stash so to speak. Maybe it also has to do with the way I buy fabric. I ...

Yay!! my pencilskirt is finished. Let's start with a picture, shall we? The picture is a bit dark but in the other pictures you can see the fabric more detailed. (I don't like pictures without a head, but I understand sóóó very well why people publish them that way. Today I wanted to be brave though. And I assure you: I cán laugh you know. I réally can). I'm glad it is finished, for several reasons. First of course because of a new addition to my wardrobe. Overall I'm happy with it but I did have some issues making it. It all went together very well and I had high hopes that this would become a winner. But altough I measured everything very well and I used a tnt-pattern, the band is a bit too wide. If I wear it, it stands away from my body. Just a tiny little bit but also just enough to annoy me. I first wore a belt in the picture but that accentuated this problem in a rather hilarious way. Just below the belt, the band was peaking out, like two little sidetables. Awf...

The pink sweater is finished. It was already on monday last week but due to a very busy schedule, both day and evening, I haven't been able to sit down and write this post. Now it's sunday and I slept in until 11.30u (boy, did I need that extra hours of sleep!) and now I can finally put this new addition in the blogosphere for everyone else to see. First a picture: I am very, very happy with the outcome. When I finish something I usually put it on a hanger where I can see it and I have to say that last week, everytime I passed it, I had feelings of sheer joy. Why such a casual, not really thát interesting piece of clothing can get me over the moon like this, has me puzzled. Well, let's start with a list of points why I dó like it, maybe then it becomes clear: 1. The fabric. It's fleece, it's soft, it's warm, it has a light stretch, it's comfortable. 2. The colour . It's a pastel pink and it's the perfect colour to match the creamy softnes...

Yesterday I started on the pink sweater (KnipMode December 2002) This is the linedrawing: and this is what I came up with so far: As I wrote in an earlier post I was a bit scared of handling fleece since I hadn't worked with it before. But I have to say it's a pleasure to work with. It has a little stretch and so far sewing it has been a breeze. I'll skip the pockets though, maybe next time when I will use this pattern they will get their moment in the sun. I also narrowed the waist as the original pattern has a straight sideseam and I don't want it to look too baggy. Before I start with a garment I always go through the steps in my mind, several times. Sometimes trying to figure out how to do things. This time I kept thinking about how I had to insert the zipper but I couldn't figure it out. When I read the instructions everything became clear and it seems to be very easy. (Maybe that's what instructions are for, right?) You just need a little handstitc...

Today I received my package of fabric I ordered on monday. I had totally forgotten about it so I was pleasantly surprised when I opened my mailbox this evening. This was bought via a webshop and therefore it's always a surprise what you will really get. It's also a risky business because you can't refuse your order because the colour is a bit different then you thought or the pattern is a bit more bold than you pictured it to be. And I must say, this has happened to me once or twice. Once I bought a fabric I thought was purple-brownish coloured. I wanted to make a skirt of it. When I opened my package a bright and sunny orange was 'smiling' back at me. I made a summerblouse with it and I think that was a good choice. But can you imagine this looking purple-brownish in a picture? Well it did. Today's experience was a similar one. But this time it was the size of the pattern that startled me. Of course I knew it had circles, a lot of them. But they're sor...

Last week I've been under the weather. It started on monday with an irritating feeling in my throat. That's always a sign that a cold is about to knock on my door. I managed to keep working for the rest of the week but on friday my boss agreed it would be better to work from home and take my rest when needed.  On saturday I wanted to rest as much as possible to get better because sunday-afternoon I had plans to go to the  Night of the Proms   in Antwerp. And thankfully I had recovered enough by then to do so.  It was really great, as usual. All the performances were accompanied by the music of a symphonic orchestra: Il Novecento, and a wonderful choir: Fine Fleur. We saw performances of Orchestral Manouvres in the Dark, Roxette, Sharon den Adel (leadsinger of Within Temptation, a Dutch symphonic metalband), John Miles, the Katona Twins (two brothers (siblings) who played the guitar, both modern and classical), and of course, Toots Thieleman...

For everyone of you who has been celebrating Halloween or taking part in activities, I hope you had a really fun time. In the Netherlands we don't have Halloween. You see the odd pumpkin here and there, but no dress-up parties or scaring other people, or trick-or-treating. There is, I must say, a growing interest but that has more to do with the commercial side of things. (If you are confronted with all kinds of advertisements, telling you that you HAVE to buy all kind of halloween-related things, yes then maybe in a few years we will have a halloween-tradition as well. But it will not by far be the tradition that you all have). Of course I couldn't wait and decided I had to make my own scary version of Halloween. How? I'll tell you. Buttonholes There once was a blouse, it was nearly finished by its creator, only buttonholes had to be made and buttons had to be attached. Since its creator had the access to a wonderful, electronic Pfaff-sewing machine with full...

Just a short post to show you the picture of 2 finished projects, as promised. The top is Burda 10/2005-114 and the skirt is a KnipMode pattern from 1998. (I'm aware of the fact that wearing this top doesn't show the topstitching of the skirt, but that's ok). It looks like the hem is uneven but that's just me posing in a hand-on-hip position. I promise you, the hem is very even. And I already posted about the fabric, that it has a very shiny silvery inside. Now it's photographed with a flashlight, the fibers seem to reflect this light, which, I promise!, is absolutely not the case in normal light. (And the flashlight is also, I think, the reason for my pale complexion for I can assure you I look healthier in real life ;) Don't you just love it to be dressed completely in home-sewn garments? Always makes me feel kind-a pride. And then wait till somebody makes a nice comment about it so you can say in a (very) casual way: oh..well...I made it myself. Does not h...

Sunday evening late, I had decided on my next project. So I took the fabric and gave it a good, warm, wash and dry and since I'm using a TNT-pattern, I was able to cut the fabric right away on monday. But I'm ashamed to say that with all the free time I got, I didn't accomplish very much. But I made a start and that's....well...a start, I guess.  It's the same blouse I made in black but now I'm using a slightly more interesting fabric. It's a very soft, double-faced baby-cord, and I'm using both sides. Here is a close-up: The (facings of the) collar and the cuffs will be made showing the 'flowery' inside. The rest of the blouse will be made showing the little dots. (Well, they're not dots actually, they're little arrows, as you can see if you look closely / click on the picture to get a better view). I made one alteration to the pattern. I have swayback-problems so I used a back-seam to be able to do a swayback-adjustmen...