I'll sew you

Whooheee!! It took a lot of tweaking but it was worth e-ve-ry minute! As you can see I decided on plan b: a band to finish the neckline. First I tried plan a: deepening the pleats, and that seemed to work. But after I stitched the neckline to secure the pleats in place, it had become widen again. Whaat?! So plan b it was. I pinned the pleats in the patternpaper so that I could use that as a guideline to draft the patternpieces for the band, which is 3 cm wide. And that did the trick. This fits and looks so much better on me. Now it's not gonna drop of my shoulder or show any bra-straps. Nor do the pleats end in an awkward and rather abrupt way next to my skin. Yes, I am very pleased with the outcome. I sewed the pleats in the back as darts. That eliminated just enough of the excess fabric to create a smooth line. There is no bulkiness above the waistband any more. When I basted the hem, I saw that the back was high...

After all that harsh blue I was in the mood for something a bit more cheery. The fabric I'm using for my next project has been attracting my attention for a long time. It's a lovely vibrant lilac colour with embroidery. I had no idea what to do with it, until I found this pattern: I love all the pleats, the round neckline, the short sleeves. I just love the whole silhouette of this blouse. Especially the way how the pleats are sewn down from the waist to the hem. This gives a nice fulness in the upper part of the blouse, but creates at the same time a more fitted lower part. Very much to my liking. There are however some issues. Things that need changing. The (lower) pleats Unfortunately, the pleats that work so well in the front, are misbehaving in the back just above the waistline. What I will do is sew the pleats up from the waist and treat them like darts. This should take away some of the excess fabric. The neckline The neckline is also very wide...

Though the plan was to NOT make a sleeveless summertop, I realised there wasn't enough fabric left to make anything else. So I went on with it. I drafted the pattern myself about a year ago, using a store-bought shirt as an example, and this is the third time I'm using it. So I guess it qualifies as a TNT. Anyway, here's the picture: Like the Swedish popgroup Abba sings in 'The winner takes it all':  "It's simple and it's plain, why should I complain?" Yes it's simple but I can use this top a lot this summer. I was able to make two pieces out of this lovely fabric. So yeah, I'm content and not complaining. (The Blue Lady, who has been in my life for more than 20 years and has served as a model numerous times, has begun to show some signs of aging. Like most ladies start to wrinkle when they get older, she is no exception. (Poor thing!) After three fairly simple pieces, I think it's time to make something with a little bit m...

This was an easy but very satisfying project. I have to say 'thumbs up' for the fit of this design. I just had to add a little bit of width at the hip and some at the sleeves (but that's a normal adjustment for me). That was all. I also narrowd the neckline because it was a bit too wide to my taste. The ruched sleeves are not very noticeable in the front, but are still a nice feature on this - let's face it - otherwise rather plain shirt. My favourite way to finish a neckline, with a binding: You can't see it in the linedrawing but for the sizes 46 and up, they added length to the front-pattern at bustheight. By gathering this surplus of fabric - we're talking about approximately 2 cm (5/6") over a length of 14,5 cm  (5 2/3") for size 46, you create some extra space and shape in that area. I wouldn't call this an FBA, but an SBBA (Slightly Bigger Bust Adjustment - Yep, I made that up)....

While it's raining cats and dogs outside, I'm thinking about summersewing. So I looked up some old magazines and found an issue of Ottobre Design (Spring/Summer 2012) that I once got as a birthdaypresent from my sister-in-law. There are some interesting designs in this issue but I never came round to sew with these patterns. Browsing through the magazine, my eyes were immediately drawn to this shirt: Not very difficult to make and not a lot of work. Exactly the kind of project I need after the outcome of the green cardigan. Besides that, I like the ruffled sleeves. My narrow shoulders could do with some extra room in that area. The instruction for sewing the sleeves is rather unpractical. They tell you to sew the elastic (to ruffle the sleeve), onto one side of the (open) seam. Then close the seam while stretching the elasticated side to accommodate the other side. Wháát?? No way I'm gonna do it like that. I'll just close the seam and sew the elastic on the sea...

Well, what can I say about this? That's a rhetorical question of course. What can you nót say about it? It has draglines in the front (FBA-fail) and folds in the back, both sleeves and bodice are too short, sleeves look twisted, also the sleeve-inset is weird and shows lines where there aren't supposed to be any,  I did not use the right colour of thread because I didn't have it in my stash and I was too lazy to go out to buy some. And to top it all off: when I cut through the buttonholes, two of them got damaged in the stitches. Two!! How did that happen?? Oh, and I had to rethread my serger about 8 times before it finally stopped snapping the thread. In my previous post I was telling you how proud I was that I finally mastered the famous FBA. I have to rephrase that (hangs head in embarrassement...) Let's just say I understand some of the technique but not enough to make it work. Not yet anyway. The good news? I didn't give up and persevered to...

Hi guys, it's me! Let's talk about sewing!! It's almost been 1,5 year since I showed you something. Waaaay too long! I have been sewing but just didn't feel like blogging. I want to pick that up because it was always good fun and God knows I need some fun in my life right now. And I would lie if I said that I don't have the time for it. Let's start the next phase of this journey with a green cardigan. It's still early days as you can tell: Years ago I used this pattern to sew a jacket in a boucle-fabric and I wanted to use it again. This time the fabric is much thinner (cotton with just a bit of stretch). It's gonna be somewhat of a challenge to make it look and fit nice again. I hope it will work out in the end. My body changed through the years and adjustments here and there are required. The biggest change is a full-bust-adjustment (FBA). I'm so proud for figuring out how to do that. Besides that I lengthened the pattern 3 cm in the waist...