Dark Blue Organic Jersey Top

This is a failed attempt to combine with my previous linen-wool pants.

The pattern is from Burda, and it was OK, but I had to take off a total of 8 cm of ease, and it is not thight enough to wear inside my wide pants. 

I changed the neck binding though, and used the same pattern I had used in my last jacket. 

The top in itself looks good on me, though, and I will wear it with jeans. 

Linen - Wool Trouser Suit

 There is a web in the Netherlands that sells ecological textiles, and I love it. I had to buy some interlock and as I reviewed all the new textiles they have (to make the best profit of the shipping costs, my good conscience said) I saw this beautiful pied de popule in a linen and wool blend. I have been looking for a blue "Channel" jacket wool fabric for some time now, because I own one that is OK, but the fabric is polyester, and it does not feel right. (I am mad, it seems). So I thought this was the perfect option. 

And then the parcel arrived.

The pied de popule was 10 times smaller than I imagined and the fabric 4 times thinner. Boomer. 

After swearing to myself I would never buy  fabric online again (hahaha), I started to think what to do with this beautiful fabric. I had bought 2 metres because they do not sell halves, so I decided to go for a trouser suit. 

I saw the pattern of the jacket in a BurdaStyle magazine in my local library (which is on wheels and fantastic, by the way). It was perfect for this thin wool-linen mix, had three-quarter sleeves, which meant fabric savvy. The pattern is really beautiful, and it has proved so in sewing and wearing it. Burda never disappoints, their patterns are great, specially sleeve caps. 

The pattern for the trousers came also in BurdaStyle magazine. It was wide trousers, but I took 8 cm off in the first fitting, goodness, they were enormous!!! 

So, this pattern for the trousers did not please me very much... I have yet to find the perfect pattern for wide trousers, and I am starting to suspect it might not even exist... because of my body type. But I have not desisted yet! I am planing on some wool crepe wide pants, we will see... 

Denim Three Quarter Sleeves Mini Dress

 Well, to be honest, this is a disillusionment, in more than one sense. 

First, I bought the fabric online last year, from the UK. I can't remember the exact shop, it could be Stone Fabrics, but I am not sure... I have looked their website now (and some others) and it is not there any more. I remember it was Robert Kaufman's, and I also can recall the disappointment in the colour of it. If I can get the right colour with my S10 phone, how come they cannot get the right colour in their pictures??? I was looking fore something paler, closer to classical medium coloured denim. The good part is the fabric is still beautiful, in spite of the too flashy blue, because of the sewn in white dots. Well, that for the first disappointment. 

But there are more. 

I saw this pattern in a BurdaStyle magazine, held by my local bibliobus (which I totally adore). I am eternally looking for the perfect gathered-at-the-waist dress. Not found it yet, I am always trying a new one and having to do major adjustments. This particular one was thought for viscose, so the 1st fitting was hilarious (in the opposite sense). To the button stand and opening at the front starting point modification, I had to lower the waist 4 cm all around, and take A LOT of fabric off the skirt. The only good news is that sleeves were perfect, and the open front and v-neck were too. 

But then I cut too much fabric off, and I had almost not fabric to gather. I almost flunked it to the bin! It was a complete failure, it looked like a sack, and not in the good sense. 

Luckily, I had the brilliant idea of tightening the upper bodice 8 cm in total at the waist, and this gave some more figure and some more skirt gather! Few!

I finished the dress in cold weather, and I could only wear it once. The pictures were taken after working in it all day and sitting in a bar some more. It wrinkles in an ugly way, is the last of my disappointments. So, I do not know it this will get much wear or not, we will see. 

Update: who'd know this would end up being one of my favourite dresses? I love it! I feel great wearing it, it combines wonderfully with my grey wool jacket and I'd make it again with some spotted corduroy I've seen online, if I hadn't thrown the pattern away after so many major changes. So, great dress, still looking for this pattern.

Liberty Summer Halter Jumpsuit

 Well, I fell again!

I saw this Liberty fabric online, and I started to have fantasies in my head about a sleeveless jumpsuit, just perfect for this wonderful parsley. 

I looked throughout all my pattern magazines, I remembered one jumpsuit I made 25 years ago, haha... but I could not find it, because I am no keeper, and one day I threw all my old pattern magazines away, keeping only the best and most modern ones. No regrets!

I went online and finally found the perfect pattern in BurdaStyle online. It is a pity you cannot see the number in which it was published until you buy the pattern... I could have found the issue in my library... any ways, it was quite cheap, €5.... but i had to print it, assemble it, and then trace it. I prefer to just trace it, but this was the only way.

It was wonderful to sew with Liberty cotton, as usual, and I enjoyed the make quite a lot. The only necessary modification was the width of the pants, I took 2 cm off the outer and inner seams, a total of 8 cm by leg! Now I think it is the perfect width. Burda is always a sure bet. 

It is a lovely make, very comfortable for really hot weather, but I have to have a nice tanned back to wear it, so better for middle or late summer. Being a tight jumpsuit, it is quite forgiving of my inverted waistline or my tummy. And it has pockets!

I was only able to wear it once in Sitges, now it is too cold already... see you next summer!

Sade Blouse in Organic Jersey

 I cannot remember where I bought this wonderful organic jersey... but just before the summer began (I could not wear it until now, in autumn) I had the inspiration of making the Sade blouse from the Named book Breaking the Pattern, which is proving quite useful.

This is a blouse for warm weather, its long sleeves being open, and it is thought for woven fabrics, but I decided this sporty grey jersey with black shiny laces would  be nice, and it really did. 

I made the pattern with no modifications at all, stitching it directly with the machine, skipping basting it. I simply left 2 cm around every piece. This is the preferred method in American and English patterns, but I always take the seam allowances off the paper patterns and do it the proper way. Even when I do it the fast way, I prefer the pattern to be REAL, and leave the seam allowances around it when I cut it with my scissors. 

The result is awesome... maybe the pictures are not up to my self-image wearing it. I felt sophisticated and comfortable, and I got some compliments. 

A total success. 

Long Pink Linen Jersey Dress

 I bought this fabric online just because i thought it was awesome aesthetically as well as in terms of composition (linen+viscose). When it arrived, I was glad to see it combined perfectly with some Liberty cotton I had acquired in the same order, so I planned a wrapped jacket to go with the dress in changing weather. 

Then, one day I was breakfasting in a bar for rich ladies (I love to go there as a mole), and I saw a lady wearing a long pales ping jersey, sleeveless, long jersey dress. I thought it was nice, but some hours later, I was hit by sudden inspiration:I had the perfect fabric!

For the pattern, I used the "rub off" technique to copy an old dress of mine that I love. 

Since the fabric is too sheer, I used some pale pink thin jersey lining fabric to make a slip that, at the same time, served the purpose of  facings for neck opening and armholes. 

The result is stunning, I love it. After wearing, it three times, it has become longer, and I will have to take 3 or 4 cm off the bottom hem, it is too long. 

Homewear

 There are projects I make, and then I do not post about, because they are not glamorous, but they are still useful and make me happy in everyday life, as much as clothes, almost. 

In this post I reunite some of them that I have made the last months, between other bigger or clothing projects. 

Black & White Gingham Summer Dress

 

I've been seeing B&W gingham sundresses all spring and summer, so when I went to my local fabric store (Pepa i punt) and found a whole gingham collection (big, medium, small, red, blue, black, green), I had to buy some! It was not cheap, but this is the real cotton deal. 

I made the bodice hackering an old dress, simply transforming the back of the bodice, and converting the shoulder straps into long knotted laces. 

For the skirt, I cut 3 rectangles 22 cm wide, each of them being 1.5 times the previous one.

After some gathering and pinning, I sew them and finished the bottom hem with a zigzag to make it softer. 

I usually wear tight clothes, but this is a welcome change... and it goes well with my new sandals. 

I have doubts about the bodice, though. It could be fitted, maybe... I will reassess it next summer. 

Denim Mini Shirt Dress

 ...or how to get away with 1.5 square meters of fabric, haha!

Well, that fabric had been in my stash for a couple of years, with the idea of making some jeans... but then I thought it was too thin for that, and when I finally decided to give it a go and put the jeans pattern on it, I saw it was totally not enough, thanks to the unusual 1.5 m width instead of 1.70. No jeans, not even pirates could be made out of it... so I got the inspiration while wearing this other dress, which is a pattern from Burda Style magazine that I almost threw away at the beginning of the season due to lack of shoes-to-go-with-it inspiration. I literally rescued it from the waste bin when I mentally matched it with combat boots. 

I had to perform a massive hacking in that pattern. First, I transformed the princess seams into darts going up and down from the waist band, which I added. I then made a typical denim dress yoke, drawing it by hand in the paper pattern, both in the front and back bodices. Finally, I added a couple of cms in the armscyes bottoms to compensate to the lack of sleeves. I used the same collar and collar stand, which were perfect, and I made some belt loops for the waist band. 

I looked and looked in my remnants stash (the little pieces of fabric I keep after making a project) until I found this stripped red and white seersucker fabric, which became a perfect match. 

The final result was so lovely, I was surprised. The perfect fit. Very happy with it. 

Red Linen Zadie Jumpsuit

 I bought this linen online from a Barcelona shop without a definite plan for it. Sometimes, fabrics are so awesome you have to buy them, and they bring you the inspiration to be transformed into a 3D garment. You only have to wash it, dry it, touch it, fold it and leave it there in a visible shelf. (Mental note: careful here with excessive stash). Some time or other the inspiration will come, as it did in this case: the Zadie Jumpsuit that I had seen on Instagram, blogs and the internet in general, that had me intrigued as it how the crotch wrap fold was made... 

Seeing that I had not enough fabric (1.5 m) I had to make a second order (+1 m) and accompany it with some more must-haves that you all eventually see here transformed.

It became my project for my final student graduation act, so I was sewing quite frantically for the last week previous to the ceremony, and coinciding with a ton of work and stress to close the course the best possible way. Important things cannot be lived peacefully, it seems. 

Well, for this project I went down a size, paying attention, specially, to the final garment measures. This linen is crisp and structured, so I did not need excessive ease. It hit the target pretty spot on. 

As usual with these patterns, I took the seam allowance off the paper pattern, and cut it with a 2 cm seam allowance (except for the neck opening, 1 cm) all around. 

Having not much time, I sew it directly without marking or bating it. Kind of a crime in my book, but what the heck...

I made no adjustments at all in the bodice, but the pants were waaaay too wide. I realized that at the final fitting, with all the self-enclosed seams finished and all. It was quite easy to correct, though: pockets were also too big, so I decided to start at the waist and take 2 cm off along the outward legs' sides. I cut the excess fabric and remade the self-enclosed lateral seams again. There, perfect!

I decided to wear it with high heel shoes to dress it up, but it is quite sporty with flat sandals or sneakers. The red color is not very discreet though. 

I love it, and it was a success. My 12-year-old students told me it was cool. And they don't lie in their compliments, haha..

Flowery Viscose Long Buffet Dress

 In this case, the term came to me after the inspiration for the dress, which may have been the Amelia Dress, or longer versions of the Hinteland, the Mysostis or the Orla dresses... that is to say, I dreamed with a darted, fitted bodice, three quarter sleeves and a long gathered, tiered skirt. Watching The Sewing Bee, I learned the term "buffet dress", which according to Rachel, from The Fold Line, was their own invention! 

After searching everywhere for a pattern that suited my mental idea and finding none, I resolved to hack a previous bodice and sleeves, which I love, to make it open and buttoned and the center front. 

I left the back darts open, for it to be wide enough to pass on and off, and added a knotted belt of the sabe fabric sewn in the back waist. 

 As for the skirt, I used the Orla dress, or rather, I cut a rectangle 170 cm wide (all the fabric width) and 80 cm long, and finally added a two 170 x 25 cm tiers at the bottom, one for the front and another one for the back. 

I had to find the perfect give in the bodice, but with some trial and error found the perfect amount at the waist and bodice. 

I love this dress. It is absolutely perfect in all senses. It is going to be very wearable at my job in the school, specially during all those months between hot and cold.