Pink Silk Jumpsuit and Black Wool Blazer

 Wonderful silk velvet fabric I bought in Chu Shing Textiles, a great shop in Toronto Chinatown. They made me a discount at 68 $/m, which with a 1,5m is a total cost of 70 €. The seller assured it was pure silk, but I believe velvet is made of silk (wrong side) and viscose (right side)... I guess I'll never know. 

I bought it with the idea of making a dress, but I kept wondering about the tights I would wear... Finally, I found a woven jumpsuit pattern in an old Patrones magazine, and I thought it would be perfect if I could squeeze it into 1,5 m of fabric. With the old trick of making an addition to the back crotch area, I could make it. I had doubts about the quality of the pattern, and I previously made a toile, Then, I realized it was very short in the crotch area. I elongated the back crotch 5 cm! And I also cut both back and front crotch lines 2 cm lower. Such huge mistakes in a pattern, what a disaster. Patrones magazine is not reliable in pattern construction, as I've experienced many times. I will throw them all away. Regarding the pattern magazines I have available here, BurdaStyle is to be trusted, and they have it in my local library.  

Well, I am not sure about the result. I could wear it in the school Christmas festival (some extravaganza is expected there...) with this great black blazer, but I cannot imagine any more situations where I can wear it. The result did not meet my high expectations.

In only two weeks time, and me being very busy in general, I had to manage to make this black wool blazer to dignify the Pink Panther Jumpsuit.

I found a great pattern in Burda's website, and I bought it for 5€, because I plan to use it again. I like it because it is quite fitted, and it has vertical underbust darts, going up from the pockets. Revers and collar are small and elegant, and as usual with Burda patterns, has a superb sleeve. I tried to make all the steps as carefully as possible, but the short deadline and the fact that I do not completely master the tailoring techniques might have caused this blazer not to be perfect. Very nice, yes, but I have way to learn and to improve as a seamstress, specially when sewing with wool. Wool is difficult because it is usually difficult to press, and that complicates tailoring. In this case, though, this fabric from Ribes i Casals behaved handsomely under the iron. 

Regarding that, I bought a book about tailoring that I am reading now, it is very interesting. Apparently, one of the mistakes I made was to move the iron up and down the fabric instead of just pressing it. That silly mistake completely misshaped some cotton pants I made some time ago, (more in future posts). 

I was not happy with the lining, neither. It was beautiful, but too bulky on hems. I hope it will improve with wear. Also, the neck roll moves, and I have to set it every time I put on the jacket, it does not settle on its own. And sleeves are 2 or 3cm too long. 

I will be more careful with all those issues in my next rendition of the pattern, for which I have a gorgeous blue wool. 

Black Denim Pants and Jacket

 I bought this fabric in Ray Stitch, online, last April. This same year, in December, I decided to make some wide jeans and a short jacket.

For the jeans, I used this Burda pattern that I have made twice previously. It's a little too wide in the waist, but that is easy to solve. It is tricky to find the perfect ease for jeans, since the fabric gives, and some more than others. 

The pattern for the jacket is mine, and that makes me proud, I admit. I used Aldrich's book to create it; it's the "Fitted Casual Jacket" in p. 128, but cut at the waist. And it fits like a glove. 

Grey Embroidered Cotton Blouse and Pink Linen Pants

This project began with the blouse fabric, which I found in Guthrie and Ghani's shop in Birmingham. It was so beautiful, I had to buy it. I imagined it in this old Burda Style pattern,  but when I got home, I realised I needed also some pants to go with it, since this grey and pink combo is not easy to match. 

I ordered some pink linen from Ribes i Casals, in Barcelona, but when it arrived, it was the wrong tones of pink, rather salmon, and it did not go well with the blouse at all. Some time after that, I decided to boy some fuchsia dye and change the colour. It became just right, and I was really happy with it. 

I decided to use again the wide pant pattern with side pockets from Burda Style again, one of the staples in my pattern collection lately. Next time, I will go down a size, because I had to take some ease off the external side seams and the pockets ended up too small. Let me make a note here for that, although I rarely read my notes when I repeat a pattern, silly me. 

Well, all in all, it became beautiful, chic and comfortable, nothing else to wish for. I love it The only part I am not mad about is the pants pockets, but only I perceive that they are too closed, and they are completely functional anyway. How will the pants' dye hold with the washing remains to been seen. 

Flowery Silk Jersey Dress

 I've wanted to make this dress since the day I saw it in a BurdaStyle magazine I bought back in September, 12 years ago! That is the time I've needed to find the perfect fabric for it. And it has been really worth it. I found it in Sherwood Fabrics, an online shop that I presume is home to the English designer Lady MacElroy. Now I see it is permanently closed. Sadly, I have the suspicion this fabric is not silk, as it was marketed, and for the price, it was more viscose than silk, but anyhow, the pattern design is gorgeous, and it has the perfect hang and feel. In that same order, I felt forced to complain on another fabric that promised to be wool and was obviously poly; they were good enough as to reimburse half of my money, but they lost my trust. I've sewn silk jersey before, and this feels more viscose than silk, but a very good viscose jersey. 

The pattern proved out to be as beautiful as I thought, perfect for my non-existent waist, and becoming to my figure, although I had to make the sleeves (a little too) narrower. 

The rest was a smooth process, and as I anticipated, it was pure pleasure to join and match all those black cotton jersey pieces, which combined with the flowery jersey handsomely. 

All in all, it is an awesome dress that I wear proudly with my new black leather (too high-heeled) boots. 

Navy Linen Blazer

This is another of the linen fabrics I bought in Porto's Amazém dos Linhos. 

It's a lovely shade of navy blue, middle weight Portuguese linen.

I chose a Pattern from BurdaStyle magazine (March 2024). I have a good jacket pattern made to measure, but it has princess seams to the middle shoulder, and I am experimenting with other cuts. This is beautiful, but not perfect. For some fabrics, I would prefer it more fitted, although it is perfect for a linen informal blazer. This pattern has a small bust dart, that could be ugly in other fabrics.

So, for my next formal black blazer, I will be testing another Burda pattern with underbust darts. We'll see, the quest continues. 

The only special issue about the making of this jacket was the no-lining element. I finished all the seams self-encasing them, made a double turned bottom hem and also finished the front facing to be beautiful when seen the inside of the jacket. 

For the next jacket, I will also try to make a smaller size with a FBA, since I want it more fitted. 

Frida Blouse

 This fabric was a present from Ana, my friend's mum. She is a retiring professional home sewist, who wanted to get rid of her small stash. I got some wonderful pieces from her… Some of them have gone to the Primary school where I work. They are lovely for theatre or other performances and presentations. Quite a bunch of them were great for making chick clothes and this is the first one I made. 

This is an old pattern from Burda. I got inspired last Carnaval season, when I thought about becoming Frida Kahlo. Finally, I decided to go as Banksy, but I already had made the blouse by then, so it became known as the Frida blouse. 

Pink Linen Sundress

 

Another great linen fabric from our last trip to Porto. I bought this one in Mundo dos Tecidos, in the city centre. The tone o pink is awesome, and it has the perfect fall for a summer dress. 

I searched throughout my old magazines again, and I found this perfect pattern in a Patrones magazine. 

If I repeat it again, which is fairly possible, I would perform a FBA, thought. I had to give a cm or two in the seams around the bust zone, and that probably produced some looseness in the underarm area. Nothing to be noticed by the untrained eye, but improvable for me. 

All in all, a very comfortable and chic dress, very becoming to the figure. At the end of summer, with a tan, it looks great.