Red Bamboo Jersey Dress

 I found this bamboo jersey in Chu Shing Textiles shop in Toronto, where we travelled last May for our honeymoon. It is soft and with a great drape and hang, and just the perfect thickness and deep red colour. When I bought it I was thinking about a wrap top, but having enough fabric, I could not help to make a dress. This happens often. I buy i.5m of fabric to make a top piece, and then I squeeze a dress out of it, because I consider a dress a whole outfit, although at the end you need thighs and shoes and a jacket...

Well, I made some serious (and successful) hacking for this one. I used the Joni Dress Pattern, from Tilly's, but instead of the twisted front, I made a wrap front out of the back piece. Clever, eh... Then, I took 100 cm of flare off the skirt and made it midi. I inserted some natural rubber along both sides of the crossed fronts to prevent any gaping. For future versions, I'd rather make the fronts higher and then make some pleats under the armpits, like in this bodice. 

Well, all in all, a good make. 

Blue Stripped Cotton Pants

Now that I have found THE PERFECT TROUSER PATTERN, I will not tire of repeating it in different widths, lengths, fabrics... It is unbelievable that of all the trouser patterns I have tried along more than 30 years of sewing, I have only now found one that feels right. Amazing. 

I followed the instructions for making the zip of the same book where the pattern comes from, which are thought for woven fabrics, but not jeans, and it is pretty good. 

I bought the fabric in Ray and Stitch. I was disappointed when it arrives, because I thought it would be thicker than it actually was, but anyway, I decided to make some pants. 

The result is very good, although I have yet to add some belt loops, because they've become baggy with wear, specially in the waist. 

Now I think that I possibly distorted them with too much ironing (dragging the iron along and across the fabric instead of just taping it), because I have recently made the exact same pattern in cotton, being really careful to press the iron without dragging it, and these pants are far more tight. My doubt now is, if I wash this blue cotton pants, and carefully press them, would they recover their shape? We will see... Anyway, the bagginess is not much, probably nobody notices it but me. 

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.