lundi 30 avril 2012

It's raining today... Where is my umbrella ?

The title is one of the first English lessons French people can hear. And it's specially true today ! Not only today, actually. April was a very wet month this year.



I like making useful outfits, but with this weather this is not really the case for Vogue 8470. Nevertheless, May is coming, and the weather may be nice and warm at last. Anyway, to be sure I can wear what I sew, I decided to start another project: a rain coat. I am using Simplicity 2812 for this.


As a consequence, I am glad I took meters and meters of repellent or waterproof fabrics at last sales. Now it's time to use some ! This time, I want to make the coat with gathered collar and simple sleeves.


Tonight I have 2 sets of pieces ready to be sewn. Depending on the weather when I am ready to sew, I can choose which project has the highest priority. Maybe I'll make both projects at the same time ? Anyway, which one will be finished first ? And which one can I wear first ???

dimanche 29 avril 2012

One day, maybe...

The last posts of Green Apples and Lilacs and Lace both deal with the same topic: new patterns. When I read this, I immediatly had a look at Vogue pattern website to see all new patterns. Of course, I found several I absolutely need ! Maybe for the next sale of sewingpatterns.com ?

Vogue 8812: I really love this one. I'm not sure I could wear it a lot here, because the weather is not hot enough, or it doesn't last for a long time. But is it a reason not to do it ?

Vogue 8812

Vogue 8808: with plain fabric or flowers, I love it. Maybe not such a high collar. Anyway, this knid of shape is very comfortable to go dancing...

Vogue 8808

Vogue 8814. I admit I'm a little scared when I see how deep the neckline is. But I really like the flare of the skirt. Why am I still surprised that I need 4 to 5 meters of fabric for a dress ?

Vogue 8814

Vogue 8804. Like many bloggers, I think I absolutely need this one. Maybe I have other patterns I could use to get the same result. But this one seems to be well adjusted.

Vogue 8804

Vogue 8813: I don't like the fabrics used for the pictures. But I think this can be a great dress or top. I can already imagine it done with some fabrics in my stash. Anyway, I would like to read some pattern reviews to know how difficult this pattern is. The result seems to be simple, but I wouldn't be surprised that it's not so easy to do...

Vogue 8813

Vogue 8470 - Chapter 1

After I had delivered the dress ordered by my sister, and the pet bed tuto, I could start focusing a on project for myself. My choice was dress B of Vogue 8470 - a little longer, because I prefer dresses with hem at ankle.


As I recently learned how and why to make a muslin, I thought it would be a good idea to make one for this dress. And it was ! I knew I needed some alterations for the midriff, but it happened to be more than I imagined.

1st essay: I just wanted to be sure that the lower edge of the bodice would be at the right place. I often have to add some height to the bodice. This time, I don't know why, I tried a new way to do so, but it was a very bad idea. After sewing only one dart, I knew it wouldn't fit at all. My alterations were absolutely horrible and useless, and moreover the midriff wouldn't be large enough.



2nd essay: ok, my new alterations didn't work, maybe I should try the ones I usually do for the bodice. And to get the midriff large enough, I took it 1 size larger than the bodice. Much better, but not perfect yet ! On this muslin, the midriff is too large, mainly at the sewing line between the bodice and the midriff. When I tried it, I had the impression I had a little parachute there...


So, 3rd essay, the good one, at last ! This time, I kept my alterations of muslin #2 for the bodice, and for the midriff I used the same size as bodice for the upper edge, and one size larger for the lower edge. Moreover, I added 7 cm to the midriff height to have the pattern waist line matching my waist line.



Now I know I can cut the final fabric and start sewing...

mercredi 25 avril 2012

The cursed muslin

I've often read about making muslin and seen people courageous enough to take the time to make one, in order to find the right pattern alterations. I had never tried it, but this time it was mandatory. Why ? Because I had to redraw a pattern based on 2 or 3 basic patterns, for someone I've never worked for, and who lives 200km away from my home. So, I thought it would be a good opportunity to try making a muslin: it's a good way to test the pattern with cheap fabric, and I can send it to my "customer" so that she can try it and report mistakes, preferences or bad fitting features.

Fine. But what fabric should I use ? As I was in a shop to find some fabrics for the final projects, I asked for some information about muslin. The vendor helped me to find a wonderful fabric, wonderfully cheap, and wonderfully easy to work.

Fine. Next step now: cut the fabric. Easy to say. But not so easy to do with a young funny cat playing with the fabric: no, this fabric is not made to hide you inside, or sleep on, or hide behind in order to better jump onto the dog ! After many interruptions, I finally end drawing. I was about to start cutting the fabric, when the dog decided he could "help me" with a little mark of urine. Hmm ! There's nothing better, specially at 2a.m. ! Fortunately, it was not on one of the pieces I had drawn. But not too far. So, as I was cutting the pieces, I also cut around the mark...


A few weeks later, muslin again, this time for a dress for me. This time, I found the right organisation so that the cat couldn't play with the fabric. This time, I kept a sharp eye on the dog to avoid any new problem. This time, as soon as I finished darwing on the fabric, before cutting the pieces I cut the main piece of fabric to save the unused part in a clean place. This time, after cutting the pieces of the muslin, I saved them in a clean place too. But..... But I forgot the large remaining piece of fabric. I left it on the table. During the next dinner, or after the next dinner should I say, I had to interrupt because the cat and the dog were a little too noisy playing together. The cat, who is always ready to  please me, as far as he can, stopped immediatly. And he came to sit right in my plate ! My first reaction, not the best one now I know, I said "NO !". And he moved... to sit right on the remaining piece of fabric. So, this time, I have a piece of fabric with a good smell of ginger and nutmeg !

I still have 3m of this fabric. Please, Bijou, Dreamy, I am allowed to work it with no new surprise ???




samedi 14 avril 2012

DIY - Pet bed

I currently have 3 dogs and 2 cats at home. They like comfortable beds, but each time I bought one, I was disappointed how fast the dogs could make holes in the fabric. The worst one did not last more than 2 hours.

So, a few years ago, I decided I could try to make one. After 3 or 4 experimentations, I came to a pattern easy to do. Then I made some for some large breed dogs, as a test to check if the bed would resist them too. And it did...

Here is the last one I've made. It took only 2 hours to make it.




Some people asked me the tutorial, and making the bed was a good opportunity to write the instructions and take some pictures. The tutorial is available for download here.

jeudi 12 avril 2012

Here I am !

It's been a long time since I wanted to try it. Now I'm doing it: a blog in English ! I already have a blog written in French here, but it is so frustrating not to have anything to share with non-French speakers (or should I say readers). Moreover, this is a kind of training for me.

I know my English is not perfect. Probably worst than I can imagine. So, you English readers/writters/speakers, feel free to tell me when I make some mistakes. I'll be glad to learn from your comments.


Well, now, maybe I should introduce this blog ? The main purpose is to share my sewing experience - and experiments, as well as some knitting-embroidery-crochet projects.

The very first project I'll share with you is my dear Easter Bunny (still searching for a good name).


I made it for a contest on Petit Citron. The original pattern is in a Marie-Claire Idées book, but I had to change some details.

The first change is that I made the ears longer. Basically, this had to be the only modification. But...

But the explanations happened to be a little confusing. So was the pattern. So I had to adapt the pattern, using the lines sometimes as the sewing lines, sometimes as the cutting lines. Finally, this took more time than I wanted to, and even though I like the result, I think I would make it different if I had to do it again.