Blue Lilly’s Sewing Page

I gotta get this pattern. Immediately. For its versatility and the endless possibilities it offers. I’ve seen many tops similar to this one lately in the stores, all for a horribly high price of course. And not even made from a nice fabric!

Most of my ultra-drapey knits are prints, so no chance for stash reduction on this one. But I’ll have a look anyway, you never know. I might have a hidden gem somewhere at the back of my closet!

Simplicity has some interesting new patterns for the summer, but this one is my favorite. I might also get these skirts. For the rest, it’s either shapeless, not my taste, meh or I’ve got a similar pattern already.

As I said before the weekend, I’m finally sewing again. I believe my sewing mojo is back! Here’s a short overview of what kept me busy over the past weeks:

• The first item I made was the new Jalie hoodie top. What a great pattern. It a relatively quick and painless pattern, which gives great results. I will definitely try to make another one by the end of Spring, this time with the shawl collar. For a complete review, see here.
   
• Then I made a dress, because I am absolutely crazy about dresses nowadays. I’ve never been a girly girl as a child and a teenager (or even as a young, young adult) and my new fondness for skirts, discovered about 4 years ago, already transformed my wardrobe. This winter, dresses took over. Wow, no more need to find a skirt that matches with a certain top or vice versa… all I had to do was to put a dress on and voilà! Ready for work in no time! But unfortunately, I didn’t make any of these dresses. So I just had to start making some for the summer. I started with the Deco Vibe Delicious Dresses from Hot Patterns. Great stuff. I received many compliments for it, too (which always feels good! ) Click here for my review.
   
•  Then I made a quick skirt, on a morning where I woke up before dawn and couldn’t fall asleep again. It was, like, 5 am when I sat down to put my skirt together. It was a very quick, instantly gratifying project. I had a very busy weekend ahead of me but I just wanted to get that skirt done! I made the mock wrap skirt No Sweat Easy Sew from Hot Patterns. You can read my review here.
   
• And lastly, the dress I’m the most proud of. I really LOVE the fabric and I LOVE the pattern I used to make it, Simplicity KA 2947. I highly recommend it. You can read my review here. I know I will wear this dress all summer long!

There are also some “work in progress” projects, such as my (hopefully) entry in the Pattern Review Vintage contest. I want to make a dress I will be able to wear. I’m not really far into my project, unfortunately. I did make a muslin of the bodice to get an idea of the size and fit and surprisingly, except the sleeves’ width, everything fits perfectly. So I’ll have to add a cm or two to the sleeves, even though my fabric stretches while the fabric I used for my muslin doesn’t. My current question mark is shall I or shall I not line my dress (especially the bodice) and if I do, with what? I’m going away to Germany for the Easter weekend, far away from my sewing machine, so I’ll be able to do some thinking.

I’ve also made a few purchases the last few weeks. As if my patterns and fabric stashes weren’t big enough yet. I know, I’m a herder, what can I say! I bought a few vintage patterns, and some new patterns too. All dresses, as you might have noticed. Did I mention I love dresses? I must say I puchased the Vogue SB pattern more for the hoodie than for the dress, but you never know.

I hope I can also make the vintage Simplicity 6274 by the end of April and enter it for the Vintage contest as a 2nd entry, along with the Knits contest too. I’m still puzzling about this one. I want to make it in a nice black knit, but I’m wondering if using a contrast fabric to enhance the bodice construction would be a good idea. I’m thinking of using white. I’ve made some sketches, using different combinations, but I’m still not satisfied. I could do some piping in white instead, which would surely look nice. Or get crazy and try making a slot seam in white. But can one make a slot seam with a knit? That’s my big question. But then again, piping isn’t usually made of knits anyway, so there goes my stretchiness. So many questions, as you can see! And the end of April will be there soon enough….

I couldn’t resist buying a bit of fabric I want to make a top and/or a skirt and/or a dress from the polkadot fabric. And I needed some uni turquoise knit to go with some other print knits I have – endless combinations right ahead! Ha! (the colors in the picture are a bit off – the polkadot fabric is black and white…)

Pfew! That’s about it. I’m leaving for my summer vacation in about 2 months, so there’s a lot of work ahead to build my vacation AND work wardrobe. I feel tired just thinking about it!

I wish you all a Happy Easter!

After a streak of disastreous projects, I was all up for some successes. I had planned on making aprons as Mother’s Day presents for my mom and my grand-mother after seeing this pattern from Barbara Brunson. Aren’t they the cutest aprons ever?

I think they turned out pretty well, and I can’t wait to give them to their recipients. Yes, I know, Mother’s Day was like… weeks ago, but since I’ll be visiting the said recipients in about 3 weeks, I decided to wait a bit and hand them in person instead of shipping them.

Here’s a few photos:

I really love the fabric I’ve found for these aprons. It makes me salivate just by looking at them!

I’ll probably give the pattern another go, for myself this time

Gosh, it feels weird to be writing something again. It’s been so long! Where have I been since November? Well, I never really went away, I just got caught up in everything except sewing. Of course, my sewing room being a total mess didn’t help. I’m about half-way through the cleaning bit, enough to clear up access to my sewing machine (yes, it was that bad!!) and my cutting table. What I still need to do is matching pattern instructions, envelopes and pieces that are all over the place. Ugh. But I’ll get there… Tonight I’ll buy A5 sized envelopes to help with this process. Some pattern envelopes are just too dammaged.

Last Monday I’ve made my first project in a looooooooooong time. A t-shirt from Kwik Sew. I’ll post a picture this weekend when I get the chance. It turned out really well, I am really pleased.

On the projects list are now a skirt and a jacket. Stay tuned

First of all, thank you so much for all your comments on my previous post! They all acted as a wonderful confidence and motivational boost to help me go further in my weight loss!

I can now officially say it: I’m out of my sewing slump. When I start ordering fabric, patterns and make a projects list, it’s because I’m finally seeing the light again! I’ve received some patterns I had ordered the past weeks (mostly from the new Simplicity collection, but there are a few Buttericks here and there as well) and I’ve started to “shop my stash” to find suitable fabric. And winter is coming, so I want to wear skirts. Yes, I know. I am weird. There’s nothing I like more than a nice skirt with high boots and thick tights in the winter. You can say it: Marie-Claude, you’re weeeeiiird!!!

So I’ve opened up my Ottobre Woman from September and I decided to make different variations on the A-line skirt (4) (click here for a review). I have a olive green light stretch babycord fabric that I’ve had in my stash for more than 2 years now and that would be perfect for it. Then I have this great wool mix tweed-ish fabric in dark green with burgundy flowers, complete with assorted burgundy ribbon, perfect for a more dressed up outfit (and I bought a cute top at H&M last week that will fit absolutely perfectlywith this skirt!). And last but not least, I have 2 matching babycord fabric: one with an embroided floral design, one plain. Both are in brown/olive colors (sort of a tie-and-dye effect… but without the usual tacky tie-and-dye).

But that’s for this afternoon and next weekend. For now I need to finish a translation assignment If there’s still a bit of time this morning, I’ll trace up the pattern, ready for sewing this afternoon. I’ll start with the wool mix fabric first, I think. Or the stretch babycord. Or the mix and match babycord. So much choice, what to choose, what to choose?

before_after

Originally uploaded by Marie-Claude2007

For fun, I tried on the red dress I made in May, now that I’m 15 kilograms lighter. Wow. The difference is amazing! I definitely cannot wear it anymore, notice the huge gaposis around the waist area, and how the wrap part is just basically hanging there?

I guess I’ll have to make a size 18 next time I try the pattern! (I had made a 24, if I remember well…)

This is precisely the motivation boost I needed, now that the cold, dark days of Fall and Winter are coming…

Nah, I still haven’t cleaned up my sewing “attic”. I’ve been too busy with freelance contracts on the side, that occupied my evenings and my weekends of the last 2 months. But now that I’ve started my sewing lessons (more on that later), I think I’ll have to take some time to clean up my attic! I need to put the patterns back into their envelopes, WITH their instructions. I need to take a look at my pattern inventory to see what I could make in the coming months. I’m now 12 kilos lighter than in June, I’ve dropped 2 full dress sizes and that opens up a whole new range of sewing opportunities! I have patterns in many sizes, so now is the time to try them… before they get too big.

As I said, I have started with my sewing classes, every Monday. Of course, the classes are aimed at beginners, but the teacher said that sewists of all levels are welcomed and I see these classes as the perfect place to learn how to make a jacket or vest that fits, or how to put an invisible zipper properly (I still can’t do that… shame on me!), or in my particular case, how to adapt existing garments to my everchanging weight… Last Monday, we learned how to make a simple pincushion… erm, I’m a bit further than that, but anyway, I went with the flow and made a nice pincushion I needed one anyway!! Perhaps next week I’ll skip the baby pants lesson and start straight away with the winter jacket I’d like to make. I’ll have a look at the fabric in my stash during the weekend and dig in the mess in my attic for the pattern I’m looking for…