Sewing Fairytales

Dienstag, 3. August 2010

What I made in July

I was not so lazy this month and made all the things I wanted and a bit more:

- Shoe bag for a colleague at work as a wedding gift for her friend. It´s for four pairs of house shoes.

Rose bag

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- Finished my wrap skirt. I love the outcome, it looks so much better with the embroidery and the ruffle. From a bedsheet to a skirt.

Skull wrap skirt

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- Strawberry bag. Unfortunately the fabric is a bit heavy for this, but I think it´s okay. No photo unfortunately, because it´s in use right now.

- Bikini bottoms. They ruined my nerves, but at least they are finished.

Bikini

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- Hippie blouse. Finished after öhm three months or so.

blouse

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- Poker dress. I was inspired by Quinis dress, but used another pattern. I love it. It´s so nice to wear.

Poker dress

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- a matching headdress (kinda huge XD).

Poker headdress

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- and a matching scrunchie. You can never have to many accessoires.

Chou chou

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- And I made two pairs of earrings, nothing special so no photos.

Plans for August:

- pinstripe skirt (Beignet pattern)
- blouse
- tunica dress

Montag, 26. Juli 2010

Inspiration

My inspirations at the moment are:

- Emma movie with Romola Garai, one of my favorite actresses

- summer, I could sew summer wear all day long

- shorts, short trousers are so comfy

- Despereaux, such a cute and clever book

Sonntag, 18. Juli 2010

Book review: Sew Retro

http://www.amazon.de/Sew-Retro-Vintage-Inspired-Projects-Revolution/

This new book by Judi Ketteler presents a history of sewing from the late 19th century to today. Each chapter is about a certain time period with a lot of information about sewing trends in this time. And you get 25 sewing projects inspired by the different time periods.

Layout: This book has so many retro pictures, it´s really eye candy. And I love the spiral binding. The chapters are clearly marked and the design is not hurting your eyes. The book has nice colors and photos, where you can see what you are about to make.

Sewing projects: The projects are mostly not new, but in sight that this is no "only sewing" book it is okay. I think I will make some of them, because there are nice projects to use left over fabric (and I have a lot of this). Only thing is, that most projects are not so specially retro, I think you would find them in other sewing books too. Maybe it´s because they are so simple and with all this retro movement going on.

Overall: I love the concept of this book. You get a lot of information about history and sewing projects. If the projects were more about clothing I would like it more, but it´s okay. I don´t regret buying this book.

Montag, 12. Juli 2010

Vintage sewing video

Here I found a vintage sewing video from the 40s:

http://www.archive.org/details/Patternf1948

It´s very informative, but also a bit funny.

Dienstag, 22. Juni 2010

Beignet pattern review

Pattern Description:

Pencil skirt with buttons in the front and waist band.

Pattern Sizing:

I made a size 4, normally too small for me, but it fits perfectly. I really recommend to decide by the measurements that are given at the back of the pattern.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?

Yes, it turned out exactly like the picture.

Were the instructions easy to follow?

The instructions were really easy to follow and they had helpful pictures. All pattern pieces went together smoothly. The sewing techniques were not really hard only time consuming.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

I like the fit of the skirt and that the pattern is so versatile. The style of this piece is so retro.

Fabric Used:

Some mix fabric. It was not perfect for this pattern, but I was satisfied.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

I lengthend the skirt, because I think the length given looks like you wear the skirt of your little sister. I changed the front line a bit, because it didn´t fit right. And I made no lining, because of lazyness.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

I would so sew this again. I can imagine this skirt in many different colors and patterns. The work was easy, only a bit time consuming. This won´t be the last pattern I sew by this company.

Conclusion:

I love this pattern. It is a great retro style and a good addition to any wardrobe. Making this was very uncomplicated. You only need time. Great work Colette!

You can get the pattern here.

What I made in June and plans for July

I was very lazy in June, only at the end I finished some things.

I made the skirt for our summer party at work just in time (read one day before the big event):

Safari skirt

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Worn:

Summer party was okay. I had to watch the soccer game Germany - Ghana, which was quite boring. We all should wear Safari clothes (like in "Out of Africa") and looked really nice.

Last Friday I made a skirt for the Lolita meet-up at Saturday out of the fabric I got from Bine. It´s the first high-waist Lolita skirt I made and except of some minor mistakes I am quite satisfied. I used a pattern of the Gosu Rori and next time I should use a size smaller.