My first Burda jersey top!

I have been recently to the Richmond Theater to watch the play "Jeeves & Wooster" and because we arrived early, I had the opportunity to have a look into WHSmith. And what have I found among their magazines? A Burda sewing magazine. There were actually two issue, but I only liked the Burda Style Special autumn/winter No5/2013. So, I bought it.

I never used a Burda before, but heard already a few stories about how badly explained everything is. And forget about any nice illustrations! Never mind, I wanted to give it a try. I chose pattern 0010A, which is a jersey top. I decided to make it with long sleeves because I am always very cold in winter.

They made a fury jersey top.
In the left bottom corner you can hopefully
see the pattern.

The top has little pleats at the front and back of the sleeves and the sleeves go up to the neckline. The neckline is finished with a little strip of fabric and at the back you have a little slit that you have to close with button loops and button. According to my high bust measurement, I am size 34. So, I cut 34 at the bust and graded up to size 37 for the waist and hip. It was my first Burda pattern and I had no idea how good the fit would be on me :) But I think it is not bad!

Fabric: A dark purple jersey, which I bought at Goldhawk Road (which will go perfectly with my planned Beignet Skirt). It is a little bit thicker than the basic T-shirts you can buy in the shops.

Tracing: To begin with I had to trace the pattern (I always do anyway), because there were so many on top of each other. And it took me ages, especially because you have to add the seam allowances and then in the evening with no bright light, it was a bit difficult to see all the lines through my tracing paper. Also, at the sleeves pleats there was some weird shaping going on.

The placket is a bit stretched. Maybe I need a broad shoulder adjustment?

Construction: Apart from the pleats and necklines no problem at all. I used my overlocker most of the time and my twin needle only for the topstitching. As you will notice, my pleats don't look similar at all. I gave my best, but somehow they did whatever they wanted. Next time... (yep, there will be a next!) And the neckline? I think I might have misunderstood the instructions here, because it was very difficult to attach such a narrow neckband and also my neckline stands now slightly up. What about the placket and button loop? Weirdly enough the placket is pulled open. Probably because my shoulders need a bit more room? I might add another button/buttonloop here (the pattern instructions call only for one) and see if that helps.

Watch these pleats! I prefer the one on the right :)

Have I worn it yet? Yes, twice and I like it a lot. The only odd thing is that I can feel the sleeve seams. As the sleeves are not super tight, it can't be that. The seam is just a normal overlocked one, so maybe I can feel the threads? I was hoping the threads would soften after washing, but didn't. Did you ever have such a "problem"?

Will I make it again? Yes! I will make the dress version and I am finally going to use my flamingo jersey that I bought at the blogger meetup in Goldhawk Road in August!

PS: I am still thinking about making garments from my sewing list. But I am sure winter will be long...

Princess seams? I am not ready yet...

This dress was supposed to be my make No 4 from my autumn sewing list. But, as you will read, I didn't make it that far! The pattern is Simplicity 6908 that I got from a swap in August. The dress has princess seams, which I have never sewn before, a drape, a yoke back and front, and little sleeves.

I wanted to make the dress in a dark purple jersey, as the pattern states you can use jersey as well. But readers you know, my experience with sewing jersey is almost nil.Thus I decided to make a muslin first and I used another jersey that I also got from the swap in August.



I decided to ignore the back zipper, and also didn't cut yoke front and back (Here I was a bit confused by the pattern description and thought I might not need the yoke and I think I don't need it with jersey.).
And as you can see there are several problems! The bust darts don't point to my apex and the fabric is doing some crazy things at the hem. I have no idea how to move the darts on princess seams - do they actually have to be there? And I have no idea what happened to the fabric at the hem. I sewed with my overlocker and didn't stretch the fabric, so the hems should look fine. Any suggestion what could have gone wrong?

The bust darts are too high.

I was hoping to sew a wearable muslin, but  don't think I will ever wear it in public with this crazy hem. I also haven't bothered to sew button loops and buttons onto the drape to close it in the back. I am sorry to present you with such an unfinished "garment", but I am hoping  to get some comments that might help me to improve my sewing skills!



Seeing the problems I have with the muslin, I don't think I will make the dress with my jersey fabric. Maybe it is best, when I first learn how to modify and sew princess seams dresses before I try to make them with jersey.

Ahm, the photos were taken after lunch.

And I got the really nice comment from my boyfriend, that I can't gain weight when sewing such clothes. I know they are body hugging. But he made it sound like I have gained a few pounds in the last few weeks. Buhu, guys... Although I have to admit, I hardly left the house for the last month because I have started to write my PhD thesis at home. That is also the reason for my blogging and commenting absence, as I am happy about every PC-free minute at the moment. So, sorry for my blogging silence, but hopefully I will be back to old shape soon.

Some advice please!

I will just leave you with a quick question before the weekend, because my best friend is visiting me for the next four days and I will not have time to make or write something :) Hah, I can't wait for her to arrive!

left: brushed; right: not brushed

A few weeks ago, I bought this lovely brushed cotton in Goldhawk Road. I will make a wintery Colette Beignet from it. However, the cotton is brushed only on one side and now I am not sure which side is the right and wrong one? Intuition-wise I thing the brushed and warmer side will be the wrong one. But then the bushed side looks prettier and maybe it is the right side? It would be great, if you could help me with this, because otherwise I am never going to make this skirt, buh.

brushed side

not brushed side

Otherwise, I have started already to make Christmas presents! For me its only five weekends left before I go home to Germany, so I really have to get started! No more selfish sewing :( For my grandparents I am going to make pillow cases. And you probably know, that my favourite colour for quilting is pink! Not a good choice for them. But I was lucky and won in August the stash match organised by Alexandra from a squared w. So I got a lovely fat eights Hand Drawn Garden bundle  and although these colours are not mine at all, they will be perfect for my grandparents.

Pillow case - not quilted yet

So, here just a little sneak peek of the first pillow case that is still in the make!
Have you started to make presents? Or have you decided what to give whom?

Have a lovely weekend!

Knitted Miette Cardigan: DONE!

After a month only, I finished my Miette Cardigan (in progress here)!

It is all blocked and buttons are sewn on, puh. I am so happy with how it turned out! It still has a few mistakes, but I don't care. I am so proud that I knitted something wearable :)

I wanted to use brown buttons, because they are neutral. But when I went to my local wool retailer, I saw these blue flowers and I just couldn't resist. Also, I made several blue garments during the last two month, so plenty of opportunities to wear the cardigan.

The sleeves are a little bit tighter and shorter than I would have liked. But hopefully they will stretch a bit width-wise. As for the length, I was knitting the sleeves in a crowded airplane and couldn't try them one. They looked long enough to me, so I started the lace pattern.

Lace detail.

I was really worried about the blocking and how I would pull the cardigan in shape. But there was no reason to! I just washed it in the washing machine (I have a wool program) and then put the cardigan on top of an old bathmat that had rubber at the bottom and fabric at the top. I then pinned the cardigan to the bathmat according to my measurements and waited for 2 days for it to dry. I wanted to show you pictures before and after blocking, but I was so excited, that I forgot to take them before. But believe, it is really worth to block your knitted make!

Fits like a glove!

How about you? Have you made any progress with your knitted makes or finished it even? I would love to hear about it :)

Flower buttons! It took me an hour to sew them on.

Next, YES there is already a next, I will knit the owl sweater by Kate Davies. The sweater has owls at the yoke and they look like the ones from my mittens. So, hopefully, that sweater will be an easy knit. I have already chosen the wool: Cascade yarns Eco+ in Merlot. I was having loads of fun winding the wool into balls. I thought it might be difficult, but no, really easy. Happy knitting!

Wool for my next project!

Autumn Make No3: McCalls Shirt Dress Version D

I thought, I better would hurry on to get this shirt dress done before the weather is getting any colder and I will not be able to wear it anymore. But, there was no need to worry, because the dress is super cosy and warm! The dress is make No3 from my autumn sewing list.

The pattern I used was McCalls M6167 and I made version D, which is actually more like a jumper. The shirt is only buttoned down to the waist and then you just attach a gathered peplum. The only area you really have to fit is the bust and I cut out a size 8 according to my high bust measurement. I then graded up the waist and hips to size 12. But actually there was no real need for this as there is plenty of fabric and I would have fit into a size 8 for waist and hips as well.



I then tissue fitted the upper bodice only. Surprisingly, my bust and the height of the bust darts were spot on - there is always a first time. So, I only had to move the back shoulder seam forward to accommodate my sloping shoulders. Then lengthened the waist by 1", dropped the neckline by 5/8" and shortened the top of the shoulders by just cutting off some tissue at my shoulder point.


Construction: As always, the collar gives me troubles when figuring out which piece has to do up - the interfaced or un-interfaced one? I know now, it has to be the interfaced one. Having settled this, I tried my luck with the cuffs. The cuffs were a first for me and I had some problems sewing the sleeve plackets. They are not as neat as they should be, but for my first attempt I am super happy about their look. The rest of the shirt dress came easily together.

Embellishments: I used red top stitching thread at the waist casing and hem to match my red buttons. These are finally my last heart buttons and because I didn't had enough I used flower buttons for rolling up the sleeve and a clear button at the collar - you will never see this one anyway :)

hand stitching

It took me about three days to make this dress. I started to cut out the fabric on a Friday night, which took my about 5 hours with having to do all the matching of the plaids. Luckily, just a day before, Lauren from Lladybird posted a tutorial about how to match plaids. Perfect timing! Then I spend half of Saturday and all Sunday on stitching the dress together. I have never done so much hand stitching before! The collar facing and the cuffs had to be slip stitched, which took me at least two hours. I am not the fastest one... But, I am so happy with the neat and professional finish that the hand stitching adds.

I have worn the dress already twice once for work and once to go fabric shopping at Goldhawk Road. I know I haven't completed my autumn sewing list yet, but I really needed some woolly fabric for my Colette Beignet Skirt. I bought the pattern already 3 month ago, but had not been able to find a nice fabric.

Although I didn't like the tedious hand stitching at all, I will make the shirt dress again! I bought the fabric already (I didn't know you have to hand stitch that much) as you might remember from my autumn sewing list and I am going to make the plaited version this time! So, keep tuned for another shirt dress coming soon :)

french seams

Autumn Make No2: Self-drafted Jersey Dress

Finally I have found time to write about my latest make from my autumn sewing list: my self-drafted Jersey Dress made following the day date dress tutorial from Elle at elleapparel.

The tutorial was super easy to follow and I had to improvise at a few steps only. Here you can see the T-shirt I used as a template for my dress - do you spot the differences? ;) As Elle, I wanted to add a Pater Pan collar to my dress, because this was what actually tempted me to make the dress. But the problem was, that I don't have a jersey shirt with Pater Pan collar that I could use. So, I just used the collar that I had drafted for my Colette Hawthorn instead. It took me a bit of fiddling and cutting of a bit of extra fabric, but it fit, yeah!

The template...

...the new dress.

I basted collar and sleeves to the dress before I used my overlocker to sew the dress together. Did I say that I love her? Sewing itself was a breeze, up to the point where I had to sew in an elastic at the waistband - my first time ever! The first time I didn't stretch it, because it didn't look as Elle had done it. But the result was that the waist seam was sitting below my hips now! The jersey stretched like crazy, buh. So, I took the elastic out again, did some research on the web and found this really helpful tutorial from Tasia over a Sewaholic about how to insert elastic into a slip. This time a cut the elastic according to my waist measurement - even a bit shorter - and stretched it when stitching it in. Et voila, much much better. The fabric still stretches, but I think I can live with that.

I especially like the look of the dress and collar when I wear a white woolly jumper on top. I wanted to take a pic with the jumper, but it was in the washing machine at the time. So you just have to believe me :) I have worn the dress when I went to Germany because I figured I wanted to wear something comfy and stretchy when traveling all day. So, if you want to try to sew your own dress without having a proper pattern, I can only highly recommend this tutorial by Elle.

My topstitching is slowly getting better.

 I still have a bit of fabric left, so I might just be able to squeeze a mini jersey skirt out of it. Because when sewing the dress, I thought how lovely the fabric would be for a skirt!
How about you? Now that days are getting longer and it is getting dark so early - tomorrow even one hour earlier, buh - do you feel the urge to sit inside with a hot cuppa and get some sewing done? I would love to hear about your finished or ongoing projects :) 

Have a lovely weekend... 

 

Knitting in progress: Miette

In case you were wondering: Yes, I am still knitting!

Not all stitches are even :( tension problems!

I am knitting Andy Sutterlands Miette cardigan, which as most of you know is a free pattern! I couldn't ask for more! Actually, lovely Thea from theasadventuresinsewingland is knitting the Miette as well and we had already a get together to knit. Imagine this: Knitting, tea and cookies and exciting chatter - just perfect :) Also, it is good to have a more experienced knitter close by when knitting such a big project for the first time.

Lace pattern

For everybody who is interested I can only highly recommend to follow the Miette knit-along by Gail from todays agenda. Gail gives loads of tips especially for beginners and also has some videos to explain the more difficult parts like taking up stitches for the sleeves or knitting the button band. Really helpful!

The wool I am using is Debbie Bliss cashmerino aran in off-white. I was lucky enough to get the wool from ebay where one ball was only 3.50£ instead of 5.50£. Win. Is it normal that wool is so expensive? Or do I for some reason always buy the most expensive one? My local retailer mainly sells Debbie Bliss and he was the one who recommended the wool to me (and than I bought it cheaper somewhere else, oh, I felt so bad).

I am knitting with smaller needles as recommended because the smallest size for the pattern is 34" bust and I am 31.5". And as you might notice, I still have tension problems although it is much better now after Thea showed my how to hold my needles properly. I also noticed, that when I am knitting one direction only (like on the sleeves in rounds) my knitting is much tighter and more regular. Also my purls are more loose than the knits and that is what I think causes my irregularities. But with practice I will hopefully get better :)



But because I am knitting more regular now than at the start (and my tension swatch) I am a bit worried that my cardigan will turn out too small over the bust. Also my sleeves are tight as well and that although I picked up a couple more stitches than the pattern stated. Hopefully with blocking, I will solve this problem.

My new knitting bag.

Up to now, I was progressing really fast and I had ample opportunity to knit on my way to and in Germany. I only say delays. Sitting in Heathrow and having to wait for 1.5 hours, than finally on the plane and having to wait for another 30 min until take off. Then 1.5 hours plane ride, another 1.5 hours train journey. At this point it was already midnight and I was two hours past my usual sleeping time so I was knitting to keep me awake in the train and luckily enough I didn't make to many mistakes.

Is the doe not cute?

Just before going to Germany, I decided I need a proper knitting bag where I can store my knitting in and can get it safely over to Germany without fearing for me knitting to slip from my needles. (I actually was quite worried they wouldn't let me into the plane with my knitting needles. I especially bought wooden ones and everything was fine.) Back to my knitting bag. I found this lovely tutorial by Shannon from luvinthemommyhood for a reversible knitting bag and coincidentally enough I had the right fabric in my stash! I bought the doe fabric in January, actually my first quilting cotton, but never found the right project to use it for. But it is perfect for my knitting bag. Every time I look at it, I think "How beautiful" :)

Hopefully, my Miette will be soon out of this bag :)

What about you? I know that several readers started there own knitting projects a while ago. How is it going? Are you already done?