Stripey skirt

Decided to make a remake of one of my fave skirts and I'm happy to say that I'm happy with the result!

I measured the original skirt and made a pattern. The skirt is the same in the front and the back except for the waistband. 

I had half a metre of striped navy and white jersey from another project and used that to try out the pattern I drew. I also had some (suspicious) navy double knit which I used for the pockets, waistband and to finish the pockets and the hem.

I made a casing in the waistband and put in some blue and white ribbon.

Hope you had a nice weekend! I did! :)

xoxo,

Johanna

Another Everyday skirt and my first beanie

I finally got around to making another Everyday skirt, according to my latest sewing list. It's made of chambray fabric which I ordered from Stoff och stil (along with some more fabric, of course). I'm very happy with the fabric and recommend it to anyone who's thought about buying it.

I also drafted a pattern for a beanie from one of my old store bought ones. It turned out a little big, but I fixed that and now it's fine!

Bye for now,

Johanna

Unselfish sewing part 6: Everyday skirt for my sister

This is the skirt I made as a Christmas present for one of my sisters. She wore it the last time we met and I managed to remember to snap a couple of photos...

It's made out of navy blue medium weight cotton fabric, might be cotton sateen. It's a little wrinkled in the photos but you get the idea anyway.

My sister seemed pleased with it (I mean, SHE WORE IT!!! Yay!) and it suits her. Navy blue looks good on her. The length also turned out good, always tricky to hem a skirt for someone who's not present...

More Everyday skirts to come since I finished one more for me and I also have another one cut out ready for sewing!

Bye for now,

Johanna

Finished! The Everyday skirt from Liesl+Co

It feels so good when a plan falls out the way you planned, because here are the photos of my new skirt that I've been talking about in the last to posts.

I made it up in some wool fabric which I think is tweed. I actually used the wrong side as the right side, because it was too brown and I prefer the wrong side which is more grey/brown.

I'm very happy with the outcome. I've worn the skirt to work today and it was both warm and comfortable. This is size L/14 and it's kind of big at the waist. Either I have to tighten the elastic in the waist or make a smaller size next time. I made a muslin in size XL/16 but it was just too big. I recommend to go down a size.

I love that the pockets are attached to the waistband and don't flop around on the inside. And also that they aren't exactly at the sides but a little bit in from the sides.

The skirt turned out pretty long before hemming. The instructions say the hem should be 2 inches, but I made it 3 inches. But then I had cut size XL for the length...

Anyway, I'm superhappy with the skirt and absolutely recommend the pattern for others!

Bye for now,

Johanna

In progress - Everyday skirt

Photo from oliverands.com

I'm working away on my Everyday skirt, sewing pattern from Liesl+Co. I decided to make a muslin before cutting into my wool tweed and it was good I did, because size XL/16 was too large.

I hope to be back tomorrow (maybe) to show you both the muslin (not hemmed) and the tweed skirt complete with lining! I just have to hem the lining first and take photos.

See you soon,

Johanna

Skirt hope

Hello! I just found this skirt pattern that seems fabulous. I have even bought it, after thinking about it for two minutes.

What am I talking about then? Well it's the Everyday skirt from the maker of the Oliver +S patterns. She has a pattern line called Liesl +Co and all of the patterns are so pretty and seem really comfortable. Just the way I like it! :)

I like that it has panels on the side that are smooth, no gathers to make my hips look bigger, that it has pockets and, best of all, it has a elasticated back waistband!! Do you see now why I'm so excited?! :)

I also have a piece of wool tweed (that's what I think it is anyway) that I washed a little too hot and is now a little bit felted. And I think it will make a perfect winter skirt. So tomorrow I will go to the fabric store to pick up some lining fabric and I will make my first ever lined skirt! Excited!

xx,

Johanna

Another denim Ginger skirt

I really like my denim Ginger that I made last year, it's just that it's kind of big...

So I decided to make another one a size smaller, size 14 this time. I also added pockets and I made them like on these shorts:

The pocket edge is interfaced and then the pocket piece is attached by a visible seam. I read Sunni's post about her denim Ginger skirt, to figure things out about the pockets. Very helpful.

Aside from the pockets, nothing was really hard about putting the skirt together, which goes to prove that I have learned a lot since the last time I made this pattern.

This time I used an invisible zipper, which isn't very invisible since it's green and my machine doesn't sew invisble zippers that invisibly. But I'm fine with it, what's not to love about green?! :)

I also shortened this version since the other one feels a little matronly, and we all know (well, at least if you have watched Project Runway) that that isn't a good thing.

I had some top-stitching thread that I was going to use for a pair of jeans, but the fabric for those jeans is now said skirt and these trousers, so I felt it was OK to use it on my Ginger. :) Though I should have used another twin needle since my jersey (!!!) one had a hard time. But, that's how it is when you're too lazy to go to the store and get another one. At least it didn't break! :)

See you later,

Johanna

Meringue muslin - totally wearable

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I've been working on a Meringue skirt from the Colette sewing handbook (love that book!!). I actually finished it last week and took some pictures, that I wasn't very happy with. So I thought I would take some new ones and then write the post, but now six days have gone by, without taking new photos, so I'll just write the post anyway and put in the photos I have....

My plan was to make a denim Meringue (which I posted about here). The sensible thing is to make a muslin first, even though I'm figuring out that my Colette-size is US16, so I found a piece of fabric in my stash wchich is really sweet, medium-weight cotton in cream and light blue stripes, very similar to the Meringue in the sewing handbook.

First I thought that I would make it size 16 at the waist and 14 at the hips, but I decided to try a straight size 16, which turned out perfect! The only alteration I had to do, was to narrow the seam allowance at the waist into half.

There's a hem lining for the scalloped hem, according to the instructions you should attach the top of the lining to the skirt using blind hem stitching. I just couldn't be bothered by doing it by hand or figuring out how it worked on the sewing machine, wish I had had this great tutorial by Sarai at hand, so I resorted to fusible hem tape, which worked just fine. But it sure felt a bit like cheating... Well, it's "just" a muslin... :)

For the photos, I was also wearing my Midsummer Burda blouse, maybe not the greatest match...

(Excuse the massive pile of clothes on the right... :))

I didn't have a white invisible zipper, so I just did a centered zipper.

 The adorable scalloped hem!

I'm very happy with this muslin and the pattern for sure. BTW, according to mum, who bought the fabric, it's from IKEA!

For my next version I will make two alterations:
1. Add 1-2 inches (2.5-5 cm) to the length, and I'll feel more comfortable.
2. Make FBA. NO, not a Full Bust Adjustment, but a Flat Butt Adjustment :), i.e. lengthening the back darts. My behind is quite flat which made the back darts stand out a bit, so i will adjust that next time.

OK, time to spend some time with my kids before bedtime.

Bye for now,

Johanna

Celebrating Midsummer in a new Burda blouse

Today we celebrate Midsummer here in Sweden, one of the big holidays here (for some almost as important as Christmas...). My family is here celebrating with my husband, my kids and me. It's my mum, my sister, her husband and their two children. I'm so glad they're here with us.

Midsummer is VERY Swedish, decorations go in blue and yellow as the Swedish flag and we eat pickled herring and strawberries. It's always nice to have a special reason to create a new garment, and so I thought that Midsummer was a reason as good as any.

I got some yellow cotton fabric from mum when she cleared out her stash. It has white flowers on it and is very sweet... almost too sweet... But I thought that it would make a comfortable blouse for the summer, so I started making another Burda Easy blouse, because I'm so happy with the one I already have.

I wanted to make some changes, so it wasn't exactly like the first one, so I thought about finishing the sleeves with bias tape or something. In the box where I keep my bias tape I also had the cuffs from my hot pink hot pink Lisette dress (Simplicity 2245). They're black with white swiss-dots. They were a perfect fit for the blouse, both in size and colour!

I matched the cuffs with a black button at the neck closing and a tiny black bow in the front. I'm quite happy with the result. I made this version about two inches longer than the first one, since that one turned out a tiny bit too short. Otherwise no other changes.

On the first Burda Easy blouse I used ribbon for the neck closing, but in this one I took some thin elastic to make a button loop (got the idea from one of my daughter's dresses). Unfortunately, it's not very visible in the picture.

Today I matched it with my Ginger denim skirt, for that Swedish blue and yellow-look... :)

Have a great day, I know I will! :)

Bye for now,

Johanna

P.S. Don't forget to participate in my GIVEAWAY!

Getting organised - My todo-list

Today I sat down in the sun with pen and paper and made a list of the sewing projects I would like to do. I came up with seven posts that feel relevant and realistic at the moment. Here they are:


1. A dress for my cousin/God daughter's high school graduation Simplicity 2444 in apple (?) green cotton.  (Yea, I was totally inspired by the photo on the pattern envelope.)

2. A Meringue skirt from Colette's sewing handbook. I don't know what fabric I'll use just yet, but something from my stash, since I got so much fabric from mum.

3. A pair of shorts. I'm very inspired by the nice weather we're (finally) having, so I want some new shorts, but I haven't decided on the pattern yet, but the fabric will be from my stash, I think.

4. A blouse with peter pan-collar  (Colette's Violet look-a-like) from my sewing magazine, see the muslin here. I just have to decide on the fabric, cotton, viscose, crepe...? Have to check the stash.

5. A potato-sack blouse (Simplicity 2147) without pleats. I'm thinking viscose, kind of flowing... I was inpired by some blouses from H&M, this one and this one.

6. A colour-blocked potato-sack dress (Simplicity 2147) like the one I have in green and blue. I've gotten so many compliments about that dress, so I want to make another one. I recently bought a pair of yellow converse knock-offs and I love them. I haven't worn yellow in 20 (!) years, I had a mustard yellow top in high school, which I finally realised made me look weirdly pale and pasty, so after that no more yellow... until now! I'm so inpired by my shoes I'm thinking that I will make the dress yellow and green. The yoke and lower part green and the rest yellow. What do you think, wouldn't it be great?

7. Another denim Ginger skirt. I was so inspired by the version Sunni made on A fashionable stitch. I like pockets, which there are on Sunni's version. I think I will use the dark denim I bought for the jeans I had planned to make, but gave up on.

OK, those are my planned projects and I'm proud to say that I've already begun the graduation dress. I have altered the pattern to fit my not-so-pronounced waist, using the tips in the Colette sewing handbook (I love that book!) and have cut out the fabric. I will take a chance and not make a muslin, let's hope it will be alright anyway. I didn't pay much for the fabric so the cost is not the worry, the fabric's just such a lovely shade of green. Tomorrow, I have to get some thread though because the green thread I have is more of a grass green and not apple-like...

Ok, bye for now,

Johanna

It's a skirt! Struggling with Colette's Ginger

I received my Ginger pattern from Colette patterns (which I ordered from fagert.se) on Monday (was away for the weekend and really got it in Friday, but didn't have it in my hand until Monday!). I was so up for sewing view 3 with a striped fabric.

Decided to make a muslin to find the right size and fitting flaws, and lucky I did! Because my muslin turned out quite awful. The waistband was too bigand it looked like I had a pouch on my belly because of a curve in the pattern. I didn't even take a photo, it doesn't deserve to be photographed, it looked so bad on me. I've been thinking about what went wrong and here's my conclusion: (1) the fabric was too light (ordinary cotton) and (2) it was cut on the bias which makes the fabric a bit stretchy and it doesn't give my (slightly round) belly enough support, (3) this was increased by the curve on the pattern in the front.

So what did I change for version 2?
1. I chose another fabric, not the striped one I had set for. I had a piece of denim in my stash, with a little stretch in it, which I thought could do the trick.
2. I made view 2 instead of 3, so the fabric wasn't cut on the bias.
3. I straightened the belly curve on the pattern, maybe 1 cm in the widest part.

Did it work? It certainly did! I'm very happy about the result, even though I couldn't be bothered with using an invisible zipper, but an ordinary one. I used turquoise thread, zipper and lining for the waistband. It looks very pretty on the inside, but it does not show much on the outside.

I even used mock flat fell seams in the front and sides, I got the instructions from the fantastic Coletterie page. On my awful muslin I even did flat felled seams without a specialty foot, instructions here, and those were SO pretty even though the skirt wasn't.

Well, here are pics of me wearing my new skirt (maybe I can wear it for work tomorrow! Yay! But maybe not with that shirt...).

Ok, now I'm beat. TV here I come!

Bye for now,

Johanna