A little something to say sorry...

... for being so cranky yesterday. I feel somewhat better about things today and thought I would apologise for my crankiness by letting you know there is a board on my Pinterest page with free sewing patterns. In a situation like this (sick kids, not feeling well yourself and being dead-tired) there's not much to do but to try and absorb the inspiration and energy of others so I have surfed the sewing web a lot. Here's where you can go to see if there's anything free to tempt you: free-sewing-patterns.

I have only pinned what I liked, but if you go on to Burdastyle, there are way more free patterns. And also more if you go to Grosgrainfabulous. You'll see what I mean if you go to the board.

To cheer myself up I downloaded the Kirsten Kimono Tee from MariaDenmark (also FREE!) and I thought I would re-make a knit tunic I made a while ago. I've figured out  I never wear it anyway, so I'll try out the new pattern and maybe get some use out of the fabric. Talking about this tunic:

It's also a kimono-version but bigger... I never liked the neckline which is too tight sort of.

Anyways, hope I haven't scared anyone off from reading my blog. :)

I'll also leave you with another treat, more photos from my sister's house.

Bye for now,

Johanna

My beloved sister, well, one of them. :)

3 x Quick & Easy top

After making my gorgeous coat I felt like something easier and quicker and decided to try Miss Ps self-drafted kimono-sleeve top. I used her directions and made the top to fit me.

Last Friday I made this version in cotton lawn (I guess that's what it is, it's cotton anyway). I didn't have a lot of fabric and there was a big hole in the middle. Because of the hole, I had to arrange the pattern piece (yes, there's only ONE!) so that in the front the stripes are horizontal and in the back they are vertical. I'm totally OK with that, I even think it looks cool.

Here you can see the stripes NOT matching!

On Wednesday I was in town and got some cheap printed jersey to make more versions of this top. One turned out a little longer, more tunic-like.

I added black edges to the last one, to get a different look and it turned out really well.

I very much recommend this pattern if you want a quick and easy top. I adore kimono-sleeves, so this was perfect for me! I used my overlocker for most of the job, which made everything SO easy and fast. Love it!

Until next time,

Johanna

Printing, taping, cutting...

I've been feeling a little under the weather lately (couldn't even enjoy my birthday on Tuesday properly), so I haven't exactly been up to sewing. But while reading some of the blogs on my blog list I found an interesting and inspiring FREE PDF-pattern. Through Portias blog Miss P I found another great blog, Dixie DIY, with a cute, free blouse/tunic pattern. So I decided to download it and print it out.

When I ordered from Sewing patterns a while ago I also bought a PDF-pattern  for a cute bolero/jacket. I had already printed it so yesterday I had a printing, taping, cutting-session. Fortunately none of the two patterns were more than 20 pages. I would guess that a dress pattern would be almost unmanageable as a PDF-pattern...

The Dixie DIY pattern was easy enough to understand while the other one, can't remember the pattern company, has very fuzzy instructions. The pattern pieces aren't named or numbered, so I had to guess...  Well, now they're ready to use anyway. Always the most boring part of sewing, I think, to prepare the pattern pieces. I always trace the patterns, because you never know when you might need another size. My pattern collections will be a goldmine for someone in the future, becasue all my patterns are intact... :) Hopefully one of my children will be interested in sewing and want to have them.

Anyway, we'll see when I get to make those garments, I guess they have to be put in my mental to do-pile for the time being.

Bye for now,

Johanna

New and improved - Lisette Portfolio (Simplicity 2245)

As I wrote yesterday, I was thinking of what to do with my new fabrics and I came to think of pockets. I'm planning on making a denim Ginger skirt with pockets/belt loops and a denim Meringue skirt with pockets, maybe like Sunni's on this Ginger skirt. So I'm into pockets and I felt I had to give the Lisette Portfolio (Simplicity 2245) another go. My first version is here and here.

This time I felt like doing a tunic-length version, instead of a dress. The fabric I wanted to use was not one of the new ones, but I came to think of a lovely fabric I bought earlier this spring. I made a sketch, I like to do that to get an idea of what the garment might look like.

My fabric has a pattern of bird houses, but I thought it was bird cages when I drew the picture, didn't remember... ;)

I didn't want to do the neckline as it is in the pattern, I felt it was too high and I wanted an easier job this time too. So I wanted to use bias tape at the neckline and the sleeves. It worked great, everything went really smoothly and the tunic was so easy to put together.

The changes I made from last time was:
1. I changed the size from EU46/US20 to a EU42/US16 at the bust and a EU46/US20 at the hip. (Revelation: so this is how it's supposed to fit!)
2. I cut the back piece on the fold, instead of making two pieces. I wasn't going to make the closing at the neck anyway.
3. I used bias tape for the neckline and the sleeve hems instead of the pattern pieces from the sewing pattern.

I have to say that I lo-o-o-o-o-o-o-ve kimono sleeves! So easy to sew and so comfortable. Unfortunately the inside of the tunic isn't as pretty as I would have liked. I just couldn't figure out how to do French seams and get those pockets seams to work, so I had to go with zig-zagging.

Here's a close-up of the pocket and the super adorable fabric...

So, to wrap it up: I'm very happy with the tunic (although the fabric store didn't have enough of the bias tape I wanted :( , there was only enough for the neckline) and I can see myself wearing it to work a lot!

Bye for now,

Johanna