Tag sewing

Autumn/Winter 2019 planning: the coats edition

bellecitadel 4 Comments

Here’s my latest plan of action! I read something on someone’s blog (yes, I remember it that specifically) some time ago about how they came up with all these wardrobe plans and then they threw on a coat to leave the house and it didn’t match with anything, so all their careful planning was undone, and I thought “Yes! I know exactly what you mean!”

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I’ve never been good at the head-to-toe, organise-your-outfit-the-night-before kind of deal and I also haven’t made many coats. My one coat so far was the Rumana coat from By Hand London, which is a beautiful shape, but was a bear of a project (I still need to fix the vent) and is also now too small for me, so I haven’t got much wear out of it! But for a variety of reasons: scheduled classes, testing, sewing challenges, long-held plans and an abundance of coat fabric, I now have a ton of coats in my schedule, so it seems like an opportune time to knock a collection out! That sounds so easy, doesn’t it??

My basic plan is: make the coat and then try to make an outfit or item that goes with that coat. Simple eh? Let’s see…

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New dress: Seamwork Adelaide maxi hack with a whiff of Wiksten

bellecitadel 7 Comments

Is this really a hack? Adding a bit of length and some pockets? I don’t know and I don’t really care for the word “hack” either. When I was younger it was a colloquial term for a particularly globulous spit, (and perhaps it still is), but in any case it doesn’t exactly inspire visions of elegant sartorial alterations. Oh well, whatever. It does a job, I suppose.

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I have made the Seamwork Adelaide once before and it is, without doubt, one of the best fitting patterns I’ve made, straight from the pattern. Seamwork may have its detractors, but I bloomin’ love my lily linen dress. Having said that, I hadn’t initially planned on the new version you see before you. Oh no. That was actually supposed to be my first project from the Nani Iro Atelier book and I’d even gone so far as to cut the dress out. You know what’s coming, don’t you? Continue reading “New dress: Seamwork Adelaide maxi hack with a whiff of Wiksten” →

Me Made May 2019: the results are in…

bellecitadel 5 Comments

As always, it’s time for a round-up post on Me-Made May 2019: I find these useful and have looked over the previous summations as well, which always puts things into a bit of perspective. This is the third year I’ve done this and it’s been an interesting one (not least because I have been saying all along it was the fourth year I’ve done it. Funny how your mind plays tricks on you. It’s not like three is a big number to count to). The first two can be condensed into this following essence(s) (an eau de Me-Made-May, if you will):

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New trousers: Ninni culottes in stripes

bellecitadel 5 Comments

This was one of those projects that snuck into my queue, leapfrogged over the others and wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am was in my wardrobe before you could blink. Well, sort of. I have visitors coming to stay and a couple of small deadlines, so I decided to start batch-cutting projects so I could keep the kitchen area clear (where I do my cutting) for more than 2 days at a time. I’ve been focusing on a spring/summer wardrobe plan, as yet unblogged, that features a number of pairs of trousers and skirts as I am really lacking those in my me-made collection. I hadn’t, however, accounted for any wide-legged trousers in my plans and when the warm weather hit and I started to see them appearing on Instagram, I decided it might be an idea to add some.

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Social sewing: Me-Made-May 2019, Sew Expo 2019 and how to host a sewing trivia quiz!

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I’m in San Francisco for spring break, which is very cool indeed, but I was slightly frustrated that I didn’t get my Deer and Doe Sirocco jumpsuit finished in time to bring it on the trip. I’m going to New York next week to meet my sister (I know – look at jetsetter old moi – ha), so it will definitely be perfect for that, but it turned out to be such a quick sew that I thought I would have it done. And it nearly is! So next week I’ll post about that, but instead for now, a post I started ages ago with some social sewing updates.

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How to hold a sewing quiz

First: ever wanted to host a sewing trivia quiz? Ever heard of a sewing trivia quiz? No, of course not. But myself and lovely fellow sewist MaLora from our Seattlesews Garment group decided it was high time someone put one together, so I thought I’d tell you what we did, in case it tickles your fancy. It was a lot of fun and easy to do!

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New dress: In the Folds free Jersey Dress for #sewfrosting

bellecitadel 10 Comments

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This was a whirlwind project that I cut out one morning recently and sewed up on the serger the same afternoon. I’ve made a few slightly more complex projects recently, so I really just wanted something fun, fast and frivolous to zip up in a couple of hours that would hide all the holiday food I’ve been eating. And it really was all those things. The only fly in the ointment occurred when I slipped the finished garment over my head and thought, “Hmm, slightly nightgown-ish”. This was compounded when I went through to show my husband: “Hey look! I made this whole thing today!!” And he said, “Well, it’s nice… but it looks like a nightdress. Is it?” Hmmm. Damn, I thought.

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New pants: Slimline Hollywood trousers with a casual twist

bellecitadel 4 Comments

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I made a second pair of the Hollywood trousers by Liesl and Co. after my first test pair from back in July. For this pair I wanted to try changing them up for a more casual feel, and I had this rather thick striped twill in my stash, which I thought would suit my plans admirably. Continue reading “New pants: Slimline Hollywood trousers with a casual twist” →

New top: Tilly and the Buttons Agnes top

bellecitadel 2 Comments

Hi folks! Hope you all had a lovely Halloween and are enjoying the end of autumn. It’s been beautiful here in the PNW and I’ve really been enjoying the season, which has always been my favourite. I do miss Bonfire Night around this time, but we get to celebrate Thanksgiving and, even though I’m not American, I think it’s a great holiday actually. I sort of wish we had it in the UK because it seems to me that it rather effectively splits the whole “family together-big meal preparation” and “Santa Claus-gifts-religious festivals” craziness of Christmas into two more manageable holidays.

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Anywayyy, because there has been so much going on socially, I actually didn’t get to sew too much through October and am definitely trying to catch up now by whizzing up a few things. The first thing I actually completed was this Tilly and the Buttons Agnes top. I’ve had this pattern on my radar since I began sewing, because it is a dead ringer for an H&M RTW top I own that I have worn to death – and so I’ve actually been meaning to make it forever.

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New dress: Chalk & Notch Fringe dress for #sewmystyle September

bellecitadel 20 Comments

I think just about everyone doing #sewmystyle 2018 was looking forward to this one a lot, or at least I’ve been getting that impression. I’ve had this dress on my radar for ages and it was certainly one of the patterns I was most excited about from the start. And with good cause! Let me completely spoil the story here by saying that I really like both the pattern and fabric and can recommend it! Also, in comparison to my last few makes, I feel like I got the fitting on this one spot on!

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This is the Fringe dress from Chalk and Notch – a dress that’s been very popular around the blogosphere. There are two illustrated views, but lots of options: there’s both a dress and blouse for a start. View A has a button up front, elbow sleeve and sleeve tab. View B has a pull over, notched front with a cuff. There are optional pockets, waist ties, a shaped hem and a gathered skirt. Now, normally I would be View A all the way. The V-shaped neck, the tabs – I’d probably have straightened off the hem too. And I may well do in another version, but something unexplained swayed me over to View B on this occasion. I’m not sure why, but I decided to take on the curvy neckline and hem – and I rather enjoyed it!

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New dress: V1395 in red double gauze

bellecitadel 8 Comments

Bit of a mixed bag, this one. It’s another new shape in a way, but I only just this minute realized, while writing this blog post, that it’s actually very similar in some ways to the Bridgetown dress by Sewhouse 7, which is a very nice dress, but doesn’t suit my shape at all. That is: there are no bust darts and it has a high, elasticated waist with wide one piece sleeves. However this Vogue dress also has a back overlay that wraps and ties at the front, which I figured would give me that extra shaping that I like for my figure. At least that was the plan…

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There are lots of good things about the V1395 dress. I love the colour and the fabric, which is a red double gauze from Cloud 9. It’s lovely to wear and it was actually no problem to sew after I attached the old walking foot – that made all the difference. It also has some really nice features, like the gathered back neckline and the overlay tie.

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