Burda patterns – THE COMPULSIVE SEAMSTRESS

Work in Progress Wedesday

Today, I’ve been making trousers. When the November issue of the Burda magazine finally landed in my sticky little paws, I wasn’t exactly inspired – not as much as I have been with previous issues. But one or two patterns did look appealing. I rather liked the trousers 117. I just happened to have a length of russet coloured stretch denim a friend sent me from the States… It was meant to be!

117 11 2018 — Burda Trousers 117B 11/2018

The pattern requires fabric with stretch, but doesn’t say what percentage. However, as one of the views was made in jersey, I figure it needs a fair bit. My denim had that fair bit, so I decided to wing it and see what happened. I’ll not go into fitting and toiling details here, I cut the 44 and shortened the leg length by 4cm.

The trousers in the magazine have a decorative ribbon down the outside leg seam and piping in the waistband, the jersey version has piping on the waistband. Initially I thought this was just a sewn on detail, but the outer waistbands are actually in two pieces, an upper and lower. So now you have somewhere to stick that piping! I wasn’t going to bother, I figured I’d just use the inner waistband pieces and cut two of each, but… I had piping in the stash, so might as well use some of it up in a practical manner.

I didn’t follow the order of work in the instructions. By the way, has anyone else noticed there is no longer a cutting layout? It was there in the October magazine, but “poof” no more! I started with the fronts, overlocked the edges and made up the hip yoke pockets. I used a left over piece of Liberty poplin for the inner pocket bag to reduce bulk. I’ve used that left over piece quite a bit now, I wonder if it will ever get finished! The pocket bag is understitched along the opening edge to keep the cotton from rolling out. Once the pockets were done, I sewed the centre front seam from the top edge to just above where the crotch curve starts.

Then it was the back pieces. Darts first, then pocket. I realised, when tracing out the pieces, that the welt on the back was faux, just for show! Now I don’t know about you, but if I’m going to all the trouble of interfacing and cutting my trousers to insert a welt, I want a pocket to go with it!! So that’s what I did. I like to put my phone in my back pocket, that’s where it basically lives. So I measured it and cut two rectangles from the poplin the width of the pocket welt and the depth of the phone plus a few centimetres. Basically 14×18. Then I cut two welt pieces, one to use for the actual welt, and one to sew to the top of one of the rectangles as a facing. I made the welt pocket up as standard. I’m quite chuffed with it, it’s the perfect size for my phone, but if you want to use it for anything else, you’d better make yours a little wider, add a cm each side of the opening and all pieces.

collage pocket bags

collage welt pocket rust — Top left: Pin welt raw seam to placement line, draw on stitching line & end lines, baste & sew. Top right: Pin pocket piece with facing right side down, stitch along placement line. Bottom left: Make sure you haven’t caught the welt when stitching the pocket bag! Bottom right: Cut through the trouser down the middle of the stitching lines, cut triangles at the ends, right to the ends of stitching.

collage welt pocket rust 1 — Top left: Welt and pocket bag pushed through opening, pressed. Top right: pin lower pocket bag to welt seam allowance and stitch. Bottom left: Stitch lower pocket bag along welt stitchline. Bottom right: press lower pocket bag down, away from welt.

collage welt pocket rust 2 — Top left: fold the trouser piece to the middle of the pocket and pin the side and bottom seams of the pocket bags. Top right: Start at the triangle, stitch carefully so you don’t catch the trouser front. Bottom left: finished pocket! Bottom right: Finished from the outside.

Once that was done I sewed the centre back seam as I had done the front, then moved on to the waistband pieces. The piping was added to the upper seamline of the lower waistband, then the upper waistband was sewn on top. I graded the seams to reduce bulk and clipped to allow the curve to lie flat. When I clip a curved seam, I always do it on the bias, the theory is that the fabric won’t fray or rip on the bias. If you cut with the grain, it might rip through your stitching. Not that I’ve had that happen in the past, but just in case, right? I made up the front and back waistbands and then attached them to their trouser legs. Then I inserted the invisible zip in the left side seam. It needed a little fiddling to make sure the piping and waistband edge lined up, because of the bulk it wanted to move down when I sewed, so I ended up unpicking a couple of times, and using loads of pins!

Attaching the piping to the lower waistband piece with the piping foot.

After that it was all downhill, the remainder of the leg seams were stitched and pressed, the inner wiastband pieces interfaced with a lightweight fusible and sewn to the top of the outer pieces. I understitched the waistband and trimmed the lower edge before folding the remaining seam allowance under and stitching in the ditch from the outside. Then it was just the hems and voila!! One new pair of trousers! I do like that piping detail, it’s just a pity no-one will really see it. I don’t tuck my tops in, so the only people to see that detail will be you guys now, and me later!

Piped waistband, hip yoke pockets and invisible zip. Nice details!

I’ll be sure to get photos asap, along with pictures of my new tees! Yesterday I ran up two stripey 3/4 sleeve Lark tees, the perfect colours to go with these new pants. I am really looking forward to having these pants in my wardrobe, just like the paprika linen pants I made in the summer! It’s nice to have that splash of colour to play with in amongst the blues, back and greys.

Piped back waistband and useful back welt pocket!

P.S. I have finished both coats for the girls, and I hope to have photos of those, modelled by the girls themselves (instead of on Betty the dummy) in a week or two. In the mean time, I now have all I need to get cracking with the coat I’ve been promising to make for Mr W for over a year. Tomorrow, I start cutting out!!! Wish me luck…

Work in Progress Wednesday

I hadn’t thought I’d have a post for today, thought I’d have finished off my epic two-coat run. But nope, I’ve been a little slow this week! So here’s what I’ve been working on for the last 2 weeks, two versions of the coat 103 from February Burda 2017.

The fabric is a pinky-copper coloured cotton twill that I bought either from Croft Mill or Fabworks earlier in the year. I bought 5m because I liked the colour so much, and it was only £5/m! I figured I could dye it if certain people didn’t like it, so I was quids in. Turns out both girls liked the colour and then they both wanted the same pattern made up with it! I needed to do something to make them a little different from each other, but I think the chances of them wearing the coats at the same time together are pretty slim.

I have done the usual interfacing, using Gill Arnold’s weft insertion the the t-panel, sleeve heads, upper back and under collar. I used the polyester fine sheer fusible for the facing pieces, tabs and upper collar. I altered the pattern pieces too. First, the non-fitting changes. I traced the collar to make one whole piece and added width of 2-3mm to the short sides and outer edge to accommodate turn of cloth. The under collar had its grainline changed to the bias, but stayed the same size. I also added 2-3mm to the revers on the facing pieces, tapering down to the original stitching line at the breakpoint. The front piece had 2mm added to the front from the breakpoint to the bottom. This all helps to roll the upper layer of fabric to the underside so you don’t see the seamline.

Fitting adjustments were relatively simple. Both girls wanted it longer, so I added 4cm to the skirt length. Daughter No1 needed a forward shoulder adjustment of 1cm, so that was pretty simple. Her coat was made first! Daughter No2 needed the sleeves 4cm longer, a broad shoulder adjustment of 1.5cm and the belt tabs needed to be lengthened by 1.5cm. As this needed more cutting up, her coat was made last.

This pattern wasn’t supposed to be lined, the raw edges are treated with Hong Kong finish, but we wanted something nice on the inside, so the hunt was on for nice linings. Printed “proper” linings are expensive, so we went off-piste. Daughter No1 has a William Morris inspired cotton poplin lining in her coat. The large print looks great peaking out, and I know she’s going to love it! The sleeves have a white and grey stripe “proper” liningso that her clothes aren’t bunched up in her armpit when she puts the coat on! I still have to find/choose buttons for this coat, otherwise it would have been finished early last week! The colour of the fabric makes it tricky to find the right stuff, and having no haberdashery shops within a 15 mile radius doesn’t help. I raided the charity shops in town on Monday and found buttons with potential, but we’re not sure…

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I've been raiding the button boxes on the local charity shops for buttons for the girls' new coats. I hope these have potential! . . #buttons #vintagebuttons #burdachallenge2018 #handmadewardrobe #sewistsofinstagram #isew #unselfishsewing

A post shared by Anne W (@compulsive_seamstress) on Nov 5, 2018 at 3:46am PST

Daughter No2 has a viscose print for her lining. I had originally thought of a geometric monochrome print, in pale grey or dusky blue, but she found the perfect stuff at the rag market in Birmingham for only £2/m! The gold/beige tones in the paisley print work well with the copper tone of the shell fabric, so it works, despite the blue paisleys! I found enough dark blue “proper” lining in my lining bag to use for the sleeves. This coat does have buttons!

Pink mother-of-pearl buttons from the stash

In my charity shop raid I found 3 vintage plum coloured buttons to use of the front of the coat, they go on the belt tabs and to close the coat in the front. I had to use different buttons for the sleevetabs, and had lovely dark pink mother-of-pearl shell buttons for that. I tried just about every type of button from the stash for these coats, and nothing worked. What’s the point of a large, full button box if nothing is right when you need it??!

So today I need to make up the lining for the second coat and get it in, then finish off the buttons. And maybe I’ll find something that works for the first coat too. Fingers crossed it’s all done today, I’m really keen on making a nice snuggly Toaster Sweater for myself, and there’s a pair of trousers in this month’s Burda I fancy too!

The best buttons so far, but are they too big? Too bland?

Three Points

This is a project I’ve been quite keep to make since spotting the pattern in the magazine. I liked the section seams of the sweatshirt (111 from February 2017), the opportunities for colour blocking and, most importantly of all, the chance to use it to use up some of the left over bits of ponte, quilted jersey and fleece fabric taking up a fair bit of room in my jersey fabrics box. I really do need the space for full lengths of useable fabrics!

I decided to trace the smallest size, the 36. The pieces are massive! On the sheet the front and back main pieces are just half, so I flipped the paper over and made them whole. This means that if I’m using leftovers, I know immediately how much space I need! There are enough of a couple of fabrics for this pattern to work, but I couldn’t make up my mind where to start. So I drew out a couple of tops and coloured them with the colours of fabric I have to try to get somewhere.

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Decision time. I'm using up leftover pieces of fleece and ponte today. Hopefully! This is #burdastyle sweatshirt 111 from 02/2017. . .#burdachallenge2018 #stashbusting #sewingleftovers #sewingplans

A post shared by Anne W (@compulsive_seamstress) on Oct 1, 2018 at 2:43am PDT

Then I asked Daughter No2 which she prefered. Typically she couldn’t decide either and said she needed to see the fabrics first – in person! But I really wanted to make the sweatshirt. So I laid the pieces out on some of the left over black and white ponte that I’d made my last Uvita Top in, and placed the sleeves and triangular side panels on left overs of plain black ponte from Daughter No2’s long cardigan. I liked the idea of the sides being solid in colour. I figured that if she didn’t like it, I’d offer it to Daughter No1. Once I started actually sewing, I figured I could always keep it for myself – it was that wide!

contrast sweatshirt 6

The essentials of the top are simple enough, especially if you’re not making the version with pockets. But the pocket instructions got me all befuddled. I obviously wasn’t having a brain fully engaged day, because I made a fluff and had to make do in the end. And in the end I realised what I should have done! So here’s a tip, if you’re planning on making this top. The pockets are KANGAROO pockets! If I’d realised that in the beginning I’d have understood the instructions immediately and done them correctly!

contrast sweatshirt 5

contrast sweatshirt 4

Anyhow, I am now pre-warned for the next time!! But will there be a next time? Maybe. It’s definitely going to be fabric dependent. Daughter No 2 was home on Friday for a quick visit to collect her winter coats and take them back to Birmingham. She was initially unsure of the top when she saw it, but decided she rather liked it once it was on! The verdict was positive, but only in a fabric that is fairly soft and has drape. She wouldn’t want it if the fabric had too much body (it would be very boxy) and with that width it’s not what she’d wear. But this one she likes!

contrast sweatshirt 2

contrast sweatshirt 1 — Sweatshirt 111 February 2017

Work in Progress Wednesday

I’m making a coat! Oh yes, I made a decision and I’m running with it, running pretty quickly, because I want it finished to wear to London next Thursday! I traced the hoodie coat from the October 2018 Burda magazine yesterday and made a toile to check for fit. I knew I’d need an FBA, I just needed to know how big – & I suspected I’d need a bicep adjustment too.

I needed to move the bust dart down 2cm as well as doing a 3cm FBA, and I widened the upper arm area, the bicep adjustment, by 4cm. Other adjustments I’ve made to the pattern pieces are to add width and depth to the outer standing collar, the facing edge of the hood, the outer sleeve tabs and back belt piece, as well as the pocket flap.

Weft insertion fusible interfacing on the sleeve heads

The starting point of the coat is always the interfacing. I’m using Gill Arnold‘s weft insertion on the yokes, front and back, under the arm on the side body piece and in the sleeve head. I’ve also cut 5cm wide bias strips to interface the hem area of both the sleeves and the jacket body. I’ll also interface the centre front, about 7-8cm wide, and the outer standing collar piece with the same. I’ll use the fine sheer interfacing on the inner collar, the front and back facings, the front fastening band and the hood facing piece.

A nice big pile of cut out pattern pieces.

My fabric is a gorgeous camel-beige coloured wool and cashmere melton that I bought at the NEC about 4-5 years ago from the Rosenberg and Sons stand. It was a fabulous price, only £10/m! So I was fully justified in nabbing 2m, even though I had no idea of what I’d make back then, and it’s languished in the stash until the right thing arrived. I used to have the right lining too – but I used that in the grey houndstooth jacket I made Daughter No1 back in August! I’ve managed to cut the front facing, hood pieces and back yoke from the left over pieces of that lining and have ordered another metre of the same colour from the Lining Company. It will hopefully arrive by the end of the week!

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I'm ready to start work on the coat. The pattern has been faffed with, the fabrics ironed and ready to cut. I've assembled the notions all from the stash, if you can believe that & I'm ready. Let the coat making commence! . . #stashbusting #vintagebuttons #makingcoats #handmadewardrobe

A post shared by Anne W (@compulsive_seamstress) on Oct 3, 2018 at 9:44am PDT

The opening zipper for the front and the front band buttons have come out of the stash. It’s not normal for me to have such a long open ended zipper in the zip box, but I’d bought it years ago to mend the zipper on something else and then changed my mind and got someone else to do it for me! (lazy…) The buttons are vintage minitary buttons in the most beautiful weathered brass. Unfortunately I did not have enough to use ont he back belt as well, but I did find a pair of leather buttons in teh button box that will do the job just beautifully.

Left back, interfaced pieces needing no tailor tacks, Middle, un-interfaced pieces needing tailor tacks, right, the lining pieces, and bottom left, the interfaced pieces, needing tailor tacks.

Now that all the pieces are interfaced, I’m left with the job of tailor tacking everything and getting started with the fun part – putting it all together!

October Sewing Plans

Oh boy, I can’t believe how quickly this half of the year is going already! I swear the first half of the year was much slower. I thought I had loads of time to think about my Autumn and Winter sewing, plenty of time to make coats and jackets and waterproof warm things before the weather changed. No so. So what have I been dreaming of then?

Well, I had hoped to finally make and finish the coat I started for Mr W in November last year. I am pretty determined that it will be finished by his birthday at the end of this month, so I need to get cracking. I also need a new coat myself. And I have some planned for the girls! Not only do I need to make coats, but I need some new tops for the winter, having make a whole load of new tops for the summer.

Coat fabric I have, the stash is coming up trumps in this department! I have some coppery pink twill that I bought earlier in the year to make two versions of the long coat from February 2017 Burda. I’ll make them different from each other by adding a different lining, using different buttons and possibly adding piping or something. I have managed to get a fitting for Daughter No2’s coat, it fits pretty well but needs the sleeves lengthened by 4cm, the overall length needs to be 4cm longer and I’ll need to widen the shoulders. Daughter No1 will try on her toile this weekend.

Then for me, I’m undecided. I have some camel coloured casmere that I had thought of using for the Bamboo from Waffle Patterns, but I wonder if the pattern is too straight up and down for me. Then I browsed this month’s Burda magazine and saw the jacket 110. I like it! But I also like the peacoat in the plus size section of the September Burda. I’ll have to toss a coin I think!

collage jacket patterns — Peacoat 127 & jacket/coat 110

Then there are tops. There are two that really tick the boxes for me that I’d love to make this month, top 103 is from August 2018 Burda. I liked the working drawings when I first got the magazine, but still haven’t managed to trace the pattern. Again, the stash will come to the rescue here, I have a piece of viscose that’s been trying to be used for ages now, and I think it’ll be great as this top. Then in this month’s Burda, there’s an interesting top/blouse, 112. The insert is what caught my attention, and again, I have just the right piece of black and white print viscose in the stash!

Of course, there are still items to make for the girls, Daughter No2 has her eye on these elastic waistband pants from September 2018 and the sweatshirt 108, which is on my list too.

For myself, I still want to make a pair of Burnside Bibs. They were on the list from last month, and still need to be toiled. Then there’s the Monthly Stitch’s Indie Pattern Month this month! I left it too late to decide what I was going to try to do, so I might get a chance to enter the second week’s challenge, and the third. But it will definitely depend on TIME! I think this is going to be another busy sewing month! What are you sewing this month?

Late Summer Sewing

Catching up on all those clothes I sewed for the girls last month! You know the trend for paperbag waistlines in skirts and trousers? Well this is that, but at the neckline of a top! It’s another one of the “wants” on daughter no 2’s long list. The pattern is 121A from the November 2015 issue of BurdaStyle, shown in the magazine in green satin. Daughter no2 chose black cotton voile from the stash.

The pattern itself is deadly simple, only a couple of pieces required and an afternoon to sew and you’re done! I French seamed the insides for neatness and double turned the hem. The paperbag neckline is formed by inserting a bias cut drawstring into a casing formed at the base of the self-faced collar. Gathering the collar gives it height and texture, you just need to rearrange the folds in the top.

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Another project ticked off the list. I'm not so sure of this one, but it was requested and now it's made. Burdastyle top 121a 11/2015 . . #isew #burdastyle #burdachallenge2018 #stashbusting #121burda112015

A post shared by Anne W (@compulsive_seamstress) on Aug 19, 2018 at 10:25am PDT

It’s turned out quite well, despite my initial misgivings when I finished it and arranged it on Betty. But it looks great on and she loves it! I delivered it to her 3 weeks ago now, and apparently, she’s worn it loads (sometimes not bothering to iron it first…) I guess you could say that’s a good sign! So that’s another #BurdaChallenge2018 project done.

By the way, this gorgeous skirt she’s wearing was one I made last year! I ended up putting an invisible zip in the centre back seam because she found the concealed button front so annoying!

I have many other projects made during the last month, such a backlog to show you!

nautical 9

So I’m adding a pair of shorts to this post! Daughter No2 is really happy with them and has announced that next summer, if I’d like, I can make many more of these! The pattern is 107 from July 2016 Burda. I cut the 38, but graded back to the 36 from the high hip to the waist. No other adjustments were needed.

nautical 12

The fabric came out of the stash, and it had been waiting a good couple of years for the right project to come along! I’d bought this 1m remnant piece from Clothspot in a sale thinking I’d make a skirt for the girls, but no… It’s a crisp blue linen with white stripes. The pocket pieces are lined, but instead of using fabric I didn’t have, and increasing linen-ey bulk, I chopped up one of the other half’s no-longer-wearable shirts and used that instead! I did have to make sure I lined up the stripes on the pockets and front pieces properly, it would have stood out too badly if I hadn’t!

nautical 10

nautical 11.1

The fit is fabulous, I’m really happy with that, and the length is just right too. The cuffs and tie make them a little more casual than they could be without. So I can definitely see more of these coming out of the sewing room next summer.

Mid-Century Inspired Jacket

I’d marked this particular jacket in the August 2016 issue of Burdastyle when it first came out, but wasn’t sure I had the fabric, or who to make it for! It’s got a lovely 50s-60s look to it. In the photo in the magazine, it looks loose, big and comfy, but the sleeves look too long. That worried me, so I left it – for two years!

114 08 2016 — Burda Jacket #114 August 2016

This year I decided it would look fabulous on Daughter No 1, sent her a photo of it and remarked that I’d shorten the sleeve as it looks a little hinky there. The reply was instant – yes please! I traced the 36, the smallest size and toiled in a piece of mystery content fabric I’d bought years and years ago. It was used as toile because every winter when I brought it out of the stash, I got wrinkled up noses and doubt. So it was obviously not going to be useful otherwise. I’d also tried to dye it blue-er, which didn’t work because it isn’t a natural fibre… this I found out when I tried dyeing!

green 4

Long story short, I toiled quickly using scraps of previous projects for the pocket linings and the flaps, red thread so I could see where I’d sewn if I needed to adjust or unpick. When she came home for a long weekend, she tried it on, and pronounced it perfect – almost. The sleeves were definitely too long, but we fixed that by turning up 8cm instead of the 4 for the hem, and then turned back another 4, essentially making a fold back cuff. The lower section of the sleeve is straight on the sides, so it’s easy to turn back more, and to make a cuff, no faffing with angles. She also decided she really liked the toile, and could she wear that please…?

green 10

green 6

I should have known. How often has this happened to me? I use a piece of fabric that’s otherwise ugly, or they haven’t noticed before, make a toile – and suddenly it’s the best thing since dairy free cheese! There was no attempt at matching the stripes, placing the pockets and tabs in the right place to line things up, just a toile, right!? I huffed a little – there’s no point in making out that this is easy too often, they might get the wrong idea! 😉 I found a suitable piece of lining in the stash, ended up unpicking the original pocket flaps with their red linings, as well as the pocket pieces themselves. Then I recut the flaps and pocket linings, resewed them in and finished off the jacket. One thing I did not do was interface. I was in no mood to go fiddling around with already trimmed and sewed bits to do that, it will just have to do!

green 2

green 9

I have to admit it looks good. I just wish we’d all had a better idea of that fabric before I’d started that particular job! 🙂 Never mind, at least the fabric has been put to a good use, and it wasn’t wasted. Things to note from the toile:

Make the sleeves shorter, 8cm hem, 4cm turn back for cuff – optional as with the 8cm hem, the sleeve is now a good length.
Recut the shawl collar/facing pattern pieces with 3mm added to the outer edge to allow for turn of cloth.
Recut pocket outer flap pattern pieces and all outer (top) belt pieces with 3mm added to edge to allow for turn of cloth.
Consider interfacing shoulder areas to reduce chance of stretch on the bias over the shoulder

green 3

The pattern lay in the magazine doesn’t show any interfacing apart from the facing pieces, and this doesn’t want to be an overly structured garment, but I felt it needed a bit more support in certain areas. So I interfaced a 2cm strip on the back shoulders, the front, front and back facings and the undercollar. I also added a 5cm wide bias cut strip to the hemline areas on the jacket, and a deeper bias strip to the sleeve, giving support to the area that would be turned up as the cuff, if she wanted to.

houndstooth 15

houndstooth 1

The final fabric for the jacket came from the deep stash, and I think I originally got it from a charity shop. It’s wool, grey on grey houndstooth. I’d pre-shrunk it with steam, so this will have to be drycleaned. For the lining, I raided the stash again. The initial idea was to have something dramatic, rust or copper on the inside, but I couldn’t find something in the right shade and fabric in time. So I dug out a piece of gold and blue shot lining I’d bought from The Lining Company to line a camel coat – as yet still unmade. It works pretty well, is warm and still interesting when the light catches it at different angles.

houndstooth 7

collage houndstooth

houndstooth 13

The jacket didn’t take long to make. I’d cut out the pieces and interfaced one evening, started sewing the next morning and finished the shell in time to cut the linings the next evening and sew them in. All I needed to do the next day was to hand sew the linings to the hem and attach the buttons, all of which came from the stash and are vintage. So it’s a quick jacket to make, the only fiddly (time consuming) thing is the welt pocket, if you haven’t done one before. The rest is really straightforward!

houndstooth 16 — I cut the tabs on the bias this time, and I like it!

houndstooth 5

houndstooth 12

Both jackets have been really well recieved. We had a full house with both girls home for a weekend, and the jackets got well and truly drooled over. The colours work brilliantly with her wardrobe of neutrals (much like mine) and they look fabulous with her strawberrry blonde hair. I know they’ll get well worn this Autumn and Winter, a real winner!

green 5.jpg

Express Yourself

While I ~~dither~~ get on with my sewing, I realised I had some photos taken in Cornwall of yet another top I actually did make. There’s something to be said about making patterns you’ve made before. You already know how to make them, how they wear, and how they’ll look. So just before we went to Cornwall I made two new tops, intending to take them both with me, for photo opportunities and to wear. We only went for 3 nights, guess how much I decided I had to make to take…

grey diamonds — Burda top #108 February 2018

So the first of those is another version of the top 108 from February Burda 2018. I made one back in February, using some long held stashed fabric. This time I thought I’d put the elastic in the sleeve cuff, but just to be difficult I used one wide piece instead of the required narrow width. I also knew to be aware of that neckline. The first time I made it with the silk, I took care not to stretch it out when applying the gathered band. I made sure I didn’t handle it too much, used staystitch and interfaced asap, all to add stability.

So I did that again this time, and managed to stretch it out. Or did I. The cotton has more body than the silk could dream of, and therefore is thicker when gathered, stiffer when layered three deep. Once attached to the neckline of the top it was immediately obvious that it wasn’t sitting flat. I put it on Peggy, my dressmaker’s dummy and there it was, standing away from the body. Damn. I took two pinches out on each side at the shoulder seam, and did the same in the paper pattern. I’m not really wanting to take that apart and ajdust again.

collage grey diamonds

So a word, you can do everything you can to stop stretching a neckline, but sometimes it’s just not going to work for you. It’s a combination of fabric and baggy drafting…. After all that, the top is dead easy to make, I used the overlocker so it was nice and quick. I was so busy wanting to make it quickly that I made a rookie mistake with the cutting out.

greay diamonds 2

The fabric was purchased from Maven Patterns at the NEC, it’s hand block printed cotton, really nice to wear and I love the colour. But as it’s hand printed, it’s not exactly perfect, and the pattern isn’t centred. And I didn’t check that when I folded the fabric and pinned on the pattern pieces. Like I said, rookie mistake! Luckily, I don’t see the off centre print, I’m on the other side! 🙂 I wonder If I could call it a “design decision”, and get away with it??

grey diamonds 3

I’m happy with my new top, it made it to Cornwall, and I even wore it! And I’ve worn it frequently. The fabric is actually lovely, nice and cool in the temperatures we’ve been enjoying in the UK this summer, and what a summer! It’s been summer since the beginning of May! Now you in other countries might wonder what the miracle is – well, our summer is usually 2 weeks, and they are not necessarily two consecutive weeks. It’s usually a few days here and there that add up to two weeks.

grey diamonds 5 — Cool as a cucumber in Cornwall

And that’s why I need to get cracking with my other sewing, there’s still a month of predicted SUMMER to come! And… I had an epiphany this morning. Yesterday was spent toiling two patterns that I really liked in the Burda magazines, but once made and on, they were just NO. Why? Pleats. Big pleats. I already know that with my tummy, I cannot wear pleated things (unless the fabric is soft and floaty and the pleats are small). So why in heavens name did I think I could get away with these?? In an effort to remain nice and cool today, I’m wearing a pair of long, floaty, viscose trousers – with pleats! But they work – why? Because the viscose drapes so well, the pleats are small, and – this is the important bit – they do not start at my waist! So I’m going to make that dark blue and white fabric that was-going-to-be-a-top-and-now-wants-to-be-bottoms in the culotte length version of these trousers! YES! And please let me remember that big pleats that start at the waist are NO GOOD. phew…

Professor Plum

We’re just recovering from the coldest February/March week ever (in my 20 years) in the UK, so what did I decide to make for my first project for March Burda Challenge? A coat. A thick cuddly fleecy top. NOPE – I made a pair of streth cotton satin cropped trousers. As you do.

I had a pretty long list of items I could have made this month, looking through 8 years of Burdas showed March to be overall a pretty good month. But getting realistic, I don’t have enough fabric (the right fabric) to make them all, never mind the time! And hangars – if I’m going to continue to make clothes like this I am going to need more hangars (and wardrobe space).

professor plum 1

The first item on the now shorter list is a pattern I’ve made before, trousers 109 from March 2010. The last pair was made in a very similar fabric, so I didn’t expect to make any changes to the pattern. The fabric I chose from the stash came from Croft Mill Fabrics, about 2-3 years ago. It’s gorgeous damson/plum colour, and one that does not exist in any way shape or form in my current palette. But I love it, and with a grey or silver top, these will look fab. (BTW if anyone knows where I can get copper or rust coloured stretch cotton satin – shout!)

I used a small piece of scrap pink rose print Liberty lawn for the pocket linings to minimise bulk, re-used the zip from an old project, long discarded. Even the perfect coloured thread for topstitching was found buried in the thread box, this really was a stashbusting project!

collage professor plum — Liberty lawn for my pockets

Sewing up was pretty easy, I overlocked all the pieces (yay for a new cutting blade!) and made a nice pile of purple fluff. Everything went swimmingly until I pinned the hem. These pants looked really short – even for cropped pants. So I tried them on and – oops, I think I may have been over zealous after making the last pair with the shortening… I had taken out 6cm in the leg length on the pattern, and maybe that’s the right amount, but on my legs it doesn’t look right – my calf is too wide there! So I let the hem down and I’ve made a false hem with some ribbon (from the stash again!). Much better – and I’ve re-adjusted the pattern accordingly!

professor plum 3

On further investigation of the pattern, it turnes out the adjusments made were made after I’d sewn the last pair – which were supposed to be the cropped version! Oh dear, they most definitely were not cropped! So I need to find the happy medium between the two lengths. But I’m happy with these now, and the colour is really nice! I tested them out before committing to hem length with my elephant print silk top and the two went together surprisingly well. So I’m expecting these pants to fit into my spring/summer wardrobe fairly well.

professor plum 4

Other items that made the short list for March are another pair of trousers, two tops and a spring coat! I was the lucky recipient last year of a lovely blue and white jacquard fabric to make a coat (Mother’s Day present) – and it’s still not been used. This is the year! I will make that coat!

Japanese Inspiration

I love the way the internet and sewcial media can influence and inspire us (usually solitary) sewists. I’ve been following Jing – @jingandtonic, on Instagram for a while now, and I always like what she’s wearing. I like the shapes, the colours and her choice of fabrics. She uses a lot of Japanese sewing books to create her handmade wardrobe, and it’s a good look. The more I saw, the more I was inspired to translate a bit of that into my wardrobe.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgDWl8ChWBK/?taken-by=jingandtonic

Now let’s face it, I am not a 30-something ethnic Chinese lady, so there’s no way the Japanese sizes will ever fit me, and some of those shapes will never suit either – but it’s not about copying. So, inspired by all that, I ordered Clean and Natural on Etsy, and Kana’s Standard I and II on Amazon. I also looked through my copy of She Wears the Pants with new eyes. There are definitely shapes in that book I can use.

While I wait for all the books to arrive, I started a little something. I was digging in the stash for something that I ended up not finding (think it’s been used or given away already) and “re-found” a certain 2m length of an almost gingham weave linen blend in shades of teal, grey and dark damson. It came from Croft Mill years ago! It was one of those pieces I loved, but was unsure about using – not wanting to end up looking like a cowboy wannabe. But my brain was still in Japanese structural shape mode and the lightbulb went on!

collage gingham.jpg

I thought it woud be fabulous made in the pattern I used for the windowpane top in the January Burda challenge. A quick check that the pattern actually fitted on the width of the fabric later and I was convinced. This would work! I quickly abandoned the March burda challenge projects mid-sew and made the top! I made it exactly the same as the first top, all the adustments had worked out perfectly so I had no reason to faff with the pattern.

gingham2

I love the result! The fabric has enough body that it doesn’t drape or hang, but is not so stiff that it feels like I’m wearing a box! And I love it with my Birkin Flares!!! It’s going to be fabulous to wear in the spring (when it finally arrives) and on those rainy, slightly chilly summer days. There really is nothing bad I can say about it.

gingham3

gingham8

For someone who does not wear a lot of pattern, especially a large pattern, this top is great! I’m perfectly comfortable in it, and don’t feel like it’s wearing me. Now I want to make some more slim-fitting pants/trousers for the summer to wear with it, because I don’t think it’ll work with my usual wide leg trousers. There will be just too much width! I think with boxy shapes, it’s definitely about proportion.

So, what will I make next with this new look? Not sure. I will be pattern cutting anything that takes my fancy from the Japanese books. I need the books to see the shapes and proportions they use, so my patterns can be sort of correct. I definitely will be making some of the tops, I love loose fitting stuff in the summer, I get way too hot in clingy stuff. I like the air to circulate!!

But in the mean time, I have March Burda patterns to make!! How is everyone getting on with the Burdachallenge2018? And the #sewyourstash challenge? And anything else going on in the sewcial sewing world…