Short Summer Coat with Welt Pockets (Burda 02/2011-112)

I stick to my sewing plans and here is the third garment from February issue of Burda magazine. Almost in time whiles spring finally arrived to Moscow by quickly jumping form a little above zero to +19C last weekend.

Fabric: In the store they called it Polyrayon (does it mean pilyester/rayon blend ?), it has some stretch in it so I think it contains elastan as well.

Lining: Checkered fabric is a vintage piece of lining from my mothers summer coat from 60s. The piece was not big enough for the lining and the back and sides of lining are made from one-coloured rayon.

As usually I learn something new with each project. This time I made welt pockets and full lining for the first time. I should admit that I almost screwed up the pockets because I didn't sew the sides of the welt pieces before attaching them and realised that I made a mistake only after I have already cut the pockets.
Another weird moment happend when attaching sleeves lining. Of course for the first time I made it completely wrong ;).
As for the rest the instructions they were easy to follow and I find this project not very complicated. Though at the beginning I worried about making the lining it was not that difficult, probably because the pattern is loose-fitting and has simple cut.
I didn't make any alterations though the pattern is for the tall figure. But I think that the pockets are in the right place and didn't feel need for any changes. I was not sure that this silhouette would be good for my body type but I am quite happy with the end result.

Lace Scarf in Kid Silk (DROPS 108-4 Scarf in Lace Pattern)

Pattern: 108-4 a – scarf in lace pattern in ”Kid-Silk” by Drops
Yarn: Kid Seta Super (75% Mohair, 25% Silk)
Needles: size 3,5
Size: 29 cm wide and 165 cm long

Of course I couldn't keep wearing it today and was complimented by a total stranger who said that the scarf is not just beautiful but VERY beautiful :))).

Tsunami Concert

Yesterday night I attended a charity concert for Japan. It was organized by Japanese musical students who study in Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and Musical Gnesin Institute. All the performers were great and it was a real pleasure, especially knowing that this way we help people of Japan.
I was especially impressed by Japanese songs performed by the young singer Aya Simodzava. I couldn't find her video on the Internet but I found one of the songs performed by other singer. The song is called "Higan Bana" by composer Kosaku Yamada. Higan Bana means Licorice (Spider Lily, Equinox Flower).

 

And at the exit we all received Origami Cranes

Also I would like to share a link to another charity project. European grafic designers started the Tsunami Initiative. From the web-site:

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9 earthquake hit Japan. One of the four largest earthquakes in history. Artists from the community, joined by comic book writers and illustrators from all around the world rallied around us, Jean-David Morvan and Sylvain Runberg to form the Tsunami initiative. We want to collect a maximum of quality drawings in order to hold a fund-raising auction on April 30th at Galerie Arludik in Paris. All the money we’ll raise will go to the earthquake’s victims. The auction will be followed by an exhibition and a book due out September 8, whose benefits will be offered to an organisation for people affected by the disaster. Feel free to spread the word!

Full collection of images could be found here Tsunami

Live and Learn (More about Jersey Dress)

Dear Maricou, Audrey and Rosy! After reading the lovely compliments on my jersey dress I feel a need to write one more post about this dress to answer your comments.
The fit of the dress is really good. During all my life I hesitated wearing jersey dresses because I believed that I need to have a flawless figure to wear jersey. So this is not only the first jersey dress I have sewed myself but also the first jersey dress I own.
I find this pattern very successful. It would flatter almost any type of figure hiding flaws and transforming it into hourglass type due to a very delicate slimming at the waistline and widening into soft flowing folds at the hem line. For those who don't have Boutique or ШиК magazines there is a very similar pattern in Burda 12/2005-102A. I considered it as an option as well.

I absolutely agree with Maricou that Boutique explanations are very brief. I think the magazine targets experienced seamstresses that's why explanations are very short and poor.

Very quickly after finishing the dress I learned about my mistakes. When binding a neckline I made two mistakes. First, I didn't use the sewing tape to prevent the neckline from stretching. Second, I used elastic zigzag stitch to attach the edging (I have no serger, use my regular sewing machine). All sewing books say "use elastic stitch for jersey", aren't they?
That's why after wearing the dress a couple of times I noticed that the neckline started to stretch. I was able to quickly fix this problem by unpicking the edge, ironing the neckline to the initial size, ironing-on fusible bias tape and stitching up the edging using straight stitch. Live and learn, as they say ...

That's how it looks like now

 Rosy, I admire your red hat. I am ashsamed to admit that I don't even own a single hat... :)). But probably anticipating your request I recently downloaded the vintage hats patterns that Maricou published in her blog L'Echo de la Mode de 1956. So now they are on my sewing wish list.

Have a nice day...