Sheath Dress (Burda 9/2012-109)

I envy people who know how to choose the best pattern for the particular fabric. I don't have this talent and for me it's always a gamble and the result is a surprise. With sheath dress from September issue of Burda magazine the sirprise turned out to be a pleasant one. The fabric didn't need any complicated pattern to show off. At the same time this pattern has some interesting details like a boat neckline and long side darts that spice it up.

The dress is versatile and can be dressed up and down. No wonder, this apply to sheath dresses, that's why they are so popular.

More later... Happy sewing!

Gray vs.Grey (Chaise & Asma by Kim Hargreaves)

It's time to sweep dust from my blog. I didn't write for quite a wile without any apparent reason. I made very little sewing last summer but did make some knitting. Since the season for summer knits has passed already I will follow the weather and give an account of winter knits.


Both patterns are from Kim Hargreaves books. First one is Chaise from Winter Blooms. Last year when I was in Venice I bought two gorgeous yarns (I try not to think about the price though). The first one is pure cashmere from Grignasco.

 
It became a Chaise, A Most Classic Sweater, as it defined in Kim Hargreaves book. That's exactly what I was aiming at. When the yarn is so precious the design should be classical and very simple.

Another yarn that I brought from Venice is Filatura Di Crosa Superior, a softest blend of cashmere and silk. It's of gorgeous colour of hyacinth. I bought only two skeins and they are still waiting for some beautiful scarf/shawl pattern.

 
The second project is Asma from the last KH book Enchanted. The yarn is from my stash, a blend of wool, alpaca and acrylic. I like 3/4 sleeves as at the model picture

but in my case it turned out almost long sleeve. I don't know what's the reason, I followed the pattern instruction to the letter.

I very much like the buttons, they add charm to this otherwise quite simple model. Difficult to take pictures of them because of glitter.

That's it for the moment. I knitted and crochetted some small things as I am cleaning up my yarn stash and getting rid of yarn leftovers, try to keep my stash lean and organised. I've also finished one sewing project lately, another dress, will show it as soon as I take pictures. The dress is from Burda magazine 9/2012-109.

Hope the next post will appear soon :)))

Little Black Dress (Burda 2/2012-110)

“When a little black dress is right, there is nothing else to wear in its place.”
Wallis Simpson
- Thank you, Your Grace, my dress is right :)

My LBD is ready and I am absolutely happy about it. I already know that it will become irreplaceable in my wardrobe. It could be dressed up and down, and would pass for any occasion. Exactly what someone needs for a minimalist wardrobe.

I made two amendments to this pattern. First, I scipped the pockets as usually. Second, I added full lining.
The most difficult part was to take pictures since black doesn't allow to see any details.

One more thing I am happy about is how darts and seams meet :)

Wrap Dress (Burda 5/2006-115)

Wrap dress is ready and I am pretty happy with the result. Didn't make any changes, except little fitting of the sleeve's head. Unfortunately the design of the fabric doesn't allow to see the details of the pattern, like lovely folds at the skirt.
I wear a spaghetti strap vest top underneath since the neck is low as usually with Burda patterns. I decided on this option when I was just considering this pattern.  Actually the low neck was one of the reasons why I hesitated sewing this dress.
The fabric is rayon knit.

Though it is still snowing here and the temperatures are below zero I am in the mood for warm weather sewing and knitting. I would like to make a sleeveless LBD that I could wear with a jacket in winter and on its own in summer. I am thinking about this dress from the February issue of the Burda Moden magazine.

Till later...

"Haste Makes Waste"

I reworked the jersey dress I complained about in the previous post.

The reason for that bubble at the back was that I soaked the cloth before sewing and hang it to dry. The sides of the fabric stretched and I cut it as it was. What a fool I was! This kind of things happens when I want to finish a garment quickly, usually in one day. I sew mostly on weekends and sometimes delaying half-ready garment for another week just burns my hands. 'Haste makes waste' as they say.
So I had to spend extra time unripping the back, removing the zipper and steam ironing the back to return it to a normal size. It's amazing how ironing could make miracles to sewing!
I didn't put the zipper back because I can easily get into the dress without it. But I added lining made from thin rayon knit and now I am more or less content with the result.
The dress is very comfortable and I wore it several times already.

I've been thinking about making a little black dress next but spontaneously bought another knitted fabric and have already started a wrap dress. It is a variation of Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress.
HeathersSphere from SEWspicious Minds recently published a nice collection of patterns for wrap dresses. I don't have access to all these patterns so I turned to my collection of Burda Moden magazines. I am going to use the pattern #115 from 5/2006.

This is a fabric I am going to use for this dress. My camera can't capture the real colour, in reality it is darker and has more khaki hue.

I decided not to rush with this dress but make everything slowly and very accurately.

***

Some new finished knitting projects. A new hat and scarf for my son since it was rather cold here. I used free patterns from Junghans-Wolle web site. I like their patterns, they are so clear and precise, it is always a pleasure to use them and they turn out well.

 

 See you later!

A Swarm of Spiders Cardigan and Where's my mojo?

My blog was rather quiet for a while. As many others I ran astray due to holiday's season but the real reason is that I was discouraged by failure of my last sewing project. However during this time I completed two knitting projects and here is the first one.
The pattern is from the Italian knitting magazine Mani di Fata (April 2007).

On the sewing side I've completed a new jersey dress using a pattern from November 2011 issue of Diana Moden magazine.

Here's my dress

The pattern is not difficult at all BUT I made a mistake and here's how the back looks like. It has a bubble on the back and the top end of the zip perks out.

I need to unstitch the back and change everything now. It sits this way since end of November and I don't start any other projects because I know that if I'll start a new one I'll never come back to fix this one. I wore it once though and found out that it needs lining as well. I have already  bought a knitted lining fabric but again, lining doesn't come easy to me. Yet another reason to hesitate and postpone.
Ending on the positive note, I am ready to fix this setback at last because I want to move to some other  projects already.

Hope to come back soon with the amended dress and the second knitting project.

Very Simple Summer Dress (Burda 6/2011-107)

The Christmas is around the corner and I am still posting about summer projects :). I admit I haven't been blogging actively lately.

After sewing several flowery projects for Summer I finally got a desire for some one-colour and very plain pattern. I made a choice in favour of this dress from June issue of Burda magazine.

The fabric is rayon but it is so soft and nice to touch that feels like silk. The colour is pale gray blue and has jacquard pattern.

Though it looks very simple it was rather expensive. When I've just started sewing I was hesitant to buy expensive fabrics because was not sure that I will not spoil them with my sewing. I wonder about other dressmakers, when you've started sewing, did you spend money on expensive fabrics or like me opted for budget cloth?

But some fabrics are so appealing that I just can't resist buying them. Together with this blue rayon I bought a piece of  ruby Chinese silk. Normally I don't wear that bright colours but that one was so beautiful, I couldn't keep myself from owning it. I will report about this project next time.

So here is the finished dress. The pattern is very simple, literally only a couple of stitches.

I am very happy with this dress. I made it in August and had a chance to wear it a couple of times before Autumn arrived. It is very simple and understated but it immediately became my favourite out of all summer sewing projects.

Here is a small Swarovsky brooch that I use to accessorise it.

 

Jersey Dress (Burda 8/2011-116)

I haven't been posting much last time so I still have some things to report about that I made at the end of summer.

This simple dress with small kimono sleeves and hanging collar I finished in August but didn't even had a chance to wear it, the weather turned to the autumn so fast.

Not much to report about this dress, the stitching was fast and easy. Except for my first attempt to make it using other fabric which ended in turning into a top :).
After this first failure I  researched all finished versions of this model at Burda web site forum and decided that mine should be made from very thin and flowing jersey.
The only problem with this sort of jersey was that the collar just hanged flat without making nice  drapes which is the main feature of this dress. To overcome this I added fusible interfacing to the collar. And I didn't make pockets in side seams.

As for the rest I just followed the instructions.
 

Arms trimming

Now I only have to wait till the next summer when I could wear this dress.