Remember the blue vest?

Here he is! :D

A vest for a young man

So, I had just cut out my (first) top for Faye's sewalong when my friend M called. She asked if I could alter suit pants for her son that were too large. I said yes. After that it turned out he also wanted a vest. Ok. And also he really, really wanted a bow neck tie. Oh, well...Ok.

So they came over and they brought velvet! Gosh. I just thought that I would pretend I knew what I was doing. :D ( I was slightly scared of the buttonholes to be made in the near future...on velvet...)
Of course, it wasn't only that the trousers had to be taken in, but he also wanted them Italian style. A bit more work. :)

For the vest I had to go through sewing two test muslins, because the guy is pretty tall and very very skinny. I used a pattern from a special edition of La mia Boutique for men as the base for drafting. The bow was the easiest thing to make, after some research.

And finally, it all turned out beautifully! Phew. I'm pretty proud of myself and the young man coudn't stop checking himself out in the mirror. :D I asked for a fancy photo of the whole outfit because Steph up here isn't the best of models for a men's vest.
Anyway, pretending to know what one is doing seems to be working well! :D

Now, the top....

A skirt and a shirt

Here are two pieces I haven't shared yet:

I love this skirt even though the color is totally wrong for me. It is the most worn of the season. :-)

Wonderfully soft and light fabric. The bow at the neckline is not exactly visible but it is there, and the pattern placement happened by accident. :-) In spite the hunchback optical illusion this shirt is a dream to wear.

Ciao!

Blouse Burda 7/2007-101 in green and pants Burda 7/2010-127 in blue

Now, all three garments are done.

I wanted to make this blouse fit, but I'm not really happy with it. There is more to do on the shoulder back and sleeves. Perhaps another time.
Here is the pattern with all the alterations ( lengthened bodice, forward shoulder, narrow back):

And the blouse...Well, I guess it's the fabric. It looked so lovely but somehow I don't like it made up in this blouse.

Here it is with the blue corduroy high waisted pants:

Sigh...Just don't like it...I'm made for bright colors, don't you agree? This yellowgreen doesn't suit me at all. And the night dark pants..? So it happens that you like a fabric very much under the light in the shop, but then it doesn't do anything for you except emphasizing the black circles under your eyes. What do you do when something like this happens? Wear it anyway or let it go?

Blouse Burda 7/2007-101

Another project from the UFO pile. Very old. From the time I used pattern as they were. Without adjustments. You may not see it, but I can feel the pattern needs adjustments!

Blose Burda 7/2007-101 I Like!

The fabric I used were remnants from a dress project for a friend. Including holes and discoloring. I had to implement the usual magic and chemistry to cut the pattern pieces out. But you know I love that!

So nice, both the pattern and fabric! Why did it stay on the ufo pile for such a long time you wonder?
Here's why - I scorched the back piece with the iron! I don't know what kind of fabric this is, but it behaves strangely. Like organza, I'd say.
I was soooo very close to throwing the whole thing away! :-(

Nice...meh...

Then I dug it out in my big UFO busting spree. With rather satisfying results! :-)

The hole got mended. I ironed a little piece of interfacing on the back and then applied this piece of lace on the right side.

Finished! Or maybe not. I should probably apply some lace to the front. For balance. As a design element. Yes, let's put it this way,hehe. Otherwise people might think I just used lace as a patch to conceal a flaw..! :-)

Good night everyone!

A sewing plan?

It is known far and wide that I'm a disaster at planning. It simply (almost) never works. Unless it is something truly exciting. Why? It's in my nature. Simple really. I change my mind or something else gets my attention. :-) I'm quite OK and used to it. It only adds up to the UFO pile!

So what's the plan, you ask? Destashing!

Dark blue corduroy - high waisted pants
Green with blue dots viscose - shirt with bow ( this fabric is new)
Green velvet - high waisted skirt

For a change :-) the pants and skirt have already been cut out. :-) I still haven't decided which pattern to use for the shirt, I traced a couple of them. We shall see how the muslins turn out. When I get to them. After some more UFOs...

Planning any autumn sewing yet?

Crossover top refashion

Grandma gave me this one. It was enormous and had to be taken in a lot on both sides.

I did a stupid thing, though. Forgot to leave extra space for the hips, ehh... So it pulls up.

Fortunately it is a summer top! :-DDD

Blue socks tutorial

Hello, dear readers! How are you today?

It was ironing day around here and while I was at it I took this pair of old and worn out socks to throw away. Then the obvious caught my attention! Why not deconstruct them and get a pattern? And also actually sew a pair of socks with a heel?

Here's how I did it:

1. Cut an old cozy sock around the fold and at the heel seam.

2. Find a piece of knit to refashion/reuse/recycle.

You can see I also matched the hems of the sock and fabric. This one used to be a skirt.

3. I cut the fabric directly around the sock pieces (did not make a paper pattern first) with a margin of 5 mm to serge. Of course, you can hand sew or machine sew them.

4. Pin together the heel pieces right sides in and serge.

Here you can see a serged heel and one turned to the right side.

5.On the long upper part of the sock mark the position to match the heel seam on both sides. I snipped the fabric a bit (over the yellow pin head).

6. Pin the pieces together right sides in and serge.

7. Ups! This pattern seems to have a problem. The heel seam falls under my heel! Which means the old socks were actually too short. Will have to adjust the paper pattern a bit (when I make it) to resolve this little issue.

8. Otherwise, it's a nice little sock.

Ehm, socks! :-)

Quick and easy project. Takes 15 minutes to complete.

Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial!

Have a nice and cozy evening wearing your new socks!