Hot Patterns Wrapture jacket, first steps

The red Burda dress is done, pictures coming soon, so I started to work on a muslin for the above jacket pattern. I have never used this company before so I need to figure out how it fits me. I have always liked this design and I have a beautiful cotton twill from Michael's fabrics which I think will work well with this relaxed fit. Right now I'm thinking to do hand top stitching instead of the binding.

I will keep you updated of the progress.

***************************
Parting shot


Winter (After Arcimboldo) by Philip Haas at the National Gallery of Art

Recently I had the opportunity to visit the National Gallery of Art during the week, what a luxury, and I was able to wander and look at my own pace. When I came upon this sculpture of course I had to take a closer look. A special exhibit of Arcimboldo (16th century painter), who is famous for his "portraits" was due to open that weekend.

I've been gone for a while

And I have no sewing to show you. The Burda red dress is still in pieces. My excuse is that I've been working and the time I spent on the dress, there was more picking out of stitches than anything else, this knit shows every mistake.

So since I don't like photo-less posts I'm showing you some crochet. My Happy Blanket is coming along, I really, really like it.

I have been thinking about the next sewing project and it will be a jacket, I'll share more soon.

Keep on sewing! or crocheting! or knitting!....you get the picture.

A mostly Burda outfit

Here is my completed outfit! I'm glad that it looks how I envisioned, isn't great when it works out that way?

Vogue 1020 Knit coordinates

I bought this pattern for the dress but I decided that I liked all the pieces so they will all get made at one point. I started with the cardigan which I made using a very nice rayon blend knit I've had for quite a few years. It was perfect for this pattern since it has a wonderful drape. The ties were supposed to be sewn wrong side in and turned but I couldn't manage it with my fabric so instead I cut 2 in wide strips and used my bias binding maker to make them. They look just fine.



Besides the ties the cardigan closes with a button and thread loop. I followed Susan Khalje's tutorial in the Threads magazine site and it worked great.





Burda Style magazine top 11-2006- 111

There isn't much to say about this top, couldn't have been easier to sew. The neckline and armholes are turned in and topstitched with a double needle. I loved the neckline!


Burda Style magazine 7-2010- 108 Twist bubble skirt

Following the advise of another reviewer I subtracted 1.5 in from the length of the lining to prevent it from showing. Even with that I can sometimes see the lining. Twisting the skirt as instructed by Burda does not give you a perfectly laying hem. Other reviewers have not twisted their skirt as much and their hems lie more uniformly. I liked the look of the skirt in the magazine so I didn't modify the instructions.

Burda 5-2008 Dress 121

I was all ready to pick which jacket I wanted to work on (or maybe a parka?) but remembered that I have had this dress traced and paired with a beautiful red knit for I guess 2 years. I still love this dress and I will wear it into fall with boots and a long sleeve tee.

The plan is to pre-treat the fabric and while that is going on I will recheck measurements on the pattern, since my body has been changing...sigh

I have my three piece outfit to review and show you, soon I hope.

It is a beautiful day today in my part of the world and I will probably go for a nice walk in the neighborhood. I need to get inspiration to repair my front steps, it helps to know what you want when talking to contractors.

Weekend images

The many faces of the National Arboretum...