Wednesday, September 29, 2010

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.

Friday, September 24, 2010

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.

Friday, September 10, 2010

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.

Thursday, September 09, 2010

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.

Monday, September 06, 2010

Weekend images

The many faces of the National Arboretum...