I was in desperate need of a quick project in between all the hemming and  (hand) sewing of buttonholes in my Burda trenchcoat. It's not that I completely lost my SewJo, but I still don't love my coat so I'm a little scared I won't wear it a lot after I finish it. It's probably not so bad but I keep seeing my own shortcomings in sewing with heavy fabric.... You'll see the end result in a couple of weeks, I do promiss!
 
Zinnia is the new skirt pattern of Colette patterns, and has 3 variations. I made Version 2. I used to own a black H&M skirt that is similar to it and I wore it to pieces. Or until pleated skirts were outfashioned and I had a closet clearing frenzy (I hate it when I throw out things and regret it later! Does this happen to others?). I also love their dark blue Version 1 with a front button closing, and I have just that kind of fabric left from my Navy peplum top. And I have a beige/sand coloured wool polyester blend for another V.2.

I made the skirt first and then found out that it needed a lining, so I made that afterwards, unpicked the waistband and sewed it on again, attaching the lining to the skirt. Btw: we did the photoshoot in our new but still empty home, while we did some measurements!

The pattern is very easy to follow. You really have to be precise with the pleats: my waistband was hardly long enough to keep a piece that overlaps so you can put a button in it. My blind zipper fell apart after I put it in, so I put in a regular zipper instead (hand sewn, looks quite nice if you zoom in!). Don't look at the creases please, I even ironed it before we stepped in the car...

I am quite happy with the result. Its is flowy and  feminine and I keep finding colours that match really well with this
type of green (my hubbie called it forest green). This cute Esprit blouse, for example, but also petrol is a great but unexpected match. And, very importantly, I can ride my bike to work with it! (if it doesn't rain, that is)

Have you made Zinnia yet? I'm very curious to see yours! Do you think it would look nice in a floral print?

Although I want to bust my stash big time, I could't help myself when I found out that the Stoffenspektakel (fabric 'spectacle') was taking place in a city nearby yesterday. About 70 stalls were set op in a large hall and the price-quality ratio was excellent, with prices ranging from €2 to €15 (and up, but I skipped that part, as have enough too expensive fabrics that I'm afraid to cut..). Of course I brought a shopping list, as I recently purchased the charming Zinnia by Colette patterns, and I want to try this out on a sturdy green cotton or something resembling the Version 2 the model is wearing. Of course I found this, and a lot of other things, like stretchy lace (for Anthropologesque dresses with ruffled skirts, see my Pinterest sewing board), crunchy black sateen for a shift dress/jacket, and this amazing red/cherry/gray dotted woolen knit, for a long sleeved knit dress. It was Paradise for fabric lovers, so much to see and feel and there were a lot of women like me, wearing self-made blouses or dresses and rolling a large grocery trolley (must remember to bring one next time!). It was a good 3 hours spent, I keep smiling when I see my new stash :) 

My trench coat project is slowly progressing, and I can show you a tiny glimpse here. It feels like it took ages to get here, but it is starting to look like a coat now. I had to do one adjustment, as it was so large it looked like I was wearing my grandpas old coat, but I fixed that by taking in the side parts and sleeves (sometimes it's best to keep things simple, I thought). I love raglan sleeves, they are sooo easy to put in :)
My mum suggested I topstitch the seams but I'm not sure: a lot of work, even bulkier seams and I have to decide now, before I put on the collar and I don't really know what it's gonna look like. The seams are kind of hard to press flat though, so topstitching would help... Maybe i'll try it out on a test swatch first. 

To be continued...!

Online shopping for fabric is quite nice, though nothing beats a brick and mortar store where you can actually see the patterns and feel the fabrics. Unfortunately, sewing is not as popular as it used to be in the Netherlands like, say 20 years ago, so many fabric stores have closed down. In my city, there is no real store left, except a few stalls on the market on Monday and Saturday (these do have amazing discounts sometimes, but if you really need something specific, you need to go to another city). So I often order fabrics online from this Dutch site www.textielstad.nl, which offers good quality fabrics for a decent price (I often order swatches first that they send for free!), or sometimes even from the UK or US (once from www.fabric.com but that wasn't really worth all the custom taxes... and once from www.spoonflower.com, awesome website). Then I discovered a store in a village nearby which has quite a large variety of fabrics and also a selection of fabrics for €5 a yard/metre. I was looking for fabric for a new project: a coat. I know: this wasn't on my to sew list, but now I got the idea and I'm looking forward to it so much!

I didn't find anything suitable here, but what I did find was a beautiful woolen knit, black and sooo soft. Only €5. So that was mine. I already knew what I wanted to make out of it: a dolman sleeved top that I was going to base on a RTW top from my wardrobe.

I will call it the Back to Black dolman, as it would almost be Amy Winehouse's 30th birthday (September 14th).

Btw: I'm going to New York in October, and if someone knows any good fabric stores there please let me know! I will be going with husband and our 2 moms, so excited!

The Facts

Fabric: woolen knit, 1 yard of €5
Notions: none, but I did use a double pointed needle
Pattern: I used another dolman sleeve top as a base, and because I am more comfortable working with paper patterns than just cut into fabrics along a ruler, I drew a front/back pattern, a pattern for the sleeves and one for facings for the neckline.
Time to complete: I think this was fairly easy to accomplish, it only took me about 1 hour and a half including the pattern drawing.
First worn: still need to as it's still too warm, but I sure wil!

I always wanted to sew 'something peplum' as I think it could emphasise my straight figure. When I saw the tutorial at Merricks Art's blog I couldn't wait to start. She made it from a thrifted oversized blouse, out of a beautiful blue fabric. Of course, I wasn't able to find such an item, so instead I bought this great navy cotton. It is really soft and has a slight stretch to it. AND it was only €1 a metre at the market.

I used the top of the Laurel dress (again:)) as a base, but cut it at the waist and changed the darts on the back so they went straight down instead of in a diamond shape. Also I made the sides a little tighter, but with enough ease.
I took photos of this step:

I don't have photos of the next steps, so I will try to explain them.

After this step I put in a blind zipper and put in the sleeves. I made the armholes about 1 cm bigger on each side and that way putting in the sleeves got way easier. There are still some puckers but the sleeves look al lot less puffy! The sleeve ends I finished with self made bias binding.

I also (so sorry I forgot to take photos of this!) made facings for the neckline instead of bias tape, to make it look flat.
For the bottom part, I cut a rectangular piece of fabric of 1,5 times the width of the top and about 20 cm tall (about 8 inches). I folded this part in half and stitched the short ends, so I got a circular piece of 20 cm tall.  Then I measured elastic band at the exact width of the top, and stitched it to the bottom part, so that it was evenly ruffled. I then pinned this part (good sides together) to the top and stitched, being careful not to stitch through the elastic band. After I removed the elastic band (see also Merricks Art tutorial, she explains it well, and has added the photos that are lacking here...sorry). You could achieve the same result by sewing a long stitch along the border and ruffling it and distribute the ruffles evenly.

I hemmed it with a simple turned in hem and... Voila!

I am very happy with the result, and I already wore it to my mother in law (it's her garden in the photos) and work! Most people (including my mother in law) didn't believe I made it myself so that made my day :)

All photos were taken by my beloved husband with my beloved Sony NEX 6!

Are you also mentally prepping for fall? I surely am, although the Dutch weather is still quite nice. I long for hearty, wintery food and am almost ready to snuggle up under a blanket on the couch!

After studying the Colette Sewing Handbook last week I immediately became inspired to make a plan for all my fall/winter projects. I even drew a personalized croquis to make sketches on. As Sarai from Colette says, you can easily do this by taking a photo of yourself in black, tight clothes, printing it out and tracing the outlines of your figure. I found it really helped me deciding what shape I am and what I should and shouldn't wear.

To define your style, she also advises to take 5 of your favourite items from your wardrobe and describe their qualities. I came up with 5 items and think they had these qualities in common: feminine, refined and soft toned (also, it was funny to notice that 3 items were from Anthropologie, collected during my visits to the US).
I thought it was fun to have a look at it this way, as I often thought I don't have my own style, but it seems I do! Also, when you realize what you're drawn most to and would most likely wear, it's easier to stay away from buying or sewing things you will never wear. Sounds logical right?

To get more inspiration I plunged through Pinterest, other blogs and of course my patterns and fabric stash.

Here's my fresh to sew list:

1. A winter Laurel dress (from a lovely €1/meter khaki fabric that I found on the market)
2. A peplum top (inspired by the tutorial of Merricks Art)
3. Refashion something thrifted (there will be a blog on this subject!)

The list will get longer of course, but I think it is wise to have realistic goals. Mora mora! Also, I have an unpublished 'to knit' list somewhere that also demands parts of my spare moments. I am very conscious of the fact that by putting the list here, I have no excuses anymore. I think it even might help me finish them. To be honest, as of now I already finished one of them! :) To be continued in the next blog.

And here is a glimpse of the refashion project...