Instant gratification

Don't you love it when you find the perfect fabric for the perfect project, that your machine works perfectly well, that you don't even have to make another spool of thread along and that you finally discover the perfect bias tape in your stash to finish the hem of said project? Well, I sure do^^ and this is exactly what happened with today's top: first, I adore the fabric, it's some airy crepe that I found in my beloved treasure shop -actually I should call it "Hoarder's" because it's a tiny fabric shop that's been open for almost 60 years and they still have stock from the past decades crammed in piles going up to the roof, complete with vintage dust and spider webs, seriously. The cute, colourful print immediately caught my eye and I knew it would make for a great late 70's style camisole so I paired it with my usual self-drafted baby doll pattern and less than an hour later I got this:

My derpy face says it all, I'm in love with my top! Also I tried it tucked into The Skirt and it looked great too :) I hope the fabric is strong because it's probably going to get a lot of wear!

Casual tops

After years of DREADING to sew with knits -fabric will move like crazy when tracing, chalk lines won't show, I need a serger, etc- I took the resolution to at least try it in 2013 and now I feel silly because it's actually super easy! I made two pairs of leggings and two tops and then I even made a dress!
So, the fabric didn't move around as much as I thought and about the tracing problem, I sew so often with Japanese and Burda patterns that I'm used to adding seam allowances while tracing^^ so here I simply added the seam allowances to my pattern and then cut around the paper, duh. I still don't have a serger -I almost got one in 2010 but had to give it back before I could use it because I was broke as hell and needed the money :(- but my brave little Singer does the job perfectly well with its zigzag stitch!
The pattern for the tops comes from an old Burda, I needed a design similar to my old beloved black top and this one is perfect with a boatneck and slim 3/4 sleeves:

Of course I chose stripes, I managed to match them on the sides but not with the sleeves unfortunately. To finish the top I simply zigzagged the edges, folded them and stitched. I also have a leopard one which I made first, you can tell because I used stretch bias to finish the neckline, which was a bad idea since it ended a bit wonky -still love the top though:

These two have become staples in my wardrobe, even when I don't feel like dressing I'm happy that I can slip into something handmade to wear with my jeans!
And since I have some of these fabrics left I want to make matching cardigans because I have a serious thing for twin sets :)

Stop me if you've heard this one before...

... I made a skirt! OMG this is turning into skirt week, right? I hadn't sewn any in months and now I want to make plenty of outfits from them. Yesterday I showed you the forgotten green 70's skirt and I liked it so much I immediately took to making another one, this time out of blended denim.

I didn't remember that the pattern for this skirt actually consisted in three pieces, a waistband as well as a centre and a side that you have to cut 4 times hence the eight gores. As you may imagine construction was pretty straightforward, the only change I added was to put the (handpicked) zipper at the back rather than on the side and the most time-consuming part was to finish the inside of the waistband and do the hem by hand, so it took me one big evening to make the skirt.

I even have 70's-like platform shoes to wear with the skirt:

And I should get a lot of credit for making it through the handsewing because here is the kind of attack that I had to deal with every 5 minutes or so:

Something old, something new

And for once nothing (navy) blue! I felt super good in today's me-made outfit:

Such a nice little surprise, while sorting my clothes I stumbled upon this:

It's an eight-gored green poplin skirt made from a 70's pattern that I had forgotten about because it was a bit too big back when I made it and now, ahem^^ it fits -not sure if I should be glad or desperate! I wore it with a simple gathered top made with mystery synthetic fabric, and the pattern is a smaller version of my baby-doll tunic.
Finally I wanted to say that I've been extorted by my mum ONCE AGAIN, after she saw my blue and white R dress she asked for one so I had to make this for her:

Lol I'm such a giving seamstress, I should totally get rewarded with tons of fabric and patterns for my upcoming birthday^^

My favourite skirt

I hadn't made a skirt in a looong time but when I saw pattern 133 in the February issue of Burda mag I knew I just had to have it! I adored the pleats, pockets and large belt and wanted one in... navy, of course. Well, for once I finally decided to go with my second favourite colour and made this:

It's a chartreuse green beautyyyyy! Hum, you can sort of see the colour better in the next pic:

Yes it's that bright but as long as I wear it with black, white or grey it's okay. So, I slightly altered the pattern by shortening it, gathering the back pieces instead of repeating the front pleats and adding belt loops. 
I even made a "bag" out of upholstery fabric to go with it -sigh, I must confess that I'm super snob when it comes to fashion and I'd rather carry my stuff in my hands than wear trendy things but I couldn't resist the appeal of the CLUTCH which is the most impractical container in the world but looks so good with the skirt!

I went the whole way and made a matching little purse and seeing it in the clutch made me stupidly happy :)

Sweet dress!

Today's garment was made using the R pattern from the Sweet Dress Book and I must say it allows for one of the quickest and most gratifying sewing projects evah! I kept the alterations from the Lucky chance top but finally decided to make the dress length version seeing how many dresses I wear these days. I used amazingly soft and beautiful denim blue fabric -turns out it is Tencel- with white polysomething fabric. I'm also happy that I could use the thin striped trim you can see above the sweetheart detail because it had been in my stash for years and I was longing to find a nice project for it :) As usual I finished the neckline and armholes with bias tape and I machine sewed a simple 1" folded hem. All in all it took me around 2 hours to trace, cut, sew and finish the dress so you know this pattern is a keeper!

I wore it with a purchased belt but I'm thinking about making a matching sash out of the remaining tencel fabric.

New Japanese blouse

OMG this top has totally messed with my feelings^^! First I had ups and downs with the fabric, a small piece of quilting cotton that I managed to grab during the shop's sales and that should be just my type since it has navy and dark red tiny dots on an ecru background -I've recently noticed that my wardrobe is filled with navy garments or navy with red or white details. I say should because once worn it made me look washed out, I got all sad thinking that I had wasted it and finally I trimmed a bit the top's design and added deep blue buttons and it seemingly solved the unflattering colour issue -I also put loads of BB cream to try and look less like a ghost but this is another story.
Then the PATTERN! I found it in this book:

Sorry I meant this one:

On the paper it looked beyond cute and cool:

But as I tried it on while I was making it, it felt a bit granny-ish. So I went for the smaller size and still had to reduce the pieces' width, changed the back from gathers to a pleat and strangely the detail that made the most noticeable difference was how I positionned the first button: I put it lower than required and suddenly the blouse looked much more contemporary :)

And these poor shorts need a rest.

Of course now I'm in love with my top and I want plenty others, I want one in light chambray, one in tiny black gingham, one in my still untouched crazy kitty fabric, one in DOTS etc.