MMMF 26-28 + Fabric Loot/Stoffausbeute

The last three days of MMMF. I may not have it in me to catch up on the rest of the month. Water under the bridge...

The spots are on my lens (or wherever), not on the clothes. I checked!

Die letzten drei MMMF-Tage. Ich glaube, der Rest des Monats (soweit nicht schon gepostet) wird im Archiv verschwinden. Den Blick nach vorn! (Die Flecken sind auf der Linse oder so. Die Kleider waren sauber. Ehrlich!)

(Me-made: top-skirt/Rock-top)

Yesterday was the year's first fabric market. I've been good about not buying much lately (fabric shopping, aka "surrogate sewing"). I let down my guard. It had to happen. I saw. I loved. I bought:

Gestern war der erste Stoffmarkt des Jahres. Ich hatte nicht vor, viel zu kaufen. (Was dann ja immer ins Gegenteil umschlägt. Da ich zur Zeit nicht die Kurve kriege zu nähen, muss halt der Stoffkauf als Ersatzbefriedigung herhalten!). Hier meine Trophäen:





A gray/blue calico lawn (actually on my shopping list!), a white and blue thick stretchy cotton woven (is 1.8 m enough for a circle skirt?), a green and white dotted poplin (also on my list; I use this kind of fabric a lot for kiddie linings, facings, tote bags etc.) and a Cute! Overload! Totally Unnecessary! Girly knit fabric. Here's a detail shot:

Ein dünner Blümchen-Baumwollstoff (tatsächlich geplant), ein größerer Blumendruck auf dickem Baumwollstretch (1,80 m; reicht das für einen Tellerrock?), ein Pünktchen-Popeline (brauche ich immer für Kinderkleidung u.a.), und ein Meter völlig überflüssiger, Zahnschmerz-süßer Jersey-Mädchendruck. Muss auch mal sein. Detail:

Happy sewing!

Ode to Liberty's

I don't normally go for "brand" names. Unless I'm truly convinced they stand for superior quality or design. Unless the brand/store embodies all I find beautiful. Unless the brand/store makes shopping a purely enjoyable experience - no ugly attacks on the eyes/ears/nose like most high street and department stores offer.

(The gallery at Liberty's with a giant flower installation/art/decor.)

Aaaah. Liberty.

The only negatives I have to offer are the ugly makeover they gave their tea room (why??) and the prices. To be honest though, their fabric goes far beyond what I can buy at fabric markets for 5-15 Euros per metre. So here's about 5-10 fabric markets metre's worth of Liberty fabric:

Dear friends, I have two questions. One, how dare I ever cut into it? Two, what pattern to use? I have 1,5 metres (it's wool and silk), and I'd like to make a blouse/tunic, as usual from Burda Style or maybe Ottobre Woman patterns.

I also bought some cotton duck at Cath Kidston with a cutesy London print I'm probably too old for but will still make into a bag or tote of some sort:

DH upon entering Cath Kidston's said "Now here's a real girl's store!". I think he's right, and too much Cath Kidston might make for a toothache. But it's still fun to see Asian tourists pile their shopping baskets full of flowery knick-knacks! And, I love that she doesn't just sell the stuff but the fabrics, too.

Spring Fabric Markets

Instead of sewing, I went to the market today. My mojo has taken a beating because I had to alter the boy's pants; DS was positively swimming in them. My mojo doesn't take well to altering/repairs, whether in RTW or homesewn garments!

So, instead of starting on my blue SWALP, I've been buying more blue fabrics to add to my SWALP fabric pile. They won't all get sewn up this spring, but it sure is fun looking at them!

Top to bottom:

A silk twill (the first I've come across that isn't a tie print); two dotted poplins (that might become part of the lining of a trenchcoat I'd like to make but realistically won't until fall); a smooth firm cotton (that might become the trenchcoat shell); and some soft denim (for more last-minute kiddie pants)!

Some cute cotton prints (can't completely resist although the fabric cupboard is stuffed with cotton prints):

Buttons (from top left) for the planned SWALP jacket, the trenchcoat and the SWALP blouses:

I'd like to start on a blouse next. Trena remarked it would be a nice change from coats and jackets, and I think she is right. (Besides, who wants to contradict the Queen of Cute Blouses, aka The Slapdash Sewist?)

Hopefully my SWALP won't fall victim to overplanning, since I've been thinking about it for a while!

SWALP Considerations

First of all, thank you so much for the nice comments on my coat and dress, and the kids' pants. It's so motivating to get compliments from people who know what it means to sew. So thank you!

I'm contemplating where to go next. (Other than some kiddie pieces that will most probably get thrown in in between!) Some considerations:

1. I'd like to branch out in color.

Yes, it's spring and I love pulling out the bright greens, soft pinks, buttery yellows that reflect the spirit of the season. But I already have quite a bit of these colors in my wardrobe, and I don't necessarily like them in jackets and pants, which I need more of - in spring weights - in my wardrobe.

A color I've been wearing very little of, unless it's denim or leisurewear, is blue. Since I have so little of it, I've been wary of sewing blue things, thinking they won't go with anything in my wardrobe. I will need to sew a few pieces/a SWALP, which gives me a bit of apprehension, but after the sewing successes of the last year, I'm half convinced I can make a go of it!

Exhibit A: These fabrics from the stash.

All bought at different times, they would go together very well I think! The blue (in the navy colorway, but not very dark) fabric is a lightweight wool if I remember right, enough for a suit. The red-white-and-blue print is a cotton voile, and the light blue polka dot is a lightweight poplin. I also have a white-on-white embroidered eyelet cotton that would fit in here.

2. I need to get into sewing blouses.

First, because I wear them a lot. Second, because I've never sewn them so far. Third, because the voile and poplin above are shouting "Sew me up already!" (Can't you hear it?)

And fourth, because dedicated sewer and refashioner Zoe, who impressed by dressing all-handmade in all of March, has just announced Me-Made-May, and I want to take part in it. If only in the "lite"version, meaning one of the garments I wear on any given day will be made by me. At least, that is the plan!

(I'm trying to convince myself Zoe with her lovely navy wardrobe in Me-Made-March isn't the reason I'm getting into blue. No no. I can't be imitating another sewer every second garment I make, right?)

3. Chanel style jacket anyone?

Prominently featured in my sewing hall of shame is the Chanel-type jacket I never finished (so far). All that handsewing overwhelmed me, and I appreciated having more than one finished garment at the end of the year, even though that meant leaving the jacket for someday.

Although I don't feel up to the task of completing said jacket, I have another Chanel-style bouclé fabric in my stash (in spring-y yellow too!) and I may have thought of a method to get a bit of Chanel style into a machine sewn jacket: by adding an organza underlining and quilting this to the fashion fabric, then sewing and lining it like a regular jacket. Tell me it can be done!

Exhibit B: Bouclé fabric, silk organza and lining (the lining is less brown and lighter, although not the exact orange of the bouclé):

This jacket would possibly provide more immediate gratification than the blue SWALP, but it would also need a few more pieces for company, and other than a pair of white pants I'm out of ideas. I don't want too garish a color combination, but most neutrals don't go with the bouclé either... Must go contemplate some more.

Happy sewing!

Fickle mojo

My mojo is fickle. My sewing ADD has something to do with that. Does anybody else have this problem?

I love planning a garment. What fabric, what pattern, what else to make that goes with it.

My problem: If I overthink this, the garment is done. If only in my mind, but it's done. And I lose interest.

So I'm trying to trick myself/my mojo. I'm invited to a wedding. I have spring fever, but the crocuses aren't out yet, and the temperatures are freezing. I have this lovely, flowery wool fabric, and this green wool knit that makes me think of spring meadows. Perfect.

(You've seen two of the fabric pieces before. I've contemplated a coat here, and a top here.)

I'm trying to go with the mojo that says, make a coat and a dress. I set scissors to fabric almost right after the thought. The coat is cut out, pockets are sewn, I'm trying hard to sew faster than I can think. Almost.

Next up: coat pattern and pockets.

P.S. Again, I find myself emulating a fellow sewer I admire. Last week, I looked at the beautiful coat Shannon made about two years ago. Now, I find myself making a beige coat (albeit embroidered) with a rusty orange lining. True story: this was the only coat fabric in my stash (about three years old) and the only satin piece long enough for a coat lining (originally bought for a blouse).

SWALP Continues

I am, as always, in awe of real, grown-up SWAP sewers. As mentioned before, SWAP isn't going to happen for sewing-ADD-addled me anytime soon, but Sewing With A Little Plan continues.

To make the most my resolutions, I used today's 30 minutes of sewing (resolution no. 3) to work on the jacket lining, and to think about how to get the most use out of the jacket once it's finished. I pulled out my winter fabrics, laid them against the half-finished jacket, and chose two fabrics for matching tops, and a dark gray wool for a matching bottom (more mix-and-match garments, resolution no. 4).

Left to right:

The light green olive knit is wool. In winter I like to layer my sweater knits over classic woven shirts, so I might look for a pattern that enables this.

The green-gray patterned fabric is a thin jersey knit, rayon lycra I'd guess. I should be able to find a pattern for that. I love surplice looks, so it might be something like that.

The bottom weight will likely become a skirt. I'll have to look for a pattern/style that goes with the distinctive lines of the jacket. A pencil skirt would be a safe choice, but I'd like a bit of flare. I photocopied all my Burda pattern overviews of the last ten years or so, and will take a good long look at those!

That should be doable before winter ends, don't you think? I also pulled out the red-and-gray plaid fabric that didn't make it into a jacket (yet). A plaid dress would match the herringbone jacket very well, but how often would I wear it? And wouldn't it enforce my solitary garment sewing tendencies? So, it's on to the separates first. Once the jacket is finished. I'm optimistic.

Parting shot:


DH gave me a miniature porcelain bell with sewing motifs for Christmas. Yes, I like my kitsch. Especially sewing-related!

SWALP - and Jacket BWOF 9/2007 no. 105

I would, probably, rationally, not attempt a SWAP. Not as long as the children are little. Not as long as my attention span is shorter than the thread on my needle. Not as long as my inner teenager battles my inner sewing instructor.

I may, however, be in the middle of a SWALP (sewing with a little plan) right now. In this post I named a table runner, kids' pants and a jacket from my most recent fabric spree as a tentative plan.

Runner? Check. Girls' pants? Almost done. Jacket? Weeeellll...

I have a confession to make: Last year, I attempted my first jacket:

All went well. Until I got to the collar. Here's the sad story in pictures:




I tried to fix it, ended up where I started, lost heart (and fabric, since this was ravelling terribly), and finished the jacket as it was. ("Maybe it won't be so bad if I look at it next week." Right.)

There's one more year of intense sewing experience (no tailoring though) between then and now. Is it time for another jacket?

SWALP says yes. I'd really like this:

Thoughts on coats

I bought this fabric for, oh, not pennies, but really cheap at a fabric market last year (I know, don't hate me!). It's a border print, shown folded in half; the other half is solid cream. It was intented to be a coat from the beginning, but I did not have the confidence or stamina at that point to make one.

So the fabric went into the stash, or "collection", as Carolyn calls it, which may be a better word, because a collection is enjoyed whether it is useful or not, and I certainly enjoy having beautiful fabrics even if I don't get around to sewing them for quite some time.

At this point, I have the confidence, and if I don't have the skill I know enough resources to look everything up (and then I have you, my sounding board and encyclopedia all in one!)

I'm just not sure whether I have the stamina. Now this is the first day of September, another glorious late summer day (and I'm sitting here thinking about coats - go figure!). Enough time to finish a coat at leisure and have some winter left to wear it. It's just that I'm not very good at repetitive tasks. That incudes looking at and handling the same unfinshed garment for too long. What to do?

All this doesn't deter me from considering patterns, of course. I really like Burda 9/2009 no. 102. It fits my requirements of a short coat (covering hips but not knees), and of corse I love the folklore/vintage vibe. But it's a three-and-a-half-dots pattern. Ouch! And I'm not sure whether the hidden folds would go well with a border print such as mine. Anyone interested to weigh in?

So how about it? Should I make a coat? Is anybody else planning one? I know there was a coat sew-along last year; too bad I'm late for that!

Fabric and more...

... is an apt title for my vacation purchases, as well as the little shop where I made them. Online, dreaming instead of sewing, I found Mira's blog and discovered she has a little shop in Rostock, which was close to our holiday destination.

Mira's shop is a sewing mother's dream come true; click on the link to see lots of pictures. It's like a candy store in there, with a small but choice selection of the prettiest children's fabrics, borders, patterns and ready-made clothes from these ingedients. I particularly enjoyed my visit there because, while these fabrics etc. are very popular and widely available on the internet, I had never seen them in a brick-and-mortar store, only sometimes at fabric markets, and it's so much better to see and touch fabric before buying it! (And she has a playroom. And comfortable chairs for waiting, DH assures me.)

Isn't the fabric on top the cutest? It's by Westfalenstoffe, a company that produces their (mostly all-cotton) fabrics in Germany, and adheres to strict guidelines for pesticides and such. Costly, but worth it!

Mira also convinced me to broaden my horizons and try a pattern by the small, independent pattern company Farbenmix. I have read a lot of great reviews of their patterns online, but having sewn from magazines since my teens, I saw no need to change this - until I saw Mira's version of the Celina dress, which I plan to make from the flowered and teal corduroy. You may recognize the name Farbenmix from the cute ribbons I've been using, e.g. in the bag from my last post.

I haven't sewn a stitch since returning home. Today is the hottest day of the year, so I'm sitting inside eating ice cream. Am I turning into one of those grumpy old women who don't like that much sun, warmth, or for that matter, summer?! Fall seems so much more productive to me!

Instead of sewing, I have organized my fabrics and started a tentative fall sewing plan. I love planning. As for the following through... We'll see!

Craving color

This is a yearly phenomenon I'm only now becoming aware of.

Finally, summer is here, I mean real summer, temperatures in the high 20s (Celsius), sunshine 16 hours a day, blue skies, kelly green grass, flowers blooming all around... And every color popping just so, with the light and the contrast, and, maybe, the serotonin-induced high mood!

So, all of a sudden, I start craving color. My wardrobe has earthy neutrals, black-gray-and-white-neutrals, with the occasional shot of color. My summer wardrobe has tomato red, kelly green, bright turquoise, red-on-pink-on-yellow, and the occasional olive/brown. I cannot even fathom putting on a gray summer top, unless it's for work, of course.

This should have told me something years ago, but I really just realized it a couple of days ago, when I came home with this year's (brightly colored) swimsuit haul (H&M, told you so!), and proceeded to rip every juicy colored fabric from the stash cupboard, resolving to sew a new summer wardrobe.

We'll see how it goes (the best laid plans and all that). I have made myself proceed as planned and started on the dress; I hope this won't curb my enthusiasm!

Oh, and sun or not, I know I'll be done for as soon as the new fall fashion spreads (and fabrics) are out. I'm a true September girl that way!

Thank you! (and: sewing plans revisited)

The skirt may not have made me happy, but your sweet, encouraging comments sure have! I didn't think I was fishing for compliments or sympathy, but maybe I was, since it felt so good to read your nice comments. So, thank you!


On to new shores. The jacket and dress, if you hadn't already noticed, have taken a back seat. I trust that my blogging will hold me accountable so I'll return to it eventually!



Other things have come up that have commanded my time and interest. All those kids' clothes - and I don't think I'm finished with that for the summer -, and then as my diary filled up with more and more events this summer, I sat down and thought what I needed for that. I've been buying a lot less RTW these last months, and I'd like to keep that up if possible.

Coming up:

• Our annual family reunion/garden party this month. I've been thinking of a summery blouse/tunic to wear with shorts. Possibly in this fabric. I walked circles around this, since it's a poly material I don't normally buy, but I love the print so much, I had to have it (and might get over my poly aversion).

• An event that I don't even know how to translate. Translation software says "shooting match", but that doesn't hit (!) it all. It's a big celebration in a rural area that basically has the whole village in festivities, all that arranged around a shooting match. If anyone German reads this, Schützenfest. Click here, if you want pictures of such an event. I've never been to one of these before, but we've been invited by my father-in-law who won the annual shooting match 25 and 50 years ago, and now gets honored on his jubilees. I could certainly go in some decent outfit already in my closet (the long dresses you see in some of the pictures are only worn by guests of the current winner), but I think I'll use this as an excuse to sew a really summery

  

  dress out of this fabric.

• My 20 year school reunion. Since closing my eyes and plugging my ears isn't going to make the 20 years go away, I may as well go. So I will need something understated (I don't think anyone is going to dress up for this) that nevertheless dazzles and makes everyone see how much better, if not younger, I look these days... I'm sure you understand!

• Then, in early August, we're taking a vacation by the sea. If I'm not all sewn out by then, I might make myself a couple of tops and coverups. I'm not getting into swimsuit sewing, I think, not as long as H&Ms swimsuits still fit me.

Fabric loot

As per Gwen's request, here's yesterday's stash addition:



Clockwise from upper left:

• Cream cotton eyelet
• Olive wool knit (wrong season, but I hardly ever find wool knit, and this is my color!) with print knit (probably rayon) on top
• Pink cotton with tiny white dots, brown cotton with small pink dots, pink rayon knit, striped cotton knit and Kitty appliqué (all of this for DD, obviously, who was adamant about having no less than these fabrics!)
• Blue denim

Also, light green grosgrain ribbon and striped ribbon to go with the denim, probably. The light green is for my Chanel-style jacket. It's the right color; now I'm just worried it might look boring. I also saw what I think from Lindsay's and Katherine's descriptions must be Petersham ribbon, but not in the right colors (the vendor, being Dutch, also didn't know the German word for it!).

Last, The Very Hungry Caterpillar fabric panel. I have a first birthday party coming up, and will make something from (part of) it. A pillow? Or a wall hanging with pockets?

Dutch fabric markets

Sunday afternoon, we went to the fabric market. DH and the kids went for ice cream, I went for fabric. Luckily, fabric markets are usually held in the town squares, where there are ice cream cafés nearby!




I was a little disappointed. Having mentioned the fabric markets before, I wanted to bring you really nice pictures that capture all the fabric goodness. Not quite.





One, I had the impression there wasn't as much fabric goodness at this market than at other markets I've been to. This might have something to do with the fact that I went with a budget in mind and had hoped to find good deals on staples such as cotton prints, denim, linen, jerseys. Lots and lots of prints in cotton and jersey, yes, at a price, but very few solids and none of the fabric market stalls I'd met elsewhere, with jerseys in all colors of the rainbow (and cottons, linens, woollens...) at cut-rate prices.

Second, it was hard to capture the size and atmosphere of the place in photos without climbing a tree (there were none) (not that I would have)... or being a really good photographer, I guess.

Still, these fabric markets are a great invention, Dutch as far as I know (roughly 2/3 of the dealers are from Holland), and I know of regions in Germany that don't have them and envy us greatly! I'd guess that there are about 30-40 stalls in all, between 2 and 10 yards long, and packed with fabric. A lot of these are "trendy" prints and brands, and I did not see competitive prices here - they were all more or less the same.

A sight to behold: the big notions stall. You almost get vertigo trying to tell which side is up in there!

Oh, and these are my fabric market stash additions.

Kids' fabric loot and pants

First of all, I want to say thanks to everyone who has commented on my blog so far (and thank you for the especially nice comments on the girl's dress!). There are so many great blogs to read and comment on and only so many hours in a day, so I appreciate everyone who takes time to respond to a newbie blogger like me!

Yesterday, I chose to spend the spare hours in my day not blog reading, but sewing - again - girls' stuff - again. Will I be able to stop when fabric runs out? No, wait, I ordered more, so it won't. Oh well!

My dd is growing out of everything at the moment, plus with the weather warming up she needs lots more playground clothes, so I decided to sew up a quick pair of pants. It really isn't quite as crooked as it looks in the pictures, but it's a quick little number, having traced off an existing pair, altered for the simplest elastic waist, and only putting on some topstitching, back pockets, borders and appliqués for interest (without it I'd have finished in half the time, though, but where's the fun in that?).

My ds is getting jealous, so I ordered some more jersey in boy colors for a promised bunny shirt. Happily, he isn't at 5yo tuned into what's "cool" or "manly" yet, so I'll let him wear bunnies for as long as it lasts!

I might use the green/pink flowered buttons for last post's dress; I don't know what I'll do with the iron-on angel yet, and the borders... well, I just order them every chance I get.



All of it from http://www.koenigreich-der-stoffe.net/.

("Herzilein" means little heart)