La Mia Boutique

Updates on my magazine subscriptions…

The Idee Broderie Couture from France through Toutabo has arrived in the mail this week. wasn’t really expecting another magazine to arrive, but it is nice to see they were keeping their word. It is similar to La Mia Boutique with clothing patterns inside this time.

diffusioneeditoriale.it Is replying to emails and claim to have sent 3 magazines that should arrive soon, I guess i just have to be patient…

http://mirelap.wordpress.com/2009/12/22/la-mia-boutique-2/?preview=true&preview_id=411&preview_nonce=58059fad76

In the air

In the air, originally uploaded by fmirela.

on the way to SLC from FLL, two hats, one for my friend Oana, one for me.
on the way back to FLL another little hat for a little girl named Alexandra. She drew a pretty thank you note for me

Pattern: www.ravelry.com/projects/ShiftyGirl/divine-hat
Yarn: Country something wool blend. 2 sheins
Hook: 5mm

I really liked working with this pattern. Except the hat is very thin in this yarn, not really for winter days, but then again, there’s no winter around here where I am…

See more pics on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mirelapopovici/4195243564/

La Mia Boutique

and no magazines…

Just thought I would share this with anyone considering….

I have subscribed in October 2009 to La Mia Boutique through

http://www.abbonatiweb.it/articoli.asp?articolo=55

Obviously a ridiculously high price for a magazine, payed the whole amount through PayPal. I thought it would be worth it since I really like the contents and the patterns are move innovating the Burda…I still hope this is not a hoax and I will see my fave mag soon…

Obviously I have not received any magazine yet and we are getting close to the end of the year…

I did receive an email reply in the middle of November, more than a month ago, from abbonatiweb.it saying that I will receive the first magazine in the main by next week and that it is traveling… there was no magazine and now I wrote another angry letter hoping to get better customer service this time.

This is my second failed attempt to get the magazine, first was with IdeeCouture got 2 crappy magazines for 37 Euros, very expensive, one with Children’s clothing patterns and the other with quilting. I do not sew any of that…

I hope I would have better luck this time and that you will soon see another happier post about this subject…

right now I’m feeling disappointed and worried, hoping for a reply and checking my mail box daily.

Following?

The Cooper Hewitt on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bleMWSkpIk&feature=channel

Very inspiring felt pieces.

 

Anyone know a cheap online source of good felt roving?

I think my garage could become the perfect studio.

Zero Waste

I always try to place the patterns differently than the pattern instructions, in order to use less fabric and maybe squeeze in another top or skirt or even a belt in there.
Remember my angels blouse with all the little cut out angles reapplied to the fabric?

But check out this wonderful design for a jacket with ZERO waste: http://issuu.com/foyacollective/docs/precarious_cut_workbook

And Oh!: http://issuu.com/foyacollective/docs/wolf_sheep_workbook

What do you do with all the scraps? I have a drawer full with scrap and I don’t quilt…at least not yet.

Megan Nielsen – New found Blog in the Spotlight!

I have discovered this wonderful blog today browsing around Burda Style’s projects:

http://megannielsen.com/2009/10/ladies-who-lunch-dress-giveaway.html

She is having a dress giveaway, really pretty dress, very classic in Green!

Great Blog, drop her a visit and a comment and you can enter the giveaway!

 

 

The A Plus A Line Skirt variation

The A Plus A Line Skirt variation, originally uploaded by fmirela.

BurdaStyle contest entry based on free pattern from Burda Style.

Thanks to Twinkle by Wenlan! My inspiration came from the book The Art Of Manipulating Fabric thanks to Roberta for pointing this book out to me! Pretty cool!

I wanted to keep the fullness of the skirt, and apply a quick and fun technique of machine smocking. I used the same decorative honeycomb stitch to sew the hem and the topstitching on the yoke. Another change to the pattern is the lowered waistline (with about 5 cm).

Brief Instructions for the machine smocking

Wish me luck!

No luck this time. here is the winner:

http://www.burdastyle.com/blog/the-winner-of-the-show-us-your-a-line-skirt-competition-is

And this out of 64 creations, some really gorgeous, a skirt with no hem at all and some lace over it wins, I have to disagree…I liked the third price winner more, and many others out there deserved it better, but oh well…cute stockings.

The view

The view, originally uploaded by fmirela.

I’m moving out of the place all together on Tuesday…will surely miss that view.

Here’s what I have been up to in June, a somewhat productive month:

Ellinor pattern from BurdaStyle: www.burdastyle.com/projects/ellinor

The knotted top:

Another green T-Shirt with pearl snaps, in Lacoste fabric. Wondering whether to put the iron on transfer with the Grand Tetons or just live it as is….

Pattern: M-Patterns…disappointing. I’m really not pleased with the way this turned out, I don’t like the finishing on it, nor the fit…will probably just use this for the gym or a bike ride

A strange one this time in Lacoste fabrics purple and green, some flowers iron on applique. the neckline is tooo low, i will probably add another green ribbon around it. I’m not sure I like this shape…

La Mia Boutique T shirt. I adore the pattern. A friend sewn a similar top ages ago, in brown lycra and I decided there and then to make one, or two as well. It did take me a long time, but I will probably reuse this pattern more often now. I think this looks great as a sportish look, but it could also be more elegant in a different pattern and under a cute jacket.

Crochet Dress

Pattern for the crochet top/dress

http://mirelap.wordpress.com/2008/02/12/crochet-top/

Measurements:

Bust: 80cm

Length: 86cm

Hem: 100cm

Thread: 220g

Crochet hook: Nr.2

Pattern: see drawing

. = chain

x = single crochet

| = double crochet

all those curved lines are chains of 2, 4 and 6 chains as indicated in the drawing.

Test square: for a width of 3 pattern repeats and a height of 3 patterns => 10×10cm

Back:

Start with the shoulder. Chain 13 + 3 for the edge and you will continue downwards. Make 5 rounds of the pattern and put the work aside.

Start with the other shoulder. After the 6th round of pattern chain 48 (i chained 53 just to make it larger).

After the 48 chain, link it with the other shoulder strap. The work will have 10 pattern repeats per width.

Continue work until you have 7 pattern repeats on the vertical.

Armhole shaping:

Make it wider with 7 chains + 3 chains for height, on each side, for the armhole shaping. Work will have 12 pattern repeats per width.

At 13 pattern repeats in total per vertical, first row increase to 5 chains instead of 4. Next row the height will increase from 3 to 4 chains. Next row the chain is increased from 6 chain stitches to 7 chain stitches.

At 19 pattern repeats in total per vertical, increase everything with one chain:

instead of 5 chain stitches => 6 chain stitches

instead of 4 chain stitches => 5 chain stitches on the side

instead of 7 chain stitches => 8 chain stitches

After 26 pattern repeats the back side is finished.

Front:

Just like the back. I did mine wider with two pattern repeats to fit the bust.

Click to download PDF – scanned from an old magazine, original in Hungarian

P.S. hope this is not breaching any copyrights…

La Mia Boutique

This looks like a priceless gem here in the US, I can’t seem to find a decent subscription method.

1. Hepipress has not updated their site in about one year and they do not reply to emails: http://hepipressweb.com/cmsen/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=26
2. There is an eBay seller posting up the magazines as they come along: http://cgi.ebay.com/Italian-sewing-pattern-La-mia-BOUTIQUE-AUGUST-2009-NEW_W0QQitemZ270442211680QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Crafts_SewingPatterns_EH?hash=item3ef79ca960&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116
3. I have had a bad experience with  http://www.toutabo.com I subscribed to a 12 month issues of Idee Couture and received only 2 magazines during the year, one containing patchwork, the other children’s clothing patterns. No replies to emails or to phone calls. I would stay away from them.
4. The same Idee Couture can be also found in Canada: http://www.pressabo.com/index.php/boutique/59-Idees-Couture-Broderie/396-Abonnement-Idees-Couture-Broderie/Fiche-produit-detaillee.html here, they say there are 6 issues per year.
5. Then there are some folks in the UK that kind of rip you off with super expensive prices. http://www.magazinecafe.co.uk/mall/productpage.cfm/magazinecafe/_9994067/255241/LA%20MIA%20BOUTIQUE from what I read on PatternReview they seem to be reliable but expensive.
6. There’s a dutch lady that sells them for almost the same prices but you would have to speak dutch to order… http://www.marlofashionmagazines.nl/ They have issues Sept 2008-Aug 2009.  Each issue including postage is 26.50 EU. For Canadian shipping it is more efficant due to high shipping charges to order 5 LMB for 81.50 EU. (incudes VAT and shipping). They accept Paypal and ship as soon as payment is received.

My mom finds last year’s issues every now and then in Romania, but they are also very hard to come by.

I have 3 duplicated past issues, thinking of selling them, will scan some pages soon, please leave a comment or email me if you are interested.

La Mia Boutique Magazine Maggio Giugno 2007

La Mia Boutique Magazine April 2007

La Mia Boutique Magazine Maggio 2008

Anyone have a different source for the magazine, please leave a comment.

Maybe a solution would be to know someone in Italy and have them buy the magazines from the newspaper stands, store and ship them in bulk maybe 4 times a year, I think that would be the cheapest way. Anyone in Italy offers to do this for me?! I wish!