Sonia

The Bishop dress with machine smocking and decorative stitching.

PES for Traditional Romanian Cross-stitch Designs for Machine Embroidery

Follow the link and you’ll find a free archive of PES files containing cross-stitch designs of traditional Romanian designs as they are used on our blouses.

http://mestesugariromani.ro/mestesuguri-traditionale-romanesti/attachment/motive-traditionale-broderie-computerizata

here are just a few:

There is also a guide on how to cut the blouses:

http://mestesugariromani.ro/mestesuguri-traditionale-romanesti/attachment/ghid-introductiv-in-croit-si-brodat-camasa-traditionala-romaneasca

 

If anyone ever gets the chance to use them, I would really like to see.

I hope to find the time to use them myself.

 

 

Bishop Dress

A dress for Sonia.

I’ve taken inspiration from the Romanian folks wear, the traditional stitches and colors found on blouses.

htp://semne-cusute.blogspot.com/

The pattern is a little smoked dress, also known as a bishop dress.

I debated doing the hand embroidery and smocking…vs machine made…this time, the machine won.

For anyone with a great embroidery machine, here are some more designs I wanted to try…could no longer launch my Windows virtual machines, where the PED Basic was installed…oh well will have to re-do it one day.

Pattern: Burda

Fabric: white poplin

Fabric stabilizer: starch spray

Thread: regular sewing thread for the embroidery, no shiny stuff

 

 

35 Weeks Since September

and I’m 35 weeks pregnant, yes it will be a girl.

Pattern: Little White Dress – http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/little-white-dress

Gray and blue yarns: http://www.ravelry.com/yarns/library/naturallycaroncom-spa

Purple yarn: http://www.ravelry.com/yarns/library/bernat-handicrafter-cotton-baby-solid

Pink yarn: …

BurdaStyle Book – Nov.1st 2011

My contribution to this book is the coat, the last one on the right (you have seem the details in a previous post).

I believe this book can be the start of a beautiful feminine wardrobe: it has dresses, skirts, blouses, coats and accessories, all in classic lasting style.

 

Preview: http://www.burdastyle.com/book

Preorder: http://www.amazon.com/BurdaStyle-Sewing-Handbook-Nora-Abousteit/dp/030758674X/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318875787&sr=8-1-spell

Twisted Green Dress

One of the pending pictures for a dress I have sewn a while ago.

At a baby shower with my friend Oana (7+months)

I thought this is a very similar design with Oana’s purple dress, with the twisted knot, and really like how the colors go together.

Baby Shower Season

It is baby shower season around here…teddy bears, pink elephants and baby gators.

Sewing, crocheting, stuffing, cooking, and of course cakes and fondant decorations.

Some of the pattern links:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/simple-crossover-bootie

http://bundlesoflove.org/CrochetedBabySweater

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/padma

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lizard-monster-baby-booties

http://amigurumibyknotty.blogspot.com/2010/05/longneck-dinosaur.html

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/b13-25-frog

Teddy bears are made of marzipan (just mix almonds with powdered sugar and a bit of water). The teddy bear cake flavor is almonds with dark chocolate and cayenne pepper. It was a little hot, received very interesting comments related to the flavor – is it with alcohol?! is it amaretto? anyway, I’ll use less cayenne next time

Pink elephants are made out of home made fondant (melted marshmallows with powdered sugar and peppermint extract – tastes like bubble gum). The cake is made out of yogurt with heavy whipping cream, tart cherries with white chocolate and the cake batter was dark chocolate. The insides of the cake is with dots, as the cream fillings are layered concentric circles.

Green alligators are made out of Wilton fondant. The cake flavor was Kiwi Lime (kiwi and key lime peel and juice), yogurt and cream of course. The kiwi prevents gelatin from setting, so I will never mix kiwi fruit with any milk based product.

Till next time!

Wool

A winter project, but I am behind on posting…

Yarn: Fisherman’s wool brown

2.5 skeins = 1162.5 yards (1063.0m)

Hook: 4.5 mm

Pattern: Big Bow Cardigan from Interweave Crochet Winter 2008, size small

Buttons: coconut shells from JoAnns

There is a lot of crochet to be done for this pattern and very very repetitive, so you should be a quick crocheter to attempt it.

Crocheting through the back loops only creates a body hugging fabric, very elastic.

I did have to alter the pattern a lot with the yarn I used. Here are my notes from Ravelry:

lengthened front and back by 10 stitches.
Lengthened sleeves.
Left side: added more rows, should have made the collar too on the left.
Made smaller buttonholes.

I added length to the sleeves and bodice, and added many more rows plus additional bands of single crochet to the left and right front pieces so that they overlap in order to button them up, creating sort of a border after the buttonholes.

I also gave up on the big heavy bow and crocheted a high neck instead, simply find it more practical and less heavy.

Silk

Silk and wool keep you cool. They are all natural fibers, renewable, fast drying, moisture wicking. I enjoy sewing and wearing silk for summer, nothing compares to it, feels so airy and almost naked like. People worry about washing it, or are afraid of it thinking that it can only be dry cleaned. I prewash my fabric before cutting, so it handles great even after it is sewn together, a quick hand wash with hand soap and line dry does the trick. It is amazing how fast it dries. A great source for silk is online at the fashion fabrics club, really good deals.

Fabric: hammered silk charmeuse

Pattern: Burda 06/2009 model 123 with the 122 sleeves and no frills.

The blouse in the magazine has some great sewn beads around the collar and along the frills, but I could not get the frills to be as delicate. The pom poms are made out of fabric strips, wrapped around two round pieces of cardboard with a hole in the center, then cut in between the cardboard pieces and tied together through the center. I’m not going to write another tutorial for this, there are plenty online. Here is my favorite: http://techknitting.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-to-make-pom-poms.html Awesome blog by the way, the techknitting.

This magazine does have some other great patterns that I keep on my list of things to sew, like the 128 dress

the 102 top that I have sewn and love, that would look just as good as the 101 dress.

108 is also pretty nice as a top or a dress and I just have to match it with the right fabric.

113 is also on the list from a jersey I got a while back in Israel.

Plus, it has a shirt dress, from the cover and many great plus sizes patterns. Great Issue!

Do you sew from “old” magazines? I think Burda patterns are too classic to go out of style and use old issues all the time.

Before and After

Before and After

White Knit Vest, originally uploaded by fmirela.

This used to be the white pullover from Burda Magazine that turned too small after washing.

It was unraveled and re-knit based on a Romanian pattern from Lucru de Mana magazine.

This is the first time for me to knit lace patterns by hand, and I struggled with my combination knitting skills…with right and left decreases. of course.

I got it now and hope to never forget, is it like riding the bicycle?