Deep Purple Drape and Floral Skirt

Deep Purple Drape and Floral Skirt, originally uploaded by fmirela.

Blouse Fabric: Rayon Jersey
Blouse Pattern: Burda WOF Magazine 10/1998

The same pattern all over again… for the drape neckline top. I’ve also sewn this pattern recently in a jersey wool, green and the gray one awaits hems.

Skirt Fabric: Cotton poplin with cross grain stretch with floral pattern from JoAnns
Pattern: Burda WOF Magazine 02/2008

I simplified the skirt pattern by removing the waist bands. Nice pattern for a simple pencil skirt.

I added lace under the hem line and hand stitched the hem.

I also added a ribbon (folded over the raw edge) for the front and back facings.

I used an invisible zipper on the side.

I turned the overlocked edges of the side seams towards the inside and sewn over.

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.

White Wrap Shirt

White Shirt, originally uploaded by fmirela.

Pattern: Burda 02/2009

The exclusive design from Tristano Onofri
Fabric: sheer cotton/poly

This is a sheer paisley fabric, so I underlined the front wrapped pieces with the same fabric.

The blouse has a side invisible zipper and a false ribbon bow.

The back neckline and the sleeves’ hem are gathered by sewing with elastic thread in the lower bobbin, using a longer stitch step (4mm). Sew two double parallel lines with the elastic about 5mm apart, then pull on the elastic ends to achieve the desired gathering length and securely tie the elastic and the thread in a few knots.
I like to wear this with an embroidered cami underneath, not only because of the sheerness of the fabric, but also because the wrap is very revealing especially when I move…I love the look of wrap blouses and dresses, but one would need to really fill them so they would stay close to the body…me…I get a cami.

Burda Modemagazine

for Mirela, originally uploaded by sardana_designs.

This is the monthly BurdaStyle page for September 2008 in the German edition of Burda World of Fashion magazine. Thanks BurdaStyle!!!

I’m really happy to be in there, since it is my favorite patterns magazine that I’ve been using since the ’90s.
I am very thankful to my mom teaching me sewing and to my husband Marius for all the time and talent he puts in taking my pictures. So glad to have Melissa right there next to me, my long time online seamstress friend. She is now collaborating on the Sewing Universe News Feed blog column for BurdaStyle.
Thanks sardana_designs (follow the link and see amazing traditional embroidery and beading designs) for the scanned page and to everyone for all the kind words!

Stripes Dress

Stripes Dress, originally uploaded by fmirela.

This stripy fabric is from JoAnns but actually made in India. They carried a series of really nice Indian fabrics and I stocked up on a few. I’m not a crazy fan of yellow (for clothes for me I mean…), but started to like it a lot more lately. I don’t have a favorite color, I just have phases, this is my yellow phase. What got me to change my mind about this color?

This pretty bird I found outside the office building after a crazy storm two weeks ago. My efforts for finding its owner did not pay off, so I named it Sunny, got a bird house and it has been staying with me and Marius since. Healthy and eating, but still sad I think…it takes some time to get used to a new environment, plus I think it is a she, very quite during the day and doesn’t care for its mirror reflection…I wish I had found the owner, maybe she had a soul mate and misses him…On the other hand I wish it was a boy birdie so I could teach him to whistle and talk. I have a pretty Tookie cockatiel back in Romania, he is approximately 9 years old now
…Back to the dress…
The pattern is based on model number 132 from Burda WOF isue 03/2005. My friend Alina stopped by one day and brought this stripes fabric and a top she liked from the store. It was supposed to be a very simple pattern with the top part as a false wrap. We tried to find a similar pattern and from the magazines I have here this was the closest. We’ve made it sleeveless and took it in about a cm in the center front and back. The original pattern is also a real wrap dress, but we copied the pattern only til the center line and made it symmetrical. Most of the work had to be done at the cleavage as Burda patterns always seem to be cut too deep. I’m not thrilled with the fit under the bust but its ok…not perfect, but I guess only us seamstresses notice stuff like this…so it will do.
We didn’t find the time to get to sewing Alina’s top, but it gave me an idea of what to do with my yellow stripes that I forgot what I got them for initially. There was quite a lot of fabric, I couldn’t choose whether to do a top or a dress, so I’ve made both.

I added an invisible zipper on the left side, from under the sleeve down. The edges at the neckline and sleeves are finished with a satin ribbon on the underside. I sewed the ribbon on the edge of the fabric, doing the armholes after sewing the shoulder seam and before sewing the underarm seam. I placed the ribbon wrong side over the right side of the fabric, over the raw edge, sewed a straight line at the edge of the ribbon, then turned it to the underside and topstitched from the front side. I did the same with the neckline. A bias tape would have been better the a satin ribbon, it molds better to the curved seams.

Keep yourself inspired

…and organized!

Since I subscribe to Burda magazine, I like to save all Burda World Of Fashion photos and technical drawings from their site, where they have an archive dating back to 2004. I keep these files organized under folders having the same name as the magazine Burda 09.2008 on my local drive and find it really easy to browse through them using Picasa. Free download: http://picasa.google.com/

For all those other patterns that are not available online, you can scan the center pages with the summary technical drawings.

I do the same with the BurdaStyle patterns: download patterns, save the photos from the creations on the local drive under folders having the pattern name and the type of pattern: dress, shirt, pants, etc. Dress Shari i.e.

Browse through these images with Picasa, then right click on the desired pattern and say “Locate on disk” -> that is where I will find the printable version right at my finger tips.

Here are the tips on printing BurdaStyle patterns: at home or at copy shop.

I’ve also created an album inside Picasa where I copy all patterns that I plan on sewing.

I might also take pictures of all the fabrics in my stash and try to see if I can associate them with the desired patterns. I could be a simple and quick way to stay organized and on track with the sewing plans.

Inspiration one click away!

I try to keep all the magazines sorted by year and month. Did I post about this already?…oh well…

This way it is easy to get to the magazine and I don’t have to get all those heavy magazines out and spread them around the room whenever I choose the next project.

A lot of new downloadable free patterns are posted on the German Burda site:

http://www.burdafashion.com/de/DOWNLOAD/Free/1333669-1413206.html

seems that there are more then in the English version and you can choose the language at download time for some of them. There are also some cool knit patterns!

Seems that there is yet another crafting community out there at JoAnns: http://community.joann.com free to join, forum, project uploads..etc…

Blue

Blue, originally uploaded by fmirela.

From the pages of my favorite magazine to reality!
Burda WOF issue 04/2005. Some patterns are simply timeless.

I have sewn this pattern before and loved it, so I wrote a how to and will definitely reuse it again and again in different prints and colors. Although a plain color will accentuate the cut better, it works well with a print too. I can also picture it with a different color for the sleeves and lower front.

It is easier to make but looks sophisticated with the twist in the front and underlines the bust, fits beautifully and is very comfortable sewn in jersey. Can be made with or without sleeves and the back can have a V neckline just like in the front.