The perfect shrug?

Whoopee, I'm back blogging! Loooong time no see, I'm sorry I just disappeared but I got fed up with my old computer that 1. has a hard drive that is so stuffed that I need to delete something every time I want to add anything and 2. gets overheated and shuts down on a regular basis. Annoying!

Well. I'm glad I've got proof I don't over consume computers, and I've finally decided to switch to Apple. I'm a convert. This MAY be my last post on a PC (heheh). Can't wait.

I didn't stop sewing though, and now that daylight is back here in the northern hemisphere I can photograph my creations too, yippie (and I'm also less tired than in winter).

Here's my last creation, a simple shrug that is a copy of a shrug I got a big high street chain a few years ago. I think it's the perfect shrug, especially for home seamstresses; it's very easy to make, doesn't use a lot of fabric ans consists of one pattern piece only.

Add to that that it folds up perfectly flat, a big bonus for people like me who live in SMALL apartments, and great for traveling.

It also lends itself to a variety of different materials (as long as it's a knit) depending on which it may be the perfect piece to cover your shoulders at parties, or to avoid too much sun in the middle of summer. I'm also thinking of making it in a mohair knit (they tend to sell designer mohair knit remnants at my favourite fabric shop... yummy...)

I can write all that since I didn't make the design up myself ;-)

I made mine in a rather heavy cotton jersey, a genuine 1980's fabric that I got in the early 90's, left at my parents place when I moved out, and then forgot about. My mum gave it to me this easter and now it's actually back in fashion again! I love the colour and it's very comfortable to wear. The best thing? I've got a few meters of it.... I hope to make a shirt for summer too. I've got about four projects in the pipeline that I need to finish first, though..

Now, I've graded the pattern for size 32-44, and I would LOVE your help to try the pattern out!

If anyone is interested in using up one of their scraps (you need about 85cm of a 60cm wide jersey for a size 32 and about 120cm of a 80cm wide jersey for a size 44), please e-mail me on "karin.arver at gmail.com" and I’ll send you a PDF with the pattern (9 pages). Mine is a size 34, so I know that size 34 is correct, but if you're a size 34 and would like to try it I'll send it anyway, of course!

Cutting and sewing should take about an hour at the most since it’s so simple to make.

Fingers crossed a few of you want to try it out and that I graded it well!

I’m hoping to be able to post the pattern in a week or so, if it works for the testers.


Update: I don't need any more test-persons, I got feedback from several of those who tried the pattern out, thank you all so much! I got some great hints on things to improve/explain better.

For those of you who want the pattern; it will be published on Burdastyle on monday 11th July, simply download it from there. And please don't forget to upload pictures of your shrug and connect them to the pattern once you're done! Thank you!

I'm back, with a bunch of old dresses, yippie!

Sorry about the long absence, I kind of lost all sewing mojo, I've basically just kept draping fabrics all over myself trying to figure out what to make. Major uncapability in the decision-making-department.

I think that's usually a sign that you need a break, so when Midsummer (which is the summer-opposite, or equivalent if you like, of Christmas for us Scandinavians, one of our biggest public holidays) came up, with a three day weekend, me and my brother went up north to our family's summer house. I love it there! I'm back now, well rested and in all harmony. Hopefully I'm a bit more creative than during the last weeks too.

On the way back we visited my grandmother on my fathers's side (my grandmother on my mother's side died a bit over a year ago, btw, that's her red belt in almost all the following pictures).

She's very old now, I think she's 94, but still lives in her old apartment. She and my grandfather always had two apartments, next door, one - tiny one! - was my grandfather's office. My grandmother doesn't use it now and there are plans to clear it out. Consequence: I was allowed, or actually asked, to look in a chest with old clothes if there was anything I liked.

There was (of course, we're exactly the same size, and she was a very stylish lady when she was younger)!

Here are a couple of decades of dresses from my grandmother (note: they are all awfully creased. They've been tucked away in a chest for about 70 years and I couldn't wait to photograph them, I'll show them again in more detail when I've washed & ironed them!):

I am quite confident this dress is from the 1930's.The puffy sleeves and slim skirt seem like typical 30's.

The material is veeery sheer, I'm wearing my most skin-toned underwear, and you can still see the bra really well. I need a slip if I'm ever going to wear this in public!

The fabric around the neckline is shirred, and the whole dress seems to be crincled (I wonder if it was a dress for travelling, it's also very light weight). I can't really tell though, since all the dresses have been scrunched into little bundles and are about the most wrinky/creased clothes I've ever seen!

There are snap-buttons along one side-seam and little straps to fasten the bra-straps (?) next to the neckline. The material is probably a viscose or acetate (I must bring it to my favourite second-hand-store owned by a wise miliner-lady with an eye for old materials and ask what it is and how to care for it!).

I would guess this dress is from the 1940's? The skirt is a bit too narrow to be from the 1950's, I think.

I can picture my grandmother running around, chasing my father, dressed in it (he was born in 1945). She used to be a gymnast (she worked as a physiotherapist) and was quite a wild child. She later used to rescue both us kids and my grandfather by chasing us (kids, that is) around the house when we got too restless and noisy (she has 12 grandchildren, and about nine of us used to spend summer at their summer house, at the same time. At times too much for any grandparents in their 60's I think).

She was actually a member of the Swedish troops at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Her group didn't compete but did a gymnastics-show. She used to show us kids what Hitler looked like when we asked her to; angry face, two fingers held underneath the nose as a mustasche. Very amusing to little kids!

I had two much loved grandmothers!

Back to the dress! It's a very nice viscose with mother-of pearl-buttons in the shape of flowers, and much of it is hand-sewn. I'm a lucky girl!

Another viscose-dress. This one has a very silky feel to it, is a cream white with light blue dots with dark blue spots in them, covered buttons and bound button-holes. Like the previous one most of the seams are hand sewn.

The shoulder pads must have undergone some kind of transformation, they're very, ehum, compact. Like a bun on each shoulder (that's why I look a bit stiff in the pictures). I have to exchange them for something a bit more flexible!

I didn't think I would like the dropped waistline, but with a belt I do. It actually looks very ladylike, I think. Nice surprise!

Again, I think it's 1940's. The marked shoulders and not wide but not too narrow skirt seem kind of typical.

More 1940's! A red and white striped cotton dress with a pleated skirt and ric-rac details.

There are 4 pleats along the hem of the skirt (which, come to think of it, is an excellent way of temporarily adjusting the length of skirts. I must not forget).

The front of the bodice is cut on the bias, but I think it's only cut that way to add visual interest, to put the thin stripes on an angle.

Finally, a bonus skirt! You can't really tell (even though I tried to show the print in the picture), but the fabric has a really interesting print with photographs of sailboats, hula-girls and waterfalls (next to a spruce-forest, hm, how does that match the hula-girls?).

Could it be a souvenir-skirt?

Sadly it's just too narrow around the waist for me... and I don't think I can make it any larger without quite a load of changes. I think it's a really cool skirt, and would like to wear it (spoken by someone who normally prefers solids to patterns!).

Guess I'll have to start doing some serious sit-ups, hehe...

Puffy sleeve test-run tee (30's style)

I've been testing my new overlock-machine for nearly a week now, and after sewing a bunch of scraps I began to itch to make something real. So here it is, my first serged t-shirt. A proper trial and error-project!

I based it loosely on a short sleeved cardigan that I like a lot, but since I didn't use a pattern and really wasn't as careful as I usually am it was a pleasant surprise that it actually came out wearable! Though I'm not sure how long it will be, 90-needles are not good for thin jersey, as I learned the hard way; the flatlock-seams in the center front and center back are lined with little holes (apparently that's what happens when you use a too thick needle in an overlock).

Hopefully I can mend it if it becomes too bad...

Like I mentioned, I made a rough copy of the puffy sleeves on the cardigan above. I can really recommend those of you who like puffy sleeves to try the method used in that cardigan to keep the puff high enough. As you can see below, high puffs are not a problem in this t-shirt!

 There's a strip of elastic sewn into the sleeve, on the wrong side of the fabric, that ruffles it in the middle as well as on the sides (where all the ruffles would be normally).

It was very easy to sew, I simply pinned the elastic ends and middle to the sleeve cap and to the part of the sleeve that I wanted to ruffle and stretched it as I sewed a narrow zig-zag along the elastic on my "normal sewing machine (a Pfaff Select 3.0, you can see its top-feed-dog in the picture right behind the presser-foot, it's such a great feature!). It ruffled up nicely as I went.

I think that this elastic-method would be especially helpful in drapey fabrics, that may not have body enough to create a puff otherwise.

The sleeve from the front and side, and the sleeve-pattern. I shortened the sleeve (below the armpit that is) to about half of what's shown in the pattern, I liked it better that way.

I made pleats rather than ruffles around the sleeve-cap, like I learned to when I made a toile for a 1930's dress-pattern before christmas.

So, what seams did I try for this test-run-project (the purpose of which was to try out different kind of seams)? Well, I did pretty well with the overlock side-and shoulder-seams, not so good on the flatlock middle front and back-seams (the fat needle punched holes along it), the coverstitch hem could have been a bit more elastic and the rolled hem around the neckl-line is a bit too rough for this particular style, but all in all... I'm pleased! The machine (a Baby Lock Evolve) is a dream to work on, and really really easy to use, even to change between coverstitch and overlock-seams, and it's no hassle at all to re-thread it (which I did quite a bit to try out the different seams).

And how many threads do I use (you can use up to eight)? Well.... three. It's a magic number, right (it's not that I'm lazy)?

Twisted shoulder-dress

It's finally finished! I'm happy with it, but I think there are other styles that are more flattering on me. I need to accentuate my waist, and since I'm quite straight-lined, a straight-lined dress is probably not the best option...

Well. I like it the best from the front and from behind, so that's what you'll see (hehe). I love to be able to edit my life :-).

I like the way the twist on the shoulder turned out, but I had to wing it a bit. I forgot to make a pattern for the facing when I did alterations to the pattern (I should have made a facing-pattern from the start and transferred all changes to the facing-pattern as well as to the actual pattern, with a drape-detail like this it's almost impossible to base the facing on the actual pattern, as I learned...) so I made a bias-binding around the neck and the twisted sleeve-opening instead of a facing.

I also put the bias-strip in the wrong way all the way round... so I had to hand-sew it on the outside, I should have put it the other way around so that the hand-sewing ended up on the inside... that would have looked much nicer, and I accidently put the ends of it up on the shoulder rather than under the arm where I had planned to put it, so it doesn't look as neat as it should. But I learned from that too...

If I make another twisted-shoulder-top, I'll put twists on both shoulders, and place them further out (apart). I'll probably put a bit of a cowl-neck in between them too...

 

And I have to find a way to make my basic shift-dress-pattern more curve-inducing, hm, any hints and tips?

Today...

...I'm feeling bubbly... and cosy! A little like this:

There's hope in that picture, isn't it?

And I've decided to make Wallis Simpson my styleguide for a while. She  may be best known for having said "you can never be too rich or too thin".
I'm not sure I agree with that one, but she also said ”I'm not a beautiful woman. I'm nothing to look at, so the only thing I can do is dress better than anyone else".

And she did, with success. I admire her way of realising a problem (well, not being beautiful shouldn't be a problem, but I guess some things are easier if you are) finding a solution to it and using that solution to perfection.

Apparently she was regarded as one of the best dressed women in the world for over 40 years... an intelligent woman with loads of style. Here she is on her wedding day (in 1937). She was married to the Duke of Windsor, King Edward the 8th (who abdicated to be able to marry her).

I think she was pretty (she looks much better in other pictures, but her husband was gorgeous, and the KING of England! She was a divorced american...), I admire her strength, and I love her wedding-dress and sense of style... (oh how I love strong women!)

Mc Call 6520, vintage blouse (1946)

I thought I'd sew something quick and easy. This looks quite simple, doesn't it? Well... it was easy enough, but there are eight darts around the waist, and the necktie took some figuring out (although this was one of the apparently rare vintage patterns with good, illustrated instructions). So it took me a week (sewing jersey has spoilt me!).

These are all the pattern-pieces laid out on the material. I never use the pattern layout instruction, it's a puzzle, it's part of the fun! Plus, it's usually possible to save material by laying them out differently to the suggested way (maybe because I always use one of the smallest sizes).

I actually made it without copying the pattern first, which for me feels like cheating. But it was in good condition, so I decided it was ok.






















I think it really resembles the picture on the envelope! Although it shouldn't, this pattern (I remebered after cutting the material and sewing all the basic seams) is made for a 30" bust, I'm a 32,5"... I don't get it. It should be too small, and I actually think it's a bit too big! That's normal with modern patterns, but I thought they added a bit less ease before.

Note to self: always, always measure the pattern-pieces before sewing. And make plenty of toiles... (I didn't this time, I SO glad it fit me!).

The front is pleated beneath the yoke, and I've finally understood why you sew two parallell lines of gathering-thread... one should be on either side of the actual seam... you can tell that I put both in the seam-allowance, it looks more creased than gathered. I'll do better next time (I love to learn new things)!

You can also, kind of, see the shoulder pads (a first for me!). I think maybe they should be placed further out on the shoulder, I might try that. They had quite strong shoulders in the 1940's...

 

I like the cuffs... with vintage buttons from my stash.

And I like the material, a pure cotton remnant. I've bought 10 meters of it, so you'll be sure see more blue creations here in the future!

Vouge 1932, now that's a lady!

This is what I would like to look like... in an ideal world where you could ride your bicycle to work in any kind of clothes (I do love my little red 1951-bicycle!).

Maybe it would work for me as a jacket rather than a coat... I think my Marian Martin-pattern might work to create somethin similar, or at least as inspiration.

I would omit the fur on the sleeves, but the fur-collar is a great idea, don't you think?

I also really like the hat. Another hat that totally makes me want to wear hats is minnithemink's Lanvin bonnet. Only I almost always wear a bike-helmet (I wish they looked like hats instead!).

The image above is from 1932, and I found it at My Vintage Vogue.

I've been cleaning!

I've had this camisole/dress lying around for nearly a year... it's by the Swedish brand Whyred.

I love their designs, the founder of the company used to be a tailor and they always use detailing that make the clothes very special in a discreet way, but when I bought this one at a clearance sale I knew I would have to change it to want to wear it.

It was a good length to wear as a dress in summer, but just to see-through, and too long to wear as a top. And the neckline was oh-so-low.

And then I never got around to it. Until now! I intended to clean my flat a bit today (I hate cleaning, but I love it afterwards...) and found it, so I decided it was a good thing to fix (little steps towards a better organised home is my intention).

All I did was to shorten it, and to raise the neckline a bit by shortening the straps.

Sorry about the tired look in the pictures, I am a bit tired, first I went to a couple of lectures in the morning ( it's SATURDAY) and then I cycled all around the city (a couple of laps) buying flowers for my flat (november is so dark here you just have to brighten it up a bit!), japanese food-things (shiawase!) and researching sergers (why do all male sewing-machine-vendors claim that all machines but the ones they sell are useless crap? I don't get it...).

All in all a good day! With a bit of a too early start... (I will make up for it tomorrow).

Circle Scarf, with tutorial

So, I've finally made something! I got my invitation to join the wardrobe refashion-project today, so I had to celebrate it with something quick and easy!
This is the simplest thing possible to make, but I think I'll get good use out of it.
I've just got to wash it first, the jersey (that I got from my stash) bleeds black dye (as I discovered the hard way when I woke up the morning after the first time I wore a dress I made from it, only to discover that my once white sheets were a greyish puple hue where I had slept.... oh, such a not-nice awakening!).

I will not make that mistake again...

Here's how to make it:

Cut a piece of jersey about 60cm's wide and about 140cm's long, with the greatest direction of stretch across it (the little lines of the knit should run along its length).

I'm a size xs, if you're bigger than me you probably want to make it both a bit longer and a bit wider.

It should look something like this (but I forgot to photograph it before sewing, this is a smaller piece of fabric).

Now fold it in half like in the picture, align the two short ends - right sides facing - and sew along the edge(s) using a stitch for stretch, like a zig-zag, or an ovelock-stitch.

I still use my regular sewing machine (it has a couple of simple over-lock stitches) for knits, but ideally I would have used a serger for this. It's on my wishlist!

You usually don't need to finish the edges of jersey (I LOVE that!), but if you have a serger it might make a nice effect.

You end up with a circular scarf, like a big tube, that can be worn in a variety of ways, for inspiration look here.

For another tutorial on how to make the circle-scarf take a look here.

 I will probably wear it with black clothes most of the time, I like the effect it makes, where you can't really tell if it's a part of the dress/top or a separate piece of clothing...

Grey Cowl-neckline dress

I am addicted to fast sewing projects. They get in the way of the more slow ones, for good and bad...

This dress was a fast project that became a bit more slow than expected... first the sleeve openings became almost ruffled since the material (an organic cotton) is too loosely knitted for the seam (an ordinary twin-needle-seam).

That was such a sad sight that I didn't even think of bringing the camera out... so I ripped the seam (only made one of them) and gave the whole thing a rest for a couple of days.

After deciding to put elastic in the seam I took it up again, only to really really struggle with the seam, twin needles are an excellent tool when they work, but this time it was a nightmare... I had to begin sewing one of the seams over again three times, it kept looking like in the picture, and even broke a twin needle in the process. Not fun! But the sleeve-openings came out ok in the end.

Then I decided that I'll have to dye the dress, as much as I like the colour it is now, the material gets very dark marks if it gets wet. And I'm very good at splashing water on myself by mistake, not good. So it's not quite finished yet.

But other than that, I'm happy with it!

Next on the list is to decide if I want to make something from pattern magic or use one of my vintage patterns... hm...

(Afternoon) Tea Top, free sewing pattern download

This is a vintage-inspired top that I designed when I needed something to wear to go out. One of those moments when the closet suddenly seems very empty, even though you didn't get rid of any clothes. Strange...

I wanted it to be adaptable to more formal settings as well as to wild parties, and since I love to dance (and it can get rather warm on the dancefloor!) I wanted it sleeveless with bare shoulders. You can always wear a shrug to cover up a bit, right?

The first time I wore it was to afternoon tea at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm, thus the name.

It's a very easy to sew project, and since I uploaded it on Burdastyle in February this year it has been downloaded nearly 16 000 times (I'm amazed and a bit frightened by it!)

Take a look at some of the other finished versions! Here's another one of mine, in a cotton gingham.

To download the pattern + instructions (the pattern is a size XS = european sz 34 = Burda 36 = UK 6/8) click: DOWNLOAD FILE 


You will be redirected to a link, click the link and a PDF with the instructions + pattern will open in the browser.

I've also made a how-to with instructions for the pleated trim here.

My own Prada dance-dress

Ok, it’s not Prada. But the material is (from my material-heaven where they sell designer remnants).
I based it on my cowl-neckline-top/dress-pattern but changed the sleeve-openings to cap-sleeves, instructions and the original pattern are posted and can be downloaded for free on Burdastyle (here).

I call it my dance dress because the first time I wore it was to my friend’s birthday-party with african dancing-dance-teachers (we danced all night, it was great!) and the second time was to a Röyksopp concert (accompanied by Robyn and the singer in the Knife. OK, these are all scandinavian musicians so you mightn’t know them but it’s all great dance/club-music) followed by clubbing at my friend’s club. So it’s well danced after only two nights out.

Röyksopp and Robyn rocking it in The Girl and the Robot, it was great! I used camera-phone that's old and not very good to photograph, so I'm surprised (and glad) that the picture turned out ok. Funny detail, in the video I linked to Robyn is wearing a dress that's very similar to mine... she's got style ;-)!

However, I don’t recommend making dancing-dresses in 100% wool. Steaming. I guess I’m going to have to make another one in cotton…





Dance away!