drape drape vol.2, no.14, gather drape skirt

First, a word of warning: if you decide to make this skirt, do check the size very carefully. It's very fitted, which it should be, but if your hips are 92cm's (like mine) and you decide to make it a size right in between M (88 cm hips) and M/L  (92cm hips) because that size has worked well for you with other patterns from the same book, then think again. Make a M/L.

I actually really like that the sizing of the patterns correspond exactily to the measurements in the size chart. Even though it meant I had to do quite a bit of extra work on it.

Correct size-tables are such a rare thing in the world of sewing (a fact I find incomprehensible).

I had to cut a new - quite big - backpiece because I simply didn't fit into it at first, and I didn't have enough material to make an entirely new skirt. Fortunately it worked quite well! I don't think anyone can tell.

Now that I've overcome that little problem, I love this skirt! It looks almost identical to the skirt in the book, it's really flattering to wear (believe me, I look really bad in some pencil skirts) and despite being narrow it's actually comfortable.

 Here's the original skirt in the book. The only real difference I can see is that it looks a bit more gathered at the hips. I did measure, it said gather to 20cm's, and I did, so it might be due to different weights of material.

And finally, the Acne Lanvin that it totally resembles. Fun. I live in the Acne capital of the world, people will believe I've copied them, but oh, no...

drape drape vol. 2, no.7, tuck drape dress

I can't decide on my feelings about this dress. I really like the drapes on the skirt-bit, but it feels a bit like a pajama with the very wide top-part. That might very well have to do with my choice of material though, which was quite unvoluntary as I had failed to see that it requires a 165 cm's wide fabric. The one I bought for it (a viscose jersey with thin stripes in two shades of red) was only 140cm's wide.

This was the only material in big enough a piece I had at home. I plan to dye it a dark grey or deep blue shade.

The sewing was rather straight forward, not too difficult, but I had to sew the side-seams twice for two reasons: it was way too wide for me at first, and I made the top fold the wrong way at first and ended up with a bit of a bag in the back of it. It was a bit lucky that I had to take it in, that meant I didn't have to unpick any seams to correct the back fold (I just cut it all off)!

There are only two pattern pieces, the sleeves, upper back an front piece are one piece, and the lower back is another.

I do plan to copy the draping on the skirt-bit. I've tried on fabulous Vivienne Westwood-dresses with a very similar drape all over them, I want one! I even bought one on sale that I returned, it wasn't perfect for me (a bit too wide, a bit too short and a nice but not very discreet = wearable pink colour) and still quite expensive, so I was sensible, cried a tear and parted with it...

Update: This is the dress as it looks in the book. I forgot to mention that I omitted the slits in the sleeves. I thought it might be a bit too flirtatious for me to be able to wear it at work, and cold in winter.

Odd. When I look at the pictures of my dress, I quite like that it's black and white and not darker. I may have to wait a bit and actually wear it a few times before dying it.

I'll keep you posted on that one!

drape drape vol. 2, no 4, drape top

This has to be one of my favourite t-shirts! It's SO comfortable, SO easy to sew, and SO not your standard t-shirt! It's the first project I made from my recent purchase, Japanese pattern-book  "drape drape 2".

Other reasons why it's fabulous: there is only one pattern piece, only three seams and you can fold it perfectly flat to store it, despite the drape on one side when worn.

I made one to try the pattern out (the solid grey one), wore it for two days in a stretch (which I normally wouldn't, but it's loose enough to stay fresh for quite a bit longer than normal t-shirts) and made a second one on the third day. Then I stopped myself for a while. Overdoing things is not good!

I can't promise I won't make more of it though! It takes about an hour and a half to make one, perfect.

The first version is made of a rather ordinary cotton jersey, a remnant that I like better and better the more I use it. I only have enough left for one more project now, I wish I had more of it. 

I made the second version in a striped Viscose/Lycra jersey that I bought specifically for this top (auch a rare occasion for me to buy a fabric for a specific garment and actually make it! I must do that more often), I wanted to see how the stripes would end up to get a better idea of how the pattern is constructed. And I thought id would look good (of course...). I made the neckline a bit less deep than in the original version since there's quite a high risk of my bra showing with the first one I made... I still love it. Comfy.

Both tops are made in a size in between M and M/L, which is where I am according the size-table in the book. Actually I'm a M up top and M/L at the bottom, and I'm a bit scared of too baggy clothes so I figured I'd make it a in-between size. It worked for jersey, more about that in a later post!

I'm really glad I bought this book, I've already made a few things from it so: more to follow! And I got a card-reader for the SDHD-card in my new camera that my computer refuses to read, so posting pictures is suddenly a whole lot easier!

I also had the ambition to photograph my clothes in the daylight, it failed, I might just have to accept the fact that I am a nocturnal creature...

Update: Here's what it looks like in the book. This original version is in silk.I think both cotton and viscose worked really well comparatively (especially regarding the fact that the's almost no silk jersey in the shops here, though I do love it).

Drape Drape vol. 2

I'm not sewing anything at the moment. Or, well, I'm sewing a lot, but no clothes, I'm working on transforming my paper tape dressform that I made last christmas to a pinnable, more correct version. It seems to work, but it's a heckload of work and it keeps me quite busy.

But when I found the second volume of Drape Drape on the internet last week, I just couldn't stop myself. Even though the only more complex thing (I also made a simple tank-top that I've actually used a lot) I made yet from volume one turned out tiiiny (I think the patterns are actually true to size, unlike most western patterns, I will give it another go). There are still a couple of dresses in it that I'd like to try, so I'll get back to it.

But volume two is just more... me! I got it from Pompadour24 at Etsy, I do recommend trying that out if you haven't already! It was way faster than Yesasia (that I used for volume one), and I like supporting small businesses (especially ones that enable me to buy Japanese fabrics, books and notions at the click of a button!).

I love the fact that when you open the book there's a picture almost identical to the cover picture, but the model has turned her head and looks at you. Very elegant.

And these dresses... simple with a twist. Just like it should be. And very wearable (the one on the right perhaps with a tanktop underneath. Or maybe just with a simple stitch in the middle front, to prevent indecent exposure).

This grey dress, I think, is the reason I had to buy the book. I'm guessing it will be one of the first ones I try out. The yellow blouse may be one of the last ones, not because it's not beautful (it is!) but because it seems like too much work. Later.

The T-shirt on the left might just be my first project though. And I really like both skirts, but the one on the right is fabulous. Very Acne Lanvin actually.

See? Sister-skirts. This Acne Lanvin is from the Spring 2010 collection, one of the ones I had saved in my inspiration-folder.
Funny coincidence!

Update: The "original" denim Acne/Lanvin is 6195 skr, that's about 830 US$, well worth the effort to make it oneself, in other words... :-)

And now I'm back to my dressform! Like I said it's hard work. And you get sticky fingers covered in felt. This is after a good soap-bath (I later discovered that cooking-oil is a super-efficient sprayglue remover).

This was the state of things this morning. The right hand side is almost finished. It looks a bit tattered because of the remains of sprayglue still on the surface, but I think I'll keep it like this. I like it that all my stitches are visable (very Edward Scissorhands), and to be honest, I can't be bothered making a cover for it. I want to make clothes again after this!

I plan on posting a tuorial for this after it's finished (I've tried pinning in it, I use it as a giant pin-cushion when I hand sew all the seams on it, and it works really well)!

Pleat/smock detail

Still at my parents place. Eager to sew something, I've finally relaxed from work, become creative (it happens, inevitably, after a week or so of holidays) and after a stressful and challenging project like the Burdastyle coat things feel more do-able than they usually do.

But since I'm not at home I won't start anything big (most of my fabric is in Stockholm).

A perfect time to do research and learn new things!

My mum bought a really nice new coat the other day (on the summer sale, though it's a winter coat... well, we're in the north here, winter is always present, if not in reality, then in the back of your head).

The coat is by Swedish designer Nygårds Anna.  Check out her clothes for a bit old fashioned (pre vintage) clothes with loads of nice details, always in "real" materials, linen, cotton, wool. Very nice!

I think the "braided" detail in front was quite clever, and very nice, and I just had to try making it. So here goes!

On a piece of wool (leftover from the Burdastyle coat actually, very convenient!) I marked four parallell lines, 3cm's apart (you can make the "braid" as wide as you want, but 4 lines is the minimum).

I then folded the material and stitched 0.75 cm's from the marked lines, on my machine (my mum's in truth, but they're almost the same) with this foot I could use the edge of the foot as a guide.

I then marked the edges of the folds, 3cm's apart, as a guide for the next step.

Finally I stitched loops around two lines at the time, using a button-hole-thread (thicker than normal thread, "Björntråd" in Swedish), alternating between line 1+2 and 3+4 and line 2+3.

The finished result! Quite nice, isn't it?

This swatch is made with a heavy weight wool, but I think it would work really well in thin cotton or linen too, with a more narrow spacing between the lines, and more narrow pleats.

In fact, I'm quite sure I've seen linen blouses with this kind of smock before, if I don't remember incorrectly. I might just have to try that out, maybe instead of ruffles on a JJ?

Update: And then I found this, also in my mum's closet. A knitted cardigan with exactily the same detail. 

Cool.