Patrones Pantalon Anudado - fail!

Oh, I liked them so much in the magazine... and they looked so easy to sew (got to love that), but no... not for me! The Pantalon Anudado, pattern no. 20 in issue no 291. Major fail when I tried to make them a couple of weeks ago.

See how nice they look in the magazine:

Cool, not too diapery, not too much fabric around the crotch. A nice and not too extreme take on the harem-pants, perfect for summer, right?

But sadly, oh no... they're not, don't be fooled! Or am I just a really bad seamstress? Could be. Not very used to using patterns other than my own, at least.

See? I really do look like I'm wearing a diaper. I think I chose the wrong material, I used a linen, I think it needs a much softer drape. Much, much softer...  They are lower in the waist than the original, because I didn't add the waistband before trying them on, and I folded the legs and didn't add cuffs, they're really as long as in the original. It's not all about the material though, even if I had used a different material they would have been wrong for me, in the picture I had pleated the waist about twice as much as indicated in the pattern (not really, but I added four or six extra darts). 

And I couldn't sew the legs as intended, or I did, but I simply couldn't even fit my feet through them unless I opened about 10cm's of the seams. How tiny feet do Spanish women have? And narrow calves? Or did I just not get the instructions? 

Makes me wonder about the size I chose, should I have choosen a larger size? I cut them in the smallest size, 40,  which I thought would be similar to my size, a european 34/36, UK 6, US 2 or XS. Does anyone have any experience in Patrone's sizing compared to apparel sizes (I still haven't quite sorted out the sizing used in sewing patterns).

I think one of the pattern-related problems may be that the crotch is straight, not curved, the material is to but cut on the fold so the whole front of the pant is just one piece, and the back another one. Easy to sew, but hard to fit!

Fortunately I wanted to make a wearable muslin first, so I didn't put much work in it and I still have quite a few metres left of the very much so not expensive linen I used. Which is fortunate, because I really like the colour. I should try washing some of it to see how it falls when all the starch is gone... (it must be starched).

I think I might try changing my old basic pant block into something similar but more 80's pant- and less harem-pant like instead. When I find the time that is...

Finally, if anyone's interested: the full instructions in typed text, for Google Translate. I didn't get far enough to use all of it, hopefully someone else will! I made it tiny to save space.

Aplicar fliselina en el revés de las cinturillas y en la mitad de los puños base, planchar. Coser entrepiernas y lados desde señal X. Hilvanar pliegues cintura pantalón. Doblar puños base derecho con derecho y coser extremos, girar puños y coser una tela de estos a las bases, según señal X formando abertura, entornar la tela opuesta de los puños, en el revés con un punto a mano. Unir la costura lado derecho de las cinturillas por separado, unirlas derecho con derecho y coser parte superior hasta lado izquierdo, girar y coser una tela de la cinturilla al pantalón abertura lado izquierdo. Aplicar la cremallera y entornar cinturilla. Unir las dos tiras para cinturón formando una sola, doblar derecho con derecho, cortar los extremos en diagonal y coser alredor dejando una abertura para girar, girar, entornar abertura y anudar delante.

Convertibles

I have this thing for convertible clothing at the moment (maybe it isn't me, maybe it's fashion? A year late?).

I've had my eye on the Donna Karan Cosy ever since immi posted a version of it over at Burdastyle. Such a great piece of clothing!
  
However, I've hesitated to make one, probably because I'm a fabric-hoarder and find it really hard to cut into my nice fabrics to experiment... and this cardigan needs a nice, thin fabric = extra hard to cut into. Even though you barely cut into it at all with this cardigan (the perfect piece of clothing to re-make later on!).

During my UK-visit a few weeks ago (did I tell you about that? I'm a bit hesitant to post my travelplans on the internet in advance, I'm a chicken, afraid of thieves... anyway, I had a great time!) , I  was fortunate enough to be able to visit Bicester Village, which is a designer outlet near London. I now have my own silk/cashmere DKNY cosy... it's luxurious! I'm a big fan of silk, and fine wool, so it's perfect for me. I love to touch it, wear it and sniff it (silk and wool both smell niiice). And it cost me the equivalent of any highstreet cardigan here in Stockholm, or well, nearly.

The picture on the left/above is DKNY's set of instructions on how to wear it. No. 2, 8 and 12 are my favourites. No. 10 and 11 don't work at all for me, I'm too short, and I have still to try no 4, 5 and 6 since you need a ring, like a bracelet, to make them. I'll get one, soon, or at least before autumn!

If any of you want to make a Cosy of your own, there's a great set of instructions at Sewstylish (is that a magazine?). I think I might make a simpler, off-white version for me, for summer (it tends to get chilly at night here). If I find the time that is. Maybe in August?

Recently McCalls promoted a two piece prom-dress with a sash that makes it possible to wear it several ways, a great idea, though probably not new. Very adaptable I think.

Another convertible dress, that has been popular at Burdastyle, is the Infinity Dress. I haven't made one yet, maybe that's the maxi-dress I need for my vacation in France later on this summer? Hm. Anyway, it's nice. There's a great tutorial on how to make one at rostitchery.

This white version is by rachelily, it's one of my favourites.

Also popular on Burdastyle and on the internet is American Apparel's Le Sac dress. There are loads of tutorials on Youtube on how to wear it in all kinds of ways. One tutorial on how to make it can be found on Crafster, and another one at Waking Up to a New Tomorrow: For a video-tutorial, go to I don't give a frock.

Image from American Apparel

For inspiration, and similar kinds of dresses, check out Please Dress Up. Thier summer 09-collection was called infinate possibilities, and is just that. And really pretty too. I so wish I could copy some of their styles!

Image from Please Dress Up

Complex Geometries also make quite a lot of convertible clothing, most of it a bit more avant garde, for example the sheet t. Cool.



Image from Complex Geometries

And then there's the Swacket... available at Harput's Own. Coolness as a jacket. Love.




Image from Harput's Own


And that's the end of the working week for me (I've finished off this post at work, since it's so much easier to type on my work computer than on my laptop at home, I should connect it to a keybord I guess...), one more week to go before it's time to go on vacation. Yey! Just one wek! Time to go home and cook the scallops and anglerfish I bought at the fish-shop-vacation-sale today (no worries, they are perfectly fresh, they just sold everything off before closing for summer!). Loads of patternmaking ahead of me this weekend, and I still need some new clothes for summer, so the Le Sac feels like a good option, we'll see...

Burdastyle Book!

Ehum, I'm a follower... I just had to join in the blogosphere chorus: I'm going to be in a book, whoopeee! It's quite exciting, and I'm quite nervous about pulling it all off (I will, but I want it to be perfect)

I will be making a version of a coat designed by Burdastyle, but it will be hard to tell it's based on the same coat pattern as the original, I'm changing it quite a lot. I also have to make instructions on how to make the changes. I'm possibly the most nervous about that, it's SO important that I make them easy enough to understand... but I think I'm mainly nervous as a way of building up energy to make it all fast enough (it must be done in three weeks, from recieveing the original pattern to shipping the finished piece off, and I will spend half of that time in France).

Anyway, it's very exciting, and it's also very excting to finally find out who some of the other participants are and what they are making. And apparently Burdastyle want more members to be a part of it so if you're not in it yet but would like to be, keep an eye on their blog.

And today I'm on the front page of Burdastyle! Or actually, not me (only a tiny picture of my torso), but my pattern in this, very nice version of my Cowl-dress that I uploaded the pattern for at Burdastyle.

I'm glad to see many members making it, and I'm usually very pleased with their versions. I actually often find them better than my own.

I'm also very glad to see the comments about the pattern, that they find it easy to make and figure flattering. Any pattern-makers wish come true!

Shiawase (happy heart)!

Sometimes I feel like I live a life of stepping on bananapeels that make me slip here and there, to good places. Such as joining a sewing-site and ending up as a part of their book! Then I remember that I do quite a load of hard work here and there. But still, I feel lucky!

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...

On grandma's garden quilts

I don't make quilts. In fact, I have this idea (that I really, really don't like) that quilting is for old ladies with cats (I garden, cook, watch documentaries on the telly and I love cats, who am I kidding, I'm not old but I am an old lady, only very unvoluntarily without a cat, due to lack of space).

Since I bought patterns from Vogue recently (that I have planned to show you all when I find the time!), I occasionally get newsletters from McCalls. Today I got one about quilt-patterns (initial reaction: boooring).

But oh, gosh, I'm in love....

It's called Grandmother's Flower Garden (no QS1551 if anyone's interested), which seems to be a classic theme for quilts, though most are not as lovely and arty as this one.

I'd love one in a summerhouse with light white linen curtains that flow in the breeze from the open windows... (how romantic would that be?).











As I googled grandma's flower garden-quilts I stumbled across this page, with artistic quilts.

They have a very modern approach to quilting, many use photographs that they manipulate heavily in Photoshop before transferring them to the material before quilting. And it seems like they use a lot of "freestyle" techniques. Quite interesting and very inspiring.

Just look at this dandelion-quilt! Image from here.

Or this one... summer! Childhood memories!

I can almost feel a warm summer breeze on my skin when I look at it.

Read more here.

Makes me totally want to take up making quilts...

These tea-cups are quite lovely too. I'd love something like this on my wall at home, it's so beautiful with all the different shades of blue.

Blogged here.

Or these lanterns. I love, love, love lanterns.. I used to have a red one just like these, that I bought in Japan. I wonder where it is now...

This quilt is blogged about here.

This lily is from an exhibition called Exteme Quilts. Blogged about here. Very elegant, I'd love to know how it's made. There is some info in the link above, but for a quilt novice like myself it's a bit like Greek...

 This quilt by Noriko Endo was Best in Show at something called Quilt National in 2007. It reminds me of the azalea-branch that has found its way into our magnolia at home...

I know I got stuck looking at pictures of Japanese quilts in someones open picasa-album from quilting exhibitions in Tokyo for hours a while ago, they were fascinatingly beautiful... (Noriko Endo is Japanese).

To return to the beginning, here's another quilt by Noriko Endo, a traditional grandother's garden-quilt. It won a honorable mention at an international quilt festival in houston, read more about it here.

















For some really awsome, inspiring quilts, both taditional in traditional style, traditional in modern style and some very un-traditional, google Tokyo International Quilt Show. Or just click here, I searched Flicker for you. Loads and loads of images... (once again: I love the internet!).

I should be retired! I'd be very busy making things if I was...!

Looking at quilts, admiring their beauty and the skill and labour needed to make them makes me wonder why they aren't more appreciated than they are. It's kind of typical that traditional "female" art is not regarded as "real" art. Really annoying if you ask me, it's a whole lot more difficult to paint with fabric than paint. I'm sure if men made quilts they would be considered an especially high form of art.

Some day the world might wake up and see some things a bit differently, with less prejudice... I hope!