Fabric Shopping and other things

It is my busy season as a relief teacher - winter brings sick children and teachers.  This year I have invested in the Flu jab and so far have avoided anything more serious than a sniffle.  I have been fortunate to spend time in the junior school this term and I love it.  This has come as a surprize as I previously only taught at the Senior end of primary school.  I am enjoying watching how excited children are about reading, maths, writing their stories.

As a result I have been a virtual sewer, reading all about others sewing through blogs and Stitchers Guild posts.  I have planned entire wardrobes in my mind and to accompany this I have bought fabric, notions, tools and a new toy.  My favourite store is the fabulous Global Fabrics now renamed The Fabric Store and I have been busy shopping up a storm.

Silk shot brocade - beautiful feel and lustre - not sure what to make with it but it was too nice to leave in the store.

Merino reversible knit for a Burda jacket and Dress

A luscious Silk Rayon Velvet to make a Ottobre tunic

 I have decided to try and spend at least 10 minutes a day in the sewing room no matter what in an attempt to get to and sew some of the wonderful fabric's, including this batch.  More later on how this goal is going.

Burda Sewalong

Burda knit coat all finished!

I am very pleased with how the coat looked after the bias silk chiffon strips were added.   I wore it out to a fundraiser for the St Peter's School Rowing Club.  The lace knit is wonderful to wear - light but warm.  I am looking forward to making some more tunics that co-ordinate with this coat.

Although I have only made this garment for the Burda Sewalong I enjoyed joining with all the other amazing people - it was a treat to read their journeys and see all the pictures on Pinterest. 

Thank you to the wonderful organisers,  Kat  and the curious kiwi, I look forward to the next one!!

Burda 128 - 1/2013

My first project for the Burda Sew Along is a waterfall coat from the January 2013 issue.

This issue has renewed my confidence in Burda.  As a long time customer and fan of the wonderful fit and style of Burda I struggled with the less is more and deconstructed fashions of late.  That fashion is not a flattering one for my body type and size.  This issue has lots of great styles and this coat is the first of many that I will make up.

128 Burda Plus Felted Wool Coat

This is the coat matched with this fabric - bought from the amazing Global Fabric's in Auckland.  It was pricey (35.00m or around about that) but worth it I think.  I also bought some silk paisley, silk velvet and merino to make a capsule which co-ordinate with the wool.

The best thing about this pattern is how wonderfully it is drafted - the dart makes all the difference removing some of the excess fabric that this type of garment can have.

Back Yoke

Lapel line dart

Pattern Sizing.

As I selected a knit fabric to make this, I decided to make size 48, which is a little smaller than my bust measurement but wanted a close fit.  Flat pattern measuring showed that there was enough ease for the look I wanted.

Did it look like the pattern photo /drawing envelope once you were done sewing with it?

Sort of  - because I made a smaller size it has a more fitting profile than in the picture, but that was the look I was going for.

Were the instructions easy to follow?

I read the instructions before cutting out but did my own thing! Which is why I now need to think of how to get the darts to sit the right way as the pattern is lined, and it would have been better to do a CB flat fell seam for the collar. 

What do you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

I love the way the pattern is cut with a dart at the lapel line, which means the collar falls beautifully.  The other plus of this pattern is the back yoke is cut on the front and helps form the collar.  The result of this is a more fitting garment – I like this style with the draped front but am not a fan of the loose look that can result with this style and this pattern is more fitted.

Fabric used?

A wool lace knit from Global Fabrics in Auckland, which is super soft and very warm to wear.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made?

No changes made – the pattern was made up as is.

Would you sew it again or recommend it to others?

Yes I plan to make this again – perhaps with a woven fabric this time.  I highly recommend this for a sleek chic garment.

Conclusion.

This is a very well designed pattern, which with the dart makes a very flattering coat.  I highly recommend this pattern and love the fact that it is in a range of plus sizes.

As I used a rather different fabric than that recommended I know have a dilemma about finishing the edge.  The fabric is very light weight and 'wafts' around which I do not want to destroy - I have been experimenting with overlocking the edge or edging with bias chiffon strip. I like the look of the chiffon strip but as the fabric right and wrong side shows I need to work through how to do this to the best advantage - suggestions are welcome.

Overlocked edge.

Edge folded over and stitched

Bias chiffon Strip

Burda Magazines and questions answered.

I thought I would start with answering the questions about my relationship with Burda patterns.

My wonderful mother used to make all her childrens clothes as was common at this time.  Money was tight so she often remade garments from handme downs and cast offs - at this time this was not chic and fashionable but rather a necessary part of survival!  When there was money available she would purchase fabric and reach for a Burda magazine and sew us beautiful dresses, trousers, shirts and tops.  My sisters and I spent hours pouring over the magazines, often handed on by our grandmother, dreaming of the outfits that might be created for us.  I fondly remember a bright red corduroy jacket and electric blue and red plaid bell bottoms with cuffs.  I was fortunate enough to have a pair of red patent lace ups given to me to wear with this outfit!  I thought I was the bees knees wearing this getup!  It was a sad day when the outfit  had to be passed down to the next sister.  I do not have any photos of this but here are two wonderful dresses that my mother made, I am wearing them to show off at Calf day.

Fast forward to the 1980's and I am sewing with Burda myself.  I still have a few of these magazines but they are very much of that time with big shoulder pads and dropped shoulders - I am not sure that they are really much use for anything but interest.

At this time Burda produced a variety of pattern magazines, Miss B had fashion for the young woman and was often very fashion forward - this was a fav from this time.  Sewing made Easy was also another favourite as each pattern was illustrated with step by step photos.  My sewing skills were greatly improved by these magazines and I still have a large number of them.

At present I have a large collection of Burda and as previously mentioned was gifted most issues from 2000 to 2010.  This is a great timewaster as I often spend time pouring through the magazines to find that perfect shirt or blouse, shades of my childhood!  I also have a large collection of Burda Plus magazines and have made numerous garments from these.  In addition I also have paper patterns which I have purchased when the thought of tracing the design was going to hinder the creative urge.

I have often thought that I needed to be more organised and file each magazines black outline section in a folder to make searching the right pattern easier but then...no that would destroy some of the process for me. 

Here is the latest tagging for this sewalong!!

Burda Sewalong in May

After completing a reasonably sucessful Winter (our summer) 6pac from Stitcher's Guild here.  I have joined the Burda Sewalong which is hosted by Kat and kaitui_kiwi.  These wonderful bloggers are kiwi's like me, although they live in the coolest city in New Zealand - Wellington.  I love to visit as my oldest daughter is finishing an architecture degree at Victoria Uni.  The hubby and I spend weekends there visiting the bookshops (Unity is a fav), eateries, Slowboat Records and the amazing Global Fabrics. One of the wonderful things about Wellington is the exciting creative scene and I now have an invitation to join Kat and kaitui_kiwi when I next visit.  Whoo hoo looking forward to talking to other sewing people face to face.

Check out the sewalong pinterest board. to check out all the exciting ideas and garments.  The bloglist of participants is here.

I was fortunate to be gifted with 10 years of Burda magazines from 2000 - 2010.  I have sewn a few garments from Burda and know what I need to do to make them fit well.  I shorten the bodice, back and sleeve, widen the sleeve to accomodate my bigger than German biceps.  Usually I make a size 48 for tops and dresses.  I tried Burda trousers without success but I might give them another go after this sewalong.  My first item to make in this sewalong is garments from January 2013 Burda Plus section.

I have not been a fan of recent Burda Style patterns - the garments often have a naive quality that make them look like something that was homemade but in a bad way IMHO.  This might suit some people but I just look like a backwoods Nancy in them.  I was very happy to see the selection in the plus section was more fitting and stylish.  I love the draped coat which is first on my list to make.

Rain at last...

We finally have rain and the grass can begin to grow again.  It has been a long hot drought and even our cows are glad to see the rain, running around like mad things in the rain. We are hoping that we will have some more warm weather before the frosts begin so the grass will put on some good growth.  We spent the morning out in the paddocks mushrooming, enjoying the rain and picking beautiful field mushrooms which seem to love a drought. Once home and dry, I peeled and fried these beauties for mushrooms on toast for lunch.

I have spent the rest of the day looking at sewing rooms on the net - I have a mess from sorting out the stash and notions.  The plan is to consolidate to one area (3 rooms at present) which will make everything easier to locate and use when I sew.  A favourite was Karen's Sewing Room from her blog Sew Many Ways. 

I love the way she has repurposed things to make such a wonderful room.  Unfortunately I do not have the space available but I got lots of good ideas from her posts about her room.  I have lots of handme down furniture which I now will set to and paint.  

At the same time I am destashing, as it has got out of hand.  I have found that it has become easier to get more fabric than search through all the bins if I want to sew.  I have put aside some pieces to offer as giveaways in the month of May -  so watch this space for some vintage, some famous (TV series) and just plain fabulous fabric.

Just a hint of what I have listed for sale.

New Beginnings...

Welcome back to me!  I cannot believe that it has been so long since my last post. 

In the last few months the entire North Island has been declared a drought zone, the drought has devasted the rural area that I live in.

What was once beautiful lush green hills and valleys has turned into a brown wasteland.  Farmers around here have struggled to feed the cows but have finally had rain in the past week.  Funnily enough Guy has been working in the Australian Desert at the same time and they have had so much rain (over 100mm) that the whole project had to be shut down for time and the drilling staff helocopted out.  

At the same time we have been busy reroofing the house and completing painting the house.  The hot and sunny weather has been perfect for this and we now have a beautiful weatherproof house.  It can rain as long as it likes now!!

I am more than ready to get back into the sewing room and I have a new baby to help me.  After a lot of comparison shopping I finally purchased a Bernina 780.

  
Bella,as she is called, is a dream to sew on.  I am working on learning how to use this amazing machine and have been going to classes at the wonderful Bernina Sewing Centre at Tauranga. Watch this space as I learn how to use Bella to create.