A Dress? Yes!

Hello hello!

How is spring treating you where you live? In Finland we are having an unusually cold spring, but things are finally looking up!

This dress is actually perfect for colder weather as the fabric is a french terry, so it's a bit too warm for summer (I hope!). The pattern is #120 from Burda Style 12/2015. I made some changes: the pattern is  meant for wovens, but I used a stable knit, which worked great. I also skipped the decorative pockets and substituted them with in-seam pockets. Much easier! For the neck line I drafted a facing, which is basically a wide curved band.

This is actually my second version of this dress. I made a wearable muslin a couple of months ago, and it fit great. I only took out 1 cm  from the back piece at each armhole. I messed up the neck band a bit on that one, but I reeeeally don't want to unpick it. The first dress is very wearable, but because of the fabric, which has wide grey and white stripes, it looks like pajamas or like I belong in jail. So the dress sits firmly in the "only at home"-pile.

I have been having some serious WTF-fabric-moments lately. I have used fabrics that change the fit of previously well-fitting patterns for the worse and leave me questioning my ability to read and sew. This fabric was one of those. My first question as I was making this dress was why did I trace the pattern at one size smaller than I always use? I can't remember why I did this, but the first dress fitted, so I got away with it. That is, until my second dress. I really believe that the two fabrics I used aren't that much different, but apparently that difference was still too great. The second dress was too narrow across the front, if you know what I mean. The girls felt strangled. Luckily I had enough of a seam allowance to fix it, so disaster averted. Btw, unpicking a stretch stitch from jersey sucks, as I'm sure you all know. WTF-fabric-disaster avoided.

Now, let's talk about how I feel about this dress. I'm not a dress person. I wish I was, but wearing anything but skinny jeans requires effort on my part. I look longingly at all the fit and flare dresses that float around the internet and blogosphere, but I know I just wouldn't wear them on a daily basis. This dress is kind of a compromise. The a-line shape without a waist seam feels easy to wear. I have worn both of my dresses several times and I would like to make at least one more summer version. Perhaps with short sleeves and in a woven?

PS. I'm now on Instagram too (@nillapurplepleats)! Come say hi!

Spring Flowers

Hi everybody!

In case you found my previous grey pants too dreary for spring, I present to you take number two! These were made using the same pattern as the grey ones, Burdastyle 7/2010 #103.

This fabric is a thin denim and a bit more substantial than the grey twill I used for my first try at this pattern. I was concerned that a thicker fabric might leave the pants too tight, but that was not the case at all. In fact, after wearing and washing both pants a few times, I now took the legs in quite a bit. I hope that this will eliminate the sagging that occurres after wearing the pants for a few hours. They FEEL better (as in tighter) now, so fingers crossed!

I'm so happy to have a pant-TNT pattern. Since making these I've tried another Burdastyle pant pattern,  and they turned out okay. Though despite tweaking the front crotch curve I'm still not happy with it. Maybe a second try is the answer?

I promise I will stop sewing and blogging about pants eventually! Right now I'm making a dress,  so I'm not totally hopeless... Have you ever gotten obsessed with perfecting the fit of something?

Makers for Fashion Revolution Week

Hi everybody!

picture from inthefolds.com

Have you heard about Fashion Revolution Week? I hope you have! I'm taking part in a small way for the first time this year, so it's new to me too. What is this thing then? Fashion Revolution is, according to their website: 

"a global movement calling

for greater transparency, sustainability and ethics in the fashion industry.

We want to unite the fashion industry and ignite a revolution to radically change the way our clothes are sourced, produced and purchased, so that what the world wears has been made in a safe, clean and fair way.

Fashion Revolution Week is our #whomademyclothes campaign in April, which happens at the time of the Rana Plaza factory collapse, where 1,138 people were killed and many more injured on 24th April 2013.

We use this week to encourage millions of people to ask brands ‘Who made my clothes’ and demand greater transparency in the fashion supply chain."

This is such an important cause, but it's a difficult one. I have been actively aware of this issue for a couple of years now, but only recently have I been made aware of how all of this is important when making my own clothes too. The impact on the people and the environment is real when you are buying yarn and fabric too, not just clothes. 

What are Makers for Fashion Revolution then? Emily from In the Folds (@inthefolds) is hosting an Instagram photo challenge for the duration of Fashion Revolution Week, 24-30 April. She's doing so in the hope that this will spread the word about this important cause, and maybe encourage more people to take up sewing. By using #makersforfashrev, #FashRev and #whomademyclothes on Instagram we can all find each other. You can find me on Instagram @nillapurplepleats.

Is this an issue that is near and dear to your heart? Are you going to participate in Fashion Revolution Week?

Ps. I'm sorry about the different fonts and other inconsistencies, Blogger wouldn't play nice and kept changing them.

Grey for Spring

These pants may not seem particularly exciting, what with the grey color and all, but they are very special to me. These, my friends, are my first pair of skinny pants that fit!

The pattern is #103 from Burdastyle 7/2010. My game plan was to make a TNT out of this pattern, if at all possible, so I started out with a seam allowance of 2 cm all around so that I could let them out if needed.

Crotch curves are my enemy, but I think I did okay this time. Luckily the back curve was fine as drafted, so I only needed to tinker with the front. I also took the pants in quite a bit in the back leg from about mid thigh and down. The fabric is a cotton sateen that stretches out with wear, which of course annoys me. This is just a matter of fabric choice though. And it really catches the light and shows aaaaaall the wrinkles!

All in all I'm very pleased with these. I transferred all the fit changes to the pattern pieces for future pants, and I have already made a second pair. I find pants fitting very difficult, and it's quite challenging to figure out where to make changes. One thing that bugs me is the front rise, I cannot decide whether to take out a horizontal wedge in the front tapering to nothing at the side seam. Do you have any thoughts?

Like I said, I have already made a second pair using this pattern, so this is a win in my book! I had plans to make a third and a fourth pair, but I didn't have enough fabric. Damn you too narrow remnant pieces!

Are you taking part in the Tanks, Tops & Tees Knit Along hosted by Very Shannon? I am!  I'm looking forward to adding another top into rotation, since I like the first one I made so much.

Wickford Love

Hi!

This make is about as wintery as they get, and I apologize to all of you out there who are already basking in the spring sun, ready to forget winter was ever even here. Here in Finland though we still have snow and I'm wearing my recently finished cardigan every day for as long as I can.

This is the Wickford by Alison Green and for me it was love at first sight. Obviously it took me months to complete, especially since I knitted some socks in between bursts of sweater inspiration. The difficult thing is I really should start my knitted cardigans in the summer (or even spring!) to have them ready for when the sweater weather begins. But who has that kind of self discipline?

I knitted the smallest size with smaller needles than suggested, but it still turned out bigger than I anticipated. I omitted some of the cables for a more sleek silhouette, and now I think that that might have had something to do with it. I also now suspect that my gauge gets looser when I'm knitting a large piece while watching TV, which renders my swatch unreliable. These are all just speculations though, but too big sweaters are a reoccurring theme around here.

By the way, you can find me on Instagram now too, @nillapurplepleats!

Do your sweaters turn out the way you planned? What am I doing wrong?

My first Winter Skirt

Hi everybody!

I haven't felt this excited about a make in quite awhile. I'm actually not a skirt-person, which makes a successful skirt even more awesome!

This is #105 from Burdastyle 12/2016. The fabric is a wool blend that was on sale, so I couldn't resist. I have almost no experience sewing with plaid, but it wasn't as bad as I expected.

When tracing the pattern I added 12 cm to the length, you know, just in case the "mini" length ended up too mini. I machine basted the skirt together, tried it on and immediately chopped the extra 12 cm off. It was bad.

The fabric is thicker than I realized, so there are some bulk happening. My plan was to sew a warm skirt to lounge around in at home, but I'm not yet sure if this will fit the bill. After sewing on the lining, the waist is not as flexible and forgiving anymore, but time will tell if it's still comfortable enough for lounging around in.

I'm happy I reached my goal of finishing this skirt before it got too warm outside to wear it. What to sew next? I think I'll get back to my mission to create some pant-TNTs. It feels a bit like a chore, but I really shouldn't allow myself to get distracted just yet.

What are you guys up to?

Finally some sewing going on over here - or My New Pants

Hello all!

It feels like I haven't been doing a lot of sewing recently and it's probably true. Knitting has been matching my mood better than sewing this past summer and fall, which translates into quite a few unblogged knitted items, but not that many sewed ones. Luckily, I'm very happy with these pants!

My last fabric haul consisted almost exclusively of linen, which you might have already guessed if you have been following along with my most recent makes. (As a side note, when I first wrote this blog post, I hadn't stepped foot in a fabric store for months. Months! It felt really wrong. Luckily since that, I have rectified this wrong.) I've been re-organising my closet, which for probably the first time ever, resulted in some actual knowledge about what my closet is missing, which means I have sort of a plan as to what I'm going to sew this season. And I'm going to sew pants. And everyday relaxed dresses, but let's stick to pants for now.

I usually avoid sewing pants, because it's difficult and fitting is a nightmare. I'm a person that wears pants at least 90% of the time, so in the interest of sewing stuff I actually wear, I need to conquer my pants-sewing fears. I find the actual sewing to be okay, but it's the fitting that intimidates me.

I figured that what I need is a few pant-TNTs in different styles, so that when I find a lovely fabric all I need to do is sew, without all the fitting and pattern altering woes. And this my friends, is the first one. 

These are the Summer Pants from Burda Style 07/2012, #128. The loose fit and the fact that both crotch curves magically fit, made this an easy pattern to get started with. I also had a huge epiphany when I realised that Burda patterns, like this one, rise too high in the back for me, and by removing some height at the center back waist and tapering out to nothing at the side seams, make the pants fit so.much.better.

Other adjustments I made was to take in the side seams all the way and add pockets. Isn't the fastening cute? I was afraid that it would add bulk, but it's okay.

What do you think? Do you have any pant-TNTs?

Breaking My Knitting Habits

Hi you guys!

I have done it again - I made something I wasn't supposed to like, and I'm loving it!

This is the Midnight Tank by Carrie Bostick Hoge. The pattern is included in The Simple Pleasures Linen eBook, which was published in July 2016. The recommended yarn for this tank is Quince & Co. Kestrel, which is a 100% organic linen, which sounds amazing. I didn't have the patience though to wait until I got my hands on some, and since Sirdar Cotton Rich Aran was readily available at the time, I went with it instead. You know how it is sometimes (most of the time), you need to cast on NOW. Because instant love. The yarn is 60% cotton and 40% acrylic, and the recommended needle size is 5 mm. If I remember correctly, I used a smaller size needle and got gauge easily. It's been a while since I knitted it though, so I might remember it wrong. 40% acrylic sounds like a lot, but I don't think the yarn has an acrylic feel to it at all. 

So this knitting project had all the warning signs, but I went ahead with it anyway. Starting with the yarn: it has a high content of both cotton and acrylic, it's bulky, I bought it on a whim, and I usually hate this color. These are all reasons for me to stay away from a particular yarn.

And the pattern? I think I bought it the second I saw it, which I usually never do. I can't buy all the patterns I like, because then I would be drowning in them. This time I even bought the whole eBook instead of just one pattern, because I LOVE all the designs in it!

This pattern was an unlikely match though, for a number of reasons. I have stayed away from knitted tops, with no sleeves or short sleeves, and especially ones made from something other than wool. These are tops that are "supposed" to be worn in the warmer months, which I haven't been able to wrap my head around. Why would you want to wear anything knitted, woolen or otherwise, when you are sweating like crazy at the mere thought of it? But it turns out I'm wrong. I haven't considered knitted sleeveless (cotton) tops as layering pieces for the kind of in between weather that we get a lot of here in Finland, and I'm sure in other places too. So it turns out knitted tops from something other than wool are actually very versatile! To test my new theory, I'm at the moment knitting my third top. The second one is already in rotation, it just needs better pictures, before it gets to the blog.

To prove me triple-wrong, this top also has several design elements that I usually shy away from: bare shoulders, boat neck, any design element that emphasizes the shoulders, loose silhouette and bulky yarn. But I'm SO happy I was wrong!

So let's see if I get around to knitting any other designs from The Simpler Pleasures Linen eBook. I'm also dying to try knitting with linen! Have you been positively surprised recently? 

A Pink Creature

This is a very late birthday gift, but I think I can get away with it since the birthday girl is only two years old!

The company, PaaPii Design, is Finnish, and I love their concept: you can buy the finished product, or you can make the stuffed animal yourself!

This pink pony-like creature was easy to put together, and only demanded a small amount of hand stitching. And you don't have to be a good sewer to make one of these, as long as you know how to sew a straight line you'll be fine!

I'm not affiliated with this company, I'm just a happy customer.

Summer and Linen

I really can't come up with much to say about this skirt. It's red. It's linen. It's great.

The pattern is from Burda 09/2015 and this might become the first pattern ever that I make more than once. That is how much I like it.

All the wrinkles you can see came when taking these pictures, so yes, it is very much linen.

 I added the pockets, but they are a bit low, since I didn't want them to add bulk to the yoke.

Summer is gone now where I live, so it's time to dig out all the wool again. I'm trying to stay in denial for a little while longer though. How about you? Are you looking forward to sewing all the winter projects already, or are you still holding on to all things summer? 

The Surprisingly Awesome Skort

Hi you guys!

I have surprised myself.

I was never going to hop on the culottes-train, I have been a diehard skinny jeans fan since forever and I definitely hate the word 'skort'. Yet here I am, with a surprisingly awesome project that breaks all my rules.

These are the Pleated Culottes from Burda issue 04/2016 version #106B. (By the way, what are the definitions for culottes and skorts? Which are these? Or are they both...? Whatever, they are loose pants!) The fabric is from my stash, and I can't remember what it is, but I think it's either linen or a linen-blend. It is tightly woven and has some body as you can see from the front pleats. It is also wonderfully dog hair-repellent and doesn't even crease that much.

I also have some weird phobia of wearing pants without zip-flies. I don't know why I have felt kind of naked without them, but it doesn't bother me a bit with these pants. They have an invisible zipper in the side seam and it doesn't get much easier than that.

My favorite feature has to be the yoke. I find it both flattering and more comfortable than a narrow waistband, at least for me.

So now I obviously want to sew all the flowy shorts and culottes and skorts and whatnot. That means I get to do some fabric shopping with a purpose, which normally never happens. Normally I shop without any pattern in mind, picking fabric that catch my eye at the moment. I love my stash, but it doesn't include any bottom weight fabric, so apparently I'm better at picking out fabric for cute tops and dresses. I need to go as far back to fabric-shopping-basics as I can on this one.

Have you ever surprised yourself by liking something that you previously have avoided? Does anyone else have irrational fears concerning trousers and zipper placement? Please tell me I'm not the only one!

Almost The Last of Winter

Hi everybody, finally I have something sewn to show you! I've mostly been knitting this winter, and I still have some knitted and crocheted stuff to show you, but for now it just feels great to show you a completed sewn garment!

I've had mixed feelings about this project from the start. The pattern is #107 from Burda Style 12/2010, and it has been at the back of my mind pretty much since 2011. The fabric is some kind of stable knit and it has been living in my fabric stash for quite some time, until I finally combined it with this pattern. I feel kind of 'meh' about the fabric, I don't think it's the prettiest of fabrics, but it's warm and I'm really trying to use fabrics from my stash right now.

Like I said, I've had mixed feelings about this project. About midway through I couldn't understand why I had bought a fabric that felt so 'polyester-y', but now that it's finished I like the feel of the fabric again. The whole time I was making it I felt silly for taking on such a winter-y project this time of year and thought about abandoning ship the whole way through, but I still managed to finish it. Using up a big piece of thick fabric equals big hole in the fabric stash equals extra bonus points, right?

This cardigan was meant to be worn around the house all along, because like I said I'm not too fond of the fabric. The buttons are from my stash, and I can't decide if they are my favorite or least favorite part of the cardigan. My opinion changes every time I look at them! The pattern I obviously like, but I feel like Burda made it more complicated than it needed to be. Part of the instructions I could not figure out so I just winged it. My fabric didn't stretch enough, so I needed to cut new longer pieces for the hem and cuffs.

So how do I feel about the cardigan now that it's finished? I'm wearing it right now, so I'm counting it as a success after all!

How have you been feeling about your projects recently? Anyone else stumbling along now and then?

There are so many great link-ups happening right now in our wonderful sewing blog community! I'll be linking up with The Creative Counselor and Back2Basics 2016, allie J. and Social Sew#1: Spring Showers and GrayAllDay and Sew It Chic Monthly. See you guys there!