A midi skirt and some taking care of that to-be-mended pile!

So... I've been up to some quite boring but rewarding sewing the last few days. Yesterday I finally dug into that pile of things that needs mending (like, let's see... um ALL my favorite pairs of jeans? Oh.)

Also I've been doing some sort of test garment, a skirt where I basically just wanted to see how these thick stretchy 70's fabrics work (they're horrible), test the right way to put in a hidden zipper, and test my rolled hemmer foot (I've been thinking that I really wanted one - turns out I have one, it came with the old sewing machine when I bought it, heh.)



The skirt is a midi skirt, like the ones in the August issue of British Vogue. I just love that we're moving towards a more elegant fashion. And midi skirts are so 40's style gorgeous!
 

Here's what they look like in Vogue: (Both pictures borrowed from British Vogue August 2011)





























And my version, which I actually really like now that it's done, looks like this:

 (I will need to get some lining for it, it's somewhat seethrough...)

And to get back to yesterdays work, here are some pics of what was mended. Sorry that I don't have any "before" pictures, but there was not really much to see with these ones anyway, just some basic mending...

 My old skinny party jean. Time in the pile: about three-four years... (Partly because I wouldn't have been able to button them anyway, but... you know.)

 Low waisted jeans where the 2 inch zipper had broke. I've been thinking about replacing it for a year, but been put off by the thought of trying to sew in something that small. Turns out I can get the pants on without the place for the zipper open, so I just sewed it shut by hand instead. Quite uncomfortable to get into, but looks great when they're finally on, lol!

 Stretchy top that had a hole in the front from when that sewn on ribbon broke. Has been in that state since 2007, took five minutes to mend. How I felt when I was done? Happy, but stupid!

 And another pair of jeans with a hole below the bum. These are my favorite 70's style jeans as well, so I'm really glad I fixed them! Both these rips (this one and the huge one on the glittery jean above) are mended by putting a piece of muslin underneath and just zigzaging a hundred times over both layers. Super simple!

Last piece this time - these wool shorts. The holes are still there, but the fabric is now zigzaged to the lining (the thread is exactly the same orange as the one in the shorts! Yay, lucky!) so hopefully it won't tear further...

Secret project done! (oh yes, already!)

...So, I've been hand sewing all day. Literally all day. But hey, it is a really good way to make me feel better! No machine to fight with (only the knitting yarn I sewed with, but anyway), and a calming feeling of actually really making something with just my own hands! Almost like meditation! ;)

Turns out my crazy project was a good idea! Here it is: (including my funny face while I'm trying to tell my boyfriend who is taking the photos what I don't want to look like in them...)

It's a sixties jacket! Made of fleece... At first I just planned on using it as a nice warm thing to lounge around in at home on cold days but now that it's finished I really like it and think I will wear it a lot more than that! It's a little big, but considering I'm planning to use this when winter comes too it might not be bad to be able to fit in a sweater underneath as well, even if this thing is incredibly warm and cosy!

I used this Simplicity 7256 from 1967, and cut the jacket pieces, with some minor modifications because of the fabric.

The pockets are more to the front on my version (not exactly deliberate, but I am so not taking it apart and redoing those now! Also I went for another buttoning solution:

I did a small strip of crochet to close the buttons with using the same yarn as I used for sewing the whole jacket together! And yes, the buttons are three different kinds. But they are cute, and I only had one of each... I think it goes with the rest of the quirkyness and wonkyness of the jacket! :)

New (and somewhat secret) project!

So... here's what I'm working on at the moment:

Yep, that's hand stitching. In purple knitting yarn. And the fabric is gray fleece. What on earth, you may think? Well, I'm not telling yet! Just that it will be a garment for the upper body, and that it's a total experiment! That's what happens when I get a bunch of fabrics that I'm not sure I even like: crazy idea time! Hopefully it will at least be useful now when autumn is well on its way...

I have some other major projects to start as well, but first I will need to make me some sort of do-it-yourself dress form. (I'm going for the duct tape one - wish me good luck!)

Also: 

Why on earth are the fabrics in your stash always five inches short of what is needed to make what you want to make with them? 

Pig in a poke... (I bought some fabrics)

So, I was comfort shopping for fabrics on Tradera... Someone was selling bags of unused "fabrics". The seller had pictures of the fabric piles in the auctions, but stated that the fabrics in the bags "might not be all of/exactly the ones in the picture". I thought, ok, there's four auctions, she must have split the fabric piles after taking the pics. Oh silly me.

I got the two bags for a fairly good price, picked them up, got back home and... wait what? One bag was ok, containing actual fabrics, of the same kind that she said there would be. None of them were the ones from the picture though. The other bag was a totally different story. What was supposed to be woven fabrics turned out to be 90% old curtains, tablecloths and Christmas-y stuff. Sure, made from woven fabrics, but almost nothing would work for sewing something else. Need I say that the picture on the auction was not of those fabrics? Sigh.

Anyway, I think I can use most of it anyway, even though I just added even more halfway-to-impossible fabrics to my stash (the exact opposite of my current plan, of course). I really feel like I got the pig in the poke. Guess it was about time to learn that lesson as well...

The pig:

 The fabrics I will keep...

Two sets of fleece that will make nice sweaters for winter - ok.

Classic striped knit - yay!

Weird green loose knit - cute, but what on earth am I going to do with it?

 Stretchy less heavy knits. Perfect for warmer tops. I like red, so I might feel less intimidated by the amount when they aren't in the same pile... but the green stripey one? Hm.

These three were the only usable fabrics off the 'woven fabric' pile. I love the striped multicolor linen and plan on making some of it into hippie pants that I can lounge around in! The light green patterned one is really thick and sturdy, and I feel some sort of fifties vibe from it. Don't know what to do with it though since it is super heavy... And jeans fabric works all the time so that's fairly good as well.

Here's the rest of the fabrics I can use for sewing, the three knits on top have a nice 80's feel to them, so hopefully I can make something fun from them... 

Then there's two shades of gray sweatshirt material, not much to say about that. There's a load of dark red heavy knit that seems to be the exact same as I have in a rtw sweater I bought last winter. Kinda dull, but maybe I can make something for someone else with it? 

In the bottom is an old bedspread. The fabric is great, (I'm thinking an autumn coat, looking a bit like the one in my inspiration collage below, Vogue Paris Original 1478) but the color is a bit blah. Maybe I'll try to dye it? (Will probably weigh 600 kilos when wet though so maybe not. Hm.

 All of this is the Christmas stuff... I'm keeping the good curtains and tablecloths, so it's not a total waste anyway.

 The big bunch of baby- and kids fabrics. I will sell these next time I put things up on Tradera myself. They are cute, but even if I had babies (which will most likely not happen soon anyway) these fabrics wouldn't be my style. Hopefully they can make someone else happy instead!

Last but not least there are three sets of curtains in this fabric. And some unused fabric of it. I can see that once upon a time it was probably not cheap , and it is cute - but oh, so not my style. Should I sell it? Should I keep it for sunnier days? Does someone want it? (A fine hint here for my mum, maybe? --> Mamma, gillar du/vill du ha gardinerna?)

Overall, I know I got some really good things - just not the ones I expected. So I guess I'm fairly happy anyway! The things I don't want I can always sell (but without pig-poking it, I don't work like that!).

Hope you all will have a sew great weekend!

My autumnwear dreams and plans!

The weather today is doing all it can to remind me that autumn is coming. Thunder and lightning really close, rain and hail hammering on the windows and a miserable 13°C outside. I've had three cups of tea and one cup of coffee so far. Although a bit depressing, I decided to start thinking about what to wear this autumn, and soon got super inspired! I've been trolling the vintage patterns wikia for a while now, saving and sorting pictures of patterns I love for the future. Some I hope to be able to draft, others to find and buy online, others again I have perfect substitute patterns for!

Also, having acquired the book 'Patternmaking for fashion design' by Helen Joseph-Armstrong, I think the drafting part soon will improve!

Anyway, I made some collages using pattern pictures that represent what I would love to wear this autumn. Hope they will inspire some of you blogreaders too!

I have combined vintage patterns from the late 1930's to early 1950's with some pattern sets from early 70's to early 80's, and I threw in a few early 90's patterns. I think the overall idea is pretty consistent though, despite the patterns being from very different time periods!

Obviously I don't imagine sewing all these things now/this year/in a foreseeable future, but I have some plans! First up will have to be something to wear to my friend M's wedding in September... As soon as I have a clear plan, I'll let you know!

And then suddenly - a dress!

...I think this can make me stop worrying about my sewing abilities.

The dress is made from a pattern I improvised together, and the fabrics are like I said in my last post two vintage bedsheets! I used the patterned fabric for the main bodice and outer layer skirt and the light green for the belt, bias binding and for the bottom layer skirt. The fabrics are so old and well used that they are super thin. This is very beautiful close up... and all but fun to work with, since it moved around and stretched very easily in all the wrong directions. Oh well! It fits a bit wonky in some places but generally I think it turned out really cute!

Vacation vintage finds!

So it turns out that being on vacation is not stopping me from starting new sewing projects! Mum and I have been doing some major house cleaning at mum and dads place for the last days, and I found this really cute old set of bedsheets in lovely greens. The fabrics are torn in a couple of places, but mostly still usable! Wohoo! But of course I didn't have any patterns here. After making a pattern, changing, making some other plans, doubting myself for a day and a half and so on (I think that 30's dress fabric disaster got to me) I dared cut the fabric. We'll see what happens next...

Also we found some things mum made when me and my brother and sister were kids that has been tucked away in some drawer for years. (What is it about 'good places' for stashing things? They really aren't good for very long, right?)

Mum gave me this knitted white cotton top! We also found a knitted 80's T-shirt which I really liked - and the pattern for it! I'm gonna keep the pattern, and make one for myself!

Also, I just love these old wooden floors in the house where I grew up. They've looked like this all my life.