Not quite

Not quite fitting in the Sew Cinematic Challenge, that is.

In fact, I rarely take part in any of the sewing challenges you find all across the internet. Not because I think they're a bad idea, oh no. It's more because I'm the type of person who somehow tends to loose all inspiration for a topic once I've joined a 'challenge' about it. Somehow, commiting, no matter how voluntarily, to a set of rules or a goal set by someone else makes sewing, within those rules or to fulfill that purpose, a chore. (somehow, challenging myself seems to be a completely different matter, but hey, I didn't claim to be a creature of logic, did I?)

So, I'm not doing it but I can always admire the work of those who are inspired by those challenges.

When I read about this challenge, I liked it but, given that I'm not much of a film-buff, I could only really think of Mad Men outfits. And as far as body types go, I guess I ought to be in Betty territory (not that I want to be. Betty can be pretty childish and at times annoying. No vixen and queen bee of the work floor like Joan, no up-and-coming girl of the new generation like Peggy...) but her style can be quite ehm... frilly?

The one thing I thought about immediately was her riding outfit. And I didn't think anyone else would. Turns out I was wrong. Debi has actually made a great outfit inspired by Betty's riding gear. In fact, she mentioned all kinds of interesting details about the blouses worn with it which I didn't even notice.

I just thought of it because of the tailored tweed-like jackets. And b

ecause I seemed to remember that she wore trousers in the very colour I was working with (in fact, Betty doesn't. Hers are dark green, my trousers sort of match her friend's). So, here is my not that intentional and certainly not flawless interpretation:

New trousers from the same pattern as before, this time in a olive/mustard coloured cotton twill. This fabric is both lighter in colour and less drapey that the woolblend I used before, so it tends to show and folds and creases much more clearly. And you know, I have to, eh, be able to move?

The jacket and blouse are both things I've made years ago, also from patterns I've drafted myself. The scarf is vintage, and to be honest, I never wear it although seeing it like this makes me wonder...

On second thought...

Thank you all for weighing in on the topic of capes. However... I'm not going to make one right now. I might be able to change that little cape/jacket thing to work for me, but to be honest I'm just not that thrilled about it.

Rationally, it is a really good plan to make another piece of outerwear for this intermediate kind of season. On the other hand, I don't really miss an item like that in my wardrobe as it is. Add to that: I'm busy, so I want my sewing to be fun and relaxing. And at this moment, designing, drafting and sewing a cape is not.

Yesterday evening, I cut out the fabric for another pair of high waisted, fitted trousers. These will be in cotton twill with a little bit of stretch in a really nice colour which something between mustard and olive. I'd like to get started on sewing them, but I don't have thread in the right colour... Hopefully I'll have time to go out and buy some tomorrow.

Other than that... Well, spring is upon us, isn't it? I never got the hang of sewing ahead of the seasons, but now, I've seen enough sunshine to want to indulge in making colourful things for warmer weather. I bet I'm not the only one who's thinking of dresses.

Even ever-sophisticated British Vogue was commenting on this trend in the March issue (I rarely buy glossy magazines, just the occasional 'collections special'): the shirtwaister.

They seem to suggest there's some major difference between a 'shirtdress' and a 'shirtwaister'. I may be showing myself here as someone who isn't a native speaker, but... eh... that one escapes me. Vogue itself, quite helpfully, doesn' elaborate on that point.

Anyway, I love shirtdresses, especially those with big, full skirts. I've drafted several myself and I now have a number for vintage patterns for them as well.

Shirtdresses are the kind of dresses you can wear almost anywhere and for any occasion without looking under- or overdressed. With variations on collars and sleeves, they can be made to flatter a whole range of figures.

The changing tides of mainstream fashion couldn't stop me from making at least one more this spring, but it is a happy coincidence that it has, in fact, turned my way.

I don't plan on replicating any of these looks, but there is definately inspiration here. How cool is that black dress on the right, with the wide band of bright red at the hem? I'm not even sure that really qualifies as colour blocking but it's a great way to spice up an otherwise 'safe' choice. Oh, and really like that mustard coloured one, top row, second from the right. It's completely shaped with tucks and pleats in what looks like a crisp cotton. I'm always a bit hesitant about tucks but this looks really flattering. And, as you know, I love that colour.

This is hardly a proper 'what I plan to sew for spring' post, but you know I'm more of a spur-of-the-moment kind of planner. I will be back later to consider issue of dresses for spring more seriously.

Do you have any specific sewing plans for the new season?

Cape muslin

Like many of you suggested, I decided to go with the short cape with sleeves. But, since this little book is new to me and I still wasn't entirely sure about the look, I decided to make a muslin first.

First of all, the instructions in the book are decidedly sketchy. Of course, I don't have the slopers it used to come with, but still...

It doesn't mention how deep the cut between sleeve and body should be, or at what angle to the straight grain or what distance to the original under-arm point it should be made. Either of which would have been very helpful to get the right placement. It only tells you that the sleeve hem is 21 cm wide on each pattern piece... And it does mention shoulder/sleeve length but not the length of the body of the cape.

If my theory is correct and this method of pattern buying/making never really took off, they didn't just have affordable patterns from the likes of Marion to blame for it...

Also, the text about what looks, at first glance like sleeves is not entirely clear either. They mention a slit between body and sleeve but don't really go on about the sleeves themselves.

And on closer inspection of the pictures, I noticed this:

Edges at those 'sleeve-slits'. Do they mean they're not sewn together? Or only at the very tip? That sort of defeats the purpose of including something sleeve-like, doesn't it?

I did stitch the slits on my muslin as sleeves. On one side, I also added a sort of underarm gore: a strip of fabric 5 cm wide between the front and back of the cape. At the other side, I just sewed front and back together.

Even when posing like the lady in the drawing, I fortunately don't look like I don't have shoulders at all.

The fabric I used for the muslin is a bit stiff, so I expect the cape to drape more gently when made up in an actual fashion fabric.

Oh, and the fabric tends to stick to the fabric of my jumpsuit, which makes the 'normal view particularly un-appealing.

In these pictures from the side, you can more or less see what I'm talking about with that underarm gore. Basically, it allows that half-sleeve thing to function like a real sleeve.

with:

without:

I'm still not sure about this thing though. It is more like a little jacket than like a cape and I don't know about its dimensions. It might be better if I made it a little longer...

Thrifty, practical sewing

Do you sew practical clothes or this which are fun/challenging to make?

I think most of us do a bit of both. In fact, I'm spending way to much time thinking about what to make lately, which usually means I should just jump into a new project and not worry about its practicality. It's hardly like I won't have anything to wear if I don't sew a pair of black trousers right now...

Sometimes one has to be practical though. Especially if it actually requires fairly little effort. And resques a well-loved item of clothing.

Resques? Yes. Like many other people who sew, I usually prefer to make something new rather than mend. But that is a bit of a waste, so, once in a while I do it anyway.

This time it was this shirt. It's vintage, I don't really know how old. It's a simple thing and I bought it very cheaply but it's 100% silk which makes it really nice to wear. But, recently, it developed a tear in the fabric just under the left sleeve. I think the fabric had just become too thin there because the shirt was so wide on me that I doubt I even put stress on that area.

Because it was so wide to begin with, I could do this. However, I couldn't just take the thing in normally at the side seam because the tear went on for about 7 cm into the front piece.

So, I improvised and moved the side seam towards the front. So, I kept the full width at the back but cut off the entire damaged area (and the corresponding bit at the other side) at the front.

It hangs better on me than on the dummy and I think I like this look better (even though arm movement is a little more confined)

P.S. Several asked about the skirt shown in the blue cardigan post. Of course I made that too, it was over a year ago and I blogged about it here.

Cover up

Can I ask you something?

What do you think of capes?

I'm having some trouble deciding what to make this week. Dutch spring weather is unreliable at the best of times. We've had some nice days but today, it was gray and cold-ish once more... And there's no telling what next week or even next month will be like. Of course, I don't have to be able to wear anything I make straight away, but still, I like to.

It made me think I could use another light jacket for the slightly warmer in-between weather. So far, I have a tweed blazer and the leather and wool jacket I made last year. Those are both fitted, so I'd like a different kind of shape. Which brings me to the question posed above...

Mind you, I have owned a cape before. It was black, almost floor length and made of crushed velvet. In my goth days, I loved it but now, I'm thinking about something different altogether.

A cute little one, in colour. More like something Joan or Peggy would wear.

And, luckily, I recently bought this:

This is booklet number 5 (I found 1 through 6) of an 'easy drafting' series from the 1960's. The fact that they're numbered suggests that no. 1 really was the first issue and 'everything so far' is listed in no. 6 which sort of suggests that this was a short-lived experiment. The subscribtion used to come with a set of sized slopers which, obviously, wasn't sold alongside these booklets (I saw a set of sized slopers for sale recently but those were from a later date and produced by a different company. So, I didn't think they'd be a match and didn't bid). That is a shame but I think I can work around that and just use my own slopers.

In booklet no.5 there's this darling little cape:

I'm thinking about making a hybrid of the versions shown: I rather like the wide neckline but would prefer my buttons at the front. I could use that warmly coloured plaid wool I bought recently...

Or, I could look one page further, at this very cute cape/jacket cross-over:

I'm not sure about those pockets but having sleeves, no matter how short and wide, could make this a little more practical.

I guess there are two real questions here:

1. No matter how cute or period-accurate these two capes are, aren't they just a bit too costume-y for 2012?

And 2. Are capes ever any use in real life? I know they won't exactly keep me warm while cycling, but in order to be any good to me, they'd at least have to do a half-way decent job when I'm walking around outside.

Oh, and a non-official question no. 3: which one do you like best?

Blue like the sky on a clear morning

That's what I keep thinking when looking at this fabric. And, quite appropriately, we've had some very nice clear mornings, followed by dreary, cloudy, rainy afternoons this week. So, perfect time to introduce an easy, throw-over kind of cardi in this great colour into my wardrobe.

It wasn't warmly received in my previous post and I get that. A blocky top. Don't the pattern companies throw enough sack patterns our way already? Well, I guess they do. As you know, I'm no expert.

However, I do know that with loosely fitted garments, it's all about amount and proportion. You need to find the perfect balance between free-flowing fabric and showing some of the body underneath. It can be hit-and-miss, but it's quite do-able in a drapey knit.

This particular fabric is fairly thick but has a nice hand.

I designed it to be worn either loose or belted (although belts are always tricky for me. I love them on already fitted dresses, but I'm always hesitant about the cinched-with-a-belt look) and there are no closures. I think I may have to buy something like a little brooch, because I do like having the option of closing it in different places without having buttons or snaps on display when I wear it some other way.

I like how the proportions of this thing lend themselves to different, sometimes vaguely vintage-y looks.

Near Japanese minimalism?

Boxy 60's jacket?

50's leisure-wear?

This one is a bit frumpy to me, but somewhere half-way through the 20th century, mademoiselle might have approved...

P.S. Carolyn recently posted about how annoying the word-recognition gizmo can be, and how it discourages her from commenting. As an experiment, I've just turned mine off. Obviously, I hope to encourage commenting here. I'll wait and see if the spam-bots find me again.

Also, my email adress is now in the sidebar.

Work in progress

This is what I'm making from the blue knit I showed you earlier: a very simple, quite literally T-shaped, cardigan.

It is the shape I first made for my colour block top, almost a year ago. For this incarnation, I made the body 1 cm wider (it's more of a layering piece, after all) and lenghtened the sleeves. And obviously, I made it with a basic round neckline and an open front which extends 2 cm past the center front line.

Everything has been sewn together, the only thing left to do is to hem the sleeves and to tack down the neckline facing at the shoulder seams. I do the hemming on this by hand because I like the 'no topstitching' look. It's nice but it takes more time...

I think I'll be able to finish it tonight but I won't get to take pictures of me wearing it until Thursday.