Burdastyle magazine 10-2010-102 Archives

a bit of re-colouration

11/08/2015 7:20 am \ 27 Comments \ Carolyn

I’ve just been updating a few bits and bobs in my wardrobe…
when I get bored or dissatisfied with a particular item but it’s still in perfectly good nick or I still kinda like it because of a good shape/style or I put a dangload of effort into finishing it off particularly well or whatever; I will not toss it out. Instead I ‘avvago at re-vamping it somehow.
And this often includes dragging out ye olde dyepot and potions, aka dyes, eeeeeeeEEE heheheheheheheeeeee!! That was an evil witch’s cackle there, just in case my written word did not adequately translate to the spoken word, ahem.

So, revamp-eroonie; DONE.

Exhibit A; my little yellow cotton corduroy skirt. Absolutely nothing wrong with it, but I was just getting meh about it. Plus the clear yellow colour was a bit sharp and not one of “mine”. Since my khaki dress I have been thinking more about “my” colours and having more of them in my wardrobe. Sorta de-wintering my wardrobe and autumn-ifying it some more, if you will.
I used iDye in Brown and a tiny touch of the True Red, and got this rather wonderful deep caramel colour, in the top picture. Hehe, it’s funny; because actually I was aiming for mustard! important moral of the story; you should never ever never dye something that you are so much in love with that you couldn’t bear an unexpected outcome. Potential dyers, engrave that on your dye pots as it is one of the Commandments of Dyeing.
Anyway, I could not be happier with this super yummy, albeit unexpected, colour.
Unsurprisingly, the poly satin I used for the lining and bias binding did not take up the dye one tiny little bit.

woa, crack out the sunnies!

Exhibit B; while in the mood for dyeing, I also got out my pale blue, supposedly silk shirt (all original construction details here) and gave it a facelift. Supposedly? well it was sold as silk, but its mild lack of enthusiasm for taking up the dye speaks to some synthetic content, ahem. Not that I mind! it’s been a wonderful blouse and I love the shape unconditionally. Just that it has faded drastically and its colour was now palling on me; or should that more accurately read, appalling on me? Yeah, probably.
Anyway, it got treated to iDye in True Red.

Much better!
Now; compare the new colour of the previously same coloured cotton bias binding … that strong red was what I was aiming for, although I like this warm tangerine colour just fine. I’m just going to enjoy it as this colour for a while; and if I still want the deep true red colour I’ll pick up some red dye suitable for synthetics and give another whirl. See how we go.

Exhibit C; not a biggie, but I switched the yellow buttons on my forest green Miette cardigan for new deep green ones.

I think it’s going to be a tonne more mix ‘n’ matchable like this, since previously it pretty much went ONLY with my mustard dress below, or with all-white ensembles. The yellow buttons were a distraction, I can see that now. My mistake. Also, I think the lacework shines a little more than it did before.

So, that’s it!
In my current sewing news; I’m still struggling away with embroidering my felted wool, for my 1 year 1 outfit ensemble. Every now and again I have to lay it aside and do something else. It’s wearing me down a bit but I am certain I am going to love the finished piece and am quite excited to see it all come together. Ever onward and upwards!

my tutorial on basic dyeing here

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 8218, Burdastyle magazine 10-2010-102, cardigan, daily outfit, dyeing, Miette, shirt, Sienna, skirt, Vogue 1247

Of the palest blue

21/10/2012 11:00 pm \ 44 Comments \ Carolyn

I still have one or two really lovely pieces of fabric given to me for pressies last Christmas, as well as from my birthday last year (blush) Beautiful fabrics that I have been too chicken to take the scissors to. I know, ridiculous, right?!
Including a length of luscious powder-blue silk from Fabulous Fabrics, given to me by Cassie.
This is a pure silk, but an unusual silk like none I have ever come across before. The texture is very slightly rough and “grab-y”, almost suede-like; but somehow it still manages to be ripply and totally divinely soft against the skin.
No kidding, it’s like wearing a pale blue whisper.
I’ve given staaaacks of thought as to what to make with it… and eveeeeentually made a decision. Hey, I’m a Libra yo.
I really love my billowy black shirt, made last year. It is so easy to wear and I feel so so good in it. I feel like it is really flattering. I love the shawl collar, the elegantly draped and gathered sleeves. It is close to being perfect, and I wanted to make another one sorta similar, with a few modifications.

When I laid my pieces out on the fabric and realised I was going to end up with an unacceptably large piece of leftover fabric… aaagh! More scissor-phobia and had to immediately pack it all up for a bit more thought. And finally came up with a plan; yes, I still wanted my shirt, but I thought I might be able to squeeze a little petticoat from the leftovers… and I did! Just!!! And I have absolutely NO leftovers! Whooeee!
I had to cut the two back bodice pieces of the petticoat on the cross, and piece together one of the shoulder straps, but whoa! Self high-five! The high that comes with achieving zero waste in a project is pretty darn extra euphoric, yes? No??
Hmmm.
Maybe I need to get out more 😀

The nitty-gritty:
For my shirt/tunic: I used the same basic shirt pattern as for my billow-y black shirt, with some minor fitting modifications too; the bodice is based on Burdastyle 10/2010, shirt 102 (my review of this pattern is here), the shawl collar is adapted from Burda 8218, and the sleeves were partially based on those of my black blouse for which I used Burdastyle 5/2010 dress 101. But I have to confess I didn’t use the pattern piece this time but drew a different one. The sleeves have a shallower sleeve cap, are shorter, slightly more slim-line and not quite as bell-shaped; as the sleeves on my billow-y black shirt.

Another modification was to make it a tunic top rather than a shirt, with the front cut in one piece and with a half opening.

below; insides-ies…

The beautiful pearlescent marquise-diamond shaped buttons were a gift from the lovely ElleC, thank you ElleC! Snipping these buttons off of their card was another little hurdle that made me hesitate for a day or two, gathering strength; but eventually I forced myself to acknowledge that my new silk tunic was deserving of the very best buttons too 🙂 Initially I sewed them on vertically but they popped open like nobodies’ business, so I re-sewed them on the horizontal which helps them stay buttoned up.

For my petticoat: I used Burda 8071, a terrific basic pattern I have used ten times before; for ten different dresses and petticoats. This is the eleventh! To see a gallery of my previous versions of this pattern, go here 🙂 The bodice is lined with ivory silk charmeuse, leftover fabric from this top.

All the seams in both garments are French seams and all other raw edges are finished with HongKong seaming, in a lightweight ice-blue cotton leftover from this shirt. The one exception to this is the armscye seams in the tunic; I initially finished them with HongKong seaming but decided they were too bulky and made a bit of a hideously unacceptable lumpy-bump on my shoulder :(( so I unpicked it all, trimmed the heck out of them and finished them on the overlocker instead.

Sometimes, one’s quest for perfect inner appearances must be ditched in favour of perfect outer appearances after all… hehe.

Details:

Tunic; my own design, adapted from several patterns, powder blue silk

Petticoat; Burda 8071, powder blue silk and lined with ivory silk charmeuse

Belt; of emu leather, from luxe boutique (sadly no longer open)

Sandals; Pedro Miralles, from Soletta shoes

Just some housekeeping: I have no idea why, but I have been unable to comment on WordPress blogs lately. I type in a comment but it totally disappears… what is with that? So, to my WordPress blogging friends, sorry! I am reading, and trying to comment 🙁
LATER EDIT;
this blouse has received a dye bath and now looks like this:

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 8071, Burda 8218, Burdastyle magazine 10-2010-102, daily outfit, own design, petticoat, shirt

Ivory blouse

04/08/2011 3:10 am \ 24 Comments \ Carolyn

I finished a new blouse.
This is a project that took me far longer than it should have, actually. Been working on it for a few weeks! and that is not like me… I had it nearly finished, and then toddled off to get buttons. Got completely distracted by a sale on at Spotlight and the dye selection and, you guessed it, came home with a heap of new dyes and some other odds and sods, as you do, but no buttons… then it was a while before I could get back to the fabric store, blah blah blah. Then I went off it for a bit, thinking it was awfully boring and uninspiring, and it came thisclose to getting dip-dyed on the weekend, but then I came to my senses. I think I will be glad I kept it snowy white. Everyone could use an ivory shirt in their collection, right? And now my husband’s white linen shirt will finally be safe from my clutches…
The fabric is a light slightly fluffy brushed cotton, and I used pattern 102 from Burdastyle magazine 10/2010. I have used this pattern partially before to make my black blouse, so I know it to be quite nice; billowy but still slightly mannish. I do like that in a ladies’ shirt.
Because the fabric is slightly sheer I finished all the seams with French seaming, except for the armholes which were just overlocked. I curved the top edge of the sleeve cuff and put on two buttons and buttonholes, one perpendicular to the other for a little touch of something interesting. I did this because the sleeve cuff dimensions provided by the pattern are overly generous and I found them to be too long. So rather than clipping them off to the right length I just kept them long and put in this double offset buttonhole feature for fun.

Details:
Blouse; Burdastyle magazine 10/2010, 102, ivory brushed cotton
Jeans; Burda 7863, khaki stretch gabardine, details here
Boots; Andrea and Joen, from Uggies in Dunsborough

Pattern Description:
Loose-fitting button-up blouse with two piece sleeves, cuffs, collar stand and collar
Pattern Sizing:
36-44, I made a straight 38
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you had finished sewing it?
I left off the breast pockets, but otherwise yes
Were the instructions easy to follow?
If you have made up a tailored shirt before, then yes. For a beginner I would recommend getting a pattern with step by step illustrations, like one of the big 4 for example, for a first go at a tailored shirt.
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I love the big blouse-y shape of this blouse! If I was making it up again, I don’t know if I would bother with the two piece sleeves but instead go with a one piece sleeve with a slit and a separate placket piece for the vent, a procedure I am more familiar with. And these sleeves are so loose-fitting that it doesn’t seem worth the effort of that little bit of shaping you get with having the two pieces.
Fabric Used:
lightweight, slightly fluffy, brushed cotton blend
Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
I left off the breast pockets.
The method for putting together the front facing and collar stand was inefficient in my opinion, so I did it instead by turning the facing to the outside around the collar stand and sewing it in one seam, then turning the facing to the inside. This not only means less fiddling about with slipstitching the collar stand seam allowance under, but also means the collar stand seam allowances are down inside the facing and not up inside the collar stand itself, meaning less bulk. The usual issue of all those bulky seam allowances inside the collar stand are a slight pet peeve of mine, and I thought having a front self facing that branches up into the shoulder seam is a great solution to this small problem…
I also altered the button placement.
The pattern stipulates one yoke piece; I cut two and enclosed the seam allowances of the back piece and shoulder edges of the front pieces between the two yoke pieces. A double thickness yoke is more stable too.
The cuff dimensions are generous and I found them to be too long; but I kept the extra length, curved off the top edge and just had two buttonholes and two buttons, for an interesting little feature.
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Probably I will sew this again sometime, and yes, I do recommend this to others!
Conclusion:
Nicely blouse-y and feminine, but still with a slightly tailored and mannish air about it, so I am pretty happy with the look of this lovely and flattering pattern. I think I will get a tonne of wear out of this!

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burdastyle magazine 10-2010-102, pattern review, shirt, top

Billowy black shirt, with skulls

06/04/2011 5:04 am \ 32 Comments \ Carolyn

I’ve made a new shirt.
But I can’t do any reviews, because this shirt is based on not one pattern, not even two patterns, but three patterns. A conglomeration of patterns. The united states of patterns. You’ve heard of a meeting of the minds? This is a meeting of the patterns. A little bit, hopefully the best, taken out of each and the production of a mongrel, but better, (stronger, faster) shirt…
I knew in my head exactly what I wanted; I wanted a billowy pirate-y type shirt, inspired by the cute little skull buttons I bought in Japan. The buttons are miniature silver skulls, but each is wearing a tiny little silver crown, so the shirt had to be not just piratical, but kind of majestic at the same time to make it worthy of these completely wonderful buttons. Don’t you just love these buttons? You cannot get buttons like this here… I need to go to Japan more often.
The fabric is a thin self-patterned black cotton/synthetic mix that was one of my Christmas presents, bought by me, for my son to give to me for Christmas (hey, we’re practical when it comes to gift giving around here…)
I’m wearing it hanging out over my skirt here, to show it in its full length with the gently curved hemline on show, but most probably I will wear it tucked in a lot of the time too…
I put the technical details of making the shirt below, if anyone is interested.
Oh, the shoes. These are my highest heels, at 4 1/2″. They put me at over 6′. I adore these shoes, and decided I am going to wear them more often, just because. Of course I didn’t wear them to walk the dog. But I wore them to do my other daily and office activities. They are a lot more comfortable than they appear.

Details:
Shirt; Burdastyle 10-2010-102, collar from Burda 8218, sleeves from Burdastyle 05-2010-101, made of black self-patterned cotton mix with skull buttons bought in Japan
Skirt; Vogue 7303, olive corduroy, to see this skirt styled in 6 different way go here
Shoes; Kron by Kron Kron, bought online

The shirt; so it’s probably pretty complicated so you can skip this technical stuff unless you really want to reproduce this for yourself… like a lot of seamstresses I like to take a little bit from here and a little bit from there, and manipulate the patterns I have to get the look I want..
I saw this lovely graceful classic shirt pattern 102 in Burdastyle magazine 10/2010 (right, top) and liked its loosely elegant body with no body darts or shaping. But I wanted a shawl collar rather than the classic one in the pattern, thus the hunting down and finally locating Burda 8218, the only shawl collared shirt pattern available here in Perth, or so it seemed… and for the sleeves, I wanted something gathered and billowy, but three quarter length, so used the lower part of the bell-shaped gathered sleeve from the dress pattern 101 from Burdastyle 05/2010 (right, lower). To cut the sleeve cap to fit into the armscye of the shirt pattern, I laid down the sleeve pieces from the shirt pattern 102, to get the sleeve cap part of the sleeve right. It is a two piece sleeve, but I just laid them together with the stitching lines abutting. The other sleeve from the dress pattern 101 I laid down on top with the underarm points matching those of the shirt sleeve pattern, and just used this to cut out the arm part of the sleeve with the bellshaped hemline (see below), and I also used the sleeve cuff from the same dress pattern 101. Except when I had finished the shirt, the sleeves didn’t sit exactly how I envisioned, they sagged a bit low and I really wanted for them to look really billowy and like they were pushed up to the elbow permanently. So I added an in-sleeve tab on the sleeve seam which pulls the sleeves up to gather just that little more fully and gracefully at just below elbow length and sit up right where I want them. I only had five of the skull buttons so I had to use different buttons here, these are purply-grey natural shell buttons.
The shawl collar, well, obviously I used the collar pattern pieces from Burda 8218, and cut the shirt front facings, front neckline edge and back neckline edge to match those of this pattern, otherwise the collar wouldn’t have fitted… This only took a little bit of adjustment and it was not difficult at all to match the collar from one shirt pattern to the different body of the other shirt pattern.
Et voila.

(the sleeve at left; the two shirt sleeve pieces underneath were laid together along the stitching line to get the sleeve cap, at left, and the lower edge of the sleeve piece was cut off at the curved hemline of the piece on top)