Burda

Watch out! Psychedelic Leopards on the loose!

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This one is dedicated to the MC of Junglist Massive,
a Ms Anne of Pretty Grievances.

I’m not convinced the 3 Psychedelic Leopard cubs want to play nicely together, nor with other regular leopards either. But seeing as I’m terribly late for Jungle January, I thought the least I can do is to herd all of them into the same room for some OTT Jungle Fever photo ops. So here goes…

First off:
Vogue Donna Karan 1282 Cowl-Neck Top
& Burdastyle 2012-05-113 Skirt,
with well-worn Joan & David Circa lizard skin  pumps.

Next up:
Modified McCall 6078c Cowl Neck Top,
Skirt restyled from old H&M Dress,
Mini-Beret restyled from old scarf (never blogged),
with threadbare Anne Klein leopard print pumps.

No birds were killed during the making of these pictures. Well, not by me anyway. I blame the friend who gave me the feathers.

From Summer to Winter in a day

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Back in dreary old London now. Not only has the sunshine gone, but the temperature had also head south from 30° C to 14° C. Brrrrrrrrrrr.

I was going to make a trench to replace my thread bare Topshop version. But now I think I’ll need to skip straight to a heavier coat – another replacement for another beloved thread bare Topshop find.

Topshop Bouclé Coat
ts_green-coat_2

I’m thinking Burda Style 2012-08-101 (coat) and 2012-08-103 (fur collar).

The sihouette is close enough to the Topshop coat. I like the idea of detachable fur collar. I still have leftover scraps of faux shearling to make the detachable fur collar from. I don’t have the same lovely bouclé fabric though. The closest I have is this green one, which I originally wanted to make a jacket-skirt ensemble from. Both were from B&J Fabrics in NYC bought ages ago.

Or I could just reline the Topshop coat. Hmmm…need more sleeping on the options.

In the meanwhile, I’m going to try Off-the-Cuff Sewing Style Pam’s wool pre-shrinking tip on this green bouclé anyway. I got a bunch of wool fabrics which I’ve been dreading sewing because it’s such a pain to pre-shrink.

…

Actually, with 8° C predicted for the weekend, maybe an even heavier coat is called for. Then again, maybe I should work on that trench after all. Given my tortoise sewing speed, I might just manage to have it finished for Spring if I start now! 🙂

Burda Style, it’s complicated

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Being formerly American, I’m fairly new to the world of Burda Style magazines. Most of my past pattern purchases have been Vogue Patterns. But since I started lurking on other sewists’ blogs a year ago, I started buying the odd issues. I did consider subscribing, but (A) it’s not any cheaper, and (B) our love affair has not been true and constant. Towards the end of last year there were a few months of love-ups. But recently it’s been mostly blah disappointments.

That’s until the current issue. I saw this picture in the July 2012 issue and I just had to get it:

“But it’s just a simple square top!” I hear you protest. Well yes. I didn’t exactly buy this issue for the patterns. I bought it for the image of this scarf fabric. Because it reminds me of another Restyled Ready-To-Wear in my closet…

Like my newly decorated sewing room, the colors and pattern make me happy.

It’s from Top Shop, a second-hand top I think. There was only one on the rack and it’s made from this 70ish plasticky polyester. I wish the fabric were smooth drapy silk, for the original design might have worked better. As it was, I had to restyled it to avoid looking puffy. Here’s the Before & After diagrams (click on the images to enlarge and see the details):

The alterations:

  1. To create a slimmer silhouette I cut apart the sleeves from the bodice along the original stitching lines. Sewed the front & back side seams I just created about 2/3 way up. Hemmed the remaining part of the slits to create Japanese style kimono sleeves. (See close-up photo below.)
  2. To further slim it down I replaced the elastic gathering at the waist with loops at the waist side seams that pull the extra fullness towards a couple of buttons on the back. (See enlarged After diagram above.)
  3. For a bit of Greco-Roman flair – and that all important extra wearing option – I opened up the shoulder / sleeve top seams part-way to create slits. (See top two photos below.)
  4. Lastly a decorative waist tie thrown in for good measure. A couple of venetian beads weigh these fabric tubes down.

Et Voilà…


I like it too with a couple of shawls for a remotely English Civil War inspired look. In my rather irreverent muddled head anyway.

And back to Burda Style 7/2012…

I’m hoping to track down scarfs like the one used in that series of patterns. Sadly Roeckl, which supplied the ones used in the magazine, doesn’t seem to have that exact pattern anymore.

Anyone has suggestions for where to look?

World, meet Crumb Catcher Cape

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As promised, here comes the sun and the show-n-tell…

Styled with suitably retro box handbag & pearls…

Or my beat up John Lewis handbag, held together now with safety pins. But fear not, for I’ve already planned to make a copy with scraps from the cape…some day!

With home-made close-fitting T-shirt (mentioned in previous WIP posts) and pencil skirt (part of a 2-piece dress. More another day.)

Simply posed, befitting a late 50s early 60s style cape.

Or decadently OTT with faux fur / suede WIP stole.

The obligatory mug shots

front side & back

The new double-welt arm slits sit properly at the sides.

One way is not enough!

Optional tie belt comes out of small slits just above the pockets.

The old arm slits are now handy cozy pockets.

Almost edge-to-edge lining keep scratch wool at bay.

Erm, I guess the lining could do with a good ironing.

And the ongoing sewing commentary

Most of the alteration & sewing details have been mentioned in previous posts. Here’s the rest.

  • Attaching the lining was a bit of a pain. I tried to bag it, but had to hand-sew the various slits.
  • And I still haven’t  figured out a good way to sew edge-to-edge lining so it doesn’t peep  at the edges. Inter-corners too were a nightmare.
  • The button holes I attempted with on the Husqvarna Viking Sapphire 830 with one-step buttonhole stitch. I had 5 or 6 to choose from. Lucky me. But in the end I went over again with hand-worked blanket stitches. Because the white interlining was poking through the cut edges. And because I want some practice for future bespoke tailoring projects. Lucky for me I have a men’s tailoring booking (Classic Tailoring Techniques: A Construction Guide for Men’s Wear). Because Claire Shaeffer’s Fabric Sewing Guide doesn’t have very good instruction on hand-sewing button hole. Well, not enough clear pictures anyway.

Finally, the verdict…drum roll please

All in all I’m quite pleased with the results, despite the less than stellar sewing. Hence all the smug shots. Hey, it’s not everyday that I finish a sewing project.

Now if only Old Blighty’s weather would give me a few more days of mild weather to wear my spanking new cape…

Cape WIP

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No, I haven’t been playing truant. Work’s been rather stressful, so progress is slow with the cape. I’m almost there. Just need to attach the lining, finish the hem, the button holes and buttons. In the meanwhile, here are some WIP pictures. Non-sewers be warned – plenty of boring sewing details to follow!

The fitting tweaks…

So, after my disappointing muslim of Burda Style 2011-08-112, I enlisted the help of Big Bertha, my duct-tape twin (more about her some other day). She made me realise a few truths.

  1. My shoulders are lopsided.
  2. All those massage therapists weren’t lying, I do have shoulders of concrete.
  3. My neck sticks forward like a chicken, which is why all those RTW shirts gape at the back of the neck and choke me in the front.
  4. And finally, all those fitting experts weren’t lying either, if it doesn’t fit at the shoulders it won’t fit right elsewhere.

Here’s the muslim on Big Bertha…Back shoulder seam has been let out at the neck base to accommodate my concrete back shoulder muscle.  Similar amount has been removed from the front shoulder at the neck base…

All of a sudden the whole things hangs much better. Even the weird lumps at the upper arms seem less noticeable and the arm holes less restrictive.

But I decided to smooth out the lumps anyway and move the  arm holes as planned so I can gain some useful pockets.

I also let out a bit at center front for my chicken neck to roam freely.

Here’s the final patterns…

On the left are side-front & front, on the right are back & side-back. The new lines drawn on the old Burda patterns for comparison…

So the shoulder points have been moved inward & upward. I also increased the hem width of the sides by pivoting from the shoulder points to make the cape feel less constrictive.

The double-welt arm-hole and the pockets are my additions too. The arm-holes now align with my arms naturally at my sides. The top of the arm holes are about 2″ above my elbows to accommodate bent arms without bunching up above, and they extend just far enough  so I can comfortably stick my hands in my spanking new in-seam pockets! See…

And of course I can’t possibly commit to just one way of wearing it. So belt holes have been added in the front side seams just above the pockets.

Here they are, tried on with my Topshop trench belt for size & positioning.

So, with the patterns happily settled, the sewing commenced.

All cut out and…Oops!

Here are the fabrics all cut out, and reinforcement interface ironed on. Now for the oops…What is a sewing project without an Oops right?

In the dim light after work I stupidly forgot to check the direction of the nap. This fabric has texture a bit like pony skin with furry nap running downward. I cut the fabric upside down, so the nap runs upward. Great for catching crumbs! At least all of the pieces are in the same direction. Anyway, too late to cry over spilt milk & all that. So soldiering on…

Double-welted arm-hole slits

face

back

  • The arm hole slits being on the bias I thought I better interface it to cut down stretching.
  • Bulk was a bit of a worry. I allowed a bit extra width for the welt than I would on thinner fabrics. So 2 welts added up to 5/8″ width. I cut separate fabrics for each welt and staggered the seam allowances so that when finished, they’ll be graded for a gentler slope rather than one hefty 3 layer 1/4″ cliff.
  • Machine basting some guidelines followed by hand-basting kept the seam-rippers at bay. And voilà, here’s the finished welted slits.

face

back

And now for some Pocket Magic!

  • The original in-seam slits have been converted into in-seam pockets. They sit just below the waistline and I made sure they’re big enough for my hand. And my Oyster card. And my smart phone. What after my expensive disaster with Lilliputian Topshop trench pockets I was taking no chances.
  • They actually sit just inside the seam. I had cut 3/4″ seam allowance to accommodate the thick fabric. The pockets are sewn to the bodice with 1/4″ seam allowance, leaving about 1/2″ of coat fabric acting as facing. This prevents the lining fabric pockets from poking out, but without the bulk factor of a separate facing.
  • The pockets are actually backed by fitting muslims. I was paranoid that keys & co. will poke holes in my pockets no sooner than I finish the cape. So preventative reinforcement was patched on. OTT I know. Here are some lovely views of the innards….

What do you think? Should I just wear it out like that – yes, inside out? 😉

The state of the affair…

Look rather dashing don’t you agree? 😉

Just wait till you see what I have planned for the leftover! Yes, I’ve managed to squeeze enough for a handbag from the scarp. But plan for how to put that together is fuzzy as fuzzy can be.

One thing at a time. First get off this blog and get that old Viking Sapphire cranking!