Today I want to take a break from the #1year1outfit challenge I’m doing and show you the new shirt I made my husband last week. I have more than a few unblogged garments, but I just couldn’t wait to show you this one. This shirt is somewhat special, as the fabric for it was given to me by our neighbours sister, an 80 year old lady. The fabric is a printed cotton she got from her mother after she died. I have no idea how old the fabric it self is, but it’s a rather thin printed cotton fabric with a nice and soft handfeel. My husband took a liking to the fabric straight away, and asked if I could make him a shirt from it. And of course I could. Pattern trouble I used the same pattern I have used for all his previous shirts. It’s a pattern I drafted for him maybe 8 years ago, and it seems that he has changed a lot in size. Either that, or I have just gotten a lot better at spotting fitting mistakes, because I struggled a lot with the fit across the shoulders and upper arms. In fact it annoyed me so much that I have now purchased the Negroni shirt pattern from Colettes Patterns in the hopes that it will fit better, or at least be a better starting point than my current pattern (This was two days prior to the release of the new Thread Theory shirt pattern, otherwise I might have[…]
Lace Camas blouse
After participating in the Camas Sew-along on the Thread Theory blog, I knew I had blog about the finished blouse right away. I have several other garments all ready to be photographed and blogged, but this had to come first. Making a Camas Blouse I’ve had the Camas pattern in my pattern collection for a while. I bought it not long after it was published in their web shop, and as I’m not too fond of pdf’s (especially the taping of the numerous pages) I bought the printed version. I’m a regular reader of the Thread Theory blog and got really inspired when I discovered they were doing a sew-along on the blouse. After rummaging around in my stash for a suitable muslin fabric I came across a small piece of white viscose left after my cartoon dress. I figured it would be just about enough fabric for a muslin for the blouse. The pattern changes. I started by doing my regular pattern changes. My starting point was a straight size 10, and my usual adjustments includs a forward tilting shoulders adjustment, a lengthening of the torso by 4 cm and the sleeves by 1,5 cm. And the ever present sway back adjustment. After reading the sew-along piece about pattern adjustments for using woven fabric I also adjusted the width of the sleeves to better fit my biceps (sleeve changing methode 1 at the bottom of this blogpost). Making up as you go along I don’t know about you guys, but I usually get[…]
Homeboy hoodie for my hubby
Again I have made a garment for my husband, my biggest sewing fan and forever in need of soft and nice wool garments he knows I can make him. Today I want you to meet the navy blue wool Homeboy Hoodie.. This is not the first time I have made a hoodie, but the first I have made one for my husband. If you followed the Symesterskapet on NRK last year you will have seen me making this beauty in the first episode: Compared to that, this hoodie was a joy to sew. It was fast and easy, and I needed to do just one minimal change. But first things first. Let’s start with the pattern. Homeboy Hoodie After seeing the hoodie Joost made on Instragram I decided to try his pattern. He runs the site MakeMyPattern, which generate patterns for you based on the measurements you type in. He is also generously offering up his patterns for free, but accepts donations to his site. The pattern I used is the Homeboy Hoodie, the first pattern of his that I have tried. I followed the instructions and punched in my husbands measurements, and the pattern was generated as a pdf I could print. Even with failing ink in my printer I got the pattern together fairly quickly, as there isn’t that many pattern pieces. I must also say that I like the way the pattern pieces are marked. A wool fabric.. The fabric I chose for this project is an unbrushed college fabric in 100%[…]
Burda 7580 knit dress
The dress I want to show you today, is one I made earlier this Autumn. I came across this cartoon fabric in a textile store in Fredrikstad, and just had to have it. It’s a rather thin cotton jersey or maybe viscose, but the important thing for me was the print – Black and white cartoon squares taken from several cartoons I used to read in my teens. Among them: Modesty Blaise. So basically, this dress is a grown up version of some of the t-shirts and dresses I’ve made for my kids the last year. Burda 7580 knit dress Because the fabric was such a lightweight jersey, I knew straight away that I needed to line the dress. So I bought some plain, white jersey at the same time. I even found the pattern in the same store. The pattern is Burda 7580 -an “easy pattern” with only two pattern pieces: One front and one back. I believe the pattern is meant for more heavy weight knits, and I’m sure that would suit the shape very well too. Here is how the pattern looks on the envelope. The regular adjustments I made my regular changes to the flat pattern: which is to lengthen the torso and do a sway back adjustment, and also the forward tilted shoulder adjustment. In this kind of loose dress I decided that I didn’t bother to make up a muslin. And truth be told I would have had enough fabric left to do up another one in the same fabric should[…]
Bright red Moneta Dress
Hi again This time I have a fairly simple dress to show you: My super comfy, bright red Moneta Dress from Colette Patterns. I have made the Moneta Dress pattern several times before. It’s my go-to-pattern for staple dresses. They are so quick to sew up, and so comfortable to wear, and I love the fact that they got pockets. I love to have pockets in my dresses. Before making this Moneta dress though, I tried to put together one i striped jersey; just using my regular pattern pieces, and discovered to my horror that it came out way too small -I’m talking two whole sizes too small. Apparently I have gained a bit of weight (And also the striped jersey had very little stretch). So, there was nothing for it, I had to retrace the pattern in a bigger size (M this time). -and of course do all my regular adjustments once again. But because I’m a lazy woman I only retraced the bodice pattern pieces and reused my old skirt pattern pieces. It means a tiny bit less flare, but no big deal. I have a few standard adjustments that I always have to do. These are: lengthening the bodice by 4 cm, adjusting for forward tilting shoulders, and a swayback adjustment. But, because I always do them I didn’t mock up a sample afterwards. I more or less knew how the fit would be. (If you look at the photo of the back you might notice that the sway back[…]
Jutland pants from Thread Theory
Hi there. I haven’t been blogging much lately, but that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been sewing. I have quite a backlog of garments I want to show you. And I’ll start with the newest garment I made: a pair of pants for my husbands birthday: Jutland pants from Thread Theory. I have previous made him a pair of Jutland pants, -my first sewing project in 2015, and still unblogged (shame on me). That time I made version 1 and as it was winter, I lined them as well. They turned out ok, but are far from his favourite pants. The pattern This time he wanted me to make V2 view, but after we discussed it a bit, we decided that I wouldn’t use the actual Jutland pants pattern pieces, but that of Burda 7022 instead. The reason being that these were a much better fit, and it meant that I didn’t have to use a lot of time adjusting the fit of the Jutland. Of course that would have been fine too, but would take longer. And I really wanted to make this a quick project – or as quick you can when you are talking about trousers with lots of pockets and reinforcements. They were for his birthday after all. So, the pant pattern itself is Burda, but all the details are from the Jutland pants, and I also followed the instructions from Thread Theory. I found them to be clear and easy to follow. And in other details The fabric used is something I[…]
Summer wedding dress
And finally , here is the much awaited blogpost about the wedding dress I made. If you’ve been reading my blog earlier you might have read that I was in a wedding in May. This was kind of a special wedding for me, because I made the wedding dress for the bride, and also the ties for the whole male wedding party in addition to something I myself could wear to the event. Here is what I made: 1 yellow silk satin wedding dress for the bride 7 yellow silk satin ties to match 3 off-white shawls for the bride and bridesmaids 1 lavender silk dress for myself 1 lavender silk vest for my husband (already blogged about here) 1 lavender silk bowtie for my husband (already blogged about. Pls see above link) Summer wedding dress The work with the wedding dress started already at Christmas time, when my cousin approached me and asked if I would make the dress for her wedding. After giving it some thought I accepted. After all, it’s a big task taking on to make someone’s wedding dress – something I haven’t done since my own wedding back in 2006. If you want to read more about the patternmaking and the first part of the dress making I blogged about it here. The dress is made in the most slippery silk satin you can imagine, and was everything but easy to assemble as the whole dress is made on the true bias. I was afraid that the seams would break,[…]
Silk dress for a wedding
This last weekend I attended my cousin’s wedding at the west coast of Norway. It was a lovely wedding in a beautiful place called Luster, situated at the edge of one of the Norwegian fjords. The bride was a lovely sight in her buttercup yellow wedding dress ( which I made), and her fiansè in his grey suit and yellow tie (one of seven ties also made by me). But, those garments deserves their very own blog post, and I will talk about that another day. Today I want to show you what I was wearing to the wedding: A Butterick B5317 in lavender coloured Thai silk. Fabric for my silk dress The fabric was bought at my favourite silk “dealer” in Norway: Morbaertreet. They have no store, and no website, and are therefore a bit of a trade secret, but they have the loveliest silk you can imagine. I first heard of Morbaertreet when I was still in school, and I remember buying the silk for my own wedding dress there when I got married back in 2008. (Another garment on my blogging list). Butterick B5317 once again. The pattern for the lavender dress I wore this last weekend is my well tried Butterick B5317 pattern (I have three dresses so far), and this time I raised the front neck drop to almost none existent. I was after the boat neck look in front, while keeping the scooped back, and this turned out great. I love the fact that the back neck drop is low, but not[…]
Knitted Marius sweater
It has been a while since I last updated my blog. Shame on me. But now I’m back from my Easter holiday in the mountains and can show you my most recent project: a knitted Marius sweater. Knitting versus sewing For the last month I have been knitting on a sweater for myself. I like knitting, but as it’s not as fast as sewing I don’t do much of it. That of course change when holidays come up. We often go away to visit family, and the sewing machine just isn’t all that handy to travel with. Therefore I usually have a knitting project lying around – for those times I want to be creative, but haven’t access to all my sewing stuff. For a while now I’ve been wanting to make myself a new sweater. One of my colleagues at work started knitting on a Marius sweater and I got inspired. The Marius pattern is rather famous in Norway, and you can see the pattern on all sorts of things, -but more than anything on homemade knitted sweaters. I believe the pattern has been around since the 50’s or something, but don’t quote me on that. The Marius sweater pattern The traditional colour palette is blue ground colour with white and red pattern, but I wanted something a little more neutral. That way I can use it with most of my winter wardrobe. It’s of course a little late in the season for super warm woolen sweaters now, but I don’t mind. There will[…]
Making a wedding dress – part 01
Hello. It’s been a slow week for me sewing wise, but I thought I would share with you an ongoing project. My cousin asked me if I could take on making a wedding dress for when she is getting married in May. My biggest project as of yet (that isn’t for myself, that is). A little hesitantly I agreed to do it. I was thinking it would be nice to spend time with her, and still… it’s a lot of responsibility to take on to make someones wedding dress. What if I get it wrong and can’t make it flattering on her.? Or if I don’t do the seams as they should be done and the whole dress falls apart when she’s trying to put it on on her wedding day.? Well, I guess I just have to make sure that don’t happen. The start of the project She came to my place before Christmas, and we talked about what she was envisioning and showed me some inspirational photos. Then during the holiday I started sketching on some designs and sent them to her for approval. This is the one she picked: The idea was to have a simple dress with a clean cut and straight lines. When I first drew the sketch I thought of a dress in several layers, with a brightly coloured satin or thai silk at the bottom and one or two layers of silk chiffon at the top. However, when she picket the design and we talked about it, it was decided that the[…]
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