I almost made a jurk!

Knip mode is available in Sweden or at least the german edition called Fashion Style is. I like it! I like that all styles are up to plus size and are mostly shown on both kind of ladies. and if you sew for a man there is one pattern /Magazine for him too.

 

 

 This dress was a real Karin dress and I had the perfect fabric for it....I was visiting my cousin last fall and the local fabric shop was closing and selling fabric 50 % off if you bought what´s left on the bolt, I did!...I also bought like 8 meters of rayon lining in black, always good to have around the house...

 

I like any dress with an interesting neckline and not cut off at the waist. I knew I had to finish the dress before I went to Mexico becourse the colors is not really what I wear at home but the cut on this one is really nice and I can imagine sewing one in black or navy also .

I wore the dress a lot like here on the day I was traveling from Puerto Escondido to Acapulco. There was enough fabric for a little bolero using McCall  M6559 The pattern that are included with the really nice maxi tank dress that a lot of people have made really nice dresses from and of course I have a nice stripy fabric stocked for making one myself,...but not this week....

 

 

Excuse me for my strange face, having enchiladas mexican style and a cider

Ottobre fall/winter dress 2015

 

I made this dress last year and wear it a lot, it´s warm comfy and since I now can see it like this in need of an FBA. still no smile and the kitchen remodeling is not finished either...This is actually the second dress from this pattern, the first one is a burgundy in something called Courtelle jersey, this one is the same kind of fabric but this one is double face så I used the leopard print for the body and the plain grey for the sleeves. The pattern is really nice, it has a square neckline with the facings attached and a split back. If you havn´t tried Ottobre´s pattern I think you should, especially the ones for jerseys are quite nice but if you complain about Burda´s patternsheet you should be aware that Ottobres are worse.....

 

 

 

 My third attempt with this pattern is a Tom Ford stripe bought at Skipper Stoffe in Copenhagen, it´s a much thinner fabric and I made it shorter, since I think it works well with black stockings when it´s cold and looks summery with summerlegs later.  thought a lot about matching stripes here but it did not really ended up how I planned so I decided to add piping . The hardest part with this dress was to match the stripes in the back seam but on take three after some hand basting it looked good. So good I actually smiled at the picture...

 

Closeup on the sleeve and body:

 

 

Kind of retro dress Onion 2064

I like Onion patterns a lot and since I live close to Copenhagen it´s easy to pick one when I´m on a daytrip there. This is a really easy dress to sew, I don´t know where I got the fabric...probably Copenhagen... I made the view with the straight sleeves and added piping to the collar and lapels. I also added an extra button since I decided this was not a dress for cleevage. The cut dividing the upper part from the lower part both on the back and front make the dress really easy to sew at least if you use a fabric that does not have to match

I also added an extra seam since I had a little accídent with the serger.....I´ve been sewing for a lot of year and this was actually the second time that happened, but since the fabric is very busy I just serged the hole together and it does not show unless you know where to look.  I´m a pretty happy person so I guess I have to try laughing or at least smile for the next session....and I don´t wear this dress with orange shoes.
I have to talk about the pink bag on my right side in the picture. It´s a Hinza bag. It´s a reproduction from a design from around 1950 made from recycled plastic, you can buy it in 2 sizes and in a lot of different colors, It´s sturdy, easy to clean and fun. I use it all the time!

Cascade kind of cardigan

Yesterday I invested in a tripod and I have obviously a lot more to learn on how to use it, At least I got pictures of me wearing the garment and I saw at once that the dress could have improved with the use of FBA. This blurry picture is from my kitchen and yes! I have a pink fridge!

This pattern is from a Burda Plus and the fabric is from Bologna, and contains a little bit more synthetic than I like to admit. The cardigan was a part of my winter plan as was the dress, There is nothing wrong with this cardigan really... but...as beautiful as the fabric is, a kind of jaquard knitted fabric in black, grey and brown, it does not show the nice cut that this cardigan have and it does not really match anything in the plan.... The cardigan was easy to sew and I decided to hem it by hand and I think that was a good decision I also omitted the pockets

 

 

 I think this is a really good pattern and it should be done in a solid to show of those nice lines, I have a grey college melange fabric that I think will be an excellent choise...but not this week.....

Closeup on the fabric, the back side is brown

All in one facing and installing zippers

I like sleeveless dresses and tops and I like all in one facings! I´ve been thinking for a long time to do a tutural but since I´m unable to get the clothes I´ve sewn on a photo, this has been put on hold too.
Then I discovered that Threads had an article about it and even made a video and they are so much better at it then I ever will be so here is a link to Youtube.

The only thing I do different is that I leave about 5 cm at the armholes of both the facing and the garment and and after doing the side seams I sew the lower part of the armcycle together. I like the finish of this so much better

or

Since my weight is going up and down I might completely finish the armcycles and sew the sideseams with the facing and all as one seam carefully match at the top, this makes it easy to alter the fit

 A thing that is asked a lot of times in sewing groups is how to install a zipper and especially an invisable zipper. Here is my advise on this: First you should buy an invisable zipper foot, yes you can use other feet for the job but this one really makes the difference!!!!!!
Second, I was going to write that you should head over to Craftsy and look at the free install zippers mini class that was sponsered by Bernina and was so good, but it lookes like it´s gone so chances are that if you did not "buy" it earlier you can not get access to it..... really pity!....

Swedish Stockings

You heard of Swedish tracingpaper and now I´m telling you about Swedish Stockings. If you read this blog you must have notised that I wear a lot of dresses and skirts, and since I live in a cold climate I need pantyhose and I used a lot of different brands with very different result. It´s weird when you buy a brand and it´s kind of roomy and then you buy another pair but in a different style and they are simply too small, way too small....and when we have this thing with nags and honestly most of the time they are ready for the trash before I need to wash them, then I discovered this brand, they are made from recycled nylon and comes in a few different styles, some with patterns, I´ve tried a 60 and 100 denier and I´m in love! day after day they last and look good on. They cost more to buy but counting how long they last they are much cheeper and so much more comfy.

Fabric shopping in Bologna

 

I´ve been to Bologna once before and fell in love with this city and since I still havn´t found a love for Milan I decided to spend my last night and day in Bologna

 

I strolled the streets on a day with some showers and found a notion store that was closed but looked promising if when I return

The adress of this store is 29A Via delle Lame

Last time I was in Bologna I bought some fantastic fabrics at the market, this time I found one seller that had really nothing I even wanted to touch!

The fabric store I visted and bought a fabric from was Mercantino dello scampolo on Via Gandusio 35. This store is not in the center of Town but if you stand at the Railway station with your back to the building its maybee 4 blocks t the left, you will reach a bridge that takes you over the tracks. Go over the street to the other side of it and when you are over the part with the tracks there´s stairs that you take and if you look slightly to the right now you can see the store. This store is stacked with good stuff at reasonable prices and a very helpful staff who speaks italian.

 

Siena. Yes there was fabric!

 

 I was in Italy last september-october. I´ve been to Italy a lot of times but it´s been a while and I never been to Siena. I´ve forgotten how much I love this country... The real reason for me going is that I have started to reclaim my knowledge of the italian language so I went to language school for a week. The name of the school is Leonardo da Vinci, they have something that they called "La Dolce Vita 50+" language lessons compaired with guided tours and cooking lesson and if you stayed two weeks also wine tasting. The school organized everything and there where students from all over the world. We had the fantastic Serena as our guide and at school we where put in classes due to how much italian we knew. Leonardo da Vinci also has schools in Milan, Rome and Florence and I´m going back for two weeks in Rome later this spring.
Siena is famous for the Palio  but we learned so much from Serena and Karla, the lady I stayed at.
The Palio and the Contradas are so alive in this city the entire year

 

 

Young boys from the duck´s contrada practicing there skills



 



This is a jacket to a jockey from the Duck´s contrada´s museum



From the Duck´s contrada´s museum or church

The contrada´s museums are not open to public unless the night a contrada wins the palio, part from a museum and Church each contrada also have a stable...



Pici is the local pasta that should be eaten fresch, never use the dried one, this one is from the cookingclass that was included in the week



and this pici is from a restaurant



and this is me making biscotti, wearing my favourite Libertydress



Biscotti!

The cooking class started with Serena teaching us about local food Culture, we then took a walk to a cooking school where we prepered not only biscotti and pici but tortelloni, gnocchi ( the best ever!) torta di nonno ( a chocolate cake ) and som more pasta, after this we went to a restaurant owned by the same man awho owned the school and we got our food prepered by the chefs with theire sauces
and finally we all got a bag of biscottis to go





Always time for coffea



or a glass of wine, This is Vernaccia di san Gimignano, but the drink of choise for many including me where Spritz



Coffea in Italy are so good! not only do they know how to make it , they know how to serve the right amount of it too!

 

And now over to the serious stuff!  Fabric shopping! I did a search before leaving and got a lot of adresses, all of them no more! But on Wedensday there was a market across from the bus station and I found 5 vendors who sold both yardage or remnants. This means that in another town  on another day in the neigborhood you can probably find these vendors too. Going to the market in Italy is always a good idea if you are looking for fabric. I bought two pieces, the geoetric silk for a blouse and the grey with some stretch in it maybee 5 euro each...

 I flew from Copenhagen to Milan and spent one night there then took the train to Florence, changed to bus for Siena, on my way home I took the bus to Bologna and spent a night there and then the train ti Milan. More on fabric shopping in Bologna later

Pink ribbon 2016

I´ve been writing about our Swedish  tradition that a celebrity design a pattern that are printed on them. This year the design that are waves is designed by Alicia Wikander, our Oscar winning actress from earlier this year for her portrait of Gerda Wegener.

 

 

Classic shirt Burda

 

I had a white shirt in my plan for fall but felt that it was not really what I wanted so I found this black shirting at Stoffdillen in Copenhagen. Stoffdillen is located in Ishöj center and if you plan to visit Arken; the artmuseum it´s very Close. They sell end bolts and 30 danish crowns is the common price, maybee 4 dollars a meter They also have zippers, lace and other stuff in a very not organized way...

I bought the Archer shirt pattern when I was in London earlier this year but after tracing it and saw the looong sleves and remember some issues with the collar I decided to go Burda instead, but I used the hemline from the Archer and my own placket and this is really the kind of sewing that I enjoy and I´m really pleased with it and will be more pleased after a date with the iron and a scissor to snip of some ends

 

 

ZickZack Scarf times two

About 2400 scarves have been posted on Ravelry from Christy Kamm´s zickzack scarf and it´s an easy pattern that should be knitted in a stripy yarn as the light one to the left, the effect is very Missoni, the right one is knitted in two more variagated yarns, beautiful but in a different way, two skeins of about 100 g each makes a 1,7 m long scarf and I would say that it´s a good scarf size. Winter is coming!

Black tops times two

I did some sewing today , finished two tops from the wonderful rayon knit I bought in Toronto, When we where shopping Connie had a top with a tulle neckline and I stole that idea straight up and added it to sleeves and neckline on both tops. Basic black tops are so boring to sew so I have to think about if that is something I should do in the future...Used two patterns from Ottobre that where very basic and since I´ve traced them I might as well use them again. Tracing Ottobre is not my favourite!

Fabric shopping in Toronto

 

 

For some reason Toronto has been on my list but I aways thought that I should go there in the winter.

It happened in July and officially I´ve been there before, but honestly it was only in transit. I remember Pearson Airport as a nice place to lounge between flight, but no longer....If you go to Toronto it´s very easy to take the train into the city it takes about 25 minutes and the railwaystation is beautiful!

 Toronto has a lot of neighborhoods with different approach, very much like Malmö, There is a Chinatown, and since San Fransisco I love to go there to get a good meal, Toronto Chinatown was not an exeption, there was also a Koreatown and a Little Italy there I got mý mandatory Cannoli ( I love those things....) and a lot of artisan beer, try the steam whistle but skip the tour!

 Most of Torontos fabric stores are on Queen street between Augusta and Palmira and I suggest you explore every one of them! I bought off white cotton shirting in a very posh store and grey denim in the basement next door. I also found Americo yarn here and did they have the good stuff and on sale since they where moving, I also did some shopping on Romni Wools

 Toronto has a lot of nice museums like the Bata shoe museum, the Textile museum and the fab art galleri of Ontario showing Leslie Harris ( If I ever get rich I will start collecting his work!)

 A lot of victorians around the Town, I stayed in one on Shuter Street in the Garden district via Airbnb, 20 minutes from Eaton center

 Yes I did go up there for the magnificant views of the town

 No I did not step on the glass floor!!!!

 manicure at the aquarium

and I visited Niagara falls a long time dream!! Fantastic!!and I will go back and visit the american side one day....
I did some more shopping, One day I meet up with Connie who is a friend from PR and Sue who I knew by name and Connies grandkids who tought me all about cheerleading. we Went fabric shopping at Fabricland who is the canadian kind of Joann but without the 1 dollar patternsale. I bought two fabrics there, one winterjersey and one according to the reciept; malycraknit a rayon elastan knit that are so yammy I regret not buying 3 meters of all colors

Help I have nothing to wear!

We have a fashion tv show in Sweden! Yey! and it´s a good one too! there has been 4 episodes so far and the concept is that someone who has problem with there wardrobe ask for help and the help is Carolina Gynning, She is besides Viktoria Silversteth the most glamourous Sweden has to offer, she is also an author and an artist, and a good one! The other host Li Gadd Dackås is head designer at Ellos, a Swedish mailorder company that has been around for ages....
What makes this program so great is that they let the "victim" discover her new look by giving her choises and as Liv said in one show; there´s a differense between dressing up and dressing out.
The show gave me curage to cleen out my closet on a lot of things that´s not me like clothes in odd colors and tops with prints.
Off course you can buy all the clothes at Ellos but they also keep what´s wearable in the original closet and bring something to the showroom to discover new ways to wear it.
And of course there is hair makeup and champagne at the end!

Wardrobe planning

Today I´ve bee doing some thinking about my closet  as I was reading and thinking about it according to Colette´s  wardrobe architecture. I´ve been thinking about my silouettes, my choise of patterns, my colors, and a lot more, I already decided to toss some things....
I live in a climat that can be very cold in the winter...or not...and can be very hot in the summer...usually not... and I work in a poorly air conditioned place that has 3 different climate zones. and then I like to travel....and also add that I´m 55 and have some issues with side effects from my anti cancer pills that I will take for another 5 years...and I´m very thankful for that,sligtly sweathy but thankful!
I like layering! Cardigans are my best friend! I also like to wear leggings but I don´t think they do anything to an outfit but they keep me cosy on the coach and warm while getting to work an also cosy during night shifts.

Sarai seperate the colors in neutrals, almost neutrals, statement and metallics.

I decided that my neutrals are:
Black
Grey, all 50 shades...
Off white
Navy ( an almost neutral according to Sarai, but since it´s an important color to me I treat it as a neutral
Warm tan

Almost neutral:
Denim blue
Burgundy
Dark green
Dark Brown ( stepping away from this since I fell in love with black...)

Statement
Pink! Everything exept the lightest shades and as a breast cancer survivar I have a right to everything pink and I even own  the pink SMEG refrigirator!!!!....
Burnt orange
Teal
Purple, dark purple not the lilac kind
Lime
I have to edit here and add red, I don´t like red clothes but adore red shoes....

Metallics
I actually prefer gold and bronze but on the other hand I like to do silver smithing

Then it comes to prints I basically like everything that´s adult looking and my real love is a good texture, linen has a nice texture but wrinkles....but there are other weaves that are interesting. I´ve been looking at Linton tweeds and decided to buy a meter and make myself a skirt and I´m going for pink and want to match it with a Bohus cardigan, a Chanel suit is not for me....

I was in Toronto last week and my fabric purses was actually very good; i bought an off white shirting for a blouse, a black rayon for two basic tops, a grey denim becourse I read that that´s what french women where wearing and a navy "winter jersey" for a skirt. ( More on fabric shopping in Toronto later.....

Camilla Thulin at Dunkers Kulturhus

If you are in the neighborhood before october 9 or it´s actually a reason to travel....I Think you should go to Dunkers Kulturhus in Helsingborg, this is in the very south of Sweden so f you are in Denmark take a trip over Öresund. Dunkers are showing an exibition of the work of Camilla Thulin, She is a favourite of mine and most of this pictures are actally from when the exibit was showing in Stockholm earlier, the only reason I needed to take a daytrip by train...
Camilla does costumes for theatre and movies and she has a huge collection of vintage clothes  from the 50:ies and she collects folklore, in Sweden she is well known for her lingerie design and strong opinions on womens bodies, she did all the clothes for Army of lovers and thís exibit is a combo of everything

GBSB From Stitch to Style

 

I´m a big fan of The Great British Sewing Bee and since it´s not airing in Sweden I watch on Youtube ( what did we do before we had Youtube???...) I think it was a good season, a nice mix of sewers, Esme was fun but I prefer Patrick´s wardrobe and Claudia is such a good host. Did the right sewer win, Yes! probably...but not based on what she did in the final episode...

I´m really impressed by Jade who has been sewing for 4 years, what a potencial to became a great sewer, I really liked her style and with some more experience she will be a really good sewer.

I bought the first book but sold it and when I saw the Bunka skirt I knew I had to buy this book. It´s a really nice book that I will keep! the patterna are on sturdy paper and in a seperate envelope and the sizes are up to size 20 ( the measures are for the finished garment and for the Breton top it´s 140 cm over the bust.

 

There are varations of the patterns and even though most of them are for women there are patterns for kids as well as men ( like the shirt in the final )

If you read this blog you know I´m a huge fan of YSL and I´ve been fashionated by the Mondrian dress for years but it was first when I saw this show and they used other colors that the urge to make one for myself came. I decided that cotton satin with some stretch would be a good fabric ....but so hard to find....until last week when I went to Copenhagen and visited ITA fabrics. They had like 20 colors! I bought these:

there is black, grey, a dark red and a teal and they are washed and ready to be cut, I bought 1 meter of each and planning to make a Mondrian skirt or something else from the leftovers. In the book they have a variation of the dress; a top using only 2 colors and it´s really cute!!!!

Sewing with a plan for fall

I used to have a really nice black wardrobe before I went towards navy and grey and for fall I decided to update my black basics and this plan is a good start...

 

 

I´m going to make a slightly flaired wool skirt that I will line, I have a fabric with a very nice drape and some diagonally kind of weave that I bought in Paris a couple of years ago. The black and grey stripe for the dress is from Tom Ford and bought at Skipper Stoffe in Copenhagen last week, I will use a pattern from Ottobre that I already made two dresses from and absolutely love...

 

 

 

The fabric for the jacket is this panel that I bought in St Petersburg, It´s only one panel but since it´s double weave I think it´s enought for the bomber jacket 

 

and the very basic part of this is leggings, the best layering piece of cloth ever invented and then I want one short sleeved and one long sleeeved top in a basic shape but in a thicker quality of rayon knit with elasta in it, I still need to find this fabric....and then I do I want to do tops in navy, grey and offwhite too. I have had a lot of basic tops over the year that are out of grain, see through and really not has a good finish