First ugly duckling of the year

For a reminder on what ugly ducklings are please click here :) Today's garment actually fits twice in the UD category: first I can't believe I was attracted to that highly synthetic fabric in harsh electric blue -I LOVE blue but my palette for this colour's usually navy and pastel- and second its the first dropped waist dress I've ever owned. As is often the case I don't know why I woke up one morning with the strong desire to make such a garment but I followed my fancy and I'm very happy with the result!

I used a Japanese top pattern with bust darts for the dress, I lengthened it, changed the sleeves that I finished with elastic and added three rows of shirring on the hips.

 

Also here are the last three days of MMM13:
- on 29th I wore my nautical dress from an altered Burda pattern:

- on 30th my chambray V top from the first Stylish Dress book:

- and on 31st my self-drafted fruity cotton skirt:

Lots of thank you to the awesome Zoe for hosting MMM again this year, it was a pleasure to show my me-mades and above all I was amazed at how talented and stylish all the participants were!

I made a shirt...

... and I love it! The pattern is from an old Female magazine, I traced the LL size because the M size I made back in 2009 when I was even slimmer than now was already a bit tight. Why not try the intermediate L size you may ask? I wanted a relaxed fit and a design that would be a bit masculine because I thought it would go well with the chosen fabric, some cotton and linen blend with faded blue stripes.
Of course this being a Japanese pattern everything went together like a breeze and the shirt was finished in one day:

Can you spot Dora? :)

Since there aren't many and I wanted them to look good I handsewed the buttonholes and I made Franch seams for the sleeves' seams since they would be exposed when rolled. The tan plastic buttons are my favourite for shirts, I buy them in bulk in a haberdashery located on the West coast of the island and I have them in 3 sizes, from tiny for collar attaches to 5/8". 

This pattern has darts at the back and on the front but I only kept the back ones, they're sufficient to add a nice shape to the shirt. Also I wonder about a breast pocket? Anyway I like this design a lot and I'm already planning another one out of crazy kitty fabric!

Me-Made-May 2012: week 1 recap

Hey there! Here are the garments I wore for the first week of MMM:
- on 01st, 06th and 08th I stayed at home in my old coral linen Burda shorts. I love this pattern (from the May 2010 mag) because you need very little fabric to make them and it's a great way of busting remnants!

- on 02nd I wore my new Burda shorts made using the wrong side of some light weight denim, it's a great pattern, easy to make and comfortable yet quite classy with the front pleats. The tunic is from Pochée, I used some repro fabric of a civil war wallpaper for it -I'm always amazed at what cool origins this top has :)

- on 03rd I wore the same shorts with a Burda top made from strange synthetic fabric whose red and blue ume flowers print I love!

- on 04th the weather turned super cold and rainy so I could wear my favourite jacket frankesteined from a Pochée pattern and made of mustard linen and polyester blend. I added a simple V-neck, kimono sleeved black and white top from Female and navy cotton shorts adapted from a Pochée pattern again.

- on 05th I wore a pull-over dress made from a 70's Simplicity pattern, I love the pintuck pleats on the bodice and butterfly sleeves and the fabric has cute tiny orangey flowers so this dress is really a favourite!

- on 07th I finally decided to wear an oversized shirt made from a Female pattern, you can tie the front (which I did) or let it loose. I love this garment because the design is quite original IMO and I used striped cotton that my boyfriend gave me for my birthday last year and pretty red buttons bought in a small haberdashery in Asakusa so it's really dear to me. The denim shorts are a bit small but I wear them a lot anyway, they're from the French crafts magazine Fait Main.

Now for my mum's outfits:
- on 02nd she wore a low waist dress adapted from a Japanese pattern and made with Ikea fabric.

- and on 07th she wore an A-line skirt, another Japanese pattern with polycotton bought in a local shop.

See you soon with more me-made garments :)

It's me again^^

Hello friends, how are you?! I'm so sorry I went MIA for a few weeks but I had a big case of laziness and I couldn't be bothered with taking pictures of what I had done, editing them -I'm so bad at taking photographs so this is something I always have to do- trying to find stuff to write that won't sound too boring or silly etc. Plus I had loads of work, my baby came back after his 9 months in France :) and finally I went on holiday. Anyway I want to apologize to the amazing Zoe for stopping Me-Made-June so suddenly and dear Hillary -my sewing idol!- and Ophelia thanks for your kind concern, it meant a lot to me!
I overcame my aversion to taking pics today and therefore have a garment to show you:

This is a shirt I made back in May, I used a slightly modified version of the knock-off shirt and black baby gingham. I was obsessed with daisy chains back then but couldn't find the correct embellishment so I bought white flower trim and coloured the center with a yellow fabric felt tip:

Lol to finish here's the only pic I could salvage of me in the shirt:

I have a lot of blog reading to catch up with, some new fabrics to wash and iron and plenty of new sewing books so I'm not sure when I can post again, until then see you!

Grandpa shirt

Hello there, how are you? I'm soooo excited by what I have to show you today! First a quick explanation to this creation: once upon a time I had a great, loose white shirt -called grand-père in French, hence the title- bought on sale in a cheap catalogue and that I LOVED with a passion. Unfortunately said shirt's fabric rapidly became discoloured and full of holes since it was so cheap and I wore it all the time. At first I would mend the holes and pretend I didn't see the discoloration spots but it reached a point where this strategy didn't work and so I had to do something. With trembling hands I took apart my beloved shirt to trace a pattern from it and pheeew, it actually worked! :) Yes, I can now make an endless supply of this super shirt! Without further ado here's the baby:




The only change I made from the original version is not to button the shirt all the way down on the front, I like it better this way. The fabric is lilac striped cotton, I'm in love with it, I have it in navy blue stripes and I want the mint green and yellow ones too!
By the way, thank you again for taking the time to read and/or comment on this blog, I really appreciate it! Have a great weekend, see you!

My lil chemisier

Hello friends, how are you? I'm glad to tell you that the Butterick shirt is done :) This was really easy to sew once I got the swayback issue solved. I used tiny polka dot crepe fabric and tan buttons from my stash.



The weather isn't very good today so the pictures are ashier than usual but you get the idea for the top^^. Now I NEED a yellow pencil skirt to wear it with and of course among the dozens of fabric in my stash there's nothing in the correct colour or weight. See you!

Long blue shirt

Hello friends, how are you? I'm continuing to explore my new Female magazine, this time I've sewn a long shirt using a piece of a huge old cotton bedsheet I've found while cleaning my place^^. It's my favourite shade of blue, forget-me-not or "myosotis" in French, I was so glad to come across it! I have like 2 meters left so expect to see more garments made in this fabric :) I chose this design because of its many nice features: the front pintucks, the pointy button tab, the back inverted pleat with a yoke extending to the shoulders, the pleats at the wrist and the buttoned cuffs. It may sound like a lot of work but it went together very easily -as usual with Japanese patterns- the only step I changed is the wrists' slits that were supposed to be finished with a tab and that I replaced with a classic facing. I've just realised that I kept my sleeves rolled up today so you won't see this detail in the pics!



Still determined to bust as many hoarded fabrics as my heart will stand, I've also made a bag using some beautiful cotton bought in Nippori in 2007. I found the pattern in the same magazine as the shirt and I lined the bag with a remnant of camel twill.

You can't really tell from this picture but all the flowers are outlined with a golden thread, sigh

I may give it to my friend Marie for her birthday on Saturday since she's fond of Asian stuff and I'm sure she'd love the print, I'll see if I can part with it!
See you!

That 70's shirt

Now, that was a clever title^^ Hello everyone, how are you today? I'd like to show you a garment I made a few weeks ago, using this pattern:

Don't you just love the styling?! I want each one of these outfits, shoes included :) Love the hairdos too!

I made view 2 without the sleeves' lapels because I didn't have enough fabric. I chose simple off-white poplin and discreet camel buttons, the instructions were easy to follow and I love my shirt! I've been wearing it today with black jeans and I'll wear it next week with the skirt from the same pattern, it's a lovely design that has a 70's-ish flavour because of the rather big, pointy collar and lapels and the slim sleeves but it definitely doesn't look costumy. See:



I'm wearing it with my favouritest brooch ever:

About this little fella, I bought it in Kyoto during my latest holidays in Japan, at the souvenir shop of a hotel/spa/golf lost near a forest. Why was I myself lost near a forest? I was trying to find a temple called Daitoku-ji for my mum, indeed it was our third time in Kyoto but we had never been able to access said temple before for various reasons. This time we had a "map" -now that I think of it it was actually a simplified drawing of the place in a travel guide- we were in the right area, having just left the Ryoanji and the fact that it was noon on an extremely sunny day in the middle of summer didn't seem like a problem. Well, we walked for ONE HOUR AND A HALF under a burning sun, following our map and we ended in the forest. Fortunately that was Japan so the first lady we asked helped us, telling us where we were and calling a taxi. While we waited I entered the shop nearby and that's how I found my brooch. We eventually made it to the Daitoku-ji, even if once inside we got lost in the complex before finding the Daisenin^^.

I also wanted to show you another buttercup bag I made out of blue mock suede, the lining is higly cute cotton from Okayama and it has a bit of bias so that I can hang a strap because every bag should have its own lil' kappa:


And last but not least I fell hard for this nail polish:


That's all for now, have a nice weekend, see you!

My cute shirt

Hello friends! As you may know I'm fond of Japanese fashion, the super feminine and cute sort with tons of lace, pearls, bows, candy colors... Well I've fallen completely in love with the latest Dior collection that was shown in Shangai a few weeks ago:

Amazing, right^^?! The last outfit especially has been haunting my dreams ever since I first saw it :) What's a seamstress to do then? Of course I couldn't recreate such a work of art -not to mention pulling off the entire outfit which would make me look like a giant pastry- but I can at least make a few pieces inspired by it! Proudly introducing the first in a series of slightly Dior related garments, my Simple Yet Cute White Shirt!

I'm sure you recognize it! It's the vintage Advance pattern I've already used for a peach dress and a temari blouse. I've drafted a quick peplum to lengthen the top and that was it. I didn't put buttons but snaps because I plan to wear it tucked inside skirts or with fabric belts so I needed the front to be as flat as possible. I must admit that it's a tiny bit tight, hum I've been eating and drinking too much lately^^!

As I wanted to have a really glamourous, girly piece I finished the yoke and sleeves' facings as well as the hem with lace. That's it for today, I have two skirts in making, I hope they turn out good and I can show you them soon! Have a lovely weekend, see you!

Vintage shirt Simplicity 4194

Hello! It's been a looong time since I've posted anything vintage related so behold Simplicity 4194, my latest creation!


This pattern is a winner, it was easy to make and the result -in my opinion^^- is lovely! I made view 3 without the pockets in a lightweight cotton bought at this awesome seller's shop. About alterations, I followed a fellow retro seamstress advice and took off some of the sleeves' ease because I didn't want huge, gathered caps and I added a fourth buttonhole at the waist line. I'm positive I'll make this shirt again, it has such an old-fashioned flair!





See you!

Another knock-off top

Pheeew I've finally completed some sewing projects! The infamous shacket is still waiting for its wrist hems but I managed to make a shirt for my mum and a top for me. So, for my mum's shirt I used the pattern from this dress -design S from the Stylish Dress Book, the fabric is a soft cotton with thin blue and white stripes and I added some eyelet at the sleeve cuffs and along the necklace.



As for my top, I found the idea in Sweet, a Japanese magazine:


I used the pattern for this top, the fabric is simple white cotton with big navy ric-rac. I put 4 golden buttons and 2 little pockets. It was so easy to make it only took an afternoon to finish it :)