Bad news first

Two things:

#1: The bad news is that my local Barnes & Noble has either stopped carrying BurdaStyle, or they haven't gotten the November issue in yet. Which is a shame, because based on some previews I've seen on other blogs, I'm actually interested in picking this one up. There's this kimono-esque shirt and this kind of intriguing blouse that I could see myself making (the kimono shirt in particular), and this formal dress that falls into the category of "I wish I had an excuse to sew this." I'll check again next week, but I may have to wait and hope that those are some of the patterns that the BurdaStyle site is willing to share. They didn't have the latest SewStylish either, which was disappointing. I guess I could have looked at Threads, but I also needed to stop at the grocery store and didn't want to take a lot more time. So kind of a letdown on the sewing front. The good news (for my interest, not for my wallet) is that they did have all three of the knitting magazines I was thinking about picking up. So I got the latest KnitScene (love that magazine), a copy of knit.wear , and the special Jane Austen Knits issue that Interweave recently came out with. (I am also a sucker for all things Jane. And based on my initial flip-through, it looks like there's some potentially interesting articles too, all about things like how they dyed fabric back in the Regency era, a profile on a sewing pattern company that focuses on historic garments, etc.)

So in summary, bad B&N trip on the sewing front, great on the knitting one.

#2: The bad news is, I think I'm going to have to start the sweater over entirely. After ripping out about 7 rows and re-knitting some over the last few days, I discovered that the mistakes apparently go back further than I'd thought, because there's this one section where I still didn't have the right number of stitches to follow the pattern, and had to keep trying to compensate. It's a bit of a mess. Also, when I tried it on, this thing is off-the-shoulder huge. I think the neckline stretched while I was waiting for step 2, because it was always a tight fit around that circular needle. So as much as I hate to do it, I think I may have to just start again. I'm debating whether it should be one needle size down.

The good news is, with all of this handling of the yarn I've been doing over the last couple of days, my hands are feeling no ill effects. So I think I can now safely say that my wool sensitivity does not extend to alpaca. (Now if only they'd make alpaca fabric as a substitute for wool...)

Burda Style 03/11 review

Though I let my subscription run out, due to being rather disappointed for the most part with the last several issues, I did pick up the latest one from the bookstore today (now that I have a bookstore nearby that actually carries them!) There were a couple of things in there I really liked, actually. But then there were some really horrific things, too. So here's my review:

The good:
 You'd have to have the right figure to pull it off, but this actually looked very nice on the model as well. I didn't like the full-length one as much, but this one is pretty good.

 This jacket was my main incentive for buying this issue. I love the pleated peplum. And while I know I could probably figure this sort of thing out from another basic jacket pattern, it's always nice when someone else does the work for you.

 Pretty much THE perfect basic straight skirt pattern. (Which, incidentally, I was looking for a sloper-type pattern like this during a recent 5 for $5 sale at Joann's, and the company in question did not have a single one.) Looks like it even has pockets!

  Even though I could probably figure this one out myself very easily, it's still a nice basic jersey skirt.

 My other incentive for buying this issue. I like the pants as is, but they also have 2 of the 4 missing elements from my other pattern for knocking off the Anthropologie pants: the waistband and the welt pockets. I figured that melding this pattern with the other should be fairly simple, since it's the same company. The pleats will have to be figured out myself, but then all I would need, should I choose to torment myself with accuracy instead of making it easier for myself by going with the side zip that's already in the other pattern, is the fly front.

 Hey look, the fly front! (Plus I like that there's a longer version of a very basic, non-pleated front short.)

The bad:
 One of their wedding dresses. For a girl who watched too much Sailor Moon growing up.

 To be fair, though, the basic lines of this dress (and the top version they also have in here) aren't bad at all. It could make a really great maxi-dress or camisole (though probably not for me, because I'd be falling out all over the place up top). This would be the part of Project Runway where the judge would normally tell the designer that he or she needs to learn how to edit--the toga party drape is just unnecessary. And ugly.

 The 80s called. They want their Flashdance costumes back.

The "what were they THINKING?"

(Most of which came from the wedding section, actually.)
On the plus side, you have a built-in apron in case you drop cake on yourself during the reception.

 Just, ew.

 Just what I always wanted: a maternity poncho.

 I don't know about you all, but drawing attention to my inner thighs by sticking a weird seam in there is not exactly something I want to do.

 And the worst: Because it's clearly every woman's dream to look like a bowling pin on her wedding day.

Aside from that, the crafts were the usual meh. There were some pretty cute baby things in there, too, but that's not really useful to me at this point.

p.s. I actually have been sewing quite a bit over the last two days. Maybe I'll have something to show for it soon.

sewing at a snail's pace

So what I said about the Hong Kong finish meaning this jacket would take me three times as long to sew was a bit inaccurate. It's actually turning out to be five times as long, because I have to sew every seam five times! So after working on it for the past week, the current status of my jacket is that I have the front, back, side and shoulder seams done. That's it. :-P Though I am happy with how the finish is turning out. And it turns out that it's a good thing I'm doing a bound seam, because for suedecloth, this fabric frays an awful lot!

See?

The other thing that's taking a good bit of time with this is that I'm actually undoing the textured embroidery on the facings. It's not hard to take that cording off, just a bit time-consuming. But since the nature of this jacket is going to make it be worn more like a shirt, more likely than not, I figured it would be more comfortable against my skin that way. And I still get a bit of the "print" from the lines that stay embedded in the fabric after removing the cording. I kind of like the look of it, actually. Subtle.

Another challenge with this jacket is that for some reason, this fabric does NOT want to press right. I don't know if it's because the Hong Kong finish means I didn't clip a single seam, but they are not lying flat. At all. I even tried turning the heat on the iron up all the way (with a pressing cloth so I didn't melt the fabric), and it's still got a bit of an "I didn't bother to iron this at all" look. That bugs me, but I'm not sure what else to do with it.

I'm hoping I can make some good progress on this tomorrow--things are a bit slow at the garden center in November, and as a result, my hours got cut back even more. So the only day I was scheduled this week was yesterday, and that means I've got some extra time on my hands tomorrow. One thing I have done that's helped is that my sewing machine is currently sitting right next to my computer. So that means I can skim through emails or blog posts while I pin seams, and makes my time somewhat doubly productive. (Or slows both down, but I feel better about doing something else while I'm sitting in front of the computer. Plus then I can just sew for ten minutes here or there where I normally wouldn't.)  I've also decided that my next sewing project is going to be a quick job, to make up for this one!

But I'm hoping it turns out well. It'll ease the pain somewhat of how boring the Burda magazine has gotten. Seriously-- there was nothing in it that I liked this month. Everything was just so shapeless and blah, and I was highly unimpressed. And the one jacket that I sort of liked, it was really nothing that I haven't seen before, and there were no standout details to instantly put it on my must-sew list like the jacket I'm currently making. At least the debate is settled on whether I'm going to renew my subscription once it runs out--not happening. If I like something enough, I'll just buy the individual issues at Barnes & Noble, or download individual patterns from the website.

On a somewhat random note, apparently my last post was my 500th and I missed it. I should probably do something about that. But it's going to have to wait....I just haven't had a chance to think of any cool giveaways or anything yet. And I have to run, because I'm going to a concert tonight and am supposed to leave to meet my bestie...um, now.

Why, hello, my neglected blog!

Been a little lax on the posting lately, but rather than do one super-long post, I'm going to just do a couple of short ones.

First on the menu: My (now actually completed) basic black skirt! I finished this one officially about 2 weeks ago, I think.

Pattern: Skirt #104 B from the 2/10 issue of Burda

Pattern Description: An A-line skirt with waistband and side pockets.

Pattern Sizing: 34-44. I think I ended up starting with a 40?

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, minus the buckle things on the pockets.And the waistband is a little different.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Typical Burda--I couldn't make sense of their pockets at all, so I ended up using a different sewing book as reference. (And then went on my own to do a couple things, ended up doing things in the wrong order, and having to improvise from there!

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? It's a really good basic skirt pattern that would have a lot of versatility. I just wish the pockets would lay flatter. (Though they don't look too bad from the side...)

Fabric Used: A linen-blend or linen-look.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: What I ended up doing with the waistband was I sewed in the invisible zipper before I sewed that on, and I was supposed to make the invisible zipper part of that center waistband seam. So I had to improvise a lapped waistband with hooks instead-- I just didn't want to undo the invisible zipper, because it was one of my better zipper jobs! I think it would have looked better in the end with the zipper done the way they said to, but oh well. That's what I get for not paying attention to the directions. I also added a bit of length. And I altered the waist/hips area in accordance with my skirt sloper pattern from the skirt-fitting class I took last fall, though I ended up having to take it in even more. (I'd better check that sloper...)

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes, I think I would sew it again. A-line skirts are my favorite, and I like the idea of having a go-to pattern with pockets!

Conclusion: Aside from the pocket instructions, I think this was a good pattern to work with.

Back with more later-- I have to take my serger to the repair shop, and I have limited time before I have more work!

Pattern Review: Burda 6/09 #102

Finished it up on Sunday morning, technically...I had to hand-sew the bindings on, and had one left to go when I got home from a friend's party around 12:45 in the morning. So I finished it up before I went to bed because I already had the outfit planned around it for church in the morning! So here's the pattern review.

Pattern: #102 from the June 2009 issue of Burda.

Pattern Description: A pleated knit shirt with waistband, v-neck, and 2-piece raglan sleeves.

Pattern Sizing: Burda sizes 36-44. Mine is 38.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Mostly. (Judge for yourself.)

Were the instructions easy to follow? Honestly, I kind of disregarded much of the instructions-- I did most of the construction on serger and did things in a different order to make it work with that kind of seaming. And I pretty much ignored the instructions on their pleats entirely, since I stitched them completely down. (On the plus side, this made it easier to follow than Burda instructions usually are!)

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I like the styling of it, and I think it looks pretty flattering on me. No particular dislikes.

Fabric Used: An organic cotton knit from JoAnn's.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: Besides a couple of fitting tweaks: I raised the neckline a bit, I took the magazine's suggestion of topstitching the pleats down (when I tested it without, it looked so balloony and awful on non-flat-chested me). The major one was that I left the front lining off entirely-- I think it was fine without it, and it just would have added extra bulk and thickness that I wouldn't want in the summer months. I also added bindings to the sleeve edges, but that was to cover my own mistake of forgetting to add hem allowance instead of just seam allowance. ;-)

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I'll be sewing this at least one more time, since I like the fabric I used for my basted-together test version. But I'll probably modify it somewhat in the front detailing so it's not identical. I would recommend it for an atypical t-shirt pattern.

Conclusion: Overall, I liked this one very much. (And I'm very glad that I took the Pattern Review knits class first! )

 

 

 And since I liked the outfit that I put together yesterday, showing that off too. I was really happy to find out that the new shirt goes very well with my sunflower skirt that I made last summer. I wore that with a pendant that's usually on a chain (but I stuck it on a wire choker for this time since it fit the neckline better), and the denim jacket that I just picked up last week. (Even though yesterday was actually pretty nice, and I was able to wear the shirt without it in the afternoon, my church is always cold!) Also wore it with silver flat shoes. 

So what do you think? Is that wardrobe project research paying off? ;-)

Trying to figure out what to make next...I'm thinking that since it's all cut out and still on my machine, I should probably do the green shirt that I tested this pattern with first. Though I'd like to figure out something a bit different to do with the pleated part so it's not an identical shirt in a different shade of green! I have some ideas in mind, and am probably going to do some research on Anthropologie to get some other possible ideas. I'm thinking perhaps this black skirt will be next on the menu after that, just because it'll go with lots of stuff. And it'll remind me that Butda magazine has some good stuff, since I got the new issue today and so far, frankly, I'm kind of bored.

I also finished a necklace last night, but still need to make the earrings to go with. So expect another post before too long.