A super girly Airelle dress

Pattern: Deer and Doe's Airelle blouse.

Size: size 38

Alterations: turned the collar into a Peter Pan shape; omitted the darts, added the skirt panels of the Sureau dress.

Fabric: black cotton poplin form my stash; bow-printed chiffon from Wholeport.

*This post contains affiliate links*

It's a rainy, gloomy week and I don't feel like blogging, but I've been quite productive lately and I'd hate to have project photos pile up just because I'm lazy.

So here's one of my latest makes, a variation of Deer and Doe's Airelle blouse. I love this pattern to pieces, but my first two attempts (1 and 2) weren't very successful. My main mistake was fabric choice, both were too stiff for this garment. And because I also wear dresses much more than separates, I decided that for my next attempt I would make it into a dress.

I received this fabric as part of the blogger sponsorship program at Wholeport and I thought it would be perfect for a dreamy, super feminine version of Airelle. This chiffon wasn't exactly easy to work with, but it does look incredibly cute.

One of my favorite things of this pattern is how well the collar is drafted, it perfectly lays on the shoulders.
One piece of advice, though: don't skip the facing! I hate facings and I replace them with bias tape every time I can, but in this case, the bias tape will really complicate your life and it will be very difficult to make the neckline look neat on the inside.

And that's it! To be honest, this is not my favorite dress ever, but I do like it nonetheless and it fits quite seamlessy into my wardrobe.

What would you have made with this chiffon?

Modello: Blusa Airelle di Deer and Doe

Taglia: taglia 38

Modifiche: transformato il colletto in Peter Pan; omesso le pince; aggiunto la gonna dell'abito Sureau.

Tessuto: popeline nero dalla mia collezione; chiffon con stampa a fiocchi di Wholeport.

*Questo post contiene link di affiliazione*

Che brutto tempo, questa settimana! Piovoso e malinconico, mi ha tolto qualsiasi voglia di scrivere! Ma visto che sono stata piuttosto produttiva ultimamente, mi spiacerebbe lasciare accumulare le foto dei miei ultimi progetti solo perché sono pigra, perciò ecco una delle mie ultime fatiche: una variate della blusa Airelle di Deer and Doe.

Amo moltissimo questo modello, ma i miei primi due tentativi (1 e 2) non sono stati di successo. Per entrambi ho usato della stoffa troppo rigida, che li rendeva scomodi; inoltre, indosso molti più abiti che separati, perciò sapevo che il mio tentativo seguente avrebbe dovuto essere una trasformazione in abito.

Ho ricevuto questa stoffa come parte del programma di sponsorship di Wholeport e ho pensato subito che sarebbe stata perfetta per una versione ariosa e super femminile di Airelle. Questo chiffon non è molto semplice da tagliare e da cucire, ma è veramente carinissimo.

Una delle mie cose preferite di questo modello è il colletto, che cade perfettamente sulla curva del collo.
Un consiglio, però: usate la paramentura! Io odio le paramenture e le sostituisco appena posso con lo sbieco, ma in questo caso vi complichereste la vita e non avreste un interno ben rifinito.

Ed è tutto! A essere sinceri, non è il mio abito preferito di sempre, ma mi piace comunque ed è una buona aggiunta al mio guardaroba.

Voi che cosa avreste fatto con questo chiffon?

Me Made May 2013 - Week 1

Woohoo! It started!

THURSDAY

Blouse: Airelle blouse by Deer and Doe 

Cardigan: Zara (Old)

Jeans: no brand

Shoes: Converse

I never blogged about this Airelle I made last Autumn, but I've been wearing it quite a bit.
The idea is the same as this other blouse: I refashioned a man button-up using the Airelle pattern, this one is just sleeveless.
By the way, the blue refashioned Airelle didn't survive the winter (ie I threw it away), because the material was too stiff and it was just uncomfortable to wear. This yellow one is a lot softer, so it works much better. Lightweight fabrics work much better with this pattern.

FRIDAY

T-shirt: Banksia top by Megan Nielsen (originally blogged here)

Jeans: no brand

Bag: Fiorucci for OVS

Shoes: Pimkie

I really need to make more knit Banksia tops. This one was an experiment and although the fabric is not the best quality and print-wise, I really like it. Extremely comfortable for running around all day, with the added cuteness of a Peter Pan collar.

SATURDAY

Shirt: Fiorucci for OVS

Skirt: Kelly skirt by Megan Nielsen (orginally blogged here)

Bag: vintage

Shoes: no brand

I love this outfit, even more so after my brother made the snide comment that I looked like Minnie Mouse. Like that could EVER be an offence to me (or to other awesome people)!

Anyway, this skirt seriously goes with everything, and looks great with everything. Thank you forever, Megan, for this pattern.

Now, there's no me-made look for today (Sunday). I came back from work late and completely exhausted, and it was raining. I just changed in my pj's and gave up, so to compensate today's fail (my pledge is four times a week) I'll try to go for five me-made days next week!

How did your first me-made week go?

Refashioned Airelle blouse

I hope you're not tired of seeing Deer and Doe related stuff on this blog, because I've just begun! :)

For last week's challenge of The Sew Weekly, I took a second hand men shirt and turned it into an Airelle blouse.

I thought I was going to be in a minority of people taking an old garment and using a pattern to transform it, but it turns out most people did like me. I always look up to people sewing without patterns, I was a little ashamed to use a pattern for this challenge, but I guess I was idealizing the process of refashioning a bit too much.

Being my usual, distracted self, I forgot to take photos of the original shirt before I cut into it, but I guess everyone knows how a classic man shirt looks like, no big deal.

I cut the pattern in a size 38 and the fit is very good. It's not perfect overall just because the fabric of this shirt was a tiny bit too stiff for this design. I have made another Airelle blouse in a softer material and it feels a lot different, especially when I move.

This pattern is so full of lovely details: the gathering at the shoulders, the vertical darts, the collar, the back yoke. It's also super versatile: you can alter the collar shape, you can add or skip the piping, you can play with the sleeve length and get so many different takes on this lovely design.

I prefer to wear mine tucked in a high waisted skirt, but in these photos I decided to show that it also looks good as a casual shirt with jeans.

Speaking of which, can you spot something different than usual in my photos?
I think this is the least edited my photos have been for a very long time (if not ever), and I'm still wrapping my head around it.
I wanted to address this topic in this post, but I've decided to keep it separate, so... coming soon!