Thanks, Burdastyle!

This morning, while checking my emails, I found this beautiful surprise: my Darling Ranges dress is the Member Project of the Week on Burdastyle! I almost jumped on the chair, I couldn't believe I was there, alongside Mena... I'm really flattered.

So, a big thank you to Burdastyle and if you're new here... welcome!

I should be back to blogging soon, I already have a couple things to share and I can't wait!

Technical Problems

My Macbook had an accident last week. After much swearing and crying, now I'm relying on my boyfriend's laptop to check emails and Google Reader, but blogging will be kept to a minimum. I hope it's going to be for a short period of time.
Have a great week, everyone!

p.s. Many many thanks to Megan and Mathilde who shared my Darling Ranges dress on their blogs! ♥

The Burda Archive Project

The first Burda magazine I've ever seen was back in 2006. I couldn't sew yet, but I had asked my mom to make me a skirt for a formal occasion and she told me we could find a pattern for it in that magazine. I was immediately charmed. It wasn't just the begininning of a learning process, but also of a small collection. After that year, I bought Burda magazine randomly until 2010, when I started to buy it regularly

Granted, some issues are really not worth buying. But looking at the previews on the site and leafing through the actual magazine every month has become a sort of ritual for me.

Now, the number of issues in my possession is starting to be diffucult to manage. I sometimes look for a specific pattern but I never remember in which issue it was in. I had started to make copies of the central pages, the ones with all the technical drawings of the patterns, to be kept in a binder in my room, but then I thought, why not to share with the Internet?

You can find all the issues from 2010 and 2011 in my Flickr (January and August 2010 are missing, sorry). All the titles and stuff are written in Italian, but you don't really need them if you're using these pages like I do. I will update the sets regularly and I will also add the few issues pre-2010 and the few issues I own of La Mia Boutique, in case anyone might be interested.

This is a great way for me to keep track of all my patterns, but I do hope that someone can find this useful!

Inspiration: Lemon Breeland

Hart of Dixie is one of Cw’s newest series released this year. Honestly, the only reason I started watching it is because I'm a fan of Rachel Bilson since The O.C. (don't judge, I was a teenager!).
The show doesn't have the most original plot, in fact it's full of rom-com clichés and it's quite cheesy. But it's the kind of show I like to play in the background while I sew and it's pure eye candy.
The makeup and costumes of the female characters are always perfect; Rachel Bilson has an edgy, modern New York girl style, but my favorite is Lemon Breeland's wardrobe. She's a southern belle and she's always dressed very girly and vintage, as a contrast to Bilson's character.

Her hair and makeup are also worth mentioning, they're always to die for.

Source

Highlights of the week ♥ 13

Hi, guys!
This week three out of four of my links are tutorials, so enjoy and get crafting!
I wish you all the best of weekends!

1. There are a lot of Peter Pan collar tutorials on the Internet, but I really like this take on it.
2. Lovely and recycled packaging? Yes, please!
3. Amazing polo transformation.
4. These emboidered pieces are unbelievably inspiring.

Peter Pan experiment

Didn't I tell you that I had made another blouse from the La Mia Boutique pattern? Well, here it is!

This blouse was purely an experiment, since I wasn't sure if the collar would work once shifted. That's why I only used remnants from previous projects (this and this) to sew it.

I'm quite satisfied with the result, but it won't become one of my most worn blouses. First of all, the materials are stiffer than the viscose I used for the Apple of My Eye blouse, which means that the bodice is significantly tighter and the collar revealed itself to be what I had already suspected: a flounce, more than an actual collar. I really wasn't going for a ruffly effect, so I handstitched the collar to the shoulder seams, this way most of the "ruffliness" is in the back and I can hide it wearing a cardigan over it.

As I said, it's not the best blouse in the world, but it was great practice for sewing a bound collar and a placket (is anyone interested in a tutorial for the latter?).

All in all, it increased my love for Peter Pan collars even more (like that's possible) and since it kind of reminds me of Megan Nielsen's Banksia top, it made me want to try that pattern even more.

In other news, did you notice the new "Sewing Studio" and "Lovely Guests" tabs under the blog banner? They took some work, but I'm so satisfied with the result. I hope they make the blog navigation easier!

Darling Ranges Dress

Did you see that Megan Nielsen recently released the first pattern based on her past collections? Since I'm a big fan of her work, I was waiting for this moment, so I bought my copy as soon as it came out and it arrived in my mail surprinsingly quickly.

It was such a delight to sew this dress! The instructions are great, the pattern sheets are made in a sturdy paper that is ten thousand times better than the super thin one you usually get, I even loved the sizing (the pattern comes in 5 different sizes, which means clear lines to follow on the sheets).

I had to make an FBA (which is starting to be a standard for me), other than that everything went great and all the marks matched up. I really love that the neckline is finished with bias tape (see last detail photo), because I loathe facings and this way you have a chance to add a splash of colour (pink and white polka dots for me :D).

The only downside is that the neckline is a bit too low for me and I find it a bit uncomfortable: great for a date, not so much for the library. I'll add a camisole underneath for every day wear (I can use one more layer in winter anyway), but a future version will definitely have a higher neckline.

The fabric I used is a lightweight viscose I bought last summer; I had saved for this pattern and I'm so happy I did. I think they work great together and I can't have enough polka dots (seriously, my wardrobe is vomiting polka dots).
 
Sorry if this post was a bit on the cheesy side, but I guess you've realized by now that I have a new favorite pattern. I can't wait for Megan to make more of her designs available, in the meantime I've already decided that I'll make a sleeveless version of the Darling Ranges dress for next summer, as she suggests in the instruction booklet.