Has sewing changed your life?

My very messy sewing corner

That's what Tilly asked last Saturday and this is my (late) answer.
Soo... yes! Sewing has definitely changed my life!
I've been around sewing machines since I was a child, because both my mom and my granny are seamstresses.
I didn't start sewing seriously until about 4 years ago and it became an increasingly important activity in my life. Right now, it's one of my most frequent thoughts and my favorite pastime. It's a great way to channel my creativity and I wear my creations with pride. I love the look on someone's face when I tell them I can sew and, although I deal terribly with compliments, I'm really happy when someone compliments my handmade garments.
I don't know anyone around my age with the same passion, so starting a blog and connecting with the sewing community has been awesome. I "met" some great people and it's an awesome support system.

Some other thoughts on sewing:
- I'm not the most social of people and I like to spend a lot of time at home. Sewing is a great way to keep myself busy, instead of being just lazy and unproductive.

- It allowed me to bond even more with my mum. We always had a good relationship, but we didn't always get along well during my teenage years (I wasn't the nicest of teenagers...). Now we go fabric shopping together, I always ask for her advice and she's a great supporter of (almost) everything I make.

- It allowed me to improve my language. Reading sewing blogs, books and pattern instructions in French and English, I feel very strong on sewing and fashion vocabulary and I can add this to my CV as a translator.

- Money! I managed to earn some (through my shop) and to save some more, both on RTW clothes I didn't buy and on presents for friends I made with my hands.

I hope this was useful, Tilly!
If you lovely readers want to share your thoughts, please feel free to do it, I'd love to hear from you guys!

Burda 08/2011

Hello, there! I'm back!
I took my exams, one went very well and the other one didn't, but that's ok. Now I have time to relax a bit and to sew as much as I can.
This last weekend I also took Gertie's course at Craftsy and it was sooo good! I really like couture-ish sewing and I learnt a lot. She's a great teacher and I'm looking forward to start working on a muslin.
In the meantime, the preview of the August issue of Burda came out, so let's see what it has to offer.

Once again we have a retro issue, this time 50's inspired. The neckline of this dress seems so interesting, I'd really like to try it. I'm also wondering what those dashes along the seams on the skirt panels are... Maybe just topstitching?

Also from the 50's issue, I like this little jacket for fall. The pleat in the back is really cute, but i'd probably alter the pattern to a peter pan collar.

The designer pattern of this month is by Antik Batik, a French brand that I actually had never heard before. I don't like the fabric choice, but the draping is very nice, especially in the shoulders. It reminds me a bit of this dress form Burda 12/2010.

The buttoning on the side makes these pants interesting. I think they could be very cute shorts, although I'm not really sure on the bermuda lenght that you can see in the technical drawing.

And lastly, a WTF moment with these pants... I mean, REALLY? Would someone really wear these?

Let me know what your favorites are!

After the challenge

Hello, everyone! It's been a while and actually, this post was supposed to be up on Monday, but... well, life got in the way. I spent most of my time either studying, with my boyfriend or with my doggie.

Next week I have the last two exams of this session, so cross your fingers for me but don't expect much content from this poor neglected blog, especially sewing related posts.

Anyway, I can't wait to get back to sewing. It's one of my most frequent thoughts, after all, and I'm sure I'm in good company. :)

My next projects will be a pair of shorts and another dress, but this time I want to take it slow and make a muslin for both. The time limit of the June challenge forced me to cut some corners and, being a perfectionst, I wasn't always happy of the outcome.

I sure was very happy with dress number one and four, and I want to thank you all for your sweet comments. Dresses one, two and four were also featured on Burdastyle front page, and I was very very flattered since I'm a big fan of the community.

For the moment I wish you all a great weekend. I'll spend it to the seaside and I won't have Internet access, so if you have any question or comment, I'll only be able to respond on Monday.

Bye!

p.s. If you want to see how the other participants of the challenge did, you can take a look at the Flickr group!

June challenge dress 4 - The Alice dress

Two days late, but I made it! And I'm really satisfied with my last dress.

As I've already told you, I had a change of plan with the patterns I chose.

I used pattern 104 from Burda 02/2011, but since it was a little plain for me, I added a huge bow on the front. It might not be for everyone, but I'm a sucker for bows!

The fit was spot on this time, although I made the panels for the skirt smaller than required by the Burda instructions, because it didn't want too much volume. Actually, I didn't follow the instructions at all, since they were a bit ridiculous (for example, they make you sew just one pocket to the skirt!).

The fabric I used is a baby blue linen I had in my stash and I love both the color (which reminds me a lot of Alice in Wonderland) and the slightly crinckled texture. I lined the dress with a flowery material that I find very sweet (my mom and I were given a whole bolt of it as a gift).

These are also my first photos with my new SLR camera and I've already fallen in love with it, though we still need to get properly acquainted.
Oh, and if you're wandering why I'm wearing a cardigan on July 2nd, it' because it's 17°C today. :(

So... the challenge is finished, what's next? Stay tuned!

June challenge dress 3 - Fail?

There was a change of plan and I didn't tell you. Do you remember the dresses I chose for the challenge? Turns out I wasn't completely sold on the last two: the shirtdress, I was afraid I wouldn't have  worn it and the one with the peter pan collar needed some adjustements which I hadn't time to make (but maybe I'll still try that pattern in the future). So, after seeing Mathilde's beautiful version of this very simple dress from Burda 05/2010, I decided I could try and make it myself. It's not a silhouette I usually wear (and I still don't know how much I will wear it).

I used a cotton lawn I had in my stash and when I noticed it was going to be too similar to a nightgown, I decided to use grey for the back piece, to create some interest (I love the combination of grey and pink). I modified the button placket on the front piece just sewing the two parts together and putting the buttons as decoration. I was afraid buttonholes would get too stressed over time, since it's a quite snug on the breast area.

The back is very flattering (even on a not-so-fit-looking back like mine). Do you remember I told you I had a very bad sunburn? Here it is:

It would seem that 30+ sunscreen is not enough when hiking. Lesson learnt.

Anyway, I still think it looks too much like a nightgown, although it's much cuter with a cardigan. Please, give me your imput!

Now, just one more dress to go! I hope I'll be able to finish it tomorrow and post photos on Friday. I'll be one day late, but I'm sure you will forgive me. :)

P.s. Isn't that Macaron necklace cute? It' made by the lovely Merylu of Petite Fraise, you can find links to her shops on her blog.

June challenge dress 2 - Burda 101

It's the last week of June and I miss two more dresses! Don't worry, one is done and the last one is already cut and ready to be sewn.
This, instead, is dress number 2, for which I used pattern 101 from Burda 02/2011. This pattern was quite successful among bloggers, so you probably might have already seen it.

I modified the front bust part by pivoting the darts (I used Gertie's tutorial). I wanted to create a chevron effect and I am satisfied with the result, although the subtle stripes of the fabric I used did not give the dramatic effect I would have preferred. So I used piping on the neckline and arm openings and I sewed a band on the hem with the stripes going in the opposite direction.
I like this dress, although not nearly as my previous one. The fit is good, but not excellent: when I lean forward there's a BIG gap between my bust and the dress, which is something I also really hate in RTW garments. I guess I should start to make FBA on my patterns... Do you have any suggestions?
It looks better belted, but of course I forgot to take a photo with a belt on.

Speaking of photos, I really care about the quality of the images on my blog and that's why I'm really disappointed with this photoshoot. My brother kindly borrowed my camera without asking, so I had to shoot with my old crappy point-and-shoot camera. Plus, I went hiking on the Alps yesterday, so you can see from my weitd facial expressions that I was pretty exhausted, but it was so worth it, since I got to see places like this one:

I also got a very ugly sunburn on my shoulders, which you'll see on Wednesday, when I'll show you my third dress. Bye, for now!

June challenge dress 1 - The "Parfait" Sundress

The "parfait" sundress, you know, because "parfait" means perfect in French... That was quite a lame play on words, uh? Hey, it's not easy to be funny in another language!

Anyway, let me introduce you one of the creations I'm most proud of: the Parfait dress from Colette. It's also my first finished garment for the June challenge.

I really think this is the perfect sundress: it's comfy while very flattering, I love the stripes and the  seersucker has a great consistency. It even has cute pockets!

It's actually not my first attempt at this pattern: I had tried it maybe two years ago but I made a terrible fabric choice (a silky material) and it ended up looking too much like a slip. Since then, the pattern rested in my box until I decided I had to give it another go... and it was a success!

I didn't make ANY modifications to the pattern and it fits like a glove. Don't you love when that happens? And I added soft pink buttons for extra cuteness.

I'm going to add the photos of this garment to the Flickr group of the June challenge. Check it out if you haven't already, there's some beautiful stuff there.

The second dress is almost ready, so hopefully you will see it by the end of this week.