Reveals – Zoe Livana Handmade

Unveiling of the finished product

Reveal: A Maid of Honour Dress in Pink

Yes, I know. I’ve been a bad blogger. I have many excuses, but instead of boring you all with them, I’ll just get right into the juicy stuff: my maid of honour dress reveal. It’s been more than 2 months since my sister got married, but whatever. Better late than never, amiright?

My sister and I had discussions about the bridesmaids dresses, and I have to admit I was being a spoiled brat in telling her that I did not want my dress to be orange, which is the colour she wanted for the dresses. Why was I adamant about this? 1) I don’t really like orange as a clothing colour in general, and especially for myself, 2) after researching skin tones and colours that compliment them, I discovered that it wasn’t in my head that orange doesn’t look good on me, it’s ‘scientifically’ proven! Anyway, her colour choice started to mingle closer toward a pinky coral rather than a tangerine orange, which I was perfectly happy with! She went shopping with her other bridesmaids and found these amazingly cute dresses in the colour she wanted, so they scooped them up! We had agreed that I sew my dress, so we were messaging back and forth about colours and sewing patterns. In the end, she chose Vogue 1289, a Pamela Roland design that had the same kind of feel as the other bridesmaid dresses with draping in the front.

Then, when she was shopping at Fabricland for said pattern, she had a look at some fabric, and snatched up a pretty pink bridal satin so I could sew it up. It was lighter than the bridesmaid dresses, but she liked the idea of having a different colour and dress for me. Isn’t she the sweetest?! Giving in to my demands…

So she sent me the pattern in the mail, and the fabric came a little bit later, when my parents came to visit at the end of april. And, as a bonus, my sister also sent some hot pink lace for me to play with (: I took one look at that satin and I was like, ooooh noooo. This is going to turn into a hot mess. I’d done enough wedding pinning to know that shiny polyester satin photographs terribly. I was only frightened for a few moments though, as I quickly decided that I would use the wrong side of the fabric.

In the meantime, I had made a muslin, because, well, fancy dresses require a muslin! If you follow my instagram, you would have seen that this dress has been in the works since the beginning of May. I made the muslin out of an old bedsheet. It was a monster as it was to cut out, but when I got to the pleats, I was swearing a storm. It took me soooo long to pin those pleats, then baste them individually. I just kept telling myself that it was for a good cause.

the pleating of my nightmares

When I tried the muslin on, I breathed a sigh of relief that I had cut out the right size, because, well, we all know how it is when it comes to the big 4 pattern companies. I pretty much never go by the measurement chart. Vogue is at least pretty consistent with their sizing, so I always cut the same size. However, there was no way I could lengthen the bodice on this baby, so I opted for lengthening the straps, which actually wasn’t necessary. I sent some pictures to my sister, because I had to show my sis how things were going of course….

I got my mother in law to pin the changes that needed to be made. I was a little bit nervous about this because the muslin material is a jersey, whereas my fabric is a woven, so I told my mother in law not to stretch it while she pinned. The back was a little bit loose, so I took about 1cm out, and curved it out over my butt. I also added 1.5cm to the hem because I found it to be just the right length on my unhemmed muslin. After sewing it and trying it on again, I made the changes to the pattern, then I cut into my precious fabric, careful to remember which side I was using as the right side.

And then I procrastinated a little bit… I put together the top pieces before I left for Canada, but I ended up taking the pieces in my garment bag instead of a finished dress.

Not only did I get to be her maid of honour, I also got to be in Canada for 6 whole weeks! One of the only advantages of being unemployed (; (And in case you’re just tuning in, I live in Holland, while the rest of my family lives in Canada.) I arrived 3 weeks before the wedding so that I could do maid-of-honourly things, which included organising a lot of last-minute decorating things, but also included fun stuff like taking my sister on a much-needed weekend getaway with just the two of us, and organising the bridal shower/bachelorette party with my fellow bridesmaids. Crazy times.

So, I was having a wrestling match with the bodice lining pieces, as the princess seams did not want to press in a nice curve around the bust, and the lining was pulling towards the outside despite having under stitched and pressing the shit out of it. Then I had a brilliant idea to get a bloody TAILOR’S HAM, which, honestly, every seamstress should have. However, scouring the fabric stores of Calgary yielded no results. I remembered having seen them at Fabricland when I worked there (–10 years ago–), and assumed that they were commonplace. WRONG!! Not only did they not have them, the people working at various fabric stores had no idea what they were. WTF?! Even my soon-to-be brother-in-law helped me phone some sewing places, during a planning meeting with my cousin and her bf no less. And my cousin’s boyfriend – who I decided right then and there was the sweetest! – offered to make me one once he found out that they are made out of upholstery fabric and sawdust. 😀

Fast forward a few days, and I haven’t heard anything from said boyfriend. Maybe not the sweetest…

So a week before the wedding, while I’m trying to coordinate a bridesmaids-last-minute-prep shindig, I’m in the garage stuffing a tailor’s ham (pattern here) with sawdust from my dad’s workshop. And let me tell you, A LOT OF SAWDUST FITS INTO THAT LITTLE FUCKER. I must have been stuffing that thing, with the help of my dad, for a good half hour or 45 minutes. The people in the house thought I was shirking my duties.

So I practically run to the sewing room, turn on the iron, and start ironing away at the bodice (lining) pieces. However, it helped very little, I just had to resign to the fact that my fabric was going to be an asshole every step of the way. I finished the dress up over the next few days. I also fucked up the center back invisible zip by getting the fabric caught in the teeth, and I didn’t have enough fabric to cut another skirt. My sister just reassured me that no one would be taking photos of our backsides.

I finished the hem using a narrow hem (method 2 on this page here). And, when I was sewing the skirt lining, the final piece of the puzzle, I received that tailor’s ham from cousin’s boyfriend. Ok, he’s back to being sweet… (: When everything was finished, I then ran it through the washing machine with the basting still in the pleats because for some reason, I also kept getting black machine oil on the dress while I was sewing…

mine on the right, his under the skirt lining

And another reason I put off posting this make was because I was waiting for all the pretty pictures from the photographer. (: Here they are.

me, sister, sister’s husband, best man

the gorgeous bridesmaids

speech time

Oh, and did I mention I had a wardrobe malfunction? I didn’t even know about it until the photos came out. Turns out I got a bit revealing to the congregation… And then again at the reception while sitting at the head table. :S At least I was wearing a bra, I guess.

October 10, 2014/5 Comments/by joanne

Dresses, Reveals

Reveal: #SewDollyClackett entry

If you haven’t heard already, Roisin of Dolly Clackett is getting married. To get the online sewing community involved in the celebration, Rhinestones and Telephones is hosting a competition, aptly named #sewdollyclackett. The rules are simple:

The contest will run from February 23, 2014, and close on April 23, 2014. Roisin will be our illustrious judge and award our generously donated prizes. Contestants will sew a dress (it must be a dress as Roisin is the Queen of Dresses) that emulates her style.

Als je nog niet hebt gehoord, Roisin van Dolly Clackett gaat trouwen. Om de online naaien gemeenschap bij te betrekken, Rhinestones and Telephones heeft een wedstrijd bedacht, met de toepasselijke naam #sewdollyclackett. De regels zijn simpel:

De wedstrijd loopt van 23 februari 2014 en sluit op 23 april 2014. Roisin zal onze illustere rechter zijn en gunnen ons gedoneerd prijzen. Deelnemers zullen een jurk naaien (het moet een jurk als Roisin is de koningin van Dresses) dat haar stijl emuleert.

I just had to jump on board. I am a sucker for a pretty dress, and I live in them in warmer weather. Roisin is known for her off-beat fabric choices, so once the contest was announced I knew exactly which fabric I would choose. If you follow me on Instagram, you already know which one I chose.

Ik MOEST mee doen. Ik ben een sucker voor een mooie jurk, en ik draag altijd jurken met warm weer. Roisin is bekend van haar unique stof keuzes, dus zodra de wedstrijd werd aangekondigd wist ik precies welke stof ik zou kiezen. Als je me op Instagram volgt, weet je al welke ik koos.

My only problem was, I haven’t sewn any one of Roisin’s favourite dress patterns! I did, however, go for an indie pattern – the Belladone by Deer and Doe, which I think she would approve of. This is my third attempt at this dress (see attempt 1 and 2). And I think I’ve finally figured it out! The darts are in the right place and the back doesn’t gape. WIN!

Mijn enige probleem was, heb ik niet een van de Roisin’s favoriete jurk patronen ooit genaaid! Ik dacht, ik ga dan voor een indie patroon – de Belladone door Deer and Doe, waarvan ik denk dat ze zou goedkeuren. Dit is mijn derde poging om deze jurk (zie poging 1 en 2). En ik denk dat ik het eindelijk snap! De darts zijn op de juiste plaats en de rug zit niet losjes. WIN!

I finally figured out how to fix my fitting problem with this dress. Instead of trying to add length to the bodice and then moving the dart down, I added length above the dart (let me know if you’d like a little tutorial on how I did this). For the back, I used this tutorial over at Lladybird’s blog to reduce the gaping at the top of the bodice back, and I also pinched out a centimeter on either side of the zipper to make the lower bodice fit. Also, I finished the edges on the back bodice pieces using bias tape, so hopefully it won’t stretch out over time.

Ik heb eindelijk bedacht hoe ik deze jurk passend kon maken. In plaats van te proberen om de lengte toe te voegen aan het lijfje en dan het verplaatsen van de dart naar beneden, voegde ik lengte boven de dart (laat me weten als je wilt een uitleg over hoe ik dit deed). Voor de rug, gebruikte ik deze tutorial op de blog van Lladybird over vermindering van het vergapen aan de bovenkant. Ik kneep ook een centimeter uit op beide kanten van de rits.. Ik heb ook de randen aan de achterkant netjes afgemaakt met behulp van biaisband, dus hopelijk zal het niet uitstrekken.

Now that I have it all figured out, I am excited to try different variations of this dress, like adding a pleated skirt or narrowing the shoulders or lowering the neckline. I’m wondering if the chardon skirt can be attached to this dress…

Nu dat deze patroon heel goed past, vind ik het boeiend om verschillende varianten van deze jurk te proberen, zoals het toevoegen van een geplooide rok of verkleinen van de schouders of het verlagen van de halslijn. Ik ben benieuwd of de Chardon rok past op deze jurk …

But before that, I must start on my bridesmaid dress for my sister’s wedding. Starting with a muslin, because that’s just the right thing to do…

Maar eerst moet ik mijn jurk maken voor mijn zusje’s bruiloft. Ik ga beginnen met een muslin, want dat moet je gewoon doen…

Congratulations to Roisin! And good luck to the other contestants!

The deets:

Pattern/Patroon: Belladone by Deer and Doe

Size/Maat: 40/42

Fabric/Stof: 100% cotton/katoen from the stash

Notions/Fournituren: thread, biastape, zipper, all from the stash.

Cardigan/Vest: Zara

Shoes/Schoenen: Irregular Choice (of course I had to wear my irregular choice shoes for this shoot!)

April 16, 2014/10 Comments/by joanne

Dresses, Reveals, Uncategorized

Copycat Challenge Completed!

Inspiration

I first blogged about my copycat inspiriation here. But if you missed it, here’s a brief recap.

Click image for link

Basically I wanted the top with the lace applique with a plaid tulip skirt similar to the second photo. Angels Never Die is one of my favourite brands. Whenever I see a sale on Vente-Exclusive, I always buy at least one thing (but it often puts me in the red and then I promptly send it back…:(

I love that they mix fabric prints, textures, and weaves. They often mix knits with wovens and they always have interesting draping, designs, and appliques.

Making the dress

To make my dress, I used the skirt from this Burda 09/2011 Dress pattern. The top part is a refashioned basic knit top I’ve had since last year, from the Hema. It matched the brown plaid I had in mind from my stash, so I went with it.

I cut out the skirt from the plaid fabric. I had to do some creative cutting because I had only 1m of it and those front panels eat up a shitload of fabric. So some of the seam allowances were cut on the selvage but that’s ok. I ended up cutting the waistband on the lengthwise grain (if that’s even a term?!). Also, none of the plaid matches, but I’m ok with that because it’s not too noticeable. I did not use the instructions except to check how much to gather the top of the skirt to.

The skirt has pleats AND gathers. And the pleats are gathered! It’s a lot of fabric sitting right there on my pouch, but I like to think it doesn’t make me look too huge because the back of the skirt is such a nice shape, kind of like the Elizalex dress. The hem is finished with bias tape. The inside seams are finished with bias tape on the waistband and with a zigzag stitch for the side seams. I would have liked to do french seams, but I figured it would get too bulky.
I purchased some of the lace trim from the most recent fabric fair in Leeuwarden and some from my local fabric shop, Jan Sikkes. I attached the trim to the top using a zigzag stitch to help keep it from getting wavy. I folded the trims over at the top and slipstitched it in place.

Styling

I paired it with leggings because a) it’s getting cold out there, b) it’s not lined, and c) it’s a good thing I did because riding my bike to the photoshoot place made the dress open up pretty much right to my crotch. I might have to add a snap or tack it down.

In some of the pictures I’m also wearing an actual Angels Never Die jacket, which I love love LOVE (there would have been an exclamation point if the jacket had pockets, but it doesn’t so boo hoo). My boots are Dr Martens and are already like 3 or 4 years old.

I accessorized with a fake pearl necklace I inherited from my grandma because I thought it matched the lace on the top quite nicely.

I even did my makeup, which you can’t even see in the pictures 🙁 I did cat eyes with brown eyeliner to match my dress!

And now, for picture overload!

Thanks for stopping by!

September 30, 2013/15 Comments/by joanne

Reveals, Uncategorized

Gathering Apron

I made this back in July I think. I meant to photograph it sooner, but I wiped my beet-juice covered hands on it and it was sitting on my laundry pile for a while. Maybe I should have taken photographs anyway, to make it more ‘real.’ So here it is, freshly washed: my Gathering Apron from Sew Liberated.

I’m wearing it with my Kelly skirt (not intentional). And what also wasn’t intentional was to show my crazy life in the background. haha, I thought I cut out my laundry in the shot, and I didn’t even notice the knocked-over bucket. I decided to leave the photos as-is, as it kind of goes with apron photos. They aren’t supposed to be glamorous or anything, though this pattern is more glamorous than most. Not unisex at all.

The pattern features adorable (yet annoying) pintuck details at the waistband and the bottom of the apron. The best part is the huge pocket in the front, perfect for gathering produce from your garden, or eggs from your chicken coop. I don’t have a large garden myself, but I could see it being useful to put clothespins in and various kitchen stuff while cooking.

I made it out of a thick grey linen I got for €4/m at de stoffenspektakel this past spring. And I can see why it was such a good price. The fold line is permanently faded, as you can see a line down the front of my apron. I chose linen because I wanted to have a teatowel feel to it, someting that would be absorbant, because I like to wipe my hands on my clothes, which is why I had to make myself an apron!

And now for my little rant, I mean, review of the pattern. You see that cute little gusset? There are only written instructions on how to attach it, and it’s a bit confusing. Fear not! There is a video of the sewing process to help you if you are a visual learner. Um, yeah, I had to put in my password to access the video 3 times before it worked, because it’s one of those rnadom number and letter passwords. Then I finally access it and I see that the pattern piece in the video is completely different than the one included in the pattern. In the end, I figured it out. You’re supposed to line up the bottom of the gusset with the bottom of the bust cup and sew from the pattern marking to the top of the gusset. I hope that helps someone who is trying to figure it out.

The rest is fairly straight-forward. I finished the straps differently than the pattern called for. I believe you’re supposed to sew the straps closed by topstitching it, but instead I just sewed them inside-out and used a long-handled wooden spoon to turn them inside-out.

And I also did only the bare minimum of pressing because I made it during our heat wave in The Netherlands. It was around 25 to 32 degrees for a good while, so you really don’t want to be handling a hot iron. Most of the apron is finger pressed. I think I only did a final press, actually. And pressed under the seam allowance on the belt so I could top stitch it down. It’s just an apron, so I’m not terribly sad about it. It’s one of the reasons I chose this project to do in the heat, actually.

Here is my new tiny kitty! His name is Walter and he is either completely crazy or completely relaxed. Kittens are so fun and exhausting! After Korban died, we decided to just get a new kitty rather than waiting a year to get one (we were basically at the end of the spring kitten season). I sure miss Korban but Walter keeps me so busy that I don’t think about him too much. I love him and his craziness.

One last note about Sew Liberated Patterns: I got this pattern as well as their skinny jeans pattern. I am grateful that the gathering apron pattern is one size because the skinny jeans pattern is multi-sized but does not distinguish between the sizes using labels nor different line dashes. There is also no size chart. So I guess I’ll have to give it my best guess. So these jeans are no longer high on my priority list for sewing. Better to make some Thurlows I think. Lauren totally skinni-fied them. So I think I may do that too.

September 5, 2013/6 Comments/by joanne

Reveals, Skirts, Uncategorized

It’s been a crazy july, guys

Hello everyone. Again I’ve been neglecting my blog, however I think I’m not the only one because it is finally SUMMER and we are all going on vacations and spending time in the sun. Amiright? Myself included. I went back to Canada for a couple of weeks, this time with Mr. Livana, who hadn’t been there for 3 years, since my accident. So he figured it was high time he showed his face. So it was less of a vacation and more of a howmanypeoplecanwevisitin2weeks? Let me tell you, the trip did not start off well (for Mr. Livana).

Wait, let me back that up a little bit. About a week before we were scheduled to fly, my hometown, Calgary, FLOODED. I don’t mean a puddle in the street. I mean, like, thousands of people being evacuated and houses floating down the river, flooded. I mean, making international headlines flooded. The whole downtown (city center) was flooded, with some places without electricity or phonelines for weeks. Luckily, most of my family is “poor,” thus not owning riverfront property. Only two family members were evacuated, and didn’t sustain damage to their actual property, though one was without electricity. My sister also works downtown and wasn’t able to work for quite a few days, and once she could go to work, they had electricity but no phone lines.

Highway 1, the main highway running through Canada, was partially washed away in the direction of the mountains. And we were planning on driving to the mountains with my friends the weekend after we arrived. But construction workers worked day and night to get the highway open to non-commercial vehicles within about a week, so we were ok to drive! Which was great, because the Canada Day long weekend (the weekend of July 1) always brings a lot of traffic into the mountains.

Our friends had to work until late, so we didn’t get on the road until 22:00 on a Friday. But it was good because most of the long weekend traffic was gone. Mr. Livana had volunteered to drive that night, and we made it to the Days Inn in Golden within about 3 hours. When he got out of the car, he said “I don’t feel so good” and when we got to the hotel room, he continued to say that until he ran to the bathroom. He threw up several times that night, including once in the sink when he woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t quite make it to the toilet. Poor Mr. Livana’s weekend was also ruined by the fact that he needed to find a bathroom about every hour to empty his bowels. His diet consisted of pedialite and immodium for much of the trip. It’s really too bad, because we stayed at an amazing resort in Kelowna, in an apartment/condo for the four of us complete with kitchen, a large tv, bathroom with jacuzzi tub connected to our room, and the pool a stone’s throw from our balcony.

But we did end up doing some fun stuff, like visiting Mission Hill winery and having a fancy dinner there. That’s where I wore my new Kelly skirt by Megan Nielsen patterns, which I paired with a Banana Republic top that is not unlike the Datura blouse by Deer and Doe patterns (which makes me want to make one now, but I can’t because the pattern is out of stock until the end of July).

The skirt is made out of a dark grey fine corduroy. And the pockets are lined with the New York fabric from my Ginger skirt. I will not say that this skirt was a dream to sew because it WASN’T.

This project had its ups and downs all around. The first few steps were a breeze, just sewing straight lines to attach the pockets to the front, and sewing the side seams. Oh yeah, I was flying. But then I didn’t follow the instructions, which no where tell you to tack down the pockets, but I did it anyway thinking I was smarter than megan nielsen. So when it came time to set in the pleats, I couldn’t figure out why it was bunching up the *&?% pocket. Until I let out the basting at the top and then it was a breeze again. (this also happened over at Ginger Makes while making her sister’s Kelly Skirt).

Then when I was attaching the waistband, I didn’t pin down the pockets, so I caught one of them in the bloody stitching and had to unpick a good chunk of it. *TACK DOWN YOUR POCKETS PEOPLE!* And by the time I sewed down the waistband, not all of it was caught on the inside, but I stopped giving a shit and just left some of the raw edges sticking out. GAH.

And those button holes…. *^$#@^ All I can say is at least I had the foresight to practice first. I hadn’t done a buttonhole in years, so I figured I better make sure it looks ok. That was a nightmare. Mostly because I think after 10 years it’s probably about time I get my machine serviced. I couldn’t get it to do the ends right. So after about 8 attempts, I figured out that I needed to change the width to do the ends, which worked on MOST of the buttonholes in the end. But there is one buttonhole in the middle that has a really fat line because my machine didn’t want to turn back to the narrower width apparently. So, yeah, my machine should probably go in for a checkup sometime soon.

This winery had amazing food, which cost as much as a night at the resort, but since we don’t do it every week (or every month, or EVER), it was a delicious treat that we all thoroughly enjoyed. We got the matching wines for each course as well. It was the last night, so Mr. Livana joined in, guts be damned!

Things started to look up the following weekend. We had a BBQ at my (soon to be) brother-in-law’s place near the mountains on Sunday, then we went to Drumheller with my parents on Tuesday. I wore my Kelly Skirt again, this time ‘dressed down.’ But I must say, it did not travel too well. Sitting in the car for almost 2 hours and the top and bottom button both came undone. It was uncivilized! But it looked pretty cute, no?

But the next day we got some really bad news. Mr. Livana told me that our kitty was going to die. Before we left, he had been having problems eating and going to the bathroom. We took him to the vet and they said he was pretty healthy except for a blockage in his intestines and an inflamed kidney. They gave him laxitives over a weekend, gave us some antibiotics and sent him on his way. So while we were in Canada, he got a bit better, then stopped eating again. Mr Livana’s parents were taking care of him, and took him to the vet only to find out that his kidneys had shut down and that he was going to die. It was devastating. We made the decision to put him down before he got any worse. They could have kept him alive for the next few days until we got home, but his quality of life those last few days would have been nothing. Our poor little kitty was only 2 years old. Coming home to an empty house was hard. We both miss him a lot.

Korban, our little kitty

July 18, 2013/15 Comments/by joanne

Dresses, Reveals, Uncategorized

Polkadots, pipes and paraplus.

I started this dress at the beginning of May but didn’t finish it in time to go to Canada. So, I took it with me. I more or less finished the bodice and attached the bias tape to the right side of the fabric. In the plane, I hand stitched the bias tape in place. I didn’t want to do it with the machine because I had purple thread and the bias tape is green. My bias tape topstitching skills leave something to be desired, so I figured it was better to just sew it by hand. So I had my little sewing kit on the plane – sans scissors of course – and whipped it right up within one episode of Hemlock Grove.

Some of you might recognize the dress pattern as the sensational Belladone from Deer and Doe. My previous attempt looked a bit too much like a babydoll dress. And since I love this dress so much, I figured it warranted a repeat.

This time, I added 3.5cm to the bodice and moved the bust darts down 1cm. It could have been more like 2, but I guess I’ll save that for the next version. I shall also try a scoop-neck version next time instead of the boat neck, which looks a little bit floopy on me. I also added green piping to the waistband! I love it!

My best friend took these pictures of me at Elliston Park. And no, it was not deserted. Unfortunately. She got me to do some pretty crazy poses, and I think we got some sideways glances from parents, but it was fun anyway.

She has the greatest props, don’t you think? A pipe, an umbrella, and even a Diana camera! She just got it and I can’t wait to see how the photos turn out! It takes lomo pictures. You know we’re so Gen-Y that we didn’t even remember how to put film in a camera?! Oh, those flowers in my hair are hers as well. 😀

The back turned out a little bit loose again, so I can’t blame the stretch in the fabric like I did with the first one. But I don’t care- I love it!

I’m only laughing because my friend is singing a song. I’m actually getting eaten alive by mosquitoes.

Thanks for stopping by!

June 7, 2013/17 Comments/by joanne

Reveals, Skirts, Uncategorized

Ginger goes to New York

To be honest, there isn’t too much exciting to say about the construction of this garment. However, it looks fabulous, doesn’t it? I thought I’d get a head start on my pledge to sew pants or a skirt in may, and this was the perfect pattern to do it with. It took very little time to make, even with the French seams I did.

This is the first time I put in an invisible zipper with an actual invisible zipper foot. However, it’s not one of those feet that is made for my machine, it’s a universal one from Unique and I didnt put it in quite correctly I think, because it’s not completely invisible. When I did a test with it on another zipper, it was completely invisible though, so I know it’s possible. I think it looks good enough though. I’m not going to unpick it.

back view

This is my second Colette pattern make after Laurel. I must admit, I’m not completely crazy about Laurel because I don’t think it’s very flattering on me (I think I need to add darts under the bust to make it more flattering). But my faith in these patterns has come back! I went out and bought Hazel to try next.

Look at that tiny waist! I thought I lost it when I gained a bunch of weight. Found it!

damn that's a tiny waist

The low-down:
Pattern: ginger skirt from Colette patterns
Size: 8. And it’s a little snug so next time I shall reduce the seam allowance or trace another size. Officially, my waist runs a size 8 and my hips size 10.
Fabric: a new York inspired print by Stenzo that I got at last year’s Stoffenspektakel (one of our annual fabric markets). So this is a stash buster!
Notions: thread, invisible zip
Time: about an hour to cut out the pattern and fabric, just over 2 tv episodes to sew (yeah, I measure in tv episodes because either I’m watching tv while I sew or Mr. Livana is and I can hear it in the background).
Make again: heck yes! Do you see how little my waist looks? It’s magical. And it hardly takes any time to whip it together.

May 6, 2013/9 Comments/by joanne

Process, Reveals, Uncategorized

The eyelet and lace-print Laurel

When I read about Colette pattern’s contest, I immediately thought: I must enter! I bought the pattern when it was first introduced, at 10% off. I printed it out and traced it in the space of 24 hours I think. The following day, I chose an amazing paisley printed satin, and got to cutting it out. I even put tracing paper underneath the fabric so it wouldn’t slip and slide! I did french seams! I hand-picked a side zipper! I made adorable cap sleeves! Then I got to making the bias tape and suddenly it became part of my UFO pile. I must have spent hours on that stupid tape. I don’t have a bias-tape maker, and I had to make my own starch spray to stabilize the tiny strips of fabric, otherwise it would not press at all. I sewed the bias tape to the bottom half of one of the sleeves, and then gave up. All that’s left is the neckline and the hem. Actually, the hem is half way done. I’m doing a narrow seam, so it’s already got a line of stitching close to the fold, I’ve trimmed it, and all that’s left is turning it over and stitching again. It’s scandelous, really.

Half way through April, I decided to get my ass in gear and have another go at it. After perusing google images, I was inspired by a silk shift dress design by (?), which was color-blocked in navy and coral. And since I recently purchased a french curve, I was prepared to take on some simple pattern design.

I chose two fabrics from my stash: A black eyelet and a printed lace, which I hand-dyed in my wok pan! I used tumeric to dye it, an all-natural dye that gives a lovely yellow colour. And those of you who love Indian food, you know how bad it can stain your clothes.

So I cut out the pieces of my newly designed Laurel pattern and I sewed it up really quickly, even with all of the tricky corners in the blocking. I was just about finished, then I tried it on and realized that I hadn’t put the sweetheart neckline far enough down! I didn’t even take pictures to show you before. It just looked horrible. Like I had a flat DD chest or something. So I picked out the top part and re-cut the pattern pieces. I had plenty eyelet still, but I had to be careful with the yellow fabric because I did not have enough left. It all worked out!

Like all the reviews say, this dress comes together very quickly, even with my blocking modifications. I also french seamed all of the seams except for the shoulder seams because I reduced the seam allowance. When I tried on the dress, the arm holes were too tight, so I did a 1cm seam instead of 1.5cm.

I used two different sizes of bias tape on the dress. I used a narrow one on the arm holes and a wider one for the neckline. I ran out of the narrow one after the arm holes, which is why I switched. I think it looks pretty good, though.

It was so lovely taking pictures out in the sun. It seems like everywhere in the world, the winter was hanging on as long as it could. It’s the first time I’ve experienced the grass turning brown in The Netherlands since I moved here 9 years ago.

The back is beautiful, I think. I eliminated the zipper because in making the satin version, I noticed there was enough ease to be able to pull it over my head.

I hemmed it with a double fold. I originally wanted to use the narrow bias tape to keep most of the length, but as I said, I ran out, and the wide one was just too wide in my opinion. The length is ok, though. A nice summery length.

But I am seriously thinking that I will never sew with eyelet again because everytime the needle went through the embroidery, it stopped or slowed down. I had to replace my needle after this project. And I think I might add darts in front one of these days to make it a bit more form-fitting. It’s a bit too loose in front for my taste.

Thanks for stopping by.

April 30, 2013/6 Comments/by joanne

Dresses, Reveals, Uncategorized

Sureau reveal and a giveaway

Hello everyone. Today I am revealing my Sureau dress to you. And I also realized that my blog has been around for a whole year! I’ve only really started blogging the last few months, but still… It warrants a giveaway, don’t you think? Sorry, the giveaway is now closed. First, the reveal.

I love how the style cinches in my waist. I cut a size 40 for the top and a 42 for the skirt. I also added 4cm to the bodice to make the seam lay on my waist. I could have even added another centimeter.

I used a 100% cotton fashion fabric I found in the outlet section of my local fabric store, Jan Sikkes. It cuts and sews up beautifully, and even has a little bit of stretch to it.

I’d like to give a shout out to the coffee shop blog for this awesome photoshop action.

Isn’t the strawberry button the cutest?!

As you can see from the two photos above, the bust area is a bit of a problem. I took the one above after I lifted my arms and pulled the dress back down a bit. The facing doesn’t lay flat on one side, and it kind of bubbles on the other side. I unfortunately have no idea how to fix it, and standing completely straight and with my shoulders back doesn’t make me excited. Maybe I need to move the underbust darts down?

Would you like to make your own Sureau? You have a chance to win this pattern! Just leave a comment telling me about the fabric you’d like to use to make it. The contest is open to anyone in the world with a mailing address. I will choose a winner in one week and will announce the winner on 15 april 2013.

Sorry, the giveaway is now closed.

April 7, 2013/15 Comments/by joanne