salme lydia blouse

My last summer sewing project before plunging into fall and winter ideas (to be honest, I’m in waist deep already 🙂 ).
As mentioned in my Kimono dress post, I’ve discovered Salme Patterns for me. I really like Elisa’s designs – simple with a touch of vintage.
So I couldn’t wait to make the Lydia blouse in this gorgeous lightweight cotton/silk mix feather print.


On the whole I’m very happy with this. I did have a few issues with this pattern though:

• The fit is good, but man, these patterns really do run small! I should have gone up a size, even though I made the size that should have fitted me perfectly. It still fits, but the back is a bit tight and with the thin fabric the seams already look like they won’t last forever. Next time (yes, there’ll be a next time!) I’ll go up a size.
• The instructions are pretty sparse. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to get 11 pleats into the front, so I ended up with less
• That neckline is a lot higher than in the pattern picture. I don’t think I did anything wrong here and it looks ok but I really wish it was a lower.

Things I liked about this pattern: It was easy and fast to assemble while still teaching me new techniques. The sleeve cuff finish especially is a very interesting folding technique which I liked a lot (I should mention I did blindstitch the whole cuff by hand instead of doing only a few tucks as instructed). I omitted the shoulder detail but I’ll probably make it next time. The pattern comes without seam allowances, which suited me fine since I was free to add my own 5/8 ” and french seam the whole thing. On second thought, maybe that’s what made my neckline so high…maybe I should have added a slimmer seam allowance there.
Using Jen’s great tutorial, I french seamed the sleeve inset and it worked great! Now I’m wondering why I’ve never done it before…so nice and neat!


Now…off to buy fall fabrics!

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weekending

We spent the weekend quietly here, with some visits and some napping in between.

I don’t go shopping much any more these days (trying to live minimally and also the city centre with its noise and traffic and crowds tires me out so quickly) but on thursday I had the urge to go fabric shopping. I splurged on a navy blue corduroy and three lightweight summery floral prints. After weeks of sewing household items like pillow cases and laundry bags I didn’t realize how much I was missing sewing clothing.

I put the corduroy to use right away and happily sewed all weekend. By the time I was finished on Sunday it was too dark to take photos, but I’ll show off my new skirt next weekend 🙂

I have high plans for the florals as well. I’m thinking some modified Colette Sorbetto Top or Simplicity 2594 (I love this version of it).
I also finally ordered the seeds for my 2012 balcony garden and can’t wait for them to arrive so I can draw up lists and plans for our new balcony. These Kaffir lime seeds already arrived last week and I can’t wait to use them.

We’ve had a really mild winter until this week the freezing temperatures finally hit. Just in time when I’m thinking of spring and growing and buying summer fabrics!

handmade blue shirt

Ever since I bought Cal Patch’s Book on how to draft patterns I have been totally hooked. There’s quite a few things I want to show off but since this is newest and I took pretty photos of it today, here’s my new blue shirt:

It was sewn again on my Great-grandma’s trusty treadle. The blue fabric is the same clearance fabric I made the skirt of (and I still have lots left), so I could experiment a little with the pattern and some pleating.
The buttons are vintage from the flea market. I am especially proud of the bias tape finish at the neckline because the last time I tried it it didn’t work and I am glad it did this time 🙂

The buttonholes are by hand, as always.
Here’s a pic of me wearing it. I decided to tuck it in since I feel it is a bit big on me otherwise (though I might be imagining that, I don’t usually wear loose fitting clothing).

And a back shot. The pleating is actually straight (not crooked like it appears in the photo) and I wore it all day today, so that’s why it’s all crinkly.

I am totally on a roll sewing clothing at the moment, I even went ahead and did some serious splurging on nice fabrics (as in, buying nice soft 100% cotton fabrics at a price I can absolutely not afford). But oh, can you imagine the tunic style tops and Peter Pan collar shirts? I sure can!