Just a quick little notice - due to Google Reader closing I'm connecting this blog to Bloglovin. You can still follow through Blogger, if you have a Blogger-account. There's also the option of following through email, very handy if you don't have Blogger or use Bloglovin.
I'll add the Bloglovin-button shortly, first I just gotta figure out how to claim my blog and how to link the two pages together...
Love, Erika
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Friday, 14 June 2013
Tuesday, 11 June 2013
Half-slips!
I fell out of blogging... again... Doing a major clean out after the builders were done renovating my appartement, having my sister here for a week... Blogging - and sewing - got left behind. Of course, having my sister on visit was great, and what's even better is that she's moving back to town at the end of summer! Yay! And the flat does feel better after that huge cleaning-affair =)
MeMadeMay got done all the way to the end, and I'll post a some reflections on a later date. To get me back into the sewing room (finally restored to order I might add) I figured it was time to adress this issue:
MeMadeMay got done all the way to the end, and I'll post a some reflections on a later date. To get me back into the sewing room (finally restored to order I might add) I figured it was time to adress this issue:
I made this slip 4 years ago, in a not very good quality lining fabric. Having yet to figure out invisible zips, and not wanting the bulk of a gathered waist, I inserted an invisible zipper like an ordinary, centered zip. This has actually worked out great, and even though I have a few other slips, this is the one I've always turned to. It's a safe bet to say that for the past 4 years it has been worn at least 250 days/year (the real number is probably higher).
This winter I first started noting it looked worn around the central backseam. Then all of a sudden it went from a little worn to what you can see above! Time to retire this workhorse, and make new slips.
While the zip has worked, at times it has also been a bit uncomfortable. At the same time, a traditional straight slip always makes me feel restricted in movement. So I drafted a pattern from my A-line TNT, widening the waist to eliminate the zip, while keeping a slightly flared hem. First up was this black slip:
I overlocked the inside seams, used an elastic with lace details on the top (underwear elastic) for the waist and made a rolled hem with the aid of my rolled hem foot =)
The result is ok, but the elastic could have been a little snugger around the waist. I wasn't pleased at all with the overlocked seams (and I had carefully adjusted the setting first, testing on scrap material) so...
On this nude version I made french seams on the inside, and this was way better! May sound trickier, but with the whole changing threads and adjusting the overlock, this was actually faster and yielded a nicer result. Both ways of course work!
I used a somewhat shorter elastic for the waist, and added a lace to the hem.
This whole thing came together mercifully quick! The second skirt took 2,5 hours to make, from pressing the fabric before laying out the pattern, to the last pressing of the hemline. I may have to do another one pretty soon... My jersey dresses are shorter than my woven skirts and dresses, and these new slips are too long for them! Luckily, I have just eunough left of the nude fabric to make a second, 5-7 cm shorter slip =)
Ever tried your hand on any kind of lingerie-sewing? Love it, or not a fan of sewing something that won't be seen?
Love, Erika
Tuesday, 28 May 2013
Me Made May week 3 1/2 - summer is here!
I've fallen behind on posting my Me Made May-outfits... There haven't been a lot of time for blogging, and somehow the sewing post seemed more important (and fun) =)
We've had an unextecped change in weather, and the entire region seems to have skipped spring and gone straight for summer. Seriously, go back and check my pictures from the beginning of May and behold the snow and ice. Then we were gone a week, and the grounds turned emerald. Summer heat struck (which is 20 C in this part of the world), and one warm weekend later every tree and bush had leeves! Not too unusual, spring is always fast here. The unsual part is that it stayed warm. Loving it! =)
This is a long post, with outfits you've likely to have seen before, so why not check out the surrounding landscape, and see what happened during that warm weekend...
We've had an unextecped change in weather, and the entire region seems to have skipped spring and gone straight for summer. Seriously, go back and check my pictures from the beginning of May and behold the snow and ice. Then we were gone a week, and the grounds turned emerald. Summer heat struck (which is 20 C in this part of the world), and one warm weekend later every tree and bush had leeves! Not too unusual, spring is always fast here. The unsual part is that it stayed warm. Loving it! =)
This is a long post, with outfits you've likely to have seen before, so why not check out the surrounding landscape, and see what happened during that warm weekend...
Thursday, 23 May 2013
Summer SWAP 4, 5 and 6
While pondering 30s fashion, I've been sewing up more jersey-stuff... (the dresses has already been featured, in the MMM on holiday-post).
1) V-necked top. This fabric was a nightmare! It didn't seem to have selvedges, more like cut edges. The printed pattern was parallell to the edges, but the grainline was maybe 20 degrees off. Laying out the pieces took ages, and I still think most pieces are slightly off grain. Pieces of this top will undoubtedly twist during washing. It has very little lengthwise stretch, so the underbustseam is higher than on the floral top from last week.
The whole point however was to test the pattern in a V-neck version. The neckband is not sewed on perfectly, but I do like the style. Not sure this top will survive long in my wardrobe, but it was good to test the V-neck pattern alteration =)
2) I had planned to make a dress in the horrible, off-grain fabric, but after discovering all the problems outlined above, I figured it'd be a waste of time. So I rushed out and got a turqoise viscouse jersey on sale at Ohlssons...
The floral dress was nice, but apart from me messing up the elastic in the waistseam, the entire waistline was too high. Very strange, since the pattern is drafted from my chevron dress that sits great at the waist. Then I got to thinking: the shoulder seams on that one has a tendency to wander backwards. Maybe the surpluce in the front bodice (the one I reduced for this later pattern) was divided between front and back to make the whole bodice longer?
Anyway, I added length a little bit here and there on the dress bodice pattern, altered the sleeves to be loose and half-long, slimmed down the skirt top to reduce the gathered effect, and changed the gathers in bodice and skirt into small pleats, more visible here:
However, this was still just a testrun for...
3) V-necked dress in the lovely jersey I bought at Stockholm sewing expo last fall. This fabric is wonderful! It has drape, a heavy fall, excellent recovery, is not thick and yet it has a bit of body so it doesn't fall all over the place. It cost a dear coin (twice the cost of the turcoise above), but I have a feeling it will last more than twice as long and see a lot of wear.
For me, this is a summer evening dress, or a winter dance dress. It'll be perfect for bluesdancing!
And that concludes the fast and easy part of my summer SWAP =)
Love, Erika
1) V-necked top. This fabric was a nightmare! It didn't seem to have selvedges, more like cut edges. The printed pattern was parallell to the edges, but the grainline was maybe 20 degrees off. Laying out the pieces took ages, and I still think most pieces are slightly off grain. Pieces of this top will undoubtedly twist during washing. It has very little lengthwise stretch, so the underbustseam is higher than on the floral top from last week.
The whole point however was to test the pattern in a V-neck version. The neckband is not sewed on perfectly, but I do like the style. Not sure this top will survive long in my wardrobe, but it was good to test the V-neck pattern alteration =)
2) I had planned to make a dress in the horrible, off-grain fabric, but after discovering all the problems outlined above, I figured it'd be a waste of time. So I rushed out and got a turqoise viscouse jersey on sale at Ohlssons...
The floral dress was nice, but apart from me messing up the elastic in the waistseam, the entire waistline was too high. Very strange, since the pattern is drafted from my chevron dress that sits great at the waist. Then I got to thinking: the shoulder seams on that one has a tendency to wander backwards. Maybe the surpluce in the front bodice (the one I reduced for this later pattern) was divided between front and back to make the whole bodice longer?
Anyway, I added length a little bit here and there on the dress bodice pattern, altered the sleeves to be loose and half-long, slimmed down the skirt top to reduce the gathered effect, and changed the gathers in bodice and skirt into small pleats, more visible here:
However, this was still just a testrun for...
3) V-necked dress in the lovely jersey I bought at Stockholm sewing expo last fall. This fabric is wonderful! It has drape, a heavy fall, excellent recovery, is not thick and yet it has a bit of body so it doesn't fall all over the place. It cost a dear coin (twice the cost of the turcoise above), but I have a feeling it will last more than twice as long and see a lot of wear.
For me, this is a summer evening dress, or a winter dance dress. It'll be perfect for bluesdancing!
And that concludes the fast and easy part of my summer SWAP =)
Love, Erika
Friday, 17 May 2013
MeMadeMay goes on holiday - week 2
That's right, I spent last week (wednesday to wednesday) in beautiful, sunny Alicante, Spain!
Wednesday 8th, after a half-day of work, some hours of last-minute packing, pin-curl setting, and a nice, direct flight Umeå-Alicante, it was over midnight before we reached our hotelroom (with seaview from the balcony!). I'll admit; due to the whole "I'm travelling all day anyway and oh, drat, I've already packed all my me-made tops..." this outfit only has a me-made skirt =(
Thursday 9th (my birthday!) we spent the day exploring the Castle of Santa Barbara, a place I strongly recommend any Alicante-tourist to visit! The views of the city were spectacular, and the castle itself awe-inspiring.
We had dinner at a restaurante-ship in the marina next to the hotel, and it was the best fish I have ever eaten! Just wow! It was a lovely birthday, and a great start on the holiday.
Friday 10th we explored the city. It's a beautiful old town, with plenty of pretty buildings. I even did a little bit of shopping!
Saturday 11th, there was an art museum, churches, gorgeous buildings, pittoresque alleys... We walked all day, and a me-made jersey top and pleated blue cotton skirt was comfortable and easy to wear. And yes, in almost all day photo's I'm wearing my new walking shoes. They're great! Supersoft to walk in, and with the added support of my ortho-insoles my feet remained happy through the many hours of walking. Not the cutest, though... Sometimes function beats aestaethic ; )
Sunday 12th we visited the archeological museum (MARQ). It was interesting to see the development of the city, but it might have been even more interesting with English texts... Everything was in Spaninsh! (And something similar, maybe portuguese). My high-school French gave me the tools to decipher the most vital information, it was quite fun to put it to use =) Anyway, a really nice museum!
Monday 13th we took the ferry to the island of Tabarca, about 20 kilometres outside the coast. Stunning scenery, lovely little town and the ocean was... beyond words.
Tuesday 14th, last day in town! Went around the town some more, visited a couple more museums. I recommend the Volvo Ocean Race museum! I haven't seen the race, nor am I very interested in sailing in general, but it was still a very interesting exhibition. I might even watch parts of the race on TV next year!
Wednesday 8th, after a half-day of work, some hours of last-minute packing, pin-curl setting, and a nice, direct flight Umeå-Alicante, it was over midnight before we reached our hotelroom (with seaview from the balcony!). I'll admit; due to the whole "I'm travelling all day anyway and oh, drat, I've already packed all my me-made tops..." this outfit only has a me-made skirt =(
Thursday 9th (my birthday!) we spent the day exploring the Castle of Santa Barbara, a place I strongly recommend any Alicante-tourist to visit! The views of the city were spectacular, and the castle itself awe-inspiring.
In a me-made chevron jersey dress, and my hair still in pincurls =)
We had dinner at a restaurante-ship in the marina next to the hotel, and it was the best fish I have ever eaten! Just wow! It was a lovely birthday, and a great start on the holiday.
Outside the restaurante, in a me-made 30s inspired dress.
Friday 10th we explored the city. It's a beautiful old town, with plenty of pretty buildings. I even did a little bit of shopping!
Maybe due to the lack of rain throughout the year, many trees looked like this. This particular one was extreme, just look at how one heavy branch is supported! I'm wearing me-made blouse and half-circle skirt.
In the evening, at Alicante's beachwalk. I'm wearing a me-made blue jersey dress I haven't blogged yet, and the 30s inspired me-made jacket. Oh, and the handbag I bought earlier that same day! =)
Saturday 11th, there was an art museum, churches, gorgeous buildings, pittoresque alleys... We walked all day, and a me-made jersey top and pleated blue cotton skirt was comfortable and easy to wear. And yes, in almost all day photo's I'm wearing my new walking shoes. They're great! Supersoft to walk in, and with the added support of my ortho-insoles my feet remained happy through the many hours of walking. Not the cutest, though... Sometimes function beats aestaethic ; )
Sunday 12th we visited the archeological museum (MARQ). It was interesting to see the development of the city, but it might have been even more interesting with English texts... Everything was in Spaninsh! (And something similar, maybe portuguese). My high-school French gave me the tools to decipher the most vital information, it was quite fun to put it to use =) Anyway, a really nice museum!
In me-made jersey top and the pleated skirt.
Monday 13th we took the ferry to the island of Tabarca, about 20 kilometres outside the coast. Stunning scenery, lovely little town and the ocean was... beyond words.
In a me-made jersey dress and the pretty sunhat the mr gave me for my birthday!
In my favorite me-made blouse and the half-circle skirt, on the plaza outside the hotel.
Last evening, after a delicious tapas-meal. Wearing a new me-made jersey dress, yet to be properly blogged.
It was a wonderful holiday, and I hope I'll soon be able to return to this area in Spain.
Love, Erika
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