Completed: two 30's outfits!

Inspired by my love for the 30s look, my realisation that maybe I've been avoiding the 30s for all the wrong reasons, and of course all the lovely comments from you guys on whether I should try it, I decided before summer to make a 30s summer outfit with a skirt and a blouse. "Summer?", you may be wondering, "but Erika, it's fall now!"
I know, I know! But... well, I didn't get done in time... and the skirt fought back... and somehow I ended up making a second skirt + top outfit...

Alright, outfit number one:

A bias cut A-line skirt with side-buttons, and a blouse with a tie-collar and snaps in the side. The skirt is in a lovely faric, it's matka silk! Matka is a plain weave with double strands in both warp and weft. The fabric is coarse and has a lot of body, but at the same time it has a slight slight lustre that's too polite to be called a shine, and even though it has body, it still has some drape. Wonderful!

So how did the skirt fight back? Basically, it was the fabric. When I bought it they said it could be machine washed, but even after a gentle wash with silk-detergent it came out stiff as cardboard. After a good rinse with fabric softener (worked better than vineger, tried both on test squares. And yes, of course I should have machine washed a test square as well...) and ironing it dry, it regained some softness and drape. I'd seriously recommend against machine washing matka, no matter what the salespeople say!

The skirt closes in the side with buttons and handmade buttonholes.

The skirt sits in my natural waist and the waistband is straight, folded. I lenghtened it considerably after looking at old fashion- and pattern magazines, and measuring the few 30s pattern I own, so it hits just below mid-calf.

The blouse is made from leftovers from last year's big dress+jacket project. I used a combination of different patterns I've made before, it took a couple of toilles, and the fit is still a bit off. I have two major issues I need to adress before making it again, first is the bubbliness at the front, second is the excess in the peplum. 30s peplum laid very slim and close to the hips, while the bodice bloused against the waist (opposite that of 50s peplum blouses/dresses). I love the style, though! So easy to wear, cool and soft, not restricting the movement at all, yet with a feeling of elegance.

The blouse closes in the side with snaps.

Second outfit!
 

Remeber the jerseydress I showed you in the last post? I loved that fabric so much I went back for another 1,5 metre! I had already found a nice linen on a 50% sale, so I figured it would be great to have a 30s outfit that's easier to wash and iron. Hence a linen skirt and a jersey top!

The skirt is tea-dyed (I bought it as a bleached white) and cut on the bias. However, since the first skirt has a tendency to pull a little over the hips I figured it would be better with a bit more room in the skirt and made it just a few cm wider. Unfortunatly, it didn't make the sideseam lay flat, quite the opposite...

Another part in the problem may be that I was a little bit short on fabric, and did a "design feature" at the top. It might be a coincidence that the skirt pulls the most just below the "V", but I doubt it.

Also, the zipper buggled. This is the third installation, and I've done all I can think of. I'm leaving it be, it's time for fall sewing and either the fabric will shrink a little during washing, or I'll wear something over the top of the skirt, or... It's a later problem =)

The top is a version of my by now TNT jerseydress pattern, not much to say about it.

Except that I love the fit in the back!!! With my narrow back, nothing RTW has ever fit and I still get a little giddy everytime I see myself wearing a garment that fits my back =)

This is just a short presentation, I'll be returning soon with some thoughts on drafting patterns that are based on a specific period, and of course a bit more about the silk skirt. It was an epic make ; )

Love, Erika

A jersey dress

Gee, moving takes a lot of time! And energy. But now it's done, I'm settled into the new place and I even had some time this weekend to play around with fabric. First time in two months (vacation one month and moving the second). Yay!!! So far not much to show, I'm embarking on an exciting new project: drafting and sewing a dress shirt for my man! So much to learn... can't wait! =)

I did do some last-minute sewing before summer vacation. This jersey caught my eye in the fabric store, and I bought 1,5 metres on pure impuls. Went home, re-drafted my jersey dress-pattern a little bit. Cutting and sewing went very smooth, with a couple of jersey-projects finished this year, I'm starting to feel I'm getting the hang of it.

You've seen this one before, in the previous post. I tried a new version of sleeve, with a little gathering at the cap:

Not sure I'm loving the sleevecap, though. It's very... sweet. Little girl with pony tail-sweet.

For fit, I tried adjusting the shoulder-width and think I'm step closer.

Bodice and skirt both meet the midriff-piece with a single knife-pleat.

And that's this little dress! I also made a 30s blouse and skirt-combi, more about them next time =)

Love, Erika

Summertime and the living is easy...

...fish may even be jumping... =)

I read somewhere that internet stress during vacation is a rising population health issue. Stressing about Facebook, blogs and so on prevents one from relaxing, resting and get the full benefit of a vacation. While I can understand the problem, it's one I have no personal experience of. My only stress was feeling bad about not being online, writing posts, commenting. Reading my mail... So even though I this year brought my swanky new computer (allright, maybe not so fancy, but compared to my 8 year old laptop, it's basically a spaceship) on the road, did I use it for anything else than installing needed software (thanks Dad!) and check public transportation info? No, of course, not. I was feeling a little teeny, tiny bit bad about it, until I read the article =) It's amazing how we can choose to give credit to newspaper articles when they fit into how we would like the world to be, and ignore them when they don't.

I've had a wonderfully relaxed vacation. Me and the mr went on a roadtrip through Sweden, something I haven't done since I was a child. We visited family and friends, totally driving approx 3400 kilometres (1 mile = 1.6 km). It was great to not have any fixed days for travelling, just go with the flow and have room to alter any plans whenever we'd choose.

Here's some of my favorite pictures from the past two months...

 Midsummer at Norrbyskär, trying to keep my balance and failing miserably =)

 Feeling like a giant in the minature houses at Norrbyskär museum.

Visiting friends in Hjo, a cute little town next to one of Swedens largest lakes. The shoes, hat, scarf and handbag were my go-to's this summer =)

 The lake was stunning, and we couldn't have asked for better weather!

 Hjo is an old town, with plenty of beautiful wood houses.

Back in northern Sweden, me and mom visited an old iron work. Thought you guy's might like this, it's the early 20th century workroom of the director.

To get power to run the iron work, they used the natural stream and altered it to get more force out it. This stream has been used in this capacity since th 17th c (with different iron works, and new machinery from time to time).

At the end of the vacation, we spent a few days in the Swedish moutins. Clear air, gorgeous midnight light (this is taken at 11.30 at night) and time for both body, soul and mind to relax.

And to sum this up - something sewing related! At a second hand shop I stumbled over this darling. It was set to such a low price, I opened the case mostly to study the broken 70s wreck I assumed resided inside. I probebly startled half the store with my screetch when I opened it and found a Husqvarna CB (they were made between 1903-1934, so it's from somewhere around there). The electricity actually works, and it sews, I tested it in the store. Now, despite it's beauty I was a bit hesitant. Would my boyfriend be ok with A) helping me bring it up to snuff and B) having a third sewing machine in the appartement, with the knowledge that there will be a fourth as soon as I can afford a coverlock? He surprised me in the best sense of the word with not only saying yes to the above but even gifting me with the machine!!!

So that's the quick version of my summer! Not a lot of sewing, I haven't been home eunough for that, but I have made a few garments. Right now my sewing supplies, along with everything else I own, is in a semi-organized chaos, also known as moving. In two weeks I'll be settled into my new place (I'm just moving within the city), and I'm sooooo looking forward to sewing again!

Hope everyone has had a great summer!
Love, Erika

Bloglovin and Google Reader and all that...

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

(Ignore this: <a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/4142445/?claim=htrsc9tp243">Följ min blogg med Bloglovin</a>

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:

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