Yellow Peony

I decided to move. I like the whole Wordpress user experience so much better than the Blogger version, so you can now find me at:

cosercosas.wordpress.com

And the post about this Peony is also on there:

http://cosercosas.wordpress.com/2014/03/22/and-it-was-called-yellow-last-dress-of-winter/

I'll keep posting links to the posts for a while longer, and I hope to see you all at my new place!
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The people have spoken...

And they have made it very clear what they expect from me.

Based on your comments, I think you mainly voted for the fabric I suggested for my dress and to be honest, I couldn't agree with you more. I have been hoarding this piece of cloth for almost 2 years, just not being able to decide what to do with it, but getting it out on occasion for some petting. Man, you wouldn't believe how soft this baby is! 

I already made a muslin for the bodice of the dress and have made minor adjustments to make sure that this dress fits (more or less) appropriately.

I see a trip to a fabric store in my near future, to buy the right lining for this fabric so this baby gets made before the end of March.

On a different note, if I were to move this little blog to Wordpress, would you move with me?

Pants for me, a rarity...

I don't like wearing pants. There I have said it. I used to adore my Diesel-jeans, I practically lived in them, but they stopped making the model and now they don't have a model that fits me well anymore. I once went shopping for a new pair, long story short, I went to 5 stores, tried on 20 different models and none fit me. That was quite a depressing way to spend the day. After that, I just gave up on wearing jeans... Any one have a favourite brand or model for pear shapes, preferably manufactured in Europe or the US?

Up until last week I had 2 pair of pants I wore regularly, a grey pair and a black stretch jeans. Last week I was squatting down and the fabric of my black pants tore. Now I must admit, this was not the first time this has happened to me. The insides of my thighs rub together and the fabric gets worn out faster in that spot, and thus eventually all jeans tend to tear up sooner or later...

Even though I don't like wearing pants, I do like making them. So I decided I should make a new pair of pants. And as a lucky coincidence, February is Smarty Pants Month at The Monthly Stitch.

I had been eying this pattern for a while and I know that Burda-pants fit me just fine without any alterations. After I saw Rachel's high waisted trousers, I was more and more convinced that this style should come from under my machine and make its' way into my closet...

Source Burdastyle.com

 I love the high waist on these pants, I just love the style. The husband-monster? Not so much. I believe he said he will only go out with me if I pull my shirt over the waistband, but I don't like the way that looks, so he'll just have to live with tucked in shirts...

The pink wool is from my stash and cost me 15€, picked up from a remnants table in Barcelona. Add a zipper to the grand total and I have new wool trousers for about 16€.

 Now construction wise:

Turns out I can sew a pair of pants in one day! Who would have thought? Certainly not me!

As with all Burda patterns, instructions are minimal. One A4-sheet in total...

 

The welt pockets gave me a bit of a headache. I have never made single welt pockets before, and if I hadn't found this tutorial, both pockets would have ended up a disaster, instead of just the right pocket. I messed up completely and in the end had to sew the whole pocket by hand. Of course after I had slashed the pocket line...  Ugh! The left pocket looks alright. 

I didn't go with the invisible zipper but went for a lapped zipper instead, using Sunny's class on Craftsy. Turns out I should have started with the back leg so the lap would go from front to back, but I started with the front leg, and now my zip closes the wrong way. I'm pretty sure no one will notice.

I was very much in doubt, but in the end I went for the splits on the bottom, and I'm really glad I did. It's a fun little feature, and they make my shoes look good. I like the way my trousers fall around my shoes instead of sitting on top of the shoe. Next time I will make the split 2cm shorter so my socks don't show...

I made a size 42, but I think I could have gotten away with a size 40. Guess that will be for next time, when these wear out.

What are your favourite trouser patterns and which one would you recommend me?

Please, Boss me around!

The Monthly Stitch challenge for March is called 'Miss Bossy Patterns' and I couldn't be more thrilled with this challenge.

During the month of March, which happens to be my birthday month, I will have to sew a pattern from my stash that I haven't used before, and the best part is, you can decide which pattern it will be.

So, without further ado, the nominees for Miss Bossy Patterns 2014 are:

Vogue 8727

Made up in this beautiful birdy fabric that I have been saving since my London trip during the summer of 2012

McCall's 5974 - out of print
The Perfect Knit Dress, according to McCall's

Made up in this out of this world pink/purple (my husband says I'm colourblind...) shiny knit, scooped up during our sewist-meetup in Bilbao in December.

La Maison Victor Adventure Jacket

Selfless sewing. I would make this jacket from a new Belgian sewing magazine for one of the monsters in my house (probably my husband) and I would make it in this reversible knit.

So, help me make a decision what to make for the March challenge. But don't worry if I don't make your favourite in March, I probably will soon...

The lines are now open, until 28 February 2014 - CET.




Thanks for your help! I also have a few projects to show you, pictures will be taken and posts written soon!

Maider's Leggings Sewalong - Cose Conmigo Leggings por Maider

I made leggings following a Sew-Along hosted by the sweet and talented Maider, who I have had the pleasure of meeting during our Northern-Spain-Bloggers-Meetup on Boxing Day... You can find pictures and the story about that here and here. I didn't write a post about this, because I didn't take any pictures... 

Hizé leggings apuntandome por el cose-conmigo de Maider, una chica muy maga y con mucho talento, que estaba encantada de conocerle durante el Encuentro Costurero-Blogero en Bilbao el 26 de diciembre. Hay fotos y una pequeña historia del día en los blogs de las otras chicas. Yo olvidé la cámara entonces no tengo fotos de ese día geníal...

Seeing how Maider is a Basque blogger, writing in Basque, Spanish and English, I will write this blog post both in English and Spanish, because she will be linking to our posts and I want her readers to understand what I have to say. Well sort of, because my Spanish is really not as good as it should be after living here for over 2 years... Here goes nothing.

Intentaré de escribir este post en Castellano también porque muchos de los seguidores de Maider son españoles y quiero que me entendeís. Pues, más o menos, intentaré... 

So Maider is hosting a Leggings Sew-Along using only your personal measurements to make leggings. I don't really have a need for more leggings, I already have 1 pair and some different coloured stockings, so I decided to play a bit with the pattern so I would end up with lounge pants/tennis pants. I usually run around the house in my too short, blue reindeer pyjama pants. Not a very attractive sight out of the bedroom. (It's not very attractive in the bedroom either, but at least they are appropriate there). The people that I live with me owe you a lot of thanks, Maider!

Maider está haciendo un cose-conmigo de Leggings, usando tus propias medidas y nada más! No necesito más leggings en mi vida, ya tengo 1 par y algunas medias en colores diferentes, entonces decidí de jugar un poco con el patrón para acabar con un pantalón para llevar en casa o para ir al clase de tenis. Normalmente, en casa, llevo el pantalón de mi pijama que queda un poco corto, con ciervos azules... No es mi look más favorable... Mi familia tiene que agradecer a Maider por elevar un poco la estética en casa...

To do this, I didn't use my ankle-measurement, but just used my knee measurement (without reducing 10%) as my ankle measurement. I also added 3 cm to the bottom because I want these pants to end on my shoes, not my ankles. I should have added 5 cm because I think 3 cm is barely long enough, without even hemming the legs.

Para conseguir este resultado, no medí mi tobillo pero usé la medida de la rodilla (sin diminuir 10%) como medida del bajo. Añadí 3 cm abajo porque sino, quedaría un poco corto el pantalón, pero al final tuvé que añadir 5 cm porque el bajo es muy muy justo, sin dobladillo...

I also added a wider waistband than what Maider shows in her tutorials, because I like a wide waistband and I wanted to add a ribbon. To do this, I drew a waistband of 16 cm high (7cm + 1 cm seam allowance each side) Before sewing the waistband on, I made two buttonholes to pull a ribbon through. I went for HOT PINK, because that colour is just HOT and it contrasts really nice with the grey of the pants.

Además, añadí una cinturilla un poco más ancha que la del CC y quería incluir un lazo. Dibujé una cinturilla de 7 cm (entonces pieza de tela de 16 cm: 2X(7+1) y la largura siguiendo la clase de Maider). Hizé dos ojales en el centro antes de unir la cinturilla y el pantalón. Opté por un lazo de color HOT PINK, porque es un color HOT, y el contraste con el gris da un poco de alegría. 

I did use a different order for sewing the pants together. I have followed 2 tutorials (the other one is Make My Pattern) on pants now and they both have you sew up the leg seam first and then the crotch seam, making you put one pant leg in the other and then sew. I do the opposite. I first sewed front and back center seam, and then I sew both leg seams in one smooth movement, as you can see here.

No cosé el pantalón como Maider. Ya he hecho 2 pantalones de manera CC (el otro era de Make My Pattern) y las dos dicen de coser primera las piernas y después las unes. Yo hago al revés. Primero coso el centro delante, después el centro atrás y al final cose las dos piernas enseguidas. Un dibujo para explicar sería un poco más fácil, no?

The fabric came from my favourite fabric store, Rafael Matías in Bilbao. It is a sort of fuzzy sweater knit, that I would use for making baby clothes if I ever felt inclined to do so... (Not having babies is a great way to avoid baby sewing).

La tela es de mi tienda favorita, Rafael Matías en Bilbao. Es una tela para coser sweaters o sí algun día me apetecería, haría ropa de bébé con este tipo de tela. (Pero no tengo bébé, entonces no hace falta que hago ropa de bébés...)

Once I finished the pattern, which took less than an hour, I sewed these pants up in about 1.5 hours (I'm a very slow sewer and get easily distracted by almost anything). So if I am ever in need of sweat pants or leggings, I can now make these in no time!

Dibujar el patrón duró menos que una hora y coser el pantalón me costó una hora y media, pero coso muy lento y estoy despistada cada 3 segundos). Cuando quiero otro par de leggings o pantalón de chandal, usaré este método.

I suggest you all head over to Maider's blog to check out all her other projects and start making some leggings! If you finish before 31st of January, you can enter the contest (I don't know the details, so don't know if it's worldwide).

Thanks for a great pattern Maider, I hope I win!

Ahora, todo el mundo al blog de Maider para ver sus projectos y para hacer leggings! Si acabaís antes del 31 de enero, puedes entrar en el concurso!!

Muchas gracias Maider por un CC estupendo! A ver si me toca la suerte!

 

Deer and Doe Plantain - first make of 2014, a year without resolutions

While I am trying to catch up with all of your blogs -I had around 200 unread posts when I got back from visiting my family- and reading all your (sewing related) resolutions for 2014 while listening to One Direction -blame it on spending a week with my little sister-, I decided I will not make new year's resolutions.

I don't believe in radical changes in behaviour or mindsets anyway. I think change is an organic movement, slow but steady, with a lot of reflection, not a straight highway, but a steep mountain road with several difficult parts and a lot of turns, sometimes even U-turns.

So in 2014 I will continue to work towards the long term goals I have for myself.

But that doesn't mean that I don't have specific goals for 2014 either. But those are not really resolutions, but just plans, things that would be nice if I could accomplish them this year and other things that I absolutely have to do...

The most important of my plans is surviving the renovations of our appartment. This will be the second time we go through renovations, so we sort of know what to expect... I'm definitely looking forward to the end result, the whole process... not so much. We start next week! Definitely exciting!

Our intention is to drag this apartment into the 21st century, we have a few decades to cross...

I also have a few sewing plans, including:

- Finish my Albion in time for the competition on the Colette site

- Make trousers for my husband for his cousin's wedding at the end of May

- Execute the projects I have envisioned for my stash. I purchase fabric with specific projects in mind, just have to get of the couch and sink my needles in...

- Draft myself a dress

- Train my picture monkey personal photographer better so I get loads of cool pictures

Since you managed to read through all the above, I think I should show you a project as well.

I couldn't be more thrilled last week when I saw on Twitter that Deer and Doe released a FREE T-shirt pattern. Yes, that's right, a FREE pattern. Talk about a great Reyes* present.

I'm not big on sewing or wearing knits, so buying a 15€ pattern for a T-shirt is something I just cannot bring myself to. But if the pattern is free, that makes is an entire other story.

Plantain is a T-shirt fitted at the shoulders and flaring at the hips, with elbow patches. Short, long and 3/4 sleeves included in the pattern.

I had been contemplating what to do with this piece of geometric black and white fabric for a while. I was thinking along the lines of another Lola dress or maybe an Avocado hoodie, but when I saw Plantain, I knew they were meant to be thrown under the machine together.

I think I blend in well with the urban jungle

I didn't want a T-shirt but a loose sweater, so instead of making size 42 I made size 44 and I'm absolutely thrilled the way it turned out.

Yes, I did the unspeakable and wore leggings as trousers. I will now certainly go to fashion-hell.

Things I love about this pattern:

 - the low neckline. So many patterns out there are just very conservative, and I like a little collar bone on display.

- the flaring at the hips

- the elbow patches, even though I didn't add them

I added a waistband and sleevecuffs, because I like how they look and because I thought the sleeves would be a bit on the short side if I didn't add some length.

To draw the waistband and cuffs, I first measured the circumference of the pattern pieces, I left of the seam allowance, multiplied this by 90% and then added the seam allowance. I wanted the waistband to be 4 cm wide, so I made a pattern piece of 11 cm high. For the cuffs I went with 7 cm, so that piece was 17 cm high.

I could have made this shirt in about an hour if I had a serger, but since I had to sew the seams, finish the seams and then cut away all the excess fabric, it took me about 3 to 4 times longer, but since my man was on a business trip I really didn't mind the extra work to keep me occupied.

*Reyes are the 3 wise men and traditionally bring Spanish children that have been good all year gifts on January 6th.