lunes, 18 de mayo de 2015

Sewaholic Granville Shirt

La version en español se encuentra aquí.
It took forever to get these pictures taken. A bit of sunshine and warmth is long overdue...

For this shirt, I found my inspiration with Madonna... I think I'll leave the cape for another day, but I have always loved her look in this video: -not to mention COWBOYS-



Damn, now I need a black leather shirt...
I love sewing shirts, I don't particularly like wearing shirts. But I love my new belt and wanted a shirt that goes with it. Behold, the logic of my brain.

DSC01889

Enter the Sewaholic Granville Shirt. I love the apparent simplicity of the shirt, but between the princess seams on the back, the two-piece collar and the sleeves with cuffs and plackets, it still provides a challenging sewing experience and the end result is a great classic shirt.

DSC01900

I knew from my Cambie that the fit would be great, made for girls with a pear-shaped body, just like me... I cut a straight size 10, which comes closest to my actual measurements. I think the back is maybe a bit wide, but all in all I like the fit as is, and it gives me enough room to move my arms in all directions when I'm dancing around in my living room.

DSC01903

I wanted a Wild West style shirt so I chose this burgundy red cotton dotted with little stars. I added two breast pockets but didn't add the flaps.
I also put french seams throughout the entire shirt. It gives a really neat finish overall and you don't end up with ugly exposed seams when rolling up your sleeves.

Tasia doesn't use the normal way of putting on the collar. I followed the directions that came with the pattern, and the result is a really nice collar, but it doesn't look better than my normal way (which is to put the collar together entirely and then sew one side of the collarstand to the shirt and then handsew or topstitch the inner collarstand in place) and I was really confused, so next time I will just do it the old fashioned way... I am a creature of habit...
SONY DSC
So this is it, my new shirt. And I love it. Love looking at it and love wearing it!
Now all I need are boots. And a horse.

lunes, 9 de marzo de 2015

Sewaholic Minoru Jacket


La versión en español se encuentra aquí

This Jacket has been on my to-sew list forever (not forever, but at least a couple of years). I first fell in love with this pattern when I saw this one and last year I saw this one live and I was absolutely sold on the pattern.

I didn't make it before because I made a Watson Jacket and an Albion coat (not blogged) last year, and the wintercoat I was using didn't need replacement, but this year I collected some stains on my coat that don't wash out, so a new wintercoat it is!

If you follow me on Instagram, you already saw that I cut the original pattern and the fabric without a try-out version... I really love living on the edge...



The wool I used, I bought last summer (because that is the right season to buy wool) when I was visiting my family with the idea of making a dress... The lining is a super soft fleece. I feel like I am wrapped in a cloud...

 I think, apart from the zipper, any sewer with a bit of experience can make this jacket.

I made a few changes to the pattern:

I added outside pockets using this book

I think the reason for this is obvious... A wintercoat without pockets is just not practical (any coat without pockets is unpractical).
On the Sewaholic site there is a tutorial to make inseam-pockets.
I really like the look of welt pockets (and they don't scare me anymore) so  I measured the pockets on my current coat and just copied those.


I didn't put in the zipper in the collar to stow away the hood. First of all, I don't think I will ever put the hood away and second, I think this fabric would have been to thick to stuff the hood in the collar.
Instead I just inserted the hood between the body and the collar. This way, when I'm not wearing the hood, the collar still keeps my neck warm... I thought about making making the hood removable with a zipper, but in the end I just went the easy way.

 

I left out the elastic at the waist. The wool is already thick enough and I don't think I need more shaping in this coat, I wear about three layers underneath, so the slimming effect would have been zero...I also didn't add elastic to the sleeve cuffs because I like to wear gloves and it would be too difficult to get those on and off easily with elasticated cuffs.


The hardest part on this jacket is the zipper. But I think I can say I nailed that... I put in one side of the zipper and then carefully lined up all the seamlines and edges and basted the second part before sewing.



I really like the effect of the ruffling on the sleeves and across the back.




Can you tell how happy I am with the inside of this coat? It's fluffy, soft and warm... Perfect winter coat material!
 
I added some cross-stitch embroidery on the inside pocket, and I used this free pattern for it.
Happiness is carried on the inside.


Things I would do differently in the future:
  • line the hood. This jacket has such a nice finish on the inside, except for the hood...
  • change the construction of the cuffs. The instructions go for the easy finish of topstitching the things down, but the seam allowance are turned towards the sleeve, which gives a little bump there. I think if the seam allowance was to be pressed towards the cuffs and then handstitched (or topstitched) closed, the bump wouldn't be there.






Action shots. Also, it was like 20º when we took these pictures, the first rays of sunshine we have seen and felt in weeks. Every single person in the north of Spain went out this weekend for a walk I think...

martes, 10 de febrero de 2015

Bolso acolchado - Quilted bag


Hoy os explico como podéis hacer un bolso acolchado de boquilla.
Además de hacer este tutorial, he empezado una colección en Pinterest con patrones de bolsos .
La tela Big Blooms se encuentra aquí
La tela de foro con lunares se encuentra aquí

Today I will show you how I made this quilted bag.
The flowered fabric can be found here
The polka-dot fabric can be found here

Tutorial bolso de boquilla


What you will need for this bag:
- 1 clasp
- paper and marker
- scissors
- 40 cm of exterior fabric
- 40 cm of interior fabric

- batting
- gold thread
- interfacing if you are making the bag unquilted 

1. DISEÑAR EL PATRÓN

Primero, trazamos la boquilla en el papel, siguiendo el contorno de la misma boquilla.

First, trace the form of the clasp on the paper
 

Giramos la boquilla hacia fuera (+/- 2.5 cm) y trazamos junto al lado corto de la boquilla como está en las fotos de abajo. Además marcamos la posición de la bisagra.

Turn the clasp outward (+/- 2.5 cm) and trace the short side of the clasp. Don't forget to mark the position of the hinge.
 



En el otro lado de la boquilla hay que dibujar el inverso. A fin de que sea exactamente inverso, cortamos el patrón hasta la mitad, doblamos el papel a la mitad y copiamos la forma en el otro lado.

To copy the pattern on the other side, cut the pattern to the middle of the drawing, double it to the other side and trace around the cut out shape. 
 

Diseñamos la forma que queremos dar a nuestro bolso, y como en el paso anterior, lo cortamos, doblamos y copiamos al otro lado.

Now draw the form you want for your bag, and like the previous step, cut out to the middle, fold in half and trace the outline.



Así tenemos ya el patrón básico de nuestro bolso.

The first piece of the pattern is now ready.
 

Ahora medimos la distancia desde el medio de la parte inferior (A) de nuestro bolso hasta la marca de la bisagra (B). Luego dibujamos en otro papel un rectángulo de esta longitud (A-B) y una anchura de 8 cm. (o 10 cm si quieres un bolso más ancho)

To make the inset, measure the distance between point A (middle of the bottom of the bag) to point B (marking of the hinge) and draw a rectangle with one side measuring this length A-B. The width of the rectangle should be between 8 and 10 cm, depending on how roomy you want your bag to be.
 

En el rectángulo redondeamos un lado corto hacia dentro. La segunda parte de nuestro patrón está.

Round one of the widths of the rectangle inwards.
 


El patrón final:

We have finished our pattern.

Ahora cortamos nuestra tela.
2 piezas del patrón básico del bolso para cada capa (2 x exterior, 2 x  interior y 2 x entretela/guata/polar)
1 pieza del rectángulo redondeado, utilizado en doble (1 x exterior, 1 x interior y 1 x entretela/guata/polar) Para usar esta patrón en doble, plega la tela a la mitad y coloca el patrón sobre la doble capa de tela con el lado corto recto en el pliegue.

Now we cut our fabric:
2 pieces of every fabric of the basic pattern (2x exterior, 2x interior and 2x batting/interfacing)
1 piece of every fabric of the rectangle, placed on the fold of the fabric (1x exterior, 1x interior and 1x interfacing/batting) 

Y ahora: A COSER!

And now: we sew!

1. ACOLCHAR
Acolchar es muy fácil! Simplemente superpones la tela exterior a la guata (o polar) y coses el dibujo que tú quieres. Para mi bolso hice un dibujo de cuadratitos con diagonales. Primero hay que dibujar con rotulador directamente en la guata o con tiza de sastre en la tela exterior. Luego, coser las dos capas superpuestas, siguendo el dibujo que has trazado.

1. QUILTING
Quilting is not that hard! Just pin the exterior fabric together with the batting and sew the pattern you want. I made a pattern of diagonal squares. First you draw the pattern with a marker on the batting or with tailors' chalc on the exterior fabric, and then you sew the two layers together. Depending on which side you drew the pattern, you put the gold thread through the needle or on the bobbin. 


Si no quieres acolchar tu bolso, simplemente aplicas la entretela a la tela exterior y sigues con la construcción.

If you don't want to quilt your bag, just apply the interfacing to the wrong side of the exterior fabric and continue the construction.

2. CONSTRUCCIÓN
Empezamos con el forro del bolso que es la parte interior:
Alinea el medio de la pieza básica con el medio de la pieza rectángular, moldeando la tela en las curvas y cose. Repite con la otra pieza básica. El forro del bolso ya está listo.

2. CONSTRUCTION
Let's start with the lining. Line the centre of the bottom of the bag up with the centre of the rectangle, right sides together. Ease in the rounded corners and sew together. Repeat with the other bag piece.
The lining is ready! 

Construye el exterior del bolso de la misma manera que el forro.
In exactly the same way, assemble the exterior of the bag.
 
Una vez cosido el interior y el exterior del bolso, unimos esas dos partes.
Metemos el exterior dentro del forro, con los lados derechos juntos.
When both pieces are sewn, put the exterior bag inside the lining, right sides facing each other.
 
Ahora juntamos estas dos piezas, cosiendo a lo largo de los bordes de la boca del bolso, dejando un hueco sin coser de +/- 5 cm para luego poder volver del revés al bolso.
Una vez vuelto del revés, cerramos el hueco, cosiendo a mano.
We now put the two bags together by sewing the upper edges of the bag all the way around, leaving about 5 cm open, to turn the bag right side out.
When the bag is right side out, sew the gap closed by hand. 
Para acabar el bolso, juntamos la boquilla y los bordes de la boca del bolso, usando pegamento para textil o cosiendo a mano con un pespunte, según el tipo de boquilla. La boquilla mía tenía agujeritos para que pudiera pasar una aguja. Así que yo usaba hilo de bordado para unir el bolso y la boquilla.
To finish the bag, we have to attach the bag to the clasp. Depending on the type of clasp, you either glue them together, or you sew them by hand using a backstitch. I used an embroidery thread to sew the pieces together.
Bolso listo!
Bag is ready!

viernes, 23 de enero de 2015

Algo está pasando...

... en CoserCosas.

En breve abro mi tienda online de telas y patrones www.cosercosas.es

Estuvimos preparando y soñando de este proyecto hace dos años, pero fue retrasado en varias ocasiones debido a varias razones. Pero una mudanza y renovación después, estamos todo listo para empezar con muchas ganas y ilusión.

Las puertas se abrirán el 1 de febrero, pero ya nos puedes seguir en Twitter, Facebook y Instagram para ser el primero que se mantenga informado de todas las novedades, ofertas y actividades.

Empezamos con una gama básica pero elegida con mucho cuidado y cariño y poco a poco ampliamos nuestra oferta de productos con nuevas marcas y diseñadores de telas y otros tipos de tejidos como el punto.

Este blog se mantendrá como una página personal donde os enseño los resultados de todas las horas que paso cosiendo.

Hasta pronto!
Wendy