Self drafted mini-poncho-sombrero-skirt

A couple of months ago I saw this fabric in my local store. I immediately fell in love with it, but could not for the love of God think of something to use it for, so sadly I left it there.

After seeing Kim's gorgeous weekender bag made in a fabric that made me think of this one, I had an epiphany. This fabric would look great as a mini-skirt! And guess what? It does!

I went to the fabric store, and in my basic Spanish I had to explain to the shopkeeper what fabric I meant. It wasn't until I pulled out my phone and showed a picture of aforementioned blog post that the kind sir (I doubt his name is Lorena, even though that is the name of his store) knew what I was talking about...  Luckily the bolt was not yet sold out.

If only I could be a fly on the wall, or read minds to know what the shopkeeper was thinking... I always show up there with pictures on my phone, same story at the mercerias/haberdasheries, where my favourite word is 'chisme' translated to 'gadget' followed by a vague description of it's use and/or physical features. So far, this method works out just fine...

I started looking in my pattern stash, but didn't find anything suitable. In my closet, on the other hand, I have a mini-skirt that I love, despite coming from the evil of all evil, ZARA. I took it out (it's about time anyway because it's getting colder and tights are permitted again, and so my skirts are getting shorter) and studied it intently for about 3 whole minutes and was amazed by what I saw. Raw edges finished with bias tape! And an ingenious facing, not sewn to the skirt but just cut out along with the entire skirt that gets folded under. An idea was born. A copy-cat idea.

So it was then and there that I decided to draft my own skirt. I browsed the interwebs looking for tutorials, looked through my course material of the sewing course I took 10 years ago and leafed through my pattern drafting books, and distilled my own method.

The result

 For those of you wanting to use the same method I applied, I made a step-by-step of the procedure, a tutorial if you will... With colour coding, which is unheard of in my chaotic mind, I'm really trying for you guys! I will dedicate another post to this tutorial.

By now, I know how to assemble a skirt, so no problem there. The stripe-matching could have been better, but all in all, I'm pretty pleased with how it worked out, I'm not one to fuss about details. Not on a skirt that will not see any formal venue anyway.

The zipper is just a simple slot-inserted zipper. 

My fabric has a VERY loose weave, so I opted for underlining the whole thing. I used a piece of brown Kona-cotton I had in my stash. Black would have been ideal, but as you all know, we do not live in an ideal world...

The insides of my ZARA-skirt look slightly neater, they are finished with bias tape, whereas mine is just fake-overlocked (I don't own an overlock/serger) with a 3-step zigzag, but I like it as is. I like the insides of my me-made things simple, a (3-step) zigzag or pinked seams can make me unbelievably happy, the whole RTW-finishing is just not really my thing, except on knits, but there it's more a question of function than of form.

And that's it. A poncho mini-skirt. Oh, and did I say that the fabric cost me 6.5 EUR for 80 cm and the zipper was from my stash, as was the black thread. So I'm off the hook rather cheaply...

Last weekend we went to see 'bufones', these are basically holes in the seaside cliffs that run underground from the seaside of the cliff and open up towards the upper level of the cliff. Wind and currents forces air and water through them, and they just erupt sea water. It was amazing! The sounds coming out of those holes was incredible and the bursts of water sometimes went up to 15m ! 

You have to go see them at days with rough weather, so you get soaking wet, umbrella or not, rubber boots are not a bad idea either, but so so so much fun!

Vogue 8630 - a dress with 10 darts for Frocktober

Hello ladies, here I am again. Long time no see. I have valid reasons for that!

I have been super busy making plans for the renovation of our apartment. We have finally agreed on a plan with our architect (and more importantly, a price with our renovator) so we can move forward and apply for the permits.
The past few months I have been very busy scouring Pinterest for ideas, and now it's a matter of finding the right kitchen, bathroom, floors, tiles, light switches, door handles (... you get the picture) to make our home OURS.

Apart from renovating I have taken up physical activities! And not just one, no, I started 3 different sports! 

Every Thursday I take tennis classes. I am a beginner, but enjoying myself! And I am already dreaming up a few cute tennis outfits. Is it wrong to start a hobby just for the wardrobe possibilities?

The next day, every Friday, my husband and I are taking a dance class. Taking dance classes together has been on our wishlist for almost 10 years now, and it's finally happening! We found a school here in Santander that teaches Swing and Lindy Hop and it is all kinds of awesome. We're still learning and so we fall out of rhythm all the time and occasionally step on each others' toes, but it will all be worth it in the end. And again, I'm already thinking of all the dresses I could make for dancing... Not to mention the shoes!

And last but not least, we took a sailing course. Every Saturday and Sunday of October we have been out on the water with our trusty Julien the Vaurien. We have been having a ball... Luckily the weather has been kind, with no rain at all and temperatures above 20ºC. We are already making plans to continue the course throughout the entire year to learn to sail regattas! It is just awesome. Oh, you want a picture? Your wish is my command!

Back to the dress!

Today I am showing off my make for The Monthly Stitch Frocktober. When I hear the word 'Frock' I immediately think 'fancy dress'.
I have been stuck on straight skirts for a while now and I have a huge crush on Belgian Queen Mathilde, so I chose this pattern. It reminded me of the gorgeous dress the Queen wore to the crowning of King Philippe.

The Queen's version:

Source

My version:

As you can see, there are a couple of differences.

First of all, I omitted the collar. One reason is that I didn't think it would work very well with this fabric, and the second is that I barely managed to cut the dress of the yardage I had on hand, a collar was simply not possible.


Another difference: no sleeves. I don't think those would have worked either. I have never worn a dress with silk twill sleeves, but I can't imagine that those are really comfortable. Besides, if I want to go dancing in this dress, sleeves would only be in the way.

Last difference: mine is shorter. I don't have a crowning to attend and I like my skirts a bit shorter.

Apart from sewing 10 darts, this is not a difficult dress! The only difficulty I had was that I only had 0.5 cm of seam allowance on the sides from the waist down (thank you pear shape) and inserting an invisible zipper with that small amount of fabric... Pfffff... In the end I had to handstitch it in place.

The fabric is a great silk twill I picked up on my La Coruña fabric binge. It was the last of the bolt and I got it for 30€. It was just enough and involved a bit of puzzling to get the fabricpattern to line up, but it worked out! Yeay!

These pictures were taken in the entrance of our apartment building, and I really like the setting. We should do something about the lighting though...

I really love the dress, but it won't come out of the closet any time soon due to lack of an appropriate event... New Year's Eve is not that far away though.

TNT M6044 - Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose...

My husband is a very lucky man ! (FYI This is sarcasm, I honestly don't understand how he puts up with me and my whims day in day out, I know I wouldn't, I guess he's some kind of saint...)

In the last half year I have made 4 shirts, 2 which you already saw, 2 I am about to reveal right now.

First of all, the winning shirt.

A while ago, the man who holds my heart came home with a surprise. He had just bought fabric for a shirt...
I bet they don't see that too often in any fabric shop, a man on the prowl...
As a non-sewer, he did not pay any attention to any of the following aspects: slipperiness, fraying, fabric type,... Needless to say, this fabric was slippery, fraying like hell and is of an undefined content. Oh, and to top it all off, it's a plaid. That is 4 out of 4 aspects I hate in fabrics. Well done, dear!
I should have told him to forget about it, but I am a weak little bird, especially because everyday I get fed delicious home-cooked meals and I don't have to do my own laundry... A shirt once in a while is just levelling the score, I guess, sort of...

I remembered all my good intentions of last time I made this shirt, and cut the back yoke, pocket, button placket, sleeve placket and cuffs on the bias.

For the collar attachment I used this idea and changed the order of construction, and for the collar assembly I used this tutorial. To my surprise, I made this work! Never going back to my old method!

The plaid matching on the front is not 100% acurate, but because of the bias cut placket, it doesn't really show (except I notice it and cringe every time I see it). Ward is happy with his shirt, so that makes it SCORE! 

We're enjoying this Indian Summer for as long as it lasts! Crossing our fingers that it goes on 'till the New Year...

And now, the EPIC fail... 

The last shirt I made for Ward had a very Taylor Lautner-effect where this shirt has an Adam Sandler-effect. Not exactly what I was aiming for...

It's the same pattern as the first shirt I made for my HB, so I know there is nothing wrong with that side of this creation, it is the fabric.
In the store, I didn't notice anything wrong with it, but as soon as I got it out to start cutting I knew something was off. Let me explain: it's spongy and it stretches. And not in a good way like this fellow.

Source

 I know what you're thinking, there is nothing good about this fellow - especially his laughter causes my ears to bleed everytime I hear it - but then I read a blogpost about Spongebob's redeeming qualities. I still won't watch the show without bleeding ears, but it was a nice read.

Anyway back to the shirt...

I hate it and my machine hates it. Remember a few months ago when she broke down? This is the shirt that was responsible for that...

Buttonholes on this shirt didn't work either, so I put on snaps. The last two are not placed correctly but because we hate this shirt, we're not changing that... It won't be worn anyway.

My husband hates it too. It looks awful and weighs too much to be comfortable. Oh, and have I said it, it's UGLY! But at least he now has a shirt to put on if we ever get invited to an 'Ugliest Shirt.Ever-Party'. Besides, he chose the fabric, so we can all agree no blame is to be put on me...

Behold the evidence of the horribleness...

I guess you can't win 'em all...

Do you guys have things you made that you hate?

Something more important than sewing

I know, I know, another call to sign a petition. Another person preaching...

But the events taking place in Russia really grabbed me by the throat and I can't seem to shake it of. It makes me sad that it is possible that this is happening and it makes me so angry at the same time, seeing how much power and influence big money (be it oil companies or food/GMO companies or financial institutions) has over our world and our lives. The world that we LIVE in and that we can hopefully still pass on to next generations and the lives that we lead and that are getting harder and harder for more and more people while companies get government protection acts passed and make more and more profits.

We all know that our planet is in danger. I like to think that by sewing our own clothes, we all are learning that cheap RTW-clothes are not only bad for the people who work in the sweatshops, but that we are also seeing that cheap disposable goods that turn to garbage after seeing the washing machine once not only create a lot of waste, but that their entire production process is also a strain on our environment. And I also like to think that making something ourselves, makes us more aware of quality and sustainability and fair trade, not only when it comes to clothing, but to everything we buy, from oranges and pumpkins to shoes and dresses to furniture and cars.

Two weeks ago, peaceful protestors of Greenpeace tried to climb a GAZPROM oil-rig drilling for oil in the Arctic, one of the few untouched wildernesses left in our world. Their ship was illegaly entered by the Russian Coast Guard in International Waters, and they have been brought to Murmansk, where they have not been charged with a crime yet but they have been detained for 2 months, while Russian authorities investigate if these peaceful protestors should be charged with piracy, although this too seems like it is a far stretch of current International Law. Now, legal experts are stating that entering the Arctic Sunrise and towing them to Murmansk was an illegal action in itself, but Russian Authorities don't seem to mind that...

Now, I know I don't have a lot of followers, but if all of you could take the time to read about this and if you think that what is happening isn't right, then please send an email to the Russian Embassy in your country and let them know that we, the people, have a right to protest! Every voice counts!

So, speak up, and let them know that you think that peaceful protesting is our right, and that nobody should be locked up for protecting what is left of our natural world!

Read about all the events here and send a message to the Russian Embassy in your country here! You can even tweet about it here if you are inclined to spread the word further...

Microphone off, Preaching over. I'll be back with more sewing related posts soon, just to make up for this one!