The Estranged Widow

 So, a while ago I was browsing some fabrics online at three am, as one does. And I came across a very reasonably priced faux leopard fur. It was miles away from my usual style, but with Hanne in mind as a little devil on my shoulder telling me to go for it, I bought two meters. The idea? A very simple coat, to keep me warm in winter. After making said coat I got a bit of a 'estranged widow shows up and demands her late husband's fortune'-vibe, so me and my roommate Julie just went for it and staged a photoshoot. I set something on fire.

"You'll be hearing from my lawyer"

Pattern! I wanted something loose and relatively straight, and Burda 6359 ticked those boxes. It was also drafted to be made in faux fur, so I thought that was a safe bet. Burda fits me really well and... it's a loose-fitting coat, so I didn't make a muslin. I chose the longest version and added another ten cm, because I wanted a short coat and not a long jacket.

"Soon all this will be mine"

Cutting this out took an entire evening, even though there are only 5 pattern pieces. I cut everything on a single layer, keeping the pile in mind and trying to center The 'stripes' running through the fur on the back, collar and sleeves. This fur isn't that long but there was still plenty of fluff flying around!

"Unbelievable"

Sewing this was really straightforward. I glanced at the instructions but there are no real surprises there. I was surprised at the lack of pockets though! I mean, a coat with no pockets at all? I decided to add side seam pockets, with a little fur facing to prevent them showing. It's a little bulky but not enough to bother me.

"The things I have to endure"

All in all this was a very quick sew, even if it covered me and the entire apartment with a layer of hair. After cutting out the pieces I was worried just the fur and a lining wouldn't be enough to keep the wind out, and what is the purpose of a fur coat if the wind just blows straight through it? So I got some cheap flannel from my stash, cut out the lining pieces a second time and basted them together. This makes this thing super toasty and also gave the coat a little bit of extra body.

"It's not real if it's burnt"

Speaking of that, the instructions specifically say not to interface anything. I get that a fusible wouldn't be a great idea, but maybe something sew-in? It's fine the way it is, but I do feel like the collar and front edges could do with a little more structure, even if it's just a thin cotton to help it keep its shape.

"There, all mine now"

All in all, I'm very pleased with this coat and secretly looking forward to colder weather so I can wear it! And even if it's still too cold I'll use my late husband's burning will to keep me warm...

Farting Frogs on a Jacket

It seems like I'm becoming one of those cliché bloggers who start every post with 'I'm back guys! For real this time!'

I mentioned that things had been crazy in my previous post, and that that was why I had not posted in so long. Well guess what: it got crazier. My relationship of over ten years ended during lockdown and I had exams about a month later, and then a summer of healing, taking care of things and picking up the pieces. I remained somewhat active on Instagram and eventually started making things again, but I didn't have the energy to take blog worthy pictures and write a post. Until now! Me and my roommate Julie were showing a friend around the city, and we took a moment or two to take some pictures of a jacket I just finished.

The fabric for this jacket was bought in Paris during the Paris Sewcial in 2019. It feels like forever ago. I visited the Malhia Kent store with a few people and spotted this stretch jacquard. It was about 40 euros p/m but I had never found a more 'me' fabric. One meter came home with me, firmly destined to become a bomber jacket. 

Then the search for a pattern. I didn't want raglan sleeves because I thought the diagonal shoulder seams wouldn't look too great in the print, I wanted a higher (ribbed) neckline and I wanted a lining. It took some searching but then I found the Amelia bomber jacket through Wanderstitch's version. It had all the features I was looking for, and after reading a few reviews I went for it!

Here's the result:

I love it to pieces, but it was a journey to get there. The pattern company (Wardrobe by me) was completely new to me so I made a muslin, and while the fit was pretty spot on I decided to shorten the jacket a bit to make it more cropped (which looks better to me with high-waisted skirts and trousers). This also means I could squeeze it out of my tiny piece of fabric, sleeves and all! 

I also opted for welt pockets instead of the pattern's side seam pockets, especially when I read that they were kind of small. I just like the look of that contrast welt at the front, and used a black cotton sateen to avoid print matching. These pockets are tiny as well because of the croppedness of the jacket, but they hold a face mask!

Now sewing this was... Interesting. I consider myself a pretty advanced sewist, but the instructions for the hem band/facing had me stumped. If I sewed the seams and pressed them in the directions indicated, there was no way the hem band could be attached without weird funky stuff happening at the corners. In the end I unpicked what I had done and did it in a way that made sense to me, and it worked out. I felt a bit frustrated because none of the reviews I'd read mentioned this... Looking back I noticed that most blog posts were by pattern testers, and it looked like there was a difference between their version and mine: the woven part of the hem band seemed to be one with the front and the facing, while mine was a separate piece. I reread the instructions for this post and that part still doesn't make sense to me, so I wonder what's going on there...

I'm really glad I figured things out in the end, but it would have been a very frustrating experience five years ago! All in all, I LOVE this jacket. Even with farting frogs on it. It's a good step in the process towards feeling like myself again.

In A Pickle

Hi! Anyone left here, or just crickets?

The end of 2019 and early 2020 were a bit... Crazy. We moved to a new appartment and I had three exams right after that. I spent the month of February taking a bit of a break and working on some projects, and thought 'hey, once the weather gets better I'll be able to go out and take some pictures!'.

And then the lockdown happened.

(For your information, I'm in Belgium, where measures aren't as strict as in Spain or Italy. I'm technically unemployed because all non-essential businesses had to close, but we are allowed to go outside for walks or bike rides. I try not to do this when it's not necessary since the weather is great and everyone seems to have taken up jogging, but it's tough.)

So yeah, going out to take pictures for a blog seems like a stupid idea right now. So we did a living room photoshoot. Get used to this background because you might see more of it!

The moment this dark green wide wale corduroy arrived at my job I knew I wanted to make a pair of overalls out of it. My boss very generously let me take some home and I set to work reworking the Megan Nielsen Dawn jeans to work for this. I previously turned the Closet Case Patterns Morgan into overalls (which I've made a few times and really became a wardrobe staple) and it's a very easy hack: you just need to redraft the waistband to open at the sides and draft some facing pieces for the side closures if you want to do buttons and buttonholes. I went for exposed zippers on this one, so it was even easier.

The bib portion was stolen from an old Knipmode pattern. I shortened it a bit to work with the higher rise of the Dawn jeans (the original was drafted to start just above the hip). I only had 1,5 m of fabric so had to get a bit creative with the layout. The bib lining and underside of the straps were cut from leftover cotton. I also added a caravan pin my friend Karen got me. She calls me Caravanneke.

While making these I was a bit worried about looking like a pickle because of the colour and texture of the fabric, but I think that worked out fine in the end. And even if I do look like a giant pickle... Would it really be a bad thing?

My first pair of Dawn jeans was made in a rigid denim and even though they are comfortable (maybe not after a day of eating) these are a lot softer and feel like pyjamas by comparison.

(Can we get real about lockdown clothing by the way? I try to put on 'real' clothes every day but... I just can't deal with anything tight or rigid right now. I've always been pretty sensitive to fabric textures on my skin and how clothes feel when I wear them all day, and this seems to be worse when I'm home all the time. I also can't stand feeling restricted right now. So most days I'll wear leggings and loose shirts/sweater dresses and call it good enough...)

These overalls did get a load of wear already, and I think they will get worn a lot more often. Even if they make me look like a pickle.

Welcome Back To The Angry Girls Club

So... I sold out the previous run of my Angry Girls Club patches in a single day. It was pretty amazing, and quite obvious that there was a demand! The Patch Club only does very limited editions of their collabs, so I looked around for a place to work with so I could get a bigger order in. I found an embroidery workshop in the Netherlands who were lovely to work with, and they made a new version of the patch, which is available now!

The new version is a tiny bit larger and a bit more detailed than the previous one, due to the fact that it's been produced by a bigger workshop with bigger embroidery machines! I love both versions, it's still super cool to see one of my drawings in this form.

I put one on my green denim jacket, and can't wait to wear it out once the winter is over!

Quite a few of these have already been sold and shipped, but I do have plenty available this time. If you'd like one you can get it here!

Flashy Knitting

This is one of those occasions where I saw a pattern and immediately wanted to make it. I saw the Volt sweater by Sue Stratford and something about the simple shape combined with the David Bowie lightning bolt called my name. I picked out some Cascade 220 colours and kept them aside as a nice project to do while I was relaxing a bit after finishing with my previous job.

I took this with me on a family weekend (which was PERFECT after the stressful last couple of weeks at work- the shop I worked at closed and we had a huge sale and then had to pack everything and ship it off- chilling with my family and going on long walks was just what I needed after that).

I started with the front, so after the ribbing it's pretty much headfirst into intarsia, which I'm not that experienced at (My previous major colourwork project was mostly stranded since I couldn't face the thought of weaving in SO MANY ends). With this pattern it's entirely possible to carry the different colours of yarn up along the rows, so apart from small areas in the middle of the lightning bolt I could just work with continuous lengths.

I liked the little details that made this sweater a bit more interesting, like the shaped/cabled ribbing on the sides and sleeve cuffs. As usual I worried the overall sweater would be too small, but it turned out to be perfectly slouchy. Construction is straightforward, you knit the front and back first without casting on the shoulders, which are then joined with a three-needle bind-off (which I think it awesome and way more fun than seaming pieces together). After this, stitches are picked up along the side to knit the sleeves flat, and the side and underarm seam are joined in one go. After this, stitches kept on hold at the front and back neckline are put to work again and additional stitches picked up for the neckband.

I'm glad I bothered to try the i-cord bind off for this neckline, since it's a nice little touch.

This sweater knit up surprisingly fast, and I feel like I learned a lot from something that looks pretty simple! I'm definitely not as afraid of intarsia anymore. I'm pretty short on knitting time these days though, with a new job and (gasp!) school work and other things. But there is some pretty interesting sewing going on!

Welcome To The Angry Girls Club

Quite a while ago, I made a sticker:

I made this because I felt in this day and age girls and women have their reasons to be angry, and I was proven right when this sticker resonated with a lot of people! I've had requests to make this into a patch since the beginning, and it finally happened!

I got together with the lovely ladies from The Patch Club, a small patch embroidery business here in Antwerp. They produced a very limited run of my design, and it's now available on my Etsy!

I'm so stoked about this. It's a very small edition (I have four available at the time of writing) but I'm hoping to be able to produce these in a larger quantity in the near future!

Thank you again to Kim and Sharon of The Patch Club for making this possible, definitely go check out their designs as well!

And Then It Dawned On Me

I have realised something: non-stretch slim fit pants just really aren't for me. I tested the Philippa pants and donated them because they didn't get worn, and I gave my first (tapered) version of the Megan Nielsen Dawn jeans to a friend because they would never get worn either. Why? I need to be able to bend my knees, people! And by that, I don't mean just sitting down on a chair or riding a bike. I'm naturally very flexible, and to be comfortable I need to be able to crouch and kind of roll up... Almost like a frog?

So yeah, I tried the tapered version first, and even though the fit was good I knew it wasn't for me. Those jeans have found a great home with my friend Charlotte though! I decided to give the wide leg a go, and that worked out way better!

I used a navy and white striped denim from Stoff & Stil for these, and I think it worked out pretty well! I went by the measurements and cut a size 10, but could have graded down to an 8 at the waist, since it's a bit too loose there and I definitely need that belt.

Constructing these was a breeze: I've made quite a few pairs of jeans before and the instructions are very clear. I used jeans buttons for the entire button fly because that was what I had around, but next time I might go back to using flat buttons on the fly and one jeans button on the waistband, to reduce some bulk in the front. I did that before on my Persephone pants and it worked a treat!

The waist on these is a bit too big, as I said before, but I feel like I might also need a sway back adjustment. This shouldn't be too hard, I could just take a wedge out of the yoke!

I didn't really try to match stripes, but I did play with stripe direction a bit. The coin pocket has the striped going horizontally, and so do the belt loops. I wanted to keep these jeans as subtle as stripey jeans can be, so decided not to go too crazy.

I've worn these loads of times since I finished them, so that's a good sign! And I can crouch.

Me and Eleonore went to the Dries Van Noten stock sales this week and I found a piece of green shiny jacquard that might look amazing as some shiny 'jeans'. How long before jeans are no longer jeans?

The Worst Fortune Teller

I seem to have taken a bit of a blogging break! It's been a bit crazy around here, a lot of things were made but not really documented. The biggest thing I made the past few weeks was a project for a drawing festival called Tekenpudding, organized by my amazing friend Charlotte Dumortier. It's a sort of drawing funfair with, apart from the usual talks and zine fair a bunch of attractions. They had an open call for booth ideas so me and my Veranda buddies got together, submitted an idea and then heard we had the all clear to build it!

We wanted to build our own version of the automated fortune telling booths we'd encountered on our US roadtrip last September (Zoltar being the most common one, although we did find an Elvis or two), with a little twist: the fortune teller would only predict bad news. However, our skills are a bit limited when it comes to building robotic wizards. Our solution: make a costume and get into the booth ourselves. Now we only had to build a booth. Easy, right?

Well, it did work out! We ended up having a pretty tight deadline when it turned out that two of the three people involved were a bit too busy to get started already, so I tried to prepare as much as possible by making a costume and sourcing fabric for the decorations. I went through some fabric shops in my area and returned with a bunch of stretch velvet, some golden poly taffeta and a load of poly brocades. I then tried to make a wizard's costume (or at least, the visible top half) in a day and a half.

I don't really have clearer pictures than this, but it was... Quick and dirty! Three different people had to fit into this, so I traced one of Dimitri's sweatshirts (since he was the biggest) to get a basic shape to start from. The under layer is a plain t-shirt with very wide sleeves, with a little robe/jacket on top of it. I cut the collar of the jacket on a single layer to save on fabric and finished the edges with bias tape made from golden taffeta. I also used the same taffeta to add a little decoration to the sleeves and finish the sleeve hems. Sewing this very non-giving taffeta to slinky stretch velvet was an adventure, but it worked!

I ended up attaching the jacket thing to the shirt at the shoulder seams and sewed it together in the front, covering that with two decorative buttons. This turned out to be a good idea because now we wan just pull the costume on over our head without having to pay attention to things laying right! Finally, I made the hat by ironing a heavy interfacing to two cone-shaped pieces of brocade, stitching them together and turning. The edge is finished with more bias tape to tie it together. The hat is a little big (there was wig talk at first) but I might have worn it to a bar afterwards. A cheap costume beard finished the whole look!

With this sorted out, we tackled the actual booth. I think it was a good idea to make the costume first so we could choose our paint colours around that, since it's much easier to source a paint colour than a specific fabric! We sourced a few wooden beams and leftover pieces of plywood, and I made a little sketch of how things could go together. It had to be somewhat sturdy, not too precise, and not too had to take apart and put together again (since we would have to transport it in pieces). We ended with a wooden frame that was the same width all around, with all the wooden crossbeams postitioned so they would be covered with panels or fabric. The back part is open for easy access, and there's a little table at the front for props, cards and dramatic leaning.

The biggest job was painting. We primed everything and then I spent a couple hours putting down the base colours (plain old acrylic paint). After this we went through all our books with old etchings, tarot cards and other magical things and sketched out a bunch of things for inspiration! Me, Hélène and Dimitri then all got thogether and covered all the panels with drawings in gold paint marker. And I mean covered:

We were very happy with things at this point, and relieved it worked out! Our idea was that people would insert a coin into a slot at the front of the booth, and then get a little spoken prediction and a printed card with an illustration and some more wisdom, most of it bad news. At first we were going to have it printed somewhere, but then Hélène got all next level and decided to screenprint the cards. I designed a little tiled pattern with little things we'd drawn (recycling a fabric design I'd made before) and each of us made two small illustrations for the front. We then wrote a few short words of wisdom/horoscope type predictions and all this made for some really cool looking cards to hand out!

We were at the festival all day and had such a blast! People really wanted to hear how their lives would go wrong, and I actually did a few scarily accurate predictions. This is something I definitely want to do more of, all we need is an occasion!

We had a lot of fun working together to make this, especially because it wouldn't have been possible without a few other amazing people. All the love to Heziz for helping us source some materials, and to Viktor for helping out with the heavy machinery and tolerating us in his workspace! And of course, the entire Tekenpudding team for letting us do this!

Business In The Front, Party In The Back!

I actually had the fabric (and the idea) for this dress around for a long time. And then I got a new tattoo that would make this dress idea even better and decided to get started! This was an adventure in pattern drafting that ended really well, and I had a lot of fun figuring out construction!

Looks pretty basic so far, right? Sleeveless bodice, waistband, gathered rectangles for a skirt? I drafted the bodice myself, but this isn't all that adventurous, right?

BAM! It's a mullet dress. I wanted to make a bra-friendly cut out in the back so I got out the block I drafted a while ago and tried to figure it out. The block has high necklines, but I marked a few key points when I made it (the lowest points in the front and back before underwear becomes visible) and those turned out pretty helpful. I wanted the back to look a bit like a bow, so I figured it would be the easiest to rotate the back waist dart to the center back seam and turn it into gathers!

The bodice is fully lined, which was the hardest part to figure out (because I wanted a clean finish on the waistband as well). In the end I left the gathered edges open and stitched those together last, since they were going to be covered up with the little tab anyway. That little tab isn't just decorative by the way! Instead of stitching it closed I added a snap fastener and now I can loop it around my bra band to keep things in place. It's a bit fiddly but it works very well! I loved the idea of this back cutout before I got this really cute bat from Lozzybones but now it just makes it ten times better. I'm not sure if you can see it in this picture but HIS FACE.

I wanted an invisible zipper on the side (so the back would look as clean as possible) but I also wanted pockets! I had done this combination of a zipper/inseam pocket before but I rarely sew side zippers so it had been a while. I followed a tutorial online and it turned out fine, not my neatest sewing ever but it'll probably be better the next time!

I'm not sure if my way of finishing the insides was the most logical one, but it worked! There was some hand stitching involved to attach the inside waistband and the lining to the zipper, and I really enjoyed trying to figure it out. That's the thing with drafting your own patterns: you have no instructions to go on, and once you veer away from basic things it's not like you can rely on instructions for similar garments!

This turned out as a perfect little summer dress! I haven't made a quilting cotton dress in a while, and don't really have that kind of fabric in my stash anymore, but I'm happy I could turn this into something that still feels very 'me'.

The Quest For Underthings

I dipped my toes into bra-making a while ago, and made a few very successful Watson bras. After this I tried the Harriet, and after a few attempts I managed to make one that fit fairly well, but it wasn't exactly right yet... I didn't feel confident enough to keep tweaking the pattern, so I put the whole project to the side for a while. My underwear drawer was starting to look pretty sad and worn out though (and I couldn't really justify buying new bras with a box full of supplies at the ready) so when Emerald Erin released the Black Beauty bra I didn't really hesitate!

It took some work, and I should revisit this pattern at a later date and work on it some more, but for now I ended up with three brand new and wearable bras! I did make a few changes, as you might be able to see. My first version fit fine in terms of cup volume, but the horizontal seam really didn't work on me- the combination of a seam that didn't stretch and a lightweight cup fabric that still had some give led to some weird bumps. I turned the horizontal seam into a vertical one (aligning the starting point with the power bar) and this solved that issue.

My other main problem was the straps: I loved the idea of the double straps made from the fold-over elastic, but the reality is that my skin is pretty sensitive and the thin elastic straps just felt scratchy. instead I turned the fold-over elastic into a little loop and attached a normal strap. Maybe not as pretty, but way more wearable for me!

I used mostly stash materials for this, including the last scraps of my precious birthday bee tulle. Emerald Erin actually had bra kits with this exact fabric, but I had it already! I am going to fray check the hell out of those bees though, one or two were starting to unravel on the dress I made and I don't want that to happen to this bra!

My first version was more of a toile: I had a piece of this tulle around and wouldn't really mind if it didn't turn out great. I saw it as a chance to test out techniques before cutting into the precious stuff. Another change that I made was to line the entire bra. The version I made is for non-stretch fabrics so it could be fine with one layer, but the thought of an unlined tulle seam going straight across my nipple is a big fat nope from me. I cut all the cup and bridge pieces from a very thin bra tulle, assembled the pieces separately and then basted the cups together before finishing/inserting them. It looks super clean and because the bra tulle is so sheer it still looks very lightweight.

My second version is made using some stretchy mesh with flocked dots that I had lying around for a while. I used the same method for lining (which was an absolute necessity with the stretchy outer fabric) and used some glorious velvet fold-over elastic and strapping that I got from the new Small Bobbins webshop (check her out if you're in Belgium and want to sew lingerie: she has really cool stuff and the shipping is reasonable for once!). This one is super comfortable, I can see it become a favourite. The only downside is that the combo of stretchy outer/non-stretch inner makes for some wrinkling here and there.

I actually made my bee version twice. The first one had this gold fold-over elastic that looked really cool but was an absolute bitch to work with (it was super lightweight and just stretched/warped/wiggled all over the place). It looked fine from a distance but up close the top of the cups was gaping and the whole thing looked messy. So I did it again with matte black elastic, and all was well.

I like the shape these have, so I'll probably keep working with this pattern. The three bras that I made are wearable and very welcome in my wardrobe, but I feel there's room for improvement! The main thing is that the bridge doesn't lie as flat against my chest as it should. I was thinking of narrowing it a smidge and adding a bit of width to the cup at the center front. Not much, just enough to give it more room to curve towards my sternum. But that's for a later date. I kind of want to sew some heavyweight denim now.

There's A Rat On My Left Shoulder

I made this dress a while ago, but only just got around to photographing it! I came across this pattern when I was making a wrap dress for my mother and used it as a starting point (changing it almost completely, the only parts left of the original were the bodice and the sleeve head). After this I decided to make the real deal for myself!

This is the Highlands Wrap Dress by Allie Olson, made in a linen-viscose mix that I dyed burdgundy (it started out as off white!). I've experimented with dyeing fabrics recently, and so far it's always been successful. It's a great thing to do when you like the texture of a fabric, but not the colour!

I really enjoyed sewing this pattern. The instructions make for a very clean and neat finish, but it's still easy to follow. I had made a muslin for my mother's dress based on this pattern and it fit her really well from the start, so I took the risk and didn't muslin my version (my mother and I are kind of similar in size and shape). It's maybe a smidge too big, but nothing too bad.

I followed the instructions to the letter, except for the finishing of the facings. There is some hand embroidery on the shoulder of this dress, which was done before the pattern piece was cut out or stitched together, and I didn't want any visible topstitching to interfere with that. So instead of topstitching all around the neckline and armholes I sewed the facings down with a blind stitch, and finished the hem in the same way. That hem is where I hit my only snafu by the way, and it's only due to me being an idiot: I had seen in the finished measurements that the pattern was drafted for someone quite a bit taller than me, but somehow thought it would still be fine (on a full length maxi dress). So I went ahead and hemmed the thing with gorgeous mitered corners and some more hand sewing, and of course it was too long. I put it away for a while, then gathered the courage to unpick everything and shorten it.

The real star of this dress is of course the embroidery! I knew I wanted to add some before I started making it, but wasn't sure about what. Then the elections happened in Belgium and it suddenly became really clear that I needed a rat on my left shoulder. This probably won't really make any sense to readers outside of Belgium, but this rat here isn't going to roll up anything!

I traced my pattern piece onto a piece of paper to sketch the rat, and then used yellow carbon paper to put it onto the fabric. I had cut out most of the pattern piece but left a piece of fabric around the area where it would be embroidered, so I could put it in a hoop. I did the majority of the rat like this and then added the tail once the shoulder seam was sewn. It was a really easy way to add something to a solid dress!

I like this dress on me and it will get worn, but I did notice it's not very bike-friendly. We went to a bit of wood nearby to take these pictures and I had to hold the dress closed with one hand to keep things decent. It's not a problem when I'm walking, but I do ride my bike almost every day so I probably won't make another one for this reason. So if you don't frequently ride a bike, don't hesitate to give this pattern a go!