Time for pants








At last - work has started on a 
pair of grey pants in a nice light
fabric that will be perfect for the 
work trip to Barcelona in mid-april. 

This is the pattern that is being used, and this is how they are supposed to look when they are finished:

 
I decided to do some minor changes - the zipper will not be in the front since I am not so fond of that, will put it at the side instead. I will also skip the pockets, since I never use them, and do not really need the bulk from extra fabric.
Now I just need to get started.....

Time to finish off the clothes for winter
At the moment we have 15 degrees and sun during the day - so it is really time to finish off things to be worn mainly when it is cold.
The last skirt for this season is in a tartan fabric - again (no, I never get tired of tartans)- bought by the man in the house when he went to Scotland some time ago. I used a pattern that I have tried once already, making a black wool skirt at the time

The pattern was found in Burda nr 10, 2008.

I guess you can say that if the black one is more discreet - with the new one I might be more noticed!

 Details of pleats, back and front

 Side without zipper

 Side with zipper

Inside with blue lining.

I am sure it will still be cold enough to wear it for a few months, long enough to work on the summer wardrobe - cotton and linen, it is time for you now!

Pressing a jacket
OK, so here is the next tutorial from Thomas Mahon at englishcut - how to press a jacket. Great instructions, I am getting addicted...think I have to have a go at it right now! (Why is the man in the house suddenly looking so nervous?)

I was wondering where I could get my hands on a sleeve board like that, I only have one that is much smaller in size, but I found a place to order one - sew true - so know I only have to find out how to get it shipped to Switzerland...the only places you could tick off for shipments were in the US and Canada...

Chanel in the spring
Just a few days ago it was -10 degrees Celcius, and I really did not think that spring was going to show up any time now. Walking through Zurich late this afternoon though made me think - maybe! The temperature was around 1-2 degrees Celcius again, and the snow was almost gone already (luckily the snow in the mountains is still there).
Maybe the cold will come back again for a while but it will get warmer and lighter - which will be perfect conditions for wearing the Chanel inspired dress just finished.

Although difficult to see, the fabric is blue - almost black - with thin stripes in purple and orange. Might sound a bit strange, but the stripes are very thin so it works well. 

Decided not to put any lining in the sleeves, we will see how that works out. Added a couple of buttons, for no other reason than looking nice.

Details of the pleats, which were not opened as planned, but left closed - think this looks nicer.

The last detail for the zipper in the back - not really Chanel, but fun!

Trouser pressing
It is not like I didn't know that there were a lot of interesting stuff to see on Youtube...I have been using it a lot during the last years, but mainly to find music. Now I have realized that there are more out there for people like me - like really good tutorials on how to press a pair of trousers  for example! I can't wait to see the next video - how to press a jacket.

If you want to read more from this guy - Thomas Mahon - go to englishcut - savile row

Treasure in the basement
Last weekend I went down to the basement to get a few things, and my eyes fell - like so many times before - on a dress that I made somewhere around 1994 I think. I was invited to a big party and the dress code was "Gala" - so I had to come up with something interesting...

 I found this pattern which is basically a knee length dress, and on top of that a long skirt, open in the front.

I was very proud of my dress when I finally got it ready, and although it has now been hanging in different basements (about 15 since I have moved a lot) and has not been ironed for a very long time I still love the fabric and the colours.

The big question is only - how on earth did I get into it? I can not remember ever being such a small size.....

In between project
So - did I finish off the dress that I have 
hanging in my sewing room since some 
time now?




No, of course not - although I really want 
to finish it, I still decided to go for an in- 
between project - a pair of trousers for the 
man in the house. (Funny how easy it is to 
get excited over new projects and how 
difficult it sometimes is to finish of old ones...)

I have had the fabric lying around since we 

visited the nephew in Boston last october - 

it is a lovely, soft kind of tartan fabric (yes, 

he likes this kind of fabric almost as much 

as I do). I found the fabric at 

Winmil fabric, Boston MA 

Although they are basically meant to be worn as pajama pants they pattern of course still has to fit - being somewhat obsessive about this I am not happy until the squares are well aligned. This turned out to be easy - I did not even have to tack the fabric together  - it stayed perfectly in place with needles only. And here is the result:

So far the partner seems happy - he is wearing them as I write this :-)

Old vest
This old vest was a bit too big for me. I adapted it to my size, not very difficult, but since I was a bit lazy I wanted a quick, simple way to cover the seams on the inside, which now really did not look very nice. A decorative band was used to cover this up, and the leftover of the decoration band was used around the neck. Worked out pretty well!

Berlin
Going to Berlin any time soon? Don't miss the exhibition fashiontalks - Berlin at the museum for communication, runs until the 26th of February. 

Books
There is a very nice book store in Berlin called "Bucherbogen am Savignyplatz", situated here  Buecherbogen_am_Savignyplatz

They sell books about Berlin, Art, Film, Design, Architecture - and Fashion. The selection is varied, and I found two books this time:

(although they only had the

french version of the YSL book)

This means that even if the weather might

turn bad here in Berlin this weekend -

I know what to do!

Berlin
Visiting Berlin - not for fashion week, although it would be fun to see some of that. Decided to go and visit a fabric store that was closed the last time I was here - stoffe-moeller Berlin - in Schöneberg.
The shop on Leuthener Strasse 17 is not so easy to find, there are no shop windows but it is situated on the first floor, in something that looks like a small 2-room apartment, including a small kitchen...it does not really look like on the website pictures...


They did have nice fabric though, and the fun part was that I brought a friend with me that now wants to make a skirt with my help! A sewing community is being born....

Inspiring...


No sewing this weekend - visited a friend instead....who said she wanted to make a skirt! Did I maybe inspire her? Who knows...
We went looking for fabric in her hometown but as is the case in a lot of places in Sweden - it is not really easy to find good stores. I hope she will not give up, and when she starts - Skype will be used for support!

First finished project 2012
A good start of the new year - this skirt was finished on the 1st of January!

pencilskirt

It is from the Burda magazine 5 / 2008 that I adapted a bit - making it longer and more straight (I do believe that fits my body shape better...). The fabric I found during a trip to Hamburg, and it is soft as a pajama. 

I have already worn the skirt to work twice this week, and it even looks good after a whole day sitting down in the office!