Kate Spring Coat

And just because I can , I sewed another coat. I really took pleasure in sewing my previous coats, even though I still have many things to learn. But I no longer fear sewing coats and also, it no longer feels like a big hurdle or time investment.

Of course, black spring coat is just a basic of my wardrobe and it became urgent to make one. I had a cute Benetton 60's coat for a few years now, which showed way too many signs of its age and I knew I would probably not wear it any longer this year.

Originally, I wanted to buy specific fabric for it, but then I realized I had this stretchy black gabardine in stock (originally bought for a pair of black pants which are not going to happen any time sooner), so I decided to use that. The fabric is probably too stretchy for a coat, lesson learned, and interfacing did not 100% help either. Anyway, it still makes a wearable coat and a great lesson for next year.

As I am a big fan of Kate Middleton wardrobe, I got again inspired by one of her coats. I used Burda 6772, and I actually mixed both version. I used the narrower "skirt", but flaps and round collar.

As my previous coat felt too large, I tried to make this one narrower and I think I overdid it in the waist area. This, together with the stretchy fabric, resulted in some drag lines around the waist. I will know better next time. It is way better when not closed, which is fine for me, I will mostly wear it open anyhow.

I went all crazy with the lining, I used some flowery silk, and also put in some orange piping. That is a detail which makes me smile anytime I put my coat on, so totally worth it.

Another mistake I did - the lining is way to wide. On my first jacket/coat attempts, the lining was dragging the main fabric, so I am a little obsessed by having enough lining ease. And this time, I just overdid it. This one is easy to fix though, so I might just open the coat and adjust it.

Despite all the little issues, I am very happy with this coat and wear it almost every day now.

La Maison Victor Cara Dress

It is funny how the choice of patterns to sew can be influenced. I have already pondered about how I can check Burda magazine, not like anything in it and a few months later "discover" an amazing pattern in it.

I might have a "to sew" wishlist which I am going through slowly, but in the end, when an interesting pattern comes by, I will change my priorities.

And this is how I sewed from La Maison Victor for the first time. Truth to be said, this is not a magazine I prefer. It is nice, on great paper, with detailed explanations, cute styling, but when I look at the technical drawings, there is rarely something to fall in love with. I find their patterns rather simple, nicely styled, but I already have a stock of simple patterns to begin with, so I have never bought the magazine.

Also, it takes way too much space for the few patterns it has. Again, I do not think I really need the detailed explanations on simple patterns.

However, at the beginning of the year, I read a blog on 3 patterns sewed from the winter issue of LMV and I actually liked all of them. At that point of time, the magazine was no longer on the newsstands, OF COURSE, but I managed to order its German version and start sewing from it.
For the moment, I have sewed only one pattern - the Cara dress - but I did it twice and it is certainly not the last one.

The first is from a quite thick viscose jacquard from Stoff & Stil. I really liked the colours and it makes for a nice transition spring dress. I am not sure about the long sleeves though, as it looks too much like a pyjama, to my liking. We'll see if I decide to shorten them.

The other dress is from a milano black jersey and honestly, I have no idea how I messed up on that one, but on the black version there was just way too much fabric around the arms. I ended up shortening the dress on the shoulders (my usual adjustment) and taking away some of the fabric excess. Dress saved, but in the end, I must have lost a few cm on the length, to the dress is slightly too short now (at least when worn without thighs).

I am starting to think I would add a panel to extend the length and sew this dress in black again because it really creates a great little black dress for everyday wear, it is a perfect secret pyjama.

The Different Trench Coat

I have always thought that a trenchcoat is such a great wardrobe basics, however, I have never really liked them on myself.

Until I have seen this Burda coat 103-02/2017 on another sewing blog. And I also realized that I had the right Burda issue already. So after having sewn my winter coat, I set out to make a spring one.

Of course, I muslined the pattern, and adjusted it based on the winter coat. I must say that most versions of this coat I have seen on the blogosphere were sewn from light fabrics, linens etc, while I have bought a quite stiff cotton twill in a wonderful grey shade.

Therefore, the coat has little bit of volume which was not so obvious on my muslin, even though I tried to transform the folds to darts on the bodice. This is probably the only thing I would change on the pattern if I sewed it again. Apart from that, I really love this coat (and wear it quite a lot currently).

I used black silk for the lining and just for the little pleasure, I added a rose piping with little grey freckles. This detail makes me smile every time I see it.

The coat has big pockets, a necessity for me, I totally love the buttons on the waist.

I have to say that the coat is a big success, it gets worn all the time and works with a lot of my wardrobe items. It fits right and was real fun to sew. I cannot understand why I was so afraid of sewing coats before; this was my 2nd coat (and I have sewn a 3rd one in the meantime) and I had real pleasure sewing it.

So here is to the next coat!

Sallie Jumpsuit

I have been pondering sewing a long jumpsuit for some time now. Actually there are two reasons: jumpsuits keep popping up all over the blogosphere and I had a colleague who was a big fan of jumpsuits and it was always so nice and elegant on her.

I had sewn 2 short jumpsuits about two years ago and wore one of them on vacations. The other one is clearly showing too much skin to my liking, so I ended up donating it (it was originally a long jumpsuit with open back which I shortened, so it ended up not quite harmonized).
However, I wanted to try my teeth on a long one and the Sallie jumpsuit from Closet case patterns seemed quite appropriate.
Now, I have to admit that there were like 3 months between the time I bought the pattern and the fabric and another 2 months before I got to sewing it. And that is where I realized that Sallie is clearly defined for 4way stretch jersey fabrics and I had bought a black viscose crepe (with 0 stretch!). I sewed a muslin in the size above, just in case, which revealed that whatever happens, it was not going to happen in a woven fabric.
For whatever reason, I thought having seen the Salie jumpsuit in wovens, but a quick google search only showed jersey versions, so I capitulated.

Change in plans:
1. I ordered McCall's 7366, clearly a woven jumpsuit I have been eyeing for some time now, as McCall patterns were on sale

2. I decided to use this viscose jersey I had bought at Stof &Stil at the beginning of the year and was not at all convinced on. I actually did not like the pattern of the fabric (also, it feels rather viscose-y), but when trying it on, I thought it was rather cute and in my colours. I must admit that when ordering it I was not expecting it to bee soooo stretchy, and in the end did not know what to sew with it. So the jumpsuit was actually a great replacement project for it. At worst it would only be a wearable muslin.

As expected, the fabrics was really painful to sew. My machine was chewing it on occasions and the fabric is strangely light-weight and heavy at the same time. I put a clear elastic on the shoulder seams, as well as on the cleavage, just in case. I can feel that the fabric can stretch very easily, especially with the weight. Also, I adjusted the waist elastic really on my waist, because this is the only thing holding the trousers part in place.

As for the pattern, I added 2,5 cm on the cleavage and I really like it that way. Also, I lengthened the the bodice part by 2cm, next time, I will shorten the crotch. I do not know if it is because of the trousers' weight, but I feel it is slightly too long. On the other hand it really creates an illusion of incredibly long legs ;o)

Verdict: I totally love the style! It is rather easy to take it off, so technical break does not equal 10 minutes of getting un- and dressed.
I think that it is too colorful and too pyjama-feel for wearing to work, but as a casual outfit, I take it!