Category:

Sewing for me

Rust corduroy for a Taroko skirt

by Elsa 6 May 2023

*This article may contain affiliate links.

Description

Fabrics and notions

Description

Fabrics and notions

The Taroko skirt

This skirt pattern is available as a PDF only, with layers, and the sizing ranges from US 00 to 40.

Taroko* features elegant princess seams, front and back patch pockets.

All of the seams are topstitched, giving you some free space to experiment with variegated threads or heavier colorful threads.

Taroko* offers a contoured waistband, closed by a zipper and button.

Total length is just above the knee.

My corduroy Taroko

This rust corduroy comes from the mystery fabric mega box I bought from the Fabric Baron last year. If you want to know more about these mystery boxes, I shot a video (subtitled in English).

I really couldn’t make up my mind about the right project for this fabric: a bootcut Ginger jean since I enjoyed sewing my skinny Ginger? Dungarees?

Then came the call for testers and I knew that this fabric would make a perfect skirt, even if rust+ corduroy screams FALL to me…at least, I’ll be ready next fall!

According to the size chart, I cut a size 6 waist blended to 8 at the hips.

Blending was straightforward (if you’re new to blending, Kennis has instructions in her booklet).

Tips and tricks for sewing corduroy

Don’t forget that corduroy has a nap! If you feel it and it’s a bit scratchy, you’re not good!

Your fabric layers may shift when sewing, as if one of the layers was ‘growing’. Trying pinning or, best, use a walking foot. You could also baste by hand.

Don’t crush the pile! use a pressing cloth, do not lay your iron, use plenty of steam.

I really butchered my topstitching. I should have topstitched further from the seam line because the pile is eagerly eating up my topstitching lines.

I love that A-line shape. It’s cute and that skirt is rather quick to sew. Next on will be even quicker since I’ll skip the front pockets!

6 May 2023 0 comment

A viscose challis Galicia blouse

by Elsa 9 April 2023

*This article may contain affiliate links.

My first Galicia blouse is already one-year old! I used some poplin scrap and added huge square vintage buttons.

This time, I cut some Minerva viscose challis and I added homemade buttons.

Main features of the Galicia pattern

I won’t tell much about the pattern’s features since you can read about them here.

However, here are what attracted me to this pattern and made me want to sew it again:

(optional) fisheye darts on the front and back
back button placket
Gathers around the neckline and top of raglan sleeves

Using viscose for my Galicia: tips and tricks

I’m rather new to viscose.

I’ve been afraid of it for some times because of its shifty tendency.

Here are some tips I constantly use for getting over your fear of flowy lightweight fabrics:

Pre-wash it gently with serged edges (to prevent fraying)
Startch it if you want
Use a rotary cutter for cutting your pieces.
Minimize the use of pins.

I cut a size 8 bust and hips and a size 6 waist. I chose to sew both sets of darts for the slimming effect they have.

I may have lost some weight sicne last year, but I noticed that the fabric being lighter than poplin made the blouse a bit too large on me.

However, viscose challis is really comforatble to wear and I love the splashes of colors it has.

Said splashes made choosing buttons a nightmare!

Finding 9 22-mm buttons in my stash was a lost cause. BUT…I had some cover buttons*.

Using this little thingy* made covering the buttons easy.

I covered 6 22-mm and 2 18-mm in no time. Afterwards, I prefer having smaller buttons on the wrists.

A posteriori

Viscose challis wasn’t the right fabric for Galicia. If it was great for my Stan shirt, it wasn’t for the Galicia blouse.

I could have sized down, but it wouldn’t have changed the fact that the weight of the huge buttons pull the fabric down, especially at the back neckline.

Well, we live and learn and I’m eager to play again with viscose challis. All of Minerva’s new designs* are amazing.

Don’t you think that my brand new Billie jacket was especially made to pair with this Galicia?!?

9 April 2023 0 comment

Needles and Threads Sewing for me

Billie in Berry

by Elsa 2 April 2023

*This article may contain affiliate links.

Billie is the jacket you grab without thinking when you’re out and about.

But grabbing without thinking doesn’t mean it has no character.

So here’s Billie, in Berry faux leather and with its bling zipper!

The pattern

It’s one of the few outerwear patterns by pm-patterns.

It’s not new. I had tested it way back in 2018. At that time, I had used both sides of tweed to play with contrast on the sleeves and shoulder yokes.

Besides its traditional jacket look, it also offers a moto jacket option. Sizes range from FR 34 to 52 and the PDF is not layered.

Princess seams slim the silhouette and shoulder yokes and two piece sleeves make the pattern perfect for color-blocking.

Center back is slightly higher for a more modern look.

This jakcet is also fully lined (you’ll bag the lining). Karine’s instructions are very thorough and you’ll achive a perfect jacket following them blindly.

So, let’s see now what I sewed.

Faux leather and Disco zipper

First step: checking the size. I was all over the board, from 38 to 44. I wasn’t in the mood for grading so I chose a size 42.

The fabric is soft faux leather*. The color is amazing: it’s called Berry and it has a lovely metallic shine. There are other colors available that would go well on soft boho bags.

Finding the zipper was tricky, but I fell in love with the Disco zipper range at Ma Petite Mercerie’s. Since the jacket was shiny, I wanted a shiny zipper! Choosing the right color was impossible online so I chose “copper” and I think it pairs well. The zipper is quite expensive (45 cm for about 9 euros), but I loved it so much…Who said that sewing is for the cheapie?!?

Look at it 😉

When I got my parcel from England, the faux leather was slightly folded (+ it came with custom taxes that time….shoot…). I pressed it carefully from the wrong side at low temperature and used a clapper where wrinkles were persistant.

Cutting with a rotary cutter made the task quicker.

Use clips instead of pins and remember that you just have one go: unpicking is not an option!

A size 100 denim needle was enough for stitching and topstitching.

Seam allowances should have been pressed open, but the faux leather didn’t handle it well. I opted to topstitch all of my seams, but the side seams.

Tip: I lengthened my stitch length to 5 (the maximum on my Janome 6700P) and I lowered the pressure foot’s pressure from 3 to barely 2.

I couldn’t crease the hem so I stiched in the ditch at the bottom of each seam crossing.

I had noticed that my first Billie jacket was a bit wide at the shoulders and I had had some regrets not putting shoulder pads then. So Billie #2 has shoulder pads and I feel it gives more structure and shape to the jacket. My pads are from A et A Patrons‘. They are made by hand and the felt and batting are carefully stacked.

I’m really happy with this Billie jacket. When I had finished the first one back in 2018, I had already a vision for a leather jakcte and…here it is!

Berry is a great color for green eyes and amethyst/berry/purple are my colors of choice.

I’m sure I’ll be wearing this jacket a lot once days grow warmer.

And you’ll notice a new garment worn underneath this jacket…that you can see here!

2 April 2023 0 comment

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