back to sew(-ing)

a week after the fall, and i was back on my feet! actually, i’ve been back on my feet seconds after the fall, but i’m talking about sewing now (in case you missed the title up there) .

last weekend i still couldn’t bend my knees or put them down on the floor, as what i always did when i copied patterns or cut the fabrics. so i did them on top of my computer desk this time. a very limited space, but i was determined to do it… i had to start sewing or i’d go nuts .

i know i wrote here that my next project was going to be a dress. but on my last day at work before my summer holiday started, there were tons of fabrics begging for me to buy them, and of course i got distracted. so i made something else after all.

remember my wishlist? i’m sure you don’t. but that’s all right, i’m gonna refresh your memory anyway.

i wanted this top. badly. the real deal is out of my budget, but it looked so simple that i decided to give it a try and sew it myself. a little different from the original though, cause i don’t think mint/duck egg green is really my colour. for the pattern, i chose this one from Burda Style magazine, May 2012 edition (Finnish version).

i needed the neckline for it, and a cut loose enough that the fabric doesn’t need to be stretchy & i can still put it on. hence this pattern .

the original pattern has a very low neckline, so i added 5 cm upwards from the lowest point, and for the sleeves i made them to be 8 cm wide only, so it’s more of a tank top rather than a blouse with sleeves. for the knit fabric, i made it so that the hemline is 5 cm lower than where the waistline is, and for the chiffon fabric, it’s around 10 cm lower than the knit fabric.

end result?

self-made top, self-altered Benetton shorts, Spirit sandals.

 

please do your best to ignore the fresh scars on my knees . and the bruise on the back of my left leg (got that one the day after i fell from my bike. i almost fell, again!).

ahem. anyway. for the underarm part, i also made the chiffon layer to be around 6 cm higher than the knit layer. and i used the knit fabric in the wrong direction (not the way where the straight grain is) so i could use the selvages as the hems (= lazy).

dunno if you can see it, but the knit fabric has gold thread here and there. yes, it’s pretty . and both fabrics/layers are sewn together only on the neckline, whereas in the original top they’re actually sewn together on the neckline and sleeves/underarms. i’m so pleased with the result, not bad at all for trying to save a whole bunch of money! (which i also succeeded in doing!)

after making this top, i was so happy and excited that i haven’t lost my touch in sewing (thank God for that!). so the next day, i went to make yet another project. and it was still not that dress i had originally planned on making.

it was again one of those fabrics i bought on my last day of work before summer holiday. i made leggings out of digital photo fabric about a year ago, and guess what? i wore them on that day when i fell off my bike, and managed to rip the left knee part. well, i could always sew it back, i suppose, but i wore them that day because i noticed that digital photo printed clothes are all the hype these days. i saw lots of cool skirts (especially those from Fabitoria) made out of digi-photo printed cotton fabrics, and suddenly i wanted one!

so i had to make one, naturally.

Details top, self-made skirt, vintage belt from UFF, Spirit sandals.

 

it’s a cotton satin fabric with a bit of elastane, and i just love the 60s photo print! i used Burda pattern no. 7577, the same one i used for the bottom part of the Dim Sum dress. i made the skirt end just where the slit part is supposed to be, which is like 15 cm shorter than the original pattern.

 

i just had to put this lovely kissing couple to the front side of the skirt .

that was the first time i ever sewn a hook & eye closure. again, i looooove this skirt.

 

now i can’t wait to move on to the next sewing project! let’s see what it’ll be this time. (that dress is looong forgotten now, LOL.)

 

disclaimer: the credits for the first picture of the COS top and the scanned page of Burda Style magazine do not belong to me. they belong to whoever originally took those pictures, and i only borrowed them as references for my personal use.