SEW OVER IT Ella Blouse & Burda Culottes

September 3, 2017.Reading time 4 minutes.

SOI Ella Blouse and Burda Culottes by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Hi there! It’s been a while. We’re back from our summer vacation and the weather is finally cooling down enough for me to be able to use my sewing room again. (The drawbacks of having a very light space…) I did get some sewing done, though!

Today I’m sharing one of my most recent makes plus one make that was finished two years ago but never got any blog time.

I made these fabulous Burdastyle culottes a while ago. They turned out really neat, but were way too tight at the waist, although I had made a muslin before I started. So I had these really neat culottes that I couldn’t wear. Two years later they fit me well enough to be put on and photographed, but the fit is far from perfect. I won’t be wearing them any time soon.

The pattern is Burda Style Midi Culottes 04/2015 #113A. If you’re interested in a more detailed review of the pattern, check out the wearable muslin I made. I used a medium-weight midnight-blue cotton, that was a breeze to sew with. I overlocked all the raw edges and used some purple satin bias binding to encase the edge of the seam at the waistband.

SOI Ella Blouse and Burda Culottes by thisblogisnotforyou.com Oh, and check out my new amazing labels! (Courtesy of The Dutch Label Shop – there’ll be another post giving more details soon!) I had them match my blog layout, which I’m super happy about. I’ve got so many of them, I seriously need to up my sewing game now! But winter’s coming, so there’ll be plenty of time spent in doors way too soon!

But now on to the blouse!
SOI Ella Blouse and Burda Culottes by thisblogisnotforyou.com

That second little pattern is the wonderful Ella Blouse by Sew Over It. It’s a pattern they’ve released quite recently. It’s a fairly simple and super quick little project I cannot recommend enough. It doesn’t use up much fabric and a nice cotton or rayon fabric will do the job just fine. Another plus, no inserted sleeves, no zips or buttonholes! Which makes this project extra quick and pretty much fail proof.

I’m really happy with the fit. I was a bit concerned about gaping in the front, but there’s been no nipplegate yet. The only drawback I find is that you need some super high-waisted trousers or skirts to match with it, otherwise it’s not appropriate for work. Unfortunately, most of my high-waisted skirts are patterned, so I will have to make more plain skirts or more plain Ella blouses. I guess, I’ll end up making both!

SOI Ella Blouse and Burda Culottes by thisblogisnotforyou.com

So…what’s next on my sewing list?
I’ll certainly make a few more Ella blouses, just because they are so easy to make, but as I said, I need more matching skirts! Also, there’s a Sew Over It Juliette Blouse already cut out waiting to be sewn and a few more Silk Camis planned. So quite a few SOI patterns! When I’m done with those, I have some really great autumn patterns lined most which are mostly going to be from Burdastyle magazine. (And there’s knitting to be done!) I definitely won’t be bored!

What are you sewing at the moment?

Charlie

Happy sewing!
♥

facebook/bloglovin/pinterest
twitter/instagram

Stay in touch!

Burda Wool Coat & Mia Jeans

December 4, 2016.Reading time 7 minutes.

Burda 09/2015 #117 and Mia Jeans by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Today I’m sharing two pretty amazing projects with you. One is an oversized coat I made last Winter and didn’t get around to blog until now and the other one is hot off the sewing machine: my first pair of skinny jeans!

Coat pattern: Let’s have a look at the coat first. For this cosy wool coat I used Burdastyle pattern 09/2015 #117A. View B is belted and slightly shorter than View A. The pattern is pretty brilliant as long as you use the right fabric. They’re asking for double-sided wool because it comes without lining. Therefore, it’s a really quick, simple sew. No interfacing, no lining, no bindings. It’s pretty much just three pattern pieces: front, back and back sleeve (plus pockets). The sleeves are two pieces. The front one is cut as a kimono sleeve and part of the front bodice pattern.

Burda 09/2015 #117 and Mia Jeans by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Fabric & construction: I found this amazing double-sided wool fabric at stoffkontor.eu for a very good price. Unfortunately, they’ve run out of it since. It’s a lovely teal boiled wool on one side and a grey sweater knit on the other side. The pattern really requires a fabric with “two good sides”, so this one was perfect.

You might wonder about the contrast detail I did in the front. Well, this wasn’t planned I have to admit. I made a mistake I haven’t made in a long time: I forgot to mirror the front pieces. To my defense, I had to cut the coat with the fabric laid flat in one layer, because the pattern pieces are huge. I simply forgot to flip over the front pattern piece before cutting it out a second time. As I did not have enough fabric and couldn’t be bothered to order more, I decided to run with it.

Looking at it now, I think it looks pretty neat. The Mr thinks it’s the best feature of the coat, and he’s kind of right. Still, I sometimes catch myself thinking of it as a mistake, because I know it wasn’t planned.

The construction is very easy. So this is a great project for anyone who doesn’t feel ready yet to tackle a proper coat. As for finishing the raw edges, you simply fold over the edges and stitch them in place. So the only tricky bit is getting the mitred corners right and neat.

The coat closes as a wrap with two snap fastenings at the top.

Burda 09/2015 #117 and Mia Jeans by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Skinny jeans pattern & construction: Let’s talk about my first pair of Mia Jeans! When SEW OVER IT published their Capsule Wardrobe pattern ebook, I couldn’t wait to try the skinny jeans pattern. I love a good high-waisted, simple pair of trousers and I love skinny jeans.

I was a bit concerned that getting the fit right might be a bit of a struggle. Luckily I had some really stretchy denim fabric in my stash which I could use as a muslin. Turned out I didn’t really need a muslin, as the fit was great and I only had to make minor adjustments. The pattern comes with an extra wide seam allowance at the side seam which makes fitting very easy.

Burda 09/2015 #117 and Mia Jeans by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Sewing the pockets was so much fun. Next to sewing the front fly, getting the pockets right is probably taking longest. I basted them on by hand before stitching to get them perfect.

I had a lot of fun trying out decorative stitching with my new sewing machine. I did not use contrasting thread for all seams, just for the pockets. It’s a very minimalist pattern, so the pockets really are the eye-catcher.

Although I’ve sewn quite a few front flies before, I struggled a bit with this one. I accidentally sewed the front shut and overlocked the seam before realising I was missing the front fly. Stupid, I know. I had to cut off quite a bit of the seam allowance to remove the overlocked edge and there wasn’t much left to play around with. Which made constructing the front fly a bit difficult. That’s why the zip is showing a bit, which is somewhat annoying.

Lisa of SEW OVER IT made a wonderful video tutorial on sewing the front fly, which you can find on her youtube channel. There are photographed instructions in the ebook, but if you’ve never tackled a front fly before, I really recommend watching the video tutorial.
Burda 09/2015 #117 and Mia Jeans by thisblogisnotforyou.com

(Very casually sucking in that tummy and hiding the showing zip) Burda 09/2015 #117 and Mia Jeans by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Both jeans and coat are amazingly comfy and therefore my new work uniform. I got a lot of compliments for the coat. Nobody mentioned the jeans, which, I think, means they don’t look handmade and that is a good thing. I made a pair of skinny jeans that looks store-bought, ha!

Will I be making more? I definitely won’t make the coat again, as you do not need an indefinite amount of coats, and I am planning on making a properly lined and interfaced one this winter. But I will be making tons of Mia Jeans! In fact, I have already made another pair and bought fabric for at least three more! It’s definitely my go-to jeans pattern now and plain enough to use as a base for some great pattern hacks.

What’s your favourite pattern at the moment?

Charlie

Happy sewing!
♥

facebook/bloglovin/pinterest
twitter/instagram

Stay in touch!

My Handmade Dirndl

October 31, 2015.Reading time 7 minutes.

Handmade Dirndl by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Hi my lovelies! Guess what?
I’m finally sharing my handmade Dirndl with you!

Man, this is long overdue! I made it in May 2015, which feels like ages ago now. So why would I make a Dirndl if it wasn’t made for Halloween or Oktoberfest?

I don’t want to get into the whole Dirndl discussion, but since I’m German, I might say a word or two. Although many people love to think this is what Germans like to wear, wearing Dirndl or Lederhosen is pretty much like wearing kilts in Scotland. The average German will probably never wear or even own one, except for maybe visiting Oktoberfest. The traditional long Dirndls are sometimes worn in some more rural areas in southern Germany, but you see that very rarely and it’s definitely not considered as fashionable in the rest of the country. Having worn one now, I have to say you actually feel very pretty and femine in it. I’d still not wear one in the streets though. Puff sleeves and all, you feel like a freakin’ Disney princess. Which is not the look you’re going for when you’re older than 12, I guess.

I made my Dirndl for a fancy dress party at work which funnily enough was on my last day at work. Since I was working in a hospital back then I didn’t want to go over the top with my costume (I also had to attend my exit interview that day). As I was the German girl on the ward anyway, I decided to dress up as one. Pretty imaginative, eh? Handmade Dirndl by thisblogisnotforyou.com

So that’s the story. I haven’t worn it since and wasn’t to keen on going outside dressed like this to take picture for the blog!

Now, five months later, we actually live in Bavaria (who would’ve known!) and it’s not that weird to wear one here.

THE PATTERN

From having the costume idea to the actual fancy dress party I had exactly three days. At first I thought about drafting a Dirndl based on my By Hand London Elisalex pattern, but then I thought What the heck, if you’re actually making a Dirndl, do it properly.

You can find a whole bunch of Dirndl dress patterns on the German Burdastyle website. Which is where I found a really nice burda young pattern, which looked a bit prettier than the common Dirndl patterns. Burdastyle has added more Dirndl patterns since, so whoever is interested, this is Dirndl paradise now.

Handmade Dirndl by thisblogisnotforyou.com

THE FABRIC & MATERIALS

Originally, I wanted to use some light blue cotton and add a white apron (to get more of an Alice in Wonderland look), but as it turns out, Dirndls are fabric eaters and I didn’t have enough.

For the actual dress, I used a navy blue 100% cotton, which originally was a John Lewis duvet cover I got at Oxfam for £4. It was a massive piece and the only fabric I had enough of to cut the skirt from. The skirt consists of 4 pattern pieces and has approx. an 8 metre long hem. I still had enough left to cut the bodice and lining from it two.

I used the light blue fabric for the piping in the front and back (which isn’t included in the pattern!) and to make the Froschgoscherl trim. The trim took ages to make, but was the most fun part in the construction. Instead of using readymade trim, I made the ‘ribbon’ myself by sewing two massive strips of dark and light blue cotton together and turning it inside out. I pressed it and topstitched close to the edges with contrasting thread. The ribbon is then folded and stitched in an origami-esque way to create the Froschgoscherl.

Handmade Dirndl by thisblogisnotforyou.com

The dress has an ivisible zip in the front, which is a bit unusual normally but actually quite common for a Dirndl dress. The lacing is just decorative. I used six folklore buttons and some satin ribbon.

The blouse is part of the Burda pattern and the pattern also includes different sleeve and neckline options. I went for full on puff sleeves.

The blouse is made from white 100% cotton fabric. As is common for Dirndl blouses, it end just below the bust, so as not to add any bulk around your waist area. This is actually pretty genius, although a bit uncomfortable at first.

The apron is made from some quilting cotton I bought years ago. It’s red with tiny white hearts on it.

I really prefer the Dirndl without the apron, it’s much prettier and less costumy, right? Handmade Dirndl by thisblogisnotforyou.com

White puff sleeves attract lady bugs and butterflies…what does it remind me of again…? Umm… Handmade Dirndl by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Handmade Dirndl by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Will I make it again? Umm, no. It was super fun and a lot of work and I could use loads of old cottons from my stash. But since I hardly wear it at all, I don’t think I’ll make another one.

Hope you all have a Happy Halloween! It’s the perfect excuse to buy all the kids candy in the supermarket! I’m hoping the kids in our street won’t ring at our door, so that I can have all the chocolates myself. Ha!

Charlie

Happy sewing!
♥

facebook/bloglovin/pinterest
twitter/instagram

Stay in touch!

Burda Baby Dress 09/2013 #147 – Tilda Fabric

June 30, 2015.Reading time 3 minutes.

Burdastyle Baby Dress 09/2013 #147 by thisblogisnotforyou.com Helloooo my lovelies!

I’m back in Germany! It’s still kinda weird and doesn’t feel real at all at the moment but we’ll get there. I’ve got quite a few projects lined up to be blogged (sewn pre-move) so at least I don’t have to panic blog-wise. And I’ve got my little sewing corner set up with a tiny selection of fabrics for some serious stash-busting action. (I already bought fabric here, oh no!)

Just before we moved we had family visiting, including my adorable little niece, who was about ten months then. Obviously I couldn’t contain myself and had to sew a couple of things here and there. I browsed through my Burdastyle stash – always reliable! – and found some really cute baby patterns. You can find most of them online as well.

I decided to use up some gorgeous Tilda fabric that I had left from a previous project I did in collaboration with White Tree Fabrics (there’s a new project in the making, but with reduced resources at the moment it takes a while!) Sewing for babies is always great for using up fabric scraps as well! I literally squeezed this one out of the leftovers I had.

Burdastyle Baby Dress 09/2013 #147 by thisblogisnotforyou.com

The pattern is Burdastyle Baby Dress 09/2013 #147 – a very cute baby dress all complete with patch pockets and a gathered yoke. The dress has long sleeves and buttons up the back. (Check out my pattern matching at the patch pockets, yo! It wasn’t even intentional, but it still makes me happy seeing those pictures!)

The dress came together quite easily. Sewing with the Tilda cotton was a breeze! Apart from the buttons, everything was sewn on the machine. I took quite a while though. Although it is tiny and comes together quicker than a normal grown-up-sized dress, it still took me almost a whole day to finish.

Burdastyle Baby Dress 09/2013 #147 by thisblogisnotforyou.com And here’s the even cuter back! I made self-covered buttons (12mm) and sew all the buttonholes with my buttonhole foot and my 4-step-sewing machine setting (15mm wide buttonholes). These buttons make me smile!The dress fits beautifully and the little munchkin looks absolutely stunning in it (you can tell that she knows that, too!)

Burdastyle Baby Dress 09/2013 #147 by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Will I make it again? The pattern is great as a basis for all sorts of outfits – blouses and summer as well as winter dresses. Unfortunately, babies grow fast and by the time I feel like making it again I would have to trace it again for a bigger size. So, no, at the moment I don’t have plans to sew the exact same dress again, but I’ll keep the traced pattern – just in case 🙂

Charlie

Happy sewing!
♥

facebook/bloglovin/pinterest
twitter/instagram

Stay in touch!

Burda Style Midi Culottes 04/2015 #113A

May 31, 2015.Reading time 6 minutes.

Burda Style Midi Culottes 04/2015 #113A by thisblogisnotforyou.com Hello everyone! Hope you are all having a fantastic weekend! Mine has been great so far – had my last day at work on Friday followed by leaving drinks in the evening which was fun and pretty sad as well! Yesterday we hit Walthamstow market and I went a bit crazy fabric and notions shopping, because, who knows, there might be no fabric in Germany! (Or that’s what I kept telling me). And today I’m resting my feet and will tidy up and sort out all my sewing stuff in preparation for the big move.

Ahh, and did I tell you that I spontaneously made a Dirndl dress (including handmade Dirndl blouse and apron) last week because we had a fancy dress fundraiser at work? Well, I did, and it was pretty crazy as I had slighlty underestimated how much work that would be. But hey, I ended up with a pretty fab costume, lots of compliments and an actual Dirndl dress which I might even wear again in the future should I ever go to Oktoberfest. Anyhow, this project isn’t photographed yet, but you can head over to my Instagram (see sidebar) to see the end result! Burda Style Midi Culottes 04/2015 #113A by thisblogisnotforyou.com But let’s talk about these culottes now! The moment I saw the pattern in Burda Style magazine I wanted to make them. I wasn’t sure whether they would be flattering or practical, but they just looked too comfy and cool.

Pattern and Construction:

The pattern is Burda Style Midi Culottes 04/2015 #113A. Burda Style seems to have a thing for culottes now, as they only just had another pattern in the March issue.

The pattern came together very easily, the fit was spot on. I didn’t grade up as usually, as it’s a wide fit and went with size 10 (EUR 36) which I normally use for Burda Style bodices. The waistband sits on the natural waist. The culottes lay flat on the top thanks to the pleats and then flare out. They almost look like a midi skirt, it’s only when you start walking and people see it actually trousers.

The pattern inludes pockets (I looove pocketses!) and has a front fly which is the only slightly more complicated bit of the construction. Luckily, this pattern is featured in the magazine with detailed and illustrated instructions, so everything came together smoothly.

Burda Style Midi Culottes 04/2015 #113A by thisblogisnotforyou.com The Fit:

As I said, the fit was pretty much spot on. They are very flattering, also you can’t really see that in the pictures. (I really need to give those pleats another good press.) I love the high waist. The midi length might not work for everyone, but I think shortening the culottes might make them look a bit awkward. Although midi length often is on the verge to looking a bit frumpy and old-fashioned, it really works with these culottes especially when you wear them with heels. Burda Style Midi Culottes 04/2015 #113A by thisblogisnotforyou.com Fabric and Notions:

lightweight polyester (charity shop), polyester thread (Isacord), extra fine (70) sewing machine needle (Hemline on Amazon), overlocker to finish fabric edges, trouser hook with rivets (Weaverdee.com), 9 inch zip

The fabric is definitely not the perfect choice for this garment, but I wanted to make a wearable muslin first and this fabric was cheap and on hand. It’s a very, VERY light-weight polyester, which you can see in most of the pics as it only was a bit windy that day and the culottes basically wouldn’t hang straight.

The fabric is actually a 5m sari shawl (that’s probably not the right technical term for it) that I got in a charity shop for only a few quid. The fabric drapes beautifully and is super comfy, but I will definitely go for something with a bit more volume next time. I bought a pretty navy blue polyester-cotton-blend in Walthamstow yesterday which I will probably use for another one.
Burda Style Midi Culottes 04/2015 #113A by thisblogisnotforyou.com So overall, I’m quite happy with how they turned out. Obviously, the fabric isn’t quite right, but it sort of works. I think they look quite elegant – the Mr. says I look like a pirate in them. Well, I don’t mind that. Yoho!

Will I make it again?

Yes, I’m pretty sure you’ll see another one soon! It wasn’t an overly complicated project and it’s good for practising sewing a front fly! I already have fabric for another pair of culottes.

What do you think of the culottes trend? Do you like it? Would you make some yourself?

Happy sewing!
♥

facebook/bloglovin/pinterest
twitter/instagram

Stay in touch!