I finally made a Bombshell! Sew it up week 3

For this weeks Sew it up challenge (you can vote here!) I made an outfit inspired by the artist Ted Parker. It was the perfect excuse to get my act together and finally make the gorgeous Bombshell swimsuit pattern from Heather at Closet Case Files.

First the video I made for you guys :) The water was still super cold!

And my inspiration:

www.ted-parker.com

I’ve had this pattern ever since it came out last year, but when my black lining fabric wasn’t delivered in time for our trip to Bali I kinda forgot about it (also because it was winter ofcourse..)

So when I read that we had to make an artist inspired outfit, I ran to the copyshop to get my Bombshell pattern printed!  I found some black and white (gingham?) swimsuit fabric, and it is actually more fabric like then your normal lycra. Which gives it a real 50’s vibe for me.

 It was a lot of fun to make, I followed the sewalong, which is super detailed! The only thing I messed up was when I decided to serge the back seam about 5 times, which made it really thick. After spending 3 hours to unpick everything it was smooth sailing from there on. I find that if I serge seams that get a little bit of strain on them the stitches really show on the right side. I guess it’s a tension thing with my serger, but so far I haven’t figured it out yet.. Any tips?

The dreaded back seam.. 

Fit wise I graded from a size 6 on top to a size 7 around my waist and hips. The first two times I put it on I actually heard a  very soft ripping sound, but now I don’t hear anything and I don’t see any torn stitches, so I’m hoping I’ll be fine!

  My skirt is the Chardon skirt from Deer and Doe. Which I will blog about a bit later :)

Do you have any specific summer sewing plans? I’ve been spotting Lladybirds new bikini on Instagram and immediately thought: I have some black lycra in my stash! I’ve been tempted to buy it right away as Papercut Patterns now also has pdf downloads..  But then there’s also the Nettie pattern, which I could make out of leftover fabric from this Bombshell.. Aargh the temptation!

Shane is getting tired of modelling

If I can be very annoying once again and please ask you to vote for me here? I’d be forever grateful!

Shane by Ted Parker

Chloe meet Roxanne, sew it up week 2 challenge

Whoohoo! I made it through week 1 in the Sew it up challenge! Thanks guys for voting for me!

For the second Sew it up challenge we had to make a shiftdress.. Hmm what was I going to do? I usually love my dresses form-fitting or at least fitted at the waist. Until I remembered the one pattern that made me change my mind. The Chloe dress from Victory Patterns. It’s a semi fitted, mid length A-line dress, so perfect for this challenge!

I found some gorgeous Atelier Brunette cotton at Mondaysmilk and thought of a plan to add the pleated collar from the Roxanne top to my dress. This meant changing the pattern a bit, by raising the neckline and elongating the bust seam. But I really wanted to give this dress a little bit of extra edge and for me adding the collar did just that. I love this pleated collar and would add it to everything if I could..

This challenge was all about the techniques and finishing touches. That’s why I used my favourite technique ever, french seams. They just give the whole dress a super clean finish. I even finished the welt pockets with french seams, which was quite a puzzle, but it worked out in the end! (I used this tutorial.) It just feels weird putting the pieces wrong sides together and when there’s a welt flap in between it’s even more of a mindf*ck.

French seams everywhere

The sleeves are finished with bias tape, which I made from the same fabric. I also inserted the sleeves with french seams, using this tutorial from Jen at Grainline Studio. I have to be honest though, I did use my serger to finish the back seam with the invisible zipper. I just didn’t know how to finish this one with a french seam (and Google didn’t know it either).

More french seams!

I think this might just be my new favourite summer dress and I hope you’ll like it too! Clean and simple, but with a little bit of edge. Just how I like it!

I'm already super excited for the next challenge (as I've almost finished it and already love it), so if you've got a minute, please vote for me!

Bijschrift toevoegen

Sew it up week 1, dreaming of Tokyo..

Hi guys! 

For the first challenge we were given a pattern that we had to work with. The pattern was for a Chanel style jacket. It was as if Caroline and Hanne (the organisers) had read my summer to-sew list.. 

But since it’s impossible to finish a proper Chanel style little black jacket in two weeks (for me at least as I wanted to use couture techniques) I decided to take a completely different approach for this weeks challenge.

I’ve been inspired by Japanese sewing and embroidery techniques for a while now. I think I made about 4 Drape Drape projects in the last 2 months.. So I knew that this would be the perfect opportunity to combine a couple of them.

My jacket is made out of a lightweight linen and I chose to add embellishments in the form of Sashiko embroidery. Sashiko means little stabs in Japanese and it is a form of embroidery that uses the running stitch to create geometric patterns. I stitched them onto the linen after sewing the shoulder seams together. For a clean inside I added an extra layer to disguise all the stitches.

Stitches? Which stitches?

For the pants I used my own drafted pleated pants pattern. It’s quite a simple pattern but I think that the pleats just give it that something special. I also added pockets, just because you never know when you might need them. The pants are made out of a very soft stretch cotton and they are so comfy that I don’t want to take them off anymore!

To complete my outfit I knew I had the perfect shirt. I’ve made this shirt from the silk fabric I dyed in the Itajime dye class while I was in New York last year. I really like the pop of colour that it adds to the outfit.

I hope you like my creations for this challenge and I can’t wait to show you what I’ve been planning for the other ones..  I do have some pretty cool ideas, can't wait! 

If you've got an extra minute (or seconds maybe even) please vote for me! Here's the link:

Sew it up