Vogue V1114

I was intrigued when I saw this pattern by Issey Miyake for Vogue.
This is where I am so far. I must sew the neck hem and the buttons. All went well until the last two steps. I'm not sure I got them right, but I don't see how I could do otherwise, so... What disturbs me is that I can see a bit of front facing. But you can see it also on the big picture on the left on Vogue site...
The buttons and the leggings will have to wait for about two weeks. I have a busy week ahead (back to work and errands to run...) and a weekend in London (yeah!), then again a week of work. I'm glad I was able to sew most of it. I was wondering how it was done, and I know I would have dreamt of it. At least, I can sleep now :-)
And I becoming the Queen of French seams. They are the main feature of this model, as they were for the djellaba and the pink blouse. Since I learnt to make them as a teenager, I don't think I've made any during the 35 years after that lesson!

I wish you all a good week.

Power to the hand stitcher

Thank you for the comments on the blouse.
Susan, I'm not fast: I'm on vacations :-) besides, this fabric and the pattern called to be made into something to go with the skirt. I could not resist their urge :-)

This is the title of an article by Laura Wasilowski in the Quilting Arts issue of February/March 2009. In this article, Laura proposes to practise hand embroidery around a heart. What we did at the patchwork club.
You can learn more about Laura at Artfabrik.
Here is my result:
First as a whole, in full sun :-)


The back (I had to find a way to have enough lime fabric! Hence the idea of heart square)

And the detail of the embroidery, in the shadow.


I'm not sure I'll keep it: if my neighbor comes and gives me cherries, he'll go back with it. If he doesn't come with cherries, I'll keep it :-) In both cases, I'm a winner.

Blouse 125 BWOF February 2009

Burda has shown it in this fabric

You can see the details here

I made a brighter version of it:

A bit difficult to make a picture of it, with the sun reflecting on the fabric...

I hope my working girl likes it...

Pencil Skirt

From Couture facile (Autumn-Winter 2008), Skirt 4D

This was an easy one. The pattern was already drawn and cut, it took me only the afternoon. But an idea for a top has made its way in my mind and to my table. More soon!

Skirt

I was going to make a plain, easy pencil skirt for D#2. And ended sewing this Skirt, from Burda World of Fashion January 2009.

In a shorter version.

She can wear it with a black belt:

or this one:

This is a trim by Chanel, dixit the lady who sold it to me.

Burda instructions propose a small facing for the top, no lining. Did not sound good for me. Instead, I lined all the top.

I made both belt. I've put eyelets on the black one. I practised on a leftover. And of course, when I went to the real belt, I made a mess of the eyelets. Sh..... Next time I'll keep to the old fashioned way, stitching by hand!

On the whole, this is an easy model, but I wanted it to be perfect, so I spent an awful amount of time on it. Befor browsing the sewing blogs, I would never had undone a seam. Now I do. :-) And I even enjoy that, well to some extend. It is a great feeling to progress. That would even be better to do so on the first try :-)

I'll start another skirt tomorrow, again a plain pencil skirt...

News from the garden

It is vacation time, for about 10 days, yeah! This is Eddy Mitchell's first rose:

And another rose by David Austin, but I can't remember the name right now.

While my assistant is sleeping, I'm trimming a hedge of pyracantha, and chopping the branches as i cut them. That will keep me busy for a couple of years, I think...

The rest of the time, I'm making skirts for my daughter Amandine. She is working near London right now, and they have a dressing code there. I'll bring her two skirts when I go on June 5th. I have not been in London since 1976, I can't wait to go...

I wish you a nice weekend!

Bellydance dress

For our performance at the end of June, our teacher asked us to provide our clothes ourselves. There are some shops in Marseille or in Internet where we can buy dresses, or we could as the seamtress of the dance school to sew one.

In BOWF of April, I had seen this dress, which I wanted to make to weare at home during summer. So why not combine both?
Here is the result:

The belt has been purchased, not made by me.
The pants are the muslin of this one.
Whereas I don't intend to wear the pants, I do want the dress to last. So I was very carefull with the seams, finishing them with bias or using "English seams" (couture anglaise in French, you sew wrong side against wrong side, then turn over to have right side against right side and you sew to enclose the previous seam. It is a bit like the seams on jeans, but not applied. I don't know the English words for them). The satin bias was sewed with the machine and finished by hand and the beads ribbons were sewed by hand. Perfect job to watch some TV :-)

I hope the weather is as bright where you live as it is here!

Babette Blankett comments

Thank you for commenting on it.

Startare, it does have a border, not a wide one, but it has (adapted to the leftover, in fact :-).
Corryna, Rosemary, Susan, Startare, don't hesitate, make one, it is relaxing and fun, and you can take it or drop it whenever you want. No need to count either.
Lisa, I guess Luna could have some ideas too about the blanket or the yarn ?
Embellisher, I've tried to follow the pattern, regarding colors, but I had to make some arrangements. On the whole, I'm satisfied. I've seen some blanketts in other color themes, they look very different but all gorgeous.
SewAmy, thanks for visiting and commenting.

Have all a very good end of week!

Babette blankett

When I watch TV, I need something easy to keep my hands busy (otherwise, I fall asleep in the 5 first minutes of any show...). I also have a hudge stash of yarn leftovers. So the Babette blankett from www.knittingdaily.com was perfert for me.
Here it is. PS my assistant Choupette disagreed a lot with this project. She could not sleep quietly on my lap while my hands were moving, and she said so a lot of times. Almost everyday, I would find balls of yarn in some strange places in the house, even when I put them in a box and closed the lid... In the very "good days" I would find all the ball outside the box, and the assistant in the box instead...

Barbie cat

I often refer to Osiris as my Barbie cat, because she walks as if she were on a catwalk, and because etiquette means a lot to her (and also because she certainly isn't the cleverest cat of the universe).
Barbie's 50th anniversary reminds me that I like Barbies. So, I've started collecting them. For the moment, the few Barbies I have are displayed in my room, on a table.
No surprise it has become Osiris's favorite place...

Garden update

Hi to all of you! Thank you for the comments on the sewing images live. I was very pleased to read your comments, even if I did not answer them...
The week at the office has been busy, busy and I caught a nasty cold that took all my energy. But I'm much better now!
Those are pictures taken last weekend in the garden. The peonies are here!


Graham Thomas is ready too:

I don't remember who this one is but he is a good performer ...

This is a long weekend, and instead to be in my office, I'm home, watching this. The yellow roses are Graham Thomas, the one at the top. Quite a change in just one week.

I know the garden needs some weeding, but for the moment I'm just enjoying the blooms.

And I have a big priority for this weekend: sewing a dress for belly dance... so the weeds won't be in trouble right now...

Sewing - real pictures

Les Baux de Provence

Friday has been one gorgeous day. My daughters and some Spanish friends visited me, so I took them to one of the most beautiful villages in France: Les Baux de Provence. Pictures tell for themselves:

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This is the entry of the quarries were they held audio/video shows. Do visit their site to get the idea!