Lace Skirt - Burda Easy 8155

It wasn't until I joined the sewing bloggers fraternity that I realised that it is perfectly normal behaviour to be a fabric stroker.  I can spend my whole lunch hour stroking divine fabrics - I suppose it is my equivalent of window shopping.  I find the feel of beautiful fabrics therapaeutic - more so than even the colour or pattern.   I feel rather wonderful after such an outing.  I go alone so there is no discussion needed and the lovely people at Fabric Vision - well I guess they know it is all part of the joy and eventually I will buy something.

Remember this lovely image - it's actually a burda pattern for the cardi but I loved the lace skirt.  So I had my eyes pealed and  saw a  similar fabric in Spotlight, and grabbed it.  It is such a  lovely piece of fabric that I was afraid to cut into it and so spent the month of July procrastinating and getting it out and putting it awayt!

But yesterday I decided to feel the fear and do it anyway!

I used

Burda Easy 8155 - it's my third skirt in this pattern and they have all come out quite different!

Look - it's turned out just fine.  I lined it with grey coloured synthetic fabric so that I was sewing a double layer.  I didn't want the seams to show and the lace was slightly stretchyt and the lining was not!  I also decided to do a wee embellishment on the waistband - a grey strip to break it up.

 Mine rides up a bit more than hers!  But love it standing up - I'm imagining myself at a wine and nibbles event where I will be standing and socialising.  Just note that when I first put the lining in I made it perfectly meeting the bottom of the lace.  But when I sast down the lace rode up more and you could see an inch of the lining.  So I redid it so that the lining comes to about 1.5 inches above the hem.

  

Lovely scalloped edge which graced the hem.

 Detail at waistband. 

Another invisible, invisible zip - now that I know to unzip the zip iron out the curl I can get it oh so invisible!

It's still winter here so I am putting it away so that I have something to wear for when it's gets warmer.  

Let the Cape Commence!

I'm surrounded by capes.  The boys are watching the Dark Knight on telly tonight and since it's Mother's Day my boys have made me feel like a super hero!  My youngest son baked biscuits and made cucumber sandwiches and organised savouries all while the rest of us were at the hockey.  I arrived home to  High Tea all laid out nicely with my fabulous mother also joining us.
I cut out the cape Pattern 112 from Burda Style Magazine 08/2011 size 42.  I gave a generous seam allowance of just under an inch (just in case).   Piece 1 is actually the centre front and the facing section.  Watch out for the straight grain lines: pieces 2 and 4 seem wonky but that's because they drape on an angle.  I gave the hem a little bit extra (2 inches) so I can decide the length I prefer.

I will leave the cape on my model for a few days to see if the shoulders drop.  Perhaps they are a different shape than mine so I might get hubby to pin it on me inside out to get a better falling line.  My shoulders are squarer not so curved.

I have decided to line the cape even though the instructions aren't for a lined cape.  (I'll work it out!)  I imagine myself going out for brunch and flinging it over the back of a chair and it would be nice for some nice black shiney lining to show! And I am going to get some bobbincat labels made just to give it the professional touch. lol

See the fraying !

With the loose weave fabric I would in future zigzag or overloack immediately because as you can see in the photo above they unravel easily.  That got me thinking about button holes and how they could be tricky on this fabric. And then the sewing god spoke. She said go forth and look in Fabric Vision while the boys are warming up for an hour before their hockey game. How could I refuse? After about half an hour of dreaming up creations I nearly fell over a stand adorned in a sewn simplicity garment showing an example of how tape can be used over knit fabric as a firm base for the buttons and button holes.  I whipped out my iphone and took the shot. There is a sewing god - the  universe is talking to me. lol. My tape and buttons will be hidden but they will be better on this as opposed to relying on interfacing for stability.

This is my wonderful machine.  

Who knows the words?  

Bernina, Bernina so easy, simple and versatile,
Bernina, Bernina gets all your sewing done in style,
Bernina, Bernina the experts all agree,
no other sewing machine today is more versatile in every way,
just try it once and you'll agree
what a wonderful machine,
Berniiiiiina! 

That jingle has been in my head since I was 6 or 7 years old!  (So this machine was the first thing I bought when I started work and it's been going strong ever since - It even got thrown  off a shelf and fell 1.5 m onto a tile floor in the February 22, 2011 earthquake and it still hasn't missed a stitch!

Vintage SINGER Teenage Dress Making Contest Qualifier's Award Pin Broach

I have been growing fond of wearing broaches lately so just out of curiosity I decided to browse ebay.  There's some pretty uuuggggly looking broaches out there, but there is also some exquisite ones. I came across this wonderful keepsake. Some teenager in Ohio, USA earned this badge and as a dressmaker  I am now going to proudly wear it.  Isn't it cute!  Can't wait til it arrives!

Vintage SINGER Teenage Dress Making Contest Qualifier's Award Pin Broach

Happy sewing this week!