The Wonderland Dress!

Ah, what I wouldn't have given to have this outfit finished when it was boiling hot here in Austria... But well, it was the other way around.

The weather inspired me to make this outfit, and by the time it was finished, the heat had also vanished. But chances are I will still like it next year...

This is the Maxidress from BurdaStyle 5/2013, it can be downloaded HERE.
As other people experienced, it takes a little longer to make than one might think. My decision to make it out of this fabulous silk had nothing to do with that though...

Look at this italian silk, isn't it amazing?! And working with it was very easy!

Delicious Lace!

This is a dress I recently finished. My mother-in-law gave me this beautiful brown lace almost a year ago and I finally decided on a pattern! I used the tiered wedding dress pattern Nr. 112 from Burda Style 3/2013 (available for download!), changing the skirt part by making only the top layer instead of going floor length and tripple layer...

The blue fabric is more vibrant in real life than in the picture above. Construction was surprisingly simple! The underlying bodice is made first, I only had minor fit alterations to make, which is very simple now that I finally own a dressform with my measurments...

The "Vintage-Inspired, Modern Style" Design Challenge!

Well well, wasn't this contest right up my alley!?

BurdaStyle has organized a contest, see rules and information HERE. We were to take an existing pattern and make our own variation from it. There were plenty of different patterns to choose from, amongst them four vintage patterns free of charge! The one that jumped right at me upon very first glance was the "Slip-On Jumper Dress".

Click HERE to get to all the patterns, though I don't know if they stay available after the deadline on March 12th 2012.

The Diva Coat! Making-of #3

Welcome to Part 4 of my Diva-Coat Post Series, the finale!
This is about the coat I made for the BurdaStyle Sewing Handbook, my name there, by the way, is ajtak7171.

THIS FIRST POST gives you an overview, initial sketches and an outline of how many days it took me and what I did on each day.


THIS SECOND POST gives you the detailed description of the changes I made from the original pattern, and details of days 1-4, with close-up photos of the sewing process and whatever bits of insight I can give.


THIS THIRD POST continues with the sewing of the coat from days 5-8, everything up to the lining, again including lots of pictures of course.


AND HERE FOLLOW DAYS 9 - 12:


Half days = 2-4 hrs. of work

3/4 days = up to 6 hrs.

whole days = 8 - 10 hrs.

I always started the day with cutting out the pattern pieces that I would need for the next step. Which meant about an hour of cutting in the beginning of each day...

(click to read on!)

The Diva Coat! Making-of #2

Welcome to Part 3 of my Diva-Coat Post Series!
This is about the coat I made for the BurdaStyle Sewing Handbook, my name there, by the way, is ajtak7171.

THIS FIRST POST gives you an overview, initial sketches and an outline of how many days it took me and what I did on each day.


THIS SECOND POST gives you the detailed description of the changes I made from the original pattern, and details of days 1-4, with close-up photos of the sewing process and whatever bits of insight I can give.




AND HERE FOLLOW DAYS 5 - 8:


Half days = 2-4 hrs. of work

3/4 days = up to 6 hrs.

whole days = 8 - 10 hrs.

I always started the day with cutting out the pattern pieces that I would need for the next step. Which meant about an hour of cutting in the beginning of each day...

(click to read on!)

The Diva Coat! Making-of #1

As promised, after giving you a first overview of my coat making-of in THIS POST, I will show and tell some more details in about 3 more posts. Today, I will cover what I accomplished on my first four out of a total of 12 work days for this coat.

This coat was my contribution to the BurdaStyle Sewing Handbook.

The Diva Coat!

My Contribution to the BurdaStyle Sewing Handbook:

No really, I couldn't say that I often sit at home sulking about the fact that I can't go to a cool party. In fact, I often choose staying at home (and doing something creative) OVER being at a cool party. But today is different. Today is the official launch party for the BurdaStyle Sewing Handbook, to which all the contributors were invited. How I would LOVE to be there in New York! I've lived in New York for five years and often dream about going back - today more than ever.

*** HAVE FUN AT THE PARTY! ***

*sigh*

I'm definitely counting on you fellow bloggers and BurdaStyle to take pictures and blog about it sometime soon! Please?

We were asked to keep quiet about it for such a long time now that it actually feels strange to finally show and tell.

I will divide this story up into three or four posts, so that I can share a lot of photos and information about how this coat came to life. Today is just a first overview.

Me-Made-Mittwoch #15

Deutsch: Grau

English: Blue

Heute trage ich das Kleid, das von mir den Namen "Miracle Dress" bekam. Nicht, weil es so wundervoll ist, sondern weil es wie ein Wunder war, dass es überhaupt tragbar herausgekommen ist...

Today I am wearing the dress that I call "miracle dress". Not because it is so miraculously beautiful, but because it seemed like a miracle that it turned out wearable at all...

Der Schnitt ist aus einer Deutschen Modenzeitung von 1941 und war mir eigentlich zwei Grössen zu gross, mindestens. Das war allerdings nicht die einzige Schwierigkeit -ich schneiderte das Kleid vor über einem Jahr, und dieser luftige Chiffon hat mich noch etwas überfordert. Das Kleid hat einen Seitenreissverschluss und die Raffinesse ist, dass es ein Unterhemd und den Unterrock gleich mit eingebaut hat. HIER sehr ihr mehr Fotos davon.

The pattern is from an old magazine from 1941 and was actually at least two sizes too big for me. This was not the only difficulty though - I sewed this dress over a year ago and this chiffon was a bit too challenging for me then. The dress has a side zipper and the really cool thing is that it has a top and underskirt sewn right into it. HERE you can see more pictures of the details.

Eigentlich ist es auch ein Wunder, dass es bei all den Änderungen die ich machte, am Schluss doch so ähnlich wie das Original aussieht. Was hält ihr von dem gelben Kleid? Ich glaube fast, das muss ich auch mal noch schneidern. Es ist sogar in meiner Grösse!

It's actually also a bit of a miracle that it ended up looking so much like the original after all the changes I made to it. What do you think of the yellow dress? I think I might have to give that one a try too - it even comes in my size!

Me Made Mittwoch is back! #14

Deutsch: Grau

English: Blue

Nach der Sommerpause sind wir nun zurück mit MMM, und ich freue mich schon sehr auf die schönen Mittwochs-Schneidereien!
Bei Me-Made-Mittwoch tragen die Teilnehmerinnen jeden Mittwoch ein selbst-geschneidertes Kleidungsstück (oder auch Accessoire). Die Idee und Organisation stammt von Catherine von Cat-und-Kascha, und Neueinsteigerinnen sind jederzeit willkommen! Einfach auf ihrem schönen Blog den Button abholen und Euren Link hinzufügen bei Mister Linky auf ihrer Seite.
Diese Woche seht ihr HIER, was die anderen Teilnehmerinnen heute Schönes tragen.

After the summer break, we are back with MMM and I am really looking forward to the beautiful Wednesday-creations again!

"Mittwoch" is German for Wednesday, so the participants wear a self-made garment or accessory every Wednesday. Catherine from Cat-und-Kascha is organizing it and you are welcome to join us anytime! Just go over to her blog to grab the button and add your link at Mister Linky on her site!

HERE you see the outfits from this weeks participants.

Was ich heute trage :

My outfit today:

 

Me-Made-Mittwoch #9!

First off, I want to apologize for not having answered, commented or even looked at any of the Wednesday outfits last week. What shall I say, busy schedule.... I am writing this on Tuesday evening since Wednesday will be busy again, but I hope I'll have some time later in the day to see the other participants creations.

This Wednesday, I am only wearing a single Me-Made garment: The Maddy top, based on the Celeste pattern. I made it a long time ago and don't really wear it very much - even though I think it is quite nice. The reason is probably that it is hard to combine with anything. You can buy the pattern online from BurdaStyle HERE.
I have posted three new garments on my blog this week, so I think wearing only one today is ok. :-)

As mentioned before, I am writing this on Tuesday evening and I even took the picture this evening when it was already getting dark -The pants are actually purple and match the stripes of the shirt really well. At least I won't have to worry about what to wear when I am still half-asleep in the morning. I will see then if I can actually wear those open shoes or not, as it has been a bit rainy lately.

And here is a back shot. Why do I always take back shots? Well, not only to show you the pieces of clothing from the back - but I seem to worry overly much about what I look like from the back and I like to check it before I hit the street... All too often you see women with great outfits, but then they turn around and you think: "Wow, I bet she has no idea how unflattering it looks from behind, or she'd have never put that on...".

Anyway, that was my Wednesday wisdom. Written on Tuesday evening. Good night and good Wednesday to you all!

As always, thanks to Cat-and-Kascha for organizing - there are lots and lots of participants by now! - and HERE you see what they are wearing this week!

My 10 Piece Winter Travel Set: 7 down, 3 to go!

Oh people, I am excited - my ten piece winter set is slowly but surely coming together. I can already combine a few pieces differently and come up with several outfits!
UPDATE: I posted a full tutorial for this blouse HERE.
Here are my pieces number six and seven:

 A dotted blouse and black shorts. The blouse pattern is made by me - I will share a little how-to on this blog hopefully by the end of this week! - and the shorts are actually the Karl Lagerfeld skirt from BWO 10/2010, turned into shorts.
If you want to look at a few more pictures and get some details, click on the little "read more" button right underneath...

Me-Made-Mittwoch #5!

Wednesday (Mittwoch) again! Try my new Tool in the column on the right: The Google-Translator!

Liebe deutschsprachige Besucher - in der rechten Spalte gibt es jetzt den Google-Übersetzer - er wird Euch zwar wohl kaum helfen, das Englisch besser zu verstehen, aber bestimmt zaubert er Euch ein Lächeln auf die Mittwochs-Backen!

Did it help you understand? I bet not. Did it help you smile? I bet!

I recently took stock of all the things I have made so far, and I was surprised how much it is. So I decided to make my Me-Made-Mittwoch outfits as me-made as possible. Here you see three pieces combined - or maybe I should say two and a half...
The blouse I made a long time ago, it's surprising that I can still wear it, as it was my very first go at a real blouse with collar, collarstand and a button closure. It's the Burda pattern 7831, and it was one of my first things posted in my BurdaStyle studio.
The jacket is from a pattern from 1935, from the same magazine I took the pattern for this white coat I recently finished and blogged about. It was originally meant to go with my linen dress, posted here in the BurdaStyle studio...
The pants are not entirely me-made. They were skinny pants and I don't do skinny pants. I mean, they were labeled a 34 I believe (which is usually a size too small for me anyway), but man, they were beyond skinny. So as you see, I was very bold, removed the back pockets, cut both legs open in one straight line , set in a strip of darker fabric and put the pockets back on. Now I can wear them. I swear I look skinnier in them now than I did before, pressed into them like a sausage....

Find out what the other amazing participants are wearing today HERE. Oh, and you'd be welcome to join in the fun any time. Thanks to cat-und-kascha for organizing this!
Have a lovely Wednesday, everybody!

Me-Made-Mittwoch #4!

Here we go again, a Me-Made-Wednesday outfit. Ich spreche übrigens auch deutsch... :-)

I made these pants, it's a Burda pattern and I highly recommend it. I posted it here in my BurdaStyle studio. I made it fit my exact personal measurements with the help of the book "patternmaking for fashion design" (Joseph-Armstrong). I think the extra effort is really worth it - the fit is just most crucial for pants...

I also knitted the sweater a long time ago, from left-over wool. Perfect for April, not the T-shirt type of weather,  but not the sweater kind either...

Oh, by the way: The fabric on the floor is for a summer coat I am making, with Sherry's wonderful RTW-sew-a-long tutorial over at Pattern - Scissors - Cloth. It's lying on the floor, because I am finally starting to cut out the pattern pieces (I am a bit behind), and because the stripes matched my outfit so well :-)

Jetzt freue ich mich schon auf alle anderen Mittwoch Kleider! Here you see the other participants outfits!

Have a lovely day, everyone!

Me-Made-Mittwoch #2!

Here it is again, Me-Made-Mittwoch! Mittwoch is German for Wednesday, and I love this idea. While it really is easier than doing a whole month at a time (as in Me-Made-May, Self-Stitched-September, in case you don't know what I'm talking about...), it does give me a good opportunity to incorporate my own stuff into my daily wardrobe. Eventually, I want this to be the case every single day of the year...
I made this blouse, it's a Burda pattern you can find out more about in my BurdaStyle studio. The blazer is from my 1953 travel set, blogged about HERE, and in my BurdaStyle studio HERE.
There is also the tiniest little me-made-detail on my shoe, which you can only see if I sit down. One of the buttons fell off and where are you going to find that exact one? Well, I put on a tiny crochet flower I once made with the tiniest crochet hook I own...
For styling enthusiasts - I am a real beginner myself... - the colour of your socks make a much bigger difference on your outfit than you might think! :-)

Me-Made-Mittwoch!

Cat-und-Kascha came up with the idea of a Me-Made-Mittwoch (Mittwoch=Wednesday) and I think it's a great idea. It's not only a little easier than doing a whole month at a time (I am hoping to take part in a Me-Made-May though - anyone doing it?), but it also gives me a chance to show some older pieces I have sewn on this very new blog of mine.
So this was my outfit for today:

Sorry, the quality of the picture isn't that great - I went to Ikea today, which ALWAYS takes much longer than I think. :-)
This dress got very good reviews on my BurdaStyle account: Burda Wool Dress. You can see more pictures of it there.
Oh, yes, I also made the little hat. I don't think I have taken it off since I made it about a month ago :-)

My 10 Piece Winter Travel Set!

About a year ago, I found a 10 piece travel set in a magazine from 1953. I loved it so much - all the pieces, as well as the idea of having 10 home sewn pieces that can be combined with each other - that I have decided to come up with my very own 2011 version.

Here is the one from 1953 (and yes, I did sew every single piece of it!):

Source: Vorbachs Neue Moden, Heft 5, 1953

And here are my 10 pieces: