The London Coat

Another coat?! Yes, another coat!

It's not like I need more coats. But coats are good. Coats are comfy, cozy and make winter more enjoyable. And for whatever reason, coats inspire me. Or how would you say it the other way around... when I see other garments, they often inspire me to turn them into coats. It might be strange, but that's the way it is.

What would you have made from this great 60's number?

Sweater Refashion Extravaganza #4

Ok, as promised, the last re-fashion was a bit more complicated, now comes the simplest one I have ever made. It almost feels silly....

Do you like this cozy wool thing? Well, it was a cozy wool thing before, I've owned it for years, and I wore it a few times every winter. It just was way too wide in the bodice. This is part of what made it cozy, but it was really difficult to put on coats over it, because there was way too much material to be stuffed into it.... So I finally took my courage and cut it up. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture before, so this one will have to do:

It was just a normal sweater, wiiiiiiide in the torso, and I couldn't just have cut off and taken in the sides, because the sleeves would have ended up being too short.

The Amadeus Coat

How to turn a two piece costume into a coat....
Here is my newest Re-fashion! I have actually finished it a few weeks ago and am proud to say that I am wearing it almost daily, so this one definitely goes into the book of successes! :-)

It started out as a wool costume, which I had bought at the flee market for a ridiculous amount of 5 Euros... It's a fabulous herringbone pattern wool in turquoise and purple! Swoon!

Here is the before and after:

 It was too big for me, and in general I just would have never worn it this way, so please forgive me for cutting into it...

1950's Hand-Sewn Leather Gloves

As you might already know, I have been away from my home and my sewing machine for a great part in the past two months. While I used some of my spare time improving my drawing skills, I also made sure I always had a little hand-sewing project along. This was one of those:

I know, I know: We are all ready for summer, but when I started them, it was still chilly. And it seemed like too much fun to pass up...

I found the pattern in one of my 1950's magazines:

My "Pillow Cape"!

Nope, it is not a misprint, I really mean Pillow CaPe. Because well, it used to be a Pillow Case, and it is now a Cape. *Grin*

 This is my contribution to the refashion co-op, a bit late, I apologize. Not only have things been crazy in my "real life", I have also been away from the sewing machine AND from any decent internet connection. So the few things I DID make, I haven't posted about. Sometime later this month everything should calm down.

Fab Coat Now Wearable!

Here it is, my February contribution to the Refashion co-op!

I would say there are two categories of refashion projects:

1. The ones you make out of items that are just not fashionable anymore the way they are.
2. The ones you make with garments that don't fit anymore (or that need mending...).

Broken Zipper Solution: From "Oh-No!" To "Oh-Yes!"

Broken Zippers are the worst. Even more so if they break on a piece of clothing you love, and double that if you made it yourself and just finished it... It so happened on my beloved Panda-Hug-Cape posted HERE
With the facing and bias-tape binding it would have been such a pain to take the zipper out and put a new one in, so I was in need of a clever plan B. It came to me, and it's one of those super easy solutions that one fails to see sometimes. At least I think so. I simply attached the new one to the old one, adding a bit of zipper coolness...:

How-To: Make the Bodice for the suit-refashion Overall

Welcome to my second How-To post for how I turned my Husbands old suit into the overall below!

And what perfect timing for the "Sew Grateful" series, happening over at My Happy Sewing Place, which truly is right up my alley :-)

Not only am I sew grateful that my husband gave me the suit (he has learned to give me just about everything that remotely resembles fabric before throwing it away), I have also used thread, needles and a rotary cutter that my mom has given me, and I am also ever sew grateful for the on-line sewing community, which really has kicked off my sewing hobby to a new level. I have learned so much from the many sewing-bloggers out there, thank you ever so much. I can only hope that the one or other project/tutorial on my blog will inspire others, too!

In the first How-To post HERE I showed you how to fit the pants, today we will fit the jacket to make the bodice. Of course, depending on the suit you are starting out with, and also depending on your shape, things might be a bit different. However, I think these steps should get you there in most cases, if the initial fit of the suit matches the description in my first post (basically, it just really has to be too big)...

How-To: Turn Men's suit pants into Women's slacks

The jumpsuit-how-to post 1 is all about how I fitted the pants. You can use this tutorial by itself just to fit pants, or you continue on to the jacket post to make the whole overall (Link is at the bottom of this post)...

So I started out with a dull grey suit... You want to make sure that the collar still looks good enough for you to want to wear, as well as the sleeve cuffs... Generally, the whole suit still needs to be in pretty good condition.

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!)

Winter Accessory Extravaganza! Part 2

Welcome to part 2 of my extravaganza!

Without much further ado, I will move on to the how-to of the remaining three accessories. First up:

THE GLAM-ME-UP WRIST WARMERS:

Winter Accessory Extravaganza! Part 1

As promised: A collection of winter accessories I made this year - ideas, how-to, inspiration....

Years ago I knitted accessories like wrist and leg warmers for myself and as gifts for my girlfriends. However, I got tired of it fast and never really considered making them again. As much as knit is hip at the moment, I somehow don't see knitted wrist and leg warmers as a fashion statement right now :-)  So I jumped on the wagon of leather bracelets, wrapped around the wrist several times, added some fabric and faux fur, and voilà, up-to-date winter accessories that are made within no time! These are super quick projects to glam up an outfit, to make a personal gift for a dear friend or just to give you a reason to like winter....

Read on for the making-of pictures and explanations!

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.

Panda Bear Hug Cape

We all know how clothes can be used to express personality, right? But they can really set the mood for a whole day, too.

While in this picture I am trying to present this cape all cool, edgy and hip, I have to admit it makes me feel really warm, soft and lovable. Not only does it feel as if a Panda bear is giving me a hug all day long but I also want to give hugs to everybody. I work in the theater, and we are all pretty touchy-feely there, so I actually did hug a couple people and I definitely felt that they didn't want to let me go anymore. There were strokes over my back, hands lingering on my upper arm, cuddly leanings on my shoulder. What a day! And all caused by a simple cape.

The pattern is actually really cool, practically only one piece, except for the facing. And the best part is: it's free! It's called Elena and you can get it HERE. I'm not sure it comes in English, but if you have the paper pattern, it's really simple to sew together. I used Fleece instead of Jersey, which explains the Panda bear effect a little... It also goes extremely well with the tulip skirt called Minu from the same site. Not for free, but 3,90 Euros for the download really isn't very much. You can find that one HERE. It's a VERY quick project to sew!

This is the skirt minu from the same site as the cape elena...

It goes just as well with more elegant things as with casual, sportive outfits, and works zipped, half-zipped or even unzipped. I got lots of compliments for this piece, which further improved my days. If you make it out of fleece like me, it is super cozy and warm.

My 10 Piece Travel Set: 9 down, 1 to go!

Wow, I am actually getting closer! These are my pieces number 8 and 9 for my ten piece fall/winter/spring travel set! I have already presented them on my dress form in the last post, but here they come, modeled by me:

I have already presented the skirt, too, with a full how-to/tutorial HERE, in case you are interested. It features half-circle pockets and a visible zip in the back:

But my biggest pride at the moment is this shirt:

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...

You know what I did last Sunday?

Yes, we are all excited about spring kissing our cheeks. But I am behind schedule with my winter set. Luckily it is a Fall-Winter-Spring set (a travel set with 10 interchangeable pieces of clothing), and this was the last really wintery item on the list. It makes the hopefully short return of the 1-digit-temperatures more bearable:

Oh, don't say it... I know it. Santaclause, right? So what? I like the little bit of Santa-ness of this jacket, and I know I will love it when the next winter comes around. Somehow it's more of a before-Christmas garment.
I once bought a really great coat in the middle of summer, and it made the arrival of  winter so much better! On that note, this jacket has built in make-me-happy-power for next October.
I came up with the pattern myself. It's basically a circle. If you want to see how I did it, read on...

New Coat, Old Pattern - from 1935!

It would have been much easier to come up with a 10 piece winter travel set if it didn't include outer wear. The set from 1953, which inspired me to do my winter 2011 version, included outer wear, so I couldn't cheat out of it either. The coat had an almost impossible list of requirements to meet:

• Well, logically, it has to work with absolutely all the other pieces
• I have to be able to wear my cold, cold weather faux fur vest or knit jacket underneath without the armholes tearing
• It had to be elegant enough for me to take it to the opera without leaving it self-conscious next to all the fur coats while waiting for me to come out
• While at the same time being sporty enough for a snowball fight

Well, look: this one actually does that all!

Click that tiny little "read more" button right underneath, if that's what you want to do...