Long time no see…

Its been a long time, a very long time since I haven’t posted, and although I haven’t posted I have been in fact sewing, perhaps not sewing super fast but taking my sweet ol’ time sewing, I also took a second trip to NYC and of course I visited Mood Fabrics but mostly stocked on buttons and trim. I have been slowly shopping for fabric that is a little bit pricier but also nicer (Liberty of London has had my heart lately) and of course working, coding and buying vintage patterns.

So let’s start with the first one. I decided to sew VikiSews Shian Puffer. It was rated Advanced and if you sew a lot I don’t think its advanced but it is a “put your big girl panties on and get ready to pay attention” , the pattern calls for you to quilt fabric and knowing me and my Type A tendencies for straight stitching I decided to dust some fabric that I had sitting in my stash from Rag and Bone (no longer available) but it is quilted and it was insulated. SO I used that, it took some time. It took some time to figure out what sewing needle to use. Thank you Schmetz needles for answering that question! AND let’s not talk about my obsession trying to find a zipper in the correct length that would match the fabric. I got close enough that I was happy but suffice to say the zipper color match to a T does not exist so I just had to get over and move on.

All in all would I recommend the pattern? Yes, I would.

If you want a challenging sew (quilted fabric, concealed zipper for the hood, hardware, installing grommets and elastic cord, a detachable hood and of course, its lined) and you have been sewing for some time it is a great pattern. But beware, it's not quick sew and that’s what makes it advanced and amazing. I should do a detailed pattern review on it.

Coming off the Shian Puffer and getting a new puppy (who peed on my Burda 5869… loved this vest!) but after the little baptized it and washing it twice didn’t take the smell out or the memory of it. I decided to part ways with it. SO sure enough I had to make another one because its only gonna get cold around me. Same story as the Shian Puffer, matching zippers, getting fabric swatches to make it for both the lining and the fabric took some time and then there was the sewing part of it.

You would have thought that after making Burda 5869 a second time and recently making the Shian Puffer a second time I would remember all about turning the vest inside out but NO, I had to relieve the mistakes all over again. From the welt pockets (sewing quilted knit is no joke!) and sure enough nobody tells you the fun part of a vest is the part were you have to sew the armholes a certain way and in certain order OR you get to pull out your trusty seam zipper and spend some quality time undoing that mistake. That was another month and another slow sew and I was ok with it.

After two time consuming patterns and knowing that I wanted to work on a button down shirt next. The kind with a placket, bust darts, front pocket, collar band and sleeve plackets I decided to use Liesel & Co. classic shirt pattern and work on it.

Again I decided to use some fabric I had in my stash. Did I love the pattern? I’m still on the fence about it. I don’t know if it was the fabric that I’m not totally in love with or perhaps the instructions are ok. People rave about it on Pattern Review but I thought some of their instructions were just confusing and plain ol’ didn’t make sense to me but I got it done.

Would love to try other button down shirt patterns so I purchased Closet Core Cornelius Western Shirt pattern and we shall see how that works along with Burda 7136 which has some great details one of them is a pleated front (think tuxedo shirt).

If you notice I’m trying to use more European patterns and trying to stay away from the Big Four Patterns these days. Great designs but the last releases just don’t speak to me. I’m talking about barrel pants, blouses that look like you are going to be struggling with them all day or the same pattern repackaged with a new cover and many of them have a lot of ease. Not a little BUT A LOT. So enter my love with vintage patterns from the 1960 and 70’s. Readily available on Etsy, Ebay and a few other third party websites who I find are reputable and have some amazing patterns at reasonable prices.

I also tried my hand on Tessuti’s Alessi Bias Cut Dress and I’m not going to call it a fail but the dress turned out to be rather large, I am going to try again after reaching out to the team at Tessuti and getting some rather interesting information on selecting a size to cut and a few pointers from the subscribers on Pattern Review.

So what have you all been sewing?