back on track, slowly…

Tags

burda, burda sew-along, sewing

… after making my yoga pants on Saturday I was on a roll, so I moved straight on to my Burda challenges…

… I decided to go for the turquoise wool cowl sweater first (10/2012-118B), because after a few days of tantalising spring, winter has come back and it is freezing again. Definitely not t-shirt weather!

… pieces cut out, I decided to skip the back zipper as I was making this in knit, so I just sewed up the back seam. I also skipped the back darts, I am not very curvy and the the pattern is already quite shaped. The gathering on the side was straight forward, the body sewed up in no time, and looked great when I tried it on to check for fit. I did notice I had cut the front out back-to-front, so my gathers are on the opposite side to the rest of the world – I have a truly unique garment!

… I attacked the sleeves on Sunday, and got into a bit of a fight with them, I got puckering and puff sleeves on my first attempt, so I took them out and started over. Second attempt is better, not perfect, but good enough, especially as unpicking the knit fabric is a nightmare. I finished off by hemming the bottom and sleeves with my new best friend, the double needle.

… I quite like the top, but it is a bit more formal than I tend to wear these days. At the minute I am working from home (when I can find work), and mainly get out to dog walk or exercise, so I don’t think it will get as much wear in the immediate future as it might have when I was rushing in and out of meetings with ministers and the such like each day.

… so that is one Burda down, I will attack my next top later this week…

slight detour…

Tags

leggings, lycra, sewing, tights, trousers, yoga

… after cutting out my Burda patterns last night I realised I needed to wash the fabric before I could carry on, so I threw all my fabric in the washing machine and then hung it up to dry overnight…

… this morning, out running, thinking about my to-do-list – a few letters needed writing before I should start sewing – and thinking about the upcoming week – I am teaching yoga 4 days this week…

… while I practice yoga in shorts, I prefer to teach in trousers, but I only have 1 pair of trousers that are really suited to the hot room, all the others are too warm (it is 40ºC in the studio), and then I got to thinking how easy it would be to make another pair…

… I still have the leggings pattern I drafted in the 90s, I could pop down to my local fabric shop and pick up some lycra material: I remember seeing it in all sorts of cheerful colours last time I was there…

… post run, shower, breakfast, I brave the rain, jump on a bike and head down town. Fabric bought and the sun came out as I cycled home.

… I seemed to remember the legging pattern was long in the body, I got my running tights out to use as a reference, and cut out a pair of capri tights. I cut them short in the body and added a band of contrasting lycra for the waist rather than adding elastic – I hope they won’t fall down!

… first band installation wasn’t quite right, but as the leggings were still too high in the waist I just chopped it off and started again, it still isn’t perfect. And I almost lost my calm when I ran out of cotton 5cm from finishing the last top stitching… luckily the supermarket across the road from my place sells cotton, so a quick shopping break and I was able to finish the leggings.

… now I need to get back on track with my original plans, and then I might see if I can get some shorts out of the left over lycra too!

living up to challenges…

Tags

burda, burda sew-along, challenge, me made, me-made-may-13, review, sewing, week 1

… my first me-made-May, I pledged to wear at least 3 me-mades each week this month, I started off exceeding expectations, but wavered at the beginning of this week, I am playing catch up!

… I started off instagramming my wears, but that didn’t last long…

… day 1 – I wore my grey cargo pants

… day 2 – I wore the cargo pants again, and added a jersey cowl

… day 3 – I was teaching yoga in the morning, and practised yoga in the evening, so between classes I just wore a stripy t-shirt made last summer following these instructions with yoga pants

… day 4 – my polka dot cowl renfrew

… day 5 – first time out for my hot cocoa sweater (heading to the fabric market!)

… day 6 – my refashioned chopped off little black dress

… day 7-9 – I just managed to add a home made belt and/or cowl to what I was wearing

… day 10 – I decided I needed to start making an effort again, so I pulled on my white renfrew. I also finally got my sewing machine out again (it had been put away at the beginning of the week, and I have been super busy ever since) and made another belt using the fun neon yellow webbing from the market last week.

… and while I was tackling challenges, I have also traced and cut out 2 Burda patterns ready to start sewing for the Burda sew-along. I would have cut them out too except I realised I hadn’t washed my fabric, so that has been thrown in the washer, and cutting and sewing will have to wait until tomorrow when it should be dry.

an extravaganza of fabrics…

Tags

burda, challenge, fabric, madness, market, sewing

… a couple of weeks ago, I read about the “Stoffen Spektakel” market on Beata’s blog Red Point Tailor. She had found some lovely looking fabric, I was curious about the market, I checked their website, who can resist an event that brands itself as a “fabric extravaganza”?

… I saw they hold markets all over the Netherlands, Belgium, the north of France and Germany, I saw a bunch of photos, it really looked like an extravaganza.

… I emailed a few sewing friends, “anyone up for a day trip?”, one friend replied “yes!”.

… Sunday lunch time, the sun was shining, we pointed the car north east and headed to Kortrijk, neither of us knew the town, so the plan was fabric extravaganza followed by a bit of tourism…

… the market was easy to find, the car park wasn’t too crowded, we ventured into the exhibition hall… and took a deep breath! There was a lot of fabric! We started off cautiously, spotting “possibles”, checking prices, noting things to come back to (that we never made it back to!), then I made the first purchase.

… it wasn’t on my list, but how could I resist fish and polka dots together on the same fabric, on jersey? It will be a t-shirt…

… once the ice had been broken, spending became easier, unfortunately we found the discount stalls a bit late in our visit, we were both running out of cash, had crossed most the projects off our lists, we managed to negotiate a discount for the last buy, when we had to pool our coins so my friend could buy some mustard fabric for trousers!

… then when we wanted to leave we discovered we needed to pay for parking, and we didn’t have any money left! Whoops. A frantic search for a cash machine and then a hasty departure before we were tempted by more!

… so what did I find?

… apart from the dotty fish, I picked up some charcoal jersey for a renfrew hack I have been planning for a while; some flowery jersey and some turquoise knit for the two tops I want to make as part of the burda sew-along (10/2012 118 and 119); a piece of emerald green denim for another pair of cargo pants (this is really pushing myself to new limits, I only ever wear jeans or grey trousers!) and a piece of denim for a pair of jeans! I also couldn’t resist some neon yellow webbing for a belt.

… now where do I start?

it started with a knit…

Tags

hot cocoa, knit, sewing, sweater

… I never thought it would come to this…

… a while back, fabric shopping, rummaging around the bargain section, and I stumbled upon the end of a bolt of lacy knitted blue woollen fabric. I looked at it, ran my fingers over it, took it off the shelf, put it back on the shelf, carried on looking, went back for a second look, moved on quickly, but by the third time I found myself holding the bolt I just tucked it under my arm and carried it to the cashier. There was only 1.5m, I was on a renfrew run, I thought I’d just make another cowl necked version…

… I had visitors at the beginning of April, so sewing supplies were put away, then I had a lot of work, I didn’t get much sewing done, just my cargo pants that took quite a while. I completely forgot about the blue knit fabric.

… a moment of procrastination inspiration gathering, pootling from one blog to another and I stumbled across the Dixie DIY hot cocoa sweater. Nice, I pinned it for later reference.

… looking for some fabric for different project, I saw the blue wool. Immediately I knew it would make a perfect hot cocoa. The fabric was washed, dried, laid out, cut and sewn up in an evening and was worn yesterday. The only change I made to the pattern was to add a couple of centimetres to the front and back, I don’t like short tops, but I have a short torso, now it fits me exactly as I like.

and then it was May…

Tags

burda, burda sew-along, challenge, me made may, me-made-may-13, sewing

… and time to start thinking about all (well both) the challenges I have signed up to!

… firstly the Burda sew-along…

… last night I got out both my Burda magazines (I need to ask a friend for my third one back!) and I looked at all the projects. A couple of tops are maybes, but I think they will entail buying more jersey material. I still need to check my box of fabric and double check I don’t have anything I have forgotten about before I go shopping…

… I should also go through the big box of traced out Burda patterns I have from all my earlier sewing adventures through the 80s and 90s. Although I no longer have the accompanying instructions, there may be something I might want to remake there…

… then me-made-May, as I was up late last night finishing off a sewing project (the Dixie DIY hot cocoa sweater – more about that later), and it was past midnight when I finally got to bed I decided I should start with me-mades straight away, so I opted for my cosy flowery flannel pyjamas…

… and then this morning I decided to go with my recently finished cargo pants… so that is one day of success, only 14 more to go (I only pledged to wear me-mades 3x week as I don’t have nearly enough clothes for everyday!).

oooops, so that will be another challenge then…

Tags

burda, challenge, me made may, sewalong, sewing

… as if pledging to wear me-made clothes all of the month of May wasn’t enough, I seem to have signed up to another challenge – the Burda sewalong!

… the idea is to dust off your Burda magazines and actually use one to make something in May! It should be easy enough, I have a few copies of the magazine, they do seem to reappear even when you thought you had gotten rid of your whole collection during a move! I just need to go through them and see what appeals, and if I have suitable fabric…

… and then I will have something else to wear before the end of me-made-May too!

new best friend…

Tags

carcavelos market, double pointed needle, jersey, market, portugal, refashion, sewing, top

… Thursday mornings were market mornings, Carcavelos, just a short train ride from Lisbon, the streets taken over by stalls and stalls and stalls of clothes and pottery and towels and sheets from the factories in the north of Portugal. In recent years things have been tidied up somewhat, the market is contained in a compound, more sellers have appeared with “made in china” wheelie cases and the such, but it is still a great place to find some great things that didn’t make their original outlet, surplus stock, seconds…

… clothes are piled in mountains, usually with the gypsy hawker sat on a stool in the middle of the table, crying out her rates “é mil, é mil…”. Most things seemed to be 1000 escudos before the euro arrived, now they are 5 or 10€. The only way to shop was to dive into the pile, and scrabble your way through, the good stalls were always crowded, you had to elbow your way to get a spot by the table, colours and fabrics catching your eye, tugging, pulling, up comes the item, yes, no, maybe…

… for many years this was where I equipped my house, and picked up all my basics, t-shirts, sports wear, sometimes shoes… it has been a long time since I last went there.

… spring cleaning, sorting through my wardrobe, getting rid of the things I haven’t worn for the past year or so, making space for some of my latest sewing projects… I am pretty good at this, I do it every year and I am fairly ruthless.

… so how did this little black dress, a children’s towelling dress I remember buying on the market soon after I arrived in Portugal in 1996 or 1997, and that I think I last wore on holiday in Cape Verde in 2000, manage to hang on, clinging to its hanger, and never being donated or passed on? It is such a perfect fit, such a lovely material, but my lifestyle has changed from all those years ago. I live in a cold country, 150 km from the beach, holidays are usually spent on a bike, but still, I cling onto the dress.

… finally, purging a couple of weeks ago, clothes piled on the bed, each and everyone examined before it is allowed back in the wardrobe, the black dress was put in the “let me think some more” pile… I pulled it on, over my jeans, it still fits just as well, but am I ever going to wear it? No! I go to pull it off, destined for the donate pile, when I have a brain wave. I grab a pin, fold the hem over and off came the dress, and it was added to my “to fix or refashion pile”. Phew!

… this morning, between projects, I decide to attack the dress. I measure the pin mark, cut off 19cm, and fold over the bottom to hem. Then I went to youtube and checked out how to use the double pointed needle that has been in my sewing machine’s accessory drawer since I inherited the machine from my grandmother. Why was I so nervous, I seem to remember my mother telling me of the troubles she had had with a double pointed needle (trying to sew a denim jumpsuit in the 70s!), in fact it was so straight forward. I followed the tip of aligning the cotton reels in opposite directions to avoid tangles, threaded the machine, did a few test stitches on the cut off bottom of the dress and then sewed up the hem of my brand new top.

… I dare say I will be using the double pointed needle a lot more!

pockets galore…

Tags

cargo pants, japanese pattern, sewing, trousers

… step by step, they came together, inner pockets, outer pockets, front pockets, back pockets and side pockets – with a flap!

… there is also a decorative fly, and the elastic in the waist comes out the waist band on the front sides to be secured with adjustable fabric endings (no idea what the technical term for these is!) that attach to buttons. There are 2 size options for fat days and thin days! All these details took a while to sew up, but it was totally worth it as the trousers look really good.

… I have tried and tried again, I have even had the instruction manual out, but I cannot manage to sew button holes on my Bernina. Everything jams early on in the process. I could have gotten out my old machine which does button holes well, but I just decided to use snap fasteners instead. I think they match the casual style of the trousers well. Luckily I got to this step mid-afternoon, as I have had neighbours complain in the past, when I have been hammering away at fasteners, finishing off wallets before our Christmas sale!

… I am not sure what the fabric is, some kind of heavy duty cotton, it is very soft to the touch, and very thick. Needles were broken when I had to fight through 3 or 4 layers of it, like when I sewed the side pocket flaps on. I think it may actually be intended for covering sofas and the such like, it was 2.80m wide, I still have a lot of the stuff left! It was another piece from my “lottery win” at the beginning of the year.

… I am definitely going to make another pair of these, in lighter weight fabric, for the summer. They are both comfortable and super flattering. The pattern says they are low waisted, I clearly have a low waist as they sit at exactly my waist. I actually prefer that.

adventures in cookie making…

Tags

chickpea, cookies, cooking, parsley, recpie, savoury

… a few weeks ago, a weekend in the Ardennes in the south of Belgium, and a visit to Redu, the “village of books“, half the buildings in the village have been converted to book shops (the other half are bars or restaurants to feed and hydrate the book buyers!), I stumbled on a book of recipes for cookies, and my mouth was watering. It was discounted 50% below the list price, why not!

… I wanted to try at least half the recipes straight away, but life kept getting in the way. Finally today, an invitation to dinner tonight, so I decided to try one to take something along. I have had chickpea flour in my cupboard for ages, left over from a (somewhat ok) pinterest experiment, zucchini and chickpea pancakes, so the chickpea and parsley cookies seemed like a logical choice. Despite checking my cupboard, I was actually missing a few ingredients, so I had to improvise a bit, but they were easy to make and came out pretty good. I think they will be delicious dipped in hummus – chickpea overload!

Chickpea and parsley cookies

for about 20 cookies you will need:

100g chickpea flour

50g regular flour

1 tbsp rolled oats

2 tsps baking powder (I didn’t have this, so I just skipped it!)

2 tsps paprika (I didn’t have this either, so I used Ras-el-hanout!)

2 tsps chopped parsley (I would use more next time)

120g butter

1 tbsp tahini (I didn’t have this, so I just roasted some sesame seeds instead!)

1 beaten egg

salt and pepper

 

• mix the flours, oats, baking powder, paprika and parsley
• mix the tahini and butter until you have a cream-like consistency
• add the flour-mix to the butter-mix and work together using your fingers, then add the egg
• cover a baking sheet with greaseproof paper
• make walnut sized balls out of the mixture and flatten
• bake in the oven at 180ºC for 15 minutes, until the edges start to golden.
• cool and enjoy.