Red tunic finished

Finished, finally! I cut out this tunic and did the embroidery at the same time I did the white tunic. I had every intention of sewing both up right after one another. And then it got cold - I mean brrr cold. So I didn't bother with the red tunic, what's the point?
But now we've had warm weather since last Friday and I decided to cross this off my list. I made a tiny change - added 1/4" at mid-armscye, blending in at shoulder and side seam. Both the white tunic and the black shirt had some wrinkles in that area when I stood straight and pushed my shoulders back. The extra 1/4" fixed it.




On my monitor, the color looks like it has an orange undertone. In reality, it's a beautiful true red. I think it is a Brussels Washer (linen/rayon blend) but it may be linen/cotton. I don't remember. What I do remember is that I'd bought it last August to make a tunic for an early September trip to Orlando but never got around to sewing it up. I'm glad the fabric has finally made a transition from the fabric stash closet to the wardrobe closet.

Vogue Fall lineup

Vogue has posted the new pattern lineup for fall here. Lots of eye candy. Surprisingly little unwearable stuff this time around. I found myself drawn to the ladylike offerings, nicely fitted, well-defined waist, no exaggerated silhouette.
These are my favorites:

V2988 -what's not to love? All five pieces are must-sew for this fall. If I make nothing else, I will make that jacket. And I have just the right wool herringbone in my fabric collection, it came in a Donna Karan bundle from Michael's Fabrics.





V2989 is another winner. The dress/top pattern will work great in a wool jersey. Possible multiples here. I like the lines of the jacket, with the nipped-in waist, peplum, and the soft collar. Interesting treatment on the skirt, though I'm not sure I'll try that.





V2983 shows a lovely jacket - that neckline is to-die-for. If I were still back in Florida, this would be my first fall project. Alas, in this cold Germany, I'm not sure I'd ever get to wear it. I could put it on Babette and look at it often.... hmmm....






V2984 has another interesting jacket in a silhouette similar to the V2989 above. Nipped-in waist, peplum, soft shawl collar.

Catching up

I really need to get out of the house more. I've been such a hermit lately. Not necessarily a bad thing... I did go out today - I walked to the Northside gym to make a massage appointment for tomorrow, then on to the Post Office (no mail - where is my Fashion Sewing Group newsletter?), then on the way back I stopped at the library where they rearranged the whole non-fiction section and it seems, got rid of some sewing and knitting books in the process. Last stop: the BX - no new Threads yet but I am patient.

This morning, I looked at Liana's blog where she posted scans of the new Marfy catalog and I am tempted to order one myself. Given the finite size of this apartment, I'll have to hold off for now. Plus, I have eight or so prior issues to peruse.

Over the last week, I've been reading Kathleen Fasanella's blog - it is fascinating. There's an incredible amount of information, mostly for people in the fashion production business, but lots of it useful to home sewers and custom clothiers. I've only read a small part of it, focusing mostly on the Fit and Sizing discussion, but the insights are invaluable. I am waiting for the next injection of spending money to buy her book.

I am currently working on a pants pattern that morphs the leg shape from my favorite store-bought jeans with an above-crotch-line shape that fits well. I made one muslin mock-up earlier this week that was OK but needed some refinement. Now the second one is on my sewing table. That should be it for muslin, the next one will be in the tropical wool that I had in mind when I started this project. Watch this space for pictures.

Black shirt

I finally took pictures of the black shirt. This was my first time working with the New Look 6407 that has been reviewed many times on PatternReview. I love the lines of the shirt, the darts that shape it just so, the curved hem, and the neckline is just beautiful.

I used a very fine (Zegna) cotton twill from Michael's Fabrics. It was actually a mistake - I had meant to order a bottom-weight black cotton from the same mailer, but when I unpacked this, there was no way it was going back. This fabric is cotton heaven. And I have about 10yds of it, including what's in this shirt, so there will be more. For starters, I'm going to add some length and make it into a shirt dress. After that, we'll see.




Now, people with a discerning eye will notice that the collar goes really high in the back. This is because yours truly got distracted during the pattern adjustment stage and skipped the square shoulder alteration. This I realized after I had already topstitched the flat-felled seams. Oh well. I did fix the pattern right away so that I wouldn't have this issue crop up again. The white tunic in the previous post was made with the fixed pattern.

I think I am going to reshape the collar a little because this one reminds me of the 70's styles - spread high and wide. I prefer my collar tips to come down a little and stay closer to the midline.

New sewing studio

OK, so we've moved to Germany and decided to live on base. We have a small apartment (829 sq. ft.) with two bedrooms, the smaller of which serves as our bedroom and the other as my husband's den. The living room and dining area have become my sewing studio. I guess we won't be entertaining much but that's alright with me.

This apartment has no hallway or foyer, really no introduction whatsoever. You walk in the front door and see my studio. I have a large wardrobe from IKEA with sliding doors - one white, one mirror. This houses most of my fabrics as well as my collection of Burda and Threads magazines.


The large cutting table is actually four office cabinets from IKEA put together (side-by-side, back-to-back). The side facing the fabric closet houses my sewing books, DVDs, ironing/pressing equipment, bolts of interfacing and lining, and the few pieces of casual fabrics I have. The other side has more sewing books, knitting books, miscellaneous magazines, and binders with newsletters and other stuff; the top drawer is home to my shears and other cutting implements plus rulers, curves, and such things necessary for pattern drafting. The top cubby by the window hides plastic drawers full of trims, zippers, etc.

Next comes Babbette, wearing an almost finished NL 6407 shirt (needs buttons and buttonholes), and my lovely Horn cabinet - home to my Artista 180E and 1300DC serger.

Pictures on the wall were a birthday present last year from my in-laws.







And this is my view when I sew - more pictures on the wall, then to the left the original dining area where I put my loveseat, computer desk, and electric fireplace.

The only thing missing is my knitting machines but that's because there's no more room here. I'll just have to set them up for the particular project and take them down afterwards.