Having fun with muslin part 2: Embroidered tunic

This is the second installment of my muslin adventures. If you wish to see the maxi dress featured in the first post click here.
At the risk of sounding like shameless bragging, let me tell you something about myself. I have a gift of quickly and accurately assessing if a certain piece of clothing or even a pattern will fit and look good on somebody. A skill that makes me the perfect shopping companion.
In all the years that I've been sewing I've always been able to pick out the right patterns for my figure. Occasionally I would come across a pattern that I knew was wrong for me and made the garment anyway.

This isn't one of those vain attempt to look like a cover girl. But sometimes I soooo yearn to make the shapeless balloon dress or an elaborate tunic knowing full well my body demands well cut and fitted tops. Being an H shape and large breasted, anything shapeless or flowy isn't going to work.
And then I found this pattern in an Italian patterns magazine. All sorts of wrong for me but the gathered back piece proved to be irresistible and I made it anyway.

Continuing with the seaside colour scheme I decided to embroider sea creatures on the tunic top using  metal thread I bought ages ago in my favourite colour palette: teal, turquoise and cerulean.

I dug out an old issue of Burda magazine and traced an octopus and a fish onto the pattern pieces.

Using a simple backstitch I embroidered the octopus on the front piece

and the fish on the back. I have intended on doing a tutorial on the backstich but there are far better and more comprehensive tutorials on the Internet. Just Google backstitch for a myriad of tutorials.

The neckline was way too low and as with the maxi dress, I inserted a triangular pattern piece for modesty.
I omitted the draw strings, finished the neckline with a bias binding and didn't gather the sleeves. I prefer the slight bell shape for easy wearing.

The back pieces were finished using the french seam. For easy ironing.

After I first tried the tunic it was a disaster. I looked like a pregnant dwarf! As predicted the pattern wasn't working. I left the unfinished tunic in my projects stash. I took it out a couple of weeks later, took apart the side seams and cut away about 8 cm of excess fabric on both sides transforming the pattern pieces from trapeze shaped to a rectangle.

And it worked! Now the tunic is part of my leisure, casual, at home wardrobe. It's comfortable and very cool.

You will have a bellyfull of sworn off bread in no time!

A somewhat crude but apt translation of an old old Slovene proverb. It teaches us not to be to hasty in our solemn declarations or proclamations, because it can quickly turn the opposite way. More often than not we end up doing things we swore we wouldn't do in a thousand years.
A month ago I proclaimed I won't be tempted by summer sales no matter how enticing the clothes or how low the prices might be. Did I ever get a bellyful of it. Between Mr C. and me, we bought more clothes in the past few weeks than we did in the past two years altogether!
It started innocently enough with tops. Because I had recently lost quite a bit of weight all my current tops were awkwardly big and the ones I have in storage hoping in vain I might fit into one day are too small. With the warm weather still lingering, I bit the bullet and bought three summer tops.

The one in the middle is actually a dark navy and it quickly became my favourite. Which is so weird, because it was the one I was most reluctant to buy. It's a somewhat loose fit with kimono sleeves, doesn't wrinkle and is very cool to wear.

The next week Benetton had a blow out sale on all spring/summer items and we bought half the store. An exaggeration of course, but to me such an amount of clothing bought in one go is unheard of. Yet we paid so ridiculously little and were relentless in picking only items that we truly needed and fit us perfectly no matter how low the prices were.
Of course it doesn't end here. I went for another round. Solo this time, looking for some business related wardrobe. As you all know by now I graduated quite recently. If you haven't read it on my blog then surely you must have heard it from my mum ;-P

As a lawyer to be I have very little leeway in terms of work appropriate attire. Jackets and suits are a must, there is no way around that fact. And thought I have one super nice suit it won't get me far. I set off trying to assemble a capsule professional wardrobe. The bare essential that will get me as far as possible on a few carefully picked out pieces.

after almost a decade of a back pants free exsistence, I bought two pairs in the span of one week

So off I went shopping again. And struck gold. I stumbled upon a jacket with coordinating pants and a skirt in a medium wight fabric and a neutral beige brown colour. The possibilities for coordinating are practically endless because it goes with black and navy and brown. A relatively neutral piece and medium weight so it can be worn almost thought the entire year.
I also bought two pairs of dress pants in black and a thoroughly summer jacket in white, bracelet length sleeves.

The dress isn't new, but it's from the same manufacturer and though they are diffents season, this brand has a very cohesive look and items from different seasons can easily be mixed together.

Country view

I just got home after a weekend spent chez maman in a quaint country village deep in the wine country.

All of the neighbours have their own vineyards and a formidable, some might say excessive yearly vintage.

For me the best part of any wine process is the actual grape picking. I have very fond childhood memories of harvests.

It was a blazing hot day on Saturday with temperatures sometimes exceeding 31 degrees Celsius in the shade.

With the severe drought persisting throughout August, the grape was ripe a good fortnight sooner than expected. We were asked to help with the harvest and gladly accepted.

Aside for the heat it was still very pleasant and cheerful. The work wasn't that difficult and with about half a dozen people participating we were done in just over an hour. Then we retreated into the cool shadow of the veranda and waited for the heat to pass.

Since only about 8% of the grape was ripe  the Saturday harvest was merely a trial run. The majority of the work is yet to come.

Friday night film selection: Take the lead

Apart from The Lord of the Rings and Sci-Fi movies, I also count dance movies among my guilty pleasures. Usually the stories are predictable and the actors not all that, but the choreographies are spectacular. It's all just some innocent fun.
Take the lead is definitely my favourite dance movie and yes I found Flashdance too trashy and Dirty Dancing too cheesy! But I am fond of Strictly ballroom, a must see and Footloose, a classic.
Take the lead is based on a true story of a dance instructor Pierre Dulaine who developed a method of teaching troubled youth to gain confidence in themselves through dancing.
Antonio Banderas plays Pierre, a man determined to do something after he sees a high school student smash in a parked car. Though initially met with suspicion and ridicule both from teachers and students, he is able, through his gentle manners and determined attitude, to turn them around and gain their confidence.
My all time favourite dance scene ever and a predictable clip to choose. Still Pierre manages to entice the students by showing them the tango. A cheap and very effective trick.

Yoga in the park

All through summer Mr C and me took part in a yoga class. The classes were held once a week on Thursdays in the local recreational park. At first a bit apprehensive, we were hooked from the first class on and we will miss these weekly sessions.

Sure there will still be yoga classes, but indoors :-(
There was something so relaxing and invigorating doing exercises and mental relaxation techniques on the warm grass in the shade of the enormous willow tree.

Today is our last meeting in the park. Autumn has arrived...

The last days of summer

The past weekend was a curious mix of frenzy and panic. I believe people in general began to realize these were truly the last hot days of the season and wanted to pack in as many summer related activities into one weekend.

Mr C and me were no exception, we hosted a small dinner party on Saturday and whizzed off to Bohinj lake on Sunday for one last dip.

Which is a triumph in itself for we spent the entire Saturday cleaning up the apartment and I made great haste to do a two day's work in only one plus prepare dinner for five people. After the party we diligently cleaned everything before going to bed.
It's a sure way of spoiling my morning if I arrive in the kitchen to make my morning coffee and the sink and counters are dirty.

The lake was chillier than it was last weekend and swimming in it was a bit uncomfortable. Mr C however said the temperature was perfect for him and swam a lot. I stayed in the shallow end where the water was warmer and I made a few new friends.

This time we came fully prepared and brought lunch with us, because the previous time poor Mr C had to run into town to buy some and wasted an hour getting back :-(

We gave the fish some bread crumbs and before long there was an invasion of tiny fish. Even after we'd run out of food they refused to leave and we could almost touch them.

A short video of the feeding frenzy:

Having fun with muslin part 1: Tiered maxi dress

Muslin is the synonym for the cheapest, unbleached cotton used to try out sewing patterns. I won't even get into the whole debate whether toile, as it is also called is truly necessary or not. The purpose of this post series is to show how this inexpensive fabric can be modified to make actual garments.
On my last trip to Ikea I bought around 10 meters of muslin and decided to do a bit of experimenting. This first project was a tiered maxi dress that required  just under 3 meters of fabric of the standard 150 cm width.

I cut the fabric as follows:

1. 2 upper panels: 60 cm long, 25 cm high
2. 2 upper middle panels: 90 cm long, 30 cm high
3. 2 bottom middle panels: 120 cm long, 35 cm high
4. 2 bottom panels: 150 cm long, 40 cm high

As you can clearly see from the scheme, I really tried to achieve a true degradé effect, by lengthening and widening the panels symmetrically.
Next comes the fabric dye. I bought 3 different shades: baby blue, cerulean and navy. I used 1/2 of baby blue for the upper panels, mixed the other half of baby blue with 1/2 of cerulean blue for upper middle panels. The second half of cerulean blue was mixed with 1/3 of navy for bottom middle pieces and the remaining 2/3 of navy was used for the bottom panels.
Or you can just use 4 different shades, but a more fluent transition between pieces was achieved by mixing three shades.

The bodice was left in the original off white colour of cotton muslin. The tiered dress is designed so that the top panel ends just under the bust. The bodice piece was from Burda magazine.

Burda magazine 06/2010

I adapted the bodice piece by adding a triangular insert in the front and back because the orginal leaves a lot of cleavage exposed. A lot!

The seam allowances are included in the scheme, I used a 1.5 cm seam allowance and sewed all the panels using a flat felled seam, because ironing is made so much easier.
 

And the final detail, a grosgrain ribbon was sewn under the bust. But I left a bit unattached creating a sort of loop for tying a bow or attaching a corsage flower.

The specified dimensions of the panels are ideal for an almost floor sweeping maxi dress for a petite woman. I'm about 162 cm high and the dress fell just about 2 cm from my heels.

The dress worn with a bolero

Burda magazine 03/2010

Friday night film selection: Pride and prejudice film vs. TV mini series

I've recently been very fortunate in acquiring the famous Pride & Prejudice mini series starring Colin Firth. It is common knowledge this series put him on the map and practically propelled him to star status overnight. I remember watching the TV series as a young girl. And I've also seen the film that was made a couple of years ago starring Keira Knightley.
Compared to the original, the film is a pale and pitiful attempt of portraying the world of Jane Austen. When it comes to Austen, I confess I am a purist! And there were numerous facts, minor costumographic and scenographic details that the film failed to portray in a historically accurate manner.

But perhaps the most unforgivable was the way the characters were portrayed. I know film makers are bound to the rules of free market and they have to "tweak" the script to make it more exciting. But there was far too much licentiousness and sexually charged atmosphere.
Originally Mr Darcy's and Lizzy's shrewd repartees were meant as an intellectual and verbal battle of wits but ultimately a means of assessing eachothers' character and nature. And yes, it was so romantic, because we all knew they will end up together. Though Lizzy truly disliked Mr Darcy at first.
In the film version however one gets the idea it's more like a foreplay and I half expected them to start ripping off their clothes. In fact the whole scene where they meet alone in the forest, in the rain even! It's preposterous!






I know the film version was adapted for modern times and modern audience, but as far as I am concerned, I'm sticking with the TV series, or better yet the novel.

The dress code discussion

I've recently been invited to a wedding. And though I love attending weddings, this invitation gave me quite a shock. The bride to be extended her invitation stipulating I don't outshine her. And apparently this stipulation comes with a strict shopping ban?!
More than five days later I'm still broiling over her words. I consider myself well mannered and as far as I've been made aware the proper guidelines for (female) guests attending a wedding are:

• don't wear white or the colour the bride will be wearing
• don't wear black; This one is controversial as I see the trend of wearing black has really taken off over in America, but not in Slovenia and I tend to support that. Weddings are joyous occasions so keep that black suit for a funeral.
• the outfit should be suitable for the level of formality a.k.a. no breaking out the family tiara for a beach wedding

Other than that there is also the general rule of be respectful and polite, but that one pretty much adheres to any social interaction. So we're (I am) back where we started: my friend's comment. Why was it necessary for her to use that particular phrase? Mr. C, though he may be partial ;-) gave me an excellent piece of advice. He told me not to feel responsible for her insecurities. Because ultimately that's what it was.
Since the wedding won't take place until next May, I haven't decided what I'll wear or if  I will indeed be buying something new. But I couldn't resist browsing some of my favourite on-line stores for inspiration at least.
My favourites so far are these:

A somewhat retro inspired dress with a flared skirt in teal from Asos at €70,51:

Silk and Soie cocktail dress in a deep plum from Yoox at €175,00:

A classic Diane von Furstenberg from Yoox at €230,00:
 

An interesting print in silk knit by Issa from Yoox at €155,00:

A  minimalistic, if a bit short DAY Birger et Mikkelsen from Net-a-porter would be a good choice to change into for the party after the formal ceremony:

 

And if I were of a vicious temper I could always wear red as suggested by Bourbon and Pearls. This saucy little number from Bastyan at 70 GBP would do the job: