An update might be in order.

April 4, 2012 in Easter, fun!, me-made-may, sewing, That´s Sew Cinematic, this and that, What I made this month

During the last couple of months I haven´t been able to show you much of anything I´ve been sewing. Because I have a neck problem, my computer time has been limited for work only, but I am slowly getting better, and hope to return to “regular schedule” during the next couple of months.

Speaking of next couple of months, guess who´s moving during the summer? Yup, it´s official, my darling and I are moving back to Oslo this year. I am so thrilled to go back to live in the same place as most of my friends, and to be able to live by the sea again. So in the spirit of the ocean, you might notice a slight trend in the pictures above… I´ve been sewing, both for myself and for others, but I haven´t had the time to take decent pics yet, so I´ll just give you a sneak preview:

  1. Summer dress, inspired by the dress Megan wears when Don and she visits LA in the previous season of Mad Men.
  2. A candy striped Ship Ahoy Parfait.
  3. A Rum Diary inspired linen shirt for my man.
  4. A polkadot shirt, also for my man.
  5. A white knit basic top.
  6. Another detail of the Ship Ahoy Parfait.
  7. A Lisette Portfolio for a friend.
  8. A textile print on Steph´s blank canvas tee.
  9. A little blouse for me, using the remnants of the polkadot shirt I made for my man. Imagine if we wear them at the same time! Oh, the hilarity! :-)

 

As you might notice, lot´s of these items fits perfectly into my Fun!-theme, as well as That´s Sew Cinematic!

By the way, who´s joining Me Made May, this year? I am so excited about this years edition, as it´s going to be a real challenge for me. I ´ll explain why. This May, apart from working regularly, there will be:

  • Two concerts with my choirs. Both with specific dress codes.
  • 17th of May, the Norwegian national holiday, this year celebrated together with my family.
  • My man is defending his dissertation, and we are hosting a BIG black tie- party.
  • I am going to Norway to work at the Viking Age Museum (wearing historical garments).
  • Hopefully, I will have some job interviews to go to…
  • My birthday, and my man´s birthday.

 

May is going to be a fairly busy and very versatile month, and I´m gonna do it Me-Made style! So,  ‘I, Sølvi of delfinelise, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May ’12. I endeavour to wear all me- made garments, with the exception of national costume, socks, underthings and sportswear each day for the duration of May 2012′

 

The part about national costume is of course for the 17th. I don´t know if I´m gonna wear my national costume or not, yet, but even if I´m not, the red linen dress I´ll wear instead is made by my mother. Oh, my mother made my national costume, as well! So it will be handmade, just not by me.

So, have a nice Easter Holiday, if you celebrate it (it is my favorite holiday!), and enjoy life!

Fun! – The Header Dress – Pattern Review: BurdaStyle 01-2010-130

January 9, 2012 in burda, fabric, fun!, pattern review, retro style, sewing

Thanks for all the great feedback on my new layout, I have made the post text font bolder, and hopefully that´s made it easier for you to read.

Today I present to you the first installment in my new segment Fun!. If you are interested in joining in on the fun, you are more than welcome, just grab the code below, paste it in one of your sidebars,  leave a comment about it here, and off you go. I´d love it if you´d tell me if you are joining me, the more the merrier!

<a href=”http://solvi.se/delfinelise/2012/01/fun/”><img src=”http://solvi.se/delfinelise/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/fun_button.jpg” alt=”" /></a>

This dress was made on a whim last autumn, but I haven´t actually begun to wear it much until now.

The header dress

The inspiration for this dress is a combination of two things. I really wanted to make a navy dress with lace inspired by this incredible dress that Zoe made, and I thrifted the lace for this dress (it´s really a table cloth) ages ago. My second reason for making this was a longing for clothing with no waist definition. Now, don´t get me wrong, I love high- waistedness, thoroughly documented here, here, here and here, but after a summer of wearing mostly waist-clinching garments, I longed for something that was a bit more relaxed.

Personally, I believe that the main reason for the fashion change from the fifties to the sixties, was women who wanted more breathing space! :-)

Well, here you have it, my review of this pattern, it is yet another BurdaStyle pattern, the only obvious change I made was to skip the sleeves.

BurdaStyle Magazine 01-2010-130 Shift Dress

Pattern size: European 36-44

Avaliability: BurdaStyle Magazine and BurdaStyle.com

Pattern Description: Cap Sleeve Shift Dress

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Apart from the fact that I omitted the sleeves, yes.

Were the instructions easy to follow? I didn´t follow the instructions much (although I probably should have), but what I used was quite clear.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I really like the simplicity of the pattern. A really classic style, that can be used for lots of different styles.

Fabric Used: I used a heavy cotton sateen with quite an amount of stretch, not entirely suitable for this style. I wouldn´t recommend this fabric for this type of dress – try either something really stiff and heavy for a boxy effect, or something with a better drape for a softer shape.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I omitted the sleeves, as I didn´t want it for my version, I made an FBA on the bust darts, and because my fabric is stretchy, I omitted the back zipper.

The header dress

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I might make it again, perhaps with the sleeves, and I would recommend it to others.

Conclusion: A really simplistic design, and a nice shape for a shift dress. A good pattern!


Fun!

January 2, 2012 in color, fun!, inspiration, sewing, spring

First of all: Happy New Year, everyone! I sincerely hope that this will be a wonderful year for all!

The last couple of years, I have been focusing on putting together a thought-through and balanced wardrobe, but this year, in 2012 I am going for the fun!

As I now have a closet full of practical everyday wear, I want to focus more on unique clothing, and on evening wear. Updressed casual daytime clothing is where I excel, but I´d like to not have to rummage my closets in panic each time I´m going to a party or I´m going out for drinks. I usually end up in black, and although I love black, it´s not really representative for me to always wear black – I love color too!

So here are the colors of my Fun!-palette. These colors are bright and fun, and I love to wear them. The emerald-ish green color represents everything green in my plans. I have a couple of different fabrics in a range of greens and teal, and I want to wear more of them! I used to wear red all the time. But as my wardrobe is slowly changing into a handmade one, the red didn´t come along! This has a lot to do with the fact that I´ve had such a hard time finding red fabric, so when I´ve finally found some, I have been excused from my Stash Bustin´and have bought a couple of meters. The navy blue and the eggshell white are both staples in my wardrobe, and the coral is so fresh and spring-y. I have one particular coral colored fabric that I´ve been wanting to use for ages! This is the time for it! :-)

When it comes down to picking patterns, that will be more difficult (yet Fun!), because there are so many gorgeous ones to choose from, and I really want to explore unique styles and techniques. One guideline will be Sewing trough the Decades as I still love to explore patterns from different eras and styles.

So there you have it, I am going to have some fun this year! Hope you will too! :-)