Two Ottobre Design tops

Another finished duo! Lately I seem to be making my garments per two, not sure why? Maybe it's a sign that reality is starting to sink in. The combination of a long RTW fast, combined with my slow sewing pace, is now causing serious wardrobe gaps. Using a pattern that's already gone through the fitting process is considerately speeding things up.

This top started out as a Knipmode dress. That didn't work very well, to put it mildly The knit fabric was too clingy and the tiny print didn't do me any favours. It was both a matter of scale and colour. Up close I liked the mix of chocolate brown, turquoise and white. From a distance the overall colour looked rather muted and there were just too many mini daisies all over me in a knee length dress. The dress was out of sight until it resurfaced during a recent sewing room cleaning.

Before tossing the fabric I checked if it would go with any existing garment in my wardrobe. And it did! Dark brown linen trousers, brown Mabel skirt, white jeans and a turquoise RTW cardigan. This fabric could be turned into the missing link for three different outfits. I figured that as a layering piece the clingyness wouldn't bother me so much, extra colour could be added by the cardigan and the daisy overkill would be reduced to an acceptable level. Triple win!

The top is #9 from Ottobre Woman 2/2014. It's the only Ottobre magazine I own, and it was bought for the pattern of the trench coat I made three years ago. I always flip through the pages of new Ottobre issues but haven't bought any in the last four years. Too many hoodies, leggings and t-shirt dresses. The patterns may lack interesting details, the drafting does not! At a closer look this basic looking top came with a few surprises.

The pattern is half lined. The lining ends just above the waist and the bottom is finished with clear elastic. For European sizes 44 and upwards there's a built in cheater FBA. The front bodice is slightly longer between the arrows to provide extra room for the bust. The extra fabric is gathered before sewing the side seams.

And it worked! No drag lines indicating a bigger FBA was needed. I really like the polished look of the neckline and armholes. No bands, no visible stitching.

Inside (back)

I also made this top in white. Instead of the half lining I used a full length lining as I feared the end of the lining would be visible. Now I'm tempted to line all my tops as it feels so luxurious!  With the half lining you still notice the button and belt loops of my jeans poking through, the full lining is more forgiving and smoothing out lumps and bumps.

As you can see I used off white for the lining as I had only just enough fabric for the outer shell. A good way to use up scraps. This top is waiting for warmer weather to be worn sleeveless with a bright floral skirt. But you have already seen me wear it my previous post, together with a Blackwood cardigan.

I can see myself make a few more of these tops. Maybe change the neckline to a square neck, sweetheart or any kind of neckline you won't be able to create with a neckband. I'm not a fan of facings in knit garments but I sure am a fan of lining from now on!

Finished Ottobre trench

Last week I finished my spring coat. Lately we've been having lots of showers and some heavy winds and I'm happy to report my coat was just the right weight for walking the dog and cycling to the grocery store! Taking pictures was a bit of an ordeal, hair and coat either soaking wet or blown out of shape, but I finally took advantage of some dry spells. The joys of Dutch spring ;)

First some construction details. In the previous post I just finished the bound buttonholes. I continued by adding the collar and collar stand, cutting the lining and adding flat piping between front facing and lining.

On the left you see the outer shell and lining ready to be joined. I added some piping to the hanging loop because I love these little details that make a garment truly one of a kind. Not speeding things up, but it brings a smile to my face whenever I grab my coat. Fast forward six weeks and it's starting to look like a proper coat:

From leftover lining fabric and some fringe I made a matching scarf.

Why did it take so long? A mix of sewing time being scarce and a lot of time consuming details. The pattern (Ottobre 2/2014#20) was well drafted, the instructions were well written and very clear. My own decisions to add underlining and make bound buttonholes caused some delay but I would not have it any other way. 

Clockwise: ivory piping, epaulettes, bound buttonhole, collar detail

Told you it was raining! Some thoughts on the fit: I would have preferred this coat to be slightly longer. As I mentioned here I already added 1 cm above the waistline and 5 cm below and ran out of fabric. The upper bust and upper back regions are a bit roomy. Part of it is intentional because I want to be able to wear the coat over tailored jackets for work. When I'm wearing a jacket with shoulder pads on the coat all wrinkles disappear, when I'm wearing just a shirt underneath the coat it looks like I should have gone one size down. Well, you can't have it both ways and I tend to wear my coats open all the time anyway.

Edit: after test driving the coat for a few more days I think the length is just right for cycling.

What's next? Tempting as it is to pick up my Chanel jacket and finish it, I want to make some summer skirts and tops first. Quick results please, for a change!

Happy sewing!

Spring coat progress

Did I mention cutting 42 pattern pieces? Check! As a result every surface in my sewing room is covered in glorious coral pink. But let's pick up where I left in my previous post. I started by making a muslin since I had never made an Ottobre pattern before. The fit was spot on, except for some length issues. I added 1cm to the bodice and 5 cm below the waistline.

Ottobre does not provide pattern layouts or cutting suggestions. After adding 6 cm to so many pattern pieces I got a little worried about the amount of fabric I had bought, knowing it was no longer available. Can you believe my luck? After cutting 3.20 meters this was all I have left:

Careful sewing ahead! Messing up the collar, late night scorching incidents or other mishaps and it's game over. Not to mention yet another reason to sew very carefully, coated poplin is hard to handle. It's like sewing leather: no pinning and no unpicking seams. Even the tiniest pin will leave a permanent hole. After finding this out the hard way I reduced the number of pins to the bare minimum and made a quick trip to the hardware store for more washers. Not the heaviest of pattern weights but for this kind of fabric they were doing just fine. Several tests for the topstitching resulted in the use of a microtex needle and stitching at half speed. Note to self: slowing down is clever when unpicking is not an option!

When I finished the cutting I was a bit disappointed by the looks and the hand of the outer shell. Although windproof it was very thin. The print of the lining showed through and it just didn't feel right. Back to the cutting table to add a layer of light weight cotton underlining. By that time I lost count of the number of pattern pieces lying around. 

After the epic cutting session life got busy. Work, tax forms, househunting for a friend. My sewing time got reduced to half an hour to an hour a day. Well, this trench coat may be complex and time consuming but it's easy to split it up into nice, small tasks!

On some days there's just enough time to produce some pockets.....

..or sew mitered corners for the lined vent. For the next few days epaulettes, collar, belt, loops and sleeves are on the do list. Splendid lunch break sewing! Fingers crossed for some more sewing time next week to join all 60+ bits and pieces together. Only time will tell how long it takes to finish this coat but in the meantime I'm enjoying every step of the way.

Happy sewing!

A coral spring coat

 When the first signs of spring are showing I just can't help myself. I need to buy coral fabric. All of it. Coral shirts, cardigans, lingerie, you name it, it's in my closet. So when I saw this coated poplin I knew it would make the perfect wind and waterproof spring coat. 

The print for the lining is from my stash, the selvedge mentions Sprintex, Made in France. Sprintex is a company from Villefranche sur Saone, known for its digital rotary and inkjet prints. I haven't done a burn test yet but it looks like viscose and has a very soft and silky feel. The ivory satin will be used to make piping.

The pattern I'll be using is from Ottobre magazine, 2/2014. I've never made an Ottobre pattern before and am not familiar with their sizing or amount of ease in their finished measurements, so I'll make a muslin first. According to the size charts all patterns are drafted for women of 168 cm plus or minus 4 cm. At 173 cm I'm only just above the top end of that scale. However, Ottobre uses models of different sizes and heights and shares this information at the bottom of the page. The model wearing this floral trench is 163 cm and I think the coat is rather short on her. Must check!

The number of pattern pieces is adding up to 42 so cutting will take a while!

Buttons, a whopping amount of 17, in two different sizes, lots of matching thread for topstitching and I'm ready to go. 

Happy spring sewing!