Review Knipmode October 2015

Bamm! While I'm in still in the middle of sewing up two patterns from the September issue of Knipmode the new October magazine arrived. Another 25 patterns and six DIY projects. This trial subscription is a killing me, as patterns land in my sewing room at a much higher pace than I will ever be able to sew them up! Ahh, what's new.

As I described in last month's review over at the Curvy Sewing Collection all patterns come in European sizes 34-54 now, that's 83-131 cm bust, 67-113 cm waist and 92-138 cm hip. So far the patterns I've worked with are looking very good. More on that next week I hope.
Over to the October issue.

source: Knipmode

Happy hippie. Okay, been there, done that, so...Never mind famous fashion rules. I need that bootcut jeans she's hiding behind that bag, even though the technical drawing makes it look like it was designed for Rowdy Yates. Yeehaw! Fringe, boho, seventies vibes and some poncho's in the DIY section make this collection spot on trend.

The inspiration for the next set of patterns comes from Mondriaan, Miro and Andy Warhol. Really?

source: Knipmode

I'm not impressed by the (ab)use of big names for pretty basic patterns. Picking bright prints for random patterns doesn't exactly make this an 'Art work collection' but the individual patterns look okay if you're into the style.

Source: Knipmode

Nature and animal prints, theme of the next collection. Here the photography and styling really helps to make the patterns stand out. I think the pattern designers succeeded in making a collection where all ages, all body types and sizes can find something that works. The timeless faux wrap dress is on my to-sew list, as well as my favourite pattern from this issue, a jacket with interesting seam lines:

Or how about a jacket inspired by Dior's New Look?

More contenders to make it to the sewing table chez Foxgloves:

A simple yet stylish coat and a knit dress with lots of fitting opportunities.

All patterns marked with a red @ are available as downloads in the Knipmode pattern store. When I asked the editorial staff why there's only a selection available as pdf they replied it is a cost issue. Only patterns that add something extra to the available pdf-collection make the cut. So far the online shop is merely aimed at the home market, which I suppose isn't very big. The price of a pdf is 2/3 of the price of a magazine. When in doubt, we buy the magazine. Exploring new markets might result in new business plans for pdf's, don't you think?

Another promising Knipmode issue, I say. Now if you don't mind, I hurry back to my sewing room and my growing to-sew list!

The muslin that travelled the continent

Peaceful, quiet setting for a photo shoot, right? Not exactly. The minute I brought out the tripod all hell broke loose in paradise. Here I'm standing under a walnut tree with a noisy squirrel above my head, and an over excited dog in hunting mode running in circles around me. The squirrel was firing nuts like canon balls, the dog pumped up the barking volume to deafening heights. My options were either accessorize the outfit with a helmet and hearing protection or call it a day. Guess what. The outfit wasn't that special to begin with!

The shirt is a Deer and Doe Plantain, my first short sleeved version. I recently bought a piece of digital printed fabric with a print with a large repeat. Before cutting it I wanted to make sure the pattern placement would work, with a nice line of flowers around the hem, the best colours near my face and a smaller print at the sleeves.

Did you ever pick up a piece of fabric from the leftover bin to do some tests and unexpectly ended up with what became your most worn garment of the season? Although my test garment needed some tweaks before cutting the pansies, it was a wearable muslin. What's more, it was in my suitcase all summer when I was travelling around Europe!

Here it is in Scotland, perfectly matching the floral decor. I'm not sure what special effect makes it look like a rodent had a go at my neckband?  Errr, rodents becoming a theme in this post ;)
Speaking of the neckband, I shortened it a little compared to my previous Plantain. Bad move, cause I don't like the U-shape, and it's even pulling the shoulders inwards.
In Scotland the shirt was used a layering piece, worked fine with a black cardigan.

Later this summer we went on a roadtrip to Prague and Slovakia. Sadly, or not, there are no pictures available of me cycling through the Slovakian countryside on days with temperatures rising as high as 38 Celsius, but I did and I wore this shirt.

More proof of the cosmopolitan allure of this shirt: the German edition, with Schnitzel und Bier!

As this was my last of summer sewing, the pansies will have to wait. I cleared out my sewing room, went on a autumn fabric shopping spree and am so ready for the new season!

I'll end with some pictures of Slovakia, a beautiful country well worth a visit!

Tvrdosovce

Devin castle

Bratislava

An der schonen blauen Donau

I hope you all had a good summer (or winter) and are full of brand new sewing plans for the upcoming season. Happy sewing!

Knipmode pattern review plans

KM1509-24 and KM1509-25

Following a restyling Dutch pattern magazine Knipmode now offers all patterns in eleven sizes, from European size 34 up to European size 54 (131 cm / 51.5″ bust, 113 cm / 44.5″ waist and 138 cm / 54.3″ hip). Most of the patterns are also available as PDF downloads. If you're interested you can read my full review at the Curvy Sewing Collective. 

I''ve been asked to write a follow up post for the CSC once I've tested some of the patterns. That'll be fun! There are more than a few patterns in the September issue that caught my eye, but for the sake of curvy science I narrowed my options down to the form fitting top and skirt pictured above. 

It may be interesting to compare the skirt pattern to that of Vogue 1465, a Donna Karan pattern that was in my mail yesterday.

Vogue 1465

I don't expect the Knipmode patterns to fit differently compared to earlier offerings, so for those of you having a hard time imagining what the patterns will look like when you're not a size zero model, here's a quick round up of 'Knip-on-curves' . The dresses were made before I owned a tripod and remote control. (Not much use in this context, but they happen to be my favourite patterns and I needed six pictures for the collage ;) 

Clockwise: jacket, top, skirt, dress, blouse, dress, all made recently from Knipmode patterns

The weather forecast for this weekend is pretty bad, perfect for tracing and testing.

Happy sewing!

A peasant blouse in Scotland

When I was packing for our holiday in Scotland I kept a close eye on the BBC weather forecast. When rain, more rain and 16 C was predicted I quickly unpacked all skirts and dresses and added more jeans, long sleeved tops and cardigans. The weather forecast didn't bother us, it's always part of the experience when visiting Scotland!
A few days before we left I found some time to finish a peasant blouse, made from a patterned viscose fabric bought earlier this summer. The pattern I used was Knipmode KM1405-26.

The fabric is very lightweight, doesn't wrinkle and can be folded into a tiny square, win-win-win when packing for a flight! I used French seams, added a center front seam (had to, because of the print error in the fabric) and changed the keyhole opening into a triangle.

There was no time to make a muslin, not to mention the questionable use of doing so from an economic point of view, given my fabric cost a whopping 2 euro.

Not my best look ever for a variety of reasons. Too much length above the waist, too much width at shoulders/upper bust/raglan and an overall look, as mr Foxgloves described it, 'like those sack garments you see in sewing books for beginners'. Thank you very much dear, I already noticed.

Something else I have to learn is to look at patterned fabric from a distance. In close-up the fabric is black, white and yellow. I even noticed happy little birds when I was sewing (too) late at night. When I look at the pictures I see a print that's too small for my frame, and a rather dull grey-ish shade.
Enough with the nagging!
I'm sure you all know the benefits of a large garment with an elastic waist when on holiday!

See? When in Rome....After a visit to St Andrews we had fish&chips by the seaside. And onion rings, just because we could. If we had stayed in Scotland any longer that blouse would actually fit me.

We had a wonderful time! Driving left, but not too left, was a challenge. As always. Once we got the hang of it we visited The Trossachs, Loch Lomond, Stirling, Edinburgh, The Highlands and the West Coast. We had bacon, eggs and haggis for breakfast, fresh salmon for lunch, draught cider and ale in the pub and tasted whisky in distilleries. We watched baby seals, climbed castle towers and met a lot of very friendly people.
Talking about friendly people: my Scottish sewing friends on Instagram provided me with a list of fabric shops in Edinburgh and Glasgow. A list I'll keep for future use, as we were running out of time in Edinburgh and did not visit Glasgow this time around. Thanks again, girls, much appreciated!

As close as got to fabric: Tartan weaving in Edinburgh

No fabric, but I did bring the next best thing: patterns! Butterick 4281 (Oxfam, 30p), a sewing magazine with free Simplicity K1418 and of course I could not leave without a lambswool scarf. In plaid. What else ;)

Next up: more holiday sewing. Different pattern, different countries!

Good year for the roses

In the middle of an unprecedented heat wave I finished a new summer outfit. The top is from the April issue of Knipmode, KM1504-22. It will come as no surprise the skirt is another Colette Patterns Mabel skirt.

The top is made of a very lightweight viscose satin with a rose print on a midnight blue blackground. The line drawings show the use of darts at the neckline.

I made a quick muslin to check for neckline gaping (there wasn't any) and after that it was a straightforward project.  I used French seams and hand stitched hems and although I considered different finishes for the facings in the end I just used the serger.

The top is pretty boxy so I've been trying out some styling options. With a tiny belt for some waist shaping, without belt, which I may try again paired with white straight legged jeans. But not know, I'm done taking pictures at 38 degrees Celsius! I'm not a fan of tucked in tops cause it makes me look short waisted and top heavy. Paired with a silk cardigan it looked all right-ish, I guess.

For details of  Mabel skirt #4, in midnight blue ponte, there's nothing I didn't already mention when constructing Mabel #1, #2 and #3

Today my father-in-law celebrates his 96th birthday. Despite his age he always notices when you make an extra effort to dress up and he is a big fan of a handmade wardrobe. His eyesight is letting him down but he will be able to see this bright and colourful print so this is my outfit for the birthday dinner he will be hosting on Saturday. Happy birthday, Dad!

Clockwise: the back (with belt), detail of the neckline and both garments inside out. Sneak peek: for the lining of the waistband I used a bit of polka dot fabric from my next project!

O, and in case anyone wonders about the title of this post? While hand stitching a rose print underneath the giant rambling rose, Elvis Costello's version of the song got stuck in my head. Not complaining ;) It's a good year for the roses!

Fabulous finds

Did you ever buy sewing hardware on an impulse and start dreaming about how to use it afterwards? When I laid eyes on these cord ends for drawstrings, embellished with tiny Swarovski crystals, I just knew I had to have them.
At the counter I was informed these were custom made for fashion designers Viktor& Rolf. O well, I'd better come up with something special then to do them justice! Not sure yet what I'll make but these little gems look beautiful on a deep purple or midnight blue background. Their subtle shine is hard to catch in a picture! There's a tiny screw inside to fixate the cord end, underneath the screw there's room for a knot.

I found these beauties in one of my favourite fabric stores, Trickle Down Fabrics in Arnhem. It's a little shop selling left-over fabrics and notions from designer collections. The shop owner, a Arnhem Academy of Art and Design graduate, started out in order to give Fashion Design students the opportunity to work with high quality materials for their collections, at an affordable price.

Trickle Down Fabrics

It used to be a students only shop but it's now open to everyone. The fabric collection is quite small but certainly worth checking out.
Next time I'm there I'll take a look at the woolshop next door too, look at that furniture!

Zin in breien

Two streets away from these shops you can find the Arnhem fabric market, Fridays only. I had never before visited the market and quality wise it's at the other end of the spectrum. Lots of cheap fabrics and nothing really caught my eye, except at the last stall. They had fine quality pre-cut fabrics for sale, with little, or not so little misprints. I found some nice chiffon with a white stripe running through at 2/3 of the width.

At 1 euro for 1,5 meter I splurged and bought 3 meter, thinking it would make a nice summer blouse. Plenty of fabric to work around that stripe.

This week I hope to finish another blouse I'm working on. Some in progress pics featuring rose print satin can be found on Instagram (@foxglovesandthimbles), more about that project in the next post.

Happy new week!

A special outfit for a perfect day

Until a few years ago this was an outfit I frequently wore. As a wedding officer* I married 551 couples before taking a sabbatical. I never looked back and pursued another career, but I am still available for the job by request. When my daughter's best friend visited me in November and asked me to be involved in his wedding of course I felt very honoured. I've known him, and his lovely wife to be, for a lot of years and they've become good friends of the family. Fast forward seven months and here we are, waiting for the bride.....

The wedding venue was a scenic old water mill in the Belgium Ardennes, surrounded by woodlands. Friends and family gathered in the sunny orchard and the only sounds that were heard when the bride walked down the aisle came from birds, bees and the murmur of running water from a nearby brook.

Some pictures of the ceremony, and of course the beautiful dress!

The bride's dress had a beautifully draped chiffon bodice, a small train and a lovely embroidered lace detail at the back.

After the ceremony I was reunited with my chauffeur and personal assistant for the day, mr Foxgloves.

That man is always willing to bend some rules, so here it's time to kiss the bride the wedding officer.

We had a wonderful afternoon, met a bunch of very nice people and had lots of cake.

It was also fun to catch up with miss Canal Couture, who was a witness for the groom, and mr Canal Couture, who did an outstanding job as photographer.

Cheers to the newlyweds, and may they live happily ever after!

During all my years as a wedding officer I completely forgot to take detailed pictures of my toga so now was a good time to do so. (When I worked more frequently the gown was kept in a wardrobe in the Town Hall and brought out only on the days when I performed at weddings in said Town Hall or nearby castles and manors).

The bespoke ceremonial gown, sewn by a tailor, is made of lightweight wool suiting with velvet inserts. It is unlined, except for a back stay to balance the heavy velvet collar. I've always loved the pleated sleeves. Speaking of pleats, that jabot is a bit of a nightmare when it comes to ironing! Over the years I learned by trial and error how much starch was needed to prevent a sad and droopy look. Too much starch though and it's standing out at weird angles.....

Of course style wise the toga isn't doing me any favours but when in Belgium, land of brilliant beers and excellent food, one can do without waist definition!

We stayed in the Ardennes for a few days and, needless to say, had a wonderful time!

* Finally a burning question. Native English speakers all over the world, what would you call a person hired by the mayor and sworn in by a judge to perform legal and ceremonial acts at weddings? Is it a wedding officer / registrar / officiant / marriage officer / other?