Blouse with Jabot

A month ago I bought an online course from Burda Academy on the sewing of this silk blouse with jabot. The course includes the pattern, which is a Burdastyle pattern and 21 video tutorials. Although I consider myself not a beginner seamstress, I have so much to learn about the technology of making clothes. The reason I chose this particular pattern was my desire to upgrade my knowledge of working with silk and other delicate flimsy materials.

The video tutorials were very, very detailed. The tutor explained clearly and demonstrated masterfully all the steps from choosing the fabric to the final finishes like sewing the buttons. I found it very interesting to watch and very liberating to follow the instructions, instead of wracking my brain how to do this or that step.

Pattern: Blouse 124 from Burdastyle 03/2021

Size: 36

Fabric: viscose silk, 1.2 m

Time to make: one month

I followed most of the instructions as indicated, but I also adapted the pattern to my figure and my fabric. As I am petite, I did my usual corrections to Burda patterns to shorten the blouse: -1 cm above the armholes, -1.5 cm above the waist and -2 cm below the waist.

Because I shortened the blouse at the armhole height, I had to transfer these corrections to the armhole circumference of the sleeve. The tutorial showed a very neat way to do that, which I followed. As this is a usual correction for me, I realized I hadn't done it the right way before, so it was a valuable lesson.

The jabot was definitely the most complicated part of the blouse and its most prominent feature. I haven't had a blouse with such an extravagant jabot before and I don't think I need more of these, but I find it nice to have one in my wardrobe. I finished the edges of the curly bands on the overlocker with a rolled hem. The jabot was also the reason I chose this particular fabric, as it requires double-sided silk and this was the only fabric I had in my stash that looked (almost) the same from the right and the wrong side.

As I know that I need swayback corrections, I deepened the back darts by 0.5 mm on each side (total 1 cm deeper, respectively 2 cm longer). Thus the back was taken in by a total of 2 cm and I absolutely love how the blouse fits me - following the figure without being too snug or too baggy at places.

I really like the fit of the blouse and I feel I need to use the knowledge and practice I gathered at least once more. However I'm sure I don't need more jabots, so I am envisioning my next version to be with a round collar and I would also add a cuff to the sleeves instead of an elastic.

When I began a short sleeved blouse at the end of September, I didn't know it would take me a month to finish it. I worked on it very, very slowly, "a teaspoon per hour" as is the Bulgarian saying and I thoroughly enjoyed this slow sewing. However, as we went far into October, I was sure I wouldn't be able to take any pictures of it out in the open. But we are enjoying such an unbelievably warm autumn this year (it was above 26C yesterday in Sofia), that not only was I not cold during our walk in the park, but I felt actually hot in my silk blouse :)

Denim Backpack

My latest make and I am very, very happy with it - a denim backpack. For this make I used parts out of five different pairs of old jeans and a very clear and easy to follow youtube tutorial.

The backpack is about 30 cm high and 25 cm wide, with three pockets on the outside (each having a smaller pocket on top) and an internal zippered pocket on the inside.

Two denim straps with D-rings and 3-glides and a denim handle:

My daughter asked for some color and I added a flower from the facing cotton fabric. I secured the ends of the flower with transparent nail polish and glued it to the pocket. No idea how it will fare in the laundry.

One thing I intend to change is the red string. I intended to buy another string, but I've reached the conclusion that these plastic strings cheapen the look of the backpack, so I intend to make a denim string these days.

I am especially proud of my rivets - don't they look professional!

My first zippered pocket! It turned out not so difficult to make it and I am glad I made it the difficult way - my previous backpacks and bags had simple pockets. To make the backpack more sturdy, the bottom of the lining is also out of denim with fusible.

I'm looking forward to the end of the quarantine, so that we'll be able to go out again and use our new makes :)

Phone Case in Jeans and Orange

Alex's phone case was rather worn out, so yesterday I made him a new one. I followed my own photo tutorial (that's why I love it when I keep notes of things I do :)

1. Measure the phone, cut the pieces as calculated in the tut, iron the fusible. Make the flap.

2. Sew the bottom piece to the front piece and the pocket.

3. Make a holder and sew it firmly to the back.

4. Add the zipper for the inner money pocket:

5. Add the inner money pocket:

6. Sew the back to the other side of the bottom piece:

7. Close one of the edges and add the lining. Do not forget the flap:

8. Close the second edge. Fix the inner money pocket in the opposite end, so it won't gather and pucker. Turn the case, close the lining.

9. Place the lining inside the case and sew along the edge.

The case is a compact purse for a phone, small amounts of money, school identity card, transportation card and keys.

Of all the phone cases I've sewn so far I like this one best. Gaby's phone case is also quite worn out, next I'll have to make a new one for her too.

And I finished my Jirachi cardigan, it's been even worn once. I'll have to organize a decent modeled photo session soon.

Phone Case Part 1

I made a phone case :) A fairly complicated one, with a zipper and an internal pocket for money, with a second pocket for the metro card, fusible, lining, string holder, inserted bottom piece. I took a few pictures in the course of work, but not enough for a photo tutorial. But just in case and for my own reference, because I have a double order :))), I'm posting them here:

1) These two parts, strengthened with fusible and with the relevant velcro piece attached, make the flap.

 All materials are recycled from old Gaby's jeans (butterfly included) and Gaby's blouse (lining).

The internal pocket for the money, with a zipper. I couldn't find a reverse zipper in any store, so I used a regular zipper.

And the string holder. Gaby insisted on a metal ring, I would have preferred two buttonholes. But the customer's always right :)))

The two front parts of the outer fabric and the back are sewn together. Actually before this one has to add the bottom to the front pieces. I found this out the hard way.

 The lining and the flap are sewn to the front parts:

And then I got carried away and didn't take any more process pictures :))) But What you do is sew the back to the bottom, sew the sides, turn the lining and sew it from the outside and voila - the case is ready:

... Or Try Dyeing

This is a post about color and as always when I speak about color through my pictures I am exasperated that I cannot catch the true color of items with my camera and show it on the computer screen. And this is especially true about the last picture, which is reddish while the true color is purple-brown aubergine.

So, it seems I am one of those people who don't know what they want. And I'm also in a mood for experiments. Because knitting for me is not so much about the clothes themselves, I don't really "need" another cardigan, it's mostly about the process in its synergy of color, yarn, texture and design. What I want and need in the end is the satisfaction that I've made something I like.

And because the yarn market in my country is limited and I've been knitting intensively for the last three years, I've already tried the yarns and colors that would be my easy choices. Therefor this summer I'm experimenting with yarn combinations and colors I don't usually knit. And finding that not always the colors I like are the colors that fit me or that I would wear. As was the case with Gardenia and the coral-cream combination, which I like so much, only not on me. Or my latest cardigan - Cobalt. I liked the color combination of light and darker beige so much in the beginning. The knitting process is easily the most enjoyable I've ever experienced - I want to knit this cardigan again right away, I LOVED every minute of knitting it. But when I basted the five finished pieces and put the cardigan on me two days ago, the reaction was MEEH! The cardigan looked old womanish and dull. No point in frogging it - I like the design, I like the fit, it's the color again that troubles me. So, I decided to take a risk and dye a knitted item.

After an hour of googling the cotton dyes sold locally, I chose DYLON. Because I had in mind a pair of old corduroy pants that I've had for years but worn no more that a couple of times because of their light beige color. The corduroy fabric is 60% cotton, 35% polyester and 5% elastic thread. I've been planning a refashioning job on these pants for months, but the local dry cleaning studio, which also provides dyeing services, refused to dye them because of the poly content. And DYLON is advertised as capable of dyeing cotton-poly fabrics. The pants are really out of fashion - high waist and flared legs, but the fit is nice and the flaring can be easily fixed.

The corduroy pants

Cobalt cardigan in beige

If the color suited me, these two would have made a nice combo.

After I made the decision to dye the cardigan and chose the color, the only question that remained to be solved was whether to finish the cardigan and then dye it or to dye it while still in parts. Dyeing in parts had multiple advantages - blocking of the parts after dyeing, more homogeneous distribution of the dye and no danger of partially dyed stitches near the seams. So I decided in favour of dyeing the unfinished cardigan and some unknitted yarn, needed for the neckpiece:

And then I decided to take the experiment even further and chose the dye which is for machine dyeing. I know, that's crazy, but I really wanted to see what would happen if I put the knitting in the washing machine :) The color I liked is Burlesque Red, which I would rather call aubergine. No other mordant is required but the package of dye and 500 g of salt.

So, the experiment begins. To be machine dyed:
- a pair of corduroy pants, cotton-polyester fabric;
- knitted cotton fabric, made from combed cotton and mercerized cotton;
- two small skeins of yarn, 15 g mercerized cotton (light beige) and 40 g combed cotton (slightly darker beige)

1. I washed thoroughly the pants, the cardigan and the yarn, using mild detergent (Perwoll).
2. Rinsed heavily in tepid water.
3. Set the program of the washing machine to cotton, 40C, easy ironing (less spinning during the washing), hold rinse (no spinning cycle).
4. Emptied the pack of dye into the drum.

5. Covered the dye with the 500g of salt and put in the damp items.

6. Ran the cotton cycle, no spinning.
7. Then ran again the cotton cycle with the same settings, adding detergent (Perwoll) and fabric softener (Silan).
8. Ran an empty cycle with detergent to clear the machine. The producer promises that the dye will not damage my machine or affect subsequent washes. Probably I'm not exactly the trusting type, but I've planned my next two laundries (I already ran the first) to be only black items and then two more colored laundries, to be on the safe side. I really wouldn't want a purple stain on a favourite Tshirt or something.

9. Hung out the pants and the yarn and blocked the cardigan pieces.

The yarn and the pants are already dry and dyed in a lovely purplish eggplant color. The cardigan is still drying, I'll add a photo tomorrow.

Observations: The dye is great, I would strongly recommend it to anyone. The color is fixed, after the washing with the detergent there was no color transfer from the knitted pieces to the towels, no color bleeding. The two cotton yarns dyed differently - the mercerized lighter cotton became darker, absorbing more dye and showing excellent durability of the thread. The combed cotton absorbed less dye and showed some pilling. The pants dyed perfectly and darker than the combed cotton, despite of the poly contents, which is again an excellent testimonial for the dye.
Mistakes: shouldn't have left the yarn ends of the knitting unweaved, in the end everything was a mess and I spent at least an hour untangling the yarn. Wouldn't try dyeing large quantities of yarn in the washing machine again.
Would I try DYLON again: I really recommend the dye, it is the best I've used so far - strong, saturated color, no bleeding, easy to follow instructions. The only disadvantage is the price - it is 20 times more expensive than the local dyes and cost-wise intentional purchase of yarn to be dyed with DYLON would be unjustified. Still, I want to try the hand wash dye too, if tempted by a color.