bodner062

A nice finish is in the details. Can you see the dart in the band? Probably because you know it’s there. The pattern is the Isabelle from Sewy again, using a non-elastic lace ( last time I used a lace with some stretch). Because of the non-eIastic lace I added a little to the upper cup pattern piece and even made a left and right pattern piece because of a small size difference. This is not really an issue when I use lace with some stretch, but in non stretch lace it’s obvious, resulting in a little ‘overflowing”. You get my drift I presume. It’s a problem I have with a couple of previously made bras too, so obviously something has changed and I have to adapt my patterns. This bra is wearable, but I want to make it again with a few changes as I’m not completely satisfied. The added space is not quite enough and I think it would be good if the center front is a bit higher. I bought a couple of different wire sizes to experiment with. Difficult to show as for obvious reasons I don’t wan...

In my previous post I showed you how I used a tiny dart to get the scallop edge of lace to match the underband of the bra. Or at least, the main center part of it. This means that elastic can’t be used as you would normally do, as now you can’t turn the elastic under the edge of the lace. A picture of how it looks when finished: First the elastic is attached to one side panel, the length of the center part is left open and the elastic attached to the other side panel. When turned the elastic is only topstitched at the center front. The steps in pictures: The side panel is attached to the front, making sure there’s space for the elastic to attach. The inside, the lace panel is underlined with non-stretch tule. The side panel is a double layer. The tule used has some stretch. I use this because my lycra has a lot of stretch and does not give enough support when used as a single layer. The picot elastic is attached with a zigzag stitch, meeting the edge with the lace exactly. ...

  One of the projects I’m working on is a new lingerie set. I wanted the scallop edge of the lace on the bottom edge. However, the bottom edge of the pattern is curved. I have posted how I do this before, but it’s many years ago (blogging for over nine years now!). So not too bad to post about it again. This is the pattern piece, including seam allowances (a bit irregular as I traced this on sturdier paper for the pictures). If you want to use the scallop edge at the bottom, the seam allowance must be removed. Position the center front where you want it. I always use a deep point of the scallop. Also keep in mind how the center front will look like when sewn together. At the center it’s deciding where to have a little extra, imagine a straight line till the bottom of the curve of the pattern. I clip the pattern to the edge and leave just a hinge. The right part is then moved down to meet the scallop edge, creating a tiny dart. That dart is marked and sewn, resulting in wha...

Through a thread on the Pattern Review forum I saw the preview of Burda’s July issue and it has a blouse with details similar to the blouse I copied from RTW last year. Looking forward to see how Burda made it. It’s definitely not exactly the same, but I can see a similarity. The Burda version My inspiration blouse last year My version

I saw this fabric for the first time at a fabric market in April and resisted buying it. When I saw it again at a fabric market two weeks ago I bit the bullet and bought it. Abstract print, summer colors, it was just the right fabric for a summer top. It’s a good quality cotton, though sheer, so a cami underneath is a must. Told the story before, an essential box with sewing materials is in storage by accident. In this box are my sloper drafts too. Which meant that for this top I drafted the basic sloper again and relied on it to fit properly. Two things are not quite as they should be: the armhole is a bit too low for a sleeveless top and the width at hip height should have been a bit more. Nevertheless this top will get a lot of wear when summer decides to stop by in our neck of the woods. Not now in any case. All seams were stitched as French seams, which is a beautiful finish for a sheer fabric like this. My bust dart is very wide and that was sewn using the French seam technique t...

Black is always a very hard color to photograph. Seeing the pictures from yesterday on my blog in daylight, they even are more black than I saw them in artificial light. Today a photo from me wearing the top, which always gives a better indication about fit and style than a dress-form photo. It helps I have a tripod and remote control now. Still need a bit of practice using that.   The colors are very much lightened so you can see the pleats of the neckline. This top has so many layers that I advice a very thin knit for it, otherwise you will have problems sewing the shoulder seams. This consists of 5 layers of fabric (double layer collar with gathers!, front, front facing and back shoulder). Knip mode is a magazine like BurdaStyle with sheets where you trace the pattern from. In this case very difficult as there are many lines for all the sizes included and two pattern pieces were in the same area as well. I think the pdf pattern would be useful in this case, instead of tracing...

This one with a preview of a Knip Mode pattern from their latest issue, June 2016. Intriguing neckline, sure to catch my eye and immediate desire to make it.