[ What I'm working on... ]
this week...
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posted on November 21, 2011, at 9:08 am I traced my block pieces from the original draft onto freezer paper, and I’m ready to now cut the pieces in calico, adding a ½” seam allowance. This is sooooooo exciting! Even if it’s taking weeks, and even if it’s all just a practice run for when I’m nice and slim. I sure hope that day comes sooner rather than later, because I have so many pattern ideas running around in my brain, and I need to get them out onto fabric! Know what I mean?
 basic block - traced front and back … patience, patience ….
posted on November 9, 2011, at 2:16 pm Here’s where I got up to today…
 my basic bodice block no.1 (click on the image to enlarge) Armed with my French Curve, my pencil, eraser, rulers, tape measure, roll of printed pattern paper, iPhone calculator app, and all 20 pages of instructions printed off the BurdaStyle.com website, I headed into Trish’s class this morning, ready to get to work. I managed to get through the first 29 of 32 steps of the construction process in class, mostly working on my own, but with Trish there to start me off, guide me through, make sense of the sometimes strange and not-always-so-wonderful instructional language, and definitely lots of that very important moral support. I got home and completed the last step, ie. drawing the waist darts, and now I’ll wait till next week so Trish can help me draft from the waist to the hips, as this part is omitted from Burda’s block.
From there, I’ll redraw the entire block on clean paper, and cut it out. Now, you know how I’ve been saying that I don’t really want to use this block to make myself anything, because I’d rather wait till I’ve dropped a couple several kilos? Well, I think I might change my mind on that. After all, I’m sure I can find some fabric that’s lovely and cheap enough that I won’t mind cutting into it, even though it may not fit me as the kilos are shed. I have an idea for a top I’d like to make, well, it’s rather more of a tunic, and I’m itching to give it a try!
As a review on the Burda instructions, I must say that, apart from the fact that Burda has decimated the poor old inch, and includes measurements like 4/5″ and 1/10″, it was really quite a straightforward process, one that is easily completed in a couple three hours. Any strangeness of language is more, I think, a matter of depth of understanding, rather than any shortcoming on the part of the instruction’s author. So, if you’re contemplating making your own basic bodice block, I can recommend this process quite happily. Use a pencil though, and have a good eraser on hand.
posted on November 7, 2011, at 4:17 pm  BurdaStyle.com | Constructing the Basic Bodice Block 1. Constructing
I’m so excited! It’s quite a procedure, but I’ll be following these Burda instructions to make my own basic bodice block. Have you already used this particular set of instructions? What were your findings? Now, it won’t be the only one I’ll make, because I’m hoping to need to make another really soon, once I’ve lost some weight. However, doing this now will be a really good exercise. I’ll learn what’s involved, and going through the steps with Trish will, no doubt, expand my understanding and knowledge of dressmaking no end. So, come Wednesday morning, I’ll be working on this project. Progress updates will ensue.
2. Bespoken
I’ve always wanted to use this word. I like it. I hope I’m using it in the correct context. Please let me know if I’m not. Don’t want to sound too much of a dork.
Anyway, there I am on the treadmill, walking, walking, walking. Stephanie, my incredible exercise physiologist, is over by the exercise bike with another client, and she spots my wristlet that’s tucked into the open locker that’s right where she’s standing.”OMG! Is this yours???”
One thing leads to another, and I offered to make one for her. So next class, on Friday, I’ll be toting some of my fabric to show her so she can choose what colour/design she’d like. She wants neutrals, something that will go with everything. Hmmm. Not sure yet, but I’ll see what I can pull out of the cupboard. So, does “bespoken” fit here?
posted on November 6, 2011, at 8:40 pm So, remember all those lengths of beautiful fabric I’ve added to my stash over the past few months? No? Let me remind you…
 1. fuccra rakuen  2. olive small kasa  3. tobacco small kasa  4. & 5. greenfield hill mrs aster in blueberry and cranberry  6. fabric I picked up in the tessuti sale  7. lou-lou-thi clippings OMG! Seeing them all laid out like that makes me a little giddy. Gorgeous, yes? But the jury’s still out on what exactly I”m going to do with these lovelies. I’ve had some ideas, but nothing “set in stone”. Then, today, I came across this post on the Sew Tessuti blog, and I knew what I needed to do.
- Join Club BMV. For US $15 per year, that gives me a 15% discount on all patterns I buy here
- Buy this simple dress pattern
- Create a block pattern from Burda’s Basic Bodice Block
OK, steps 1 and 2 – done. Step 3 is a little daunting, I must say, but I’m going to do it, all 32 steps, and I’m going to learn the process. Then, once I’ve won the battle and dropped the kilos that my autumn-of-my-life-hormone-levels have decided I should carry now, I’ll be able to re-draft the bodice block to my new-and-improved size. This should mean that I’ll be able to draft my own patterns – under the guidance and instruction of Trish Harper – and my life will never be the same again.
That’s the plan.
In the meantime, I’ve bought the dress pattern, and I could simply make it up in a not-so-precious fabric, ie. not like those in the above pics, and have something nice to wear this summer. You know, just in case those kilos hang around a little longer than expected. If you know what I mean.
 McCall's Patterns | M5578  M5578 pattern back - view A for a nice, light summer dress Might make a trip down to Darn Cheap Fabrics, and see if I can pick up a bargain for this dress trial.
Oh god. I have to take my measurements.
posted on November 2, 2011, at 8:20 am Last Saturday, I popped into amitié textiles on my way to wish my niece happy birthday. I needed some medium-weigh fusible wadding, that neither Spotlight nor Lincraft carried, and the bill, less a refund I had coming, came to around $7.00. Now, I didn’t have any cash on me, and since the minimum spend on credit card at Amitié was more than that (I think it might have been $15.00), I took a look around the shop to see what else I could add to my purchase. I wasn’t leaving without my wadding. I had my Pea Green Boat Wristlet to finish, remember?
I really didn’t want to buy more quilting fabric. A half-metre of this, a fat quarter of that. Not so much. I have plenty of quilting projects in the works already to keep me busy for a while, and my cupboard is rather full. BUT! As I walked around the shop, I found myself in front of those lovely, pretty, gorgeous voiles, and there was Anna Maria Horner’s Lou Lou Thi Clippings in Dusk calling out to me! And that was it. Two metres of this gorgeousness walked out the door with me…
 Lou Lou Thi Clippings I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to use it for, but it’ll most likely end up as a blouse or shirt of some kind. Maybe a longer shirt, with some summer blue denim capri pants, like these. What do you think?
On an almost completely separate note, I received an email yesterday morning from the lovely Tasia from Sewaholic (I subscribe to her mailing list), telling me that her new Minoru Jacket pattern is ready for pre-sale ordering, and that as a special mailing-list offer, postage for this pattern plus one other, if I’d like, is free. Yes, even to Australia.
 Minoru |
 Pendrell |
| the above images are published her with Tasia from Sewaholic‘s permission |
I bought the Pendrell blouse. It’s one I’ve had my eye on for a while now, and this was the perfect opportunity. By the way, Sewaholic‘s “free shipping anywhere” offer for the Minoru plus any other pattern of hers you’d like to buy, and if you’re not already a newsletter subscriber, no problem, just join up now and the offers good for you too.
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