La Boucle Mauve

So...

I finished my Gabriola dress! Yay! It was probably the longest project I've ever done :P But it was worth it!

(See how there is no outside seam visible? Yay! )

Sometimes you mess projects, or you just finish your garment and find it bleh... Fortunately, sometimes, troubles don't happen and you continue to sew.

This time, the sewing went well, the Gabriola skirt pattern is well made i guess! I had some troubles with the top, which I mostly improvised, but you can always adjust (to a certain limit) after you cut and sew.

The top of the dress is based on a blouse in the book "My favorite Black" and the skirt is well, the Gabriola skirt pattern by Sewaholic.

It was the first time I sewed buttons and in the end I think it's less complicated than zippers and more cute. But everyone has its preferences!

I finished (almost) all the seams nicely with a technique I learned on Tasia's blog. My serger wasn't available at that time and I'm always in a hurry to make a project.

(I'm just pretending it's summer by wearing it without a shirt)

I ajusted the patterns by separating in the middle the front of the skirt and the top part and adding 1,5 cm on each side. Then I added a piece of fabric inside (une parementure en français?)

Unfortunately, it's not 100% percent perfect and without flaws, but I guess you have to live with it when you sew. I dream someday to execute perfectly one garment, but error is human :P And I'm pretty adventurous and always try new techniques, so I guess it doesn't help.

On a end note, I highly recommend this pattern and plan on making one day a skirt out of the Gabriola Skirt pattern... ahah!

As soon as I saw the new pattern from Sewaholic, I knew I had to make a dress out of it. Like a long princess casual dress.

It was the first time I bought a real standalone pattern (not from a collection of pattern in some translated japanese book) Yes, it was more expensive, but the fit is somewhat better. Though I wasn't really impressed by the instructions. I didn't really care because there was going the be a sew-along for the skirt (Thank you problem solved) But I wasn't enough patient to wait for the sew-along to start on my skirt. Oh well.

Ideas about the dress began to stir in my mind. Maybe I could add a sweetheart neckline. Maybe the local Montreal brand Birds of North America had something to do with that idea. I really can't get enough of their dresses, when The Braderie de la Mode in April comes, you know what I'll buy!

(So much pretty dresses on their website!)

And why not put a slit in front of the dress? You know, every cool anime caracter has a some weird dress with a front slit. So badass.

Thank you Full Metal Alchemist for the inspiration. You do not only entertain me.

À moins de maîtriser l'art de créer des patrons de vêtements, on a tous besoin de patrons pré-faits. Lorsque j'ai commencé à m'intéresser à la couture, je me suis donc mise à la recherche de patrons sur le web, et personnellement, je trouvais qu'ils avaient tous l'air un peu datés. Par contre, en tombant sur le blog des japancoutureaddicts, j'ai cliqué pour les patrons japonais! (Je suis peut-être subjective parce que j'adore la culture japonaise, mais bon) J'ai commencé par acheter "Ma petite garde-robe" de Yoshiko Tsukiori.    (bottom for english)

Après avoir fait quelques morceaux plus ou moins modifiés, voici ce que j'en pense:

LE BON:

- Instructions faciles à comprendre et projets parfaits pour les beginner (je le sais, jen suis une!)

- Le petit coté "Kawai" et simple des vêtements et la possibilité de les modifier facilement

- Tailles small à x-large

- 26 patrons pour 25$... pas mal rentable, même si je ne ferai probablement pas la moitié

LE MAUVAIS:

- Il n'y a que des robes, des chandails, deux manteaux et des robes. Vous n'aurez pas une garde-robe variée avec ce livre.

- Les robes ont toujours une forme assez rectangulaire et lousse (mais réjouissez-vous: aucun zip à coudre et peu de boutons! D'où le coté débutant)

- Étant donné que les vêtements sont très amples, des ajustements peuvent être nécessaires.

GROSSO MODO:

Bon, achetez si vous aimez le style. Si vous aimez les trucs moulants en jersey, n'achetez pas. Mais si vous aimeriez bien une (ou vingt) jolies robes à smocks dans votre garde robe, c'est votre chance. Sinon, je le recommande à toutes les débutantes, parce que de toute façon, ne commencez pas par coudre du jersey :P

So, I bought "Stylish Dress Book 2" by Yushiko Tsukiori and here's my review!

THE GOOD:

- Easy instructions, garments perfect for beginners (like me!)

- Sizes small to x-large

- Cute and simple clothes, easy to modify (a lot)

- only 25 bucks for 26 patterns!

THE BAD:

- The patterns are easy to make but because of that, they end up being pretty shapeless (But no zippers! yay!)

- Ajustements may be necessary (see above)

- The book includes patterns for dresses, a couple of tops and two coats. Not a whole wardrobe.

BOTTOM LINE:

Buy it if you like the style. If you like tight jersey clothes, don't buy it. If you don't mind a lot of cute smocks dresses, buy it. If you're a beginner, buy it anyway, because you don't want to start sewing with jersey fabric :P

Tout le monde a besoin d'un t-shirt basique sans motif, qui va avec un peu tout.

Même les femmes enceintes.

Voici ma version pour les non-futures mamans:

Réalisée en tissu 100% lin (moins polluant que le coton), à partir du modèle D de "Ma petite garde-robe" de Yoshiko Tsukiori. C'était mon premier t-shirt, et ma leçon en réalisant ce morceau: bien reproduire le patron.

A simple t-shirt made in a linen fabric with a pattern from de book "Stylish Dress Book 2" from Yoshiko Tsukiori. It was my first t-shirt!