Burda Challenge 2015 - January! (Burda and Jalie)

Here’s my first garment for the Burda Challenge. This is exactly why I love this challenge. This is never a pattern I would have picked out on my own. I’m more of the tight, figure-hugging silhouette kind of gal. This skirt is definitely not that. However, since I had to pick one out of the January Burda, I figured I’d give it a try. Turns out, I really like it! This is Burda 01-2015 #109. I made my typical size 34.

 

 

I used a stretch wool from Fabric Mart to make the skirt. I think the full sides are a fun touch. It’s a very girly skirt. In the magazine, they used unfinished edges for the hems. I just added seam allowances and did a simple turn-up, stitched hem. The top is a Jalie 2805, but I’ll talk about that in a second.

 

You can see it’s a pretty full skirt.

 

I used wool, and didn’t line it. GASP! I actually like wool against my skirt. I’m Alaskan though, we’re weird like that. The invisible zipper goes into the back side seam.

 

 

This is just another standard t-shirt, Jalie 2805. This is a great pattern. Jalie makes their patterns in sizes 2T to Women’s sizes. Mine is a size R. I bought this thin sweater knit from FabricMart when they were having a Black Friday sale. It’s black and tan.

 

I made the neckband in between a mock turtleneck and a regular collar.

 

On the back left shoulder, I added some reverse applique. You can see it in one of the pictures above. I don’t know if I love it, or think it makes the shirt look homemade. I was thinking with all the hearts, it needed something. Maybe this wasn’t the something it needed. However, since it’s on the back, I forget about it, so I don’t really worry about it anyway.

 

Come on Ladies! Get those January pieces done!!!

Burda Challenge 2015

Join us! A group of us from PatternReview.com are going to participate in the Burda Challenge for 2015.

The “Rules”
Each month we will attempt to make at least one garment from that month’s magazine (January garment from the January 2015 Burda magazine). You can also opt to stick with the month but use whatever year you want. (January garment in January, but from whatever year you choose).

Why?
Because it’s fun, and motivating.  It’s easy to be motivated when you know others are waiting to see your monthly garment. It forces you to use your current magazine and perhaps delve into unknown territory. I know I’m doing a different type of silhouette this month just to try it out.

The Badge and HTML
Look at me trying to get all creative! I made a badge! It’s not very artistic or technical, but feel free to steal it and post it on your blog if you want. It links back to this page so other people can read the “rules” and see why we do it. I will also link to other people’s blog so we can see what everyone else is doing. I think it’ll be fun. (If someone wants to make a more blingy badge, go for it. I just wrote a whole blog post yesterday about how I’m not creative!)

<div class="Two-On-Two-Off-button" style="width: 178px; margin: 0 auto;"> <a href="http://twoontwooff.blogspot.com/2015/01/burda-challenge-2015.html" rel="nofollow"> <img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-isLlTqLoa88/VLnuXFE1kmI/AAAAAAAAMLM/xidYUv_ovcE/w178-h193-no/banner%5B11%5D" alt="Two On Two Off" width="178" height="193" /> </a> </div>

Who’s Sewing Along??
Chris at http://makeandwear.wordpress.com
Elaray at http://anothercreation.blogspot.com
Mrs. Smith
NikkeeErinn at https://eridelaphi.wordpress.com/
arianamaniacs
nothy lane at www.aftagley.blogspot.ca
lakaribane at http://fashionmate.blogspot.com
michelle at http://www.laurensvirtualworld.blogspot.com/
cathydavison
sewmytime
detroy
Nakisha at www.sewcraftychemist.blogspot.com
Aafke
Kristen at http://www.sunnysewing.blogspot.com/
NancyD at sewinginsurfcity.blogspot.com
Valerie at lifeamidstthechaos.wordpress.com
P E Hudson
jvenegas85 at http://www.livelaughandsew.wordpress.com
okie2thdoc at http://okie2thfairy.blogspot.com/
Paulinakoss at www.sewuthinkucan.blogspot.com
Shawnta at shawntasews.com
Kristy at http://www.loweryourpresserfoot.blogspot.com/
Geo P at https://facutinsufragerie.wordpress.com/
Hila at https://saturdaynightstitch.wordpress.com/
Sewing Svetaat http://sewingsveta.blogspot.ca/
Levone
Wexford
1luv2sew61 at http://sosewsimple.blogspot.com/
Lynnelle
Carmen at www.seecarmensew.wordpress.com
Constance at sewingcurves.wordpress.com
Stacy at BackpacksandaBernina.blogspot.com
Vanesa at elbotondorado.blogspot.com
Vivienne
StacyAN
Gita at http://voyageofcreativity.blogspot.com/
Tea at teaokereke@blogspot.com
Vicki at http://thepincushionchronicle.blogspot.com/
Helenabee at www.grayallday.com
Aline at http://aaltjesdraadstaaltjes.blogspot.nl/
Threadie at http://uponathread.blogspot.fr/
Gail at sewfullofsoul.blogspot.ca
Nico at http://plaidthursdays.com
Eulalia at www.lovelylaia.blogspot.com
Heather at http://rainydayparent.blogspot.com/
Begum Sen at www.terzibegum.blogspot.com
Caroline at https://carolinesstitchin.wordpress.com/

(Please, please let me know if you blog somewhere and it’s not listed. I got a lot of names and a lot of blogs, and I pulled some from PatternReview. Like Mrs. Smith, I know you have a blog, I read the darn thing, I just can’t remember the name!!)

Let the fun begin! If you want to be added to the list, let me know in the comments. Some of you I know and other I don’t. Be sure to give me your blog name so I can link to it! Some of the above information I took from PatternReview, if you don’t want it up on my blog or if I screwed it up, let me know!!

Kid Clothing Inspiration

I often go online to look for inspiration. One of my favorite kids sites is Boden. They have great fun and functional clothing for kids. I can sew most things very well. I’m a workhorse, but the creative, embellishing, crafter I am not. I can’t just scatter on things randomly and make them look good. Some people just have that creative artistic eye. Ya know? They just know how to make things look polished and cute. Me? I need help with that. That’s when I turn to Boden or some other online retailer. I’m not affiliated at all, just like their clothing.

See how cute these dresses are? I even have the perfect Ottobre pattern for them. I’m not really good at mixing patterns, so this type of stuff really helps me.

 

 

And see how cute this is with the giant applique? I could totally make this with Jalie 3355. 

 

 

Another cute sweatshirt with ruffle detail. Another one for Jalie 3355. See? I think these are all great ideas, but I can’t think of them myself. I have to see it to do it.

 

 

This is just like the Ottobre pattern above, with a little bit of a different skirt. Now that I’ve seen this with the giant stencil and ruffle skirt, I must do this for the summer!

 

 

Are other people like me? I will often hit a roadblock if I have to be creative. I’m so bad at that type of stuff. My family just assumes that “since I can sew, I must be artistic.” Uh, no. See my blog header? I always do so variation of that because I can never figure out something different to make. If I try to change it, it looks like some five year old designed it! 

 

I’m working on my January Burda Challenge right now. Something different than my normal tight knit dress route! I’ll be putting up a separate blog post about that this weekend.

Jalie 2805 - T-shirt (boring, but necessary)

I have quite a few long, loose, tunic-length tops to wear with skinny jeans/leggings and boots. I realized the other day that the hole in my closet is long-sleeved t-shirts to wear with jeans. So, I have a few cut out right now. I sewed this one today and I love it. Of course, it’s a Jalie. 

 

I made the basic 3/4 length jewel-neck t-shirt. Easy, right?

 

I used my *new* Bernina serger (squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!) to do all the construction plus I added some decorative 2-thread flatlocking to the shoulders. I probably should have done it in a color that matched the cuffs, but I chose black. I used Woolly Nylon in the left needle and black serger thread to the lower looper. I changed the stitch length to be really close together. In hind sight, I should have made the stitches a tiny bit more apart. Right now, if you look closely, you can see that it is stitches, but it also kind of looks like piping or something solid.

 

I really like the fit. This is my typical R size, but with length added. I think I added about two inches. I have kind of a long torso, and I hate shirts popping up in the back when you sit.

 

Yes, I could do a sway back adjustment. I didn’t. I won’t.

 

Yes, our tree is still up.

 

I love this knit ribbing. The black thread kind of looks random, but I’m okay with that. I still love this shirt. The fit is fab and the fabric is cozy. That’s enough for me! I have another t-shirt (same pattern) that I should have done in the next couple of days. I’m adding reverse applique to it. I’m hoping it looks cute!

Kwik Sew 3234 Pajamas

There is a thread on the forums at PatternReview.com that talks about your most-used patterns. This KwikSew pattern is, by far, the pattern I have used the most. Sorry to say, it’s long OOP. I can estimate that I’ve used it about 30 times. I haven’t put all the versions on this blog, because there are just too many. I’ve made it in all sizes from XS to L (there is also an XL). My son is in the L size right now and the 8 year-old gals are in the M size range. I made another seven pajama outfits over Christmas break. I’m only photographing two of them, because it is hard to make kids stay still.

 

I seem to always make the long-sleeved, long-legged pairs. What can I say, it’s cold here!!

 

Here’s The Cousin (the one that wears all the leotards!) and my youngest. The pajamas are both made out of a super snuggly fleece fabric. The girls picked it out in San Diego last time we were there.

 

And no, I didn’t put the pony fabric upside down, it just seems like all the ponies you can see in these pictures are upside-down. Arg!

 

The photo shoot ended when the photo-bombing started (notice The Twin is wearing an older version of the KwikSew pajama pants on the bottom?).

 

I thought since she was here, you could see what the leotards look like on The cousin. I also wanted her to try them on so I can see where I need to lengthen, straighten, etc. I love this Jalie binding technique with the pink contrast fabric. This is Jalie 3354.

 

Here’s the other one I made for her. And yes, she has a sticker on her head.

 

And more photo-bombing.

 

And more photo-bombing. Oh, and you can see yet another old pair of this KwikSew pattern on this twin.

 

Then this just turned into dance party chaos. Sigh.

Up next? Something for me!!

Bernina 800DL - I got her! I got her!

Here I am picking her up! For those of you who haven’t been keeping track of my life (what!), I entered the PatternReview.com Sewing Bee and WON! I won a brand-spanking-new Bernina 800DL serger. Let me give you a little background. I currently use a Huskylock 936 (combo serger and coverstitch machine) for coverstitching and a Pfaff 4872 (another combo serger and coverstitch machine) for serging (I talk about the comparison of them here). Both of these machines are big, because they are built for both functions. They both do a good job with both serging and coverstitching. I would not say they do an amazing job, but they are fine. I have been thinking of moving to a separate serger and coverstitching machine for a while. When I won the Sewing Bee, I saw this as fate that it was time to start down that path and acquire those two new machines and sell my two larger machines to people who will really use the serger/coverstitching capabilities on them.

 

Sqqquuueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

 

This is what it looks like out of the box (Bernina’s picture, not mine). I thought I’d give you guys a little review of sorts.

 

The two combo machines I have right now both have electronic displays that tell you what to set when. It was really helpful when I was new to this whole serger gig. Now, it’s more annoying because I have to push all the buttons every time I turn it on and sometimes it doesn’t want to do what I want to do. This Bernina machine is manual and I love it. When I turn it off, the settings stay where they are. I have spent enough time behind the wheel of serger to automatically know when I need to use the differential feed, change the stitch length, tighten a looper, etc.

 

Here’s my absolute favorite part of the new Bernina. The knife cuts from above! I know that sounds like boring-sauce, but it’s so much better at cutting thick material like fleece.

 

Here’s the Pfaff (ack! The picture says Janome!) for comparison. This is as high as it goes. When you have a couple layers of thick material, it can sometimes go over the knife and then it messes up the stitching after that.

 

Sometimes it’s not a big deal, but sometimes, a big ball of fabric will get over the knife and head into the overlocking part of the machine where it often gets stuck on something and knotted up. Thread breaks, Dawn cusses, and rethreading is inevitable. (Ack! Stab my eyes out! Pfaff! Not Janome!)

 

The stitching quality is way better than either of my combo machines. It just is.

 

I was playing around with different types of stitches the other day and the flatlock stitch is really nice as well.

 

I copied off the page that shows the setting for each type of stitch and I’ve already started writing my little notes on it. I’m a note-keeping fanatic.

 

Overall, I’m very (VERY!) pleased with the serger. I have always known that my two combo machines were kind of like “Jack of all trades, master of none” kind of machines, but this Bernina really shows me that this is a very true statement. Not that the combo machines do a bad job. They don’t. But this baby just purrs like a dream.

 

Thanks Bernina and PatternReview!!!!!

Jalie 2804–Cross Top

I just had to use my new serger! I got it last night and made this top up in an hour. This is already traced out and the know the pattern, but still! Jalie’s are my go-to pattern when I want something fast that will fit well. Here is a link to the Jalie website for this pattern. It says Sold Out, so you may be out of luck! I used this Maggy London Scuba Knit for the knit band. The only thing I changed here is to make it 3/4 sleeve (included with the pattern) and add cuffs. Oh, I guess I made the contrast band a bit wider too. I also bought the ITY pink knit print from Fabric Mart, but they must have sold out.

 

I have a really hard time being serious in front of the camera.

 

Fits really well!

 

The kids haven’t noticed yet, but they are all Rudolph! Shhhh!

 

And happy holidays to all of ya’ll! Hope it was merry and bright. Ours was filled with food, family, and chaos. Just the way we like it!