Back soon

Hello everyone,
Sorry I have been MIA for so long.
I still have a hard time coping with all that's been going on in my life over the past few months; and I'm not the talkative type when I have a lot on my mind. ;)

I have also been very, very busy with work. Which is good.

I have been sewing - not that much because of all the work, but am pretty happy with the outcome. You'll see.
... Soon. :)

A bientôt.

She Says it All so Well - Cidell

This post is totally out of the blue, but what Cidell so aptly described here is exactly what happened to me on this blog last week; I mean, this kind of things happens every now and then, but this time it was particularly obnoxious, and on my very birthday, no less. It was also totally unrelated to the garment I was showing, or to anything I was saying. It was pure spite directed at my person. I know this anonymous a**hole doesn’t deserve this, but it still hurts. I wasn't going to mention it here - obviously I deleted the comment and have since been moderating all comments. But Cidell's article really helps me come to terms with it.

I do hope you go read her article.
I'm glad I snatched a few minutes to read your blog today, Cidell.


This of course, doesn't make me overlook all the wonderful and caring comments you guys leave here. They really mean a lot to me, and I wish I had the time to reply to each of them separately. I do always click on the link you provide and go visit your own spots of the web - and always enjoy what you share!
Sometimes also - especially for recent commenters, whom I heartily welcome - the Blogger profile under which you're posting links back to a blank page, so that I cannot leave an acknowledgement in any way. I want you to know that I would otherwise be delighted to go visit your own blog, or profile.

~*~

On my sewing table is still the Butterick retro 5209, which I've currently put on hold to make a jacket, McCall's 5477:

I'm making view B in a burgundy wrinkled poly. It's like taffeta, but thicker than the usual stuff.
All the little bits are cut out and I'm hoping to start the sewing tonight.

However, it might be a few more days/weeks before I manage to show you a new project. I've been sick as a dog (flu with a fever) over the past week, and am slowly starting to feel better today.
More importantly, a whole lot of things await me in the days/weeks to come; so I'll probably catch up with you all later.

See you guys. Keep on sewing, and be proud of the beauty you create! I may not have been up to commenting much lately, but I've been enjoying and admiring your creations very much. Thanks for sharing, for the inspiration and for the eye candy!

Birthday Dress 2009

Here is the dress I made for my 28th birthday. I didn't come up with a proper name,which bugs me as I like to name all my projects - especially birthday dresses! Feel free to toss out a few ideas it if you feel so inspired. They would be much appreciated.

This is New Look 6643, a dress I already made as a little black dress. This time I used dupioni silk for the outside, and lined the dress with China silk.

The pictures are not the best and the dress still needs a fair bit of ironing (this is one terrible looking hem!), but this was all my timetable would allow if I wanted pictures by daylight, and I figured it was better than nothing.

Obligatory parting shot:

Spot On - 1955 vintage skirt

This skirt all started out with curtains I made for my bedroom. I doubt you'd be interested in plain, boring tab-top curtains, but the colour itself is to die for. All the time I went through the chore of making them, I was thinking - gosh, this fabric would have made such a pretty dress!
Curtains had to be made, though, and sooner than later, as my appartment's windows are not fitted with blinds or shutters.
A few days later, however, I hung some Liberty fabric that I had just prewashed over my bedroom door, to dry (reduced space will make you pretty inventive); as I looked up, I realized the curtains next to it matched one of the spots in the design absolutely perfectly. I had just enough of my green taffeta left to accent a garment - as a belt, for instance... and thus the Spot On Skirt came to be.

My initial idea was to make this vintage dress:

Simplicity 1158, © 1955

But, I don't have that many skirts, and I have a few other dresses planned out anyway. I just figured a skirt would get more wear, and the reason why this Liberty had been sleeping in my stash for several years was that I wanted to make sure I'd make it into something I'd be wearing a lot.
I therefore decided to simply use the skirt part from the dress pattern, and add my own belt and closure.
I wanted something different from the regular dirndl, so I used the pleated version from the pattern (view B, the red one on the pattern cover). The skirt is really four rectangles of fabric sewn together, and pleated many, many times.
This picture shows a close-up of the pleats (and incidentally a happy kitty):

Despite the previous post suggesting the opposite, I went pretty obsessive with cutting and sewing perfectly on grain, and matching the dots at the seams.

(oh dear, even my bedcover matches my blog's colours!)

This was purely gratuitous, as all the tiny pleats make this kind of detail totally unspottable (ha!) when the skirt is worn. Still, I know my skirt is perfectly on grain, and therefore hangs as well as it can.

I first wanted to add an invisible zipper as usual, but then realized buttons might be cute and more in keeping with the skirt's era. I know zippers were already in use, but I also know my Grandma still used buttons way more readily than zippers at that time.

I like how the white buttons on the green belt mirror the green spots on the white fabric.

You guys all know by now who did all the work (I'm really just modelling), so there she is in all her fluffy glory:

I am now working on Butterick 5209, which I just had to get and make after seeing Trena's lovely version.
Happy weekend, everyone!

The Truth Behind Kitty Couture

It is time some things were straightened out on this blog, and some proper acknowledgement given.

When you see this piece of Liberty fabric laid out on the floor of a Paris apartment, you may be led to think that Isabelle is getting down to business.

Appearances, however, can be deceitful.
I, P'tite Mignonne, am really the one in charge over here.

I smooth out the creases...


Pin down the pattern...


And check the selvages are properly aligned

Next time Isabelle shows you a project - remember who truly deserves the credit... Part of it anyway.

See you soon with pictures of the finished object!

--
Thanks ever so much for your response to my last post. Being back, and being welcomed back, really helps. Thank you.

Burda Easy Fashion Spring/Summer 2009 - skirt #4
Burda Couture Facile printemps/été 2009 - modèle 4
(top is Vogue 2980)

Hi everyone... Remember me?

I've been sewing all this time, I swear. Less than I could - and would - have, probably, but more than the absence of posts here indicates. We'll see if I manage to get my act together and take pictures of what I've been making during this hiatus. If not, never mind - let's take it from here, shall we?

The reason I've been so silent is that P'tite Mignonne and are now back in Paris... This time on our own. Moving back and finding a flat here was a horrendous experience materially speaking (and not quite simply materially for that matter - having no idea for a few weeks where and when you're going to have something to call your own home isn't exactly a positive experience); but this was nothing compared to the reasons that led to it.

I will not enter into the (indescribably painful) details of the how and why; and I trust your considerateness not to say anything that may sound as thoughtless or harmful to anyone.
Suffice it to say that I am incredibly better and happier - more alive and myself - now than I have been in many months.
No need to be sorry for me, therefore :)

P'tite Mignonne endured the transition period with her usual sweetness, settled in quickly, and is obviously enjoying her new home. I'll post pictures of her soon, promise!

The skirt is from the latest Burda Easy Fashion (or Burda Couture Facile as we say here in France!). I love box-pleated skirts. I made it in real denim as I wanted a full skirt that would flare out on its own.

I made it in a size 34, ditched the seam allowances, then had to take it in some more. Oops.

Next on my list are dresses for spring! I have a thing for full skirts right now (as the example above testifies!), so the first one shall be made from a 1950s pattern, and in one of my Liberty fabrics, no less; the second one should be Vogue 1086, as soon as it reaches my mailbox. Also from a Liberty fabric that I grabbed just before leaving London. Life is too short to postpone happy treats.

I'm back for good this time, I swear!