The Floraison Dress

Hi everyone! I hope this finds you well.

Last weekend, I made a wrap dress from the fabric I got from Ann at Gorgeous Fabrics. I called it Floraison ("blossom") in honour of the stylized flowers scattered over the fabric.

*Fabric*
Yep, this truly is a "gorgeous fabric"! Fabulous, even. Fabulous to look at, fabulous to handle, fabulous to wear. I visited the bunch of fabric stores beneath the Sacré Coeur last Friday, and I may now safely confirm that there is no way I could get such quality for that price here - and that's counting the international shipping charges (which Ann did manage to keep to a minimum)! With the dollar-euro rate being what it is now, I'd have to pay at least twice as much here. Besides, I couldn't find any printed knits that could compare in prettiness, even at Tissus Reine, where the designers buy their fabric (and where I just window-shop, for inspiration). We are very deficient in knits here, especially in sleek cotton-lycra blends!
So much for the fabric in Paris myth.
Ann, I'll certainly be back to your store when I have saved up enough for another order!

It was the first time I used that kind of fabric, but with the right needle and a few tension adjustments practiced on a scrap, it went just fine.

*Pattern*

The pattern is from the Easy Burda n° 10 issue (spring 2006). Besides the numerous typos, I found the instructions very lacking. Sure, this isn't a problem when you're used to sewing, and this wasn't a problem for me. However, that magazine is supposedly geared towards beginners. I can imagine how frustrating and difficult it must be to sew that dress as a beginner's project. The pattern is wanting in notches and markings, too (especially in order to mount the sleeves onto the dress accurately).
This is one of a few reasons why I favour pattern envelopes over Burda magazines now.

*Alterations*
Besides the inevitable fitting alterations, I made several others. The main alteration was raising the neckline for a less plunging décolleté. I used Ann's excellent instructions to re-draft that pattern piece. Thank you, Ann!

I bound the neckline with black satin bias tape (instead of turning under the edge as per the instructions), to add an interesting contrast to the black and white print. I also replaced the sleeve bands with the same satin bias binding.

The sleeves are slightly gathered, which I love. Besides, I heart three-quarter sleeves. Come to think of it, the sleeves are my favourite detail in the garment.

I did a rolled hem on my serger, using black thread, for a swinging hemline.

My final alteration concerned the sash. It was supposed to be a couple of strips cut in the same fabric as the dress. Instead, I recycled an embroidered scarf I had got years ago for a couple of bucks, and that I never wear, because my older sister, who has exquisite taste, gave me a beautiful black scarf for my birthday a couple of years ago. I cut the cheap scarf in two lengthwise, serged the raw edges, and sewed the lengths to the dress as required.

After the pictures Sébastien took of me in the dress, on Sunday afternoon, I took the fringe off the sash, for a neater result. Since Seb is now away in England, you can only see the finished result (sans fringe) on the dressform (first picture in the post).

Seb may be away, but I am not alone...
Miss Cutie is never far!

(she's not fat, really, just very fluffy!)

~*~

I wanted to thank each and everyone of you who leave comments on my blog. They are deeply appreciated. I wouldn't sew so much, nor with such gusto, if it weren't for you.
Thank you and welcome to the new commenters, too - it's an honour to have you comment here!
Take care, everyone.

Of Spring and Seasons

Hi everyone!
I hope you are having a restful weekend.

After giving us false hopes last month, spring decided to go back to sleep for a while before settling over France. It's been really cold in Paris this week!

I decided to make a little purse to entice spring back.

White and blue flowers, antique lace.
This is one of my favourite colours combinations.

I designed the whole purse and called this "Printemps Parisien". An original French Touch creation!

~*~

I also made a lap quilt, with a gorgeous Debbie Mumm fabric featuring seasonal houses that remind me so much of designs by the Praire Schooler or Blackbird Designs. I just love that fabric. It also gets to show that my favourite colour, blue, can be well paired with my second favourite, red. :)

Close-up on the spring square

I quilted it with straight stitches and feather stitches, and decided to attach the binding with a blanket stitch, to enhance the homespun look.

It's also for sale in the boutique.

Now I'm off to try and entice spring some more, by finishing a wrap dress. I'm making it in the fabulous black and white fabric I got from Gorgeous Things. I can't wait to tell you about it. It's almost done - same old story, I need to shorten the hem; and I'm not sure yet whether to make a simple hem or accent it with a satin stitch with black thread. Seb and I both like the way it's turning out! ;)

Have a great Sunday, everyone!

Just because

Hi everyone! I hope you're all having a good week.

Mine's been a bit tough, to be honest, because I'm feeling exhausted and this has started to affect my spirits. However, an unexpected package took care of my blahs. Deb sent me a package teeming with kindness. Deb and I met through the RAK group that our dear Anne set up a few months ago. We certainly do have a lot in common, and were both happy to get to know each other. Deb's package totally lifted up my spirits yesterday.

This is all so carefully thought out! There's one of my favourite Victoria Sampler designs, with some assorted fibers, including the luscious Waterlily required from the chart. There's a McCall's pattern that is a cross between the dress I just finished (front bodice and skirt construction) and a Butterick that I like (for the wrap part). I love every single thing. I'm simply bowled over!

Thank you so much, Deb, for that huge RAK. This is totally my ideal pampering package. Thank you. Here's a rose for you, Ms. Lavender Rose.

Funny thing is, I sent two small just-because gifties on the very day Deb's package arrived. Her package puts mine to shame, though, as I merely sent a couple of scented pillows to make a couple of friends smile!

To my shame, I haven't mentioned yet the wonderful package my friend Ann in Belgium sent me a few weeks ago. I really need to take pictures, if only to show her how I arranged everything in the flat. Thanks again Ann, you know how much I loved your package - I enjoy the contents daily and it was high time I thanked you publicly!

~*~

I cannot afford sending out big packages right now, especially outside France, but along the lines of those two posts (and your wonderful response to them), I am determined to send out several just-because, handcrafted gifts in the months to come. Every week is packed with kindness from my friends online - emails, comments, inspiration...
Let's say this will be my version of PIFs (Pay It Forward), OK?

More red

Hi everyone! I hope you're all having a good weekend.

Before starting on my new dress, I decided to finish the Charlotte dress yesterday. Thanks again everyone for the feedback about the trims and length, and for your general enthusiasm!

Seb is too busy to take pictures, so I put the dress on my dressform. I know this doesn't "speak" as much as a dress worn IRL, but that's all I could do :)

Front --------- Back

I hemmed the dress to just below the knee. Don't you love the way it puffs up now? I hope this won't sound conceited, but I really love that dress. The ruffles at the armholes are my idea - the dress was originally sleeveless.

When I was done with the dress, I hadn't had quite enough of red, so I decided to keep going. The result was this miniature wallhanging:

I had so much fun with the details such as the feather stitch quilting, and the embroidered hearts at the center of the quilt.

It's now in the boutique. It'll be hard to part with that one!

Hope you're all having a restful and creative Sunday!

Too tired for a title

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week. :)

Seb and I have both been working hard lately, and we are knackered. Add to that a sweet, but insistent kitty who wakes me (never him!) up every morning at 5 (despite the fact that we go to sleep at midnight at best), and you may get an idea of how I'm feeling! Still, I'm happy with what I have achieved. That PhD is coming along smoothly so far!

We still both need to work this weekend, but I do plan to toss in some sewing, for sanity's sake. Besides, this has been a great mail week, stash wise! I treated myself to a "gorgeous fabric" (thanks Ann for the superb order!), and finally received my sewingpatterns.com order from February (no thanks there! Their $-5 or -6 sales are interesting for us Europeans who never have pattern sales, but why do their orders always take so long to arrive??).

I got the New Look 6429 surplice dress (left), and the McCall's 5314 wrap dress with a wonderful full skirt (right), for which I already have a gorgeous plum rayon.

Provided I don't pass out once I'm done with my work, I plan to make (or at least, start) a Burda wrap dress from Ann's stylized floral. The fabric is in the washing machine right now, but the pattern is all traced out. When I ordered the fabric from Gorgeous Things, I got so excited that I decided to trace the pattern right away, so it would be all ready when the fabric arrived. Tracing a pattern is my least favourite part in dressmaking, so since that chore was completed last weekend, it should be all fun now.

I did manage to fill two custom orders this week, which made for a couple of fun and relaxed evenings. The orders came from two very sweet ladies, which made it all the more enjoyable.

One order was for a lavender-scented flanged pillows set :

The other request was a kitty-themed shoulder purse:

I cut the fabric so there would be a kitty on the flap.

I love those custom orders - they are very inspiring as I try my best to meet a person's personal tastes.

I have decided not to go singing at church this weekend. I feel bad, and know they'll be disappointed; but I need a break, every now and then.

Hope you all have a lovely, relaxing weekend! Take care everyone.

When sewing for me means sewing for him...

Yes, sewing for oneself can sometimes be just as exciting for the man of the house. This happens for instance when you sew a nightie... Custom-made to fit not merely your measurements and tastes, but his own preferences, too!

This was my sewing project last Sunday - a lilac satin nightie, trimmed with antique lace, and hemmed with a white satin stitch.

Sorry I'm not showing it in 3D, but I obviously won't pose in it, and it is too small for the dressform.

Miss Cutie likes it too:

The pattern is New Look 6643, but I made the nightie much shorter (partly because I didn't have that much fabric, partly because it was cuter that way); I made several adjustments to the back, as usual. Used a size 10 for the front, a size 8 for the back, but ended up taking 1.5 cm off each side. Ah, I've never had a nightie fit so well. They're usually too loose in the back, and the straps keep falling off.

~*~

Thank you for your wonderful comments about the red dress! Your response is so motivating. Thank you. :)
I can't wait to get back to working on it; but I need to re-furnish the boutique first, and I just filled a couple of custom orders for two very sweet ladies. Custom orders are very fulfilling :)
The boutique is out of kitty pillows, but I plan on going with different themes now, unless anyone would want another kitty pillow (I still have a little of that fabric left).

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Seeing Red

After the redwork exchange, here's a red dress for the warm season.
Blue in all its shades certainly remains my favourite colour, but deep red definitely comes next, especially when it comes to clothes. I enjoyed Tany's article last week. This is my modest contribution to her "challenge".
I love wearing red, and have made several red or burgundy garments in the three years since I started sewing.

My current dress in progress is almost finished, but I would love to hear your advice concerning the length and trims. :)
I call this the Charlotte dress, as a homage to my grandmother. She is almost 99 and was a professional seamstress; her creations is what inspired me to start sewing, even though she was too old to teach me by then. Her name is Charlotte (which is also my second name).

Everything about the dress is vintage. The pattern's copyright date is 1964. In 1964, my Mum was 15 and her sister 24, and my grandma made them that kind of garments.

While working on that dress, I tried to imagine my grandma 45 years ago, making a similar dress for one of her daughters.

The fabric also has a story. It was given to me by Seb's grandma, whose best friend used to be a seamstress years ago, and passed away last year. Seb's grandma thought fit that a seamstress's material went to another seamstress, and gave me a bunch of old fabrics, lace and rick-rack. I used some fabric and écru rick-rack from that stash.

The fabric has that peculiar softness akin to vintage textiles.

The interest of the dress is that it wraps in the back:

And now my call for advice. :)

1. An option suggested by the pattern would be to add a trim either to the neckline, or to the hem. Any thoughts? Personally, I would rather leave it as it is - with just that touch of vintage écru rick-rack on the pockets. I fear too much of it would kill the effect.

2. As you can see, the dress isn't hemmed yet. I was planning on shortening the dress up to just below the knee (as on the original pattern). Above the knee would be too little-girlish, wouldn't it?
Since I am way shorter than the average woman (is there such thing as an average woman, though?), it almost reaches my ankles.
My little sister saw the dress yesterday and said she liked its length as it was. Seeing the pictures Seb took, I still think a shorter dress would be prettier. I'm afraid the lovely fullness of the skirt would be a bit ruined if I left it as it is. It's a bit too drooping for my taste as it is.

I like the dress already - it'll be perfect for the hot summer we will probably have, if the weather keeps the way it has been since autumn.

Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated! :)

~* ~

I'm bummed as I was planning to sew McCall's 5314 this weekend, (my fabric is prewashed and ready), but the pattern hasn't come yet. As a result, I'm not sure what I'll be sewing this weekend, apart from a few items for the boutique. Perhaps a nightie? I have a pattern and some lilac satin for that.

Wishing you all a great weekend!

Stitching, Sheep, and Spring

Bonjour bonjour !

As you've probably noticed, I haven't managed to stitch much lately. First, my life has been so full that I haven't had much opportunity to stitch in the evening - most of the time, I spend the evening either working, practising songs, adding to my boutique, or simply too tired to do much of anything.
Second, I have felt much more like sewing than embroidering lately... I hope my stitching friends haven't been too disappointed!

Anyway, I've come to realize that this state of things would probably last for a while.

As a result, I have decided to change my approach to embroidery for the months (or year?) to come. Since I have barely a few hours to stitch every week, I plan to stitch exclusively small designs, that will still make me feel like I'm achieving something.

With this in mind, I started The Counting House this week. The pattern and gorgeous linen were sent to me by dear Nicki. It is not a very small project (the house to the left is actually rather large), but it is moving along pretty well, and is hugely enjoyable.

Of course, I had to start with the sheep.

Nicki was kind enough to send me two colours from the chart, and I am having fun substituting the rest of the required fibers with what Gentle Art floss I have in my stash. Thank you again, Nicki, for providing me with such lovely stitching hours! I'm enjoying every minute of it. :)

~*~

Spring has already reached Paris! We've never seen anything like it, but this week we've been able to eat our sandwiches outdoors without so much as a coat on. Seb and I love meeting for lunch in a garden overhanging the Seine, half-way between his lab and my office, and ten minutes from either. Sure, I'm a country-girl at heart, but life in Paris does have its virtues!

Needless to say, the advent of spring is inspiring me to make a new wardrobe for spring!

~*~

Have a great weekend everyone. I'll be back soon - I need your advice concerning the length of a dress. As soon as Seb feels like taking pictures, I'll post them! :)

Thank you for your continued kindness and friendly comments - they mean so much to me.

Redwork Exchange - oh my!

Hi everyone!
What a wonderful experience this redwork exchange has been - all the way around.
It turns out Karoline had my name for the exchange. I am in total awe of what she stitched for me - it turns out she didn't stitch one, but three pieces!

Many of you will have recognized Whitman's Vintage Red Sewing Set by Fancy Work. This is a miniature work of art, believe me.
Karoline even included the tiny scissors, which are another treasure.

When I think I wavered to much between signing up for the redwork exchange and the needlework smalls exchange - it's as if Karoline had read my mind and sent both exchanges in one! :)
I love anything tiny, and this is just all too perfect for me.

You'd think that was enough - I was actually thinking that was too much. Yet, Karoline didn't even stop there. She included a rose-flavoured tea pack - from Whittard's, no less! I used to drool over the tea at Whittard's in Canterbury when I lived there, at a time when I couldn't afford such treats. I just brewed myself a cup, and it tastes as gloriously as it smells.
Karoline even included catnip biscuits for Violette, and this beautiful card:

This is so like Violette whenever a bug falls into the flat from a window!

Thank you so much Karoline, for a gorgeous exchange.
I am more grateful than words could say!

~*~

Just to clarify a detail about the previous post: a couple of you wondered whether I was pregnant. I am not. :) You even got me wondering whether I should wear that top! I wore it yesterday, though, and got several compliments about it - from people who have no idea I sew. I asked a colleague/friend whether it made me look pregnant, and she said "no way". Seb says so too... I guess (hope!) the angle in the photographs was merely delusive. :)

Sunday Night Sewing

Hi everyone!
I hope you had a good week. Mine was pretty productive workwise, which feels great.

Our last weekend was an eventful one in many respects; as a consequence, I only managed to approach the sewing machine at 6pm, on Sunday. I was determined to get some sewing done nonetheless: I knew how dreary the next week would feel if I hadn't touched a needle all weekend. So I cut, pinned, and sewed until midnight.

Here's the outcome:

An empire top, with a side zipper, trimmed with ribbon.

The pattern is New Look 6515. Yep, another New Look... What can I say. They are cute and cheap ($3)... I love them.

I made view C.

The fabric is the same I used to make my sister's tunic.
The blouse is OK, but there's something about the top part that doesn't sit quite right. I'll have to wear a tank underneath if I don't want, let's say, some sneak peeking in the metro!

I thought of shortening the top part by the shoulders, but the ribbon would sit too high (and the bust area is scarce enough as it is). So, let's say I'll just wear a tank underneath! It's still cute, though. That fabric goes well with a pair of jeans, I think, which is why I chose to accent the dark blue colour in the print with that wide ribbon.

That fabric is so pretty that I used some to to make more kitty pillows for the boutique... among other things, such as this:

You can find them here.

I'll be happy to hear any suggestion if you want a different colourway and/or fragrance. Or indeed, anything else! :)

~*~
Happy birthday to dear Nicki!

Wishing everyone a lovely weekend.
I plan to sew and sing...
Could be worse, eh? :)

Redwork for Cathy

Hi everyone!
Thank you for the lovely response to yesterday's post. :)

Cathy posted on the Stitching Bloggers Exchanges board that she just received her redwork piece from me. I've long been wanting to send her something, so I was really excited when Nicki assigned me her name for the exchange (thanks, Nicki!).

I made her a trick bag ("sac à malice") from a De Fil en Aiguille issue.

Now you understand my dilemma about stitching French or English!

I stitched the whole thing with lovely DMC 115 (a whole skein! Don't those babies use up fast!), but can't remember whether the linen was 28- or 32-count.
We got our names on January 2, so that was my first finish for 2007 :) I had a lovely time stitching this!

Have a great day everyone! It's rained all night in Paris. Spring is definitely on its way - already!