Saturday, November 21, 2015

Corduroy Pants for My Love / Pantalons de pana pel meu amor





Carlos wears corduroy pants to work -he is a postman- and he destroys them in a couple of seasons :-(, so I make sure to construct a couple of them every season. This is my own pattern and therefore a glove for my love's slim body. I used commercial patterns in the past, but I has to downgrade a couple of sizes and the result was not nice. It took some work to make the first, muslin included, but now I have by toile pattern and I can make this real quick. And the result is flawless, in fitting and execution (excuse my modesty:-). The procedures is the following: 
  1. Cutting and marking with tailor tucks
  2. Pockets
  3. Fly
  4. Interior legs with self-enclosed seams
  5. Exterior sides with self-enclosed seams (uncomfortable to sew)
  6. Belt rings and waist band
  7. Button and buttonhole.

El Carlos porta pantalons de pana a l'hivern per anar a treballar de carter. Així que cada tardor procuro fer-li'n al menys uns. Aquesta pana és gruixuda, de color gris fosc, molt bonica. Utilitzo el patró que jo mateixa vaig construïr amb les seves mides, i és perfecte, com si un sastre els hi fes a mida, i cada any anés a fer-se'n uns  de nous, hahaha! Ara que hi tinc pràctica, els faig en poques hores i el resultat és perfecte. Primer, tallar i marcar amb punts fluixos. Després, butxaques i cremallera. Camals interiors, amb costures entreficades i pespuntejades. El mateix ara pels camals exteriors, amb aqueslles costures tan incòmodes d'acabar, ja  que la cama ja està tancada, presilles, trinxa i botó. Aquest cop els he fet més llargs, perquè he comprovat que es van encongint amb les rentades.

Friday, November 6, 2015

Sheer Long Dress



 I've had this fabric in my little stash for some time now. I saw a long beach dress in a Burda magazine, and that was an inpiration. The fabric piece was very big, and the design is apropriate for a transparent fabric. 



The pity is I was sewing against the clock to be able to wear it in the Festival internacional de cinema fantàstic de Catalunya.
I hate this obsessive compulsive sewing disorder I seem to suffer. It happens a lot in my life. Somehow I get the urgency to finish a project for an event, regardless of the feasibility of the deadline. Moreover, I am way too optimistic with time planification, so the result is me sewing like a madwoman and getting all the possible shortcuts, which usually end up in a botched job.


This pattern is great (to keep it for future uses even), but I sewed it so fast I could have been a contestant in The Great British Sewing Bee, which I stopped watching precisely for that reason! I prefer slow and well, quality to quantity. At least, in theory. This is such a compulsive behaviour in me, and it happens so often, that I cannot even promise not to do it any more, because it will probably happen again. Some event will come up and I will have NOTHING in my wardrobe appropriate for the occasion, so I will have to sew a specific piece in a record time.
I was sewing this dress not only without previously basting the seams (as I usually do), but even without pins! I held the fabric together and machine-stitched directly!!!
As a result of such madness, the neck is a mishap, and the sleeves bottoms are different from one another, one is upsidedown!
In spite of it all, the dress is beautiful and the only standing mistake I cannot tolerate is the neck opening, which gaps a little.
I have been thinking in ways to avoid another rushy project, and the answer my brain gives me is not to buy cheap fabrics like this one. This might sound like nonsense, but I would never rush in a precious fabric. No way. So, only expensive fabrics from now on, haha!! Moreover, my wardrobe is full to the top, so I COMMINT MYSELF TO QUALITY OVER QUANTITY. Please.