Making Life more Beautiful
I am signed up to learn Intermediate Pattern Cutting. The first project of term (after making a shift dress pattern) was to draft a pattern for a princess line dress. This is a style where there is no waist join, … Continued
I have nearly finished my Biki of Milan skirt. I underlined the silk chiffon with silk organza, having joined the back piece due to shortage of cloth. I considered a range of colours and fabrics for the contrasting waist band … Continued
I have made up my 8th Sewing with a Plan item – the skirt. The skirt pattern I chose is very simple; a1960s, slight A line skirt, from Courreges. The skirt completes “Pack 1” which is a skirt, shell top … Continued
My big breakthrough this week, in terms of Sewing with a Plan was choosing this pattern. It is based on a Courreges design and is just what I wanted. Utterly 1960s down to the go-go boots and allows me to … Continued
I love vintage patterns that include a jacket, skirt, blouse and coat. Not only are they great value for money, these patterns ensure that everything you make from the pattern works with the other items. As they say on Pattern … Continued
Who was Biki anyway? Actually Elvira Leonardi Bouyeure was a grand-daughter of Puccini. Fancy that! She was born in 1906 and died aged 92 in 1999. She was famous for designing for Maria Callas and apparently numbered the items so … Continued
I explained in Part 1 how I started to develop a bustle back skirt using some green lining fabric. This was an interesting experiment, but I wanted to make the prototype in fabric and wear it. I am still having … Continued
(Sorry if you are confused by my posting this morning. I am sleep-deprived after a long night of babysitting. The children were very good and slept until 4am. The problem was my daughter’s hyperactive, nocturnal cat. It cried all night … Continued
When I was draping the skirt with the side pleat I thought about doing the same pattern but using the flat pattern cutting method. It was an interesting experiment. This is a draped pencil skirt, cut on the (non-true) bias, … Continued
I can’t say I am a great fan of remodelling existing outfits. I had a go last year as part of the SWAP contest, and was pretty underwhelmed with it. It took forever to reclaim the fabric and then I didn’t … Continued