2 Comments Can't Quite Contain My Excitement, or Floral Vintage

I am excited, as it follows from the title of this post, and I would much like to share with you why. After about three weeks of hectic [at times] reading books on modelling clothes, trying to model some basic forms and then designing a dress I only ever saw as an illustration on Pinterest (this one) from scratch and without any substantial guidance, I finished The dress!

Close up of the front tie detail

The overall silhouette and the front tie detail I took from the image, as you can see, but the required measurements and proportions between different parts of the pattern I had to estimate, and I did improvise with the back of the dress, since you can't quite see it from the picture. The fabrics was a birthday gift from a friend, and it is a Japanese cotton with grey background and vintage flowers.

The dress features a boat neckline in the front and a moderate V-neck in the back, which turned out looking very elegant. The top of the dress is made as a crude probability distribution curve (I do hold a BSc and an MBA, after all!), with darts being transferred into soft pleats around it. The back has two regular darts that match those of the skirt. The front ties are sewn into the side seams, and serve more as a decoration rather than have any practical purpose.

Mirror selfie in the new dress is a must!

The back of the skirt is a regular pencil shape with a tall kick split, while the front has darts gathered at the waist, making it puffy in the hip area. To be perfectly honest, I expected the skirt to be a little bit slimmer, although it does look good and vintage'y as it is. The dress fastens at the back with a 50cm/20inch concealed zip.

The overall look for the night

What I am most proud of in this dress though are sleeve gussets – an essential element of vintage dress-making, particularly in the 50s. A one-piece gusset like the one here is a diamond-shaped piece of fabric that goes into the opening under the arm and allows extra arm movement in more fitted kimono sleeves. Ah, so pretty!

Here I'm showing you how the dress looks as part of a whole, with recently made coat and evening hair and make-up. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised that the dress was so comfortable to wear – and gussets do indeed allow proper arm movement while maintaining close fit. Although I would probably let some time pass before I attempt to model another dress for myself, it was too exhausting and time consuming!

Well, I do hope you guys like it, too. It took some time and dedication to make it, but all the hassle was well worth the result :)

See you soon!

E.V.

0 Comments Spring in Lilac | OOTD

This winter here in Moscow was dull. It wasn't the regular cold, but rather mildly negative temperatures mixed with March +3ºC throughout the whole three months of winter, more or less. This means there was snow, which then got stained with fumes and dust, which then melted halfway and turned into dirty mush, only to freeze again a couple of days later. Repeat.

All that left the winter city [and its urban outskirts] looking grey and impossibly miserable. So, when the air first began to smell like spring again and streets began to dry a couple of weeks ago, I knew it was time to bring some colour in! So I figured a cuddly oversize coat in a lovely shade would be perfect to get into the spring mood.

Another reason I needed, or rather wanted a coat is that ever since late October I wouldn't take down my favourite +Uniqlo dawn jackets. They are fabulously comfy and light and versatile, but they sure lack some style and glamour for those occasional fancy moods of mine.

I don't really know anymore which came first, the idea to make the coat or this pattern from Burda Style Classic edition 2013. But as soon as I laid eyes on the picture I knew it was EXACTLY what I wanted to have! And making it would be another pleasant challenge for my sewing skills. Not long after I was already in a store looking at a piece of coat wool in a beautiful shade of lilac, which again was love at the first sight.

Love how the colour matches my dark denims

It took me a few evenings to finish the coat, as I wanted it to turn out as neat as possible. Making it was easy, although handling so much fabric at once was a tiny bit tricky. And, me being me, I still managed to find something to be upset about when the coat was done. Not critical, but buttonhole positions offered by the original pattern turned out to be too far from the edge, which resulted in a fold between the top button and the next one down. Ah, well...

Colourful silk scarf my dad got me from Japan when I was 6 – it's like it was made for this coat 17 years ago!

The coat is of oversize silhouette and features a funnel neck, dropped shoulder and patch-on pockets. It is just the right amount of 'bulky' for my complexion, so it doesn't look like I picked up the wrong size or wandered into a plus-size department by accident. The lining is 100% viscose in tie jacquard ornament, which I got for a ridiculous price of under a £/metre (bin sale in the warehouse of an online store FTW!).

Now, to the Outfit Of The Day part :) Here I am wearing the coat with +Levi's® straight leg Bold Curve denims cuffed into peg leg (which is my favourite shape apart from slims and skinnies), and Poste Mistress heeled boots I bought from Office, London. I accessorised the coat with a square scarf made from hand-painted Japanese silk, and topped it all off with +ASOS cateye shades and massive green amber earrings. Although it can't be seen, inside I'm wearing a thin Primark sweater in beige.

Such a combination is perfect for casual outings like a journey to the textiles store and a simple city promenade. For a more sophisticated look I'd wear a pair of black trousers with a nice blouse, or something more feminine – a skirt or a dress. Possibilities are pretty much endless :)

'Busted' buying new fabrics :p

Anyway, here goes my first OOTD post, which I hope you enjoyed. I am planning to make more of those in the future, and spring/summer season should be the perfect opportunity to explore shooting locations and try different looks more freely.

For now, take care and enjoy the spring!

E.V.

0 Comments The Baby Blue that Turned Out to be Peppermint

Funny story about some yarn now. It's been living in the stash for as long as 6 years – my mum got it when she was buying some sock yarn to make me a pair of nice Christmassy green socks back in 2009, and unlike its green-colour colleague, it never got to any use until now. Those socks were the first time my mum knit anything in ages, and I suspect it was also the last time she ever did. 

Quite frankly, I was squeamish about the baby blue colour of the yarn to use it on anything. I mean, the colour itself is fine, it was just (1) the matter of matching it with the rest of my wardrobe, and (2) there was too little of it to make anything substantial – only two 50g skeins 135m each. 

Serial knitter that I have become, I felt sorry for those sad little skeins bearing their existence in a dark box inside a cabinet, so I made it my purpose (for about 30 minutes) to find a suitable project to use them on. Pinterest to the rescue, as usual.

A cute little pattern came along called Shawlini by Kathy Kelly. It is originally from Ravelry, but I did in fact find it on Pinterest in what to my opinion is the best execution for this particular pattern in candy pink colour. It is also a crochet pattern, and I figured it would be a nice and quick project to use up the long overdue yarn.

So, I geared up with a 5.5mm crochet hook, and was at it the next free evening. And oh wonders! The baby blue yarn began transforming into pastel, almost translucent peppermint as it turned into the shawlette. For some reason, the colour appeared different from what it looked like in a skein. But hell, that was definitely more like it!

Nearly all the yarn was used, as expected, leaving minor leftovers for some cute and quick crochet gifts. The shawlette, as it turns out, is a narrow but really wide triangular scarf. In my case it is 150cm/4'9" long and 25cm/10" at the widest part inclusive of the shell ornament.

The shape like that is particularly practical when it comes to covering overcoat collars, and it also kind of eliminates the problem of doing something with loose ends – they are thin enough to tie them together and hide under the wider middle section without having a massive bump on your chest.

As per usual, it was only after I was done with it and blocking that I realised I had done something wrong. I am not a very experience crocheter [yet], so instead of using both loops to make a new row I was using back loops, which resulted in textured vertical stripes all over the shawlette. Not that it looks bad or anything, just one of those things you learn once you got to do them wrong first.

Otherwise, the pattern was very easy to read, and making it only took me a couple of evenings including the shell border. The loose stitch here will allow some air through while pure wool will be keeping the neck quite warm – perfect for those spring winds.

I have to say, the colour transformation was pretty lucky. Peppermint should be a perfect match for a lilac light wool spring coat I am currently making for myself (to be shared here once it is finished, of course). Plus it can brighten up pretty much any neutral colour, which is just the kind of spring accessory you want in your collection :)

E.V.