COLETTE {MERINGUE SKIRT}

Between job interviews, a terrible winter here in Istanbul (it never stops snowing or raining or both at the same time!) and my 150th flu, I really didn't have much time to sew. My only accomplishment is the Meringue Skirt which I had been drooling over for a looong time; and as soon as I felt a little better -and had some time- I laid my hands on the pattern. 

Sorry for the "humanless" photos; still not feeling good enough to pose :(

As everyone points out, Meringue is such an easy yet elegant skirt. It has two darts on the front and back pieces, widens slightly towards the hem and closes with an invisible zipper on the left. What makes it remarkable is the scalloped hem which is so "in" at the moment. I must admit I was a little sceptical with scallops at first, but they add so much to such a plain little skirt. And they are not that difficult to make too (check out all the scallop tutorials Suzie so neatly listed on her blog).

I used my eyelet fabric bought from the neighbourhood market I wrote about earlier. It turned out to be a romantic piece, suitable even for special occasions (date night, family dinner..). And I was proud with myself for making the invisible zipper "invisible enough" :)) The flower patterns did not quite match on the front and back pieces, but alas, I will accept that!

For the next time, I'd like to make a two-colored variation like Lucille's or use piping like Katya's. Aren't they adorable?!

BOW HAIR CLIP

When I saw a tutorial on how to make a bow-tie on A Beautiful Mess, I instantly remembered the left-over fabric from my zippered pouch (which I haven't shared yet, must do soon!).  But since there is no man around me that would appreciate a bow-tie, I made a sweet little hair-clip for myself.

How to make a Bow Tie ~ A Beautiful Mess

As you can clearly see from the photos, the construction is quite easy. I only attached a barrete, instead of a bow-tie clip; and made the central piece a little wider. And then showed off with my new accessory all weekend, accepting quite a little compliments ;)

So, Yay! for the talented ladies over at A Beautiful Mess!...

PLAID SHORTS

Yet another project from last year! They took me ages then (5 whole days!), since they were my first go with shorts. And may I say, it wasn't one of the easiest patterns! Attaching the zipper only (with a fly) was a pain-in-the-bottom itself ;) Anyways, when I finished and put them on, I remember feeling quite triumphant.

The pattern is from Burda magazine, March 2011, model #131A, which you can purchase as an e-pattern from the website as well. The fit is perfect (I am a size 38) and they are pretty comfy to move around :) The side pockets are not very functional; but as you can see from my awkward posture, you can use them to hide your thumbs while posing ;)

And just to show off: please note how well-constructed my shorts are! After all, they are worth 5 days of hard work and tears ;))

SPRING DRESS

I may be the worst blogger ever, to be posting after a whole month; but I had my excuse! Well, I resigned from my job and it was kind of a turmoil. In fact I saw it coming for a looong time, and at last I couldn't stay any longer. No hard feelings for anyone, but I just couldn't do the "thing" any more!

But then started the "unemployment" period, which I am really not very used to. I've been working there for more than 9 years; before that I was working freelance for another 2.5 years for more or less the same people; and before that I was at the university. So not much of a stay-at-home person for an extended time. 

So when I started staying at home (since I couldn't find a new job immediately) I was like "what now?" I hoped I could sew, knit, read, etc.; but you know, I couldn't do anything! Well, anything besides checking Pinterest and discover new blogs 24/7!!! Hence the silence...

But now I started to feel a little better and there seems to be a few opportunities "job-wise" so I'm feeling refreshed enough to start over :)

Unfortunately, I can only share a dress I made last year for now; but I'm working on some new projects at the moment and hope I can publish them as soon as I finish (if I bought a zipper timely, it would already be finished; but that's only me!).

The pattern is from Burda magazine, 02/2011, model #101. I used a soft, dark green linen blend. But the high-point was to find a matching belt that belonged to another dress (ready-made) I bought ages ago and haven't worn once!

It is such a cute and "flexible" dress, that I wore it several times on different occasions. Suitable either for a picnik with a cardigan, or to a party with some simple jewellry. 

What do you think?

NEW FABRICS

I love shopping for fabric and sewing notions as I guess all sewists do! And here in Istanbul we are quite lucky that we can find very cheap (I mean really very cheap) fabric at neighbourhood markets (like farmer's market but you can find all kinds of crazy stuff too). 

So two weeks ago I went to one of these markets which is famous for its fabrics section, for the first time. Oh my! What a variety and such bargains! There were mountains of fabrics all around and women tossing and turning the piles over and over to find things they liked.

Prices were quite diverse, starting from 25 kurus (~15 cents) for small pieces, to 25 TL/meter (~10 € / 15 $) for fabric by the roll. You could also find all kinds of sewing related stuff like threads, ribbons, fusing, buttons, snaps, etc.

And here is my haul after 2 and a half hours of messing around:

1. Knits: Well, I must admit I was a little scared by these after sewing my grey dress; but I couldn't resist the candy colours. I thought the red-bordeaux striped would be a great tunic, and the coral a cozy scarf.

Striped: ~1 € / 1.5 $  ...  Coral: ~0.5 eurocent / 75 ¢ 

2. Chiffons: This was the first time I bought chiffon -for making clothes I mean. And I am not 100% sure I can handle these delicate fabrics. But I have been wanting a chiffon blouse for a really long time now, and maybe this is the perfect choice to try my hand on Colette's Sorbetto!

Each: ~0.5 eurocent / 75 ¢ 

3. Eyelet fabric: I loved this sooo much and bought it without any second thoughts. I want to make a strapless dress or a skirt, haven't decided yet!

Eyelet fabric:  ~1 € / 1.5 $ 

4. Cotton-prints: Loved the gingham ones but didn't think of something while buying them; maybe I can make shirts for my boyfriend. The greyish-blue leopard print is sure going to be a dress. And this is the most expensive buy of the day!

Ginghams:   ~0.5 eurocent / 75 ¢ ... Leopard: ~1.5 € / 2 $ 

5. Tartan: This is a lovely wool mixture with a little stretch. And it is destined to be a vest with matching satin lining. But first I need to find a nice pattern (non of the Burda magazines I own has one for my taste!) or come up with one myself!

Tartan:  ~1 € / 1.5 $ 

Well, there is still more stuff I bought that day but this is going to be one looong and boring post if I try to squeeze them in too. So let me share them in the upcoming one!

Oh, I'm already excited to turn these beauties into garments; now all I need is a little time ;o)

OLOLI GOES TO WALL STREET!

I have this skirt from Zara that I love; the cut and how it suits me and all. And I have never quite found something similar for ages. So I thought "maybe I should try to sew one myself". I checked my fabric stash (which grew a lot recently and made me promise not to buy anything new until I use at least half of it); and decided on a dark blue/black denim.

Preparing the pattern was not much sophisticated, I must admit! I just traced half of the skirt on a piece of newspaper (remembering my grandma); and added 1.5 cm for seams and 3 cm for the hem. For the waist band, I cut a 13 cm wide strip (5+5+3 for seams); but this turned out to be a mistake as I'll explain later.

I first sewed the center-front seam with the "flat-fell" technique as in the original model. Then attached the invisible zipper (which really seams invisible this time ☺) and finished the center-back seam with a slit. I then completed the side seams and ironed all the seam allowances to the sides. For the hem, I double-folded the fabric and finished with a topstitch.

For the waistband I folded the 13 cm strip in half, and the sides 1.5 cm (just like a wide bias tape); and sewed on to the waist. But there was a problem! Since I didn't want to rip anything, I just sewed the sides in a little to resemble narrow triangles. Well, it ain't perfect, but it did the trick!

Since I am still sooo afraid of making buttonholes, I went for a snap closure. I wonder when I will build up my courage to actually make buttonholes!?

So, here comes my copycat skirt. I like it so much and it has such a business-y look, doesn't it? So wait for me Wall Street, I'm coming to you ☺

AND GOD CREATED "GREY"

Or "gray" is it? I generally take pride in my English, and God, I love the language. But I didn't realize that I had no idea about how to spell grey/gray until I started typing. So native speakers, can you please clarify which one is true?

Anyway, besides being ignorant about spelling, I must admit I love that color. Not red, not blue, not green; but good old grey is what I love (OK I'll stick with "grey" until someone says otherwise). Many people would say "oh, it isn't even a color". But I like how it suits me, and so my eyes always catch grey items during shopping. Selective perception it is!

So, when I spotted a light&dark grey striped wool-jersey for 1 Turkish Lira (a little more than half a $; or a little less than half a €) for a HUGE piece; I left aside all my fears about knit fabrics, pushed all ladies aside and grabbed it in a heartbeat.

I chose pattern 130B from Burda 03/2011 but had to make some changes. First, since I didn't want a shirt collar, I transformed it into a crew neck. But then it started to look like a nightgown, so I added a pseudo-placket band.

I also had to shorten the arms (if I left them as they were, the dress could easily fit a chimpanzee); and the skirt, since it was right at the knees, which I don't really like. I think short should be short, and long should be long. Knee-high reminds me of my highschool uniform I guess!

Oh, how I would like to say "sewing it was a piece of cake"; but it was not! With a regular sewing machine, a regular presser foot, and a regular needle it was impossible to prevent the fabric from puckering. I could only manage by sewing with the help of strips I cut from thin nylon bags for the seams (cutting from the very sides after sewing) using a zigzag stitch. And for the hems, I used a double needle and straight stitch, feeding strips of pattern paper, just like in sewing with faux leather. It was a little tricky to peel of the paper but not impossible.

Left: Seam with a zigzag stitch and nylon bag ~ Right: Hem from the right and wrong sides

Since I am not a person to hit the road with knee-high socks during winter, I have to wait until spring when the weather will be milder to show off my dress.

Until that time, I can also think about investing in either (a) serger or (b) various presser foots. What do you think? Is a serger too extravagant for someone who only sews as a hobby? Or is it a must for every sewist no matter what?

TIPS ON SEWİNG WITH FAUX LEATHER

Since I have a trial-and-error way in sewing generally, I thought it would be nice to share my experiences. So here are my tips on sewing with faux leather, that I used when I was sewing my fancy faux leather shorts I told about earlier.

- First thing first, before sewing anything, I lowered the tension (A: from 4 to 3); and increased the stitch length (B: from 2.5 to 3).
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Settings for A: Tension and B: Stitch length (for Pfaff Hobby 1042)

- Then I started playing around with scraps of faux leather. And realized to my surprise that, when sewing from the back -since it was already interfaced- it was no more problematic/different than sewing with any other fabric.
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Sewing from the wrong (C) and right (D) sides of the fabric

- The tricky part comes when trying to sew from the right side. Since the presser foot can not slide the fabric satisfactorily, stitches become sloppy (E).
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Seam without (E) and with (F) a strip of pattern paper

- There were a number of solutions to prevent this and one was to apply machine oil to the seam line. But I am quite a clumsy girl and thought this was not my cup of tea. Another one was to shed some talc/baby powder; but I was afraid it could mess up my beloved sewing machine. So I opted on feeding a strip of pattern paper over the fabric and sewing them together (F). I can not express enough how easy and neat it was.
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Sewing with a strip of pattern paper 

- And last but not least, since you can not pin/baste faux leather (because these would leave unwanted holes), I used bobby pins to temporarily attach the pieces together. Paper clips was another idea but I unfortunately did not have any at home.
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Well, there were also recommendations about sewing with a thicker needle, but since my fabric was no more thicker than a regular one, I didn't change my needle (90/14). But if I would sew with a thicker faux leather or genuine leather (which I'm not sure my Hobby series machine would endure) I would for sure follow this advice.

So would you like to add something I didn't cover? Because now I'd like to sew a clutch to go with my shorts and could definitely use some more tips!

FAUX LEATHER SHORTS

Since Burda magazine is the only source for patterns here in Turkey, I try to buy it whenever it has models I like (you can have a peek at the inside in the supermarket, cool!). So when I saw these shorts on Wendy the same month that Burda published these ones, and my grandma gave me a faux leather fabric, I thought "hey! this must be a sign" and decided to give them a try.

I must confess, I was quite intimidated by all the comments I read throughout the internet about how difficult it was to sew with leather/faux leather on a reagular sewing machine. Furthermore, I didn't have the textile glue the pattern asked for. But I thought how bad it could be, and set to work.

Well, it took me 3 days from start to finish; but I guess it turned out OK. The darts are fine and even the invisible zipper which I was so worried about came out allright. Since I didn't have the glue, the seams are still untreated; but because the fabric was already interfaced, this doesn't seem like a big problem.

Now, if I can find/sew an elegant top, I'm planning to wear them for the New Year Party. What do you think? What kind/color of top should I go for?