SewBaby News

I haven't had much time to sew lately, and when I'm not able to sew, I like to go through my old Burda magazines and get ideas.  My oldest Burdas are from 1969- not that I've been subscribing that long!  I bought almost the whole year of 1969 on Ebay a few years ago.   This is the March issue, so it's exactly 50 years old.  I've snapped some photos to share with you.  I don't speak German, so your guess is as good as mine as to what the text says, but the photos say a lot! This was the cover story.  Without the hat, I think you could wear this today! But with the hat, it  really feels like a stewardess uniform. I really like the giant houndstooth print of these dresses.  And take a look at those long pointed collars.  So many dresses were shown with neck scarves and belts too. They really liked showing pairs of models together in coordinating colors. In current issues, models are rarely shown together unless it's a wed...

One night when I was going to yoga class, it was a rainy night and in the parking lot, I almost ran over a woman because I couldn't see her!  This got me thinking about how I could make my own work-out jacket more visible at night.  I had purchased a pack of pink reflective tape a couple of years ago when Hancock fabrics was going out of business.  It included three widths of tape that you just iron on.  I couldn't decide which width I liked best, so I used all three!  I added some of the wide width on the back, medium width on the sleeve seam and thin width at the front yoke.  I think that it really made the jacket a lot more interesting as well as making it safer to walk at night! I made an entire set of workout wear to go with the jacket as well.  For my jacket, I used Butterick 6386 for the pattern.  For the leggings, I used Simplicity 8212.  All of my fabrics came from Fabric Mart.  I only used the printed knit to ...

My first project of 2019, is one that was on my mind for the majority of 2018!  For me, sewing is as much about the hunt for the components of any project, as it is about the process of putting it all together.  I found this fabric last March, so I've been hunting for the rest of the components for several months before I cut into it.  I love searching through both old and new patterns, online fabric stores for new fabrics, thrift stores for old fabrics, and antique stores for notions.   When I have all of the components, then I will often go to consignment shops for the perfect purse, necklace or footwear to make the whole outfit.   I especially love it when I can find the components second hand because I know that there is a history behind them, and I imagine who the previous owner was and what they were thinking of making. I found this blue wool plaid last March at our Idea Store- a reuse recycle store that I wrote about here .  It was a larg...

Just 11 more days until the New Year!  I feel like something a little fancy to celebrate this year, so I decided to sew up this waterfall jacket and palazzo pants ensemble.   Although it may look like a lot to sew, these were all pretty easy pieces made from knit fabrics, so it was very manageable!   My jacket was made from a sueded scuba knit from Fabric Mart using Simplicity 2150.  The pattern is out of print, but it was in print pretty recently and for a long time, so I bet lots of people have it at home.   Here's the original pattern- I made View B, but made mine with full length sleeves and added about 1-1/2" to the overall length.

Happy December!  It's been a busy couple of months since I last posted- taking a trip to Germany and another to Colorado to visit my daughters, so sewing time has been a bit tricky to find!  But, with the cold weather hitting us early, I was inspired to make two tops from wool knits- a red double knit, and a blue single knit jersey (both from Fabric Mart), using the pattern Simplicity 1323.   It's out of print, but there are plenty of copies on Amazon still available if you like the striking style.   I made view B with the V-neck and 3/4 length sleeves, but I added 1-1/2" to the body length of mine.  On my blue version, I added several inches to the sleeve length to make it a full long sleeve.   I also chose not to hem either of them, as I knew that hemming on the bias would be tricky, and since knits don't fray, it won't matter anyway!  The red double knit has more weight to it and hangs better, in my opinion.

When I was in college, I spent a summer in Finland, and stayed with a family there. It was a beautiful summer, and they had a summer cabin out in the woods. I loved their way of life, and remember being surrounded by green, and feeling so relaxed.  So, as I was perusing new titles at our local library, my eyes were drawn to a book about the Finnish concept of "Sisu".  What is Sisu? It's a unique word to Finns that describes their nationality personality- one of perseverance, determination and resilience.  And how do you get Sisu?  Well, this author had many suggestions, including walking in the forest to reduce stress and anxiety.  I thought, "I can do that!".  She said that 90% of Finns say that they go to the forest on a regular basis.  I don't know about you, but with all that is happening in the news lately, I've been feeling a little more stressed than I want to be.  You're probably wondering- what does this have to do with sewin...

Happy Fall!  Wine and Chocolate- two of my favorite things that go together so well! It's no wonder that I would be drawn to them as colors in my wardrobe too.  In my last post from August, I had shown you my sewing plans gathering fabrics in browns and reds for making some clothes for September and October.  I actually completed everything over the Labor Day weekend, but September has been too darn hot to even contemplate taking pictures of everything!  Finally, we've got some beautiful cool weather, so now I can show you!  This dress is a rayon lycra knit, and I used New Look 6525 for the basic pattern, but just 3/4 length sleeves. I really like the variations in this pattern, and I can see it  becoming a TNT (Tried and True) style for me.  One thing that I changed was to add a knit neckband.  The pattern instructions want you to use bias tape, which is never going to look as good on a knit fabric as a neckband will. I also ad...