Aunt Emily

Emily Bowyer Hammel was my father's older sister. She was the dearest person I've ever known. Over several adolescent summers, she patiently taught me how to sew and how to cook. I loved her. Sadly, she has been gone these few years and I miss her very much. However, I am carrying on her legacy of sewing and trying to carry on her legacy of caring.

Wednesday, January 28

Snow Day Woes and Day Dreams

So what usually happens on a snow day when you plan to sew? We had 5 inches of snow yesterday, then freezing rain/sleet, then more snow all morning, for a total of about 10 inches. Icing - guess what - we lost power. Just as I was going up to sew, all power went off for several hours.

Given that limitation, I decided to prepare some patterns. Since one of my goals for 2009 is to make a garment from each BWOF magazine I've collected, I decided to start there. I traced out a Burda World of Fashion (BWOF) pattern. Well you know me - I couldn't stop at just one. I traced out three. The photo from the website and the line drawings are below.



Misses Skirt 104A from 11-08 BWOF I really like this skirt. I am not crazy about the fabric it is shown in, I have in mind a nice soft cotton or silk chiffon. But I think it will make a very femine garment.



LEFT: Women's Jacket 132 and RIGHT: Women's Tunic 133 B. Something about this jacket just appealed, perhaps the feminine quality of it. The tunic is interesting - it is much more "severe" in style, but I think it could be interesting in the right fabric (not that dead looking navy blue the sample is in!!)


This afternoon, I traced and made pattern adjustments for both the skirt and the jacket. I love the collar and sleeves on the jacket, but not the pleated bottom trim, so I left that off. I'm not certain of which fabric I will use, but if I want to go "blouse-ward" I have some synthetic in dark grey/black with Fragonard type shepherdesses frolicking, or if I want to go "jacket-ward" I have lots of wool. As to the skirt, it was about five sizes too small at its largest, but was fairly easy to enlarge, given the simple lines. Both of these are traced, adjusted and the seam allowances are added. I have the tunic traced, but have to make the adjustments and add seam allowances.




I also want to make some things from the BurdaStyle and I downloaded the Natalie top pattern when it first came out. It was free then, but I see it is now $3.00. Worth it I'm sure. Anyway, I taped it all together and made adjustments (FBA and raised the neckline about an inch and a half) and prepared the pattern for use. Last night, I washed the black cotton jersey and black lace I'm going to use for it, so I'm ready to cut (black lace collar/perhaps front center panel??).

At the end of last week, I received my Burda Plus for Spring/Summer. It has a number of nice styles in it. I am considering the following two:


This suit (Jacket 424, Skirt 405) appeals-again a feminine take on the suit. And I am thrilled to see pink in the styles for the upcoming season - great that it is continuing to be a select color. Anyway, the page before the one showing the pink outfit shows the same jacket in a cream pantsuit but without the organza strip on the bottom. I'd like to make the jacket from the cream set with the skirt. Fabric? I've got some great wool crepe in a light pink.



Finally, something about this dress is also appealing - the collar perhaps? Not just knotted, but perhaps made longer so you could tie it? I've got lots of floral cotton lawn that would be dynamite in this dress, 419 A.

So now I have ideas for at least a few months of sewing. Wish me luck!!

2 comments:

Sherril said...

I love the Burda patterns you've already traced. I'm looking forward to seeing how they turn out.

The Queen of Fifty Cents said...

I really like that skirt, look forward to seeing what you do with it. Found you via Large!