Tutorial: Gaping Necklines

A little while back (. . . eeehmmm, like 3 months ago . . .)  Anna asked me if I could post a tutorial on how to avoid gaping necklines. Well, I've finally gotten around to it....

Gaping necklines are my absolute pet peeve. I find them so annoying that most of the time I do a preemptive neckline alteration before even trying on the muslin. I just know my neckline will gape, as anyone with an above average cup size will know. Even after an FBA your neckline will still gape. So you can either tape down your neckline....

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.... or just make a super simple, very tiny neckline alteration to shorten the neckline. So what will it be? Fashion tape? Neckline alteration? Fashion tape? Neckline alteration?

Well, here is what you do if you decide to alter your neckline:

Lengthen the bust dart of your pattern to reach the bust point. Then draw a dart from the neckline to the bust point. You can find out where your bust point is by either tissue-fitting or fitting a muslin to yourself. Mark your bust point and move and/or lengthen the dart to meet the bust point. You can determine the size of the neck dart by fitting a tissue pattern or muslin to you as well. Simply pinch away as much as you need, secure with a pin, mark the dart and then measure it and transfer the measurements to your pattern.

Once you have marked your dart, slash the bust dart and fold away the neckline dart. Your bust dart will increase in size and the neckline will look oddly misshapen. Add some tissue paper to your dart (and accept that it is now even bigger and more unwieldy than before) and redraw the neckline. (If you only need to shorten the neckline by a tiny bit you can simply fold away a tiny the dart and squash the paper a little, without actually cutting up the pattern and shifting the dart around.)

Voila! You are done!

For other styles, like princess seams, you should be able to shift the neckline dart into a seam. Sometimes you can also easily pinch away fabric directly at the seams so there is no need for shifting at all.

I hope this helped some of you big-busted and hopelessly neck-gaping ladies out there. As you can see there's no need to despair. Neckline gaping has easy remedies. Good luck with your alterations!

Mrs. Columbo

I don't know what came first Columbo or trechcoats but I l-o-v-e both. I've had a trenchcoat for many years but have sadly outgrown it. As much as I would like to try my hand on making a trenchcoat from scratch one day, I could not pass up the opportunity to refashion my mum's old trenchcoat from the 1980s.

Why sew a completely new trenchcoat when you have an oversized Burberry coat at your disposal? What could be more luxurious than a vintage Burberry coat? Their trenchcoats are far out of my price tag and range anywhere from £600 to £5,000 (gasp!) on their website. So, snipp, snipp, out come the scissors and needle and in no time my trenchcoat was transformed from sad, baggy and shapeless to more fitted, shorter and with an all-important belt.

I opened up the whole shell and lining at the side seams and along the sleeves and shaped it to make it more fitted. Then I cut off some of the length and pieced the leftovers together to make a belt.

I bought sew-in interfacing to replicate the way the hem that I had cut off was sewn and then neatly replaced all the top-stitching on the coat. I left the lining intact as there was no need to replace it and I like the iconic check anyway.

I really love the way the coat fits now and am happy that I can have what feels like a completely new trenchcoat for the price of a belt buckle and some interfacing. The only problem is that my mum likes it too and wants her coat back. No way! Sorry, mum! :)

Me-Made-Mittwoch #2

Hello, for my second installment of Me-Made-Mittwoch, or should we say Me-Made-Sonntag in disguise of Me-Made-Mittwoch, because truthfully I wore this outfit on Sunday and not today. Hey, what can I do?! Wednesday is my work-from-home and therefore lounging around the house in non-me-made pyjamas and loungewear day. Not an outfit I want to share online.

Hallo zu meinem zweiten Me-Made-Mittwoch Beitrag, der ja eigentlich ein Me-Made-Sonntag Outfit zeigt, das nur so tut, als wäre es auch tatsächlich heute getragen worden. Aber was soll ich bloß machen?! Mittwoch arbeite ich von zu Hause und schaffe es nur selten aus meinem nicht me-made Pyjama-Jogginganzug-Ensemble in präsentable Kleidung zu wechseln. Und das Heimarbeitsensemble ist nun wirklich nichts fürs Internet.

The outfit I wore on Sunday (to celebrate my step-sister's fifteenth birthday) is dress #4 from the June Summer Challenge. The dress is sleeveless, the fabric is very thin and only the bodice is lined, so not an ideal choice for mid October. But a little bit of layering can go a long way: I wore wooly tights, a long-sleeved turtleneck, a me-made slip and a cardigan. Not only was I warm and cozy but I also like the layered look and think the mustard yellow cardigan goes well with the dress. For more of today's Me-Made-Mittwoch outfits, click here.

Das Outfit, das ich euch zeige, und am Sonntag (zum fünfzehnten Geburtstag meiner Stiefschwester) getragen habe, ist Kleid #4 von der June Summer Dress Challenge. Das Kleid ist ärmellos, aus sehr dünnem Stoff und nur das Oberteil ist gefüttert, also keine wirklich ideale Wahl für Mitte Oktober. Aber ein paar Zwiebelschichten drunter und drüber gelegt und sogar das Sommerkleid kann im Winter recht warm sein. Ich habe Wollstrumpfhosen, einen Rollkragenpulli, einen selbstgemachten Unterrock und eine Strickweste mit dem Kleid kombiniert. Mir war nicht nur super warm und angenehm sondern mir gefällt dieser Schichten-Look sogar ganz gut. Für mehr Damen (und Herren?) in ihren heutigen Me-Made Outfits, bitte hier klicken.

Zoe's Re-fashioned Kilt: Passing on the Self-Stitched Love

A little while ago I found a package from Brighton in my mail box containing the very, very first blog give-away I have ever won. Do you remember when Zoe hosted a give-away for her re-fashioned kilt over on her blog? Well, I am now the proud new owner of this very generous gift. Look, the skirt has traveled all the way from Brighton to Vienna:

I really appreciate this give-away (Thanks again, Zoe!) because I think it's a wonderful idea for recycling self-stitched clothing that you know you are not going to wear yourself.

Think about the many, many times we pour hours of work into a sewing project, experiment with a new pattern, a new style and then, when it's all done, realize we will never actually wear what we've just made. Or think about the many things you have sewn and worn but no longer wear, because you are bored with them or don't fit into them anymore. What to do with these clothes?

I have hung onto some self-stitched clothes out of sentimentality, like the very first dress I made all by myself. I have also brutally binned things that were either simply shoddily made, no longer suited my tastes or at some point didn't fit me anymore. I have refashioned some items into new wearables, like this dress that turned into this blouse; and the things I felt could perhaps still be of use to other people I have given to charity.

But I have never ever passed my self-stitched clothes on to friends, family or other self-stitched clothing enthusiasts in the blogosphere. Why? I suppose I've never thought that what I sew is sewn well enough to be appreciated by other people. Also, I make my clothes to my very specific measurements and feel that others may not get any use of my idiosyncratically shaped clothes.

 

But I really like the experience of getting another stitcher's clothes, being able to see another's self-stitched clothes in reality, see how they are made, look at the details and then, of course, getting some wear out of them myself. It's a lovely experience, which also sort of brings this whole online sewing community in contact with each other beyond the computer screen. 

So, as you can imagine, I'm already wracking my brains to see what I could pass on to someone else. Before I bin my clothes next time I will have a little think and try to convince myself that perhaps someone out there would really appreciate what I have made despite its little flaws and idiosyncrasies. I certainly appreciate my new skirt.

What about you? Do you pass your unwanted self-stitched clothes on to others? And if not what keeps you from doing it?

Sewing Sunday: The Buttercup Bag

Last Sunday I organised and hosted a Sewing Sunday in my home. Three of my friends plus me met up in the early afternoon in my apartment to each sew our very own Buttercup Bag. Two of my friends that attended have never really sewn a lot before so I thought it would be nice if we all worked on the same project so we could help each other more easily along the way.

One uf us made the Buttercup Bag as intended in the original pattern with strap and magnetic snap and the rest of us made the zippered version Tilly introduced us to last Christmas on her Crafty Christmas Club blog (which, by the way, has been reignited for a new fantastic season of prezzie crafting. Thanks, Tilly!). Do you remember her fun little pouches? I've made several since and gifted them as birthday and Christmas presents but never kept one for myself. Well, since last Sunday I own my very own Buttercup Bag. Here is a close-up of three of our fantastic bags: a purse version in a fantastic lobster print, a cute flowery version with a red bow and my retro apple fabric version.

Unfortunately, my friend Ritsya had to leave early so we didn't get to include her awesome bag in our final photoshoot. If you would still like to see cute things made by her, check out her fun little etsy shop, where she sells her own leather handcrafted purses and accessoires.

The day was really fun and we ended up sewing for a whole seven hours.We had coffee and tea and I made muffins for the occasion. I was truly exhausted afterwards, as I'm sure we all were. Still, it was so much fun that I definitely want to host another Sewing Sunday. Next time around we are thinking of getting together for some embroidery. The good thing about doing embroidery together is that we don't have to worry about having enough sewing machines and don't need as many tools and supplies, which might make it easier for people to attend.

Do any of you host or attend any sewing or craft meet-ups? How are they organized and what projects do you make? Does everyone bring their own project ideas or do you work on something together? I'd really love to hear about your experience and ideas on sewing and craft get-togethers!

Me-Made-Mittwoch #1

Phew, I've had a long blogging break! I am back with a new bilingual installment in both English and German. I've recently discovered many interesting German language blogs and am trying to connect a little more with the blogosphere on the homefront. Sometimes it's nice to read about things happening near me for a change (well, kind of...Berlin, Hamburg, et al. aren't necessarily around the corner) instead of longingly reading posts about bloggers meeting up for fabric shopping and pattern swaps in far away places like New York. Sigh! So from now on I am planning on writing some posts, particularly those that may be of special interest to people living in my corner of the world, in both German and English.

Ich habe eine lange Blogpause gehabt bin nun aber wieder zurück mit einem ganz neuen zweisprachigen Format in English und in Deutsch. In letzter Zeit habe ich im Internet viele neue interessante deutschsprachige Blogs entdeckt, die mich dazu inspiriert haben auch mal mehr mit der deutschpsrachigen Blogosphere in Kontakt zu kommen und dazu beizutragen. Es ist ja auch mal schön, was von Bloggern zu lesen, die nicht im fernen Amerika oder Australien zu Hause sind, sondern schon fast greifbar nah sind. Daher plane ich in Zukunft einige Beiträge, besonders diese, die lokalen Bezug haben, sowohl auf Deutsch als auch auf Englisch zu schreiben.

Today's post is my very first contribution to a quickly growing community of Me-Made-Mittwoch bloggers. Me-Made-Mittwoch, obviously inspired by Zoe's various Me-Made challenges, is a way of sharing your self-stitched outfits with your readers on a regular basis year round, namely every Wednesday (Mittwoch means Wednesday in German). The challenge was started by Catherine from the blog Cat-und-Kascha and you can read about it (in German!) here.

Mein allererster zweisprachiger Beitrag ist gleichzeitig mein Einstieg in Me-Made-Mittwoch. Ich denke, dass ich der deutschsprachigen Community wohl gar nicht mehr erklären muss, was es mit dem Me-Made-Mittwoch auf sich hat, solltet ihr aber tatsächlich noch nie davon gehört haben, schaut euch diesen Beitrag auf Cat-und-Kascha, der Initiatorin von Me-Made-Mittwoch an, der alles erklären wird.

My first Me-Made-Mittwoch outfit features two self-stitched garments I haven't blogged about yet, because despite my blogging absence I have been sewing lots, so there are many new things to show. The grey-black semi-circle skirt is my own pattern and the purple t-shirt is made using Onion 5035 but I modified the t-shirt slightly to make the neckline drape deeper and more voluminous. To see what the other participants of Me-Made-Mittwoch are wearing today, click here.

In meinem ersten Me-Made-Mittwoch Outfit hab ich gleich zwei Teile an, über die ich noch nicht gebloggt habe: meinen grau-schwarzen Tellerrock und mein violettes drapiertes T-shirt. Den Tellerrock habe ich nach eigenem Schnitt gemacht und er ist eigentlich nure ein halber Teller und das violette T-shirt ist Onion 5035, aber etwas verändert, sodass die Falten tiefer in den Ausschnitt fallen. Um zu sehen, was die anderen Me-Made-Mittwoch TeilnehmerInnen denn heute so tragen, klick auf diesen Link.

I'll show you more pictures of both in a future post. That's me for today, have a nice week and happy sewing! 

Ich werde von beiden Teilen noch mehr Photos machen und darüber in einem zukünftigen Beitrag bloggen. Das war's von mir für heute, bis bald und fröhliches Nähen!