A staple dress and -blouse

Hi peeps,

as usual, it´s been a while since my last post, but work is rolling in and I still didn´t manage to clone myself, so some things simply have to wait...

But then, I made some pretty stuff since I last posted, mostly dresses of which I want to show you my two versions of the staple dress which was included in the previous Perfect pattern parcel.

I found this cotton/viscose blend on my favorite fabric market, Maybachufermarkt, here in Berlin. It´s always fun to browse between the stalls, touch and feel the fabrics, have a little chat with Mahmud and his colleages and sample some of the Maroccan food thats being offered. It´s one of my favorite pasttimes on a Saturday after cleaning the flat and shopping groceries. I take a ride to Neukölln and enjoy the atmosphere at the market. Should you ever come to Berlin, don´t miss it, every Saturday from eleven am to five pm.

Back to the fabric. I love those big Hibiscus flowers on white ground, the fabric has a nice drape and is very lightweight, doesn´t crumple and feels cool against the skin.

I made the staple dress with a normal seam, maybe next time I will try the high-low seam version.

The dress came together pretty easily, ok, the pattern is for beginners and I was finished in a few hours.
Shoulder seams were made with french seams, I like the clean look that gives to the inside of a garment.
The shirring in the middle sits a little too high for my liking, a fact I eliminated with the blouse from the same pattern. Due to the lightweight fabric I decided to omit the pockets as I didn´t want my hips to be emphazised too much. I added just two rows of shirring on that one. My machine (a Singer curvy) had no problems whatsoever with the elastic in the bobbin.

I am rather pleased with the result as you can see. Only the weather changed and it is too cold to wear this dress at the moment. But hope never dies, huh?

On with number two:
A blouse from the same pattern, with a very different fabric. This time it´s a pure cotton, a little stiff but with a nice feel to it, a lovely print (or so I think) and so very easy to sew, my Machine almost purred while sewing it.... :-)
Unfortunately I cut it too short, and it looked like a bad joke when I tried it on for the first fitting...so I simply cut another 20 centimeters and added them to the hem. Now it looks hot (again only my opinion...)
and I will wear this a lot (at least if it will ever be warm again here).

But have a look for yourself and tell me what you think!

Ok, bad hair day inclusive, but not too bad or is it?

I like the blouse and the dress. All in all a time well spent. I´m thinking about a jersey version in a plain color, with pockets, just to be on the practical side for once.

And just for fun a little goodie as a nice finish:

Have fun sewing guys and keep your fingers crossed for the time to pass fast until I can finally pack my stuff for the Great Oz Experience.....

Til then,

happy sewing :-)

Little cork men

Dear lovely readers,

today I want to tell you about the little cork-men that "live" in Berlin.
The first one I stumbled over was when I waited to cross the street close to my home. I was lost in thoughts about what to cook when I reached my flat and wether I needed some ingredients when a little irregularity caught my eye.

When I crossed the street, I was able to examine it more closely, and saw it was a little figure made of bottle corks, glued to the top of a street sign. Normally, nobody looks at these signs, or if they do, they don´t really see what´s there.

I was fascinated. A little piece of art directly in front of me, and almost nobody noticed it! I felt like that little cork-man and me had a secret now, for I knew about his existence.

From that day on, everytime I come near this crossing, my eyes search for him and I smile at myself and feel like a conspirator. 

During my still ongoing discovery of new corners of my new found home town, I realized that there is a whole family of cork-men living on the signposts of Berlin.

I even have a little competition with a dutch friend of mine, and we send each other every newly shot little figure that we find. Always makes me laugh.

I will keep my eyes open and post frequently about new family members of the corks :-)

Do you have strange or beautiful pieces of Art in your city?

Let me know about your thoughts.

Have a good time,

Cheers,

Milan