ruffly blouses = love.

I spent the better part of the past 3 days dreaming of sewing rather than sewing anything. BUT...while I dreamed, I traced! That's where I get most of my tracing done, in fact. Those days when I don't feel like actually sewing on one of the many UFOs lying about, I pop a movie in the dvd player and trace all those lovely garments BWOF (now BS) puts in my mailbox monthly.

This weekend I concentrated on blouses, because I love love love all of the retro and vintage-styled blouses BS has had in recent months. And of course, Emma Pillsbury wears any number of gorgeous ruffly and bow tied blouses every week too, which only spurs me on. I especially love this, in its over the top ruffliness:


Luckily, it's a basic button-front blouse pattern. The lace ruffles are what makes the shirt. I've got a couple of patterns that will work, including the Simplicity one I just finished (if I add a collar from another pattern).

And this blouse has made numerous appearances on Glee, which is enough to convince me I need one. Right now.



What I really love about it is that it has a V-neck, AND a tie. I mean, you don't really see that too often! I'm chesty (heh), so I like open necklines as a rule. I have made a "muslin" of the Miss MoneyPenny Pussycat Blouse (it's not quite finished I screwed up the collar and had to rip it out and reattach last weekend.)


I have to say...Vintage Hotpatterns instructions?? Not my favorite thing.

This BWOF top from the plus section in the 9/2009 issue is also a V-neck with a tie. Very chic. Traced it last night and can't wait to try it! Note that this issue also has a great, basic pencil skirt. And, not that you can tell from this drawing, nor from the photo in the magazine, but it has this great flounce in back! I would have totally missed it if Shannon hadn't pointed it out. Amazing skirt. It always pays to check the back views in the instruction section!



Then, just in the spirit of ruffly blouses, I remembered this great top I had dogeared from the 6/2007 issue:

Started tracing it, graded and did the FBA on the CF piece when this nagging deja vu thing just would NOT leave me alone. And then it dawned on me. I had just traced THIS ruffly top from the Spring 2010 issue of Burda Plus magazine:
Doh. Except for the bit of gathering at the bustline (which I could easily add to my ALREADY TRACED pattern), its nearly identical. In fact, I sort of like the plus version better!

For fabrics, I have a yummy robin's egg Imperial batiste and a lavender voile. Both will require a nice cami underneath, so I better get cracking on a pattern for that too. I also have some white Imperial that I'd like to use for the lace top.

Better get my buns offline if I want to see any of these garments in real life though!

a day off!

I'm off today! I spent the weekend tracing several things from the new Burda Plus and from the regular Burda mag. Then I lounged around in indecision of which to make first for a few hours this morning. Grr.

Finally I decided to try this one:in a poly blend black with white pinstripe. It's sort of spongy and has a bit of stretch, so I am doing a "faux" fly rather than actually inserting a zip. Heck, with the elastic back & sides, I don't think even with regular trouser fabric I'd need a zip.

I'm a bit aggravated though. I have them stitched together and they're too baggy through the legs (they don't look as wide in the line drawing as they are on me!) so I need to trim down a bit there. I also have my usual wrinkles under the bum in back. I don't know exactly what causes this and even following Belinda's recent Jalie fitting sessions hasn't helped me figure it out.

I'm about to the point where I can just live with those wrinkles. Hey, I can't see them. Right? Plus, I'm pretty sure all my RTW pants have them anyway. I'm also pretty annoyed that I wasted half the morning trying to sew PANTS. What was I THINKING????

So I'm moving on. Probably to this top from the same Burda Plus issue:I love all the ruffles, but I don't care for the length. However, when I was tracing it, it didn't seem that long (even for this view, there's a shorter view). I have an aqua Imperial batiste that I mail-ordered and didn't turn out to be exactly the color I wanted. So I figure I can try it in this blouse and if it works, great.


Then I remembered I had earmarked a length of dark aqua crinkle cotton for this:

Apparently I'm on an aqua kick this month. Now I have to decide whether to keep my aqua plans or dig around for another fabric for one of these.

Or, you know, move on to another project entirely. Like a frothy dirndl skirt made out of this fabulous palm tree voile with a pink Imperial batiste underskirt:


Yeah, that imaginary skirt is sort of calling my name. Can you hear it?

winterized.

See this?


Well, I'm right in the path of the white stuff (that 6-12 inches band is me). I can handle snow, but unfortunately they're calling for up to 1" of ice accumulation first, which means I'll lose power.

Last time I lost power for an ice storm, it was out for 2 weeks. Yes, WEEKS.

But least I'll have time to trace some of the cute things in the new BWOF (or BS as Shannon has started calling it, haha) and Burda Plus mag, which has some cute things in it for spring/summer! I really like this knit top:And this pencil skirt is really sort of awesome. I probably need to muslin it asap.

And I'm a sucker for these flowy, butterfly sleeve thingies. LOVE this top.
This top has possibilities too. Hmmm.
If you don't hear from me for a few days...I'm hunkered down, keeping warm, and missing the internets!! But hopefully, we'll just see some nice, white fluffy stuff and I'll be cozy warm with the internet AND the tv to keep me company.