Work in progress

The Peacock Dress is in progress! This blog however, isn't. And since this is a crazy spring, that's just something I have to live with. And unfortunately, you dear readers... If you are on Instagram, you can follow my work there. If you're not, I promise there will be post here further on. But not as frequent as I would like...

And if you like me, not only like sewing couture and fabrics, also like healthy food, fitness and striving for balance in your life, you can also follow my other Instagram account; in momentum. There you'll find another side of me, that needs more and more space and time. 

Thank you for your patience with me!

Dreaming of San Francisco

Spring is very, very slowly coming to Helsingborg. I'm not in my most creative mood, and - like times before - I'm thinking a lot about life and what to do with it. We'll see. San Francisco and Monterey were totally amazing, partly because of the weather (about 15-20 degrees Celsius, crisp air and sunny, my favourite weather all time), partly because of all fun things we did - sea otters, national parks, shopping (fabric! vintage! food! shoes!), eating, walking - and partly because I was in such great company.

Returning home - while my company stayed in the sun - to a more than busy and stressful time at work and this weather haven't been easy. And I always find this time of year challenging - something about lack of energy.

I've been practicing my idea since last time - just do it! - on my creative work and it's turned out ok. I've made progress on the skirt. I've made progress on the statement-necklace I'm planning. But my heart haven't been it. Yesterday evening I thought I would cheer myself up and finally watch The Dressmaker with my favourite Kate Winslet. A great movie, the clothes are to die for and Kate is so good. But it's not exactly a cheer-you-up-movie, just sayin'...

Perhaps some looking at what I brought home from San Francisco can cheer up? I spent one intense day doing all my shopping, and started at Britex Fabrics when they opened. It wasn't cheap, the dollar-Swedish Krona-ratio is horrible, taxes are added upon the price seen - but it was very fun.

Britex houses four floors of fabrics and notions and I started on the fourth floor and worked myself down. And then up again - the remnants are on top. I bought some pressing tools that are hopeless to find in Sweden and always costs a fortune when you add shipping. A bit heavy to carry around all day - good thing I'm working out! (The needles didn't exactly add to the weight...)

Then I found my first fabric - a silk/cotton faille. I love a faille, and I absolutely love a silk/cotton. It's a dark green, perhaps a bit too dark for the summer dress I intend to make, but I think it'll be lovely all the same. It's about 1,6 meters and I payed $95 (821 SEK) for it.

Then I looked at a lot of silks and wools, and returned back to the remnants and some blue and green silks I'd been eyeing up before. I bought two of them and tried not to breathe while I handed over my credit card. There's not much of each, just over 1 metre, but will be enough for a dress without so much sleeves. One is an emerald green silk crêpe and the other a petrol blue silk faille (from France. A bit silly to buy it in USA, but I haven't seen this one in Paris.).

The green cost about $65 (565 SEK) which was a great price for one of the most stunning fabrics I've seen, but the faille was $119 (1030 SEK) and that's a lot of money. But I really liked it... It had been marked down from $175 per yard, and that's a whole other story.

Then I needed a break and had some gluten-free lunch in the shade - lovely!

I also found a vintage dress that suited me perfectly - the very nice owner of VerUnica (the neighbourhood, Hayes Valley was so nice!) called it a Cinderella-moment when I stepped out from the fitting room. And I have to agree... At $95 (826 SEK) it wasn't a bargain, but it's a really well made dress in great condition and I'll wear it a lot. The cut of the bodice is really special and something I'd like to try; either for a dress or a blouse.

It's interlined with silk organza (just as I thought I maybe should have done with the very simple little black dress!) and rayon binding along the hem and sleeves, and a lingerie guard on the shoulders as well.

I could easily have spent a whole day just looking at and trying on vintage. I visited most stores in the late afternoon and was a bit tired and also a bit aware of what I already bought. The selection was huge, and prices from moderate - like mine - to rather low - and then some really high for the really extravagant ones. And there was a lot of extravagant things!

A tiny thing more.... For the past year or so I've been looking for a cocktail ring and scanned thousands and thousands of rings on internet auction houses and Etsy but not finding The One. But I did in San Francisco, just a couple of minutes from the flat we rented. (Please ignore my very dry hands.)

The suitcase was half empty when I left Sweden, but it wasn't on the way back. Apart from the above, some shoes (2 pairs actually) and some food from Whole Foods. I love that place!

And then, back to real life. Harder than usual.

Inspiration from haute couture sewing movies

Hm. Just after I finished my first post on energy and inspiration, I read an article about exercising. (In a way it's frightening how much I like to work out these days. And read about it.) Anyway, it said something like this: you don't wait for inspiration to brush your teeth, you just do it. So don't wait for inspiration, just go to the gym and do it. Could the same thing be said for creative work like writing, painting - or sewing?

I gave it a try today. It's raining, I have a full day just to myself and can do whatever I want, and I just feel a bit blah. Not tired, just uninspired. So after my second cup of coffee and catching up on blogs I went to work on the peacock dress. I decided to keep it without sleeves, but still felt a bit blah.

So I decided to do what I normally do - watch my favourite video on haute couture sewing from Dior. It's more or less 7 minutes in heaven and always sparks my inspiration. Today even more so, since I found a whole movie - 50 minutes! - of making outfit no 5 for the Dior haute couture show of spring summer 2011. It required 500 hours of work, and is such a crazy beautiful work of art.

Focus is all on the sewing and craftsmanship in the ateliers, and I think it's so much better than the movie Dior & I, even though it was better than I expected. I loved the references to Christian Dior! I still don't like Raf Simons collections for Dior - they are too minimalistic for me -  but I gained much respect for him. I did have a hard time understanding why he needed to cover the whole setting in flowers though. Sure it was striking and luxurious, but it also felt like a terrible waste. The amount of money spent could probably support a smaller country. And why all that opulence on the decor instead of on the clothes? It made me miss Galliano's extravagance before he screwed up.

Another fascinating look into the ateliers in Paris is Signé Chanel. It's from 2005 but is still so good. I bought it on DVD last year, and it's truly fascinating. Karl Lagerfeldt's extra-ordinary mind and never ending flow of ideas, the workrooms attention to detail and patience with Kaiser Karl's all whims, and most of all how they manage to do it on time... This mini-series really shows how much clothes can be when it comes to art, skill, craftsmanship. It's a far cry from polyester fast fashion for 10€...

Are there more videos that really goes behind the seams?

PS. And for the inspiration? Didn't really work as planned. I sat in awe over the Dior atelier for almost an hour, then stared at my fabrics and just couldn't decide what to do...

Energy and inspiration - where do you find it?

Sometimes you have energy but no inspiration. Sometimes you have inspiration but no energy. And some sad times, you have neither. My best solution for either occasion is to travel, but that's not always possible. And not always wanted either, for at the same time I LOVE being at home. My home really is my castle. (That said, I'm very pleased to have a trip to San Francisco coming up in just a couple of weeks!)

I've been quite fortunate in both inspiration and energy these past weeks, but Friday afternoon I felt like I'd been run over by a truck. It's been a very intense week at work and I did put in too many hours, was tired and therefore wanted to eat all day to compensate and didn't have the energy for neither grocery shopping nor the extra visit to the gym - enough to shift the balance in the wrong direction. So I've spent my weekend to restore my balance; eating proper food (and filling up the supplies), move slowly, meet a friend, work out and fiddling with my Peacock Dress. And I know I need to make next week a bit calmer.

Still, I do think I've found my way in general: eating good (healthy and tasty) food (not chocolate cakes and macaroons), exercising, sleeping well and working quite a lot - but not too much. Throw in some people I really like, and that's my recipe for energy and balance.

Inspiration is something quite different. I need a constant input and a never ending flow of beautiful things before my eyes, and still I can't understand why I some days have absolutely no inspiration at all and the next so much I don't know what to do with it. But one thing is sure, I find a lot of my inspiration on Internet.

Long before Pinterest, I've collected beautiful pictures. Both the ones I cut out from magazines, and the ones I've found online. I can't really say what to do with them - very few are actually used as inspiration for a project of some kind or even looked at again - but I do like to collect and save them.

Instagram is quite different. I'm trying to make a flow of pictures that simply makes me happy and inspired, but it's quite difficult since most use Instagram as a combination of their everyday life and their area of interest - and I'm interested in the later. I'm still working on how to curate that perfect Instagram-feed. (A bit of the same problem with Pinterest actually. Some days there are just too many things that don't fit in.)

And of course there are the blogs. I use Feedly to keep my 100+ blogging list manageable - not as good looking as Bloglovin' but easier to read. The feed consists of some lifestyle blogs, some blogs about blogging, some about vintage, fashion and museums  - and lots about sewing. My favourite sewing blogs are the ones with great craftsmanship and attention to detail, and an aesthetics leaning towards vintage and classics (no surprise there I guess...) and I'm always keen to find new ones.

BurdaStyle have released their new BurdaStyle Best of Blogging List. For some reason you have to sign up to get it; I don't quite understand why but I would say it's worth it. Not just because I'm in it (!!), but because you'll find 50 great sewers presented with a short introduction and sorted in different categories. I was so pleased to find myself in the International - Advanced - DIY Style - Vintage and Retro-categories and with the following words: The advanced sewist will appreciate the level of detail and creativity that Stina puts into her creations. Oh, I do hope so!

I have so many good things to share about inspiration - so let's dedicate the month of February to it!

Patterns and toiles for the Peacock Dress

I've started drafting patterns and making toiles for my Peacock Dress. There will be several more...

First I sewed the bodice of Gertie's wiggle dress (Butterick B5814). I've said it before; I'm not made for patterns drafted by somebody else. I was right in the middle of the two envelope sizes but went for the smaller one since I know the huge amount of ease the Big 4 uses. I checked the measurements for the finished garment and they were a centimetre smaller than me but still the bodice is way too big, and way too long - the proportions are totally off. And all the drape happens somewhere below the bust. The sight of me in it just isn't something I'm willing to share on the Internet - but you can see my points on my dress form as well.

Next step was playing around with a pleated / draped bodice of my own. That was really fun! I also wanted a version with the draping overlapping each other, as on the Modes Royale pattern.

I used the picture of the pattern pieces and worked on that to understand the design, and although one attempt was better than the four others, I still didn't quite figured it out. To stop me from getting in a really bad mood, I sewed the first bodice - the one I drafted - instead.

This is my first try drafting a pleated / draped bodice (I mean, like ever), and I'm extremely pleased. The fit is amazing if I may say so! But I want more pleats and a sharper v-shape, and also a bit deeper neckline, so I'll continue to work on this.

I made two different backs - one with draping from centre back and one from the side seam.

I had an idea for a third one; like an attached train but decided against it an early stage when I just played around with fabric on the dress form.

Then I made a long list of things I should work on, some small details and some major design ideas. I might give the overlapped draped bodice another go, and I'll try with a godet instead, both in the side seam and centre back seam.

My plan is to have the pattern ready by Easter, along with all material I need. So I have plenty of time and am actually thinking about sewing something in between. A silk blouse? A black skirt? A blue or green dress...?

The (very) simple little black dress

This really is my version of the Background Dress or the Second Look Dress. It's a black fitted dress. 3/4-length sleeves. High neckline in front and in the back. A simple vent. The only embellishment is the bound edges of sleeves and neckline. And I felt like a million dollars wearing it!

As I said, I continued my work on my Ultimate Dress Pattern. I changed the two front darts to four, and continued with split bust darts. I didn't make a toile this time but used the sky blue dress to estimate the fit, changed the pattern, cut the wool, basted all 12 darts (or 16 really - two on the shoulder, two on the sleeves as well) and pinned the rest of the dress - side seams, centre back, shoulders, sleeves... - and tried it on.

It was so good! A little less fabric over the hips, but most changes were needed on the sleeves and armscye - I removed almost all of the ease from the sleeves which surprisingly gave not only really nice fitted sleeves but also more arm movement. I'm a rather bright girl, but sometimes I just don't understand fitting.

Oh and the fabric! It's one of  my most recent buys, from Lisbon. A black wool crêpe, and lined with my favourite mix of acetate and cupro. It's so nice to work with and so nice to wear. The satin bias binding is in rayon.

Centre back is stabilised with twill tape and the zipper is prick stitched by hand. I used a new-to-me technique that I really loved (except that I did it by hand and without drawing on the right side of the fabric) and will be doing a lot more in the future.

Since the crêpe isn't the most stable of fabrics, I used twill tape for the shoulder seams as well, and rayon tape when I put in the sleeves. (Why rayon instead of twill tape? Because there's absolutely no give in the twill tape, but there are some in the rayon tape and I want some movement in the sleeve.) After I sewn all the darts I thought about underlining. Should I have underlined the entire dress in the acetate-cupro instead? Or with silk organza and then lined it as usual? Time will tell!

I cut the neckline and sleeves without seam allowances and bound the edges with bias binding - first one seam by machine and then I prick stitched by hand in the ditch, enclosing both the wool and the lining. The lining is fell stitched to the centre back seam.

I finished the seams in wool with a zigzag, while the lining simply is pinked. Both hems in wool and lining are finished by hand. As you can tell, the construction and sewing were really straight forward, and nothing complicated. (I think the most difficult was taking photos of a black dress in January...)

I could wear this dress more or less every day. Love it.

In print!

I've finally seen my coat in print! Threads kindly sent my a copy that arrived the other day, and I've carried it around since. Kind of.

I'm thrilled!

In case you want to read more, just scroll down one post to The ruby red coat in Threads, where you get links to the posts on making the coat.

The Peacock Dress - an introduction

I'm very lucky to be invited to two weddings this summer; in June, one Saturday after another and with two totally different set of guests. That means I can wear the same dress, which I'm grateful for since this is going to be a crazy spring. I'm working full time for the first time in years since the project reaches one of its biggest milestones in - you guessed it! - June.

The fabric is already in my stash. 2.10 metres of the most glorious peacock blue silk I've ever laid my eyes - and hands - upon. It's a double satin, so equally shiny on both sides, with a lovely drape and weight and made in France for the couture house of Lanvin. I bought it last time in Paris, and it was love at first sight. And not crazy expensive either; 35 euro per metre. (I've bought worse since then, without even noticing it.)

All I have to do is figure out what I want to make of it. Oh, and make it.

It can't be something too structured (if I don't want an understructure out of steel) since I want to show off the beautiful drape, but at the same time, it's turned out that I'm not so fond of things with draping all over my front. So I thought maybe draping in the back instead but I really want to wear a proper bra. It should be knee-length and a rather fitted skirt - but I would like to add something special to it, a bit of a drama. And I want to take advantage of the double weave.

Most of the time, a fabric speaks to me and tells me what it want to become. For being a peacock, this one's been awfully quiet... I've looked at thousands of vintage patterns and dresses and contemporary patterns and dresses, and added and removed pictures from my Pinterest-board and at last, I'm on the final stretch.

Should I wear a head-piece? I need a bag. And a cover-up - June can be cold in Sweden (somewhere between 5 and 25 degrees Celsius...) As I said, something draped and a bit dramatic for the dress. A nice low cut draped bodice with some sort of train or flounce or drape for the skirt. I'm thinking it will be a combination of those patterns and designs that makes up my final peacock dress. There will be toiles...

For the bodice, I've already ordered Gertie's wiggle dress pattern, Butterick 5814. Modes Royale 1467 is so beautiful (without the strap across the chest) but the pattern is very rare; I've only found one copy that sold for $165 last year... But as you can see, I've found a picture of the pattern pieces so it is possible to draft my own version.

For the skirt, Advanced Pattern 41 has been highest on the list. But with a bit less fabric in the flounce... (Partly because I only have two metres...) The evening gown by Dior, modelled by Alla, is also an idea - but cocktail length. I'm uncertain of how it looks from behind, and if my fabric has enough bounce. I think the draping at the back of the Ceil Chapman dress that Laura Mae sewn suits my fabric better, and that happens to be very similar to the back of the Modes Royale dress. So perhaps try those three versions for the skirt...?

As I write, I realise that I've left the Burda pattern with the glorious back drape behind. It's beautiful, but I don't like the front (even though that can be changed) and as I said; I want to wear a bra.

It should take me about two weeks to make toiles of the two bodice-versions, including drafting and fitting and not much else to do during the weekends. And perhaps two weeks for the three versions of the skirt as well? I should be done with toiles and patterns by Easter, and begin construction of the real deal...

The ruby red coat in Threads

I had my favourite kind of morning today; it's a National holiday in Sweden so no work. I lit the candles, made eggs and lots of coffee while reading blogs.

Then I got a comment on my own blog that more or less made me jump up and down with joy and pride:

This evening I saw your red coat in Number 183 of Threads Magazine. It's beautiful and quite elegant. Anxiously awaiting your blog detailing the garment's construction. You are to be applauded on your work.

Thank you, thank you kind anonymous reader! I've spent part of the day translating the original blog posts about the ruby red coat since they were mostly in Swedish. So to all my international readers, now you can read about the beginning, the sewing and the end in three new old posts:
The coat begins
How to make a coat
A finished coat

After Threads contacted me I was afraid of jinxing it, so I was very happy when I signed the photo release. And now I can't wait until I get my hand on a copy of the magazine as well!

Follow me

I've added another way to follow this blog! If you don't want to get notified of new blog posts on Bloglovin', Feedly (my own preferred reader), RSS Feed or even my StinaP-blog-Pinterest-board, you can now subscribe to Stina P with e-mail. Just click on the @ on the right (the letter icon is if you want to e-mail me) and you'll get straight to the page for entering your e-mail address.

Or you can simple click here and you'll get to the same place.

Here's to lots of blogging in 2016!

I made it - Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge

Last year, I joined the sewing community in the Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge.

I made a rather simple one - to sew from at least one vintage pattern without making lots and lots of changes to the design. I didn't think more of it, until now.

The rules are a vintage pattern or reproduction pattern, and my pledge was to use an original. But the year passed, no sewing from an original vintage pattern. (I made of toile of this Burda reproduction pattern, but I didn't like the fit. I think it's the wrong design for a lady with a bust.) When I remembered my pledge (as it turned up in one year review after another) I was a bit annoyed - but not surprised - that I hadn't fulfilled my pledge. And suddenly realised, that with a bit of a stretch of my pledge (but still following the rules); by making my lovely jacket / cape / whatever it is I actually fulfilled the pledge. The pattern, Vogue Vintage Model V2934, is a proper reproduction from 1950! Mission accomplished! (And I only made minor alterations like shortening the cuffs and using a different closure.)

2015 - another year passed

I enjoyed putting a list together last year, so let's do it again. But in English this time.

Best creation
The dark blue lace skirt or the blue-grey jacket / cape? Can't really decide. They would look amazing together!

Best outfit
I've struggled quite a bit with my wardrobe this year - as evident in far too many posts - and spent more time than usual in modal jersey and black, and far less time in vintage dresses. I'm still not sure where all of this is going, but I've felt most comfortable in pencil skirts.
Best buy: vintage
The 3/4 black circle skirt in silk faille. I think I've worn it once or twice a week since I bought it. Even though slim skirts are my new best friends.
Best buy: fabric
Oh. So much fabric has entered my home this year! How to decide what's best?

Best buy: the rest
Apart from all the good food, massages, travels etc I'm so very pleased with the nightstand I found in Helsingör. And the floors and walls of my bedroom, if you can count that as a purchase.

Best travel
I've only been away twice this year; London and Lisbon. Despite the gorgeous fabrics in Lisbon I'll have to go with London. The fabrics, the champagne and flamingos, spending time with family, the V&A and most importantly - the Clothworkers' Centre. Inside this magnificent building is a magnificent treasure of textiles - it's the archive for more than 100 000 pieces from V&A's vast collection. I was able to spend two hours with five pieces of haute couture, take lots of photos of them and signing contract after contract that I won't show them to anyone... I still can't believe I was there.

Greatest shock
The e-mail from Threads Magazine wanting to feature my ruby red coat! Not perhaps a shock, but still a great surprise - that my blog is on Burda's top 50 list again! And that I really, really enjoy working out.

Greatest joy
That I've at least kind-of managed to mix my everyday work as architect / project manager with blogging and sewing, working out and everything else.
Greatest disappointment
That I've let the blog slip not just once but twice this year. And that I still have so many vintage dresses to sell, and so few clothes to wear.
Most yearned for
Time!
Most read blogs
My favourite blogs are still Gertie, Laura Mae and Marina, but like me, they've been blogging less this year. Overall, there seems to be less blogging (if you don't count the endless list of blogs about blogging and making money blogging about blogs and... I guess some parts of the blogging world must be thriving.) A nice new acquaintance is Lisa Comfort of Sew Over It and her vlog.
Most inspiring
The fabric stores in London and Lisbon. The Clothworkers' Centre. Signé Chanel and Dior & I on screen. Gods & Gårdar (my guilty pleasure; a Swedish magazine on castles and mansions were people actually live!), Pinterest... This list can be long!

Wishes for 2016

I think I'll continue with the wishes from last year: more discipline, more romance, more travels, more inspiration, and more time.

As usual - a very happy new year to you all! And please, let 2016 be a brighter year for mankind...

Stina P and her overactive imagination

Remember me? Remember that I worked with my Ulitmate Dress Pattern for a couple of months, made a sky blue dress and then nothing more was heard of this pattern? Well, I wasn't too pleased with the fit. It was ok, but... And due to my (for me) intense workouts, my body changed overnight again (it's strange that it isn't happening slow and steady but rather huge leaps at a time) and the fit was even worse and I didn't even want to look at the dress again. So I tried a pattern from BurdaStyle and it was a bit small in the bust area and a bit big over the hips and I really didn't like all that fabric / draping so I did a toile of Gertie's wiggle dress, and the bust area was probably ok but HUGE over the hips (and I was a bit lazy while copying the pattern and didn't adjust any measurements) and then the pedal of my sewing machine broke and I sewed half the toile by hand and I just wanted a dress. So I tried on the sky blue dress again to see if I perhaps might be able to work some magic.

And this is where my overactive imagination comes in. The fit wasn't that bad. The dress was rather fine to look at, and will be rather fine for the summer. Perhaps I'll alter the fit, or I'll just have a rather relaxed dress or my body will have changed again. But the alterations I need for now was rather straight forward: some excess fabric in the armscye. A bit big over the hips. A bit of gaping in the back due to the low cut. So I did the alterations - and they didn't take long. And I certainly didn't need any magic...

I've been working in baby steps the past month. 15 minutes here and there, fixing the pattern. Trying to decided which fabric to use. Ordering zippers and bias tape. Steaming the wool once I've settled for the black crêpe from Lisbon.

So in a break from the Christmas celebrations I started to mark and cut my pattern. I've forgotten how much I love it (being at least two months since last time...). Then I took a break with some champagne, duck, beluga lentils and Life in Squares. Beautiful.

Merry Christmas!

(I may have stolen the title from the rather amusing book "Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination" by Helen Fielding...)

Not an ordinary Sunday

It's been a strange weekend. News of the terror in Paris didn't reach me until Saturday morning. Then I was off to celebrate the birthday of a 2 year old. Today I did an intense workout, while the papers reported that a terrorist cell might have escaped. Everyday life intertwined in terror, death and fear. The attacks in Paris really is an attack on life where joy, love and laughter is the most important things.

It could have been anyone of us. This was my lunch in Paris, just a year ago. 

It's said over and over again that we must not surrender to terrorism. That we must continue to live our lives in freedom and democracy. So I'll continue with what you normally would find here on a Sunday in November.

I'm trying to choose my five free patterns from BurdaStyle (from being on the BurdaStyle 2015 Best of Blogging List!).

I've made a toile of one of the Burda-patterns I got last year. I don't have a fabric in mind, I just wanted to see if I like the design and if it suits me. I don't like it. Too much fabric on the front. 

I've been sorting buttons and sewing notions in my new old thread cabinet.

I'm trying to make up my mind on my next project. Black wool crêpe? Green wool? Blue grosgrain? Pale blue wool crêpe? Drafting the pattern myself, using one I already have or start hunting on the big mighty Internet? So many questions. So few answers; at least for today.