I have discovered this wonderful blog today browsing around Burda Style’s projects:

http://megannielsen.com/2009/10/ladies-who-lunch-dress-giveaway.html

She is having a dress giveaway, really pretty dress, very classic in Green!

Great Blog, drop her a visit and a comment and you can enter the giveaway!

The A Plus A Line Skirt variation, originally uploaded by fmirela.

BurdaStyle contest entry based on free pattern from Burda Style.

Thanks to Twinkle by Wenlan! My inspiration came from the book The Art Of Manipulating Fabric thanks to Roberta for pointing this book out to me! Pretty cool!

I wanted to keep the fullness of the skirt, and apply a quick and fun technique of machine smocking. I used the same decorative honeycomb stitch to sew the hem and the topstitching on the yoke. Another change to the pattern is the lowered waistline (with about 5 cm).

Brief Instructions for the machine smocking

Wish me luck!

No luck this time. here is the winner:

http://www.burdastyle.com/blog/the-winner-of-the-show-us-your-a-line-skirt-competition-is

And this out of 64 creations, some really gorgeous, a skirt with no hem at all and some lace over it wins, I have to disagree…I liked the third price winner more, and many others out there deserved it better, but oh well…cute stockings.

The view, originally uploaded by fmirela.

I’m moving out of the place all together on Tuesday…will surely miss that view.

Here’s what I have been up to in June, a somewhat productive month:

Ellinor pattern from BurdaStyle: www.burdastyle.com/projects/ellinor

The knotted top:

Another green T-Shirt with pearl snaps, in Lacoste fabric. Wondering whether to put the iron on transfer with the Grand Tetons or just live it as is….

Pattern: M-Patterns…disappointing. I’m really not pleased with the way this turned out, I don’t like the finishing on it, nor the fit…will probably just use this for the gym or a bike ride

A strange one this time in Lacoste fabrics purple and green, some flowers iron on applique. the neckline is tooo low, i will probably add another green ribbon around it. I’m not sure I like this shape…

La Mia Boutique T shirt. I adore the pattern. A friend sewn a similar top ages ago, in brown lycra and I decided there and then to make one, or two as well. It did take me a long time, but I will probably reuse this pattern more often now. I think this looks great as a sportish look, but it could also be more elegant in a different pattern and under a cute jacket.

Pattern for the crochet top/dress

http://mirelap.wordpress.com/2008/02/12/crochet-top/

Measurements:

Bust: 80cm

Length: 86cm

Hem: 100cm

Thread: 220g

Crochet hook: Nr.2

Pattern: see drawing

. = chain

x = single crochet

| = double crochet

all those curved lines are chains of 2, 4 and 6 chains as indicated in the drawing.

Test square: for a width of 3 pattern repeats and a height of 3 patterns => 10×10cm

Back:

Start with the shoulder. Chain 13 + 3 for the edge and you will continue downwards. Make 5 rounds of the pattern and put the work aside.

Start with the other shoulder. After the 6th round of pattern chain 48 (i chained 53 just to make it larger).

After the 48 chain, link it with the other shoulder strap. The work will have 10 pattern repeats per width.

Continue work until you have 7 pattern repeats on the vertical.

Armhole shaping:

Make it wider with 7 chains + 3 chains for height, on each side, for the armhole shaping. Work will have 12 pattern repeats per width.

At 13 pattern repeats in total per vertical, first row increase to 5 chains instead of 4. Next row the height will increase from 3 to 4 chains. Next row the chain is increased from 6 chain stitches to 7 chain stitches.

At 19 pattern repeats in total per vertical, increase everything with one chain:

instead of 5 chain stitches => 6 chain stitches

instead of 4 chain stitches => 5 chain stitches on the side

instead of 7 chain stitches => 8 chain stitches

After 26 pattern repeats the back side is finished.

Front:

Just like the back. I did mine wider with two pattern repeats to fit the bust.

Click to download PDF – scanned from an old magazine, original in Hungarian

P.S. hope this is not breaching any copyrights…

This looks like a priceless gem here in the US, I can’t seem to find a decent subscription method.

1. Hepipress has not updated their site in about one year and they do not reply to emails: http://hepipressweb.com/cmsen/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=26
2. There is an eBay seller posting up the magazines as they come along: http://cgi.ebay.com/Italian-sewing-pattern-La-mia-BOUTIQUE-AUGUST-2009-NEW_W0QQitemZ270442211680QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Crafts_SewingPatterns_EH?hash=item3ef79ca960&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116
3. I have had a bad experience with  http://www.toutabo.com I subscribed to a 12 month issues of Idee Couture and received only 2 magazines during the year, one containing patchwork, the other children’s clothing patterns. No replies to emails or to phone calls. I would stay away from them.
4. The same Idee Couture can be also found in Canada: http://www.pressabo.com/index.php/boutique/59-Idees-Couture-Broderie/396-Abonnement-Idees-Couture-Broderie/Fiche-produit-detaillee.html here, they say there are 6 issues per year.
5. Then there are some folks in the UK that kind of rip you off with super expensive prices. http://www.magazinecafe.co.uk/mall/productpage.cfm/magazinecafe/_9994067/255241/LA%20MIA%20BOUTIQUE from what I read on PatternReview they seem to be reliable but expensive.
6. There’s a dutch lady that sells them for almost the same prices but you would have to speak dutch to order… http://www.marlofashionmagazines.nl/ They have issues Sept 2008-Aug 2009.  Each issue including postage is 26.50 EU. For Canadian shipping it is more efficant due to high shipping charges to order 5 LMB for 81.50 EU. (incudes VAT and shipping). They accept Paypal and ship as soon as payment is received.

My mom finds last year’s issues every now and then in Romania, but they are also very hard to come by.

I have 3 duplicated past issues, thinking of selling them, will scan some pages soon, please leave a comment or email me if you are interested.

La Mia Boutique Magazine Maggio Giugno 2007

La Mia Boutique Magazine April 2007

La Mia Boutique Magazine Maggio 2008

Anyone have a different source for the magazine, please leave a comment.

Maybe a solution would be to know someone in Italy and have them buy the magazines from the newspaper stands, store and ship them in bulk maybe 4 times a year, I think that would be the cheapest way. Anyone in Italy offers to do this for me?! I wish!

Open issue 144 of Threads Magazine at page 80 in the Reader’s Closet section

Fingerless Gloves – Crochet wool, originally uploaded by fmirela.

Missing winter already? And it is the middle of summer…
It shows I have been living for too long here in Florida and I don’t know what season we are in. I wish I had more winter and more mountains!

The photos were taken at the end of April 2009 in Snowbird Utah, skiing at 20C was weird but fun, ice in the morning, a wet melt in the afternoon, but well worth the trip, the scenery is incredible.

Pattern: from Crochet Magazine
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool

Stripes closeup:

Fleece lining:

Strings:

Matching scarf with some needle felting on fleece and yarn remains:

I’m looking into buying an embellisher machine (HUSQVARNA VIKING® ER10), it is on sale at Husqvarna this weekend with a coupon in an email, for 169$. They go for about 300$ otherwise and so do the felting needles attachments that you can use with some sewing machines, but the machines won’t be great for sewing afterwards cause of all the fiber dust. I think this is a great deal!

I did get the hand held felting needles from clover and I’m very happy about them, I just think that a machine will speed things up and maybe I’ll get to work on larger projects.

Doing some reading about these types of machines, I stumbled upon this article: http://www.tryourdesigns.com/Felting_machines.htm it’s a good read, very informative.

I got silk jersey, in a nude color, excellent drape.

I cannot decide what to sew. My intention was to sew a PJ with long sleeves and pants to have something that breaths well in the sleeping bag and dries faster then cotton… but just can’t decide…I’d like to be able to also wear the top as is, not just as a PJ…

04/2009

05/2008

04/2008

10/2008

03/2008

The last two are my favorites…so far…
Or should I simply stick to the drape neckline of the simple yellow top?

What do you think?

just one more trick my mom taught me

This is useful for the side seams on blouses or dresses for keeping the belt from sliding down.

1. Thread you needle with 2 threads, so you end up having 4 threads that you sew with. Knot the ends together. Insert the needle from the wrong side of the fabric towards the front. Make a small stitch and create a loop.

2. Pull the thread with your fingers through the loop, to create a crochet chain stitch.

3. This is the second loop that forms and the initial loop is now sitting at the base of the chain.

4. Continue until you read the desired length.

5. Insert the needle through the loop and pull to finish the chain.

6. Finished chain.

7. Sew the end of the chain to the fabric. Pull the needle to the underside and secure the thread with a knot.

8. An almost invisible thin yet resistant belt loop.