Week One - Finished Violet

I am not accustomed to making muslins, I only ever thought they were used for things like coats and wedding dresses, and not for everyday garments like skirts and Violet blouses. I think you know where I am going with this. I made my black silk blouse with lace collar and side pleats only to discover after finishing it that my shoulders are too narrow. Unfortunately for me that was all the silk I had so my new Violet blouse will be graciously donated to a friend of mine with slightly broader shoulders. I still really like it though and think it will look great on her.

However, I wasn't going to let this put a damper on my first project, after all this is a learning process and I've learned my lesson - make muslins.

As I see it, this was really a great excuse to make myself another one in this great maroon, mini polka dot cotton I had lying around. I made a muslin and found my shoulders to be 1.5cm narrower. So, using the slash and pivot technique, I re-traced my pattern and using this helpful video, I narrowed the shoulders of the front and back shirt pieces by 1.5 cm.

The finished Violet is a thousand times better! I love it! I decided with the remake that I would keep it simple with the plain collar and no tucks and now that I have the pattern altered to fit my shape, I can start experimenting with different variations.

The best part of Violet is that is only takes a few hours to make so whenever you have an evening free, it's easy to whip one up for the next morning. All and all, it is a pretty great pattern with lots of room to experiment. I'm already thinking of the fabrics and details to make for my nest one! 

A Colette Patterns Sewing Challenge

My name is Dominique and I love to sew. I am self taught, which is to say I was taught by the talented and generous people on the internet and in books. Until recently I had a small business sewing men's bow ties and accessories under the name O'Darlin. I also had a blog of the same name where I would showcase my products and write about them. I made a decision to leave the handmade business world in pursuit of a professional career in visual merchandising, and spend my free time at home sewing beautiful clothes for myself to wear. I am immensely happy I made that choice, for I find I only enjoy sewing when it is just for fun and just for me.

However, now that I am no longer in business, I have nothing really to blog about over at O'Darlin. Everyone who visits the site sees it attached to bow ties and my business. I have tried to turn it into a blog about my personal sewing projects, but it doesn't quite fit. So I have decided to take a page out of the books of Julie Powell and Gretchen "Gertie" Hirsch and give myself a challenge to blog about.

Recently I bought The Colette Sewing Handbook online and I love it. Initially I bought it for the free patterns, but after opening it and reading the intro I was so inspired that I can't believe I didn't buy it the second it came out. Sarai Mitnick obviously loves sewing very much and it really comes through in the pages. She has made me fall back inlove with a hobby that I had begun to resent, and has breathed new life back into my passion. I have been an adorer of Colette Patterns for a while now but have never actually bought one. After buying the book, I bought my first one, the Violet blouse. I haven't used it yet, nor have I used any of the patterns from the book. Which brings me to challenge.

I am going to undertake the task of sewing my way through the complete collection of Colette Patterns, every single one, and blog about it. I will take you into my sewing space and share with you every project, my trials and tribulations, and of course the finished garments using the handbook's five fundamentals as a guide. And of course throughout all of this sewing madness, I urge you to pick up some Colette patterns for yourself and sew along with me. I am on a quest to freshen my closet and sharpen my skills one pattern at a time.

So, there are twenty five patterns at the Colette Patterns Shop and five in the book, which gives me a total of 30 projects to complete. I am really excited for the Violet blouse and the Ceylon dress, and I'm a little intimidated to work up to the Juniper pants and the Lady Grey coat. I have also decided to make this challenge one with a time restraint to force me to see it through. Initially I was thinking twelve months, which works out to about 2 -3 projects a month, but that's too easy. Also winter is sewing season, what else is there to do but stay inside and sew up a storm. So I've decided to give myself six months instead, now that's a challenge. October is almost over so I'm going begin my challenge in November, starting with the Violet blouse as my first project. I now have about two weeks to get ready - prep my sewing space, make my personalized croquis and start gathering inspiration, but once November 1st hits - I'm off to the races.

So there it is - 30 patterns, 6 months and 1 handsome new wardrobe. I honestly cannot wait!