Anise - Still Fitting

Happy Friday everyone! I just wanted to update you on my Anise jacket so far. I am still working out some fitting kinks and my final muslin should be done by the end of today. My plan is to the use the remaining days of November to construct the jacket step by step. I don't have any pictures to show you yet but I'll show you a Julie Sinden hat that I've been fawning over at the One Of A Kind show this year!

Week Three - Pastille

Good morning everyone, I'm really happy it's Monday and I get to sew again. Today I am working on Pastille.

I got a jump start at the end of last week making my muslin and cutting my fabric. I am going to use a nice green cotton fabric with a hint of sheen that I recently thrifted, I think it will make a great holiday dress.

I had to make 2 muslins, the first one was made with no adjustments to the pattern and the shoulders were too wide and the sleeves were way to big. Since taking down the shoulder seam worked so well for me while making Truffle, I thought I would apply the same alteration here. I pinched, pinned and eventually sewed a new seam on my muslin to determine how far to take it down (5/8 of an inch). I sewed wrong sides together and left the old seam intact so you could see exactly what I did. I transferred the changes onto the pattern and cut a new muslin. I also rounded the outer edge of the cap sleeve down an additional 1/2 inch.

 The second muslin fits very nicely and I'm excited to start sewing the real dress. This is another simple, unlined dress so I expect to be finished by the end of the day today or by tomorrow afternoon.

After a busy and stressful weekend I am really looking forward to sitting in front of my sewing machine undisturbed today! See you back here soon for an update!

Inspiration - Marie Antoinette

I love, love, LOVE Sofia Coppola movies, the few that there are. Visually, they are so soft and feminine and filled with pretty pastels. I took a break from sewing yesterday and watched my favorite Sofia Coppola movie, Marie Antoinette. This one takes the cake, quite literally, as the most lavish and decadently rich in color. From the amazing costumes, hair and make-up, to the incredible, over the top mix of pattern, texture and color of the decor, it's really hard not to get inspired by this film.

Being half way through my first month of sewing projects, I have already started to plan out my next round of patterns based on what's been inspiring me. I obviously haven't finalized anything yet for we are still a few weeks away, but I am thinking it is going to be full of pretty dresses in colors and patterns inspired by Marie Antoinette. I can tell you for sure that I will be doing Ceylon, Peony and Cinnamon, and hopefully I will find some great, feminine fabrics to make them with.

So that's all I have for now, just wanted to share a little of my excitement with you. Please feel free to share what inspires you or any ideas you may have about the way the project is going, the feedback that I have been getting is great, keep it coming. Have a great weekend everyone and I will see you back here Monday for Pastille!

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!