Blouse Sloper

I've been working on my blouse sloper for a long time. Now, with some time off work, I've finally finished it.

I drafted the pattern myself using the Rundschau technique. The biggest problem I faced was my bust and measurements connected to it. For example, armhole width is derived form bust circumference. In my case, my bust is big (I'm D cup), but my arms, back and waist are small.
It took a lot of tweaking and re-drafting to finally get to this:

front:


side:


back:


On the photo of the back, please ignore the right side of the photo - I made adjustments only the left side of the blouse lol

I'm not entirely satisfied with it yet. Do you see the puckering on the top of the darts on the back? I still need to fix that.
And also if you look at the side photo, there are some lines at my waist. I'm not sure how to get rid of those. I've tried taking in the sides and widening the back dart; it looked fine, but I couldn't close the blouse anymore.

Still some minor details to figure out, but, overall, I'm happy with the results.

New Toy

I bought this beauty today:



Isn't it pretty? It's an Olympus mju 840 in Candy Pink colour.

I'm off to play with it.

Inspiration

My job has been hectic lately. I can't wait until Thursday when things will finally calm down and I will work normal hours.

I haven't done anything sewing-related this weekend. This weekend was all about spending time with my DBF and relaxation.

And what does a girl do when there's no time to sew? Shop and dream about sewing :-)

I'm in love with May issue of Burda magazine. The dresses are fabulous! These are my absolute favourites:

This one is my absolute favourite. This pattern would look as good in blue jeans as well as in some wool fabric for a winter version.


Second favourite. Perfect for summer. And I just bought the perfect shoes to go with it :-)


Love the detailing on the waist.


Gorgeous. I'd just make it shorter.


I also love this top:


Speaking of dresses.. I added two Hot Patterns to my collection - my first Hot Patterns that is. I bought the famous Cosmopolitan dress and the Cha-cha-cha dress.

I also subscribed to Burda magazine and the Patrones. I cannot buy the Patrones here; I can get Burda at every newsstand, though, but I figured it saves me time to have it delivered to my home. Plus, nothing beats the feeling of coming home beat and discovering a package. Speaking of which, I just received the new Patrones Joven issue and I love it.

Now if only there were more hours in a day. Anybody know of a good website where you can order time?

Clothes: More for Less or Less for More?

Yesterday I had a debate with my co-workers on the subject of buying clothes. The main question was: Do you rather buy less, but higher quality and therefore more expensive? Or do you prefer to buy more clothes that are more affordable (not so say cheap) and of poorer quality?

I definitely belong in the first category, which made me the odd one in the group. I hate spending even the smallest amount of money for, let's say a T-shirt, that will lose it's shape after one wash. And buying it's replacement (more than once), makes you spend more money than you ever intended to.
I hate buying something I really like, wear it three times and realizing that the hems have raveled.
I don't need a closet full of semi-fitting garments, just so I can wear something new every day. I rather have less but better-fitting garments.
I, definitely, don't want to buy a garment that needs fixing and altering before I can wear it. If I have paid paid for it, it should be wearable.

And don't get me wrong, I LOVE clothes and my closet is anything but empty. But I hate wearing something that doesn't fit, or something you have to adjust every minute because it looks good only in one position, having seams pulling in all directions, loose threads hanging form every seam, etc.

I do understand that fabrics and garments have expiration dates, especially when worn frequently, but surviving the first wash shouldn't represent a challenge, even for a 5€ T-shirt.

What do you think?


On the sewing note:
No major progress. I am, however, trying something new for me. I always thought you needed at least half a day off, to get some sewing done. But lately I've been trying to do something sewing related in short 15, 30-minute intervals before and after work. And, so far so good. I never knew how much can be done in such short time.