Little Black Wrap Dress

This is a self drafted wrap dress with some of my favorite elements: collar, kimono sleeves, A-line skirt, black knit fabric. I first made a classic wrap dress with ties around the waist. This didn't really work with my body shape since I don't have a tiny waist that needs to be highlighted :-) I ended up making a belt-like construction in the back with two mother-of-pearl buttons that leave the front uninterupted. I really love it now and it's pretty versatile: I wore it with tights/boots in San Francisco last summer (I miss the fog!!), with sandals or as shown with Jeans/Chucks. A camisole provides modesty during the day; however, I can also wear it with just a bra for a night out.

Mirror, mirror on the wall....

They had these wonderful yellow flowers at the farmer's market this morning. A great opportunity to showcase our "flower mirror":-) It's a salvaged mirror, painted in gold. The Campari Soda vases are mounted with spring clips (the ones you use to hold tools on a wall). It't always fun to decorate it according to the season, be it with candles or branches in the winter or any kind of flowers during spring and summer...

Men's Shirt

For a long time, I thought that it was just not worth the effort to sew men's shirts - too much hassle with the collar and the cuffs and everything. And there are only so many possibilities to be creative or you have this handmade look instead of taylored perfection... Then again, my husband really looks great in fitted shirts and they can be pretty hard to find for the slim and tall. When Peter started his Men's Shirt Sew-Along and discussed fitting, I suddenly realized poorly fitted shirts everywhere. I therefore decided to join the community and embark on the journey towards the perfectly fitted shirt for my husband. This is the first attempt in the sense of a wearable muslin. It was pretty hard to find a pattern that included a small enough size, let alone that it was long enough. Burda 7767 was the closest to what I had imagined and the only adjustments I made for this first run was to add some length and darts in the back. The fabric is a thrift store find with a rather rustic look. The finished shirt has some fitting issues, but not worse than the average RTW shirt and it's perfectly wearable. It wasn't even half the pain of what I had expected and Peter loves it -there will sure be more shirts (with more alterations and hopefully less wrinkles...)!

Sewing Pattern Seat

A couple of weeks ago when we visited Hamburg, I walked into the Werkhaus store and my eyes fell on this seat immediately - I know a good sewing pattern when I see one;-) The guy at the check out however was totally surprised that I knew what I was buying - apparently, it took him several months to figure out what these lines meant....

Asymmetric Twist Top

Butterick 5283, view D. I made two modifications: First, I used the view B sleeve pattern (and made the corresponding changes to the bodice as well) because I didn't like the wide shoulders of view D with long sleeves. And second, I followed this advice and didn't line the front piece. I used fusible stay tape and a twin needle to finish the neckline - I just omitted the stay tape at the twisted part in the front because it would have shown on the outside. The picture below is a bit overexposed but I think it shows the details pretty well.
Pics by my sister.

The second to last bag I will ever buy

Guest post by Peter

For years, I wanted a stylish weekender bag that I could also take on board a plane. Then, a few weeks ago, I found a saddler who was really responsive to my wishes. The bag turned out fantastic - the leather is just awesome, the details were executed meticulously and accurately, and all the features I wanted are there. It makes full use of the permitted carry-on baggage measurements, which is perfect when this is the only piece of luggage that I take along, but might be a little too much if I also have a suitcase. The easy solution (since the saddler still has ample stock of the same leather): I will get a second one, at about half the size :)
It's super-sturdy and even has an extra front pouch to hold my little travel organizer.
Detail of the shoulder strap with a belt buckle to keep it in place. The red color was an idea of Marlise.
The inside: at the back wall is a pouch for my laptop, on the right an adjustable strap to hold a water bottle.

Grey Blossom

Yarn: 100% wool, Bernetta Davos, recycled from an old sweater
Pattern/flower in the back: adapted from Rebecca no. 29, sweater no. 22 (not in the preview)
Pattern/everything else: by me; knit in one piece with kimono sleeves

Knit Dress

I have a Knipmode subscription since December and even though I really like the magazine, this is the first project I made from it. It's dress 3 from the June issue, but I made some modifications: I added a shirt collar and omitted the lowest pleat. The finished dress had a bit too much fabric in the bust/arm region and I therefore added darts to mimic a raglan sleeve. I really love kimono sleeves, but with the pleats, a set in sleeve would probably have been the better choice. Overall, it'a a cool dress and it goes very well with jeans or leggins.
Pics by Peter