Springtime!

I thought this photo pretty much summed up how I feel at the moment. I seem to come out of my shell a bit when the sun comes out. Colour comes back into my wardrobe with a big unsubtle bang and I bake. Dave and I made custard Buns yesterday which resulted in them becoming breakfast this morning!

I always buy flowers when I'm feeling springlike. I miss my garden at my parents, where all my tulips will be out in full bloom so I tend to buy some for a vase or jug around now. The Fabric is curtain fabric. 100% cotton. Called Lalique. I got it from Ebay when I was considering the Rebecca dress make. But I think it would make a fab macaron. I'm frightened about it not being pre shrunk though... Anyone have any experience with this sort of thing? Please Lend me your knowledge!

As usual I am rubbish at self control. I wandered into a shop looking for furniture yesterday and guess what I came out with? Patterns.
Vintage ones. Nice ones, Large sizes too! I'm Useless.

My thought pattern went like this... Ohhh Tops! I need Tops! A pound?! I can do that... Thats ok right? yeah. I'll leave now and I won't look at...

OHHHH look at that... Quick and easy too? That wouldn't take too much grading and polka dots... I love polka dots...

Look at that awesome collar...
And that Scalloped one!... I must possess them all!!!!!!!

This is how my brain works in shopaholic mode. I hope you understand.

Burda March Issue

I have to say I wasn't very impressed this month Burda!
It was focused on Weddings, Which is fine as Spring is a nice time to think about that kind of thing.
Normally I would be flicking through going "Oh I love that, and that and that and that." This month I was a bit like "was that it?" There was some nice basics like a long sleeved top a jacket and a pair of trousers. But I felt all the statement dresses left something to be desired.

Looks ok so far... Nice colour palette but obviously being a wedding issue lots of white.

Caftan. Thats quite useful and nice in a basic cotton colourway, pretty sleeves and nice for spring.

I'm not sure why but I loved this little jacket the detailing on the bottom made me all warm and fuzzy inside. But double breasted things tend to make me look strange...

This short Jacket reminded me of last years Jersey Blazer which I didn't like at the time but I actually quite like now. That could be useful for chucking in your bag when spring evenings get chilly.

Plus size I hated this time around! It was so frumpy, not like Burda at all. The only thing I could find was this twisted neck top which would be a useful basic.

Now for the Best and Worst.

There was a lot in this issue that made me go Wtf?!

Lets start with the worst.

I do not understand this bodice at all. It has a random appendage that looks like its started to grow by itself. Why?!

The second is one of the statement pieces. Pretty Colour, Pretty fabric but Just not flattering. There is way too much going on here for me. For a start The neck is miles too high and too loose fitting. You have a lot of drama in the sleeves which takes away from the yummy detailing on the bottom.

This is only going to flatter 0.2% of the population. Super Tall Super thin, Super Straight. I'm not even saying that people who are "Thin" will look good in it. You have to have very little figure about you which of course most people large and small all have. If I was intending to make this i would change the bodice completely prehaps consider keeping the sleeve but cut a very swooping open neckline and separate the bodice and the skirt and fit both. perhaps add some basic pleating into the skirt to fit in with the volume of the bottom.

So after that Rant. Lets end on a positive note! I ADORE this jacket with the little peplum. Everything about it is fab! The fabric is great, Colour great,shape flattering, It also covers my favorite V word. Versatile! I want this Jacket!

Dreaming of summer...Dream being the operative word!!!

I know I should be thinking about Spring but for some reason I feel in sewing terms my spring plan isn't very cohesive with how i'd like my wardrobe to be. So after seeing this fab image online of the Studio Actors Guild Awards (SAG is a very apt thing to be in my wardrobe,) I decided I would look at making a more decisive plan for summer so I could start to build a capsule wardrobe that wasn't full of black, grey and dull shop bought, ill fitting stuff. This is obviously a dream situation but hey humour me! If I could do nothing but create this I would be a very happy girl. However this is how my indulgence started to snowball...

Fabric.com Has a fab thing like a design board so you can put together pallettes and try out different fabrics together. Obviously being in the UK means that I can't really buy from there but it is exceedingly helpful!

Polyvore, and Colette Patterns Blog were also really helpful as Sarai is trying to get everyone to show their spring palette which has given me lots of inspiration.

(If these are your moodboards please leave a comment and I will credit you for them! They were in my inspiration folder which is never labelled!)

The main colours that were appealing to me were Coral, Green, Purple, Mustard, Blue and prehaps a Hot Pink.

If I keep to this colour palette hopefully I can plan to make pieces that are interchangable without being boring.

Chuck from Pushing Daisies is the kind of cutesy but grown up style I admire as well as Emma from Glee

I also want to limit my amount of Print that I wear and make as I'm always tempted to buy printed fabric!

But it means I limit what I can wear considerably. So I'm gonna keep most of my prints to tops and cute summer dresses so I can put them with plain skirts of cardigans.

Here is a few of the full dresses I'm dreaming about...

I want to also put in the Vintage and 1950's ladylike element too!

I've never had a suit before either. So I would like to have one bright colour that I could use together or as seperates. Love Audrey Hepburn's Suit here!

The Final element is going to be PLAIN dresses both full and fitted so I can build on a good base.

I suppose it is all pie in the sky isn't it? But its nice to dream about your perfect wardrobe! Its just a fun ongoing project to build in pieces that will be worn and work over and over again so you can be proud to say I MADE THAT!

February Burda!

Its so hard to pick my favourites as always but I've tried to pick things i'd actually use or wear. It was focussing on the kind of latin kind of theme and this was one issue where I was dying to find out where the fabrics came from! All the florals were so fab!

I can see myself wearing this kind of dress all spring! especially white based florals!

It would also make a lovely top in a stretchy thickish jersey.

Another thing I really crave is this "Sophia Loren" style bustier top, but you would have to be careful it didn't turn out a bit too slutty especially if your on the bigger side of the bustline!

I know, I know I'm already making a Jacket but I hadn't seen this one! I love it on the cover too in floral but this check really appealed to me! The nautical theme always looks fresh and clean!

The line drawings for these dresses didn't appeal to me in the slightest, but in fabric they look really nice! I don't think it would be worth me attempting them but I was pleasantly surprised at how they looked on the body. On the plus size front, I wasn't convinced. Normally I really like this part, even though I don't count. I often find I like the plus size style more than the main magazine but they all seemed shapeless and baggy. Except for these. I prefer the stiffer fabric to add structure but i'm not sure the shoulders would flatter me.

What did you think of this Month's Burda? Any favourites or fabric suggestions?