Sailorette

How many Ondées are too many Ondées? This is Ondée #6 (and — spoiler alert! I made #7 on the same day!). This is also far from my first striped top; what can I say? I know what I like!

I’ve sewn a couple more challenging projects lately, and Ondée is still the perfect palate cleanser for when you don’t want to jump directly from one long project to another.

I made my usual size, and this time I used a navy/off-white striped cotton jersey with lycra, once again from the Stoffenspektakel. The neckline, waist and sleeve bands are made from the same off-white cotton ribbing I used for this T-shirt (from De Stoffenkamer). It’s pretty thick, more than the main fabric. This made it a little bit difficult to sew through the bulk at seam junctions, but it does look nice in the end.

The skirt is one of Deer&Doe’s new patterns, the Zéphyr dress. A skirt version, obviously. I’m in-between sizes (36/38 waist) at the moment and I opted for a 36, which is perfectly comfortable, not too tight at all. I didn’t grade to my hip size (close to a 42), hoping the shape of the skirt would provide enough room by itself, and it does. I do have to wiggle a little bit to put on the skirt, but that’s always the case with any garment that relies on stretch and not on any fastenings: if it fits my waist, it won’t easily get past my hips.

The fabric I used is a navy ponte of unknown composition I recently bought at the Stoffenspektakel with this exact skirt in mind. It is perfect for this pattern, just the right weight and thickness.

I pressed the waist seam allowance upwards and topstitched it in place with a three-step zigzag stitch because otherwise it fell towards the skirt and formed a bulge where the side and waist seams meet. I would do the same for any future version, except that I think I would use a plain zigzag stitch. The hem was serged, then turned and stitched with a straight stitch (no real risk of popping the stitches with this wide hem).

Like the Ondée, this skirt allowed me to catch my breath between two more complicated projects. I think this might be the fastest garment I’ve ever sewn! Two pieces to trace, three pieces to cut, that’s it! I don’t often make a skirt without pockets, but I think pockets would have ruined the shape of this one, so I didn’t add any. I’ve already worn it a few times, and the lack of pockets didn’t bother me too much.

I sometimes feel almost guilty when I make such easy projects, thinking I should spend my time sewing things that are much more challenging, but then again I love the resulting garments, so why feel guilty when I should feel proud to be making pieces I’m going to wear on a daily basis? Just because a project is easy, doesn’t mean it’s worthless, does it?

Columbus Hat

Why the name Columbus, you ask? Well, I was going for a 1940s hat, but when I tried it on for the first time, this is the image that came to mind! 😀

I started this wool felt hat at the end of October 2014, but then I sort of lost interest in millinery for more than a year. I kept reading about millinery and collecting images and documentation, yet couldn’t be bothered making a hat, or even finishing the one I had started for that matter.

Velvet ribbon around the edge of the brim.

It’s only recently that I understood the reason for that loss of mojo, right when I also got said mojo back: my hair had simply become too long to play nice with the kind of hats I like… Lame but true! From the moment I decided to cut it short, my hands started itching to work again on the hat I had abandoned more than a year before! There wasn’t a lot left to do so I finished it before even getting an appointment at my hairdresser’s.

You can’t really make out any details in the pictures of me wearing the hat, especially since the black felt blends in with my hair, but at least you get an idea of how I wear it pushed back.

Petersham ribbon inside, at the base of the crown.

I moulded the crown of the hat on a simple hat block, then I flipped the brim upwards and hand sewed some millinery wire all around the edge (which you can see in this picture – it’s the white stuff around the brim) for it to keep its shape. This is where I took a more-than-one-year break.

Then I hand sewed some velvet ribbon around the edge of the brim to cover the wire and some petersham ribbon inside the hat so that it hugs the head and doesn’t flop around.

I wonder if someday it will stop feeling like magic to be able to make a hat that’s in my imagination come true?