Lekala download patterns

Lekala is having a special download for this month. You can download the pattern in a Burda size 44, which is great because that is my size. These are the patterns I saved for myself.

Check out the link for even more designs.

Flares

I really like that flares and wide leg trouser shapes seem to make a comeback in the next seasons. I used to own a very nice denim one but then I gained weight and now I don't fit into the pants anymore. So I plan on making myself a new one. Here are some of my inspirations.

both from www.freepeople.com

from zara.com

both from topshop.com

I already found some Burda magazines that have patterns in these styles.

 This one is Burda 07/2003.

 And this is Burda 12/2002. They only go up to size 44 and I have 46 in Burda pants but I think it's easy to grade, I just need to add 1 or 2 cm on each side.
Next weekend I'll be in my sewing studio again and hopefully I will be able to enjoy some productive hours. I know exactly what I want to do. I would like to do it right now, but in my apartment in Mönchengladbach I don't have any equipment. I can only knit and that's it. So maybe you'll soon see what my finished knitting project looks like.

Pretty in Pink

Cardigan: thrifted (Fairhaus Düsseldorf)
Shirt: thrifted (van Laack)
Shorts: hand-me-down from uncle
Shoes: Zara ( very old)
Belt: thrifted (Oxfam)
Bag: thrifted ( Hep-Shop)

This was my outfit for today. Went to Cologne with my friends to have lunch in an all-you-can-eat sushi place. It was so good, we nearly rolled home. They had many different rolls (maki, nigri, california) and also other little treats like spring rolls and salads. I would totally recommend this place. The adress is Luxemburger Strasse 181-183, 50939 Köln. All-you-can-eat is 9 € for lunch and 18€ for dinner.

Dressform

Well now you probably already realised what I needed the poly batting for that I bought last week. I made my own dressform ! Recently on a fleamarket I got to buy duct tape for just 1,75 € / 25m and so I remembered about my idea of doing a custom-made dressform. I found this very helpful and also the tutorial of Burda.

 First I was wrapped in wrapper material.

This is how I looked like wrapped in duct tape.

 The finished dressform

Dress: me-made (Burda 07/2000 mod. 128 graded to a dress)

Sandals: Deichmann

The dressform is a little bit taller than me but the other measurements like bust and hip are nearly identical. Now I only have to sew a cover and then I can start draping on the dressform.

Oxfam finds of the week

As I already mentioned in a former post I work in an Oxfam-Shop once a week. Oxfam is a charity organisation that helps the people in developing countries to overcome poverty and suffering. It is financed by donations and the profit that they gain in their shops. All the people in the shop are volunteers and the inventory of the shop is achieved through donations. In Germany there are not so many shops that work like this but in Great Britain where Oxfam originates from there are a lot of these charity shops.
So while working there I get to see the new merchandise before it gets to the shopfloor and mostly there are a couple of pieces that I like. But before I can buy them, they have to be on the shop floor for at least 1 hour to give the other customers a chance as well.
I try to restrict myself to buy only for less than 10 € but this week I was slightly above my budget.

 This is what I got. A simple white t-shirt, a neon-yellow skinny belt and a small bag that I want to use as a camera bag.

Moreover I got these stripey leggings which are originally from H&M. I already liked them when they were in the stores sometime ago and now they are mine. I don't have an idea yet on how to style them, maybe they will end up as pyjama pants.

Moda Moldes May 2011

 Today I want to present to you the other brasilian sewing magazine my friend sent me. It's called Moda Moldes with means something like "Fashion Sewing Patterns" and it is the May 2011 issue. The magazine appears monthly and you can get a subscription here. The cover show Dira Paes, a brasilian actress, and features on of the pretty dresses from the formalwear section of the magazine.

 This is the section with the evening dresses, mostly short cocktail attire. One shoulder dresses seem to be THE trend in Brasil right now.

 Another dress which has an intersting detail in the back which you unfortunalety can't see on the picture. It's a bit corset like with ties.

 Glittery pants without a pattern but you can easily take any pants pattern and use sequinned fabric and imitate these pants. I saw recently on Sewcial that she made sequin pants as well and saved that in my inspiration folder.

 This coat is just adorable. The collar, the slight a-line, the pockets, the belt everything is so cute and screams to be made.

 As in Manequim here they also present outfits for different body types.I like the black dress on the right.

Ethereal that is what comes to my mind when I see this pretty dress. I already had an idea for a dress like this in my mind as well and now I don't have to make a pattern myself I only have to grade this one.

Manequim

 I have a family friend in Brazil and when I recently saw on Melissas blog that there was a brasilian sewing magazine called "Manequim" I asked her to get that for me and kindly she did she sent me not only the May 2011 issue of Manequim but also another mag called Moda Moldes which I will post about later. Manequim is a monthly magazine and I would describe it as a mixture between Instyle and Burdastyle. The patterns a really on trend and the layout is done as in a regular fashion magazine. Sizes are of course different to German sizing and come close to the sizing of Patrones. I haven't sewn anything from the magazine yet as I have so many other plans to sew right now, but there are a couple of items I would really like to put my hands on.

 This dress looks gorgeous. Of course the fabric suits very well and is a significant style element but the details of the sleeves and the gathered skirt part would lokk brilliant in a plain colour as well. And it is my size, so no grading needed.

 Maybe I'm a little late to the whole ruched sleeve trend, but this is a great versatile basic piece.

 Oh, the red dress. This is so cute with its pleated detail in the hip area. And the neckline is really flattering as well. I would like to make this in white or black to have a really simple yet stunning evening dress.

Love the A-line of this skirt so Seventies glamour. Could imagine this in a jeans fabric.

This section is inspired by Isabel Marant. Love the styling and simple but somehow special cut of the red shirt.

These pages remind me of the usual fashion magazines. Only that in this magazine all the pieces with the "Molde" star sign can be made by you at home. And here they suggest different pieces for different body shapes which is a great idea as well.

 This is the only problem I have with Manequim. It includes only two sheets with the patterns and on the first view it seems to be really difficult to trace. Anyone has experiences with tracing ? Suggestions on how to handle it ?

Me-made Mittwoch

Dress: me-made ( Burda mod. 104 unfortunalety I don't remeber the issue anymore)
Sandals: Reno
So this is my first me-made Mittwoch outfit. Here you can see what the other participants have worn on wednesday. It was a  nice summer day so I wore out my pretty summer dress that I made of a vintage polyester fabric that I got in the HepShop. The shoes have a wedge heel but I bought them before they were in fashion again I think they have to be from 2009 or so.
Wednesday is also the day when I work at an Oxfam-Shop and you can't leave an Oxfam-Shop without buying at least one piece. So I got a small bag for my camera, a neon yellow skinny belt, some striped leggings and a simple white t-shirt with a v-neck. I thought about buying a shirt printed with zebras as well, but then restricted myself because I have so many shirts already.
The quality of my pictures is really poor and I apologize for that. I need to get a new camera as this one is already 5 years old and I'm missing the original charger and the battery only lasts one or at its best two hours. Maybe you have some ideas for me which camera to get ? When it comes to electronics I'm very badly informed and I appreciate any help.

Same pattern, 5 different looks

 As I don't have any lectures today I have too much time on my hands and therefore I did a little photoshoot with my different tops from the same pattern (Burda 07/2000 mod. 128). The first one is made from some cheap mesh like fabric that I bought at Karstadt in Düsseldorf. It can be either worn like this, really flowy and perfect for a hot summer day, or with a belt to give it a little bit more shape.

 This is a cotton that I bought at Alfatex. The print really caught my eye. I also made a blouse from the same fabric which I will show you sometime soon.

 Again a digital print fabric from Karstadt.

 This fun print with the ballroom dancers was bought at a little fabric shop in Colchester / Essex.

A tribal print that I got from Alfatex as well. This has elastic at the neckline which improves the fit.
The shorts that I'm wearing in all pictures are hand-me-down pants by my uncle of which I cut off the legs to make them into shorts.

Spring dress

 

Dress: me-made ( Burda 7/2000 mod.128)

This is the first item that I made when I got my overlock one year ago. Its just a simple tanktop pattern that I added some length to make it into a dress. The fabric was bought at stoffe-zanderino.de and is a really good quality cotton jersey.

Weekend sewing

This is my new citrus print top. I used Burda 128 07/2000 , a pattern that I've already sewn a couple of times. Maybe I'll find some time this week to take pictures of the other versions. So sewing this garment was pretty easy and I look forward to sewing it again.

Another top that I made last weekend which I only had to throw into the washer this weekend to erase the marker. It is Burda 113 from 03/2008. This was pretty straightforward as well but if I sew it again I will make it a little bit longer and I definitely have to wear a camisole as a first layer because otherwise it is a little bit too revealing for my taste.

Daisy

Top: me-made (Patrones 12/2006 mod. 49)
Jeans: H&M
Sandals: Deichmann
This is what I wore for the weekend to meet some friends and eat delicous cake. I had the pattern for the top cut out for a while already but was always to lazy to sew it up, because I thought that some parts were a little bit difficult to sew. But when I made it there were no difficulties at all, it maybe took 2 half days to complete it.
The fabric with its fun daisy print was bought a while ago in one of the HepShops. It's 100 % Polyester and it has a touch like a shower curtain. The fabric was enourmously wide and so I believe that it's maybe a shower-curtain fabric for real. Anyway it isn't uncomfortable to wear, so I don't mind.

Go Green

Top: thrifted (H&M)
Skirt: me-made
Sandals: Deichmann

The light was quite good in the morning so I quickly took some pictures of my outfit. The fabric for the skirt was a really lucky find at the fabric department of Karstadt in Düsseldorf. It said on the selvedge of the fabric "Digital Print" but it only cost 3 or 4 € per m . I also made some leggings from the material but I don't have an idea yet how to incorporate them into a real outfit. Maybe you have some ideas ?

Thrift shops in Mönchengladbach

Mönchengladbach is not a very attractive city to live in. It doesn’t have old traditional houses or a lovely old town. Since I come from a town in the north of Germany which is famous for its history it took a while until I appreciated living in this city. What I really like about living here are the many thriftstores and the fleamarkets. A very good fleamarket is twice a week in the north of the city, next to the Trabrennbahn. I’ve been there a couple of times already but only on Saturday ( the other day it’s on is the Wednesday) and always found some cute items. Next time I’ll go there I’ll bring my camera and take some pictures.

As I live in Rheydt the first thriftshop I stumbled upon was the HepShop on Odenkirchener Straße 14–16 . It is quite small but has a very good selection of pants and blazers as well as shirts, blouses and dresses. The assortment is sorted by colour and there are all kinds of sizes available. It has also a selection of shoes and a few bags. I like to pop in there once a week to see what they have new in store. The prices range from 5 to 8 € for blouses, 3 to 5 € for shirts and 8 to 12 € for blazers. Of course leather or other special items are priced a bit higher.

The store of the Hephatagroup with the biggest selection is the store on Rheydter Str.188 . It is situated close to university so I try to visit it once a week after lectures. It’s basically a bigger version of the aforementioned shop in Rheydt with additional items such as furniture and housewares. I found some really great items there such as silk blouses for 5 € or trousers for 4 €. The store also has a good selection of big sizes and accessories like belts and silk scarves.

The third HepShop is close to the main shopping street in MG-City. It’s situated on Albertusstr. 22-24 and is the oldest chain store. Smaller than the second shop but with a lot of interesting pieces.

Another shop that I visit from time to time is a shop by the Volksverein Mönchengladbach, an organization that helps longterm unemployed people. It is situated in Rheydt on the Wilhelm-Schiffer-Str. 57. Here you can buy some garments by 9 € /kg, which means that you pay only what your sweater or pair of trousers weights. So especially with light summer clothes you can make a real bargain there.

Here is an interesting video about their work.

Maxi

Just a quick outfit from today. I love how it feels when you walk in a long maxi skirt and am planning to make one in black as well. This orange fabric is really lovely though it's polyester it doesn't feel so poly-ish and dries very quickly after the wash. Perfect skirt for travelling.

T-Shirt: thrifted originally Fabiani (Kaufhof)
Skirt: me-made (pattern of Burda from 2001)
Belt: thrifted
Sandals: Deichmann

Shopping Spree

Since I needed to buy poly batting for a project I'm doing right now and which I will post about next week, I had to visit my favourite fabric shop where I used to work a couple of years ago. Of course I couldn't stop by without taking a glance at the fabrics as well. And of course I had to buy something. So take a look at what I bought

This is going to become a sweet cardigan with long sleeves and a drapey front part.

Chiffon that will be made into a top

This is so Prada SS2011. Will become a t-shirt.

Stella McCartney SS2011 like. Will turn into a comfy top.

Shocking yellow. This is going to be a pair of trousers.

Same as the yellow one. Will become a pair of high-waisted trousers as well.
All pictures found on www.stoffe-zanderino.de

 Now I can't wait for the weekend to actually sew all these beauties into fine garments.