Tine Sews: Frau Ava

Last Friday I made an impulse buy. I saw on makerist.de that they were having a sale which also included the Frau Ava pattern by Hedi näht and since I was thinking about that pattern from the moment it popped up on Instagram I quickly hit the "Buy" button. On Friday night I taped the PDF pattern and on Sunday I made the coatigan. Of course, I wore it to work on Monday.

The pattern by Hedi, a German blogger and pattern designer, ist a loose fitting coatigan with wide three quarter sleeves and pockets in the front. It only consists of two pattern pieces, the pockets and the facings. A very quick make indeed.

The fabric I used, sat in my stash way too long, but it's perfect for the pattern. The wool fabric was one of my first purchases, when I started working for stoffe.de

I have to apologize for the very bad quality of these pictures, but it started getting dark, when I took them and I had to lighten them up quite a bite.

The coatigan is not as flattering as the Stadtmantel by Crafteln, but it's comfy.

The coatigan has no lining, only a facing around the front. That makes it such a quick make. I already have plans for a second version, but might line that as I plan on using a leopard print furry fabric.

Tine Sews: The Pink Metallic Trenchcoat

Okay, so I finally got around to take decent pictures of the trenchcoat, that I made during AnNäherung 2015. Please excuse the picture overload, but I just hat to document all the pretty details. 

At first I planned to do the bodice in pink metallic, but leave the sleeves with the right side of the fabric, which is more of a black shade. But then Heidy helped me to decide and on her advice I did the sleeves in the pink shade too and just do the accent tabs on the sleeve in black. I'm really lucky about that decision. We also decided that only the small accents like shoulder tabs and front tab should be in black and all the other pieces in pink.

This is how I wore the coat on the day, after I finished it. I managed to do the whole construction of the coat on the weekend and only had to attach the buttons on the evening, when I returned from Bielefeld. But my colleagues demanded that I wore the finished coat on Monday and so I sewed the fourteen buttons until the late evening.

I'm closing the front in the way of a mens coat, because it works better with the collar and the gun flap. Also, the trench is originally a menswear piece, so why not do it the mens way?

I can wear the trench with a belt, but I prefer it actually without. I think its a good shape and I still haven't found the perfect belt closure, so I can't really belt it anyway.

Also the back looks a little bit strange, when I belt the coat. I had lots of discussion on what to do with the strange pulling of the back under the arms and on the back. I inserted shoulder pads, which Mema kindly brought me and it's better than at the beginning, but it's still pulling strangely. I have the problem with another coat too and I don't know what's wrong with my back. Any ideas?

 Maybe it's coming from the hips? Is it too tight there?

 Here I'm wearing the coat belted.

I'm wearing the coat in these pictures with my me-made jeans and a pair of boots from Bon Prix. The red socks are me-made too.

Here you can see the fabric really nicely. It's a denim and the black side is the right side and the pink metallic one the wrong side. I wanted the pink to be really shiny, so I used the wrong as the right side. The material is cotton and polyester. It's a twill weave. Unfortunately the fabric is sold out already and can't be reordered. I still have enough leftover to make a matching bag.

The pattern is from Burda and it's the classic trench from an issue of 2010. I still had the issue in my stash and traced a 42, that I then cut with seam allowance. The fit is true to size and if there wasn't the problem with the back, I'd definitely make it again. If there is any advice, I might take the Burberry inspiration further and make it in an African wax print again.

On the hanger the back looks good! Maybe it's the shape of my back, which is the problem? I have dropping shoulders, but that can't be the only reason for the pulling, could it be?

I lined the coat with a black acetate lining. I did the sleeves the proper way and learned a new technique which is called "shaking hands" from Wiebke.

The buttons have their own story. I got them off Ebay, where my brother ordered them for me, as I still don't have an Ebay account. They are metallic bronze buttons and they were the cheapest I could find. For this coat the instructions said that I needed 16 buttons. I found some very pretty ones at work, but they were quite expensive, if you nedd 16 of them. So I checked out different shops and even drove especially to a shop in Hamburg, only to find out they're not open on a Saturday. So I found these and still have some buttons leftover, if there should ever go one missing.

I hope you like the trenchcoat as much as I do. I can't wait for spring temperatures to be finally able to wear it more often. It's okay on mild days with a sweater, but it should be perfect in March and April.

Tine Travels: AnNäherung 2015 in Bielefeld

On the weekend I attended a very fun event - the AnNäherung 2015. For those who are not familiar with the German language, "Nähen" is the German word for sewing and the title of the event is a word play, mixing sewing and the word approaching, which is in German "Annäherung". Got it?

I had the pleasure to visit the AnNäherung 2014 last year and therefore I was in the circle of people who had a priority to apply for the tickets. Due to the size of the room, where the event takes place, the sewing-meet-up is only open for up to 40 people and so I was very lucky to be one of them - and I'll be one of them in 2016 as well. Maybe I'll meet you there? Check out the blogs of Miriam, Susi and Alex, who organize the meet-up and you'll find out if there are tickets left.

I chose a Burda pattern from September 2010, which is a classic trenchcoat. My inspiration were the metallic trenchcoats from Burberry Spring/Summer 2013, which I adored since I saw them on the runway. In the assortment of www.myfabrics.co.uk I found the perfect fabric, so I knew this would be a great match.

My fabric is a little bit less shiny, but has got a metallic sheen as well. I didn't get around to take decent pictures yet, but the coat definitely deserves its own outfit post. This post should only be about the event.

I arrived on Friday evening, due to a missed train connection a little later than expected, but when I arrived the introduction had only started and I didn't miss too much. Though I plan to take a day off from work for next year, because I'll be able to check the fabric outlet in Verl then.

After the introduction, where everybody shared their reason for sewing and the idea for the projects they wanted to tackle during the weekend, everybody started preparations and sewing. I went to bed at 1am, but I heard of people who stayed up until 3am sewing and chatting.

The next day after breakfast sewing continued, with a lot of cursing and unpicking of seams from my part. It's been a while since I made a coat or jacket and also I stuck to the same patterns, where I knew the directions by heart in the last months, so it took a while until I got the directions from Burda.

The armhole was a bit tight and I had to unpick and redo the armhole quite a few times. Also, I learned from Sybille, that, if Burda says "ease the armhole" they really mean "ease the armhole" and you shouldn't skip this step due to lack of knowledge on how to do it. But with her help I managed to do it. Thanks Sybille!

Mema brought some shoulderpads the next day to improve the fit in the shoulder and on Sunday in the afternoon the only thing missing on my coat were the buttons. I even managed to insert the lining without a problem and the inside of the coat looks very neat.

This is during the presentation of the finished garment at the end of the weekend. The coat was still missing buttons, which I added in the evening, when I was back at home. I wore the coat to work today and felt great. It's a great outfit to wear with skinny jeans and boots.

Tine Inspires: Coats

Lately I've been thinking about making a grey coat for the fall and winter season. I've been sewing for so many years already, but somehow I never managed to make anything that I frequently wear in winter and that keeps me warm and cosy. So I've been eyeing different online shops in the search for the perfect coat and found some nice ones. But obviously totally out of my price range.

Jil Sander/ Alexander Wang/ Burberry (images from netaporter.com)

So I figured I could go for it and make it myself!

I found the perfect fabric at work, which I've been eyeing for quite some time already and I think I'm gonna give the project a go in the next weeks. It's the one on the left side a blend of wool and polyacryl. The one in the middle would be a cheaper alternative, but I'd get a swatch first, as I think it's too bulky. The one on the right is a fleece that I'd use for the muslin, which might turn out wearable.


Now I just need to find the perfect pattern. I have found something in an old Burdastyle from 02/2002 that I still had lying around. I like the raglan sleeves and the boxy shape.

But then I also found two jackets in the September issue and I think they fit even better to my taste. I would like to combine the collar of the parka-style jacket with the sleeves of the other jacket and make my own pattern out of it. But I think for this project I'm gonna do a muslin, because I'm totally unsure on what size to cut. I want the jacket to be boxy, but not too much, so that it would be cold on cold days. I needs to be the right amount of width.
I plan to prepare the pattern during the week and then get started on the muslin next weekend!

Love to have big sewing plans!

What about you? Are you taking part in the German coat Sew-A-Long? I'm rubbish at anything that involves a plan for sewing, so I'm just doing my own thing.