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: Sweatpants

Okay, so I'm not sure. Are sweatpants still on trend? Or am I too late to jump on the bandwagon? I really liked the Hudson pants once they came out, but somehow I don't like to buy PDF patterns. I own exactly one and that is the Farbemix Kanga which I bought and then wasn't happy with the fit at all and altered the pattern quite much, so somehow I'm not convinced in buying PDFs if I can find a similar pattern in a magazin or book.

I have to say I'm pretty good at finding patterns that are similar to patterns from my favourite American designers in old Burda magazines or books I can get at the library.
These sweatpants were made from a pattern that I found in a Fait Main magazin, which is a pattern magazine from France.
It is made by the same publisher as the Burda magazines. I once got the magazine at work, when we distributed these magazines in all the parcels that went out to France. I immediately saw the potential of these pants and then there is also a pattern for cute overalls, so I snatched an issue for myself.

The pants are really comfy ( still wearing them as I type this post).

Okay, this might not be the best looking bum view, but hey these are sweatpants and they are meant for lounging around and being comfy!

It took a while until I got the cuffs right. First I tried a normal hem, which didn't look good. Then I tried a cuff made of the sweatshirt material, but it wasn't stretchy enough. Then I finally had the idea about using some of the sweatshirt knit cuffs, that I used for the waistband and it worked.

I lined the pockets with a grey cotton fabric, as I didn't have enough from the sweatshirt knit. I got the fabric at Stoff&Stil when they had a sale, I think in the beginning of the year.

I'm wearing the pants with my favourite khaki T-Shirt ( also made by me) and some Vans, which I once thrifted for 3 €.

Tine Sews: Five Free Patterns

I have to admit something: Even though I love the creativity of the indie pattern scene and also often consider to buy a pattern, I mostly stick to my TNT Burda patterns. I don't have a pear shaped body, so I don't really have problems with the sizing and even though I like the designs of Tasia from Sewaholic, I think they are a bit too cutesy for my style. Also, I can make a dress in a Burda 42 straight from the magazine and I dont't really have to alter the patterns. Lucky me!

My experience with other patterns is somehow biased too. I bought one pattern from a German company called Farbenmix, which I couldn't find back then from any other pattern maker. It was a raglan sleeve sweater. Unfortunately the pattern doesn't fit me, the sleeves are too bulky and I had to take them in quite a lot.Yes, I know I'm quite bummed that a year after I got that, Grainlinestudio is offering the Linden sweatshirt and it would have been perfect fit probably. I should try to adapt my longings to the rank and file and not try to be ahead of the sewing trend.

But I've tried some free patterns with success and therefore I want to share with you the five free patterns I often use or would love to try.

Pattern One: The Simple Shirt

Okay, I was totally inspired by the Scout woven top, when I was searching for this pattern. I found it in the book that belongs to the first season of The Great British Sewing Bee. The German edition offers all the patterns online to download and that's where I got the blouse/t-shirt pattern. I made this since I got it in at least five different versions, either in a woven or jersey fabric and they all fit amazingly well.

Pattern Two: The Shorts

I made these in summer, but haven't blogged about them yet. They fit well in summer, but with some winter fat around the belly, the zipper is a little bit difficult to close. Made these once in a dark denim and once with an interesting flower print. I'm sure they will get lots of wear next summer. I found them online, they are from a magazine called Peppermint Mag, which offers womes sewing patterns every once in a while.

source: Peppermint Mag Sewing School

Pattern Three: The Pyjama Pants

These were part of a sew-a-long that accompanied the launch of the German edition of the book belonging to the first season of The Great British Sewing Bee. The pattern is for a simple pair of pyjama pants and I'd love to make friends and family a pair of them for next year's christmas holiday. They come in four sizes and are a really quick make for an experienced sewer and a nice beginners project for people who just got a sewing machine.

Pattern Four: The Draped Shirt

This pattern is made by Immi, who has her own German blog and shared the pattern for the draped shirt on burdastyle.com. It's exactly my size and I could make it straight from the printed pattern. It's perfect in a drapey viscose fabric, either made with a stripey or single colour fabric.

Pattern Five: The Hemlock Tee

I'd love to give this a try, especially as I'm trying to gravitade from colourful printed fabrics to more simple and plain looks in muted colours. I'd love to do a colourblocked version, maybe in grey and yellow or dark grey and pink.

source: Grainlinestudio