The Late Night Sewist

The distance is just over 2000 km between Greece and Estonia, but I feel like I have landed on another planet, so big is the difference in the weather right now. It is not the temperature  that bothers me, but the lack of light. Seven years of sunlight can really spoil you, I thought, staring out of the window a few days ago and wondering when would it lighten up that day. It didn´t!

The change has been more difficult than I expected, although technically everything is going according to the plan. I have more or less settled in physically, but my mind hasn´t caught up yet and I left my heart in Athens, so the past week was emotionally very difficult.

My sewing machine seems to have survived the trip but the truth is I haven´t tested it yet. At least nothing is visibly wrong and I hope to commence sewing pretty soon.

In the meanwhile, here is a dress I made before starting this blog:

The pattern I used is Burda 7739, view B:

It is a relatively easy pattern, maybe only the collar could cause some trouble to a beginner. When I made the dress, it was the first time for me to make side seam pockets (or any pockets for that matter!) and the lesson I learned was that they are kind of pointless. After that, I have skipped such pockets on anything I make. (Although right now I am gathering my composure to make a COAT and the pattern I have chosen calls for such pockets. I have a feeling that on a coat they are not as pointless, but still haven´t made up my mind.)

I cut size 38, my regular Burda size, but I guess I should have tapered to 36 at the waist, since it is a bit wide at this point. I usually add a belt to fix that.

Usually when I get to the point where I have to insert sleeves, I get a bit nervous, because they can cause a lot of trouble. Thanks to the gathering on these sleeves, they were really easy to insert and the fit was fine from the first try.

I really like the fabric – it is viscose, if I remember correctly, not cotton. It wrinkles quite easily, but the colours in the paisley print make it super easy to match with nearly anything. Today I wore it with my blue suede over-the-knee boots, although in the photos I am wearing the dark green suede ankle boots. Both are a great match. The belt I usually wear with this dress is dark purple, also a match.

When packing my stuff in Athens, I discovered that for some reason I still have enough left of this fabric to make a dress or a top. I guess back then I thought that when I liked it once, I would want to use it for another project as well, but I know now that I find using the same fabric more than once extremely boring.

The really nice part of being in Estonia is the luxury of calling my old friends on a whim and arranging to go for a drink, which is precisely what I did now! Have a fun Saturday night, everyone!