WHAT I LEARNT FROM MIE

One of the greatest things about sewing isn’t actually sewing related… It is the pleasure of being part of an incredible international community made from talented, generous and fun people.

Supporting each other, sharing our knowledge and having fun is what this sewing community is all about. So when Celina and Ines contacted me to ask if I would like to take part of this surprise for our friend Mie I was delighted. (I was also a bit freighted but we will get back to that later…)

Mie is quite amazing! Not only is she an amazing seamstress (check out her blog and delight yourself with her gorgeous creations) but she is also an amazing friend. She knows so much about sewing and she is always willing to share her knowledge. That’s why our surprise is entitled: “What I learnt from Mie!”

I have learned many, many things with Mie! But one remains in my mind the most: she showed me how to line jackets. I remember us talking through Messenger… This is a tricky technic and it took me quite a while to understand it but she didn’t give up!

So on the video, the girls and I are all wearing nice lined jackets I made and I have some more photos of the girls’ jackets to share with you today. (I will try to blog about my jacket one day…)

PATTERN: View Q from the Japanese book Girly Style Wardrobe (check all projects in this book here). The only thing I have to say about this pattern is: I love it! Well, I actually didn’t like that the jacket was not lined… But with Mie’s help that little issue was easily solved. As Japanese patterns don’t have seam allowances, creating the pattern pieces for facing and lining was piece of cake. I know adding seam allowances is a pain but if you are into customizing existing patterns is makes everything much easier and fast. Since I was lining the jackets I also decided to add a little trim where the lining and outer fabrics meet. It is a nice way to smoothly change from one fabric to the other and gives the garment a special touch.

FABRIC: Outer fabric: wool blend fabric from Traetela. Lining fabric: rayon from my local shop Feira dos Tecidos. The outer polka dot fabric is so special… It was given to me by my good friend Rita last year and I am so glad I used it for these jackets. The quality is great! Teresa and Ines have been wearing them almost daily for 5 months and they are still looking pretty good. For the lining I picked a nice viscose to give the jackets a warmer felling. It was my first time working with viscose and it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. But I am glad I started working with this fabric for the inside of the garment. Though Mie is totally right when she says the inside should look as nice as the outside of a garment…

And that gets me back to the purpose of this post… The video for Mie! I was so freighted about having to shoot a small video. I am glad I could have my daughters’ help as I think I would not make it all alonee. But now I am so glad I did it!

As usually, Celina made a wonderful job putting together the testimonials of these super talented ladies:

Celina . Petit à Petit and Family, Abby . Sew Much Ado, Rita . Conversas de Hermanas, Heidi . Handmade Frenzy, Olu . Needle and Ted, An . StraightGrain, Jenya . While she was sleeping, Trine . Groovy Baby and Mama, Andreia . In a Manner of Sewing, Jess . Sewing Rabbit, Hayley . Welcome to the Mouse House, Marta . Do Guincho, Maria . My Cozy Co, Natalie . La Gang à Nat, Holli . Hello Holli, Erin . Erin Always, Olga . Coffee and Thread, Delia . Delia Creates, Alida . Alida Makes, Gabriela . Chalk and Notch, Victoria . As it Seams, Rachel . Stitched Together, Chelise . Chelise Patternson, Emi . Just Add Fabric, Inês . La Folie

Check out the video, have fun and… THANK YOU MIE!

What I learnt From Mie from Celina Bailey on Vimeo.