Sew your Kibbe Natural - wearing the Teal Wool Coat

Here I am wearing the teal wool coat I finished before Christmas.

The main body of the coat is in a dark teal wool, with pockets, belt and facing/collar in a slightly lighter teal wool. I've also drafted and added a lining in a dark teal satin which feels very luxurious. It has medium sized shoulder pads.

Here wearing the coat with a hat and scarf knitted for me in previous years by YorkshireLass.

 The back doesn't have much shaping and is brought in by the belt.

The front has no closures but wraps over and ties with the belt. Here worn with a scarf I made in April 2017 and a fun sewing themed brooch I got this year as a gift from a dear friend (thanks E).

The pattern was from the UK women's magazine Prima, which includes a free sewing pattern for subscribers. This was the one from Feb 2015. The patterns are often available on ebay.

Sew Your Kibbe Natural - wearing the Dark Teal scoop neck top and Tweed Jacket

Earlier in January I posted my dark teal top using New Look 6735, here I am wearing it with the new dark teal trousers. It is intended as a base for more interesting layering pieces like the Tweed Jacket from New Look 6416.

Sew Your Kibbe Natural - Burda Teal Trousers Complete

Although Dr T gives lots of Burda trousers (pants) patterns for the Kibbe natural, I decided that I would sew Burda Style 02/2010 #135 in a dark teal woven fabric for my collection.

I finished them today and here are some photos, including me wearing them as well as the usual hanger shot.

You can't see from these that the pockets form a stay across the centre front. This slightly holds the tummy and stops the pockets gaping, it is quite a lot of steps to sew, but does make the trousers hang better over the tummy.

Notes for my future self. These are size 46, sewn with a slightly narrow seam allowance and an extra 1/2" added to the pocket stay and front crotch to accommodate the tummy. There is also 1/2" in the inside front leg tapering to nothing by the knee.

I replaced the curved waistband with a straight one with a double overlap and 2 buttons. This feels nice and secure compared to just having the invisible zip coming into the waist area. I have found that the zip can fail in wear, at the intersection of the waistband and upper body.

I do wonder if they are hemmed slightly too long as there is bunching over the foot where they are laying over the ankle boot, however then when you sit the ankle doesn't get exposed too much. I already removed their original hem allowance and turned up a 6cm hem.

I used a dark blue invisible zipper as the teal ones were too bright and this blended better.

The fit is OK though not perfect. I'm not going to agonise over it too much. If I tried these on in a shop I would be overjoyed and buy them immediately.

I've now got 5 teal pieces complete which is frankly probably enough, but I have a skirt cut out, a dress planned, also another top and the top which needs light coloured thread, so if I do all of those it would be another 4 teal garments.

SWAP Teal (Neutral 1) progress so far

Here's the progress so far with my teal pieces. I've chosen teal as one of my neutrals for SWAP, and as you can see its quite a dark and muted teal.

1. teal wool coat (finished just before Christmas)

2. teal tweed cardigan jacket finished on 5th Jan.

3. teal scoop neck top finished on 10th Jan.

4. teal print cardigan finished on 15th Jan.

Next up the teal trousers which are almost finished and then tomorrow some photos of me wearing all the pieces. The weather is cold and raining with snow forecast so I think the photos will have to be indoors.

Teal print cardigan - inspired by Pantone Living Coral

The Pattern Review 5th Annual Sewing Bee has started. I've not participated in this before but a few blogs I read took part in the last one and it looked like fun.

Round 1: Sew a Knit Cardigan inspired by the Pantone color of the year - Living Coral
This initially stumped me, as I've rationalised my fabric collection to my new Sophisticated palette and it doesn't include warm colours like coral.

 But then I thought of some fabric I had planned to use for my teal colourway for SWAP, the blues and turquoises reminded me of the sea, and the organic shapes in the print echoed the shapes of the different types of coral.

I bought the fabric for this on 25th October 2008 from Washable Fabrics on Preston market when four of us had a bit of a PR weekend away. It's moved house 4 times with me over those 10+ years but is finally getting made up!

I've used the Kinder cardigan in the mid length with full length sleeves. I've added in seam pockets, a belt and belt loops. I tried to place the print sensibly by cutting the pieces out single layer.

To emphasize the link with the coral I've done some simple beading and running stitches in shades of coral pink to outline the shapes of the print. I ironed some very lightweight interfacing on to the back of the upper front area to give a little more stability for the handwork without changing the drape of the fabric too much.

Here's a quick indoor shot on the dressmaker's dummy. The detail is more subtle in the context of the overall garment.

To demonstrate fit for the Bee I need to take some photos of me wearing it which might be tricky in this wintery weather. I have got out of the habit of taking photos of me wearing my new self-sewn garments, so need to work out a way to do that going forwards.

Sew Your Kibbe Natural - Burda Style 02/2010 #135

Although Dr T gives lots of Burda trousers (pants) patterns for the Kibbe natural, I decided that I will sew Burda Style 02/2010 #135 in a dark teal woven fabric as my next piece.

This style has slant pockets, a side zip and a narrow waistband, all features I like. And it comes in plus sizes. Yay!

The even bigger plus is I have already traced the pattern, sewn it up and have been wearing the  trousers happily.

I finished them in a bit of a rush (for the SWAKOP deadline) and did not do a proper review, but after a bit of letting out the fit is good and I'm very pleased with them. So I am happy to revisit this pattern.

Sew Your Kibbe Natural - Dark Teal scoop neck top completed

Dark teal jersey used for New Look 6735.

Size 18, three quarter sleeve as per the pattern.

Slight forward head alteration and a little extra bicep room added.

Lightened a bit, but still hard to see the colour which is a dark rich green-blue (not navy or black).

It is a plain and simple top, but its exactly the colour and fit I wanted and is a fantastic base for the tweedy cardigan jacket, leaving room in the neckline for one of my chunky necklaces.

Here's the teal progress so far.

 Just need some dark teal trousers and I'll have an outfit! (Or shall I make another top first?)

Sew Your Kibbe Natural - New Look 6735 Top

DrT has a few examples of a scooped neck top being suitable and makes the comment.

While I’m focusing on Kibbe’s unconstructed feature, very basic smooth knits with open necklines are all good options.

BS-11-2006-111: Open neckline with a smooth fit. 

BS-11-2012-129: Another example of a very simple style with an open neckline.

BS-02-2008-128: Simple, smooth, with an open neckline.

On that basis I think my favourite top from New Look 6735 is a great example of this style, so for my next garment I plan to make this up in a plain dark teal jersey knit, it won't be exciting but will be a nice basic piece to go underneath cardigans and jackets

 

Sew your Kibbe Natural - Teal Tweed Jacket Completed

My version of New look 6416 is complete.

This is probably how I would mostly wear it, slightly crossed over and belted with an open neckline.

Here I've crossed the collars over further and pinned in place with a dragonfly brooch.

Here I've tied the belt at the back and let the tails hang down, with the front very open.

There's a lot of collar there!

The fabric had two good sides, so I played with using the one with more white threads on the sleeves, belt and showing when the collar folds open, with the plainer side for the body and belt loops. Its subtle but I like it.

In the end I did a 6cm hem on the sleeves, and a chunky rolled hem (1cm) round the collar and hem sewn in one go. I omitted any pockets as the fabric has a very open weave and I felt they would pull.

Sew your Kibbe Natural - New Look 6416 jacket in Teal Tweed

I only had 2 metres of this fabric, so had to do a bit of pattern tetris to cut it out.

I ended up with size Large, slightly shorter (5cm) than the mid length, with a belt, but without the patch pockets or a facing. The sleeves were cut on the cross grain.

I plan to overlock all the raw outer edges, roll twice and stitch for a nice finish without the facing.
I still need to cut out the belt carrier, and perhaps some inseam pockets.

Once complete I'll show it on my dressmakers dummy, and then later with me wearing it.

I started with this because it was at the top of the list and I located the pattern without too much searching!

Sew your 'Kibbe' 2019

The very interesting blog Doctor T designs has been covering sewing pattern suggestions for different body types (based on the Kibbe types).

I've concluded that although I don't fit perfectly, the most appropriate category for me in this system is the basic 'Natural' category.

So this year I'm going to try and sew following those guidelines in particular using a pattern from each category of Doctor T's suggestions, as well as some of my TNTs which also seem to follow Natural lines.

I have a large back catalgue of Burda Style magazines so this will be a great opportunity to delve back and find some of them.

COAT

New Look 6416: Relaxed cardigan style coat.

I already have this pattern so seems a great opportunity to use it.

JACKET
BWOF 06/2015 #128

 (without the hem detail and more mid thigh than coat length)

SKIRTS
Again I already have this one, so will dig it out and sew it up.

Simplicity 8175: View B looks like a great option, but View A could also work, since it isn’t completely pencil slim.

TROUSERS/PANTS
I think I will try BWOF 12/2011 #133

BLOUSES
BWOF 02/2008 #128: Basic tee.

And Simplicity 1280 blouse.

Or McCall's 7357 (actually I like this one better)

SWEATERS
Cardigan jacket from BWOF 01/2011 #126A

DRESSES
I don't wear dresses much, but struggled last summer for a wedding so probably sensible to have one nicer dress available.
Having looked through the options I am leaning towards BWOF 06/2017 #125

So looks like one Newlook, two Simplicity and a whole lot of looking through my Burda Style back catalogue! I'll concentrate on the Plus patterns as I am running on the heavier side at the moment.
It is good to have that encouragement to trace off some of those Burdas!

I have a complete (or almost complete) collection of Burda Style magazines back to 2003 so should be able to find the ones which are recommended (and I like).

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Now I need to match patterns to fabric and decide what to cut and sew first.
I don't love tracing off the Burda patterns but I need to find my way through that!

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I haven't quite followed the apporach advised however because I've already picked fabrics for SWAP anyway I wanted to merge the two challenges where I could. we'll see if i go back to my TNTs instead. However here are where I am at with the steps.

Step 1: Figure Out Your ID
Natural (with a few traits from SN and FN)

Step 2: Purge/Organize Your Current Wardrobe
I have had a first few rounds of this with Imogen Lamport's 7STS and have a working wardrobe I use.
However lots of clothes have been stashed in the loft due to being wrong colour, wrong style, wrong size or wrong season. I need to donate most of these whilst still keeping my summer clothing for when it warms up!

Step 3: Take Inventory of Your Wardrobe and Your Life
Again I already did a lot of this with Imogen Lamport's 7STS, but I will revisit as I donate the excess.

Step 4: Figure Out Your Personal Style Slogan
This is also something I tried to do with Imogen Lamport's 7STS, but again needs a revisit.
Various thoughts had been:-
- Natural, Vibrant and Creative (from 7STS Step 1)
- textured and individual
- Natural with an element of suprise
- Resourceful, quirky, pragmatic.

Step 5: Pick a Color Palette
Again something I've done with Imogen Lamport's 7STS colour palette and signature colours, but also generally in my wardrobe and specifically for the SWAP.

Step 6: Pick Patterns
See above!

Step 7: Pick Fabric
Already done for SWAP (and last year I had a big clearout of my fabric and donated the stuff I wouldn't use).

I have had the original Kibbe book for many years and also thought quite a bit (using various system) about colours, styles, lifestyle and wardrobe. So a lot of it I'm revisiting again as things have come together a bit more clearly. This is looking like the year of experimentation and greater clarity.