Oliver's Winter Coat

This winter I decided that my favourite most handsome man needed a classic pea coat that was equally stylish as it is warm. With a good quality wool blend and the childrens' coat pattern 142 from the February 2010 Burda magazine I think that I've successfully achieved my objective. The pattern was alot easier than I had initially assumed and I finally worked out how to use the one-step buttonhole function on my sewing machine instead of doing them manually so that was a huge victory!!

As you can see, the back yoke doesn't sit completely flat which is due to the sizing. I made it about 1.5 sizes too big so that Ollie can get at least 2 winters use out of it. With all the time that goes into making a garment it would be a shame if he grew out of it too fast.



Clockwise from top left: Ralph Lauren, Balmain, Chace Crawford, Burberry Brit



Animal Instinct

It seems as though leopard print is everywhere at the moment. I really like this print because it gives off such a young, fun, sexy vibe.

I used McCalls (Laura Ashley) pattern 5972 to make this adorable collared dress. I shortened the hem, brought the neckline in and added the collar and cap sleeves. I've used this pattern a few times before and its nice and simple, a good starting point if you want to customise it into your own style, but like me, don't know how to draft patterns from scratch.



Front view



Back view



I was really pleased with the result, I love how the collar and sleeves are fairly stiff and structured, I think it makes the dress kind of preppy.

 

Sources of inspiration:



The Classic Chic Blazer

This is my most recently finished project, I just wanted to make something versatile and elegant that I could dress up or down depending on the occassion. I used a blend suiting and a pattern from Burda magazine 2/11. It has a beautiful fit so I'm really pleased with the result and I would definitey reccomend this pattern.

I love how Kate Moss and Blake Lively work this look, so effortless and cool.

"Did Mummy just back into that car? Oh no, not again."

I had this great thought yesterday that it would be fun to start a blog. Turned out to be an absolutely terrible idea and I'm completely computer-illiterate. It took me the last 24 hours and a lot of hair tearing to get to the stage where I can actually post something. I hope no-one is expecting me to have some kind of wise, insightful point of view on life or fashion even because you certainly aren't going to find it here! This blog is just about things that I enjoy, the things that make me smile when I'm having a bad day or my 6 year old son mocks me for being an awful driver. I'm hoping that Covet and Create will be a source of inspiration and entertainment for people that share my love for design. I'm going to use it to amalgamate different ideas I have and to keep a record of the garments I create.

Current influences: