Simplicity Naaimode – Hopefully Creative

Statement Sleeves

When your sleeves are the center of attention.

So when planning the graduation outfit, I actually started with the top. Why did I not tell that story first? Because I didn’t end up wearing it at all. I chose a simpler white blouse to go with in the end. The statement sleeves on this one were just too much with the cape. This top was originally a dress pattern, I just didn’t draw the bottom half of it. The pattern was from Simplicity Naaimode 35 – dress models 11-14. This sleeve is from model 12. The set is also known as Simplicity 8511.

For fabric, I chose some thick, white, almost quilted looking fabric that I got in Utrecht some time ago, for I think 1 or 2 euro per meter. I wasn’t sure what I would do with it, but the price was too good so I left with a lot of it. I absolutely cannot be trusted around cheap fabric, I want to hoard it all. Anyway, I traced and cut the pattern pieces and then started putting the top together. This fabric frayed in a very interesting way, so I pulled out the serger to neaten up the insides. Then I had to fit it. The tops of the sleeves were too high, so it was pulled in along the sleeve seams to a more pleasing fit. When trying to apply what I thought was the neckline facing, it took some tries to discover that it was supposed to be a band, not a facing. Before that realization, I’d already retraced the new neckline and made an actual facing. I like this better anyway.

For the sleeves, the instructions said to add buttonholes and such. I didn’t trust the fabric enough, so I put in some thin round elastic that would fit my buttons. The buttons are fabric buttons made with a button press. It took some tries, but I’ve got some lovely buttons now. They were attached to the sleeve cuffs and the elastic can loop over them nicely. I’ve not actually worn the top out yet. I’m waiting for spring to actually arrive so that my arms don’t freeze. I’m also not entirely sure I’m brave enough for it. I guess time will tell.

Simplicity Naaimode Project Update

In the first post Simplicity Naaimode Project, I explained my current quest with trying to find the original pattern numbers of patterns published in the Dutch Simplicity Naaimode magazines. I’m proud to announce that after many hours of googling, reverse image searching and cursing, I’ve finally found all of them!

I got a subscription to the magazine a few years ago, so I didn’t have to look for them in the bookstore anymore, they would just arrive in my mailbox. I’ve been diligently trying to find all of them but up to today, 3.5 patterns were still illusive. These were from the first magazines I owned, so they must’ve been quite old. Out of 491 entries, that was still about 99% percent, but it was bugging me. So I buckled down and got to work. I found one via reverse image search, one via normal search and two via ‘related search’. I’m so happy to have my collection complete!

So, if you want to know which patterns you can find in copies of Simplicity Naaimode (that I own), you can check the Simplicity Naaimode pattern conversion.

Plaid Pants Again

When you make pants and then wait weeks to actually complete them.

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine celebrated her birthday in Rotterdam. Rotterdam has a large market on Saturday which also has a few fabric stalls, so I convinced another friend to come with me to the market to look at some fabrics. I fell in love with a sneaky sweatpants fabric with a black, white and grey plaid on it. The fabric feels very similar to the striped one I used for these pants, so it had to come home with me.

Determined not to let the fabric languish in the hoard for too long, I set out to make my new pants pretty swiftly. Since the plaid is unbalanced, it would never be possible to make symmetrical pants, but I did decide to do my best to plaid match the horizontal where possible. I settled on a pattern that had arrived recently in the Simplicity Naaimode magazine (nr. 45), model 30 also known as Simplicity S8956, which was fairly wide legged, with a pleat and pockets in the front and a shaped waistband. All the pieces were cut out and sewn together. The only changes I made were to add an extra belt loop for my keys and to cuff them as they were seriously long.

So that meant that this thing was finished right? Nope, wrong. The front pockets that come with the pattern are really not very big, and while I was debating the entire time whether to add back pockets, I decided not to put them in at the time I worked on it. So when I’d finished the pants as per the project on the 27th of September, they then lay in my ‘to work on’ pile until last Sunday, waiting for back pockets. I chose to do single welt pockets for the first time and used a different kind of fabric for the pocket back to hopefully alleviate some of the denseness that welt pockets can create. I probably should have made them a little bit wider, but they did turn out well and function as pockets! Will even fit my phone, so job’s finally done.

Letter Blouse

This blouse is literally ‘Made with Love’ if you read across the letters. Based on a heavily modified Simplicity pattern, it wears and coordinates wonderfully.

I’d found this fabric on the fabric market (pre-pandemic) and thought it was wonderful. It’s got letters on it! Only after quite a while of puzzling with my pattern layout did I figure out that it actually says Made With Love if you look across the rows.

Now the first attempt at using this fabric is lingering in the Corner of Shame. I originally chose the free button down jacket from Bootstrap Fashion to make a long sleeved blouse. However, I couldn’t get it to fit at all, so I chucked it i the CoS. The leftover bits of original fabric were used to create something out of little. I used my tried and true short sleeve blouse pattern (also used here and here and here). This is a heavily modified version of Simplicity 2255.

It worked well. The fabric coordinates with a lot of my clothing, even if I may become a bit of a walking pattern clash. In all honesty, I think I like being non-standard in my clothing choices, so this isn’t something negative to me. Hopefully I’ll be able to find a long sleeve blouse pattern that does fit me…

Simplicity Naaimode Project

You may have noticed that lately when I’ve used patterns from Simplicity Naaimode, a sewing pattern magazine in the Netherlands, they also have an ‘original pattern’ listed. This is because at some point (June 2019 maybe?), I decided that it would be a wonderful idea to try and figure out which patterns were actually included in all my copies of Simplicity Naaimode. This led to at least three days of relentless googling of ‘simplicity sewing pattern top/skirt/blouse/pants/dress’ in all kinds of combinations. I have now achieved 95% completeness.

Since then, every time I buy another Simplicity Naaimode, I will try to find all the patterns inside. I’ve been keeping this list in an excel file on my computer. Yesterday, I decided that it would be a good idea if I had this list accessible to not just me, but perhaps the rest of the world too. So, if you want to know which patterns you can find in copies of Simplicity Naaimode (that I own), you can check the Simplicity Naaimode pattern conversion.

Warm Birdies

A while ago, I found a bit of fabric that was black and green with birds, reversed on both sides. The black side was somewhat more fluffy and felted, the green side looked more like threads. At some point, again, a while ago, I was cold and wanted to make something warm. This fabric seemed to fit the bill. I chose a pattern from Simplicity Naaimode 31 – patterns 1-4 (also known as New Look 6474). I chose the smallest size, shortened it by a lot to make sure it fit on my limited piece of fabric and started sewing.

Once the basic shape was finished, I put it on and it looked horrible on me. I can’t even describe my feelings about it. Still, I liked the fabric and wasn’t sure what to do at that point. Then I thought of something, perhaps it would fit my mother better. She’s also generally cold and likes colourful things. So wearing something green with birds on, shouldn’t be an issue.

I brought the thing to my parents and asked her if she liked it. She did, so I decided to finish the seams. All seams were folded inwards and sewn down, so it now looks quite nice on the inside. This means that it can be worn with the black side out.

The outside edge and sleeve edges have been finished with bias tape, this also looks neat on the side. I made a little loop at the outside neckline edge, so which ever way it is turned, it can still be put on a hanger. There are also pockets on the green side, which can be used when worn.

I hope she’ll get some joy out of it, and if not, someone else might. I’m just happy it did not end up in my corner of shame…

Three-Piece Suit (part 1 – Vest)

In the quest for a three-piece suit, I also needed a vest. I’ve found a liking for Simplicity Naaimode patterns since the seam allowance is already included in them. I’d remembered that there was a pattern for a vest in one of my magazines, so I quickly looked it up. It was in Simplicity Naaimode 18. There I discovered that I really liked the back of one of the patterns (model 59, bottom right) and the front of one of the others (model 58, top right). So I copied all the relevant pattern pieces and merged two together to create the perfect vest.

Since I wanted a little bit of interest, the vest is sewn on the ‘wrong’ side of the fabric. This side has dots instead of dashed lines. The main difference is that the vest appears a little darker. I made no alterations to the pattern and just sewed it together with the same lining I used for the jacket version 1. For the closure, I used some black & white ribbon and attached super small silver-y buttons on the edge. I want it to peep out above the jacket, but not below the jacket – hence the new jacket fronts.

I really love the twisted strap detail in the back, and I love the shape of the neckline. It feels quite flattering. I managed to understitch parts of it, which helps it to lie flat. All in all, I’m very happy with this part of my three-piece suit. On to the pants!

Tag: Simplicity Naaimode