Valentine's Day Sewing: Colette Seamwork's Lisbon & Almada

After a few months of lurking, I finally took the plunge and signed up for a monthly subscription to Seamwork, Colette Patterns' monthly e-magazine. The magazine itself is beautiful: page after page of exquisite photography and in-depth articles on needles and threads of sewing (see what I did there??), but with your subscription you also get two relatively quick-sew pdf patterns exclusive to Seamwork.

This month is the intimates issue, a topic which is a popular trend in sewing right now and one that intrigues me. (I mean, sewing your own bra? How cool is that??) The monthly patterns are for the Lisbon slip and the Almada robe, and after looking through all of the beautiful illustrations, I'm thinking, why not? Let's give this intimates thing a try!

My original plan was to make the Almada in a drape-y cozy double-gauze that makes you want to wrap it around you and curl up with a cup of tea and a good book, like the model version. However, when I started looking at fabric, what caught my but a floral-splattered stretch satin for the Almada and a black crepe de chine for the Lisbon! Now I'm thinking, Holy crap, I'm nuts! These silky things and I don't get along. We've been down this road before, and it ended in disaster and tears and a trash can! But, thinking I might be a little older, wiser, and better armed this time around, I went for it.

Oh, I went for it!

The Lisbon:

Black crepe de chine (I think?) slip, trimmed with elastic lace and finished with French seams. (So tidy!)

The Almada:

Floral-splattered stretch satin kimono-style robe, finished with French seams and bias tape.

Bottom line is that I am THRILLED with how these turned out! They both feel so luxurious to lounge around in, and I want the robe to multiply. Many times. The slip too, but the robe is just heavenly!

I'm really happy with my fabric choices because the silkiness really is what gives both pieces that luxurious feeling! Dealing with the fabric wasn't that terrible. I've definitely learned from my previous mistakes, and while it wasn't super-easy to work with (especially for cutting), taking the time to figure out and use the correct techniques for cutting and construction really make a difference.

I'm also proud of the insides of these pieces, which is a new focus of mine. Historically, as long as the outside looked good, I didn't really care what my seams look like! But with maturity comes wisdom, right? Maybe. Anyway, I'm trying to be much more conscious of making the insides look as good as the outsides. French seams definitely put both of these pieces into that category!

So I've taken the first step on my intimates adventure! What's next? Hmm. a bra, maybe? :)

Happy sewing!