Thursday 10 December 2015

Schneidernmeistern Twist (It) - In (perfect) English please!

I've learned a new german word and sewn myself the perfect, easy wearing blouse in the process.

Exhibit: the Twist (It) blouse by Schneidernmeistern - now available in English!


I was way over committed with other projects, but when Monika put out a call wanting some native English speakers to proofread her pattern's translation, well I just couldn't help myself.

I've always liked the idea of being a proofreader. That doesn't mean I catch every mistake in my own writing, but I sure do spot other people's mistakes easily!

I shot off a reply to Monika's request and admitted my fastidiousness when it comes to language in sewing patterns. She replied that "from one korinthenkacker to another", she was delighted to have me on the team. Turns out the German language has a curious word for what we would call a Nitpicker. You might be able to guess, as I did, what the second half of the word means. But I had to look up "korinthe" which are translated variously as currants or raisins.

So this little raisin shitter set to work...


Principally I read the instructions and nitpicked through any spelling, grammatical or punctuation errors, of which there were very few. Well done Annika from Naeh-Connection for doing a great job of the translation.

Then I wandered off to the fabric stash to find a suitable fabric. The pattern is designed for a lightweight, woven fabric with a soft drape. I had this striped, embroidered cotton which I had no memory of what it was purchased for. That makes it free to be used, right?

The blouse is cut from only one pattern piece placed on the fold. Because of this you do need an apparel fabric wide piece of fabric. The narrower quilting cottons would require the top to be pieced - but the instructions cover how and where to do this should you need to. A Nani Iro double gauze would be sooo fabulous for this top, but definitely too narrow.


Stripes show off the blouse's design nicely, as one or the other of the front or back will end up on the bias.

I chose to have my bias at the front with the centre front seam creating these chevrons from my stripes.

You can see at the back, the stripes are horizontal....


And then if I do some weird half dance, half pointing out a cobweb move, you get to see the side seams and how the stripes run down the sleeves...


The shoulders have a perfect little dart that lets the blouse sit nicely. The neckline is then finished with a facing. There is the option of cutting the back and front necklines the same, and then the blouse could be worn either way. Different facing pattern pieces are provided, depending on whether you choose the reversible or regular necklines. The back of the pattern is slightly wider than the front, so I chose to make mine have a defined front and back and drafted the higher back neckline.


You can see that there's quite a bit of room at the sides of the bust so I imagine those with a bit more up front could still find this to be an easy top to wear. For me, it would have been bordering on too big, except that I chose such a nice, light, drapey fabric. We're anticipating a long, hot summer, so a loose, cool top like this will get plenty of wear.


So, this pattern gets the nitpickers, korinthenkackers and pilkunnussija* stamp of approval!

Details:
Pattern: Schneidernmeistern's Twist It blouse
Size: L (44-46)
Fabric: lightweight (gauzy?) embroidered cotton from The Fabric Store



*Finnish and too rude to translate here - thanks Haus of Harridan for that one

13 comments:

  1. Shelley, you are awesome! I was wondering what that meant on IG! And now I'm wondering about the rude word, too!

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    1. And you're the sweetest! I love funny things about language. I was prompted to ask my French teacher what the French version of Nitpicker is. Of course, it's not a single word but the expression "one who cuts hair into four" (to paraphrase badly) Well, apart from being awkward to say, it could be argued that nitpicking and splitting hairs are completely different! :) and that's just the kind of argument I would get into. :)
      For the Finnish: Think of a rude act with a comma! Like MoFo, only CommaFo.

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  2. Shelley, I loved to read your post. So glad that you think the translation was good. I have some more patterns that I'll translated to English within the next months. Would you be interested in being my Korinthenkacker again? You'd of course get the patterns, too...

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    1. How flattering, I'd love to. Even when I don't have time to sew, I'm sure I could find time to proofread. Thank you.

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  3. :) it was all my pleasure! Thanks for the pattern. I've not really gone down the woven pull-on blouse path but I'm a convert now, it's just so easy to wear!

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  4. Lovely colours.... dearly love how the stripes twist on the hands.

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    1. Thank you! It was beggig to be made in stripes, right? But then, isn't everything? :)

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  5. Very interesting how this goes together and love how you have used the stripes. The perfect top for summer.

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    1. Thanks Sharon. It is turning out to be the perfect loose, breezy summer top.

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  6. This looks lovely on you Shelly. Well done.

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  7. OK now I have stopped giggling I can type :) Lovely review, and gorgeous blouse. Simple yet interesting, and definitely wearable!

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