Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Beestyle tunic



Due to my testing frenzy from the previous month, some projects remained unblogged (I did not want to bore you with too many posts). This week was free of deadline posts, so I am blogging about something that I sewed months ago (during my sewing weekend), the Beestyle tunic from Beekiddi. This morning my daughter wore one of the two tunics that I made, which was a good reminder of my blogging backlog.



I came across the Beestyle pattern in the International knit sew-along group. In that group, many cool creations turn up and many of them have a jersey strip sewing in-between the seam. I love the look and used the Beestyle pattern to experiment with it.  I bought the pattern in my search for patterns perfect for scraps, and this indeed turned out to be a winner. From all the different fabrics that I used in these two tunics, only the foxes had not come from my own collection. Sofie was the original owner but did not blog about her project, but you can see and buy the lovely dress she made with it here.



I presume you would have expected that my daughter would be over the moon with this huge pocket! I really like the lines on this pattern. I only made the girl version, but there is a boy version as well. The pattern is German, but I did not really use the instructions so I can not tell you if they are good. There are a lot of pictures though, so that should be enough explanation. The pattern is without seam allowance, so do not forget to add them. There are several hood options for the pattern, but I went for a plain round neckline. Unfortunately, there is no size table, so I simply measure across the chest to determine the size I needed.



I really love how all these bolt prints together still works (in my mind at least). I will not bore you with links to all the posts that I used these fabrics in (because these were all leftovers from when I made something else), but that would be a nice scavenger hunt if you are bored. I took pictures months ago as well, so although new shoot would be outside now, these were still taken inside.  For the pictures we paired the tunics with jeans, they would be perfect with capri leggings as well. Note to self, finally start those capri leggings you have been planning for months!



Sunday, May 28, 2017

Continued celebration



A few weeks ago, Evi asked me if I would like to take part in a surprise tour for Anne from Sofilantjes*. A small token of our appreciation for her hard work and creative ideas. In my previous post, the official Sofilantjes anniversary blog tour, I wrote that I always get a lot of joy from sewing Sofilantjes's patterns, so of course, I was game for another tour. Like in my previous Sofilantjes post, I again used very special fabric, this time it is fabric that I printed myself.



This time I indulged myself on jersey fabric and made a Mantica* and a Hibernis*/ ADVT* mash. The basis of the shirt is the ADVT, I wanted to "frame" the white based fabric, so I added bands on the sleeves and the bottom like with the Hibernis. I redrew the V neck into a circle neckline. On the Mantica I hacked the pocket a bit. Instead of having the entire front as one pocket, I made a hidden kangaroo pocket. I wrote a short tutorial on how I did it, and you can find it here.



I printed this dragon fabric during my first Bobbinhood workshop at de Stoffenmadam in the end of April. Earlier, I showed you a shirt made with my first screen workshop on a chemical screen, this dragon was made with a stencil print that I cut with my Silhouette. Silhouette and stencil printing are a killer combi. Here you can see the print in more detail and how I build it.



I knew I wanted to make a print that would work for my son and went for a dragon. I did not want to copy something from the web. I wanted something without possible copyrights and tried drawing something myself. Let's say that the next week I went to the library to get a book about drawing. I clearly miss some basic skills there, but I have hope for the future. I did need a print though, so I asked my sister in law who draws, if she could make a dragon. She actually had a dragon just laying around and with some Photoshop, a skill that I do possess, I turned that one into a cute print.



The workshop was great, it gave me the confidence that I needed to try this at home as well. I got several tips, like printing with a blanket underneath your fabric and that you do not need to be too afraid of a little-wet ink. I had no clue what my fabric would become, and because I wanted to have as many options as possible, I printed a double direction print. I placed the odd rows upside down, this way I would be able to turn my pattern piece whichever way I needed.



For the Mantica, I used golden contrasting glitter fabric that I bought at Textielstad. I squeezed all that was possible from the dragon fabric, but had to cut half of the dress from the golden fabric. I really liked the effect though and I because of it, I felt my son's shirt needed one last finishing touch. There were a few small spots in the fabric anyway and I decided to use some flex foil to cover them. I used the same scraps as when I made this dress. Really, never throw away flex, even when it is peeled, is is perfect for small projects.



I, of course, was not the only one that was asked to surprise Anne. These lovely ladies also sewed something with Sofilantjes's patterns to join the fun. Due to the third anniversary, there is an anniversary short sale going on at the moment at the Sofilantjes web shop. You can get 20 % off the entire cart (excluding bundles, paper patterns, and gift cards) with the code WEARE3 until May 29 11:59 pm EST.




Feel free to leave a comment in the language you prefer (although Google translate might have to assist me if you choose something different than English, German, Dutch or Hungarian). If you buy anything through my affiliate links (*), I get a small commission (the price stays the same for you), I am very grateful for everything that feeds my fabric addiction.

Thursday, May 25, 2017

Sofilantjes anniversary tour



Three years ago, Sofilantjes* released her first pattern. Today, I celebrate that in style with a double Sofilantjes hack in fabric from Lotte Martens's Let's party collection. Sofilantjes is possibly best known because of her patterns for knit fabrics, but Sofilantjes also has patterns for wovens. The Brueram*, one of those patterns for wovens, might actually be the Sofilantjes' pattern that I love the most. This will be my fourth post on that pattern (1, 2, and 3) and my fourth hack (although the first two were only minor adjustments). Party's are not only on warm days, so I also made my daughter a jacket, a hacked Cicero* to wear this festive dress to any party during the year.




This time it was the Litore*, another pattern by Sofilantjes, that inspired my hack. I love the look of the double set of straps on the back. To get that look, I narrowed the straps towards the shoulder and cut off the entire strap at the shoulder. With hindsight, I should have gone for a bit wider strap to have it more closely resemble the Litore. I determined the position of the straps pre-shirring at about 1/3 and 2/5 from the sides. I sewed them in between the lining and main fabric (as explained in the Brueram instructions) and gathered the back. Then, I attached the top of the straps to the shoulder following the Litore instructions. The skirt part is inspired by the Mantica*. I love how playing with these patterns actually could occupy all my sewing time.




That beautiful shiny lace is Lunari Aqua, one of the gorgeous Lotte Martens fabrics from the Let's Party collection. When I received it, I immediately knew why I had not seen it one the web yet. It is so pretty that people will have cut-fear for sure. It took me three weeks to settle on a plan to optimally use it. I used it for both pieces today and already cut a third project, an Aura* from it. If you use it as a beautiful detail like I did, you can actually make a lot from one panel. Two other ladies went a different route and used more of the panel in one garment. She used a different lace from the same collection as a breathtaking back on a woman's dress and she made a jacket consisting a 100% out of  Let's party lace. Lotte Martens is having a sewing competition at the moment. If I inspired you to cut your treasured Lotte Martens fabric or buy some, be quick because the competition is only for a few more days and the prizes are amazing!




For the Cicero jacket, I used the same color blocking option as the pink/brown one in this post. I wanted the jacket to look as classy as possible, and I, therefore, omitted the ribbing (I did not have any fancy ribbing). I did not want to cover the lace with a hood or collar, so I also omitted those. I went for clean lines. To omit the ribbing at the bottom of the jacket and sleeves, I added a bit to the length to both the jacket itself and the sleeves. I hemmed by folding the hem allowance inwards. This time I made some pictures while I shortened the zipper, and I will use them to make a tutorial on how to melt a new stop. Nothing fancy, but some asked for more details. I bought the rayon of the dress and the faux jersey at Textielstad.




I am so happy and honored to be part of the Sofilantjes family. Anne was the first designer that let me test something and I will always love her for that. All her patterns give me instant joy while sewing them and I am very much looking forward to all the other things she will make us sew. Due to the anniversary celebration, you can win fabric spending money by entering this Rafflecopter. These lovely brands are sponsoring the prize.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Feel free to leave a comment in the language you prefer (although Google translate might have to assist me if you choose something different than English, German, Dutch or Hungarian). If you buy anything through my affiliate links (*), I get a small commission (the price stays the same for you), I am very grateful for everything that feeds my fabric addiction.




Monday – Tales of a Tester
Tuesday – Kreatita
Wednesday – Ronda B. Handmade
Thursday – TurtleBirdies, Inspiration

Monday, May 22, 2017

Suit up for summer



It is beginning to look a lot like.. summer! Each year when temperatures are rising, our kids immediately start asking if they are allowed to play with water in the yard.  This means that for weeks I have to tell them it is still too cold, the sun looks nice compared to the cold winter months, but still no summer weather. Now, it seems we are finally there, water play season is open, at least for the coming week. That gives me a good reason to do some swimsuit sewing (right..like I would need a reason). I was not alone in my desire to sew with lycra's, today is the start of the "suit up" blog tour, so you are treated on a lot of inspiration this week.



I decided to dress all of my kids in something new. I had quite some swimsuit fabric left from last year's first attempt to sew swimwear. While searching through my upcycle pile I found an old bike short of mine from 15 years ago. The fabric was still in perfect condition, only the elastic had dried in the mean time. The black fabric was the perfect contrast to spice up my blue and purple. I had actually already bought some other lycra for the tour, but that will have to wait for another project.  The thought of dressing them in coordinating pieces became too good to ignore.



Jalie generously offered a free pattern from their swimsuit collection and I really wanted to try them. Browsing through the catalog, my eye fell on the skin suit pattern.  It sparked a memory of longing, I remembered needing that pattern after seeing this awesome costume. The pattern includes sizes from small child to grown up, so you will see this pattern more often on the blog here. I foresee my son will want to be Batman or Spiderman real soon.



Based on the size table I cut a straight 8 years and it fits perfectly. After making all the pictures I realized there is no picture of the back. I found one from the side, but you can not see the fit on the back, so you just have to take my word for it, that it fits great everywhere. I slightly adjusted the pattern by making an exposed zipper. I wanted the suit to have some black in it, and the zipper seemed to be perfect for that. I also omitted the collar/hood and just finished the neckline with a bias of the purple



For my son, I used the Suat boxwear pattern. I made several of these already that have not been blogged yet. My son loves the fit of the pattern and it is super easy and quick to sew. The pattern includes both a boy and girl front, and I decided to sew a small one for my youngest as well as part of a bikini.



The last pattern that I used for this post is the Azure swimsuit pattern. I bought this pattern, by Titchy Threads more than a year ago. It is reversible, color blocked and with several options. A must have pattern I would say. I personally prefer the totally color blocked side of the swimsuit that I made my middle daughter. My daughter, of course, prefers the other side. She claims not to like black, but I think the contrast is lovely (maybe a bit too much like the original pattern picture, but lovely). My daughter likes to have options so a reversible swimsuit is perfect for her desire to regularly wear something else. The reversibility also increases the likelihood that one side will be loved my her younger sister when she will inherit the suit.



I hacked the Azure pattern into a bikini top for my youngest. I tried to be as economical as possible with my fabric and I probably cut the lining and main in two different directions. Or maybe something else went wrong, but the top is bunching up a bit, fortunately, the receiver did not mind at all. She loved the entire outfit and refused to take off the top for two days.



In the beginning, I already said that these garments were made as part of a swimsuit tour. In this picture you see all the sponsors and below it, you find the line up of all the bloggers. This tour is organized by the lovely Paisley Roots and SewSophieLynn you can find all the information about the give aways on their blogs.