Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Late national love



In the Netherlands we get a bit crazy about orange and the color of our flag around Kingsday (end of April). Most people dress in orange, and wear pretty similar clothes as when there is a national soccer event. Usually, we do not join the masses on Kingsday (I usually realize when I am on a flea market that day that there is no stripe of orange anywhere in our combined outfits), but this year I went a different route. I found some awesome Dutch fabrics at Textielstad, bought a few meters and made all my kids something out of it. I already showed you my eldest's outfit and my son's, but I did not have time to show the clothes my two youngest wore.




You know I love Sofilantjes*, they are my go-to patterns if I am free wheeling. A year ago, I translated a guestpost to Dutch on the Sofilantjes blog to make this awesome dress hack from the ADVT* shirt pattern. It went on my to do list, but got buried under pattern tests. Now it was the perfect time to try it. I actually hacked the hack a bit. I kept the bodice in one piece and sewed the bias on the dress without an extra seam. I am not convinced if my shortcut actually took less time, but at least I tried something new. It turned out a bit short, so it might actually turn into a tunic, but it is still cute in that case.




For my youngest, I did a triple way hack. I used my most favorite Sofilantjes skirt, the high low skirt from the Litore. I used the bodice from the Nivalis*, that curve make me so happy. Finally, I used the short sleeves from the Aura*, that little pleat is so cute. When I made pictures a few months ago now, I actually forgot to get a close up of the sleeve, but you can see how that pleat looks here.




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.



Tuesday, June 20, 2017

A BAG, I sewed a bag!



You know that I like to have variety in my sewing. I will usually mix and match and hack patterns to keep myself inspired but almost all my sews are clothes. That means that there is a big spectrum of sewing projects that I (almost) never sew, one of those project types is bags. I assume it is because I am not really a bag person. For me a bag is purely functional. I am not an accessories person in general, shoes for example fall in the same purely practical category for me. I usually have one bag in rotation, and only when it breaks I will search for a new one.


However, due to the most recent One Thimble, I got intrigued by the concept of bag sewing. One Thimble 15* has the Military messenger bag pattern* and I immediately fell in love with the asymmetrical shape of the flap. I just had to try one. One other reason why I am not into bag sewing is because I do not like to spend money on bag hardware. I am a spur of the moment kind of sewist and do not own much bag hardware. Having to buy all the pieces would mean a true plan. So, I adjusted some things.



Instead of an adjustable shoulder band, I measured the optimal length of the shoulder band on my current bag and simply made that length. I am very pleased with it, the only moment that I adjust the band on my current bag is when it has unintentionally slipped down, which is actually impossible with this new bag. I did not use any interfacing and just chose a heavy weight fabric for the outside. I had some lovely Art Gallery canvas fabric left from when I sewed this coat and some leftover from when I sewed this dress became the lining.



I love pockets, so I played with those on the bag. Instead of using the pouch pockets, I made simple zipper pockets. The front now can hold my phone and keys. I also made an inside pocket for other items that I would like to  find quickly, like my wallet. The inside pocket should have been on the other side (at the back of the bag). But it does not really bother me. I probably do not have to tell you that my new gemm has replaced my older rotation bag.



Sunday, June 11, 2017

Rockstar release



Harristar Designs has released a new Ladies pattern, the Rockstar (I tested another from them in January). A strappy top and dress with many variations in straps/back. During testing I made a top and a dress which are officially called the Stratocaster and Starcaster. The names come from Guitars, very suitable because of those strings, but for me very hard to disentangle (pun intended). So fortunately there are clear pictures with the names.



I first made the top and for that one I used the elastic option, but instead of making an outside casing, I used transparent elastic and sewed it on the inside. A small hack, very easy but it gives a different look. Both my dress and top have an integrated bra (parts included in the pattern). I did not make a picture from the internal bra, but just imagine a sportsbra with the neckline connected to the top of dress. I am very fond of my under wire bra's (but I seem to be one of the few), but I have to say that these garments are very comfortable without bra. I have not yet decided if I mind a visible bra strap but this way whatever I decide, I will be able to wear these garments often this summer.



I also made a dress and of course I added pockets, they are included in the pattern but I sewed them in a bit lower. For the dress I used the regular neckline, for the top the high one. I got the fabric from one of the sweet girls that go to the same sewing weekend (Joyce does not have blog so I can not link to her). I therefore have no clue about the origin of this fabric, but it is of very good quality. I cut the straps from a shirt that I got from my sister in law. This time I did not go for the elastic option, which may make the dress a bit less flattering. This dress is really super comfortable and I actually wore it three days in a row...



Due to the new relaese, there is a store wide sale of 40%! Which means you can also pick up the Dimo pack rather cheap. I have made two of them durig the sewing weekend, but I still have not managed to blog them. I am just showing them to you now, such that you can buy the pattern as well, I really love it and I would be sad if you did not realise how cool it is. I did show you one version of this pattern previously in this post.



I upcycled all the old dino clothes that I had to make this one. I cut the cute dinos applications from a baby shirt. I have mentioned it often already, that I bought patterns for the weekend due to its ability to handle scraps, and this Dimo pack is hardcore scrap sewing. The pattern includes a hood and many, many different color blocking options. You might have to take some time to study all the pieces, but all the pieces and seam allowances are included for all the color block options. DO not just print it all, first see which version you want to make.



In my daughter's version only the ribbing and masks were mine, all the other fabrics where from our "free pop fabric store". She donated three of those fabrics and the triangles were from An (also without blog). As I wrote before, the entire Harristar shop is on 40 % sale. The sale lasts until the 12th of June with the code RockInMommas40




Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Cosy Toes Blog Tour



At the beginning of the week, Twig and Tale released another pattern in their footwear collection, The Tie Back Boots for grow ups*. Twig and Tale has a whole line of footwear patterns ranging from super cute Wild Things baby shoes to the new Grown up boots in women's and men's sizes. Sewing footwear is very fulfilling, it is surprisingly easy and you often can make them out of remnants or scraps. Some people are not convinced yet about the joy of footwear sewing which is why we organized a blog tour. Today is day two of the tour and I am going to show you both the new Tie Back Boots and a Wild thing shoe with a crossover animal from the Wild things boots (like this it sounds super complex, but it is a super simple thing).



The new Grown up Tie Back Boots come in a wide variety of sizes, from bigger kids to full men sizes. I might make my husband a pair in the future, as long as he is allowed to pose with socks and only his feet are visible, I might be able to persuade him to pose for the blog. The boots come in the actual Tie Back option or with elastic in the ankle. I went for the later. There is a regular boot and a high boot option and as you can see, I clearly went for the high boot option. I saw her tall boots, and I immediately wanted my own.



I made a plain pair from upcycled jeans, and I love it. I considered using the pocket on the shaft, but feared the shaft might become to stiff, she however had an awesome idea how to use the pocket. There are two shaft widths and I optimistically went for the narrow shaft. I should have known better. The fit is perfect now, but I did not line the boot and I can not wear them over trousers. Which is not an actual problem, because I only wear dresses now a days. I put some decorative stitches at the top, I really love how they turned out.



As I have mentioned at least twice on the blog, my middle daughter has been asking me for lady bug shoes ever since I made these tigers. The tour was exactly the kick I needed, and I finally fulfilled her wish. I took the face from the Wild Things Boots* option and transferred it onto the Wild Things Shoe* pattern piece (they are NOT an exact match). I machine embroidered some red canvas with black dots and I ended up with a super happy daughter. These shoes are for inside wear, but for the shoot she was allowed to show her butterflies their natural environment.



Due to the release the Grown up boots* are on 15% release sale and with the code "Cosytoes"you get an ADDITIONAL 15% discount on all footwear patterns*. This means that the Grown up boots are now 30% off until Friday.




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.