Inspinration: BDS

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Monday, August 6, 2018

Back to school with Bella Sunshine

Two more weeks and then the summer holiday is already over for our kids, then it is back to school. Although many other kids have more weeks of holiday in front of them, in a month from now all kids will be back in school. Kids often seem to grow a few inches over the summer and the moment that school starts is the moment that we as parents realize that our kids seem to have outgrown most of their clothes. That is why Bella Sunshine comes with a back to school tour now that there is still plenty of time to think about a new wardrobe.

I already sewed many Bella Sunshine patterns in the past and because I wanted to show you a new angle, I went for an all knit mini capsule. In contrast to my usual deadline behavior, I actually finished this capsule a month ago! I did so because we went on a cruise and we wanted to pack light, a mini capsule is perfect for that. The entire thing turned out to be such a success that of course the rest now want their own capsules.

Our capsule consists of eight pieces, four tops and four bottoms that all can be combined. I picked a color scheme that I know our middle daughter loves and tried to use several uni colored fabrics to facilitate all mix and match options without being boring. I did a few hacks and used six patterns, of which one of them is the free Reagan raglan.

Let's start with that Reagan raglan. I had not sewed the kid version* yet but I have worn my own dress versions a lot. To show of the raglan lines I used two different blues and to decorate the shirt we ironed on a Rhinestone beaver. Beavers are her favorite animals and when I bought my first Rhinestones a few weeks ago, she immediately asked me to create a beaver pattern and she placed all the stones herself. The shirt can of course be combined with any of the bottoms, but when it is combined with the circle skirt, the one that I hacked from the Sahara the outfit looks like a dress.

A few months ago, during a Bella sunshine Sunday sale, I pronounced my love for the Amelia*, so it had to be part of the capsule. I really like the way that the band can be used to create an interesting contrast. I made a tunic length in uni colored mint jersey and made the garment spicy by adding a striped band.

During another Sunshine sale I made the Josephine* and I just love cap sleeves. So, I made a reversible shirt Josephine. Pink on one side and yellow stripes on the other. A truly versatile piece in a capsule. It was a rather easy hack, I simply used the Reagan raglan to determine the length of the shirt. The Josephine has a wide boat neck that is pretty similar on the front and the back (when you ignore that the back has seam allowance to accommodate a zipper) so I cut the front twice actually four times if you count the lining). The shirt is therefore also reversible in the way that the front and back are the same.

A Sahara* top could neither not miss from our Bella sunshine mini capsule. I have made several already and they are all worn with much joy. The first Sahara that I made had a different fabric for the bodice than the skirt because I sewed it from two small fabric remnants. I still am so satisfied with that contrast that I again went for a different printed skirt. I made a pair of bow tie leggings in the same color as the top such that it looks like a jumpsuit when the leggings and top are combined. You can create the same look by cutting off a pair of Eden leggings* (which is free if you are a Facebook member of the Bella Sunshine group).

The last pattern that I used, is the Tess Tulip shorts*, which was the only pattern that I had not sewn yet. The pattern is intended for wovens, but I made it in knits and it worked perfectly. I cut is one size smaller and put elastic through the entire waistband, not just the back. The Tess comes in two lengths and the light blue version that I made is the shorter length. The green shorts are the longer length and another small hack, I simply left off the front "petals" from the tulip. Neither of the shorts are lined. Because jersey is a bit thicker than cotton, I did not dare to put pockets on the full petal version, but I did put them in the greenish one.

Besides showing you all the pattern inspiration Bella Sunshine *is also having a lovely back to school sale. The sale just started and ends on Sunday at midnight EST. All girls patterns are now $6, all ladies patterns are $7, and all bundles are $12. No coupon code is needed. 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: Sew Cucio - Inspinration - It's Liesel
Tuesday: Big fly notions - Sew4five - Stitched by Jennie
Wednesday: Hazelnut Handmade - Cross Stitches custom clothing -Turtle Trax Too
Thirsday: Jot Designs - Bloomingskies - Nathalie's needle
Friday: The bear and pea atelier - The Scatty sewer - Sew Haute Blog

Sunday, April 8, 2018

Sahara Sunshine sale

Two weeks ago, I showed you the Josephine from Bella Sunshine designs, which was on special Sunshine sale for just $5.00. Well, today, and only today, the Sahara* is on sale with the same discount! The Sahara is both a top and a dress and the pattern is available both for kids and for ladies. In the past, I already sewed a Sahara for all the girls in our house, but you can never have to many of these so I made another for our middle daughter.

Our middle one is a huge fan of wearing trousers with top, but she also loves to twirl. The Shara in top length is therefore perfect for her. Last year, I made our youngest a top, and then I made the skirt part in cotton jersey. That gave a nice peplum effect. This time I used a very flowy viscose jersey with a perfect drape. The fabric therefore falls down rather straight, and it twirls like crazy as well. It is fun to see how fabric choice really affects the look of the garment.

Both the top and dress Sahara pair perfectly with leggings. I sewed this particular pair last year and the color was a perfect combi with this top. Since then Bella Sunshine actually released a free leggings pattern. If you have not scooped up that awesome goodie, make sure that you become a member of the Bella Sunshine group to get the code to get both a lady and child leggings pattern for free.

The scooped neckline sits perfectly on our kids' back. The pattern is designed to have a slightly smaller lining such that the lining should never show. I decided to actually use the lining a bit, to play with a minor line of lining fabric. Therefore I did not use the lining pieces, but just doubled the main body piece and I did not under stitch. I personally love the little red stripes showing a tiny bit.

The flower fabric is French Terry with a very nice stretch and recovery. I showed the first garment piece that I sewed with the same fabric last weak, this Orbis. Both the flower fabric and the red stripes are from Textielstad. I wrote it before, the pattern, both for children* ($5.00) and for adults* ($6.00) is now on special sale and therefore is just as cheap as it was in the pre-release. It has never been cheaper and the sale only lastst for one day. Use the code "sunshinesale" to get the awesome discount.

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, October 17, 2017

Apple Cardigan

I have mentioned it here more often, I have a gaping hole in my closet where other people have cardigans / jackets and other layering garments. Of course, this is a figure of speech because there actually is no hole in my closet, it is super full, it is actually overflowing to the ground, but at least you get how much I like cardigans in general... I have tried before, I even made it part of a challenge, but I was not convinced of needing these layers in my closet. But that has changed with pattern by Bella Sunshine*, the Apple cardigan. I wore it to work the day after I sewed!

The Apple cardigan* comes in two layers, tunic and knee length and I tested the knee tunic length version. Because I learned from my previous cardigan fabric choice, this time I picked an uni colored blue and I am so in love with the result! It goes perfectly with many of my summer dresses. The dress in the picture is one of my Sahara's and it does not get more summery than that, but like this it is totally fall/winter worthy. I have many other summer dresses that perfectly combine with dark blue, so I this might actually become one of the most worn garments from fall/winter 2017.

The Cardigan is an easy and quick sew. The only thing that I feel that I have to mention is that it eats up a lot fabric. Due to the lovely flare at the bottom you can compare this to a full dress when it comes to fabric. I cut this cardigan from a 3 meter long fabric, so I did not have to worry at all, but I fear that you might run into trouble if you have less than 2 meter, especially is you have a directional print. From the scraps that remain you can easily cut some kids sweater probably, but keep in mind that you need length.

As I mentioned before, the cardigan has a lovely flare, which forms a nice pleat at the back. I have also seen testers wear it with a belt. I liked the look, but feel I need at least one year of cardigan wearing before I dare to take that step.

The pattern* is on sale for a week until next Tuesday the 24th for just $6.50 on the Bella Sunshine website. There is also a girl version*, ideal twinning with your little one. While searching the links, I also saw that the Sahara*, the dress that I am wearing the pictures is also on sale by the way.

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Sahara Top and dress release

Yesterday, Bella Sunshine* released the Sahara top and dress*. This quick sew is a perfect staple for your daughter's wardrobe. It has multiple sleeve lengths ( from long to sleeveless), so you can dress your girl in this twirly pattern all year round. The pattern comes in dress and top length and I sewed them both.

The eye catcher of this dress is of course the back. The low scoop sits both beautifully and comfortably. My eldest was so enthusiastic about the dress, that she kept it on after making pictures while we went to an indoor play house. I asked her after wards if the dress was still comfortable and it was, she even would have slept in it. The fully lined bodice is hugging her in just the right way.

I bought both fabrics for this blue dress a long long time ago and there was about 50 centimeter of each. I had once had planned to sew a skirt in the paisley like Hilco print, but I somehow lost interest in jersey skirts for myself. The hearts are a lovely quality fabric, but it simply was not doing it anymore for me. I could not imagine anything with it. I had made a pile of fabric that I did not really have a purpose for and these two landed on each other on the pile. They were laying there for a few weeks and than, when I was searching for fabric for this dress, it sparked something in my brain, these to rejects might go together beautifully!

On a mission to quickly sew these two while I was inspired, I wanted them in this dress. But there was a problem, there was actually no way that I could form a circle skirt with the hearts in the size that my eldest needed. Even while cutting the circle in two (and adding seam allowance to the sides) this fabric was just not wide enough to have two half a circles next to each other. Sewing is like jigsaw 2.0 for me anyway, so I did solve it, by simply cutting some extra puzzle pieces.

This is how I ended up cutting the skirt and I filled the "holes" in the skirt with leftovers. To fix the curved hole, I even had to sew two leftover together to create a big enough piece. Even though I did not do any pattern matching, some hearts are even in a 90 degree angle, I expected it to be almost invisible in the final dress, and I was right. Due to the busy fabric and the circle skirt hanging down it worked out perfectly. If you look closely on the pictures, you will spot the extra seams, it is like a nice treasure hunt. Next time I might do it like this, but this time I of course already cut the first half, before I realized it really was not going to work.

The official pattern has a skirt cut in one piece, so no side seams at all. That is why the pattern does not have pockets. Mine does has side seams, so I asked permission to add pockets. I did not have enough from the heart fabric anymore to cut pockets, so the small bodice fabric gives a nice extra design feature. Normally the side pockets would not show, but seeing she just had her hands in them, they were pulled out a bit in these pictures.

I often try to sew multiple versions of one pattern. I was sewing with this dots fabric this weekend, and I thought the last scraps would make a cute top for my youngest. So this was in time, the third project I cut from that fabric. The other project will be on the blog on Monday though. I paired this cute top with the simple version of the bow tie leggings*. My girl is small and, so I used the size 2 on her (she is almost 4), but I forgot to realize that a size two is designed for diapers. The leggings therefore are a bit loose around her bottom, but they are super comfortable.

The Sahara* is now on sale for $5.50 until Wednesday 15th, so grab this great staple pattern and make your girl twirl. Did you already download your free copy of the Reagan Raglan there? That one is available for kids as well.

Friday, December 16, 2016

Maggie release

On Tuesday, I saw a sneak of Bella Sunshine Designs* newest pattern, the Maggie dress. The dress looked great it reminded me of the fact that I need new winter dresses. I lost 14 kilo's since the summer and I wanted to celebrate that with a new dress. So, I asked Melissa (the designer) if I could sew one even though I did not actually test it. If I could show my dress of today, I could, so here I am today showing you my newest closet jewel.

Do you remember this dress from the spring? Unfortunately, It does not fit that nicely anymore (although clothes being to big is less painful than being too small), but one of the great things of that pattern was the fact that it comes with different bust sizes. The Maggie*, the pattern that I am showing you today also has a full bust adjustment included. So that means you just print and glue the chest pieces that are perfect for you. I really love that about Bella Sunshine designs and I am very much looking forward to their future patterns.

For the sizing I of course followed the measurement table and the fit was spot on. I did not have to change anything after wards. I started cutting my pattern tiles pieces around half past eight and convinced my husband to make pictures around half past 10 (yes at night, so my apologies for the somewhat lower picture quality). I managed to cut, glue cut fabric and sew all in less than two hours. I wore the dress to work the next day (which included Christmas dinner, so no way I could have made pictures the next day). I made the dress with a thick jacquard jersey from Textielstad. I bought it a few months ago already, and it is already sold out.

The pattern* just released and is now on release sale for just $5. The pattern also included a tunic and shirt length, and comes in long and short sleeves, a true all-seasons pattern. You can find the pattern in the Bella Sunshine Designs shop here*.

Pagina's