Blind zipper Otium with tumb holes

This shirt had to happen after I sewed my son this zipper Otium (pattern from Sofilantjes). My eldest immediately ordered one. My eldest two kids are almost the same size, only one centimeter difference around the chest and a few centimeter in length. I therefore planned to use the same pattern pieces as for my son, and just draw a small seam allowance (in Sofilantjes' patterns seam allowance is included, so normally you do not have to draw anything extra) . This short cut actually resulted in a much longer process than if I would have just started from sratch. A bit longer shirt also required a bit different diagonal line etc. I would like to say that I learned my lesson, but I fear I will try the same trick next time.

I had planned to sew this shirt last week, during Kids Clothes Week and due to the theme I planned a blind zipper (disguised pocket) instead of a visible one (and because I am incapable of just doing the same thing again).

Although I still buy fabric, I really try to use the older ones as well. I bought the green main fabric almost two years ago at Joyfits. Although it is a lovely quality, the fabric never got turned into a garment. I pulled it from the pile a few weeks ago and cut a pair of leggings from it. I had half a meter of fabric and for long I didn't wanted to cut half projects from such a length, because what would I do with the other half. This resulted in many fabrics just staying on the shelf, so I changed strategy (I just use what I need for a project and worry about the "scraps" later). After cutting the leggings the fabric stayed on top of the pile and like with this fabric I quickly saw a possibility to use the rest of it.

Combining the green main fabric with something was the biggest challenge, it is an interesting, retro type of green which doesn't match with many of the bright colors I have in my stash. The brown /broken white stripes matched perfectly though. Of course my daughter also requested thumb holes after this shirt.

My eldest is over the moon with the hidden zipper. She loves to show off her new clothes and I am sure that almost nobody will spot the zipper. To make it even less obvious I put the zipper pull at the bottom side this time. The zipper pull is brown and matches the brown stripes and birds nicely.

The last one is a bit blurry, but you will get the point, the book is in there. I love to hear what you think of my creations. 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).  

KCW: Pillow case sweater

In my first Kids Clothes Week I turned two pillow cases into clothes, one became a dress, the other a sweater. I still had some pillow cases left from last year and it was high time to turn another one into something wearable. A pillow case disguised as clothing fits the theme, right? My son, who missed out on the action last year (because the sweater actually stayed in his sisters closet) got first pick. He choose a jaguar who seems to be hiding, ready to pounce. The animal is probably disguised in a bush or shadow.

I again used the Billie pattern, I will probably try the other Billie versions as well, soon, or maybe later, but for now I am just very content with this easy recipe. The raglan shape frames the animal's head nicely. On the original picture the jaguar has ears. Those ears were just cut of by the bodice shape, and I decided to use them in the sweater. The left ear's picture is slightly different than the shape I cut the ear in, but I think it still looks great. I fixated the (lined) ears my hand with a small stitch on the sleeve.

The fall fabric and the brown circles are both from Joyfits, I bought them probably two years ago, so they are out of stock. The leaves of the fall fabric disguise small animals. I used the fall fabric here already and I have some other plans with it for this week. It is the ultimate fall fabric and I feel I have to use it in the right season. I lined the pillow case front with an upcycled shirt.

The shirt was a quick and easy sew, so I wanted to add an extra detail and I went for thumb holes. I have been planning to sew them for months but always forget my plans when I am cutting. My son loves them. I used this tutorial to make them.

He is very happy with his new sweater so he didn't mind the shoot (because he is allowed to wear the clothes after). He even was in for showing his "angry jaguar" face.

I love to hear what you think of my creations. 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).  

KCW: Toddler playdress disguised as Dolce and Gabbana

Kid's Clothes Week is upon us again, this will be my fifth time participating. I tried different strategies over the past seasons and experienced that tackling a few relatively easy projects works best for me. I will not be making seven projects, like when I was an official contributor, but I do expect more than my regular two per week.

This season's theme is "disguise", as always you do not have to sew something related to the theme, but I think it is a nice challenge to stretch the theme in such a way that it fits. Today's outfit is a perfect example. I sewed my smallest one a knock off designer dress. It is a simple jersey playdress disguised as a designer piece.

I often fall in love with new fabric (the love for my husband is a very steady one). Especially when I meet a fabric in an online store, I often immediately want to make a commitment and just take it home. The problem is that my fabric closet is not as big as my heart and my closet is full.Therefore, now a days I am really testing out relationship first. Fill my digital cart and click away, fill my digital cart and click away, this pattern repeats itself over the course of a few weeks. If I then finally really can't stand it anymore, I buy the fabric.

The problem with this strategy is other fabric lovers, so sometimes it happens that my treasured one isn't there when I am ready to take the plunge. The fabric I used for this dress is an example of one that (almost) got away. I had planned to use this fabric for a dress for myself. I love red in general and the graphics on this one are amazing. I had been digitally caressing it for weeks but when I finally placed my order (one in which I bought this fabric as well, and that one is in stock again now), it was gone. I asked if some new was coming in, but no, they only had 40 cm left.

A small piece is better than no piece, so I asked if I could buy the small piece (it wasn't online) and I was told that I could get it as a gift with the rest of my order, thanks again for that Stoffenelf! Although  making something for myself with 40 cm was too far fetched, I was sure that I could at least make something for my smallest girl with it.

Around the same time as the fabric arrived, I came across this picture. It is a piece from the Dolce and Gabbana collection from last year, and I loved it. Like I said, I am a sucker for red and that type of graphics. I know that the original dress wasn't jersey, but I thought that the fabric is pretty darn similar and decided to make my first knock off designer piece.

Like I said, I only had 40 cm and had to think very hard about how to cut my fabric. I wanted a relatively nice placement on the bodice and skirt and because of that, I didn't manage to create a pleat in the front. I simply didn't have enough fabric. I also went for long sleeves, instead of 3/4 ones. I love them for myself, but for my kids I prefer regular long ones.

I used my trusted onesie pattern from Ottobe 1/2012 for the top of the bodice and sleeves. I didn't manage to cut the sleeves at one piece, so I made extra long sleeve cuffs. The skirt length is based on this project (my youngest loves them). I prefer her dress to be below the knee, or else she grows out it extremely quickly, this one has already become too short for example.

My little one loves photo shoots. She literately doesn't want them to end, she actually screamed when I took her off the table. She is the opposite of him, who immediately states he only wants one picture. I think she is crazy adorable, which could be due to the hair (I know many kids her age have much more, but our others didn't have that much hair). Even when she picks her nose I think she looks darn cute, but that is of course because she is mine.

I love to hear what you think of my creations. 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). 

KCW part 2: quick travel themed garments

 ***updated on July 4 2015 with a picture of the original shirt***

Besides my extensive Ishi, I also whipped up two very quick projects during last week's KCW. The first one was this time traveling Viking shirt (Lillestoff fabric). The pattern is from Ottobre 3/2015 but I hacked the pattern to support a V-neck instead of a hood. The pattern is a bit wide for my taste and next time I will draw a higher neckline, but all in all I am satisfied with the shirt. The fabric combination was simply copied from her.

For my other quick project I used an old T-shirt that I got from a friend. The shirt was a dark shade of green, that fitted winter better then summer (I am sure that I made a picture from the original shirt but I somehow can not find it).

The print, a Volkswagen bus (clearly fitting the travel theme), mountains and a pink accent were fun, so I put the shirt in bleach to change the color. The shirt became a nice  light mustered. While keeping the original bottom hem, I cut a dress and put cuffs and the arm holes and neckline. The sewing was done in 20 minutes.

I love to hear what you think of my creations. 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). 

KCW part one: Sashiko embroidered Ishi

Last week was Kids Clothes Week. I didn't manage to post about my KCW sewing because I was too busy sewing (and only finished this dress yesterday). After I participated in my first KCW, I wrote that in next seasons I would either have an easy project every day or one very extensive one during the whole week. In the previous KCW, I posted something everyday. This time I went for the big challenge version. I hand embroidered a dress. It took a lot of time (I easily reached my one hour a day and more), but I could do this sitting next to my husband while watching our favorite tv shows (which I usually can't because I can not machine sew and watch). So this slow sewing was a nice change.

My extensive project was the Ishi (the embroidery part was extensive, the dress was a quick sew) from Straight Grain. The Ishi is a dress pattern for woven fabrics and has princess seams and big pockets. The dress is perfect for interesting fabric combinations. Ishi is the Japanese name for "pebble" or "stone", the dress got this name because girls can put their treasures in their pockets, and when playing outside many of those treasures are stones. To honor the name of the dress I wanted to use a Japanese embroidery technique. Sashiko means running stitches and this technique was used in the past to mend clothes. Holes or weak spots were fixed by sewing another piece of fabric on it with decorative running stitches. Now a days it is mostly used for decorative purposes. I had seen some lovely examples of this technique and I wanted to try it. The side panels and the front panel are embroidered with two different patterns and different colors. I first cut my pattern pieces, than I embroidered them  and the last step was sewing the dress. I think a dress with a Japanse name and Japanse sewing techniques perfectly qualifies for the "traveling" theme of KCW. I did also make two very quick travel themed projects, more about those tomorrow.

The pockets are made with the same smocking technique as this bag which I made a few years ago. This is not Sashiko but the technique is from a Japanse book. I loved the result and wanted to use the technique again. I think it is amazing how you can make these cure flowers with polka dot fabric.

So instead of using three different fabrics I actually only used one (scrap) fabric to make the entire dress. I made my eldest a dress with this fabrics once (no blog post on it) and I had a piece left that would be perfect for this dress. The pockets demanded more fabric that I anticipated so I had to sew two pieces together to get enough fabric, but the seam is almost invisible.

The invisible zipper was a challenge. I wanted the dots to line up perfectly but my fabric had a bit of stretch. I almost succeeded but after (partially) seam ripping for the third time I decided it was good enough.

In real life, it really seams that the dress is made from four different fabrics. It was hard to capture this on the photos, I hope you can see it. Both my model and the sun were not being cooperative, but I had a competition deadline to make so these pictures had to do.

I wanted a sleeveless dress and therefore redrew the shoulders slightly to have cap sleeves. I wanted the cap sleeves to be an extension of the princess seam, I am very satisfied with the look. I had to redrew the pattern size wise. My skinny girl needed a size smaller than the pattern provides at the chest and the length of size 80. I started from the smallest size and slightly redrew the chest. The fit is perfect now, which means that the size table is accurate.I fully lined the dress with an old cotton sheet because I wanted the embroidered back of the fabric not to be in contact with my girls body.

I love to hear what you think of my creations. 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).