Showing posts with label jacket. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jacket. Show all posts

Friday, March 16, 2018

Cicero times four and an awesome sewing weekend



I mentioned it a few posts ago, last month, I again went on my sewing weekend. We went to the same location as the first and second time and it was great again. This time MonDepot joined our sewing group and she took her store with her! The social atmosphere was great again, and that much uninterupted sewing time is always a good idea. My personal theme this sewing weekend was basic summer stuff. I already showed you the two Vivaxes that I sewed that weekend and today I am showing you four Cicero's*.


I love the Cicero pattern. It is both great as a base pattern and awesome if you use the color block options. My kids needed new hoodies, because it is what they practically live in in the summer. They do not wear coats, they wear hoodies. I made a few color blocks versions in the past and I hacked a few, but this time I went for plain and simple. I love the fact that the zipper is actually a sort of color block option. I shortened the zipper again the same way as I showed here.



All four of them were sewn without a color block, but I of course added pockets. A few of the people were surprised by my "plain" choice of fabrics. But I did it on purpose because I know how their wardrobe looks like and I know that these jackets will be combined with a lots of different colorful clothes underneath, so they will be color bombs any way. These "plain" jackets are a way to down down the craziness a little bit. Our smallest is showing off her Cicero in an almost toned down combination of an Orbis (at the end of the post) and Hibernis that I sewed for her older sister in the past.



At the beginning of the sewing weekend we again got spoiled with a goodie bag filled with fabric and haberdashery. I always get super greedy and immediately put it together with my stash, almost afraid that I have to give it back. I am a bit like Gollum when it comes to sewing gifts, my precious! So of course I forget to make a picture of the content of my bag. She was less greedy and her picture gives you a good view of what was in the bag. My fabrics where different, but I will show them when I use them. I already sewed up one that I will be showing next week.

So I want to thank the generous sponsors of our goodie bag!




The fabrics that I used for the Cicero's had divers sources this time. The red and orange stars came from Joyfits. The pink grey starts with fluffy inside came, as often, from her stash. The deer fabric I bought at Cas and Nina, a recently discontinued fabric store. Half a year ago, I made our middle daughter a Domi* from the same fabric and of course she wanted to combine them for this shoot. The trousers were often washed already so the fabric changed color a bit already. The white with grey glitter fabric came from Textielstad.



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, September 21, 2017

Sewing for kindergarten



This September, my youngest started kindergarten, now all our kids go to school in the morning. A lovely occasion to join the Sewing for Kindergarten blog tour which is hosted by Jennuine Designs this year. Seeing that I have trouble closing her dress drawer, she clearly does not need new dresses. A non-need for dresses never stopped me in the past, but I decided to do it differently this time. I actually sewed basic clothing pieces such that she can remain wearing the summer dresses that she loves so much. Besides those basic pieces, I also sewed a backpack, mostly because I wanted to try if I could.




A good basic is a pair of leggings. In the Netherlands your legs can be bare in June until August, but for most of the year, those legs have to be covered. I have sewed leggings in the past, but never as many in one week as I did now. I realized I had the Dressage leggings pattern* in my stash from a long long time ago, and tried it for my middle daughter. The fit was perfect, so I cut four more and cut three pair for my youngest as well. Yes, I sewed eight of these this week, and they are the perfect sewing shot. They are quick, and easy. You can actually make them more sophisticated by choosing a color block. My kids will be colorful enough already, so I only made the straight option.



I addressed the lack of sleeves on the summer dresses by sewed three Aura's from Sofilantjes*. I was not in the mood to search for buttons in my stash and I chose to figure out the optimal (for me) snap closure. I ended up with three slightly different options, but I think I like the one with the dino fabric the best. It actually was a mistake, I sewed it exactly the same as the kitten version, but sewed the inners piece inside out to the outer piece. This way the loop is on the inside and I love it! Another example of why it is good to (sometimes) make mistakes.



The middle color bomb in my overview picture is the Bazinga Backpack from Flosstyle. I have been longing to sew a backpack for long, but I never really dared. I did not feel like buying all the hardware and stabilizers that can make a handmade bag very expensive. The blog tour motivated me to sew at east one really interesting piece and I did it frugally. Instead of stabilizing my fabric, I actually used canvas as the lining, this way the combination of main and lining is sturdy enough. I did not buy anything for this bag. I used scraps of woven fabric, zippers from my stash and upcycled the hardware from an old back pack.




I really love the color block on this bag, it was a joy to mix and match. The bag has a high level of pretty finish. All the inside seams are enclosed with bias tape. This is something that I normally would never do, but I was so smitten with the front, that I felt I had to try to make the inside as pretty as possible. The bag is actually a bit too big for my teeny tiny kindergarter, but I am sure the bag will get a lot of wear any way. All the kids love the bag and I seem to be forced to make a few more, and for now the bag will be used by a bigger sibling until she is big enough.




I choose grey/white as the main color for the legging-bolero sets. I feel that those color fit with almost everything. I could have gone with uni pink, that would have matched will all her favorites for sure, but I wanted to give her some print as well. I had not planned to combine the kitten bolero with the earlier made kitten dresss, I thought it would be too much. My daughter insisted and I have to agree with her, it looks surpirsingly cute. She actually whore the cat ensamble, including the leggings to school today. It was a bit much for my taste, but she was over the moon with the combi. I also wanted to snap some pictures with my middle one wearing her leggings, but this was the only one she was in for.



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, March 27, 2017

Alterative Cicero's



In February, I showed you my first three Cicero's. Today, I am showing you two more, both hacked versions. In January, Anne pitched me the idea to sew a Cicero* having both a hood and a collar. I liked the idea, and of course gave it my own spin. I feared that when I would combine the hood and collar as they are in the original pattern, the front seams would become to thick. I therefore created something different. My fears were actually ungrounded, because last week somebody showed a lovely hood/collar combi in the Sofilantjes Facebook group.



Inspired by a retail-bought coat, I sewed the hood partly free from the neckline. I had planned to put snaps on the front overlap, but I misjudged how much centimeter I should have added to make it comfortably. Now the flaps are only decorative. I wrote a tutorials for you if you want to try something similar, you can find the tutorial on the Sofilantjes blog.



The other Cicero that I am showing you today was also sewn in February. I sewed this short sleeved Cicero during our sewing weekend. I used only my own scraps for this one. My sweat scraps turned out big enough to actually only use three different fabric and not one fabric for every pattern piece, as I had planned. But seeing that I could totally finish two of the fabrics this way, I just went for it. Adjusting my plans is in my nature.



The small hack in the color bomb one is that the zipper does not continue into the collar. I am sure many of you can do this without any help, but I did put it in the Cicero hack tutorial that I wrote on the Sofilantjes blog. I had been planning to actually redraft the collar a bit, to make it more traditional collar shape. I cut the redrafted pieces of this Cicero after 23:00 on the first night, but I quickly realized I had cut the wrong piece on the fold. Palm to the face and off to bed it was. I really should not sew after bed time, I could salvage the incorrectly cut piece by cutting the original collar from it, so that is what I did, I hate wasting fabric.



The main fabric of the first Cicero was bought at Textielstad. It was part of the batch of blue/grey fabric that I bought during the fall with the intention of selfish sewing. Really funny to see that my fabric taste goes in cycles, I really have clear trends in my taste. Apparently I am in a more pink phase at the moment. Two of the fabric from the scrap Cicero were used before I started to blog regularly. The owl fabric can be found in this post.



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.


Saturday, February 11, 2017

Cicero jacket release



Today, we are celebrating the Cicero* launch! During the previous two Sofilantjes* releases, my daughters stole the show. I sewed the Folis trifecta for my eldest and middle daughter and those girls also got all the Orbis trousers. I do have a son though, one that loves my sews. So, he needed some sewing love. When Anne showed me her new unisex jacket design, I knew who would be the first receiver. Besides rudely asking to be allowed to pre-test, I even asked Anne to add an extra element to the design. I suggested a high collar on the awesome jacket she designed. I was allowed to sew a prototype with the suggested collar, and guess what, it became a part of the final pattern. I am super proud!



The eye catcher of the Cicero are of course those asymmetrical front pockets (yes, that are pockets!). I really love the combination of color block and functional pocket. Also the back has a possible color block option, which would make this jacket perfect for using scraps. Next weekend, our sew weekend will happen again, and I am planning all kinds of scrap projects. A Cicero with short sleeves from scraps is on the planning. Although I sewed only long sleeved versions, the pattern comes in a short sleeves version as well. If you sew one in jersey fabrics, this would be a cool shirt for spring as well.



The blue greyish version was my first jacket and I made it from two larger scrap pieces (for next weekend I plan a version with all kind of different scraps, not just two). The stars fabric I used for this hat and the blue sweat from Cas and Nina was already used in this sweater. The brown version was sewn with some leftover summer sweat from Joyfits (first made its appearance in the Folis post) and awesome animal sweat that I bought at the Stoffenmadam.



After making two Cicero jackets for my son, I sewed one for my eldest daughter. The Cicero has side seams that are curved towards the front a bit, making them ideal for side seam pockets. Anne was not sure if she wanted to include side seam pockets, it had been her original idea, but she was on the fence a bit. Fortunately, her testers convinced her that you would love included side seam pockets. The color block that I did on my daughter's jacket (with hood) is not in the pattern. I decided to only use the upper color blocked piece, and use one big piece for the bottom part. It is very easy to make this color block yourself though. Take two lower pieces and overlap them two centimeters (yes really, two, just do it), and you are done.



The zippers that I used for my vests are long plastic ones (80cm originally). I like this kind of zipper because they are super easy to shorten to the right size. Just cut the zipper (with scissors) to 2 cm longer than the required length, remove the extra teeth (the ones on that extra 2 cm) from the top with pliers. Than, at the top of one of the sides, place one of those removed teeth between the two upper teeth. Take soldering iron (or something else that can become hot) and melt the three teeth to one new stop. It does not have to be a work of art, but just make sure it does not become too wide. Here you can see a closeup from my first try. Do the same thing on the other side of the zipper.



My daughter's version was sewed with a scrap left after sewing this dress and a other beautiful Lillestoff sweat that I bought as a small coupon from Cas and Nina. I actually already sewed a fourth version, and it should not surprise you that it is a hack. I was not a hundred percent satisfied yet, so I will sew another before I show you want I did (with a tutorial of course).



As usual with a Sofilantjes release the pattern is on an awesome sale for just 48 hours. So get your Cicero* for 5 euro (excluding VAT) in the Sofilantjes web shop*.



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.