Showing posts with label naehconnection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label naehconnection. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Karlotta dress



Annika released a new set of translated patterns in her shop, three tops and a dress. I am bravely battling my fear of woven dress pattern for women, I recently sewed myself this one and this one, so I signed up for sewing a Karlotta. The Karlotta has princess seams, both front and back to create a pretty silhouette. The dress closes with an invisible zipper on the back. I used the pattern to sew myself a little black dress.



Based on the size table, I saw that I needed a full bust adjustment and I followed the steps of this tutorial. I do not sew muslins (I know, another shocking revelation about my sewing laziness), so I initially sewed at 0.5 seam allowance to check fit (the pattern has seam allowance of 1 centimeter included). After the first fit, I saw that it would work out perfectly if I sewed all seams on 1 centimeter, so I did that. I did not have to make any other alterations besides the full bust adjustment, I am therefore super satisfied with the fit of this pattern, and my fear of patterns for woven is really diminishing.



I bought this drapey rayon fabric at Textielstad for this project. I wore a black and white polka dot dress on my brothers wedding (I must have been around 11) and I loved it! I have had a weak spot for that print ever since. When I spotted this fabric, I knew I had found the perfect fabric for my Karlotta. I intentionally kept the dress rather long (I made a narrow hem), but how long you want the dress is up to you of course.



This time it was me and my husband that had fun during the shoot when I was trying to find myself an color pop accessories. This time I picked the Lego bus that I build a few years ago (my husband's suggestion). I feel I quickly ran out of logical things to keep in my hands during a shoot. The Karlotta and other tops are now on sale until Friday in the Naeh-connection shop.


Thursday, March 16, 2017

Antje and Lina, a matching set



Näh Connection has released new translated patterns, the Lina and Antje, a cute skirt and top. They are separate patterns, by two different designers, but I made a matching set out of them. I am not a matching set type. I actually try to avoid them as much as possible. This one is probably the only one that I made, and they were actually made not be worn together. This Lina and Antje set is super cute though and both pieces will easily match with other pieces from her wardrobe.



The Antje skirt is a quick and satisfying sew. The skirt has box pleats and a yoga waistband (without elastic inside). I love the suggested crosses to keep the box pleats in place, I used them as a cute detail and sewed them with gold colored thread (I used the same for a pretty hem). The pattern gives the crosses as an example, but you can be as creative as you like of course. I sewed a slightly higher waistband (the height of two sizes bigger) due to my daughter's toddler belly. This way there is a bigger likelihood it stays covered up.



The Lina skirt is a faux layered shirt. It gives the illusion of a tank top on a shirt and gives you the possibility to color block or add additional trims. I went with a rather plain version, but I did use the puff sleeves (two types are included). Both patterns do NOT have included seam allowances, which made it super easy to slightly adjust the pattern to have a regular bottom hem instead of a waistband. I thought the outfit's look would be better like than, than with two waistbands on each other. This way there is the illusion of wearing a tank on a dress.



All of these fabrics were bought at Joyfits, but they are a gathered collection from multiple orders. The brown dots were bought at least three years ago and I used it here (on the back). The fabric with the deers was from last fall and I used it in this dress. I recently ordered several ribbing fabrics.



Both patterns are now on introduction sale until Sunday. The Antje skirt is also available for women. Here you can find all my sews as a Näh Connection ambassador



Thursday, February 16, 2017

Pattern twinning in Marlene



Do you remember the Lotte Martens twinning that I did at the beginning of the year? Today, I am doing some pattern twinning with my eldest, using the two other fabric gifts that I received together with the blue jersey. My daughter and me are both wearing a Marlene sweater, the newest translation in the Nah-connection shop. The shoulder detail is perfect for some treasured special fabric, and the Lotte Martens faux leather strip that I got, was just perfect for the job.



The Marlene and Miss Marlene are designed by Fritzi and Schnittreif. Based on the size table I saw that I needed a FBA. I followed the steps of this tutorial and I love the result. The fit is perfect, which means that the size table is spot on. The same thing for my daughter, I sewed her version purely based on the size table (seam allowances are not included in the pattern) and blended through the necessary sizes and the fit on her is also perfect.



My daughter's Miss Marlene was sewn with half a meter of the orange version of the Corax jersey line. The stripes are more subtle on this version compared to the blue version. For the shoulder piece, I used a strip of faux leather that I received. You can make a flower with the strip, but your imagination is the limit. This woman clearly does not know any limit on that aspect. The main fabric is the same Lillestoff French terry as these trousers (bought at Joyfits).



After sewing my girl's sweater I had a narrow strip of fabric left. My newest fabric buster is to make doll clothes. I bought two gorgeous "grown up" dolls (I was disappointed that there were no boy dolls in this line), such that we can make them clothes. I drew this dress based on the dress the girl came with and I put a zipper in the back. I am very satisfied with the fit. I see many more in our future, because I once (in the beginning of my sewing career) bought 100 small zippers, and these doll dresses are perfect for them.



I doubled the leather for the shoulder pieces, as was explained in the pattern. Seeing as leather does not fray, I could just have worked with a single layer though, she was smarter about it. When I read that post my shirts were already done though. So, maybe I could have made the (doll) shoes, like she did, when I would have realized that in time.



If you followed the numbers on the right right of my blog, you might have wondered where all those garments went, I did not show many of my January makes in January. But now the floodgates have opened. Somehow many deadlines came together, so today, I am showing you item ten, eleven and twelve for this week. I have two other posts for the weekend planned, but then it should go back down a bit again. I am going on a sewing weekend though, so that again might create a large amount of new blog material inflow.



Both Marlene and Miss Marlene are on 15% sale until Monday in the Nah-connection shop. You can check all the details on the Lotte Martens fabrics on the site (including where you can buy them). The jersey and faux leather strips are now part of the basic collection, so they will be available for a while.


Friday, December 9, 2016

Louis, Näh Connection Ambassador



My son needed some warm clothes and preferably some that he can wear at least one winter. When Annika announced she was releasing the English version of The Louis hoodie by Kibadoo, I jumped on the occasion. As ambasadaur I am allowed to sew up a version for the release and nNothing gets me motivated like a deadline. The Louis was released today, but I had misremembered the date. Therefore, today I sewed and shot pictures of the sweater in a about an hour total (I had already cut the pieces), and I ended up with a super happy son.




The pattern comes with a collar and hood option, optional kangaroo pocket and optional elbow patches, so several mix and match possibilities. I of course sewed the pocket, but left out the elbow patches. I made our Louis in a sweater fabric with a nice soft backside. I bought the fabric at Cas and Nina during our sewing weekend almost a year ago (we are almost going again, yeah!), so it was high time to use the fabric. I just did not have enough to cut all pieces. I needed to cut one hood in two pieces (I was really only missing a super small piece), the seam is hidden by the outer hood though, so really perfect fabric use I would say. 



The Louis has a comfy and casual fit and a big cosy hood.  My son isn't an easy model, when I asked him to pose for pictures this afternoon he, as usual replayed "no". When I showed him what I made he quickly changed his mind. He immediately took of the shirt he was wearing and when the soft inside of the hoodie touched his skin he became even more satisfied. He put his bear in the kangaroo pocket and could not have been happier. The deal with my kids is that they are only allowed to wear their new clothes after we make pictures. After the shoot, he therefore happily proclaimed he was not taking it off.



The pattern is now on 20% discount until Wednesday the 14th in the Näh Connection shop. Here and here you can find other Näh Connection Ambassador posts. 



Sunday, October 9, 2016

Näh Connection Shop Blog Tour: part two underwear and ballet suit



Earlier this week, I showed you two Bethioua's that I sewed for the English shop opening of Näh Connection. Today, I am showing two more patterns from the shop. I sewed my middle daughter a ballet suit, that she will be using for her circus classes and underwear both originally (in German) by Erbsenprinzessin.



When I showed the ballet suit pattern to my daughter, there was no doubt about it, she was going to get the ballet suit version with the skirt (not that that was surprising). At the same time that I bought this gold lycra, I also bought a red one. It had been waiting patiently in my fabric closet. I had not showed it to the girls, because I knew they would keep nagging me about making something, like now.



Based on the measurement table I picked a size three and lengthened it to a size four. The sizing was spot on, the fit is perfect. I changed the finishing method of the neck line. The default option is with a neck band, but I chose to use clear elastic and fold it inwards. I did finish the legs with a leg band. This way there is a much lower likelihood that her underwear will be showing.



On the topic of underwear. The same designer of the ballet suit, also offer underwear. Both boy and girl underwear are available. I only made the girl version, but I will make the boy version in the near future. All my kids have a desperate need for underwear and socks at the moment.


My two little ones do not differ much in underwear size at the moment. My youngest still often has a little accident, and any underwear that I can quickly find, works in such cases. This means that she often ends up with her bigger sister's underwear. I sewed the first version, the light blue one, at the time that I sewed this dress. It was a test version, and it has been in rotation ever since. My little one wanted to model as well, so enjoy these cute pics.



The pattern explains all kind of finishes both how to and their benefits and drawbacks. The designer herself is not a big fan of jersey bands, but does discuses them. I clearly am a fan, I just love the fact that I do not have to go and find a matching ribbing or elastic.


Now go, and have a look at Annika's shop. Due to the shop opening, there's a discount. The more patterns you buy, the more you save, just use the following coupon codes:
buy1save10naehconnection for a 10% discount

buy2save20naehconnection for a 20% discount
buy3ormoresave30naehconnection for a 30% discount

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Näh Connection Shop Blog Tour, my kind of twinning



I love the international sewing community. I started to sew, inspired by English language blogs. It wasn't until a few years later, that I realized there are many, many great Dutch language blogs as well. The fact that I myself love to read blogs from all over the world, made me want to have a blog in English.  Annika from Näh Connection had a similar story. She writes a blog both in English and German as a way to connect the German and English sewing world. This was not enough for her though. Therefore, she opened a digital pattern shop for which she translated English patterns to German. This still was not entrepreneurial enough, she now has also created the reverse. She has translated several German patterns to English. The English shop opened this week, and I was invited to be an ambassador. Today, I am showing you my first sews from the shop. The Bethioua from Elle Puls.


Although it had been a German pattern up until now, I knew it. I had seen it already at a few bloggers, like her, and I longed for it. I even made this shirt inspired by it. When Annika invited me to sew from the translated patterns, I immediately jumped on this one. I just love the back. The pattern comes both in woman and child version, so I decided to sew both.



I am not a huge fan of twinning, but sometimes it can be fun, this is one of those occasions. I sewed the two of us a blue Bethouia, with the same striped sleeve fabric, but different main fabrics. The fabric from my shirt was a Punti di Roma coupon that I bought at Textielstad. My son is wearing a Lillestoff sweat that I bought at Cas and Nina.



The Bethouia kids has been available for free in the mini size (86-98) in German, now the English version is available for size 104 up until 134. The woman pattern is available in a wide size range from 34-54. From size 44 and upward the pattern has darts. After measuring myself, I  turned out to have a 44 chest and 42 lower part. I therefore blended between the sizes.The sizes up until 42 are in another file than the ones of 44 and up. With a bit of glue, it worked out fine and. I really love my new shirt.



So if you also were dying to make a Bethioua, but did not dare to do it German. Or maybe you kind a missed the pattern, go and have a look at Annika's shop. Besides the Bethouia there are many more translated women, kids and bag patterns. Due to the shop opening, there's a discount. The more patterns you buy, the more you save, just use the following coupon codes:
buy1save10naehconnection for a 10% discount
buy2save20naehconnection for a 20% discount
buy3ormoresave30naehconnection for a 30% discount