Showing posts with label trousers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trousers. Show all posts

Monday, April 1, 2019

Orbis times three



I know you have seen many Orbis trousers from me, but you can never have too much of a good thing, right? Our middle daughter loves wearing Orbis trousers because they are between trousers and leggings and because they have pockets.




A few weeks ago I bought French Terry fabrics in a few colors on the bold. French Terry is perfect for the Orbis and although I bought it in uni colors such that I can screen print it, I thought the uni color fabrics would make up cool Orbises even without a print due to the color block of the pocket. I combined the colors among each other to create three different trousers and the three different ribbing fabrics provide the perfect contrast.




For the pockets I used three different decorative stitches. I made these trousers a while ago, and now that I own a coverlock, I will probably sew even more. She does not like ribbing just below her knees, so for summer I am planning to just hem is above the knee.




Friday, January 4, 2019

On repeat, two times Orbis, two times cessim



Happy new year! I am not really one for making new years resolutions, I regularly make plans to stop doing certain things or do other things more, but I do not really connect them to a date. So looking back over the last five years, I see that I managed to change my fabric buying behavior. Looking at my actually decreased stash, there are now many uni fabrics in there that more easily combines or can be screen printed.



Another thing that changed, but not really intentionally, is that compared to the beginning years, I now regularly sew the same patterns. In the beginning, I could not imagine re-using the patterns more often, because I wanted something new everytime. I now sew less hours in a week than I did in the past, especially since I took up designing, which means that when our kids need clothes, I just take a patterns that I know will fit perfectly and will give me instant satisfaction.




Although I did not sew the Orbis as often as the Domi yet, I do think that the Orbis will take over the top spot of "my most often sewn pattern" in a few years. This fall I sewed two more and they are in such heavy rotation that I actually should sew a few more...




This year the long sleeve Fall wardrobe of our son contains several upcycles, but more about those in a later blog post. I also sewed him two fluffy Cessims. He loves being covered in soft fabric, which is also why I sew him so many Orbis and Domi pants. This time, I also made him extremly soft tops. I used the easiest Cessim options with one seam at the back.



Sunday, April 1, 2018

Orbis for spring



There are two favorite trouser patterns in our house, one is the Domi*, and the other one is the Orbis*. Both are sewn with knits and are pull one trousers. I have sewn full jeans in the past, but making jeans just does not make me happy. If you combine my dislike of sewing meters of top stitching with our children's love for "soft" trousers, you get Sofilantjes trousers.  I have made so many Domi's that I have stopped counting, but before today's three Orbisses I "only" made six, making the total at nine.



I really like how the Orbis fits our kids. It is more fitting than the Domi, and therefore especially suits our eldest daughter's wishes better than the Domi (which has a relaxed fit). Our eldest really wore her earlier versions until there were multiple holes in them. For her, I sewed two new ones, one long one and a short one. The short one is a trial version, because I am not sure if she will like the length. During fitting and pictures she liked them, but the weather has not been suitable to actually wear. The flower fabric is from a remnant French Terry that I bought at Textielstad.



The blue swan one already has seen the outside world and the inside of the washing machine often already (we made pictures when they were brand new of course). Making one long pair was clearly not enough. Yesterday, I realized that it even has a stain that is not coming out anymore. A pitty, but it does not make the trousers less suitable for break dance, circus class or scouting. I bought the fabric at Joyfits a long long time ago. The fabric for the pocket I bought years ago as a 35 centimeter remnant, but I never came around using it. This year I finally did, after making this onesie en these pockets, the fabric was gone.



I also sewed our son a short version. When he was younger he was in for the half length, but now a days he is more picky and since he has such a love for the short Domi, I started with one for him as well. The long Orbis that I sewed him is a huge hit for sure, so I have good hopes for this short one. I sewed the short Orbis in the same fabric as his Cicero, but not with the intention of him combining them. I personally dislike the track suit look. But our kids apparently love it, and he, like his younger sister, insisted on a picture with matching pieces. This star fabric was also bought at Joyfits The red triangle fabric that I used for the pockets is 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.


Friday, May 12, 2017

Dax trousers



One Thimble fifteen* was released today and I tested one of the new patterns, the Dax trousers* bij Gracious Threads. The pattern is for a pair of classic chino pants complete with full fly and welt pockets on the back. The pattern  includes the option to roll up the trousers and to fixate them (with a flap on of the inside) to turn them into summer trousers . We needed some summer pants, so I slightly adjusted the pattern (just cut of the bottom part of the leg pieces) and made pair of shorts.



The instructions of the pattern are perfect, do not worry if you never made trousers with a zipper or welt pocket, you will do great with all the tips and tricks. There are even movies that you can watch. I did sew trousers before and this new pair of shorts was actually one of my sewn trousers in the past. I love upcycling, but I rarely upcycle items that I sewed (I am trying to decrease my fabric stash and putting back things I already sewed is very bad for my moral). Due to loosing weight, I could not wear these trousers anymore, and I am very happy that they got such a good new destination. I reused the zipper and the belt loops, that is why they have a golden top stitching.


The pattern has elastic in the back of the waistband to create a perfect fit. We love color around here and an unexpected color pop makes me very happy. I therefore chose to have a light blue color pop behind the welt pockets. I lined the side pockets with the same light blue fabric. As a (blue) cherry on the pie, I used blue snaps for the flaps and on the waistband



The pattern is available as standalone pattern* on the One Thimble site or as part of the new One Thimble 15*, which has nine other patterns and of course several articles and tutorials. You can read about the full content at the bottom of the listing. 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, February 21, 2017

Sansa and Lala



The post's title sounds like a musical duo, but the Sansa* and Lala* are actually two patterns of Bella Sunshine Designs *which are both designed by her. The Lala was released last week, and is a peasant style shirt, tunic or dress. The Sansa, I tested a few months ago, but did not have time to blog it yet. The release of the Lala made the combination of these two patterns a lovely blog post, although they are not intended for the same kid.



I love peasant style clothes on my kids, this upcycle is still one of my most favorite sews or my youngest. You get the prettiest result with a drapey fabric and the See You At Six fabric that I have been showing you a few times here already, is just perfect for such sews. After sewing this dress for myself, I was left with four small pieces (the ones that were under my arms). I could not bring myself to throw them away, so they went onto the scrap pile. With an extra seam in both in the front and back middle, these four pieces where the perfect base for the dress. Due to the gatherings, the seam is almost invisible. The sleeves were cut from another rayon scrap.



The Lala has an oversized look, so when my kids saw the finished garment, they were guessing who would be the receiver. The funny thing is that it actually fits my eldest as a shirt! This means that this super versatile garment will for sure go with us on the summer holidays. I love having wardrobe options, especially in fabrics that dry quickly. My youngest daughter will apparently be able to wear this item for years, talk about a satisfying sew!



I really have a weak spot for flare pants. I know I am not from the time they originate from, but when I was a teenager they were also cool for a while. My middle one always wear leggings, so these pants are a nice chance in style while retaining the same level of comfort.



The Lala is still on sale until Wednesday for $5.50 in the Bella Sunshine 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.



Thursday, February 9, 2017

Orbis on tour



Three months ago, Sofilantjes'* Orbis* pants were part of One Thimble issue 13*. Tomorrow, One Thimble 14* will be released, which means that the Orbis was allowed to come home. Therefore, Orbis is now available through the Sofilantjes' website. To celebrate this homecoming, a blog tour is being organized. Today, I have the honor of showing you my three new versions. It is already day four of the blog tour, so this means you have a nice big load of inspiration to sift through, if you missed the tour until now.



Last year I made my first Orbis for my middle daughter. This time, my eldest was on the receiving side of my sewing. Normally she wear dresses, twirly dresses. On her break dance classes she does need trousers though. So I sewed this funky purple one. The fit is perfect, the pocket is big, the asymmetrical zipper is super cool and she will be able to wear it for a while. No changes needed you might say. But my hacker brain always wants to play, and Anne allowed it.



I was wondering how the trousers would look without the fake fly. I like the asymmetrical look, but I wanted to experiment a bit more. For my next version, I therefore omitted the fly and I wrote a tutorial on how I did it. I already had so many pictures in the this post, that I decided to make the tutorial a separate entry, and you can find it here. If you checked my first Orbis, the fabric from this third Orbis should be very familiar. I even used the same contrasting ribbing.




Due to my diversity addiction, I was not done with experimenting. So, besides having an asymmetrical fly and no fly, I also wanted to make a straight fly (which I also added to the tutorial). This last Orbis was sewn with a piece of leftover fabric from a sweater that I sewed in January, but still am not allowed to show you. The fabric is the silver version of the pink fabric that I used for this dress. The fabric has a bit lower amount of stretch than regular jersey, so I sized up a tiny tiny bit. The silver fabric is special and sparkly, but I felt it needed some extra spice. I therefore used my daughter's favorite color, blue, as a contrast for the snaps, the waistband and the top stitching thread.




One straight Orbis and two adjusted. That is what I promised Anne and Melissa. After making pictures of the purple one, I realized I had not fulfilled my promise! I actually folded the fake fly incorrectly to the outside. That is what you get when you get arrogant and think you do not need the instructions. It was not super strange, that is why I had not noticed (did you spot in in the second picture?), but it was not a straight Orbis. So, I took off the snaps, seam ripped a small piece and adjusted the fly. Than, I even top stitched the zipper (which I had omitted in the first run), so that I could actually present you a straight Orbis as well. I think my son will be the next receiver of a set an Orbis set.




I already mentioned that I am part of a blog tour at the start of my post. here you can find all the other participants, and do not forget to check tomorrow's participants as well.Also do not forget to visit the Sofilantjes'webshop to check out Orbis pattern*.

Wednesday - MoonStar - WonderMirakel (for the Sofilantjes blog), Ronda B. Handmade, Sew Cucio




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.