Showing posts with label woven. Show all posts
Showing posts with label woven. Show all posts

Monday, April 30, 2018

Breeze shirt



Already weeks ago, Twig and Tale released the Breeze shirt*. I sewed up one during testing, but I never came around to posting about it. I was planning to sew a second and post about both of them, but I still have not come around to sewing the second one yet. But, seeing that the weather is improving, I wanted to show you the pattern, because I think it is the perfect summer woven sew for boys (but it is also obviously possible for girls as well)



The pattern is designed to be worn on warm days, and to cover sensitive skin against the sun. It therefore has long sleeves, but the pattern has optional sleeves tabs, such that you can easily keep the sleeves rolled up. If you know that your child will never wear long sleeves, but you can also simply sew the short sleeve option.



I sewed the shirt in a naturally wrinkled very light weighted cotton. It was a remnant from Textielstad so I do not know what the fabric is exactly. The pattern has no exposed seams, it has French and enclosed seams, making it super comfortable to wear. Although it has a perfect finish, it is still a rather easy and quick sew.


The shirt just pulls over the head, there is no closure (which makes it a much easier sew than a button up shirt). To make wearing it extra comfortable it has a relaxed fit. For this first version, I actually decided to make our son one size smaller than he should wear according to the size table, because he is often does not like oversized pieces. But, I could have just gone with his regular size, he says it is very comfortable also if it would be a bit wider.


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.

Sunday, March 25, 2018

Josephine Sunshine sale



I have tested and sewn many Bella Sunshine Design* patterns, and I am always happy with the result. Bella Sunshine has many great girl patterns for both jersey and woven fabrics. They also have patterns for women, if you like to twin with your girls, this is your go to shop. Last year, the Josephine dress* was released as part of One Thimble issue 15*. For a while the pattern is already available at Bella Sunshine as well, and today, really only today the pattern is extra cheap. For just $5 and the code “sunshinesale” you can now buy this beautiful vintage inspired pattern.



The Josephine is a pattern for woven fabrics with split side panels that scream piping. The pattern can be sewn either as a dress or a top. The gathered skirt for the dress option comes in regular and vintage length. There is an extra wide hem on the bottom that you can let out if the dress becomes a bit to vintage short. The pattern has cute cap sleeves and has an exposed zipper as a sophisticated detail. The boat line neckline makes it a timeless design.


I sewed the dress in a fabric from the goodie bag from our sewing weekend. This beautiful flowy drapey fabric comes from Huis van Katoen. I could not find the fabric on the site this morning, but there are many other great options. I used some silver piping that I still has in my stash to show off the side seams. I have to admit that sewing on that pipping on a bit stretchy slippery fabric was not the most enjoyful experience, but the result totally makes up for it. If you use a regular woven, it sews up in a breeze though.



 So, if you want to scoop up this pattern* for a bargain, go and buy it now! It is on sale until midnight Sunday 25 March US time with the code “sunshinesale”. 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, January 20, 2018

Flora Dress



You know that I prefer knit over woven and you know that I have taken a step back from testing, but sometimes you have to make an exception to all your rules. Today's dress is the result on such an exception. When Elegance and Elephants posted their testing call last year, I just had to apply. The color block on the front, the no-closure fit and puff sleeves made me lose all reason.



The Flora has three color block options, three sleeve lengths and is available in dress and tunic length, making the dress perfect for any season or event. Due to the low back scoop there is no zipper needed to get the dress over your daughter's head. The puff sleeves are adorable and make dressing in this no-closure dress easier (more room to get the arms in the sleeves).



I am not a 100% satisfied with my combination of fabrics for this dress. I took the main fabric from the "free for all" pile from our latest sewing weekend. The daughter of Sabrina went from a color addiction to a black and white lover and this cute dark pink flower fabric had to go. My pink lover was of course over the moon with this fabric and she was happy with any other pink addition. For me the contrast with the bodice color (Cloud 9 fabric) turned out a bit off. My daughter obviously loves the entire thing, so I do not really mind. The next one will be in one fabric, the pretty examples of the listing easily convinced me of that.


 

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

One Thimble issue 17



I know that many people feel they give you a compliment if they tell you your projects look store bought. I always assume that those people believe our store bought pieces are made by artists that love their work or by very advanced machines and not by the underpaid exploited factory workers that actually make our stuff. My husband knows what I think off that "compliment"so when he saw the shirt that I am showing your today, he immediately told me that it was totally incomparable to all the boring shirts in the store. He and my over-the-moon daughter made my day.



The project that inspired such praise was this interactive shirt. Yes, interactive, besides being a shirt it doubles as a toy. My middle daughter LOVES kitchen toys (besides the kilo's of Lego's in our house we have a lot of kitchen play sets as well), so when I saw this applique I immediately knew who I would use it for. Although the original project is an easy sew, I made it even easier. Officially you have to stabilize your fabric for the food item and sew the halves together. I went a slightlydifferent route, I saw this as the perfect opportunity to finally use the felt that I once bought. Besides the cheese, all the food items were made from inexpensive hobby felt that I glued together with textile glue. The cheese is from high quality felt and it is one layer. After cutting the union I decided to make an olive which is not in the set) from the little scrap circle.



This interactive applique is part of the new One thimble issue 17*. Although this applique would be an awesome stand alone toy,  I finally did decide to  sew the applique on something. I chose the new Regem* shirt by Sofilantjes as my canvas. Besides containing this applique, the new issue has many more patterns, and today I am also showing you the Nori dress by Paisley Roots. I tested the dress over the summer, so when she was wearing this dress, she was not freezing, I promise. After this test the pattern got adjusted a bit, the cut outs became a bit smaller and the skirt a bit longer.



The Nori dress closes with snaps on the sides and sliders in the neck. Snaps I have enough to last a lifetime, but sliders are not in my sewing supply. I feel hardware is often overpriced in craft stores and prefer to use a frugal solution or upcyle those parts. If you are similar, you might be happy to realize that old bra's also have sliders, and those I did have in my upcycle pile.



I told you before, my fabric stash mostly contains jersey, there is not much woven in there, and certainly not many wovens that are big enough to cut a circle skirt for a nine year old from. I did have some brown biological Cloud 9 fabric that I once bought to make a suit for my son from (which did not happen). Uni brown did not really say "summer"dress to me, so I took my Bobbinhood kit and for the first time hand-cut a stencil. I was between two summer vacations and scarce on time, so I freestyled this fabric in under 40 minutes. It could have been done better but I like the vintage vibe.



This post is part of the One Thimble issue 17 blog tour. The tour is nearing the end, which means that there is already  a lot of inspiration available. Here you have an easy clickable overview of the entire tour organized my Pattern Revolution. This issue also contains shorts, a bag, teacher gifts and jacket, a woman's dress and more. You can buy issue 17 one the One thimble site.

11/9/2017
11/10/2017
11/11/2017
11/12/2017
11/13/2017
11/14/2017
11/15/2017




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, May 25, 2017

Sofilantjes anniversary tour



Three years ago, Sofilantjes* released her first pattern. Today, I celebrate that in style with a double Sofilantjes hack in fabric from Lotte Martens's Let's party collection. Sofilantjes is possibly best known because of her patterns for knit fabrics, but Sofilantjes also has patterns for wovens. The Brueram*, one of those patterns for wovens, might actually be the Sofilantjes' pattern that I love the most. This will be my fourth post on that pattern (1, 2, and 3) and my fourth hack (although the first two were only minor adjustments). Party's are not only on warm days, so I also made my daughter a jacket, a hacked Cicero* to wear this festive dress to any party during the year.




This time it was the Litore*, another pattern by Sofilantjes, that inspired my hack. I love the look of the double set of straps on the back. To get that look, I narrowed the straps towards the shoulder and cut off the entire strap at the shoulder. With hindsight, I should have gone for a bit wider strap to have it more closely resemble the Litore. I determined the position of the straps pre-shirring at about 1/3 and 2/5 from the sides. I sewed them in between the lining and main fabric (as explained in the Brueram instructions) and gathered the back. Then, I attached the top of the straps to the shoulder following the Litore instructions. The skirt part is inspired by the Mantica*. I love how playing with these patterns actually could occupy all my sewing time.




That beautiful shiny lace is Lunari Aqua, one of the gorgeous Lotte Martens fabrics from the Let's Party collection. When I received it, I immediately knew why I had not seen it one the web yet. It is so pretty that people will have cut-fear for sure. It took me three weeks to settle on a plan to optimally use it. I used it for both pieces today and already cut a third project, an Aura* from it. If you use it as a beautiful detail like I did, you can actually make a lot from one panel. Two other ladies went a different route and used more of the panel in one garment. She used a different lace from the same collection as a breathtaking back on a woman's dress and she made a jacket consisting a 100% out of  Let's party lace. Lotte Martens is having a sewing competition at the moment. If I inspired you to cut your treasured Lotte Martens fabric or buy some, be quick because the competition is only for a few more days and the prizes are amazing!




For the Cicero jacket, I used the same color blocking option as the pink/brown one in this post. I wanted the jacket to look as classy as possible, and I, therefore, omitted the ribbing (I did not have any fancy ribbing). I did not want to cover the lace with a hood or collar, so I also omitted those. I went for clean lines. To omit the ribbing at the bottom of the jacket and sleeves, I added a bit to the length to both the jacket itself and the sleeves. I hemmed by folding the hem allowance inwards. This time I made some pictures while I shortened the zipper, and I will use them to make a tutorial on how to melt a new stop. Nothing fancy, but some asked for more details. I bought the rayon of the dress and the faux jersey at Textielstad.




I am so happy and honored to be part of the Sofilantjes family. Anne was the first designer that let me test something and I will always love her for that. All her patterns give me instant joy while sewing them and I am very much looking forward to all the other things she will make us sew. Due to the anniversary celebration, you can win fabric spending money by entering this Rafflecopter. These lovely brands are sponsoring the prize.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

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 – Tales of a Tester
Tuesday – Kreatita
Wednesday – Ronda B. Handmade
Thursday – TurtleBirdies, Inspiration

Sunday, May 14, 2017

Camellia dress



Petite Stitchery recently released their new spring collection (although the patterns are suitable for other seasons as well). The Poppy skirt, Periwinkle top and tunic, Lilly dress and the Camellia dress. A lovely set of patterns, each with their own special features. For example, the Lilly is a combination of woven and jersey and you have to check the back of the Periwinkle! I decided to sew Camellia which for me stands out  due to the double collar and the front closure.



I used two Soft Cactus fabrics from my stash, both with the same print, but different colors. I always think that I almost out of wovens but when I actually look in my stash there seems to be plenty of choice. I really like how these two fabrics work together and I feel the main color really suits my youngest.



I did deviate from the pattern a bit, twice. I added pockets, my youngest has enter the phase that when I tell her I am making her a dress, she asks if it will have pockets (after she asked if it twirl). The pattern includes instruction to make the dress close with visible buttons. Some of the example dresses in the pattern do not have buttons on them. I wanted that look and I wanted it to be suitable for a three year old. So, instead of using a hidden button holes or snap strips, I actually used a long strip of velcro. This way she can easily dress and undress herself. With hindsight, having separate velcro island might have been better. The dress now has the tendency to curl upward slightly. It is not that obvious, but a lesson for next time.



The sizing of the dress was spot on. Based on the measurement table I made a size 2 and lengthened the skirt a little bit. My little one is really loving our photo shoots. She is into doing all kind of poses, she makes them up herself and she holds them for a short period to avoid blurry pictures. She apparently really likes the pose where she holds her own face. It is super cute, for our family album, but no so much in showing the dress. I could not resit showing you at least one of them though.



You can buy the Camalia pattern or the other three patterns individually or as a bundle on the Petite Stitchery website. Here and here you can see more Petite Stitchery from my hand.