X-mas gifts sewing, 1st batch

And so comes some X-mas sewing - as usual mostly little boys collection :)

I was really wondering what else do little guys wear in winter, as apart from trousers, t-shirts and sweaters, I really do have difficulties finding something original to sew for them, so I try to at least

- sew outfits

- sew from funny or unexpected fabrics

Are you ready? Here comes the small version (2 year-old):

His mom was sending me hints on the last linen trousers I sewed for him, as she really loves them and as they seem extremely comfy, unfortunately, my linen remnant (which was reserved for this guy for some time) was not big enough. Also, at two years, it is quite difficult to find patterns for real trousers, as the size falls right in between baby sizes (and mostly leggings) and kids sizes (too big). 

In the end, I managed to match two patterns and improvised linen trousers with elastic in the waist and, of course, big pockets. The linen was already used for a summer dress for me, a dress and a handbag for one little girl and now, I can officially confirm, I do not have any more.

For the t-shirt, I used last year Ottobre Kids issue (10-03/2019). I own exactly two issues but I use them for maybe 90% of all my kids sewing. They have funny, diverse patterns, they have an equal amount for boys and girls (!!!) and more importantly, their patterns cover really large size ranges, contrary to Burda which is often limited to one age group (and usually not the one I need).

As for the sweater, it comes from Ottobre 08-04/2020, I told you... Both fabrics were purchased with some kids sewing in mind and I am really happy that they works so well together.

For his almost 4-year-old brother, the outfit is rather similar.

The trousers from LMV, already sewn this summer.  This time from a sturdier gabardine, the one I used for my BFs bermuda (yet to be blogged). 

Both, the t-shirt and sweater pattern come from the last Ottobre, I just did not have enough fabric for the hood, so the sweater is finished with some simple rib.

Black Fleck Dress

I must have felt that the second covid wave was coming (well, seeing people behaviour in August and September helped a lot), because I passed a quite large fabric order just at the end of September to have it at home in October. Actually, browsing Stof&Stil website proves rather dangerous, because I totally love their online catalogue and get inspired, probably too much inspired.

So while this order threw me quite far away from my stash reduction goal, I am not desperate (yet), I still have some two more weeks in 2020 to go and it looks like I will be spending them at home a lot, so let's stay positive, I have all my chances to get close to the goal level.

One of the fabrics I bought (and somehow forgot between the moment I paid my order and it being delivered) was this exquisite black French terry with little white flecks. Not only is the fabric nice and quite classy (for a French Terry, that is, hahahaha), but it is also extremely soft on the inside. 

The choice of the right pattern was rather quick, as I was eyeing the Burda 111-01/2019 since I had the magazine. It is a simple jersey dress with a high neckline and very simple lines. 

Since I can now master my serger and since I already had black thread in it, this pieces just flew through it and was sewn in no time. I realized that batch sewing is really the way to go with a serger because you feel more productive.

Back to the pattern - I actually did a few modifications - the dress is supposed to be closed with a zip on the back which I omitted, but kept the back seam. The dress itself has absolutely no shaping opportunity in the back, apart from the back seam, so I played with it a little bit. Since my fabric was not extremely stretchy, I was afraid that I could not get my big head through the funnel neck, so I improvised a little opening in the should seam with 3 press buttons.  

In terms of shaping, I took in a few centimeters on the front as well so that the dress is adjusted without being it too tight.

And the result is just awesome. I am not yet sure if I would wear it to work, even though it looks ok in the black and white, but somehow, unconsciously, I still have the feel of the French terry on the inside and so think of the dress as a casual one.

The Success of Procrastination or the Dark Green Dress

 I always like dresses from ponte, but find it quite difficult to buy some in not uni version. So when I came across this dark green flowery fabric, I just had to buy it. The only issue is that printed pontes are usually more poly than viscose and you can easily feel it, oh well.

I ordered the fabric last year in winter months so obviously, had no intention to sew it during summer. Then September came in and I tried to find again my sewjo by muslining 3 dresses at the same time and cutting out 2 of them right afterwards. This one was one of them. I chose Burda 102 from 12/2019 issue, a dress which was originally sewn from a woven but I figured that it would work from my stable knit. 

I am really happy that I batch cut out my projects because I would have probably hesitated still some more and this way, the fabric was prepared, I only had to assemble it. I even motivated myself to use and rethread my serger, therefore, the dress took exactly one after-work evening to sew. 

I tried some pattern matching and there are places where it really worked well, like in the front, so I am definitely proud of myself. The dress was very quick to assemble and since I muslined it, there was almost nothing to adjust during sewing (except the sleeves' and overall length). I still tried it on during the construction process and that is when I realized that I was going to really like the result.

Once the dress was finished I was really excited - the fit is really perfect, I can put it on without any closing and the colour is great on me. So a great WIN, in the end.

Viscose Leaf Dress

As I am working from home again full time, I am trying to adapt my sewing to my new lifestyle and sew more things which I would wear immediately. Since we were nearing the year end I was trying to stop buying fabric and just sew what I had in stash.  I am still motivated to hit that -10m target. However, I came across this leaf fabric on the Stof&Stil website and even saw a dress they presented and I figured out I just had to have it. 

The only hick was the fabric content, as I had some very bad experience in the past with really slinky and plasticky viscose jerseys and therefore avoid buying it. But this fabric was way too beautiful, so I risked it. And I was really surprised when the fabric arrived and was rather soft, almost like a peachskin. At this moment I knew that the fabric would not remain long in my stash and that the dress was going to be sewn quick.

I used a mashup of Moneta dress and my turtleneck block and it worked really well. Now, that I am using my serger/coverlocker, this kind of projects are extremely quick, even too quick, I would say. The dress was ready in one evening. As I am lately sewing a lot of jersey dresses, I must admit that I am missing having a long project with some handsewing. It is planned, though, to sew a winter coat, so I will hopefully get to it quickly and will enjoy making it as well.

Back to the leaf dress, even though there is not much to say about it: it is stretchy, comfy, yet class. I love it! I just need a large black cardigan to wear with it.

Flight Attendant Dress

Ok, I know I should stop giving my dresses these names because I risk not wearing them later because of their names. This dress was actually my comeback to sewing after vacation and honestly, I was seriously procrastinating on it. I used Burda 102-08/2020 - a very recent pattern of which I totally loved the picture in the magazine, but this is largely due to the fabric they used. 

As I did not want to buy anymore fabric (huge fabric shopping haul in September which brought me back to the 2019 numbers, so I have to get sewing if I want to achieve my 2020 goal), I tried to find something suitable in my stash. 

In the end, I decided to use this dark blue cotton-wool which has a little texture so I thought it would be really nice. I quickly measured the dress against my dress block, adjusted the shoulders and started sewing without a proper muslin. Also, since I wanted to line the dress and hide the construction parts in the lining, I changed the construction steps. 

The project was just not going forward, as I was not much excited about it. Until the moment when I had the idea of adding a little caramel piping on a few seams and this was really a great idea because it instantly pimped up the dress and out of a sudden, it transformed from a blah dress to a cute one. Also, once the collar was installed, I really loved it, I like wearing high collars and turtlenecks in general, so this definitely helped. 

The only issue I had at this point was the excess wideness of the dress. I could still wear it with a belt, but in general, I do not like that so much, so I ended up taking it in a few centimeters on the sides (not much since I had added the side pockets) and then adding back darts. This changed the silhouette of the dress significantly, so the final result is up to my expectations.

I do not own many blue clothes so this might be a good addition to my wardrobe.

Outfit Sewing - Summer Edition

This will be a very quick post, as I have already talked about the skirt in my previous post. The fact is that the skirt is not lined and was meant to be worn and was worn in summer (the fact that it also works in autumn is a very nice coincidence), and so I needed something to go with it. 

As I have sewn the Nettie body about two years ago and loved it (it is actually really great for winter period and I am really happy that it is again in fashion), I figured out that I could use a remnant of a black jersey cotton to sew a summer edition.

The pattern is still the same, I just shorten the sleeves

And while we are at it, I also sewed a perfect copy of my black Nettie dress because the old one is starting to show some signs of fatigue, obviously, it is worn on a regular basis and I totally love the style.

This time, most of the work was done on the serger, the hems are coverlocked, only the neckline was sewn on my machine.

Now that I figured out how my super serger works, I am so happy to just be serging everything :o)

LinkedIn Inspiration

 A totally improbable post title, but completely true! 

The inspiration for this sewing project was exactly this picture I saw the other day on LinkedIn. 

This is when I realized that I already have exactly the right fabric - the same colour and the same weight. Back in 2019, I bought 2m of bright red ponte and sewed a dress from it which I still have yet to blog. I have somehow difficulties in wearing it because.... well it is a lot of bright red :)

Then I used a piece of the fabric to whip up a little boy t-shirt and I still had half a meter left. Just perfect for this project. Well, I almost did not have enough, so I had to cheat little bit on the length, but it all worked out in the end.

I used my turtleneck block (already used for the turtleneck dresses) and honestly, I really like the result. I think it will probably work much better than the red dress because it is just the amount of red and I can easily combine it with darker colours.

And since this autumn was definitely a separates' sewing season, I whipped up a little grey skirt. So ok, these are some pretty basics, but actually this is what gets most of wear in my wardrobe and basically, it goes with almost all tops I own.

I used a piece of dark grey wool flannel I was saving up for some winter trousers, but let's be honest, this is never gonna happen so I better use the fabric for something nice. I was afraid the fabric was not sturdy enough so I used some light interfacing to beef it up little bit and I am really happy I did.

I was really afraid the pockets would distort the shape of the skirt, as this happens quite often to me, so I stabilized the pocket openings and it seems to be working just OK.

The skirt is of course lined with some black silk.

Outfit Sewing

I must admit, outfit sewing is not my sewing style. I sew things I like or I would like to wear without thinking much about how it will all go together.

So while this is quite an exception, I am really happy to manage to create a whole outfit for once. 

I had this remnant of fibranne viscose, left from a dress and since I really loved this fabric, I had to find something to do with it. Strangely, I always think of little tops for the remnants, but this time, I figured I could squeeze out a little simple skirt. 

The skirt is vaguely based on the winter shorts I sewed at the beginning of the year, for the skirt part, I just cut out what I could from my remnant and that was it.

It got sewn extremely quickly, as there is nothing very complicated, apart maybe the hidden zipper.

I wore it mostly in summer with a little black Nettie body (blogpost to come), but this week I whipped up a little sweater from black merino double knit. I got a huge order from The Fabric Store this summer, including this black double knit. As usual, it is very soft and cosy and I just love the final result. 

I used a very basic pattern, compared to one of my current sweaters and while this is a very basic make the result is just so versatile.

So no difficult sewing, but a great result in the end. Both things really work together, and I received many compliments on the skirt. It is strange how sometimes very simple things produce great results. 

Another Try on the Jumpsuit Trend

I have seen jumpsuits all over the blogosphere since a few years, but somehow, did not really want to jump on that train. I have sewn 2 short jumpsuits, where only one gets worn when on vacation and one long one which I like as such but somehow do not reach for it.

At the beginning of that trend, I bought the McCalls M7366 pattern which I really liked for its class presentation, if I thought that it might work the same way the dresses usually work, aka, you only have one piece to get out of your wardrobe and you are set to go.

So I bought 2m of black crepe and was just waiting for the right occasion. I finally managed to sew it during the French lockdown and I must say that I have mixed feelings on the result:

The pattern is really good! I had to adjust it for the length, of course, but I did my homework and muslined it, so all is good. The pleats on the front were kind of a puzzle, but once I got around it, it looks really nice. 

Also, I appreciated my choice of fabric because you have around several layers of fabric on some places. At the same time, the light fabric works less on the trousers part. Honestly, I would prefer something more sturdy on the trousers, or at least something less flowy.

And this is basically my main concern on the finished jumpsuit: it really looks good on the upper side, but is somehow strange on the trousers. I must admit that I had to narrow the pants as well and probably should have taken in also in the crotch part.

Also, the viscose is just horribly wrinkly, even though you iron it properly.

When looking at the picture, I kind of like the result, but I did not pull it out one single time in summer. Ok, so the covid context and a holiday in cold weather probably do not help, so given the exceptional circumstances, I will keep it in my wardrobe for some time yet.

Baby Sewing Again

Another little boy in the family and this time I was ready early, actually even before he was born. I wanted to have some real fun, so I bough a little piece of an extremely cute cotton jersey from Stoff&Stil and then played with to create a collection. I sewed everything in size 3-4 months, so it really did not use up much of the fabric for each piece and I could sew a lot of them :)

First come the bodies - of course - both of them Burda 130-11/2014, I just cut the sleeves on one of them. The little decoration is actually a functional pocket. I must say that I prefer this body pattern to the one with snaps on the shoulder, mostly because you install less snaps, but for the parents it might be less easy to put on. We will see.

Then we have leggings, one in the great mustard forest jersey, the other one in a remnant of grey jersey I had in my stash. These were extremely quick to sew and they look very cute! Burda pattern 137-05/2015.

Since the little guy will be 3 months when the weather becomes autumny, I added a jacket to the lot, Burda Baby 07-01/2020. This pattern is reversible, but since I decided to line it with black jersey, I am not sure it will really be worn in the black version.

So that is for the clothes, but I still had some fabric remaining, soooooo... 2 little beanies based on tutorials found on the internet.

2 bibs - bandanas, again, some free patterns.

Bunny ears teether 

Aaaaaand... Montessori ball. 

I think this took the most of time and was the most complicated of all :)

First, the pattern is recommended for wovens, so I had to interface all the pieces (and there are a lot of them). Second, as said, there are a lot of pieces. Basically you sew 12 stuffed triangles and then gradually attach them together. I tried to make sure that they were really well attached and that there are no threads coming out, so it really took a lot of time.

However, the result is extremely good, if I say so. And I was really wondering if the Montessori ball is really more of a puzzle for the sewing that for the end recipient :)

Btw, I used this amazing and super clear tutorial.

Bamboo Dress

While 2020 is a very funny year, I am really happy that I did not stop sewing and that it enables me to

1. have something fun to do while staying at home

2. have new clothes adapted to my new lifestyle without going shopping

I have also managed to sew things I would not usually do in general, I ventured more to the jersey territory and I am learning new stuff. 

When ordering fabric once last year, I added a piece of bamboo jersey to my cart, basically for two reasons, I liked the shade of green and I wanted to see what bamboo fabric is like. While I live quite close to a great selection of fabrics (Marché St Pierre in Paris), they rarely have an even moderate choice of jerseys and finding the "new" fabrics like bamboo or tencel is almost impossible there.

I was quite surprised by the texture, because I really do not like the feel of viscose jerseys, I find them very plastic-y and I completely stopped buying them which is a pity as many of fun colours are only available in viscose. Bamboo, on the other side felt nice and comfy. Also, the fabric has quite some weight and drape which is a nice surprise, but at the same time was a challenge on the model to sew from it. 

In the end, I chose a very simple pattern (Burda 113-03/2009), for once, I dared not to sew a test model and just made my standard Burda adjustments hoping the jersey would be forgiving.

The final result is exactly what I expected. It is a nice casual dress, extremely comfy, but still rather cool. I wear it mostly at home, but have no difficulties in going out while wearing it. The fabric is really soft against he skin and yet, quite cool even in hot weather. 

Yet Another Moneta

The Moneta dress was one of the first jersey dresses I have sewn. Nice pattern, cute neckline, however, not a style I would wear every day. 

I did sew two of them and just stopped at that because how many of the casual dresses do you really need?

Well, definitely more than ever if you work 100% from home. The strict lockdown is now finished, I currently spend only about half of my time in the office, and who knows what will happen in autumn. So another Moneta is definitely welcomed. I actually sewed this dress in the middle of the lockdown when the weather was just right for wearing it and I definitely wore it a few times then. It is way too hot for it in the middle of summer but its time will come back again.

I do not think I have much to say about it apart from the fact that it is entirely constructed on my overlocker/coverlocker. I bought a new machine at the beginning of the year and honestly, am still struggling little bit with its settings. So sewing the entire dress was a little bit of a challenge and I was quite happy that I managed it.

Also, I do not have a dedicated space for sewing so I can only have one machine out. And changing the whole setting, putting away the sewing machine, getting out the serger with all its tools.... just way too complicated to happen very often.

However, this is going to change quite soon so I definitely hope to use my serger more often.

I added pockets, because.... well pockets... and I find that one of them is always getting opened. And honestly, I have no idea how to correct this. I played little bit with the seams and the machine but without any major results.

All in all, this is a cute dress. I really love the fabric, it is a very soft cotton jersey and it is elegant and comfy at the same time. Next lockdown, I am ready :)