And yet another batch of sewing for the little far nephews. They are now 4 and a few months and 2 and a half if my count is correct so they got out of the super quick growing period, they even wore the last year linen pants still this summer. On the other side, squeezing something for them from little remnants is becoming more and more difficult, so I really need to plan the sewing in advance now and reserve pieces of fabric for it.
This is what I did this year:
Linen shorts and t-shirt for the little one. I decided it was the year of a pocket so I really put them everywhere on the pants, I also had some fun topstitching.
For the pants, I used a remnant from a linen dress I sewed for myself and I still have to document. The white and black jersey is something I wanted a t-shirt from but the longer I have the fabric, the less I can imagine a shirt for me. So it was put to good use here.
Also, their mum complained last year that the little one has a real big head and does not get through the RTW and hand-made t-shirts, so this time I chose a pattern with a side opening.
The big one got shorts from some tencel I have a summer dress as well and mao-collar shirt.
As for the little one I had fun topstitching and I am almost missing having some more or more funny stitches on my machine.
For the shirt I actually really like the pattern, it is something quite rare for little kids and yet, I find it quite classy.
It seems that flowery dresses are totally in this year, so why not sewing another one. I had this cotton-silk stashed for some time, always waiting for the right project. The fabric was rather fine, so a lining is quite needed.
Once I had sewn my liberty dress, I thought that a similar one could be done from this fabric as well. However, I decided to make is less adjusted on the waist and sew something more similar to the Myosotis dress.
This somehow worked and not worked. Even though I added a cm or so on the bodice length, I find the bodice shorter than on the liberty dress, and I have absolutely no idea why. When I sewed the dress, I thought that I would need to cinch it anyhow, so I ended up putting in an elastic in the back.
The dress is lined with a little black remnant on the bodice and self lined on the skirt.
As for the buttons, I again found just the right ones in my button stash. Bonheur!
Do I need yet another summer dress: probably not. Is this fabric suitable for one: definitely yes. So I am sewing one. This grey cotton satin was actually line 1 of my stash excel, so the oldest fabric bought and still not sewn.
Also, I already have an autumn dress in this fabric, so I wanted to avoid 2 of them. But a summer one, that could definitely work. The only thing bothering me was the weight of this fabric: it is a fine satin and actually has no weight and creases easily. I remember having to interface it with a voile on my autumn version. I decided to wing it and just make a simple fit and flare dress.
I used the bodice from Burda 108-03/2011 and a plied rectangle for the skirt. Pattern matching was a pain, because the fabric is not 100% printed on the grain. Also, I stupidly decided to match the little points on the bodice back, and fortunately did not match on the skirt (cheating little bit probably). I lined the bodice with a little piece of silk which I saved from some other project.
No further difficulties, some nice handsewing and a new summer dress is born. And one of the oldest fabrics (2014) is finally used up.
I was having a month of indecisions. I pulled out fabrics from my stash, checked the patterns, matched them and then hesitated and changed my plan again. Pulled out some other fabric, found a new pattern and waited some more. In the end, nothing was happening on the sewing front and my fabrics continued to wait.
I decided I had to change the strategy, because obviously, my wishlist strategy was not working anymore, I still had a few to-sew items there which would not be worn before October.
I took my stash excel (yes, I have that and it is the best thing in the world for keeping me in check) and assigned a project to any fabric suiting the coming seasons (spring and summer). It resulted in 20m of fabric to be assigned to a project which is a quarter of my current stash. Now, I just had to start from the top, i.e. with the oldest fabrics.
So I did not start from the top but from the bottom, but never mind, it somehow worked and I got to sew things and I love the results, so that is the most important I guess.
I actually used one of the newest additions to stash which was kid of an internet shopping error. While I like the grey flowery fabric, it seems washed out in real life and I also only had a meter, as I planned to use it for a shirt. The problem is that it has quilting cotton weight so obviously not very suited for a simple shirt.
But a shirtdress... that might work. And it did! I pulled out the already tested Butterick 6333, chose the version without sleeves (because I did not have enough fabric) and narrow skirt (obviously the same reason and also, the fabric weight), no pockets and no belt (did I say I only had one meter?) and whipped it up in no time. Actually, not having to do a muslin helped and I knew that the dress was going to fit alright.
Obviously, this dress needs a lot of buttons, so I opened my magic button box convinced that I was not going to buy any and I found a set of perfectly grey buttons coming from my grandmother stash. They just blend in SO WELL, I cannot believe it.
The dress finished I tried it on and I am loving it. I cannot understand why I hesitated so much with this fabric. It only confirmed me one thing: I need to get more fabrics from my stash to my wardrobe.
This post will be short, but as I am trying to publish everything I sew, I cannot omit this cardigan. The fabric comes from a bundle of merino jerseys I had bought some time ago and am sewing through. I ordered everything from The Fabric Store and basically bought different weights and colours so that I can play with it. I mostly had different shades of grey.
I took some time to look for the right pattern and in the end settled on Burda 104-10/2020, my October issue had just arrived by that point. I remember changing it a lot, though.
Not sure if these pictures do it justice as I mostly wear this cardigan with black dresses or t-shirts under it. It is rather practical, warm and soft and the colour fits my wardrobe.
I am definitely planning on sewing some more merino cardigans, but next time, I will use a standard sleevehead and not the fallen sleeve - I feel like it is not the best look on me.
This is not new, but it is as amazing as my previous versions of the Bella Dress from LMV. I have sewn this pattern two times already and I definitely do not regret this third version. I bought the silk crepe in petrol little bit by chance when ordering something else. When it arrived, it was just perfect, the colour was exactly as I had imagined it and the silk crepe gives it such a nice shine, well, it is just magic.
I bought it without a specific idea on what to do with it, and then one day, it stroke me: I just need another Bella. And it was without doubt the best idea.
I really do not have anything to say to this pattern, I absolutely love wearing it in summer and the crepe just has the perfect weight for it. The bodice is lined with the same fabric and the skirt part is also doubled.
The best thing is that the pattern is so well tested that I do not need to try it on, just cut out the fabric and sew it up. Instant gratification. Sometimes just simple sewing like this is just amazing.
My BF started running this year (yes, the pandemic does not have only negative effects) and despite myself buying him a few running clothes pieces, he definitely prefers his RTW merino t-shirt. This piece was just in such a regular rotation, that he almost wanted to wear it two times. So even though merino does not smell bad even if you sweat in it, I do not think it is always a great idea.
I just remembered I still had about a meter of merino sports jersey from The Fabric Store and decided one week-end to cut into it. It was originally "reserved" for a cardigan for me, but I am still undecided which kind of cardigan I would like to have, so that is not happening any time soon. I believe a sports t-shirt will have a much more utility now.
This is just a basic, so in terms of sewing, there is not much to say apart from the fact that I copied his RTW t-shirt and sewed it with a flatlock seam. I wanted to add a little something, so used an old scrap of cotton jersey around the neck and a little "etiquette" on the left side for days when he does not now where the front and the back is.
The t-shirt got instantly worn and is in regular rotation since - my BF currently runs 3 times a week, so he is at least covered for two of them with merino. On the other side, the weather is getting warmer, so I believe that he will start wearing regular sports shirts soon.
I do not think I have ever bought and sewn Liberty fabric, but I am afraid that I will try that again, because this was pure joy. First, I must admit that I was never particularly drawn to Liberty, as a lot of their designs are in fine, pink and blue colours, i.e. not my style. Also, I try not to wear a lot of little flower designs.
However, when I saw this one, all alarms started beeping: ochre, green, red and black, ALL YOUR COLOURS, please buy me!!! and have a look, from faraway it does not even look like flowers. Well, I was weak and ordered it. When the fabric arrived, it was even better in real life than in the pictures and also, the fabric is so fine and soft. Well, it did not stay in my stash for long.
Of course, I had to find the right pattern, but I figured out that when buying Liberty, I should go for the classics, and sew a little cute dress. I was hesitating a little on whether I really want to have an all flower dress, but then, we are in the middle of the pandemics, I will mostly wear this at home or on vacation, so let's go for it.
I used Burda 108-11/2020, with a few modifications: I did not want to have the buttons on the skirt, so I added a side zip and I certainly did not want the sleeve ruffles :) I cannot have both, little flowers AND ruffles, let's be reasonable here. I was also hesitating on putting in some skirt lining, but in the end, I decided against it, fearing it would add too much of the volume.
The fabric was just magic to sew, I seem to always say that when sewing with simple cottons, as it is just sooo easy compared to jerseys, silk or basically anything else. This does not mean I want to only sew cottons, but it is great to make such a nice project from time to time.
The nacre buttons are from my enormous button stash, so a great win for no additional spend.
Verdict: I love the dress. It has just the right amount of cuteness and romanticism, but it still works with dark shoes. I am pretty sure I will wear it in summer with sneakers, but it was way too cold when we took these pictures.
Now, where can I find some more cute Liberty...
Aka the grey one.
Hmmm, velvet, good or bad idea? I was a teenager in the 90s, so basically grew up with high-waisted jeans, pinafores and crushed velvet which was a big hit at that time. What comes next? t-shirts under summer dresses and black bras under white t-shirts, urghhh. Ok you got it, I am not a big fan of the current fashion comebacks. Never mind, but a basic velvet, that cannot be such a bad idea, right? At worse I will only wear it at home.
With that in mind, I ordered 2 velvet fabrics just before x-mas, one piece was also used for a little cute baby number. And during my x-mas staycation I sewed two dresses.
The grey fabric is a mix of cotton and viscose as is therefore thinner and drapier. I used a Knipmode pattern (10/23) mixed with my jersey dress block. I do not think there was anything complicated, the dress whizzed through my serger in no time and it was done.
And it was worn almost once a week since. I am sometimes pondering on shortening it by 1-2 cm but at the moment cannot be bothered. It is warm, cosy, comfy, just the perfect stay-at-home-dress. It looks good on zoom and my BF likes it as well.
I am almost wondering why I do not have an entire winter wardrobe made of velvet :)
Aka the green one, or the x-mas one. I actually wore it on New Year's Eve, but whatever, you got the idea.
I had order some velvet fabric at the end of the last year, one was a mix with viscose and this one 100% cotton. The cotton is much heavier than the viscose, but as soft, so great for some season-appropriate dress.
I had this pattern from Burda 118 from March 2020 in mind earmarked, so I figured this could be a good idea. Hmm, in the end not so much, as the fabric is way too heavy for that and there is just too much fabric for that on your waist, but it is a great and comfy dress and I loved wearing it on New Year's Eve. Btw, my BF is a big fan :)
The pattern is really great, the cleavage is somehow deep, but closed enough so when you stay standing, there is absolutely no way flashing anything. I think that is pretty darn good. Even relaxing on the couch, it does not open so much, so it is really well designed. In any case, I could always put in 2-3 safety stitches if needed.
You might have seen that the sleeves are not hemmed, actually, I must have cut them out too short, so they were just right not hemmed - this is a cotton jersey, it does not frau so I just let it go.
The dress creates a great silhouette of course, and I really managed to have waist sitting on the waist, which definitely helps, thank you Burda for being consistent with your sizes, as I can just blindly do a few standard adjustments and have a dress ready.
