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 :)

Summer for Little Boys

I usually sew for little kids in winter time when we see the whole family at X-mas, however, this time, I got to make something for summer, for a change and what a pleasure!

The strong prevalence of little boys in the whole family is still continuing, so I am trying to get creative with what I have 😊. As usual, I wanted to create a complete outfit and this time I even did it for both boys together.

First to come - the linen trousers for the big boy (just over 3 years old) - Fanny trousers from this year La Maison Victor. I used a beige linen remnant - very old stash - and bought a piece of quilting cotton with little coloured buttons to complement it. I must say that I am extremely proud of this combination as the trousers just work with any other colour.

For his little brother, I made a pair of trousers based on the same pattern, but instead of side and back pockets, I created "side in-sewn patch" pockets. Both trousers have elastics in the waist and so should be very easy to pull on.

I still had a piece of the linen so I found a bucket hat free pattern and tried to cut out two of them (because I could not only make one, right). With a little piecing, I won the pattern puzzle game and so the boys have their bucket hats.

Last on the list were some tops. I started with a simple t-shirts, my TNT kids pattern from Ottobre 2019 in the right sizes. 

And since I still had some colored jersey left, I made two more with hoodies.

The small one is a hacked version of Ottobre 2019 hoodie I have already sewn in the past.

The big one is Burda 141-10/2013. I am quite happy I have this stock of old Burdas as it is just a big stock of treasures and basics.

No idea why I do not have the green hoodie t-shirt on this picture... And since everything has already been given to their mum, no chance to have it photographed again :)

A Failed Fail

Last year, when I was sewing a lot with jerseys, I got inspired by Deer&Doe photo of their jersey dress in grey tones. It is a very simple dress, so it definitely did not justify buying the pattern (sorry, Deer&Doe), since I figured that I could easily use a basic jersey pattern and just cut the different panels. I used the same fabric as them, fine cotton jersey, however, I thought it was rather thin for a jersey dress.

Adjusting my pattern was easy peasy, I cut out the upper part in grey-green and the rest in pure grey. The sewing was quick and easy as well, actually a weekday evening project.

That's why I was rather disappointed by the end result. Even though I added little more wearing ease, I found the dress way too hip-hugging for my liking. This is probably because of the fabric, which is less stable than ponte. I put the dress aside thinking I would recycle it to make baby clothes some time.

And there it remained till the lockdown. I am not a pyjama person, so during the whole lockdown period I was wearing dresses at home. And of course, not the same ones as I would wear to work, but all my jersey dresses got worn during the 3 months of me working from home. At that point, I tried to put on this dress again and I figured it was just great for being worn at home, or for the occasional grocery shopping outside.

The funny thing is that it actually became one of the most worn before the weather got too warm to wear a long sleeves dress.

So I must say I am very happy that I kept the dress anyhow, it is comfy, cute and the cotton jersey is of great quality, it resists all washing and is very soft on my skin.