WHAT I LEARNT FROM MIE

One of the greatest things about sewing isn’t actually sewing related… It is the pleasure of being part of an incredible international community made from talented, generous and fun people.

Supporting each other, sharing our knowledge and having fun is what this sewing community is all about. So when Celina and Ines contacted me to ask if I would like to take part of this surprise for our friend Mie I was delighted. (I was also a bit freighted but we will get back to that later…)

Mie is quite amazing! Not only is she an amazing seamstress (check out her blog and delight yourself with her gorgeous creations) but she is also an amazing friend. She knows so much about sewing and she is always willing to share her knowledge. That’s why our surprise is entitled: “What I learnt from Mie!”

I have learned many, many things with Mie! But one remains in my mind the most: she showed me how to line jackets. I remember us talking through Messenger… This is a tricky technic and it took me quite a while to understand it but she didn’t give up!

So on the video, the girls and I are all wearing nice lined jackets I made and I have some more photos of the girls’ jackets to share with you today. (I will try to blog about my jacket one day…)

PATTERN: View Q from the Japanese book Girly Style Wardrobe (check all projects in this book here). The only thing I have to say about this pattern is: I love it! Well, I actually didn’t like that the jacket was not lined… But with Mie’s help that little issue was easily solved. As Japanese patterns don’t have seam allowances, creating the pattern pieces for facing and lining was piece of cake. I know adding seam allowances is a pain but if you are into customizing existing patterns is makes everything much easier and fast. Since I was lining the jackets I also decided to add a little trim where the lining and outer fabrics meet. It is a nice way to smoothly change from one fabric to the other and gives the garment a special touch.

FABRIC: Outer fabric: wool blend fabric from Traetela. Lining fabric: rayon from my local shop Feira dos Tecidos. The outer polka dot fabric is so special… It was given to me by my good friend Rita last year and I am so glad I used it for these jackets. The quality is great! Teresa and Ines have been wearing them almost daily for 5 months and they are still looking pretty good. For the lining I picked a nice viscose to give the jackets a warmer felling. It was my first time working with viscose and it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. But I am glad I started working with this fabric for the inside of the garment. Though Mie is totally right when she says the inside should look as nice as the outside of a garment…

And that gets me back to the purpose of this post… The video for Mie! I was so freighted about having to shoot a small video. I am glad I could have my daughters’ help as I think I would not make it all alonee. But now I am so glad I did it!

As usually, Celina made a wonderful job putting together the testimonials of these super talented ladies:

Celina . Petit à Petit and Family, Abby . Sew Much Ado, Rita . Conversas de Hermanas, Heidi . Handmade Frenzy, Olu . Needle and Ted, An . StraightGrain, Jenya . While she was sleeping, Trine . Groovy Baby and Mama, Andreia . In a Manner of Sewing, Jess . Sewing Rabbit, Hayley . Welcome to the Mouse House, Marta . Do Guincho, Maria . My Cozy Co, Natalie . La Gang à Nat, Holli . Hello Holli, Erin . Erin Always, Olga . Coffee and Thread, Delia . Delia Creates, Alida . Alida Makes, Gabriela . Chalk and Notch, Victoria . As it Seams, Rachel . Stitched Together, Chelise . Chelise Patternson, Emi . Just Add Fabric, Inês . La Folie

Check out the video, have fun and… THANK YOU MIE!

What I learnt From Mie from Celina Bailey on Vimeo.

SEWING FOR BABIES

I’ve sewn baby clothes for the first time! And it was fun. Really fun!

My blogging friend Patricia is expecting a baby girl and some Portuguese bloggers/seamstress decided to put together a baby shower for her with some handmade gifts. A fun idea, right? And the perfect excuse to sew sweet little clothes…

I’ve made a jumper for her (very) soon to be born daughter and a dress for her oldest girl, the adorable Miss Caracolinhos. I’ve also made a softie for them to share (or fight about… How knows!)

PATTERNS: Romper: selft drafted, Dress: View A nº4 from the book Vêtements Amples à Superposer by Mayuko Murata, Softie: Henry & Helga Elephant Plushies free pattern by Christina McKinney for Birch Fabrics Blog

FABRICS: Main fabric is a right flowered red cotton from a baby bed sheet I found on a Zara Home sale. Zara Home has some wonderful prints and I always visit the store at the end of each season hopping to find great bargains. For the romper’s lining I’ve used a white and red pocka dot fabric I had on my stash. The snaps are from Kam. (Oh! I love my kam pliers!)

The romper. I’ve only started sewing when my kids were toddlers so I didn’t have any baby clothes pattern I could use. So I went to my basement, picked one of my daughters’ baby rompers and drafted the pattern myself. I just hope the fitting is right as I have no one at home that will ever fit into such a small piece of clothing. The romper if fully lined with contrasting polka dot cotton fabric and has snaps both in the back and between the leg openings so it is easy to dress and undress as well as to change diapers. This was such an easy and fun garment to sew…

The dress. I love to dress my daughters in matching outfits so I had to make a matching dress for Miss Caracolinhos. I also love to see little girls dressed in simple girly dresses. So I made a spring dress with puff sleeves and gathered skirt. Simple as that! The book is a French version of a Japanese sewing book and I have to say I am in love with all patterns in this book. All clothes are stylish and wearable at the same time. Unlike the romper, the dress is not lined so I’ve finished the neckline with blue bias tape. But, like the romper, the back closes with bright red snaps.

The softie. I had already made a softie like this for my friend Asmita. This is such a great free pattern! It comes in two sizes but I have sewn the largest one both times and it is perfect. The elephant body is made with the polka dot fabric and its ears are made with the flowered fabric as I didn’t have much left after making the clothes…

And why didn’t I have any fabric left? Because Ines begged me to sew a dress for her too! And she also made me sew another romper and elephant to give to her school teacher that just had a baby girl, I must add…

 

Don't Forget to visit my friends' blogs and check all amazings things they have sewn for Patricias's baby shower:

Ana Sofia

Carla

Constança

Inês

Magda

Maria João

Rita

Sara

Soraia

KIDS CLOTHES WEEK . DAY 3

It’s time for Kids Clothes Week and I am so excited to have been able to sew, photograph and blog about something I actually made this week!

This long sleeve tee was a really quick and easy sew and Teresa loved it. I am truly happy I finally started sewing with knits! It’s fun, easy and super-fast. Plus my kids love comfortable clothes and knits are so much comfy then woven…

 

Pattern: Climbing Flowers by Ottobre - Winter 2014. The original pattern is actually for a tunic, not a tee. I had turned it into a tee last October and loved the result so, as I needed a quick project, I picked the pattern pieces and.. Voilá! In just about 1 hour I had a new long sleeved tee for Teresa.

Fabric: Grey and navy cotton tricot knit from my local store (Feira dos Tecidos). This is such a soft and comfortable fabric! Love it!

 

 

Teresa likes the colors of this fabric but, when I bought it, I thought it was kind of too serious for little girls so I thought adding a stencil would be fun. I bought golden ink and gave it a try with the help of this wonderful book. Though I like the result I think it would have been better if the ink was opaque instead of transparent... But she is happy and that’s what really matters!

 

 

DRAPE, DRAPE

The kids went back to school today so I finally have a couple of minutes to blog. We had a wonderful holiday as the weather in Portugal has been absolutely great these last few weeks. We went to the beach almost daily and I got to sew a little bit after the kids were in bed.

I’ve made a couple of tunics, dresses and shorts for Teresa and Ines but today I want to share with you a super simple, fast and easy dress I made for myself. I am so excited!

Pattern: View 13 from the book Drape, Drape by Hisako Sato.

I saw this book for the first time a year and a half ago at a bookstore in Copenhagen and immediately feel in love with it! But I didn’t buy it right away as I thought sewing for me and sewing with knits was a bigger challenge than I could handle… But a few months ago I started doing both things and I am loving it. So when my friend Carla told me our local bookstore had this book in Portuguese (it’s the Brazilian version but it is quite easy to understand) I was thrilled! I think Carla was as excited as I was and decided to surprise me and sent me a copy. Thank you so much!

I love every single pattern in the book (though I am not sure some of them will go with my body type…) but I picked the one that seemed the easiest to start with: a very, very lose racer back dress. Because I am still not and expert with knits I made a small change to the original pattern: instead of finishing the collar and armholes with a bit of matching knit bias tape, I used my serger to make some simple and super fast hems. I kind of like it this way too though I think I will try to use bias tape next time as the dress looks a little bit sturdier with it.

Fabric: Gray knit form my local store (Feira dos Tecidos). There is not much to say about this fabric… It works quite nicely for this dress and I love the color!

So I hope you are willing to see more grown-up clothes as I am willing to sew a lot more for me in 2015! Happy New Year!

JAPANESE SEWING BOOKS + ORGANIC FABRIC = LOVE!

Today, as autumn is finally arriving to Portugal, I will share with you a couple of dresses I made this summer for Teresa and Ines. I hope you like them as much as we do!

Pattern: View “O” from Girls Style Book by Yoshiko Tsukiori (check out here the blouse I made with another pattern from this book). I think you already know I am a huge fan of Japanese Sewing Books. The garment’s design is always gorgeous, mixing classical styles with great new ideas, the styling is clean and simple and all instructions have wonderful drawings that allow me to understand (almost) everything without speaking a word of Japanese (though, I have to admit, my book is an English version…).

(Teresa was not in the mood for photos...)

Fabric/Notions: Main fabric is Meadow Stroll from Birch Fabric’s Storyboek Two Collection and came from Fabricworm (I think it is out of stock there but I think you can still find it here and here). It is a very nice organic cotton with those super soft and special colors only Birch Fabrics has (check out here a blouse and here a couple of tank tops I made with their wonderful fabrics). I paired it with a basic green and off-white star cotton from my local store and added a bit of pink piping between the bodice and the skirt. At the store I was in-between green and strawberry red (the fox color, can you spot it?) and I am still not sure if I made the right decision… And, I almost forgot, there is a vintage pink button at the back of each dress.

We took these photos at Quinta do Pisão, a beautiful farm near Lisbon. My intention was to make the photo shoot at its gorgeous meadows but, with my kids, things don't go as planed most of the times...

 

 

...So I leave you with the girls feeding these nice donkeys!

SEW JAPANESE SERIES . NUTTA (TAKE 02!)

Today I am visiting for the second time this week my friend Shino, in Japan, for her great series Sew Japanese. And I am taking Ines and her new outfit with me!
Oh, and how I love this outfit!

Both blouse and shorts patterns come from the Japanese book Handmade Little Girl's Clothes by Yuki Araki and this was the first time I actually sewn with original Japanese instructions. (Ok, I admit almost all my Japanese sewing books are English or French versions. I am a cheater! This book was gently borrowed by my friend Carla. Thank you!) Not fully understanding the instructions wasn't such a big deal as the diagrams where great but, for the size chart I had to get some help from the great sewing dictionary at Japanese Sewing Books Blog...
Though I love the shorts - they are super comfy and have the cutest pockets at the front - I have to admit I am super proud of the blouse as it was made with linen thrifted from my grandmother's old bed sheets!
Courtney from Sweeter then Cupcakes is also sharing a super cool knit jumper so Ines is in great company.
Head over Nutta and check out all the details! And, if you have missed it, you can check out the blouses I shared Wednesday here!

SEW JAPANESE SERIES . NUTTA (TAKE 01!)

This week my kids and I are traveling to the other side of the world to visit my good friend Shino from the Japanese blog Nutta and be part of her first series: Sew Japanese.
Today I will be sharing a couple of tunics from the book Girls Clothings by Akiko Mano made with a lovely Japanese linen I bought at Miss Matatabi. (If you don't know yet this etsy store, you should check it out! It has the most incredible choise of fabric and great shipping rates to Europe!)

Now don't forget to head over Nutta and read what Shino has to say about this book and its author. It is super interesting! Plus, I got to answer a couple of questions about Japanese Sewing Books myself... Plus, we will be in great company as Teri from Climbing the Window will also be sharing a lovely piece of clothing!
And feel free to come back on Friday as our journey is Japan will continue!

TERESA CAN SEW!

No ano passado ganhei este livro num sorteio organizado pela An do blog StraightGrain. Chama-se Simple Sewing – 30 Fast and Easy Projectsfor Beginners, foi escrito pela americana Katie Lewis e os seus projectos são realmente simples e rápidos mas também giros e perfeitos para ensinar uma criança a costurar!

Last year I was lucky enough to win this book in a giveaway organized by the blog StraightGrain (Thanks, An!). SimpleSewing - 30 Fast and Easy Projects for Beginners, was written by Katie Lewis and its projects are simple and fast but also super cool and perfect for teaching a child to sew!

Os projectos estão divididos em vários capítulos: Acessórios, Casa, Celebrações, Bebé, Dias de Escola e Brinquedos. São todos acompanhados por explicações precisas e muitas fotografias. Há ainda um capitulo, em jeito de introdução, onde se fala sobre tecidos, termos e técnicas de costura,…

The book is divided into several chapters featuring different themes: Accessories, Home, Celebrations, Baby, School Days and Toys. All projects have precise tutorials and lots of photos. There is also an introductory chapter about sewing supplies, fabrics, sewing techniques and terms,...

Este fim-de-semana mostrei o livro à Teresa e perguntei-lhe se gostava de aprender a costurar. A resposta foi um entusiasmado sim! Folheamos o livro e resolvemos fazer um estojo para lápis. Depois fomos ao meu armário de tecidos e escolhemos: um Liberty de flores azuis para o exterior e uma cambraia azul de uma camisa para o interior.

A teresa adorou a experiencia! Já usa o seu novo estojo para a escola e já fez outro para oferecer a uma amiga… Estou impressionada! (E muito orgulhosa, claro!)

Last weekend I showed Teresa the book and asked her if she would like to learn to how to sew. The answer was an enthusiastic yes! We looked through the projects on the book and decided to make a pencil pouch. Then we went to my closet and picked two fabrics: a lovely Liberty print and a piece of chambray from a man’s shirt and started sewing.

The Teresa loved to sew! She is already taking her new home made pencil pouch to school and has sewn another one to give to her best friend… I am impressed! (And proud!)

JAPANESE SEWING BOOKS + ORGANIC FABRIC

Tenho um novo vício: livros de costura Japoneses!
Mais precisamente, tenho dois novos vícios: livros de costura Japoneses e tecidos orgânicos…
Vão levar-me à ruina mas as minhas filhas vão andar muito mais bem vestidas!

 I have a new addiction: Japanese sewing books!More precisely, I have two new addictions: Japanese sewing books and organic fabric...This will lead me to ruin but my daughters will wear awesome clothes!

Falemos dos livros primeiro. São os livros mais estilosos que se podem encontrar. As roupas são simples, giras e confortáveis. As fotografias e o styling incríveis. Alguns até já estão traduzidos para inglês ou para francês. E parece-me que finalmente estou a gostar mais de moldes sem margens de costura. São mais chatos de copiar para o papel mas são bem melhores para fazer alterações ao modelo original.
Não resisti e comprei este, este, este e este! E tenho muitos mais na minha wishlist!
Qualquer dia compro um na versão original. Se for preciso a Ya Farn do blog Japanese Sewing Books pode dar-me uma ajuda na intrepretação das instruções.
Mas como fazer a peça de roupa perfeita sem o tecido perfeito? Recebi uma série de tecidos orgânicos da Birch Fabrics como prémio do concurso Flip This Pattern. Eram tão bonitos que acabaram por ficar na prateleira meses à espera do molde certo. Finalmente, com os meus novos livros japoneses, ganhei coragem e fiz esta túnica para a Inês.

Let's talk about the books first. JSB are the most stylish books on earth. Their clothes are simple, cool and comfortable. The photographs and the styling are absolutely amazing. Some have even been translated into English or French. And it seems like I'm finally getting used to patterns without seam allowances. These patterns are actually a bit more time consuming to work with but are much better when I feel like making changes to the original design.I could not resist and bought this, this, this and this! And I have many more in my wishlist!

I am tempted to buy some original books too as I think the lovely Ya Farn from Japanese Sewing Books will help me with the instructions. Check out her blog for great inspirations!

But I needed the perfect fabric to make the perfect garment… Last summer Fabricworm, a great US online shop, offered me several Birch Fabrics as prize when I won June’s edition of Flip This Pattern Series. These fabrics were so cute they ended up on my fabric stash for months waiting for the right pattern. Finally, with my new Japanese books, I gained courage and made ​​this tunic for Ines.

O molde é do livro Girl’s Style Book. Fiz apenas duas alterações: não pus elástico na base das mangas e fechei atrás com um laço em vez de um botão. O tecido é, claro, da Birch Fabrics, oferecido pela loja Fabricworm. Esta semana encontrei-o em promoção na Modes4u (obrigada An!)e comprei mais uma jarda para poder fazer uma túnica igual para a Teresa. Os remates das mangas e do colarinho são “portugueses da silva” e foram feitos com fita de viés antiga.

The pattern is from Girl's Style Book. I made only two very small changes to the original design: I did not put elastic at the base of the sleeves and closed the back with a loop instead of a button. The fabric is, of course, from Birch Fabrics, and was offered to me by Fabricworm. This week I found it on sale at Modes4u (thank you An!), a Hong Kong based on-line shop, and bought one more yard to be able to make a matching tunic for Teresa. The trim on the sleeves and collar is made with vintage bias tape bought at a local shop.

FIXING A PATTERN…

Por vezes não consigo perceber bem para que tipo de crianças são desenhados os moldes de roupa dos livros…
A Teresa é uma criança normal, nem magra nem gorda, nem alta nem baixa. Segundo o pediatra, é uma criança “percentil 50”.
Aqui está ela! Normalíssima não é?!

Sometimes I can’t understand for what kind of kids are the books patterns designed...
Teresa is an average girl, not thin nor fat, neither tall nor small. In her pediatrician words: “she is a percentile 50 child”. Here she is! Quite a normal child, isn't she?!

No entanto, se sigo as idades indicadas nos moldes, já sei que a roupa que faço lhe vai ficar quase de certeza grande. E, quando isso acontece, tenho que arranjar uma solução para que todo o trabalho não vá para o lixo.
Foi o que se passou com este vestido!
Fi-lo para o desafio da primeira semana do último PR&P mas, como a Teresa parecia estar vestida com um saco de batatas, acabou por ser substituído por este, muito parecido, que fiz para a Inês.
Usei como base um molde do livro “Costura de Palmo e Meio” da Emma Hardy - que por acaso até gosto muito - ao qual juntei um enorme bolso frontal. Até estava contente com o desenho do vestido e tudo estava a correr bem mas, quando a Teresa o experimentou, cabiam quase duas dela lá dentro!
Lá foi o vestido para a pilha dos trabalhos por acabar enquanto eu pensava numa forma de o tornar vestível…

However, when I follow the age indicated in the patterns, I know the outfit will almost certainly be too big for her. And, when that happens, I have to find a solution so that all my hard work does end up in waste bin.
And that's what happened with this dress!
I sewed it for PR&P last season’s first week challenge but, as Teresa seemed to be dressed in a potato sack, I eventually replaced it by this verysimilar red denim dress I made for Ines.
I’ve started with a basic A-line dress pattern from the book "MakingChildren’s Clothes" by Emma Hardy – despite all this I love that book – and added a huge front pocket. I was happy with the dress’s design and everything was going smoothly but, when Teresa tried it on, it was so big that it could almost fit two of her!
And the dress ended up in the “to do “ stack, waiting for me to find a way to fix it…

Ontem resolvi fazer-lhe uns franzidos laterais com dois bocados de elástico e finalmente o vestido tomou forma. A Teresa gostou do resultado e eu fiquei aliviada por ela ir finalmente poder vestir o seu novo vestido encarnado.

Yesterday I decided something had to be done to make this dress wearable! And it was easier that I first thought it would be. Actually I’ve just made a small side gathering with a bit of elastic. This way the dress didn’t look so wide and its new shape was perfect for Teresa’s body. She loved it and I was relieved that she could finally wear her new red dress.