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!

 

 

KIDS CLOTHES WEEK. LOLA DRESS

Teresa and Ines love Charlie and Lola books. And so do I! Lola is such a fun character and I absolutely adore the brother and sister relationship these two have. They are so sweet together. These books are entertaining and educational at the same time.

(Thank you so much Ines for the help with this photo! I couldn't have done it without you!)

And, of course, I love the way Lauren Child dresses her characters. Not only the illustrations are gorgeous and imaginative but also all clothes are simple, comfortable and stylish. So, as this season’s Kids Clothes Week theme is Storybook, I had to make a Lola dress.

The Pattern: The Norah Dress and Tunic by Mouse House Creations. I’ve been wanting to try this pattern since it as released and now I had the perfect opportunity! I loved sewing it and it was quite a simple and fun project to make. The pattern is impeccable and the instructions are spot on. I love the fitting and Teresa loves her new dress too.

Fabric/Notions: Main fabric is Sugar Hill by Tanya Whelan for FreeSpirit and it was bought at my local quilting shop (Patch-Mania) on super sale. Lucky me as this is a gorgeous fabric! I love the colors and the way the plaid is printed on bias. For the collar I picked from my fabric stash a bit of white birdseye pique that I had left from these dresses I made a couple of weeks ago. The button at the back is vintage and was bought at a local street market (Mercado de Benfica) last winter.

 

 

And, you know what? I was not the only one making a Lola dress for KCW. My good friend Suz has also made this gorgeous Lola dress on the other side of the world. I wish I could find a bit of that vintage fabric on my local shop. Stunning, isn’t it?! Head over Sew Pony for more details!

 

KCW . DAY TWO . FLAMINGO CHARLIE DRESS

It’s Kids Clothes Week again and here is the first garment I managed to sew (actually it was sewn during the weekend…)

 The pattern: Charlie Dress by Mingo and Grace. What a lovely, easy to sew pattern this is! It is actually a perfect pattern for a beginner seamstress and a fast fun project for a more experienced one.  I made size 5 for Teresa (she is 6 and a half years old right now) as I like short and fitted dresses and I think it looks amazing on her. Although I think the pattern is really well draft, I’ve changed a couple of things to the original design: I turned the back panel into just one piece (as I didn’t want to cut the flamingo print) and closed the back with straps instead of a single button. For extra fun, as I did on Teresa’s swimsuit, I added beads to the straps.

The fabric: Linen blend from my local store (Feira dos Tecidos) with a great flamingo print. The fabric is actually a remand from Zara as I saw jumpers and shorts made with the exact same print at Zara store this summer.



Teresa had to take some interior photos for her summer school homework so we went to Paula Rego Museum for the photo shot.

First we took the photos she needed…

…then we went to the bookstore to look for some books…

…and crayons… 

 

…and finally we went to the garden to play.

 It was fun!

KIDS CLOTHES WEEK . DAY 7

A edição de primavera do Kids Clothes Week está mesmo a chegar ao fim e eu estou finalmente a publicar a única peça de roupa que consegui fazer esta semana…

Kids Clothes Week 2014 Spring Edition is coming to an end and I'm finally publishing the only piece of clothing I actually sew this week...

 

 

É uma saia, mas não é uma saia qualquer. É uma saia Nani Iro!

Usei pela primeira vez um tecido desta criadora japonesa e estou fã incondicional. O tecido é lindo, parece pintado à mão, e tem uma textura totalmente diferente da dos tecidos que estou habituada a encontrar nas lojas portuguesas. Já agora, o tecido chama-se Dear Mother’s Girlhood e foi comprado na loja MissMatatabi.

It's a skirt, but not just any skirt. It’s a Nani Iro skirt!

This was my first time sewing with Nani Iro double gauze and I think I am a already addicted. The fabric is gorgeous, looks hand painted, and has a totally different texture from the fabrics I'm used to buy in my local stores. I bought it at MissMatatabi and it is named Dear Mother’s Girlhood.

 

 

 

A saia foi feita sem molde. Basicamente é constituída por dois retângulos com a largura total do tecido. Para o cós e bolsos usei uns restos de cambraia azul aproveitados de uma camisa que uma amiga me deu (obrigada Rita!).

The skirt pattern is self draft. Basically I made two rectangles using the fabric’s full width and, just for fun, added contrasting side pockets and waistband.  The blue chambray is thrifted and it used to be a women’s shirt (thanks Rita!).

Simples, simples mas totalmente primaveril, não é? Adoro a minha nova Nani Iro!
The perfect simple skirt for spring, isn’t it?! I love my little Nani Iro!

KCW. LAST DAY . FIRST PROJECT…

Último dia do Kids Clothes Week e estou finalmente a apresentar a única peça de roupa que consegui coser, fotografar e blogar esta semana… Que desgraça! E em sequer é uma verdadeira peça de roupa. É uma echarpe. Mais precisamente uma “infinity scarf”, ou seja, uma echarpe cosida nas pontas formando uma espécie de donut.

Last day of Kids Clothes Week and I'm finally presenting the only piece of clothing I could sew, photograph and blog this week... And it isn’t even a “real” piece of clothing. It's a scarf. More precisely, it is an infinity scarf.

Usei este fantástico tutorial da Rachel que encontrei no seu blog Imagine Gnats para conseguir costurar a echarpe toda do avesso. O truque é simplicíssimo e faz com que todas as costuras fiquem impecáveis mesmo usando uma máquina de costura caseira.
E costurei pela primeira vez com malha de algodão. Estou fã! Agora só me falta comprar uma máquina “corta-cose” para poder fazer as t-shirts e sweatshirts das miúdas. Como o tecido de bolinhas é bastante fino, no interior coloquei um pouco do material que se usa no interior dos quilts (“batting” em inglês mas não sei como se chama em português…). Para tornar a echarpe mais colorida e divertida juntei ainda, ao longo da costura principal, uns pompons azuis. Assim ficou mais quentinho!

Last month I was lucky enough to find Rachel’s great tutorial (in her blog Imagine Gnats) on how to sew infinity scarf inside out. The trick is actually quite simple and it makes all seams look clean and professional finished even with a regular sewing machine. The main fabric is a pink polka dot knit I bought in my local fabric store. It was my first time sewing with knits and I loved it! Now I just need to buy a serger in order to make t-shirts and sweatshirts for my daughters.
As the knit fabric is quite lightweight, I sandwiched inside a bit of quilt batting. This way, the infinity scarf turned out to be a lot warmer (but not too much for our whether) and fluffier. To make it more colorful and fun I also added some blue little pompons.

A Teresa e a Inês não largam as suas echarpes novas!

Teresa and Ines love their new infinity scarf and they do not leave home without it!

KCW DAY SEVEN . SUNDAY OUTFIT

Mais uma roupa de fim-de-semana terminada mesmo a tempo de ser usada este domingo e partilhada no último dia do Kids Clothes Week.
Desta vez fiz uns calções em veludo cotelê Liberty com suspensórios a condizer. Iguais para as duas, claro!

One more outfit finished just in time to be worn this Sunday and shared on the last day of Kids Clothes Week.
This time I made pair of shorts with matching suspenders in this gorgeous Liberty corduroy for each of my daughters. I love to dress them machy-machy on weekends!

 

O molde dos calções foi desenhado por mim usando como base o molde do forro dos Bubble Shorts by DoGuincho. São uns calções bastante básicos e fáceis de fazer mas o franzido lateral dá- lhes um cair giro e torna-os mais largos e confortáveis. Sem dúvida, este é um modelo a repetir!

The shorts’ pattern is self draft and was based on the one I made for the Bubble Shorts by DoGuincho lining shorts. These shorts are actually pretty basic and easy sew but the side gathering gives them a nice touch and makes them a bit wider and super comfortable. Undoubtedly, this is a pattern I will sew with many, many times!

Para os suspensórios pensei usar um molde do livro “Intemporels pour Enfants” mas, quando o fui procurar, percebi que a página de moldes onde ele estava tinha desaparecido! Acabei por desenhar eu mesma o molde. As miúdas acharam imensa graça aos suspensórios mas a Inês perguntou-me: “E agora como é que eu vou à casa de banho?!”

For the suspenders I thought about using a pattern of the book "Intemporels pour Enfants" but, when I picked up the book, I noticed that the page where this pattern was had disappeared! So, still not believing that I had lost a pattern page from one of my favorite books, I ended up drawing a basic suspenders pattern myself. The girls found the suspenders super funny but Ines asked me: "Now how do I go to the bathroom?"

 

O passeio de fim de tarde foi, mais uma vez, à vizinha duna da Crismina…

The late afternoon walk was, once again, to the nearby sand dune...