NINA CULOTTES AND SKIRT BY COMPAGNIE M. PATTERN TOUR

I still can't believe I am on a women's clothes pattern tour! I am really excited about it though I am a little bit scared too. Will you like the clothes I make for myself? Will the photos be good enough? Will you actually feel like buying the pattern after seeing what I have sewn? Well, let's hope so...
When we were together in Paris, Marte from Compagnie M. asked me if I wanted to try her new pattern, the Nina Culottes and Skirt. She was wearing a Nina skirt and the design and fitting seemed perfect but I was not sure if culottes were my style so I told her I would think about it. I gave it some thought and I am so glad I said yes! I actually made a skirt and a pair of culottes and I love them both!

Let's start with the skirt. Since, according to the size chart, I am a XXS at the hip and a S (almost a M!) at the waist I decided to make a muslin and I am glad I did! I don't like to make muslins but I am learning they are very, very important! Well, my muslin "told me" I should make a size XS and so I did!
Then I had to choose one of (so many) different options for the pockets and enclosure this pattern offers... But that was easy! I knew right from the start I wanted the diagonal side pockets and side invisible zipper (next time I hope I have the courage to add the double welt pockets!)

I made only a couple of changes to the original pattern: I added interfacing to the waistband and shortened a bit the hem (I'm sorry but I don't know how much...). The fabric is Simply Color, Metro Dots Dotty Ombre Grey by V and Co., a quilting cotton I had on my stash for ages! I am not a great fan of women's clothes made with quilting cotton but I think it works quite nicely for this pattern. Plus I love the design! These dots are so much fun but it is still quite a discreet print. Finally, I was lucky enough to have the perfect matching color piping on my stash too so I finished the hem with it and I am glad I added this little detail to my skirt.

While I was sure I was going to love the skirt, I was not that sure about the culottes... I thought culottes were for tall women and I am kind of short. Guess what? I was wrong! The Nina Culottes really have a nice and flattering fit.

My pair of culottes are not made of woven fabric though... I made them with french terry! They were super fast to sew (no side zipper needed as the fabric stretches) and they are so comfy! Plus I think they fit quite nicely and look much fancier then a pair of yoga pants. What have I changed from the original pattern? Not much! Of course I didn't add the side zipper and since I was making the culottes with stretchy fabric I cut a size 14 and used slightly shorter waistbands in order to get a better fit. Once again the hem is slightly shorter then the original, maybe about 5cm, I think.

The fabric is, once again, from my stash and I think I got it on my local shop. The qualities is quite nice and I hope the black will not fade when washed... Because I want to wear these culottes for a long, long time!

Well, do you feel like sewing a Nina skirt or a pair of Nina culottes? You can win a copy of the pattern here! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

REFASHION MONTH AT HOUSE OF ESTRELA

It’s Refashion Month at House of Estrela and I am really happy to be, once again, part of this series. Last time I made a top for Teresa with a shirt I used to love and this time I am sharing a shirt for me made with a piece of nice cotton from a bed sheet I bought several years ago. (I told you on my last post you were going to see a lot more selfish sewing around here, right?)

Pattern: View B from the Japanese book Stylish Dress Book. I love Japanese sewing books! I love the design of the garments, the styling and even the instructions. But I still don’t know if Japanese clothes really fit my body type… (I hope they do!) Anyway, I had to try this pattern as the sleeves looked so cool… Before hemming the shirt I decided to try it on and it didn't feel quite right. Though the shoulder line was spot on, the shirt was so big, long and wide on me! I decided to cut almost 10cm/4 inches in length and a 5cm/2 inches on each side of the bodice. I don’t know if this was the right decision… I don’t know if the fitting is better this way… I have so much to learn when it comes to women’s clothing! (I have a lot to learn about children’s clothing, too, I must add!)

 

Fabric: White woven cotton from a bed sheet I bought at Zara Home. Good quality bed sheets (bought for nice prices on sale!) are great for clothes too! They are especially good to make “wearable muslins” (here is the first one I made and still wear a lot.) Since I am just starting to make clothes for me and never know if a pattern is going to work, this is a great way to try a pattern without ruining my best fabric but still getting a nice piece of clothing. One more detail about the shirt: the bias tape on the neckline and sleeves is store bought and I had it on my stash for years. The original design doesn’t feature bias tape on the sleeves but they were so short I thought they would look nice this way.

 As you can see, unlike Teresa and Ines, I don’t feel very comfortable in front of the camera… These were the best photos I could pick and I hope you like them more then I do!

Today is just the first day of Refashion Week so stay tuned for all creations that will pop up at House of Estrela during the week.  And don’t forget to head over Pequeno Mundo a 3 and see what Patricia has refashioned…

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!

MAILBOX SURPRISE . JAPANESE SEWING BOOKS

Estou mais uma vez a publicar tardissimo o meu Mailbox Surprise post...
Desde sexta-feira que podem ver no blog da Marte, Compagnie M., a roupa que a Yi Farn fez para a sua filha com os tecidos que a Heidi lhe enviou. Passem por lá que vale a pena!

Once again, I am so late publishing my Mailbox Surprise post... Sorry!
Since last Friday you can see, on Compagnie M. blog, the beautiful clothes Yi Fran made with the fabric and notions Heidi has send her. blog. As an appetizer, I will share with you some photos of this lovely frill blouse. Check out the skirt here!

 

E se, como eu, gostam de livros de costura japoneses, vejam também o blog da Yi Farn. Chama-se precisamente Japanese Sewing Books e tem todas as novidades editoriais, imensas dicas para entender as instruções em japonês e uma série de traduções para ingles de modelos específicos.

And if, like me, you like Japanese sewing books, head over Yi Farn blog. Japanese Sewing Books - great simple blog name, isn't it? - has news about all Japanese sewing books releases, plus great tips to understand their instructions and several translations of specific projects.

BESS TOP . IMAGINE GNATS PATTERN TOUR AND A GIVEAWAY

Quando a Rachel me contactou para fazer parte da Imagine Gnats Pattern Tour, dizendo que eu poderia escolher qualquer um dos seus moldes de costura, soube imediatamente qual iria ser.
Embora goste de todos os moldes da Imagine Gnats, há muito tempo que andava a namorar o BessTop. E esta foi a desculpa perfeita para o experimentar e começar a costurar para mim.
Costurar para “crescidos” é completamente diferente de costurar para as miúdas. A elas tudo lhes fica bem. O meu corpo é tridimensional e caprichoso! Mas fiquei agradavelmente surpreendida com a minha primeira túnica “homemade”. Não só ficou gira, como assenta lindamente e é super confortável.

When I received Rachel’s email asking me if I wanted to be part of her Imagine Gnats Pattern Tour and telling me I could choose any of her great sewing patterns, I immediately knew which pattern I was going to sew. 
Although I like all Imagine Gnats Patterns, I have to admit I was in love with Bess Top for quite some time. And this was just the perfect excuse to try it and start some “selfish sewing” sessions.
Sewing for me is so different from sewing for the girls… While everything looks great on them, my body is a lot more three-dimensional and difficult to please! But, you know what? I was pleasantly surprised with my first homemade tunic. Not only it looks cool, but the fitting is perfect and it is actually super comfortable.

Claro que ter um molde impecável ajudou muito! Tirando aquele (maldito!) ângulo junto ao ombro na junção dos dois tecidos, toda a construção é fácil e rápida de costurar. A realidade é que, depois de ter cortado o tecido, não demorei mais de uma hora a ter tudo pronto.
Em altura, o molde tem 3 opções: camisa, túnica e vestido. Tem ainda duas opções de gola, uma mais chegada ao pescoço e outra mais aberta. Mais, a túnica e o vestido podem ter bolsos inseridos nas costuras latearias. E as opções de tamanho são imensas (à americana!).
Eu optei pela versão túnica (embora tenha feito a linha da bainha do molde de vestido) com gola menos pronunciada. O tecido foi aproveitado de um lençol de linho antigo e tingido com pigmento preto. Para dar tons distintos às peças da frente e das costas usei níveis de diluição diferentes. A peça da frente ficou quase preta e bastante homogénea, enquanto a peça das costas ficou mais cinzenta e um pouco manchada.Adorei o resultado!

Of course having an impeccable pattern helped a lot! Besides that tricky angle near the shoulder where front and back panels meet, the top is really fast and easy to sew. It only took me about one hour to make it and, believe me, I am a very, very slow seamstress.
The Bess Top Pattern has lots and lots of sizes (over 20!) but it has also several options. You can choose from shirt, tunic or dress length and you can go for two different necklines. The tunic and dress also have optional side seam pockets.
I choose the tunic version but made it with the dress hem, instead of the original subtitle hi-lo hem. The fabric is a vintage linen from an old sheet my mother gave me. Since I didn’t want this shirt to be plain white I dyed it with black pigment. To give different shades of gray to the back and front panels, I used different levels of dilution. The front panel is almost black and it is quite homogeneous, while the back panel is grayer and slightly stained.
I love my new tunic!

Mas agora percebo porque as minhas filhas nem sempre estão com vontade de posar para mim. Muito obrigada Rita pela paciência e pelas óptimas fotografias, apesar da péssima modelo!

But now I understand why my daughters are not always willing to pose for me. Thank you so much Rita for your patience and for these nice photos, despite the terrible model!

 

Para ganhar um molde destes basta participar no sorteio que a Rachel organizou para as minhas leitoras. Boa sorte!
Ou então aproveitar o mês de Janeiro para comprar aqui qualquer um dos seus moldes com 20% de desconto (use o código "januarytour"). Aproveitem!

Do you feel like winning a Bess Top Pattern? Just participate in the giveaway Rachel has put together for you... Good luck!
Or head over Imagine Gnats shop and buy any pattern with 20% discount with code "januarytour" throughout the month of January.
a Rafflecopter giveaway