Summer Tops for F

Leave a comment May 14, 2019 apinchofsewing

During Eater break we had some lovely warm weather and that was when we realised that F had barely anything to wear!

As usual in the UK, the good weather did not last long and it gave me the perfect time to sew a few tops for F. I also realised that she is growing out of quite a lot of the girls’ patterns I own, as well as some of my Japanese Sewing Books…

Also, I wanted to use some fabric scraps with less than one metre each, that were left from previous projects and these tops proved to be the perfect project for the effect.

The first top I made was the Eloise Gathered Top by Townmouse Patterns. I’ve made this pattern before, three years ago for M and really like it but, unfortunately, F has now outgrown it. To make it work for her I used the size 8 (her chest measurement) and added 5 centimetres to the length.

The fabric is Liberty Tana Lawn in Betsy Denim from Stragier. This print/colour is so beautiful! I also added a cotton lace trim to the front to add some interest. Not that it needed, as both print and fabric are quite beautiful but, I just couldn’t help it.

The second top is also a repeat from one I’ve made previously for F. It is the “Le Haut à Encolure Volantée” from the book “Nouveaux Intemporels pour Enfants”. I made a size 8 for width with 10 for height.

This time, she chose the fabric and picked a Liberty Tana Lawn Ella and Libby bought ages ago (literally). Such a summery print!

The last top is a really lovely top from the Japanese book “A Sunny Spot”, pattern #10. This is a simple boxy top with just a couple pattern pieces, however, the elastic at the armhole gives it a cute look and adds some interest. I really like how it turned out, simple but cute.

Of course, I had to use F’s favourite print/colour, Liberty Tana Lawn in Capel mustard. I made the size 140 thinking that it would be fairly large on her as she is not 140cm tall but was surprised to find out that it fitted rather well.

All the tops can be easily paired with jeans, shorts or skirts, so that they will have plenty of use and as I made the tops on the large side, fingers crossed, they will last until the end of this summer!

A New Blouse for Me

Leave a comment June 4, 2017 apinchofsewing

You know those type of projects you have on your mind for so long but, life keeps happening that it takes so long until you actually make it? This was one of those! Luckily, this one, did came to life, because a lot of them never do!

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I’ve always loved ruffles and this year they are trendy so, I’m making the most of it. I was trying to find a pattern with ruffled sleeves or one that I could easily modify when, it crossed my mind that, the only Japanese Sewing Book for women that I own, could have something that could help me. And indeed, it did!

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I used the pattern B from the Book “Stylish Dress Book” and changed, the sleeves, only slightly. The only thing I’ve changed to the original was not adding the seam allowance to the hem and eliminate the elastic.

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Although this is such an easy project, without closures of any kind or complicated steps, it doesn’t mean it went smoothly. I made such silly mistakes… all for not paying enough attention. I didn’t read the pattern piece where it said to add some width, so I had to cut new ones. And see that cute pleat at the back?

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Yes, it was not intended, it was another mistake. There were two lines for two different patterns and I choose the wrong line, so I ended up a back piece a few inches wider that it was meant to be. So, a pleat it was!

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The fabric was bought over a year ago at Bolo de Pano, for one of those projects that never happened, but it was handy for this one, as it was the exact kind of fabric I wanted for this project.

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Other than my “accidents”, I’m really happy that I made the blouse even before it gets out of trend.

Have a wonderful week!

Summer skirts for the girls

2 Comments May 29, 2017 apinchofsewing

A couple of years ago I made skirts for the girls from the Japanese sewing book “Sew Chic Kids” and they loved them. They are a bit short now but they still want to wear them, so I thought new ones would be very welcome and I was right!

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The pattern is the Tired Skirt (p) in size 4 for M and 6 for F. I find this pattern a bit long for my personal preference and that is the reason I’m using a smaller size than the recommended for their height.

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As soon as I saw the Dashwood Confetti collection at Sew Crafty Shop I knew it would be perfect for these skirts and I really like how they turned out. For F, I used the Flower Seed

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and for M the Flower Ball. Although the prints are different, I like how well they match.

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I know the girls will be wearing the skirts a lot 😊

The dress that didn’t made to the Japanese Sewing Week!

8 Comments December 14, 2015 apinchofsewing

As you might remember from the Japanese Sewing Week, my intension was to make two dresses, one for each of my girls. I had the fabric and I even had bought a new book!! Everything was ready but, as it is becoming usual in me, I end up making only one dress. The truth is I didn’t wanted to rush because one of the things I like the most about sewing is exactly taking my time and enjoy the process 😉

So, finally, here it is the dress that was supposed to also be part of the Japanese Sewing Week! Better late than ever, right?

The book is the “Lesson Book” and it was in my wish list for quite a while in the hope that it would be translated, but before the girls grew out of it I decide to get it anyway and the tour was a pretty good excuse.

For this dress I used three patterns from the book. As usual in most Japanese Books I own, some of the patterns are the same, just changing the construction to obtain deferent garments and this was no exception. So, I used the pattern G3 for the dress, G1 for the sleeves and G2 for the collar. I picked my favourite parts of each pattern and mixed them to obtain what I was looking for.

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For F I made size 120 that is suitable for a child height from 115 to 125 cm. F is around 116 cm and I found the sleeves a little long for her, but other than that fits well.

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Like I mentioned before, I used 3 pattern pieces to make the dress, but didn’t made any changes to the patterns, just mixed them. Besides the collar that is visibly a different piece all the other pattern pieces only differ in the length, which made the mixing of patterns really easy. The only thing I added was the lace, to make some contrast and mainly because I like it 😉

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The dress has three elastics in the back (not very visible in the photo) to make the dress a bit more fitted, but next time I make the dress I will, very likely, omit them. Not that I don’t like the way it looks, but I think it will also look well without them and to be honest it is not really fitted anyway.

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The fabric used is the same one used for M, a light twill from here, which was picked by F, so finally she had the dress she was waiting for 🙂

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If you have been following me for some time, I believe you already know which my favourite part of the dress is. The collar, of course! 🙂 I confess that I really liked the original ¾ sleeves but ended up choosing the long sleeves.

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Overall I am pleased with the dress and so is F, who wore it as soon as it was finished!

Have a great week 🙂

1st Japanese Sewing Week :-)

28 Comments November 18, 2015 apinchofsewing

It is the third day of the 1^st Japanese Sewing Week organised by Sara from “Made by Sara” and there have been only amazing outfits so far! I’m truly impressed, although I know I shouldn’t because the line-up is full with talented ladies 😉

It is no news that I like Japanese patterns and I’ve made a few already here, here and here to name a few and even made a dress for myself!! For that reason I was really looking forward for this week to see what is going to be shown, get to know new books and of course get some more inspiration!

My initial idea was to make two dresses for the girls as it will be their Birthday soon, but for some reason I only was able to make one for this week!

The book I’ve chosen was the “Girly Style Wardrobe” by Yoshiko Tsukiori that I bought some time ago and although I like it a lot and have a few items that I really wanted to make, it never happened until now (you may be familiar with such phenomenon) so, I thought this was a pretty good time to make something from it 😉

The pattern is the “j” in size B (110 cm), I made it with no major alterations and I would not make any as I really like it as it is.

The fabric is a light twill from here, which was picked by F. The reason why she picked this fabric is obvious as she loves squirrels, but unfortunately the dress was too short for her and will be used by M! For the next dress I will have to make it longer as the width is perfect for her.

My favourite part of the dress is, obviously (for those familiar with my preferences) the lace. The lace was bought in Portugal and I deeply regret not having bought more and I will try to find some more next time I go there 😉

Another thing I liked is the way it closes in the back, with snaps in the inside.

Apart from the fact that it is necessary to add seam allowances there is nothing that I didn’t like in this pattern. I even think the extra work of adding the seam allowances is totally worth it and by now I’m getting used to it 😉

Now the fun part, the giveaway 🙂

There is a giveaway running along with this tour thanks to our amazing sponsors!

There will be three lucky winners among all of our lovely readers. Each winner will win one of the following prizes:

– One pack of 2 two Japanese Sewing books from Tuttle Publishing

– A $40 fabric voucher from Urban Sew

All you have to do is to try your chances by entering the Rafflecopter bellow. The more entries you validate the more chances you have to win! The giveaway will be open from Nov. 16th to the 25th.

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There is also a link up, so that all can be part of the fun. To know more about it just visit Sara’s Blog where you can find all the information about it 😉

Don’t forget to check daily what is being made as you can see the line-up is nothing short of amazing talented ladies.

Thank you Sara for organising such an amazing tour 🙂

Hope you are enjoying this week as much as I am 🙂

Still in a top mood ;-)

4 Comments June 27, 2015 apinchofsewing

After making the last top for Little Lady F I had to make another one, this time for Little Lady M. Now that I think about it, I believe I’ve never sewed anything for just one of the girls, without having sewed something else for the other one to match!! Well, like I’ve mentioned in the last post, I really liked the book “a sunny spot – Girl’s simple clothes” so I made another top from the same book.

This time I made the #14 in size 110cm, but with a small change to the original. This pattern also have sleeves, but I didn’t sew them because as the top it to be worn during the Portuguese summer, which is usually hot. Everything else was made according to the original.

The fabric is, again, a Michael Miller Clip dot cotton lawn but this time in a different colour and for the collar frill I used the same Liberty Helenas Meadow used before for the bow in the back.

Once again, I liked this pattern and there are quite a few more that I want to make from this book 😉 I like the fit and the construction went smoothly even without knowing Japanese (hope it continues this way!!)

No need to say that the frilled collar is my favourite part, right? 😉

Little Lady M, like most kids, needs to touch everything. She seems to always have her senses in full alert and the touch is, for her, very important! Once I went to a haberdashery with her (it doesn’t happen often) and asked her to keep her hands in her back and don’t touch anything. No need to say that when I looked at her she was touching the fabrics and I told her, again, not to touch to which she replied “I’m not touching mum, I’m just feeling!”. For her those are two completely different things!

This will be my last participation for this KCW but I think it did not went bad 🙂 After being busy, this week, making things for the girls, I might need to make something for myself 😉

Hope you’re having a nice weekend 🙂

Another top ;-)

12 Comments June 24, 2015 apinchofsewing

It is day 3 of Kid’s Clothes Week and I managed to make another top and take some photos!

Last weekend I got a new Japanese sewing book that I immediately fell in love for and couldn’t wait to make something from it. I usually organize my sewing and have all planned but this book was too good to wait! Recently Little lady F asked me to make her something in pink!! A very unusual request from her as she usually likes blue and yellow (so far not very lucky with this last colour). I had some fabric that I really like and believe to be perfect for summer, which was already used before and thought to be perfect for something from this new book, so I attend her request 😉

The book is “a sunny spot – Girl’s simple clothes” and I made the #02 in size 110 that I assumed is for a height range 105 to 115 cm. I say I assume because the book is not translated and my Japanese skills are close to zero!

The fabric is Michael Miller Clip dot cotton lawn and I used a bit of Liberty Helenas Meadow for the bow in the back. I love the bow detail at the back. The blouse uses a button to close and the bow is only for decoration, but still I love it!

I did not made any changes to the pattern and I think I followed the instructions pretty close, but I had to change the opening in the back otherwise it would not go through her head. That’s why it looks a bit wonky in the picture, the opening is bigger than it is supposed.

There are so many other patterns that I really want to make from this book, that I already started another blouse from it, for Little lady M to match her sister. Hopefully it will be ready in time this week. As a bonus the book even has a tunic like this in woman sizes that I would love to make for myself 😉

Lately all that F likes to do is jump!! She doesn’t walk to school she only jumps and run, and keep asking me to look at her to see how high she can jump. They are tired by now and we still have one more month of school ahead but at the same time they seem to be more energetic than ever and me on the other hand only feel tired, not very energetic or at least not as much as the girls!! 😉

About the pattern, I like the loose fit, the ruffle sleeves (this one is obvious) and the bow in the back. It made me really happy when F told me that the blouse was adorable 🙂

Hope you are having a lovely week 🙂

Getting ready for summer!

12 Comments May 18, 2015 apinchofsewing

I am preparing the girls wardrobe for the summer, thus realising that the girls also need more practical tees and as I really want to work more with knits, I’ve decided to try making some for them.

After seeing some really cute ones here and here I decided to give it a go and made a Tinley tee by GYCT Designs for each. I really like the tee and the fact that it has several sleeve options, so this time, I’ve chosen the flutter sleeves both in size 5 and used a very soft Interlock Jersey. Although for M I could probably have made a size 4, the truth is during summer for some particular reason the tees tend to end up too short by the end of the season! I think they usually have a growth spurt that time of the year.

To go with the Tees I also made skirts! I wanted something simple so I tried the pattern “p – Tiered Skirt” from the book “Sew Chic Kids”. I know, again! I think I will hide this book until I make at least a couple of things from the other books! For Little Lady M I made a size 2 (100 cm) without any change and for Little Lady F a size 4 (110 cm) but with a bigger hem to make it look shorter. The fabric is a Lightweight cotton bought from Miss Matatabi last winter in a sale, that was waiting for the good weather to be used and although it is not the kind of print I usually pick out I am very pleased with the fresh look it gives to the skirts.

By now you probably realised the print is not uniform. The print near the selvage is different from the rest! Well I only realised when it was too late! As a result, one side of the skirt has a different print from the rest… I like it anyway 😉

I am enjoying to work with knits and there are so many things I already have pictured in my mind and in my “to do” list using them, but I have to confess it is being challenging. For example, it is quite visible in these tees that the hem is far from perfect because my sewing machine was eating the fabric! But I will get there 😉

These photos were so hard to take. F was having some kind of a clown day and didn’t stop making funny things. I was able to take some funny pictures but that was not what I really needed at the moment… Even though I managed to take a few that are presentable.

These outfits really make me dream of those lazy days during summer holidays 🙂

Wish you a great week 🙂

The delayed dress

14 Comments May 5, 2015 apinchofsewing

This dress was supposed to have been done for Kid’s Clothes Week!! Yes, I know that was a long time ago. I don’t know why it took so much time to actually make it, but every single part of the process took ages to make and even the weather was not helpful for the photos with so much wind and rain! Oh well, finally made it and I’m writing about it 🙂

This dress was made for Little lady M, to match the one I made F during KCW and for that reason I used the same poplin fabric. The pattern is the view a “Dress with Frilled Shoulders” from the Japanese Book “Sew Chic Kids”. Once again I made a size 2 (100 cm) with a few small changes and although looking at the pictures now, it seems a bit tight in the chest, in fact is not and she can move freely without any complain 😉

The changes I made were not significant, just made the frills double sided to match the details from F’s dress, added a red cotton lace to the front yoke, made bigger button loops because the measures provided in the book turned out to be too small (?!) and instead of making the hem with 4 cm, made with just 2 cm.

Once again the photos had to be inside 😦 as there is no good weather forecast for the next days… I should be used to this by now!

Despite the long time it took me to have the dress ready I like it. I like the frills and the way it fits M. She liked it as well and the basket she is wearing is meant to be for a pic-nic she said!

Hope you are having a nice week 🙂

Still in a Japanese mood!

14 Comments April 14, 2015 apinchofsewing

This time it was F’s turn to get a new tunic to match this one I made for M a while ago. I have to admit that I have a serious “problem” dressing my girls and I am trying hard to change it, but I can’t dress them without, at least, being matching!! So this time I used the same fabric, but with a bit darker pink stripes and a different pattern 😉

The fabric is, again, a cotton lawn, great for this time of the year and the pattern is the Front-buttoned Smock tunic (view n) from the book “Sew Chic Kids” in size 4 (110 cm).

I would have never guessed that the pattern for the front panel is the same as the dress I made M for Easter, but it is!! Also the construction way of the front is very similar to the one from M’s tunic.

Although I like the tunic and the way it fits F, the lace detail in the front is one of my favourite things along with the ruffle in the sleeve (very predictable, right?).

F was a happy girl today playing and enjoying the good weather we are finally having around here 🙂

We are still in school holidays so this weather is really a bonus and we better enjoy it while it last. We went for a nice walk (or better say run), with the girls were wearing their matching tunics. We were exhausted by the end of the day, but feeling really good. It is funny how the weather is changes so much our mood 😉