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 🙂

Kid’s Clothes Week… again?!

6 Comments June 22, 2015 apinchofsewing

It’s Kid’s Clothes Week again!? Time really flies… This time the theme is travelling. Well, that is my theme for the last couple of months as we are looking forward and preparing the wardrobe for our summer holidays. So this theme couldn’t suit us better!

As I mentioned before, Oliver + S patterns are very special to me, because being self-taught they allowed me to learn new techniques and I was able to obtain presentable results. Some of these garments I’ve made before having the blog, however you can find some of them here and here. So with that being said, it was with great satisfaction that we welcomed Flat S a couple of months ago. We had a great time and you can read all about that visit in here 😉

This time I made the girls a blouse, the class picnic blouse from Oliver + S. I already had this pattern for a long time but didn’t had the opportunity to make it until now!

Both blouses are in size 5 with no changes to the original. The fabric is a white pima cotton lawn and the lace was bought last year in Portugal, already with this blouse in mind!

Once again I liked the construction and the fact that it has elastics in the shoulders which gives a good fit and at the same time is easy to dress as it doesn’t need buttons (sometimes I have complains about how long it takes to do all the buttons!). I am very pleased with the way they look and fit the girls but also the fact of being extremely comfortable (which they can only be as the girls played and run so much)!!

This time it was even harder for me to get some photos as the girls were so energetic (more than their usual) that they wouldn’t stand still in the same place for a long period (not even a short period to be precise), so some of the photos are blurred!

Now I will go and have a look to what others have been doing for KCW 😉

Have a lovely week! 🙂

Wild deep-sea!!

10 Comments April 25, 2015 apinchofsewing

This time we decided to go explore the wild life in deep-sea for the Kid’s Clothes Week 😉 The sea and its wildlife are part of our family and for that reason I really wanted to make something related with it. For some time we had (my husband really) a reef aquarium (not small!) and we like to scuba dive, even the girls love the seaside and love visiting aquariums, so I just had to do something related with it.

When I think of the sea, the colour that first come to my mind is, obviously, the blue but also the bright colours of the fishes and corals (of course this is not the case here in UK!! 😉 ) and this is why I decided to make the dress in blue and add some red in the buttons. Ok, I confess, this is also one of my favourite colours combo for summer 🙂

The pattern used is the Lotta Dress from Compagnie M in size 5 and although I had this pattern since last year only now managed to finally make it. It offers 2 sleeve options, 3 options to close the bodice at the back and 3 pocket options and the one I made has cap sleeves, button placket and diagonal pockets.

Little Lady F said she likes the dress and her favourite part are the buttons!!

I really like to see Little Lady F with it

When I told her that she could wear a mask and fins for the photos she became really happy and pretended she was a mermaid 😉

Now we are ready to go explore the deep sea wild life.

Ready…

Steady…

Hope you enjoyed this Kid’s Clothes week as much as I did 🙂

Let’s get wild!!

12 Comments April 20, 2015 apinchofsewing

It’s Kids Clothes Week again and the theme is “Wild Things”!! The theme couldn’t be more adequate to my girls, each one in her own way 😉

I have to say that I loved the theme when it was announced but when it came to the time of organizing my ideas I frozen! Then I decided to make something in the style I usually do. Not very original, I know, but I want things to be worn not just photographed. So I thought, well wild things live outside and now its spring… why not a blue (sky) top with some flowers where the wild things can be happy!?

As soon as the Trop-top from Ivanne S was released I bought it but then I couldn’t decide if I would make it first in woven or knit. On the other hand I wanted to make something for M to match the dress I made for F before, so I grabbed the opportunity and woven it was!

I really like this pattern and all the possible options it has. The instructions are very good, the inside is as perfect as the outside (bottom photo) and even has bonus to make (more) different versions. Next time I will try with knits and really hope the pattern it will be released for woman as well.

To go with the top, Little Lady M needed shorts! So I made her the Clover shorts, already made before.

For the top I made view B without opening in the back, in size 6. It is a little large on M. but I was afraid size 4 would not last the whole summer. The fabric is a light chambray and for the sleeves and bias is Liberty already used many times before 😉 and the same as used in F’s dress.

The shorts were made in size 5 (again) in pink chambray and I couldn’t found buttons that I liked so decided to use covered buttons in the same fabric as the top details and to be honest like it.

So here are some photos of my wild child 😉

It might be a little large on her but I like the way she looks in it.

With such a fun theme I must say that I am really curious to see what everybody else is doing!!

Have a fun Kids Clothes Week 🙂

Aster Cardigan

16 Comments February 7, 2015 apinchofsewing

I am, most likely, the last person in the sewing-for-kids world, to make the Aster Cardigan!! Well, finally I got the courage to make it 🙂

I loved so much some versions of this pattern that I really wanted to try it, but I had never worked with knits and truth is, it scared me, so this was a BIG challenge for me. First time working with knits and first project using an overlocker!

The things didn’t go quite well as planned and I learned a few more things which is always good and part of it.

The pattern used is the Aster Cardigan from Willow & Co. in size 5. Although the Peter Pan collar is one of the things I like the most in this pattern, I decided to omit it this time. This particular cardigan was made to match the bubble shorts and will be worn with a ruffle collar, so that would be too much collars.

The fabric used is a cotton interlock, for the bias tape and to cover the buttons I used the same fabric already used in the bubble shorts.

I have to admit that working with knits took me some time, because I wanted to make the best I could and although is far from perfect I am happy with what I achieved 🙂

Little lady F was happy with it as well and the girls said it was cosy!

By now you must have realised that I only have one cardigan!! Yes, that is it. This was my first project with knits and I didn’t wanted to rush it, also my parents are visiting me :-), thus I also want to spend time with them and still be able to participate in the Kid’s Clothes Week. So now I need to go make another one to Little lady M or I will get in trouble!

Have a good weekend 🙂

Bubble shorts

12 Comments February 2, 2015 apinchofsewing

This is my first participation at the Kid’s Clothes Week and although I became a fan of this season theme, upcycled, in one of my last projects, the truth is I didn’t have anything else to use!! I moved to UK less than two years ago so I only brought the clothes that I actually use and are in good conditions. The only one I could use has been used already! Nevertheless I really wanted to be part of the fun 😉

For the pattern I choose the Bubbles Shorts from DoGuincho. I bought this pattern a couple of months ago but then winter started and only now, that I am hopping for the good weather (eventually) and organizing the girls wardrobe for the spring I decided to make them. As for the fabric choice I used a white poplin for the lining and a Liberty Kingly Cord (Sarah’s Secret Garden) that I had already in my stash, bought in sale when I first started making clothes for my girls (that counts as upcycle, right?) and I have to say that I really love this print and despite being cord it have beautiful spring colours.

Together, the pattern and the fabric make a perfect match for spring (my opinion of course!). The shorts look just great and give them a smart look, but are practical as shorts to play 🙂

I made both shorts in size 5. The instructions were easy to follow, which made this a great project with a final result that pleased me very much. I must say that Marta did a great job for this pattern.

Here it is Little lady F with her shorts. She likes shorts very much because she likes to play freely and loved the way these looked.