Category Archives: sewing community

1000 followers on Instagram

sewing community, Sewing keeps me sane, ,
My Instagram profile picture.
My Instagram profile picture. Sewing keeps me sane!

When I posted my first Instagram photo in July 2015 I could never have guessed that I would ever reach 1000 followers. I am even more in disbelief because about 950 of them are people I don’t know in real life! But I am thrilled to have met this wonderful online sewing community.

 

What!?? 1000 followers!

 

First post, July 2015

I joined Instagram with a photo of me in our Tuscan garden. I wanted to share pictures of my two loves—besides my family—sewing and Podere Santa Pia, our Tuscan holiday house. Back then I could never have predicted the joy it would bring. I met so many inspiring dressmakers, pattern designers, fabric stores… I even met the fabulous Anne Whalley in person.

Anne Whalley
Meeting Anne Whalley was an amazing experience.
All the sewing joy

Thanks to IG I had the opportunity to test several patterns: the Nita Wrap Skirt from ‘Sew DIY blog’, the Daphne Dress from Sew This Pattern and currently I am testing a dress pattern for Schnittchen (still a big secret).

Testing the Nita Wrap Skirt and the Daphne Day Dress

 

I was flattered and excited to be featured on the Girl Charlee UK blog. The Secret Valentine exchange brought me a beautiful bag from @sophomorestudio.

I really love the-photo-a-day challenges in which I participated like #sewphotohop, #bpsewvember, #MIYMarch, #makersforfashrev, #mmmay, and #dressmakers52.

I can’t forget the Moneta Party. A virtual party only attended by sewists of Instagram all dressed in their Moneta Dress.

The Moneta Party.
And the sewing joy continuous

At this moment two new and exciting challenges are running. First, there is the Sew Together For Summer. We all sew together a shirt dress before June 21.

Second, the Restyling Exchange which is very thrilling. You receive a garment from somebody to restyle and to refashion and you send one of yourself to another sewist. Although this will give a lot of sewing joy it is also a bit nerve wrecking: sewing for somebody you don’t know. But everything is perfectly organized by Pilar and Amy.

The men’s skirt I received from @elisabetefcarvalho.
The dress I sent to @listokap.

And last, but not least, it was Instagram that stimulated me to start this blog. I felt that I wanted to share more than was allowed in the comment section beneath the photos. But I get a lot of inspiration for my blog through Instagram like you can read and see in the Eye-catchers feature.

Thanks for all the love, here’s to many more years of Instagram sewing!

Eye-catchers #10

sewing community, Sewing keeps me sane, ,
An eye-catcher is a person or a thing that attracts the attention

The online sewing community is very visual. So, every day I see heaps of sewing related images on social media and blogs. Some of them catch my eye because they make me think or they give me inspiration. Here, I want to share these eye-catchers with you.

eye-catcher

Follow below what caught my eye recently

 

The Seamwork Jane T-shirt by Becs

Seamwork JaneBecs made a real eye-catcher from a basic T-shirt by using this beautiful, bright floral jersey. Again evidence that the right fabric choice can bring a pattern to a higher level.

The African wax Tunic Dress of Eleonora

Burda Tunic DressI love African wax and when I see something made of it that immediately gets my attention. So I was intrigued when I saw the Tunic Dress Eleonora made. It is a pattern from Burda. The straight lines of this pattern make the design of the fabric sparkle.

The Winterdress from Bianca

Winterdress Patternreview

Bianca, from the blog Thanks! I made them, made this Winterdress from Patternreview in a double layer cotton jersey. She airbrushed and stenciled it. Then she handstitched around the shapes and cut out the middles. That’s the way to have unique fabric. Very impressive!

Suzy’s Jumpsuit

Jumpsuit Bridgetown Dress hack

The April entry of the project SewMyStyle was the Bridgetown Backless Dress from Sewhouse 7. Suzy took the challenge to a higher level and created a jumpsuit with the pattern. Therefore she used the bodice of the dress and combined it with trousers. This is an ingenious idea and the result is stunning.

The Mirri Dress from Ariane

Mirri Dress Wardrobe by me

I discovered a new pattern designer by looking at and reading about this beautiful dress Ariane made. It is the Mirri Wrap Dress from Wardrobe By Me. I like faux wrap dresses and this one has a nice shawl collar. Also, the left under-piece has no pleats and that gives the dress a smooth look.

Did anything catch your eye this week?

Me-Made-May ’17

sewing community, , ,

Tomorrow starts Me-Made-May ’17. Again an exciting challenge from the sewing community. Zoe, the founder, describes it as follow:
“Me-Made-May’17 (#MMMay17 for social media interaction) is a challenge designed to encourage people who sew/knit/crochet/refashion/upcycle garments for themselves to wear and love them more.”

Me-Made-May '17

To sign up you make a pledge that you post in the comment of Zoe’s blog post.

My pledge

 I, Wis from www.whatisew.be and @wis_g, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May ’17. I endeavour to wear at least one me-made garment each day for the duration of May 2017. I will not repeat any garment. More, I will wear at least 10 garments I didn’t wear last May 2016.

 

Me-Made-May ’16

Last year—mmmay16—I participated for the first time and I enjoyed it tremendously. These were my observations:
1. I was able to wear at least one self-made garment every day.
2. No repeats!
3. Wearing only black clothes in the eighties I am wearing a lot of colour being 55!
4. Taking a picture of yourself every day is quite confronting.
5. My style is very eclectic!
6. There are only 6 self-made tops.

My Me-Made-May’s from 2016

Are you participating?

 

Eye-catchers #9

sewing community, ,
An eye-catcher is a person or a thing that attracts the attention

The online sewing community is very visual. So, every day I see heaps of sewing related images on social media and blogs. Some of them catch my eye because they make me think or they give me inspiration. Here, I want to share these eye-catchers with you.

sewing ideas

Follow below what caught my eye the last week:

The trench coat of Mariatrench coat

I have a love-hate relationship with trench coats. I love wearing them but the RTW-ones I bought in the past all had some fitting issues. So far I didn’t think about sewing one myself but when I saw this beautiful trench coat of Maria I might give it a go. On her Instagram feed she didn’t mention the pattern she used. Maybe she drafted it herself? Look also at the fabulous embroidery she put on the back of the coat.

The Fenway bra from Orange LingerieFenway Bra

I mentioned it before: making my own bra is on my sewing wish list for a long time. Again—when I saw this amazing make by Jennifer —I said to myself: “Wis, what are you waiting for?!”.

The Wanted-T-shirt from Vanessa PouzetWanted T-shirt

This is the third version of the Wanted-T-shirt Annika made. Also in a plain colour and with short sleeves, this t-shirt is an eye-catcher. The design of the neckline is dazzling.

The Highlands Wrap Dress from IndiesewHighlands Wrap Dress

Amber from @soisewedthis made a stunning version of the Highlands Wrap dress, a new pattern from Indiesew. I love her choice of fabric for this perfect Summer dress.

Rachel’s Astoria Top

Rachel from @shesewsvintage brought the Astoria from Seamwork again to my attention. This is also a pattern that I want to sew for so long. I love her fabric choice. It gives this top a real vintage vibe.

Did anything catch your eye this week?

Eye-catchers #8

sewing community, ,
An eye-catcher is a person or a thing that attracts the attention

sewing visualThe online sewing community is very visual. So, every day I see heaps of sewing related images on social media and blogs. Some of them catch my eye because they make me think or they give me inspiration. Here, I want to share these eye-catchers with you.

Follow below what caught my eye the last week:

Csew’s Pilvi CoatPilvi Coat Lotta Jansdotter

This stunning coat from Csews caught my eye. Of course, it’s because of the brilliant fabric she used. The pattern is the Pilvi Coat from the sewing book  Lotta Jansdotter Everyday Style. This coat pattern is beautiful thanks to the simple lines and the raglan sleeves. That is why the result is so great: a beautiful fabric doesn’t need a complicated pattern.

Knipmode dress by KasiaKnipmode jurk

I was immediately taken by this elegant dress made by Kasia. On her blog, I read that she used a dress patron from Knipmode and made some alterations to it. That was even more striking because Knipmode is a Dutch—my mothertongue— pattern magazine and I think Kasia is Polish. So reading and sewing this pattern should be easy for me.

Deer and Doe Mélilot shirtDeer and Doe mélilot

Catherine from Thread Snips proves again what difference fabric can make to an already great pattern. This is gorgeous fabric. No more words needed!

Renee’s Lucy BackpackLucy Backpack

This is such a cute backpack made by Renee. See more pictures of it on her Instagram feed. It’s the Lucy Backpack from Swoon patterns made in playful canvas from Cotton+Steel. I want to sew one too but I have two bags waiting in my WIP-drawer already.

#hellospringdressHelloSpringDress

@runningNstyle along with @jamorebyjackie and @robertswife_collection, are hosting a new friendly spring dress contest. Sew an inspirational spring dress and post a picture of it on Instagram before April 28, using #hellospringdress. There are some prices to win. Another sewing challenge to motivate me!

Did anything catch your eye this week?

Eye-catchers #7

sewing community, , , ,
An eye-catcher is a person or a thing that attracts the attention

 

sewing planning

The online sewing community is very visual. So, every day I see heaps of sewing related images on social media and blogs. Some of them catch my eye because they make me think or they give me inspiration. Here, I want to share these eye-catchers with you.

Follow below what caught my eye the last week and at first glance, they are all dresses:

The dress from the ‘Stylish dress book’

Stylish dress book

I never sewed a Japanese pattern and I never had the urge to do so. Until I saw this amazing dress Ece sewed. I learned that the pattern came from the Japanese ‘Stylish dress book‘. This book—with the patterns in it— is present in my local library so maybe I have to give it a try.

The golden velvet dress

sewing planning

I was immediately triggered by this fascinating dress of @mokosha_II. It was not only the fabulous gold velvet but also the pattern was intriguing. It turned out she made it herself by mixing a bodice and a skirt of two different Burda patterns. That gave me some ideas for the future.

Martini dress from Capital Chic made by Ooobop

Martini Capital Chic

I am always glad when sewists I follow alert me to pattern designers I didn’t know before. So did Ooobop. She sewed this stunning version of the Martini dress from Capital Chic. They are an indie pattern design company with nice patterns.  I like that this pattern has a one-piece and a two-piece version. Ooobop also designed the prints on the dress herself. Read all about it on her blog.

The V9015 Jumpsuit

V9015

I featured the V9075 before in the eye-catchers. Look at this breathtaking version Alex from sewrendipity sewed. It only reinforces my love for this pattern.  I am going to tackle this pattern soon now.

The Jolene dress from Ready to sew

Jolene Dress Ready To Sew

Kylie made a stunning version of the Jolene dress, a new pattern of ‘Ready to sew’. I’m thinking this would be a perfect pattern for the #sewtogetherforsummer challenge.

Did anything catch your eye this week?

The Virginia leggings from Megan Nielsen – SewMyStyle#3

Completed sewingprojects, sewing community, , ,

The third piece of the Project Sew MyStyle are the Virginia leggings from Megan Nielsen. Although wearing leggings is way out of my comfort zone I accepted the challenge. Now, I am glad I did because they feel so comfortable and the fit is on the spot.

 

Is this a quick sew?

The goal of the SewMyStyle project is to sew together one garment every month and post your sewing on the last Sunday of that month. Strange enough I was still expecting there to be another Sunday in March. So I thought I had all the time left and was planning on sewing my leggings next week. It was the post of Alex on Instagram that warned me that in fact, I had to sew it this Sunday. Luckily I had my fabric and I could finish it in exactly two hours—from printing the pattern till putting it on.

The Virginia leggings pattern

This is the first pattern from Megan Nielsen that I sewed and it was a very pleasing experience. The 17-pages PDF-pattern has clear marks for the gluing. There are only two patterns pieces: the legging and the waistband.
Based on my measures I cut out a straight XL and I did not lengthen the legs, although I am 181 cm. I checked it with my Hudson pants and saw they were long enough. I love the scrunched look at the ankles.
I opted for the natural waist version and raised the waist with another 10 cm. In hindsight, 8 cm would be enough but they are sitting comfortable.

The Sewing Process

The Virginia leggings come together easily. The instructions are clear and you only have to sew three seams and the waistband. I sewed all the seams on my serger and used my beloved fagot stitch on my sewing machine for the hems.
I believe an important condition for the success of this project is the fabric choice. It is absolutely necessary to use fabric with at least a 40% stretch. This cotton-viscose jersey with a good stretch was a lucky find at my local fabric shop. It was the only colour they had.

Conclusion

Virginia leggings Megan NielsenI would have never thought it but I ‘heart’ these leggings. They are comfortable and feel like a second skin. I even wore them to school today. On top of that, without the SewMyStyle project,  I wouldn’t have sewed them. So again a big win.
Will I sew more Virginia leggings? I guess so. Definitely for my daughter because she loves them too.

Virginia leggings
That’s how I look after a day of teaching.

Eye-catchers #6

sewing community, ,
An eye-catcher is a person or thing that attracts the attention

eycatcher

The online sewing community is very visual. So, every day I see heaps of sewing related images on social media and blogs. Some of them catch my eye because they make me think or they give me inspiration. Here,  I want to share these eye-catchers with you.

Follow below what caught my eye the last 10 days:

#sewtoghetherforsummer

Sewing clothes

I said it before: the online sewing community is such an inspiring community. The day Spring peeked around the corner—and the MIYMarch2017 challenge was still in full swing—three amazing sewists launched another challenge: “Sew-together-a-shirtdress”. I wasn’t planning on sewing another shirtdress—in fact, I have one that is currently a WIP—but this challenge motivates me to sew one! Maybe it will be…

The Carolyn Pajamas dress by Jenny

Carolyn Pajamas Dress

Wow, I am so in love with the Carolyn Pajamas from Closet Case Patterns but I would never have thought to make a dress from it. This is such a clever idea from Jenny and she explains on her blog how she did it. Now I have to sew one.

The Cascade Duffle coat made by @katilulemakes

The Cascade Duffle coat from Grainline Studio has been in my sewing queue for a long time—like so many other patterns. But when I saw this version of @katilulemakes it really itched to start with one immediately. Isn’t this great? She made it with scraps and left-overs from wool fabric.

The Heron Top made by Sal

For two years making something from the Merchant and Mills workbook has been on my #MakeNine. When I saw this powerful Heron Top from Sal I thought: “Wis, what are you waiting for?”.

The Makebra DL01 made by Teresa

Making my own bra has also been on my wish list for a long time. Look at this amazing bra made by Teresa. I like that it is a foam bra made with green satin and beautiful top stitching. I really should get started on this now!

Did anything catch your eye this week?

MIY March 2017 – Sewing Community

sewing community,
MIY March 2017

MIY March is an Instagram photo challenge for the sewing community. It is hosted by Wendy Ward with the help of Emma from Dressmaker’s Social. This year is the third edition going on—for me the second one that I participate in—and it is inspiring and fun. Like Wendy puts it:

“Yes, that month-long shenanigans that involves us all running around getting friends, family and ourselves to take photos of us, us in our makes, our makes artfully arranged on tables, us in our sewing caves and more is back for another month of sewing photo fun.”

MIYMarch2017

Sewing Community

Today’s theme is the community. I always sew alone and I don’t have sewing friends or attend sewing meetups in real live. But I write about it on my—still very young—blog. This gives me inspiration, challenges me and offers me support. So thank you, all.

Here you can read all my posts about the sewing community.

Sewing Community

 

Eye-catchers #5

sewing community, , , ,
An eye-catcher is a person or thing that attracts the attention

sewing patterns

The online sewing community is very visual. So, every day I see heaps of sewing related images on social media and blogs. Some of them catch my eye because they make me think or they give me inspiration. Here,  I want to share these eye-catchers with you.

Follow below what caught my eye this week:

  • The Adeline dress from Style Arc

    Adeline Dress Style ArcMeg sewed this beautiful Adeline dress for her friend. The fabric apparently is custom made at My Fabric Designs. I didn’t know this company but I like the idea that you can create your own design. The combination Meg made of this fabric and the pattern is spot on.

  • The skirt from Mollie Moxie

    V1486Look what a stunning skirt Molly made. She only used the upper part of the V1486 skirt. Which was a good idea because she sewed it in this amazing home decorator fabric.

  • The Sahara Skirt from Ralph Pink Patterns

    Sahara Skirt Ralph Pink PatternsThis amazing fabric used by Clare immediately caught my eye. She posted it as her presently favourite fabric for the #miymarch17 photo challenge on Instagram. Then I read she was making a Ralph Pink Pattern out of it and—again—this is a pattern designer I didn’t know. So thank you, Clare, for introducing me.

  • A muslin for V9239

    V9239When I saw this sewing project of Henna on Instagram I was totally in awe! The fabric design reminded me of Sonia Delaunay, who I immensely admire. So I was amazed when I read that Henna used Ikea fabric for making a muslin for V9239. I am not in favour of this pattern—the way Vogue presents it—but I do like it in the way Henna placed the fabric.

  • A tunic in Dutch wax print

    Green Ivy Style proves it again. You don’t have to use a complicated pattern when you have beautiful Dutch wax print.

Did anything caught your eye this week?