Tag Archives: sewing

Me-Made-May ’17

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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?

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?

The striped Nanöo top

Completed sewingprojects, , ,

I was so in awe of The Nanöo top—made by Debora—in my latest eye-catchers that I decided to sew one myself. Furthermore, I had some very soft green striped jersey in my collection that was perfect for this project. So, why wait?

The Nanöo Top

Nanöo is a rather new Spanish indie sewing company with two patterns so far. They distribute the pattern both in paper and in PDF-format. The ordering and downloading of it goes very smooth.

The Nanöo Top pattern

The pattern has a clear design and exists  out of three pieces. You only have to glue eight pieces of paper together but here I miss some connection marks. On top of that, the only measures indicated in the instructions are those of the finished garments, which are not specified. I assumed the largest are the hips. Based on these measurements I cut out the tallest size and did not make any alterations to it.

When you sew striped fabric the most difficult part is matching the seams. Especially when you use knit fabric. Taking extra care of the cutting is very helpful.

The Nanöo Top

How to cut the front and backpiece in a single layer

* place and pin the pattern piece
* be sure you mark the center or your front or back on the fabric
* cut out, be careful not to cut beyond your marks

Cutting The Nanöo Top
* flip the pattern, align on the marks you made on the fabric

Cutting The Nanöo Top
* cut out the second halve of the front piece
* put the cut piece on the fabric, right sides together and cut the second piece

Cutting The Nanöo Top

Now your patterns pieces lay already in place for sewing your shoulder seams.

Cutting The Nanöo Top

The striped fabric

The fabric is a soft cotton jersey  from Girl Charlee that I bought in November 2015! Sewing with knits can be a little tricky but this fabric is cooperative. The seams keep flat and the stretch is perfect for the neckband.

Due to the cutting of the pattern pieces single layered and stitching with a walking foot the seams came out perfectly matched!

Perfectly matching seams

The sewing proces

Sewing together the Nanöo top is rather easy. It only has only straight seams and a neck binding. Still, I did it all by instinct as the sewing instructions that come with the pattern are rather brief.

The Nanöo Top

Conclusion

I am very pleased with my Nanöo top. Especially with how the stripes come out. For the next one, I will lengthen the sleeves to make them three-quarter.

My first striped top is spot on!

The Nanöo Top

 

Eye-catchers #4

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

Eye-catcher

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. Therefore I want to share these eye-catchers with you.

Follow below what caught my eye this week:

  • The Ralph Lauren skirt for Vogue (V1723)

    Look at this stunning skirt made by Allison. This is so my style: a flared skirt with pockets. The pattern is a vintage—1987—Ralph Lauren for Vogue and only to find in thrift shops or on the secondhand market. But maybe I can draft it myself when my pattern draft skills grow?

  • The Nanöo Top

    I told you before I have some striped knits in my fabric collection waiting to be sewed. So when I saw this striped Nanöo top I was immediately intrigued. I did not know Nanöo—an indie sewing pattern company—so I’m glad this beautiful make of Debora brought it to my attention. And Debora also happens to be a brilliant Flemish sewist.

  • Moneta dress

    For me, this was the winner of the Moneta Party! Look at this incredible fabric Judith picked for her Moneta. Again evidence that the right fabric choice can bring a pattern to a higher level.

  • Knip Blouse

    Pdxsquared brought my attention to this blouse from Knip Mode. It probably is a very good pattern for using fabric leftovers because the pattern consists of several small pattern pieces. I am thinking even about a combination of fabrics. And Knip Mode is a Dutch—my mother tongue—sewing magazine so reading the instructions should be easy!

  • The Trapeze Button Front Dress from Taco Inou

    What a fascinating dress Taco Inou designed. I am really into this concept of wearing it above trousers and would love to sew one for myself.

Did anything catch your eye this week?

Eye-catchers #3

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

Eye-catcher

The online sewing community is very visual. A lot of images are published on social media and on blogs. So, every day I see a lot of sewing related images and some of them are eye-catchers for me. Why? Because they make me think, they give me inspiration. That is why I want to share these eye-catchers with you.

Follow below what caught my eye this week:

  • Split sleeves in a blouse

    Split sleevesOn Craftsy Beth Galvin wrote a very do-able tutorial to transform almost any sleeve in a split-sleeve. I really think it is worth a try to spice up an ordinary top.

  • The wide leg crop pants, McCall’s 7445

    McCall's 7445Wow! Look at these pants Lori made. I really love a pinstripe and I love cropped pants. That makes this combination very inspiring.

  • McCall’s 7153

    McCall's 7153The mcCall’s 7153 is a reissued pattern from 1933—from the Archive Collection— and I think the design of it is striking. Also, I adore that Annie used stripes, that really gives it an original touch.

  • Riga Coat from Orageuse

    Riga CoatThanks to @sewinglovelythings I caught this amazing coat this week. The Riga coat is a rather new pattern from Orageuse.  I just fell for the clean lines and that it closes solely with a belt.

  • The Ellsworth Coat

    Ellsworth Coat Trudi proves again what difference fabric can make to an already great pattern. This is simply gorgeous. No more words needed!

And, did anything caught your eye this week?