Velocitas : a new hoodie by Sofilantjes

The second test in my work free week, was one for Sofilantjes Patterns: Velocitas Hoodie.
My collection of Sofilantjes patterns is quite large. This was the first designer I ever dared to fill out a tester application for. I tried a few times, but never got picked ...  until now! I was happy I got to test for Anne and my daughter was not objecting to a new hoodie.

We went to the fabric store in search of red fabric and off course we came home with another combination. Stoffen Van Leuven will do that to you ;-)
We ended up with a mintgreen "happy fleece" (or maybe i should call it fleece lined sweater fabric) sprinkled with glitter.

If the fabric has glitter, we might as well go all out on the glitter front, right? We got ribbing and cord with glitter and some silver cord stops.

A sparkling little gift bag

During a weeklong school holiday, I filled out two forms for pattern testing. One for a company that had turned me down a few times before and another one in a group I must have joined for a contest and forgot about. I did not expect to get picked by either of them and forgot about the forms. Until I found acceptance e-mails for both tests on the same day ... oops: no more chilling out!

This is the first result, the other pattern is launching tomorrow ;-)

Lauren (Sew By Pattern Pieces) is launching the #11600 Jenny Tote Bag in honor of her mother. She passed away last year due to pancreatic cancer. Half of the proceeds from this pattern will be donated to Pancare Foundation, which finances cancer research in Australia. 

The pattern is available in 4 different sizes (S/M/L/XL):
from a cute gift bag right up to a spacious beach bag..

For easy storage the bags can be rolled up and closed by 3 different fastening methods: Ties, straps with a snap and an elastic.

The smaller model offers a choice between short or long handles.  The shorter handle is meant for children. The longer version allows an adult to carry the bag on the shoulder.

I picked a small, with short handled and ties closure.

One for the road

We got a cool theme for the September edition Let's sti(c)k together: "Zak eens lekker door".

I'm very sorry but that's hard to translate as it has a lot of word play in it. We could go in a lot of different directions with this: Bags, Pockets, Repairs, Party Outfit. It all fits the theme.

I went with the most obvious choice: a bag.

An Apple a day ...

I did not get a lot of sewing done the last few months. I made an exception for the Sunshine Sale, because the pattern had been sitting on my hard drive for ages.
I could even make this a triple win in my sewing resolutions:
1. add another pattern to my G.U.T.A. challenge
2. fabric from the stash
3. sewing something for myself

And the win for you? The Apple  is on sale today!

*the sale has ended*

Are you ready for summer?

I liked Bella Sunshine Designs before I became a tester. But since they gave me the chance to test, the love has only grown. I love to help out wherever I can. So if I see a shout out to make new pieces to promote a sale, I try to schedule it in. The Tess Tulip Shorts call came at just the right time. 

Yes you read that right: there is a sale for this pattern. (edit: This particular sale has ended)

I have never made shorts before.

The twinning fight

I bought the pattern Cicero by Sofilantjes last year. I even assembled the pattern pieces and got fabric. But the next step ...

A divided zipper? Never done that
A zipper in knits? Never done that
Shortening a zipper? Never done that
Zipperphobia! I chickened out.

Emmaline: my first adventure in the world of pattern testing

It was in my inbox.

An e-mail about Phase 3 testing for Bella Sunshine Designs.

I opened it and I saw this:

"Hello, lovely testers. Thank you for applying. We would like to invite you to join the group"

It took a few seconds to sink in. "Oh my god! I'm in!!!!!"

I was happy and I was scared to death. How on earth was I going to fit a test into my schedule?

"Yikes! I have to get fabric! I have no time to do this!"

I even thought about e-mailing right back saying: "I can't do this". But since I might as well be my only chance ever ... I decided to squeeze in the test (and stress about it all week).

Crow Sweater

My last sew of 2017 was a 100% belgian product:
both the pattern and the fabric are "homegrown".

I used an amazing pattern from a belgian sewing book: "Stof-Voor-Durf-Het-Zelvers 3". 

That roughly translates into "fabric/ideas for dare it yourselfers". Griet's first and second book were my guides for the first dress I ever made for my daughter. I made her first communion dress by following her guidelines too. She's awesome!

The pattern for this sweater is pure genius.

Your average sweater pattern has 4 pattern pieces: front, back and 2 sleeves (we're not counting the ribbing). This one is made of 3 pieces. And with those 3 "exotic" pieces, you get a sweater WITH a front pocket. You can see a bit of the magic on picture of the back. 

The picture next to it shows my son's favorite feature: a "tunnel" pocket. You can shake hands in it or squeeze both arms through and get a rather weird pose.

The side seams don't go straight down either in this unusual sweater. They come from the back to the front and magically make the pocket too.

The fabric is from "All Animals Are Equal", a collection by the Belgian company Chat Chocolat. They make very soft french terry.  As a Game of Thrones lover, I fell in love with the crows right away. I showed the release pictures to my son and it only took him half a second to decide it: OK!

I used a tutorial by Riet (Leven met Liv), the creative mind behind Mind The Whale to add thumbholes to the sleeves.

She's also Belgian, so that makes this a triple belgian sew!

A fitting end to a great sewing year!

Packed and Ready? for School

I made a large number of bags and purses this summer. That was caused by Marjolein's  Challenge. The August edition of Let's Stitch Together featured 2 themes: "Packed & Ready" or "Back to School". I didn't really make a choice ;-)

2 Dutch sewing books (Zo Geknipt 1 & 2) provided my patterns.
I used 3 patterns for the first time. Way to go on the GUTA-challenge!

Bunnies and butterflies

I went to a fabric fair thinking I would be sensible and window-shop before actually buying this time.
But I brought my daughter. And there was a T-shirt presenting this gorgeous panel. Right, 50m into the fair and I had bought something. Does that sound familiar?
I actually scored the last panel of the bolt, so hooray for impuls buying ;-)

S.O.S.

Don't panic:
Bambi was not harmed during the creation of this blogpost.

In sewing circles, SOS also stands for "Summer Of Sofilantjes".

Challenge Accepted: Sun, Sea & Beaches

I usually don't get a lot of time to sew in June.
This year I just had to make time for a great project:

I accepted the "Let's Sti(c)k Together" challenge from Marjolein at Flaflinko.
The wordplay is pretty obvious in Dutch. It's the equivalent of "Let's Stitch Together" in English.

No need to thank me for the earworm.
Bryan Ferry took care of that part before I was born.

Nore & the mice

She loves cute animals, 

that daughter of mine.

When she spotted the mice fabric

she yelled: PJ's 

MOMMY

PJ's !!!