Coraline for the both of us

Bella Sunshine Designs just launched 2 new patterns: Coraline Camisole and Primrose Panties. Both are available in girls and ladies versions. I signed up for a weekend of testing :-)

Back to school? Let's add a little magic!

The first day back in school can be hard. Very hard!

Our teens are chilling in their favorite summer hideouts.
And all of a sudden that relaxing life ends.
BAM! Teachers want them to pay attention. That is a BIG shock.

Time for us, moms, to soften the blow with a nice outfit!
But what shall you choose?

Bella Sunshine Designs is having a back to school blogtour to help you out.
They have dresses, tops, leggings and shorts: everything you need!
And what's even better, there is a sitewide sale. (Scroll to the bottom for sale details.)






I picked the pattern: a sleeveless Sahara dress. 

I know my daughter loves it, because she lived in the first one I made 2 years ago. That one is getting a bit too short for school now, so it's time for a new one.

My daughter picked the fabric: magical feathers.

Parts of the fabric are covered with UV reactive paint, so when you bring it out into the sunlight, little splashes of color magically appear. 

The colors are hard to catch on a photograph. You need bright sunlight to make the colors pop, but that overexposes the white in the dress a bit. This one of about one billion attempts to get the colors on a picture.

This pattern comes with a lot of options: 

peplum top or dress?

with or without pockets?

sleeveless or short, 3/4 or long sleeves?

They all feature that gorgeous scooped back,
so I'm happy either way.

Let's Stitch Together: the summer edition

For the July challenge of Let's Stitch Together,  Marjolein at Flaflinko gave us an easy theme to work with: Summer Holiday!

My daughter needed some breezy dresses for our trip to Switzerland. I did not need to think very long about the pattern to use: a simple Nivalis it would be! I made this dress by Sofilantjes in a longsleeved fall version before, but I had not tried the summer version with cap sleeves.
We had a plan!

The plan even came with fabric from the stash. I bought a panel for a summer dress a few months ago. But then my daughter joined me on a fabric run and we saw some UV-reactive fabric which totally blew her mind. So I just had to make the first Nivalis in this UV - reactive fabric!

I admit: it is COOL. 

When we are inside the house it's just plain white fabric with black line drawings. But when you go outside those drawings are magically colored.

And it has unicorns.
And rainbows.
I rest my case.

Unfortunately I did not have the yardage chart on me when I bought the fabric. I came up a bit short to get the whole width of the A-line. So I folded the A-line curve inward until it fit. Still breezy, but a little less volume than the original Nivalis.

She wanted to wear the dress for her last day of school. We made a few shots while testing the magic was necessary. After the school test, the dress went to the suitcase and we made more shots in Switzerland.

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).

Belgian Sewing Talents!

Marjolein (Flaflinko) organized a Belgian campaign for a her 5th sewing anniversary: "Stik Belgique". That roughly translates to "Belgian Sewing". She had us making projects with Belgian patterns and fabrics all month.

I joined the sewing spree and made 6 projects (so far). The great part: 5 of these patterns were a first for me. Way to go on the GUTA-challenge!
I hardly found time to blog them all in Dutch and I did not get around to translating them at all.

I'm giving you guys the short version in a quick photo overview:

(if you want to see more pictures, you can check out the Dutch version of my blog: 

Nathalie's Naaisels

project # 1: Eloïse by Minniemie

Eloïse is a free pattern from a Belgian blogger who also co-authored her first book this month. She's a rising star in the Belgian sewing world. The pattern and instructions are written in Dutch, but I'm sure you can figure it out with the photos and Google translate.

This dress was meant as a test/nightgown for me because the pattern goes up to 8Y, but my daughter is 9 and does not quite match the measurements anymore. The fabric I used is gorgeous, but it hates needles. The tiny white spots make this dress a permanent nightgown in my mind. My daughter disagrees and consistently refuses to change into her day-clothes on Sundays. She requested more of this pattern in the future! I think I can compensate for a little while longer with lengthening and widening as she grows.

project # 2: Blueberry Bag by Cherry Designs

I registered for a workshop to tackle this pattern. The pattern comes in a small or large version, with a lot of options. It's in Dutch, but that should not be a problem considering the very detailed photo-instructions.

It took a lot of time at home after the workshop to get it completely ready. I'm not too familiar with bag making at this level. There were moments in the making process were I just wanted to cry and stop, because my hands were hurting and the seams did not come out the way I wanted them to look.  I soldiered through and I'm so glad I did. I love how it turned out in the end! My son picked the fabric and the options. He used it at his very first schooltrip with an overnight stay. Both he and the bag came back whole ;-)

project #3: PJ's: a mashup of patterns by Zonen09.

Sharon of Zonen09 has a gorgeous PJ-pattern called Wolf (2-9Y). It has an amazing range of options, including a detachable superhero cape/blanket, piping details and a jumpsuit version. It's only available in Dutch at the moment, but Sharon has started translating some of her more recent patterns into English and French. You can allready get the gorgeous Lars (coat) and Theo (formal shirt) in English, so it may just be a matter of time before Wolf and Billie get English versions too ;-)

Unfortunately, my son outgrew the Wolf-pattern 2 years ago. I attacked my last version of the pattern with scissors and tape and came up with a 'Frankensteined' 11Y version of the pants. I was about to start Frankensteining the shirt when I remembered the Billie T-shirt pattern does come in larger sizes (even adults). That was a easy sew, as this has been my go to raglan T-shirt pattern for years.

The result: a boy ready to go on his school trip in brand new polar bear PJ's.

Project #4: Monkey puppets from "Feest in het Knutselbos"

I'm a big fan of the "Knutselbos"-books. There are 2 of them, only available printed in Dutch, so not exactly accessible for foreign readers. It is a great resources for everything related to stuffed animals and dolls though. I have made several stuffies with these books and added 2 monkey puppets to the collection. The books even feature a banana pattern for the monkeys to hold.

Here's a clip where my daughter is playing with them. She had me make these as party favors for her  two friends at her birthday sleepover. I think she misses the monkeys already.

Project #5: Jaanu dress by Straightgrain patterns

I won my copy of this pattern a few weeks after the launch at Miss Matatabi's. It has been sitting on my hard drive ever since (I know that's awful). I have bought suitable fabric last year and still it did not get made. I loved the examples in the launch blog tour and I'm very happy to have made my own now.

I used a gorgeous blue fabric with gold metallic touches by Timeless Treasures: Tonal Fern (Royal Blue) from the Suffolk collection by Chong-A Hwang. It is VERY forgiving for not matching the print. There are 7 seams in the bodice, so I did not try to match. But they really don't show! Even the topstitching doesn't show unless you look very close. The thread color matches the dress a bit too well ;-)

I just had to adapt the pattern instructions a bit to try my very first exposed zipper. I used this great tutorial by SewGuide for the adaptation. I also succeeded in adding a zipper tab all by myself. The zipper is not installed perfectly, but I'm still very very proud of this dress. It' ll fit even better next year! The fit of this pattern is actually tighter but I was stubborn and went for 1 size above the sizing chart suggestion. My babygirl has finally started to grow the last few months and I did not want this to be a one time dress!

Project #6: "Awesome Oslo" by Eva Maria 

The amazing Eva Maria has published a sewing book for teenagers. We NEED more of those, right?

Her patterns are called after cities. The (Dutch) book is titled "Urban Style". The sweater I made from it is a simple raglan model. The link with Oslo? Every combination of fabrics makes this sweater look totally different. You can go for bold sleeves, extra piping details, a harmonious blend ... Oslo is a city with lots of different views too. I should really go and have a look for myself ;-)

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.