A Dress of Two Summers

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Hi!

As I type this, it is a rather gloomy, windy and cold day outside with occasional rain. We had an abnormally hot June and July and then August has been somewhat of a disappointment. Therefore I look at these photos with a bittersweet feeling as it seems that another summer has come to its end. They also bring back memories of our fun little family vacation to Narva-Jõesuu and Narva in July.

This dress has somewhat of a funny history. First of all, I call it the Dress of Two Summers because it was as good as finished already last summer. But as you know, I was pregnant until the middle of July and then had the post-partum/breast-feeding body that I wasn´t even sure would ever allow me to wear the dress and I didn´t want to hem it until I knew if and how many alterations it needed. This summer, I finally hemmed it and only decided to add a snap to the front of the dress for extra security although I am actually happy how it fits even without the snap. Another great pattern from Style Arc, of course! It is the Annabelle dress sans the ruffles:

Secondly, the fabric of the dress. I just adore it. I am not sure I have used this word on this blog before. I love the print, the color combo, the slightly crinkled look of it, the feel of it, just everything. And it is also the fabric for the cover sample of McCalls 8104:

I first saw the fabric on this pattern cover when it was released and then shortly afterwards saw it at Abakhan store in Tallinn. Initially I was sure I would make the McCalls dress, but I didn´t buy enough and therefore had to change my plans. It would have been fun though to copy the look, wouldn´t it? And just recently I saw it on sale and grabbed myself another 2 m, again not enough for the McCalls, but I am thinking a flowy wrap skirt one day..?

Anyway, I was a bit meh at first (that means before hemming it) but once finished it has turned to one of the most popular dresses for this ending summer. Just makes me feel nice!

I also think that this must be my first real wrap dress and since it seems to have become quite a habit, I am once again planning to make more with this pattern. Some of the details below:

I think this dress is equally appropriate for holiday as well as workplace, at least for my job. Basically from the office to the beach dress 😀

Talking about beaches, I really recommend Narva-Jõesuu. It used to be the summer resort for many Russian aristocrats before WWII and even now there must be many Russians spending their summers there deciding by the look, style and size of the summer homes. But at the same time there is another layer of history, the Soviet era that lurks around some abandoned resort buildings from that time, mixed with new or restorated old ones that are quite fancy. All in all, an interesting combo of old and new, wealthy and poor, but nevertheless the whole place has a wonderful relaxed atmosphere and the beach is actually breathtaking. A really long (it must be a few kilometers) stretch of sand, the sun dropping to the sea in the evening, cooling water and most importantly not crowded and not too “developed” meaning there is only one beach bar on the actual sand.

I am not such a fan of Narva, though. It is the border town with Russia and it is definitely worth visiting and it has developed a lot over the recent years, but unfortunately as it was basically bombed to the ground during the WWII there is not much left of the historical city center and it feels kind of center-less if there is such a thing.

Our holiday to northeastern Estonia was brief, we continued to south east, but we enjoyed it so much. We had an apartment with separate bedrooms for us and the kids and we could therefore enjoy a glass (or two!) of wine late at night without disturbing their sleep.. and without them disturbing us, ha!

I have a couple of more projects from summer that I have been wanting to post about, I am hoping to get there before it is already weird! And I have also participated in some workshops that I really want to share about more, but that is also a story for another time!

Until soon!

Vogue 8829 revisited

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Hi!

You may remember my recent black embroidered cotton dress and how happy I was with the pattern. In fact, I immediately decided that I will repeat the pattern so soon that I didn´t even put it away from my sewing table. I didn´t have a certain fabric in mind but it came to me by itself if I can say so.

We were on a day trip to Pärnu and since I had been looking for a specific color and size of buttons for a while, I jumped into the local fabric shop to try my luck. And lucky I got! In addition to the buttons I had been looking for, I just took a glimpse at some of the fabrics sold by weight and you know the feeling when your heart skips a beat…. I have always had a soft spot for stripes, but if they come combined with floral, I am pretty much sold! Also, thankfully there was enough fabric because although lengthwise the piece was 3 meters long, the width was only 1,1 m. The shop assistant told me that the fabric is for crafts, but being 100% cotton, it is ideal for a summer dress as well.

If I wasn´t so excited about the result, I probably even would not write a second post on the same pattern (Vogue 8829), but for the second time, it really is a great pattern to work with! This time it went together even faster because I didn´t need to add lining to the skirt piece, the cotton fabric is dense enough.

For the black details, I used the leftovers of the black “sister” dress and thus used up all of the black poplin I was gifted by Black Carrot Fabrics. Since I usually tend to have big scraps, it really feels nice when I can use up all of my material.

I had to wait a few days for the suitable belt to arrive and I ordered two slightly different ones just to make sure one would fit and thankfully one of them really is quite similar in width to the front placket. It really is one of the best feelings about sewing when your vision becomes reality!

On the inside I used a piece of white cotton batiste for the yoke because I was afraid that the contrasting stripes would show through on the outside. Also, as with the first version of the dress, I stitched in the ditch on the front placket as opposed to slipstitching on the inside by hand.

I think I also got lucky that the front placket is about the same width as the stripes on the fabric, looks so much better like this.

Whoever has taken photos in a more or less public place with a tripod and a remote, probably knows that it is not always a very comfortable feeling when people stare at you. Or maybe it is just me? But on the other hand taking all of the photos at home would also be very boring, so as long as there is good daylight, I prefer to take my pics outside, even if it means stepping out of my comfort zone. This time, as well as the last time (for the maxi dress post), I had a little helper and it is unbelievable how much courage a child who doesn ´t question your actions can provide! It has been great taking photos with my daughter (despite the occasional photobombing) and I have enjoyed the playground time after the shoot so much!

Until soon!

Black Carrot x Peppermint

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Hi!

The kind people at Black Carrot offered me to continue with the sponsored projects and here is the second “fruit” of this collab. I picked an interesting fabric that I had only touched but never used before – viscose ritchel. I don´t know the exact composition but it is nicely cool, flowy and has a good weight to it, perfect for a summery maxi dress. Black Carrot has a wide range of colors if you want to check out. Honestly, I hesitated quite a while before picking this muted greyish blue version.

If you imagine the title as a bit of a crazy cocktail (carrot mixed with peppermint??) then yes, the dress actually is a bit crazy as is the maker! To explain this, just look at the photos below, straight to the details:

Do you realize that I have attached the back piece wrong side out? I did realize it, but only after having taken the dress to the beach to play with my daughter already. As I was taking some close up photos for this post, I finally realized the mistake and you know what? I can live with it! I am NOT going to unpick the whole construction of the elastic, the facing (including clipped seam allowances), the straps etc just to please my inner perfectionist. Not this time, devil!

But why Peppermint? But because if you haven´t discovered peppermintmag.com yet then you are missing out. They have several patterns to try out for free and since I am normally not into maxi dresses (I think it is the second I´ve made), I thought if I have a gifted fabric and a free pattern, why not try. But you know that there are no free lunches, right? So although it was supposed to be a quick project, almost a kind of “side” project, I ended up unpicking the long center front french seam at least 5 if not 6 times.

Notice that on the technical drawing there is a mistake – the center front seam is not shown!

The fabric is a bit slippery, but not too much and it is generally nice to sew with, but to topstitch the seam was almost impossible. In fact, I turned it inside out in the end, because it was easier to topstitch it from the wrong side. But the pattern itself is actually really great, I love that the french seams throughout and facings with seam allowance turned under rather than just overlocked, leave such a neat and clean finish on the inside that the dress is almost wearable both ways. And in my case, half of it is the wrong side out already! Which also shows another feature of the fabric – both sides look the same so it would be really useful for some patterns where the wrong side of the fabric is visible.

This is the inside:

Some close ups:

I think all in all, the fabric and the pattern are really well suited, because if you think of the side splits, then it helps again that there is no wrong side for the fabric. Also, it feels wonderful on, I took photos by the beach and played with my daughter there a bit and I think the best use for this dress is exactly this, barefoot in the sand and who cares then that you may have half of it wrong side out 😀

I am in the middle of a long holiday and I think this dress carries the holiday vibe perfectly – careless, eat-all-you-can and even ticks the box for the so on-trend square neck line!

While writing this, I am getting all sorts of ideas for a second one and who knows… The last time I said so, I did so, you will see very soon 😉

Black Carrot Black Dress

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Hi!

I didn´t even realize that I didn´t post anything in June! Wow! I blame the extraordinarily warm summer and I have always enjoyed sewing itself more than writing about it so I guess I made my choices last month. If you follow me on Instagram, however, you know that there are a bunch of things I have made that have not ended up here, yet.

But today I have a few good reasons to post and number one is that another Estonia-based fabric shop approached me with an offer to cooperate and I gladly accepted. The shop is Black Carrot and they offer a decent choice of dressmaking and home decor fabrics. In fact I regularly shop there anyway so it wasn´t difficult to choose a fabric for the sponsored project. And if you like my dress, they still have both of the fabrics available so why not make a similar one!

I picked their wonderful embroidered cotton and plain poplin, both in a deep black shade to make a work-appropriate summer dress, using an old-timer of a pattern in my stash – Vogue 8829.

I combined views D and C, the armhole bands of the latter were actually the key reason for liking the pattern as well as the opportunity to use a contrast color/fabric for this and other details. And before I say anything else, this pattern will be repeated soon. It is just so good. And this is the second good reason for posting today – I have made myself a wardrobe staple that I just hope will not fade in sun and wash too soon.

It has been a while since using a Big4 pattern because of my love affair with Style Arc and I had to keep reminding myself that the seam allowances are 1,5 cm and not 1, but other than that, a really enjoyable pattern.

I made a few modifications too. The most noticeable is that I added a lining to the skirt because the embroidery is see through enough to make me (and possibly others around me) uncomfortable if left unlined. I used a nice drapey and cool against the skin (viscose mix?) fabric that I purchased a long time ago with plans for a dress, but I have only used bits of it for pocket linings and now for the dress lining as well. It is quite precisely the colour of my skin so very subtle under the embroidered cotton and I think it gives the skirt some movement as opposed to having used a poplin lining, which was my first idea. But thankfully I checked with my sewing buddies and within a minute we made a common decision that the lining has to be silky, beige (not black) and I should use different pleats than the main fabric. So the lining has knife pleats where the skirt has inverted pleats. As for the color, I have a feeling that if I would have found a similar dress in a store, it would have been lined with black, but that would of course not show the beauty of the main fabric.

For the other modifications, I used the famous burrito-method for the yoke treatment which for some reason has not made its way into the Big4 pattern instructions as far as I know. I also skipped slipstitching the front bands and stitched in the ditch instead. It is not my favorite thing to do at all, but this time it went well enough.

I was not sure about the buttons at first and considered using black ones, but I think eventually the six golden ones that I had bought some time ago just because they were so “me” and not for some specific project (AND they were the last 6 at that shop!), fit perfectly. Otherwise I think there would be a danger of looking too serious. I did have some hesitation about a black summer dress, but adding the belt and the golden buttons and light colored shoes change the overall impression, isn´t it?

I love the outcome because I feel really comfortable, not too casual but not overdressed either and I also like thet the armhole bands offer cover for the shoulders without being sleeves!

I have another idea for this pattern – to use a more contrasting main fabric with black details again for a more striking look. Let´s see when I will get there because as you know, our hands unfortunately do not move as fast as our inspiration and thoughts!

Anyway, I am super thankful to Black Carrot to give me the opportunity to sew with these beautiful fabrics!

Until soon!

Color Block Inspiration

Published on by sewinginathens1 Comment

Hi!

I think in the world of sewists on social media we inspire and get inspired often even subconsciously, the beautiful makes of others affecting our fabric and project choices without us realizing. And then there are moments when inspiration hits like a hammer and we know very clearly that we want a pattern or a fabric or a combination of these exactly as someone else just posted.

So this happened to me when I saw Keira´s (https://islandsewcialist.com) color block shirt back in February on her Instagram account. I screenshot the image and started looking for matching fabrics in terms of weight and color to straightforward copy her shirt. But I was unable to find this beautiful lemon shade of yellow and eventually opted for light pink, lilac, mint and blue cotton poplin that I finally found from Abakhan. That was really convenient as well, because they had just offered me a second collab, so the fabrics were bought using the allowance they kindly gave me and this is also the second post of the three that I said that I would write as a result of this collab.

I apologise if it is getting boring for you, but yes, I did choose a pattern from Style Arc once again. You have already heard the reasons for this so many times that I am not going to count them all here again but I particularly loved the back detail of the Roxy Shirt because I realized I could play even more with the color blocking thanks to this.

So after some head scratching on how to place the different colors on the pattern, I made the shirt and I am happy with the result. I didn´t really enjoy the instructions that stated one thing in the text and other on the drawings, but with some help from my Burda book, I managed to sew the sleeve plackets perfectly. The pattern instructions were all Greek to me, but the Burda book that is actually in Greek, was quite clear, haha!

Soon after I finished the shirt, an event was announced on the biggest Estonian sewist community on Facebook and the theme was “Inspiration”- in order to participate you would have to show the inspiration photo and next to it your own creation. I had finished the shirt but did not have suitable pants to match and so my entry is technically the pants only, but I know that the shirt steals the show 😀

Keira so kindly gave her permission to use her image for the purpose:

  • Keira
  • Mari-Liis

As you can see, I didn´t make jeans although that would have been even cooler, to try to copy the whole outfit, but I wanted to make a second pair of Liana Stretch Jeans from Itch to Stitch patterns and my jean fabrics were not stretchy enough for the purpose, so I used a dark blue stretch fabric that I bought in October from a warehouse sale paying 2 euros per meter if I recall correctly. It is of excellent quality but does not handle close up photos well, so just two of these which are heavily edited to resemble reality at least a bit.

Today was a perfect spring day that actually felt summery and as the day proceeded, the temperatures rose even higher so in the evening we went out to a children´s playground by the sea and basically wore short sleeves. But it was quite windy and as I took the photos during the day by the seaside, my tripod tripped over several times, my hair was flowing in the air and my shirt ballooned in the most unflattering way… the struggle was real! And the whole “photoshoot” was cut short by the battery dying… !

After all this winter stuck at home (and we haven´t really experienced serious lockdown as in terms of mobility restrictions and curfew) and despite knowing how lucky we have been to still have our jobs that allow us to work from home and not having any close family member catch the virus, after all this, this beautiful day felt so deliberating and I also felt that I looked good after a long long time, because I somewhat dressed up wearing this shirt. I even attended an afternoon online webinar wearing it although I normally opt for a decent jersey top when working from home.

My 3 year-old daughter asked me later in the evening: “Mommy, are we getting closer to the next winter?” and I felt goosebumps just because of the fact that the statement is true. But thankfully we are still in spring, I want to enjoy it to the fullest and wish you the same!

Me enjoying the sun-warmed car. No seatbelt because I am not driving and taking selfies at the same time.

Style Arc x Abakhan x 2

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Hi!

This will be a post of “two”-s: two Style Arc patterns, two fabrics from Abakhan and two identical little dresses for the dessert (for which two of the fabrics are from Sunnyday Kangad)!

I guess you have already noticed my little love story with Style Arc patterns! I really like their line art/technical drawings that for some reason are so appetizing to me, but more importantly that their styles are contemporary, casual yet quite elegant nonetheless. I also like the 1 cm included seam allowance and their monthly freebie campaign AND the fit of their patterns! So that is quite a lot to counterbalance their instructions that can be less than helpful sometimes.

As a result I own A LOT of Style Arc patterns, almost always grabbing the freebie and always taking advantage of sales. Lately I have used the copyshop option for printing them and then the process is as follows: don´t like the rolls of uncut patterns around -> cut all of the patterns out within a few days -> don´t want to fold them because they are nice to use when flat -> keep them piled up in my sewing room -> don´t like the mess it creates -> sew them up, one by one to get rid of the mess -> whoop, another sale coming up -> back to the beginning….

So I somewhat mechanically sewed up the Portsea Luxe Sweat (more so because of the cosy brushed sweatshirt fabric with metallic thread that I got from Abakhan without any clear idea at first, but that I realized was perfect for that pattern) and honestly laughed out loud when I put it on – just too short and too wide and generally really weird. I felt disappointed that I had used up my fabric and knowing how hard it is to give up my me-made clothes, I imagined it just taking space in my wardrobe, never worn. You can see how wide and boxy it really is:

I quickly took on another project, the Christia Pant that had been waiting for quite some time on my bookshelf and paired it with a classic blue pinstripe fabric bought some time ago also from Abakhan. And then… these two pieces met in my wardrobe and I realized they were made for each other!

I believe this kind of a pant – really high waisted, cropped length and with rolled up hems is exactly the pant this sweatshirt requires, being as cropped as it is, and having a rolled up sleeve detail on its own. I have been wearing the top without any extra shirt underneath but it has quite a tight fitting neckline so a t-shirt can also be worn on colder days. As the Portsea pattern was a freebie, I remember contemplating whether to take it or not because I didn´t think I would sew it and I also don´t think there will be a second one, but I am really glad I tried something so different from my regular choices. Unfortunately the “luxe” factor of the fabric – the lurex thread, is not visible in the photos, you just have to believe me that it shimmers beautifully in real life 🙂

The pants, however, are perfection. I am completely blown that they fit without any alterations and quite proud of my pattern matching as well. They could be a bit longer and now that I have tried and tested the pattern, I will definitely repeat it in another fabric and add 5 cm to the length.

Both items are in size 10, as always with Style Arc patterns. Although the top is really wide and boxy, I feel that it would not fit if I had made a size smaller. If the pants would sit lower, I would have to worry about flashing my belly, but when worn together they balance each other very nicely in my opinion. Both of them are also really easy and quick projects, which is always a plus, isn´t it?

It seems that we are finally done with winter now and the weather is so bright and sunny the last days, pure pleasure! Soon the lilacs will bloom, which is my absolute favorite time of the year! And in less than two weeks my little Liisa-Mai will turn 3 already, but for some reason I haven´t had a flash of insipiration yet, as what to make for her birthday in the “me and mini me” theme.

But her best friend had her third birthday just last week and I made them matching dresses. The insipiration came from Liisa-Mai, who stated that the dresses have to be brown! Wow, can I be proud that I have a three year old who is not only thinking pink and “Frozen”? I think I can, while it lasts 😀

The brown fabric is what I had left over from my Homewear Set and the middle stripe is the same lurex thread brushed sweatshirt fabric that I used for the Portsea Sweat. The pattern is from Ottobre 1/2021, model 8. Candy Shades.

Happy sewing and until soon!

Pleather and Jacquard Affair

Published on by sewinginathens8 Comments

Hi!

This is the first of what will (most probably) be three posts regarding my latest collab with Abakhan fabric stores. This time I got several fabrics that will not make up one cohesive set, but separate items that I will match with others, made from fabrics in my stash. So these posts will take some more time as I am making more than one item for each.

The first up is this simple looking, but not so simple to make, set of Itch to Stitch Hepburn turtleneck (my second time using this brilliant basic pattern) and Itch to Stitch Danube skirt.

You can probably tell after seeing this photo, why the set was not so simple to make 🙂 I had a piece of beige pleather in my stash for about two years already, for a skirt one day. And the day came when I found this pretty jacquard knit on clearance on Abakhan online shop.

Pleather can be tricky to sew with and honestly, it took me way longer that it should have just because some days I treaded sewing the next step as there was absolutely no way to unpick the seams without leaving ugly marks on the material. Also, when sewing multiple layers of pleather, the material sticks to the foot of the machine and I got through some parts only by holding my breath! On the other hand, the material surprised me positively too, because I could actually press it carefully on the inside of the garment and while I was not sure whether this will be wearable at all when I started off, eventually the skirt looks exactly as I planned and is surprisingly comfortable, too.

I made a few changes to the pattern, mainly due to the limitations of the material – I left off the coin pocket, did not topstitch the waistband and did not use bar tacks to fix the fly shield in place. In addition, I didn´t use a button, but attached two press fasteners as I thought it would be near impossible to get a nice looking buttonhole and there would not be a second chance after the first try.

Also, the front fly instructions are a bit different than for the Liana jeans that I recently made. After comparing the Danube and Liana instructions, I used the latter for this skirt. I was afraid that with Danube instructions, the zipper would be too close to the fly edge as has happened with some other patterns in the past. I don´t know if it really would be the case, but I wanted to be sure, so went with the Liana instructions in this part.

For the Hepburn turtleneck I only had just enough of fabric to squeeze out the length of these sleeves. It is shorter than the full length, of course, but longer that the 3/4 option of the pattern. The latter seemed too short even for me, although I tend to prefer shorter sleeves. The cotton jaqcuard knit is quite thick and less stretchy than the ribbed cotton jersey I used for my first version, so it fits tighter and is also tighter around the neck. But I really like the pattern of the fabric, it is so versatile while still kind of neutral due to the colors.

In conclusion, it really is as my dad says – the things that offer the most satisfaction, don´t come easy. It was not easy making this skirt and someone should really hold me back if I happen to say that I am going to make something in pleather any time soon 🙂 but still, satisfied with the result!

Thanks, Abakhan, for providing the material for the top and therefore giving me inspiration to use another material in my stash!

Until soon!

PS. SPRING IS FINALLY HERE, even if only in the calendar! Happy spring!

Spring is in the Heart Set

Published on by sewinginathens2 Comments

…because it is not yet outside… For about a week we had amazing sunshine, temperatures above zero and almost all the snow was gone until it returned yesterday to my great dismay. Well, it is expected in March, but still, those few days felt like there was more air to breathe, I really do seem to work on solar energy! However, I managed to use one of the sunny days to take some photos of the two items I recently completed. As it goes, it seems I have somehow managed to find a midway between sewing time and blogging time by not blogging about each item separately, but to sew up things that go well together and then show them in one post.

So, I am really looking forward to spring and summer and while dreaming about this, I made up something that cannot be worn yet. Only maybe the dress, if I put a coat on it, as my smart almost-three-years-old daughter suggested just today (she is really one of the coolest humans I know, haha!)

All of the fabrics happen to be from Abakhan, but the greyish blue suede was bought about 2 years ago already while the dress fabric came in December. I just saw it on the website and you know the feeling when your heart skips a beat… If this happens, I can be quite unstoppable!

Both of the patterns are Style Arc, Sienna for the jacket and Pixie for the dress, which was a freebie pattern in November or December. The Sienna is originally unlined, but as much as I try, I haven´t made an unlined jacket yet. A lining really elevates any jacket plus adds to the ease of wear because it is so much easier to put on due to the smoothness of the fabric. It was maybe a bit trickier to figure out this time due to the construction, but completely worth it! Just the suede fabric gave my sewing machine a hard time occasionally and I changed several needles until the Microtex version worked.

I was really happy I could use the suede from my stash as well as the remnants of the yellow lining. It is quite an unusual shade, but it worked perfectly with the dress fabric. You can see my hesitation below as I wasn´t sure whether to go with the yellow or more conservative beige, but I am so glad I used the first option!… And the piping of course!

The dress is a really fun style i think, so relaxed and flowy and quick! If there would be a next time, I would maybe change the neckline to a round one, but I like it as it is, too. It can be worn with or without a sash and I ordered extra fabric to make a sash from the same material, the photos show a black one I already had.

The fabric is called marocain stretch crepe and it doesn´t seem to wrinkle or fray and it was easy to sew. I also like that the print is something in between floral and animal print and the colours make it possible to match with black tights and boots for early spring, but at the same time it would be suitable even for summer, I think.

So, despite Style Arc instructions being once good and once off, I still like their styles and fit very much. I have bought so many patterns that I am excited to make and I always seem to find something new even though I have scrolled through the website probably a thousand times already 😀

Happy sewing and lets hope the spring weather will return soon and this time for good!

Chocolala Makes

Published on by sewinginathens6 Comments

It is the name of one handmade chocolate brand in Estonia and I just had the box next to my laptop while thinking how to title this post that mainly has to do with brown garments… spot on!

Highly influenced by one of my sewing buddies with whom we chat nearly daily but have managed to really meet only once, leaving aside several encounters where we hand over bags of fabrics that we have jointly ordered, I have recently taken a closer look at a small pattern brand Itch to Stitch patterns. The designs are classic I would say and as I have mentioned my goal of trying to create an almost all hand made wardrobe, classics is definitely what one needs as the basic elements (remember, I made altogether 3 ITS Lisbon cardis?).

So, being influenced by Kadri, I tried making a pair of Itch to Stitch Liana stretch jeans and wow, I discovered a true unicorn for myself! This pattern, sewn in the right (meaning the right amount of stretch) fabric, “straight from the envelope” in size 6 fits me exactly as I want a pair of skinny jeans to fit. It is a bit hard to believe, really… Things may change in the future, though, because my body has changed after the two babies and I haven´t been able to cycle as much as I used to, so if I can commence this in spring-summer and get consistent, there is a chance of some muscle build up in the thighs an buttocks that I lost during the pregnancies and I may need to make some adjustments. But right now, just wow!

The fabric is probably a simple cotton twill with elastane, but I am not 100% sure as I bought it by weight from Abakhan together with some other fabrics in matching shades as I am really into brown, beige and the likes right now, which is funny because I used to really dislike this color. While I lived and worked in Cyprus between 2005-2007, the ladies there used to wear brown a lot and it always seemed such a dull colour to me… and here I am 😀 I can also say that you will be seeing more of these colours quite soon…

For the back pockets I used one of the 33 free topstitch templates available on Closet Core Patterns. It reminds me of an ECG wave, but I thought it was easy to do and I liked it 🙂

I used a regular button this time, but as you could probably guess, I have cut out another pair already and I will use a metal jean button for these.

This turtleneck is also an Itch to Stitch pattern Hepburn, super simple and super satisfying and super comfy because the turtleneck really sits close to the neck and is nice to wear under a coat without necessarily needing a scarf. I will be making more of these for sure! Again, the fabric is from Abakhan by weight and I think the turtleneck and the jeans cost me about 12 euros altogether!

It has been very cold and snowy here in Estonia this winter, but for us this is how it should be and I really like sunny winter days – first, for better photos and second, for walks by the frozen sea like this:

Happy sewing and until soon!

A House in a House

Published on by sewinginathens2 Comments

Hi!

While sewing for kids is not exactly my forte, I got really excited when I realized I could make them something else instead of clothes, something that will take them much longer to outgrow and something really unprecedented for myself as well.

So I made a house! Yes, it is technically a teepee tent, but boy, this is huge! 😀 I know it doesn´t look like that in the photos, but the diameter of the base pad is 120 cm and the height of the poles is 180 cm but since they are angled, the total height is about 160 cm.

If you want to try this at home, a few remarks: be smarter than me and pick a fabric that does not run in one direction. Because of the monkeys running one way, I used nearly 6 m of this and have lots of leftovers. Maybe even picking a different fabric for each side would be a fun idea? My main fabrics are from Abakhan and the heavy upholstery fabric for the poles and all the smaller details like ties, tie ends and trim is from Kangadzungel. My husband bought the poles and cut them to the correct length. I believe they are slightly narrower than suggested by the pattern and also not bamboo, just regular wooden sticks.

For the added trim and ties I used leftovers of some curtains in our house, so these small details plus a piece of boning for the window flap were the only parts that I can say I behaved economically. Otherwise, considering the amount of fabric, this teepee is definitely more expensive that what you can find as ready-made.

Secondly, the pattern requires faux leather for the pole covers, but I would suggest fabric instead. You need to turn out the upper parts of the pole covers and I suspect it would be even harder with faux leather. It was really hard in my case as I used a heavy upholstery fabric, but the leather would stick to itself I imagine.

I know there are people out there who can sew this up without any pattern whatsoever, but I am not that person. I prefer using a pattern and I chose Burda 6559 for the purpose. It is quite straightforward, but you need to pay attention when measuring for the pole covers. It took me a long time and some brainstorming to understand what is meant by lengthening the pattern to 148 cm as it says. It is really confusing what exactly is considered the beginning point of this measurement, so if you want to get away with it faster, I can tell you that you need to measure from the point of turning the pole covers inside out, mark 2. I would like to hear of anyone who figures this out solely from the instructions 😀

Anyway, nothing much to say about it other than this really is the BIGGEST thing I have every made and this position will remain unchallenged for… maybe forever. Unfortunately our family policies on social media will not allow me to share the happy eyes of my daughter when she first entered the tent and peeped out of the side window for the first time. But that melted my heart 🙂

Until soon!