Eva's unicorns

Most unicorn fabrics are over the top girlish, with glitters and pink everywhere. If you have followed here for a while, you might have noticed that this type of fabrics is not quite my style. But for the first time in history I saw a unicorn fabric that I actually LIKED. 

It's called Eva unicorns, a sweater knit fabric by illustrator Eva Mouton for About Blue Fabrics/Bambiblauw. Of course I had to make a sweater out of them. 

The lucky unicorn girl is Mila, Livs bigger sister and another one of my favourite girls to babysit. She is 10 so I didn't want the sweater to be to baby-ish. Therefore I opted for black instead of pink as coordinating color.

And I added some 'cool' details like leather shoulder pads and glittery frills at the shoulders (I used the frill pattern piece of the Cocoon Dress for them). 

The fabric is so soft that she insisted on wearing the sweater without a T-shirt underneath. 

Hop over to MinnieMie, Lily & Woody, MeToezie and Emma&Mona for some more unicorn inspiration! Bambiblauw ships worldwide now so no more excuse for not buying these cute fabrics :-) 

Pattern: Leather Sweater (La Maison Victor), size 134

Fabric: Eva's unicorns, Bambiblauw, 1m

Magritte in Madrid

Me and my family spent our yearly summer vacation in Spain, where we visited the city of Madrid. My favorite spot was the Crystal Palace, a beautiful orangery in the midst of a parc.

The perfect location for pictures of my latest sewing creation!

After seeing the SS16-collection of the Spanish children's brand Bobo Choses, a collection inspired by the greatest artists of the past two centuries, I felt sooo inspired to make some artsy garments myself!

The first one is a T-shirt (pattern is the Harley-top from the La Maison Victor sewing magazine) in a striped jersey knit. The little men were originally drawn by the Belgian surrealist artist Magritte. I had them cut in flock foil by a sewing friend who has a Cameo Silhouette Cutter. The only thing I had to do was iron them on!

Of course the men are Magrittes intellectual property and I would never 'steal' ideas without mentioning their creator. So in the back I added Magritte's signature!

I already have plans for a second item in my Bobo Choses-inspired mini collection, but as you might have seen on Instagram, Facebook or the blog lately, I'm very busy sewing other things right now :-) Together with Katrien, I'll be launching my first sewing pattern next week!!! I'm so excited! More about it on Wednesday!

Pattern: Harley Top - La Maison Victor 

Fabric: striped jersey knit - De Stoffenkamer (sold out)

Lotte Martens & LeChaperon(un)limited (Project Sew It!: May)

Lotte Martens is a Belgian textile designer who prints all her fabrics by hand. I am in love with her work, as you might have noticed :-) I've already made one two three four five dresses in her fabrics! Together with slow fashion company LeChaperon(un)limited she launched a textile box filled with 13 little pieces of fabric. I was so lucky to receive three of them!

Een foto die door withlovebyeva is geplaatst op 7 Mei 2016 om 11:27 PDT

The scraps of fabric in the box range from A3 format to 10x10cm. Measurements and extra information can be found here. The box contains all types of fabric, from quilting cotton to knits to felt and everything in between. I chose two ribbing fabrics (Bask Mint and Bask Rose) and one fake fur (Niyona fake fur). 

I combined the blue ribbing with grey sweater fabric for this simple but sophisticated sweater for my little sister.

The pattern is self drafted, I already used it here. On her demand, I made it a few centimetres wider for a more oversized look.

She was so happy with it! When she woke up and saw I finished her sweater, she immediately put it on and whispered: "Eva, this is the most beautiful thing you've ever sewn!". Seeing the enthusiasm in her eyes gave me a wonderful feeling.

I bet you can even see her happiness on the pictures!

She chose the blue ribbing, so I kept the pink ribbing and the fake fur for myself.

Another grey sweater, but a little less 'plain and simple' than hers. I added white pinkish lace to the front and back panels. The pattern is the Leather Sweater by La Maison Victor. It's actually a children's pattern, but I made the biggest size (16yo) for myself and it fits me perfectly.

I used the fake fur and some piping for the shoulder parts (included in the pattern).

In the back, I added a special detail. An inverted pleat that subtly shows the ribbing.

Two totally different sweaters made using the same fabrics! For more inspiration with these (and other) fabrics, visit Ik ben Vink, Compagnie M, Petrol&Mint, Paspelpoezen, Remi & Henri, StraightGrain, Hilde@Home and De Zuster Van !

In this project I also used my new labels for the first time. I'll tell you more about them next week!

Grey-blue sweater:

- grey sweater fabric: Pauli (brick and mortar shop in Leuven)

- ribbing: Bask Mint in the textile box by Lotte Martens & LeChaperon(un)limited, for sale here

- pattern: self drafted

Grey-pink sweater:

- grey sweater fabric: Pauli (brick and mortar shop in Leuven)

- lace fabric: De Stoffenstraat (brick and mortar shop in Kasterlee)

- ribbing: Bask Rose in the textile box by Lotte Martens & LeChaperon(un)limited, for sale here

- pattern: Leather Sweater - La Maison Victor - size 176

Raglan Sweater

**Uitgebreide Nederlandstalige versie hier**

My best friend is an admirer of my sewing. Every time I make something for myself, I ask him for advice, and he is the first one to show it to. He even likes fabric shopping!

For his birthday, I made him a sweater in the softest fabric I ever felt. I bought it on a stock sale of the Belgian children's brand Strass. When I arrived at the pay desk, there was only one metre of this fabric left. I was so happy to still have a piece!

The pattern is called "Chess Sweater", and it comes from the Belgian sewing magazine La Maison Victor. It can be bought here.

Those sweaters are so quick and easy to sew! Nevertheless, Jan was very happy with his new sweater, and so was I.

Fabric: woven knit, fabric sale Strass
Pattern: Chess Sweater, La Maison Victor jan-feb 2015