Project Sew it! - March

My March contribution to Project Sew It was to be a sweater for my brother, or a dress for myself, or even a jacket. But it turned out to be a blouse. My goal for the project was to sew one garment of a self-drafted pattern a month and I hadn't planned to draft a blouse pattern at all. Actually, I had planned this blouse as a quick project. But it turned out a little different.

I flipped through my collection of pattern magazines and chose a blouse pattern in Knipmode's June 2012 edition. According to my measurements I had to cut a size 36 so that's what I did. I sewed it up rather quickly, but it didn't fit at all! It was too big one me, the darts were in the wrong place, and I had chosen the wrong fabric for the collar. As you might have seen on Instagram: a big fiasco! So I tore al pieces apart again and drafted my own blouse pattern. Here it is!

The blouse has bust darts and vertical waist darts to make it fit perfectly. I drew an open Peter Pan collar and added golden piping to it. The puff sleeves are made of an elastic lycra which is a little shine through. I finished them with some elastic bias tape.

The blouse matches perfectly with my new blazer, bought during sales at Hilfiger!

The original blouse was sewn in the beginning of February, but it took me a little time to find the courage to start over again. I finished my final version two weeks ago and had it photographed last weekend, so it was ready for blogging on Tuesday. That day Brussels got hit by two ISIS bombs and the whole country was mourning for a few days. It didn't feel right to publish a blog post then, that's why I'm posting it with a little delay.

I am so lucky that all my friends and family are allright, although some of them were near the airport when the explosions happened. We pray for the families who lost someone, we light candles for peace, we lay flowers, and we keep smiling, because love always wins.

Bird fabric: Atori Black - Echino - @ De Stoffenkamer
Pattern: self drafted, based on model 22 - Knipmode June 2012 

Sew It! challenge: February

My January contribution to Project Sew It! was a last minute project: sewn on the last day of January, blogged on the first day of February. I promised myself to finish my next contribution well on time. Uuhhm... Luckily, February has an extra day this year. This means I am not blogging it on the last day of the month, so I reached my goal!

My plan for 2016 is to sew at least one garment of a self drafted or modified pattern each month. Last month, I made myself a comfy T-shirt with a special back. I am working on a tutorial on how to draw a pattern like this yourself, so stay tuned!

Some more about my contribution for this month. Again, I chose for a top. My closet is full of dresses and skirts but in desperate need of tops to pair with trousers. I started from the Harley Top pattern and modified it until the original pattern is hardly recognizable.

I livened up the back piece by adding a faux zipper with a scrap of bird fabric behind it. Although my mom always tries to close the zipper when she washes the shirt, it's purpose is nothing but decoration.

On both shoulder seams and at the bottom, I stitched some copper bias binding on the knit fabric.

The neckline is the most special part of this top. I folded the fabric until I got to this asymmetrical shape, which I liked. Have you noticed my growing love for asymmetry lately?

I still had a little piece of the bias binding left, from which I made a loop.

The tiny collar, which I made from the wrong side of the fabric, disappears behind the shoulders. The front part has a yoke on the inside.

The beautiful knit fabric is a leftover from the sweater I sewed for my best friend Jan this summer. It is extremely soft, so I was lucky to have just enough of the fabric to make this top for myself. I am very happy with how it turned out. Now, let's think, what shall I sew in March?

Fabric: Strass (Belgian kids fashion label who sell their overstock fabrics)
Bird fabric: Hirondelle - Atelier Brunette 
Pattern: modified Harley Top - La Maison Victor 
Handbag: Ichi

Sew It! challenge: January

**I am not a native speaker, but I try my best to translate my blog posts into English. The original Dutch version can be found here **

Have you heard about Project Sew It yet? I feel so lucky to be part of it. Celina Bailey, blogging at Petit à Petit +family, challenges everyone to set themselves a sewing goal which is slightly out of their comfort zone. Most of the participants have planned to do some more selfish sewing, but since most of my sewing is for myself, I decided to set my aim a little different. My goal is to sew at least one item from a self drafted or self modified pattern. I am not at all a skilled pattern designer, but I love to experiment with sewing patterns.

For my January contribution, I decided to start with an easy project. My closet was in need of some T-shirts, and the beautiful new fabric collection at Bambiblauw inspired me for this one!

I bought one panel of the Snowtiger knit, and I combined it with a plain grey knit for the sleeves.

Drafting a T-shirt pattern wasn't that hard, so I opted for some "special effects". I added some piping at the shoulders. The color of the piping is almost the same as the color of the tiger's nose.

For the back, I cut the pattern in three pieces and combined both fabrics and some more piping. For the shape of the pieces, I was inspired by a volleyball shirt of my sister's. Inspiration is hidden everywhere ;-)

Although it is a very simple garment, I am so happy with it! It is just so comfortable.

What I like most about this shirt, is the tiger fabric. It is so soft and qualitative and the print is beautiful. Unlike most knits, it was really nice to sew with.  The Happy Nature 3 line has four animals (a cat, a fox, a dog and a tiger) who each come in a poplin, a knit and a sweater version. An from StraightGrain made a gorgeous dress for her daughter in the poplin version of this snow tiger panel. And best of all: I heard they also ship to the USA!

Doing a good exam = little present for myself! @bambiblauw @lanalotta #happynature3 #bambiblauw #lanalotta #fabric #sewing

Een foto die door withlovebyeva is geplaatst op 23 Jan 2016 om 1:24 PST

Tiger knit fabric: Happy Nature 3 - Bambiblauw @ LanaLotta

Grey knit fabric: Swafing bij LanaLotta
Piping: LanaLotta