A last summer outfit

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The Belgian fabrics brand See You At Six just launched their second collection, a mix of cotton lawns and sweater knits in beautiful prints. The Australian web shop Maaidesign stocks them all AND she ships internationally! I already bought some french terry to sew an Autumn sweater for myself, but first I want to show you something I made with their previous collection.

A beautiful cotton lawn in copper and rust with which I sewed an easy-peasy gathered skirt.

To match the skirt I sewed a top with a V-neck and flutter sleeves.  I altered the pattern to make the sleeves even wider and I added the V-neck to the back too.

I sewed this outfit back in July when Belgian temperatures were still nice and summery and I wore it so much! Right now the rain is pouring but I can't wait for summer to come back so I can wear this outfit again.

The pictures were taken by my little friend Liv again. She is just 9 years old but her pictures are amazing! I love how she makes me shine.

Stof rokje: Grid Copper, Playtime collection by See You At Six, bought at De Stoffenstraat

Stof topje: beige mêlée sweater fabric and glitter ribbing, both bought at De Stoffenstraat

Pattern skirt: self drafted
Pattern top: Knipmode 

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Moonstone

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A fabric with a dreamy name and a beautiful print, that is Moonstone by Atelier Brunette. I had set myself the goal to use up some of my stash before buying new fabrics, but this one made me fail. It was just so soft that I had bought it before I even had the time to think about it.

To prevent my stash from growing I used it up right away. In the Dutch pattern magazine Knipmode I found a pattern for a flowy blouse, perfect for this lightweight fabric.
 

The fabric was so sheer that I interfaced all seams as I learned from Olga's patterns. For the sleeve hems I used super soft elastic binding.

The only reason why this simple blouse looks so sophisticated is because of the amazing photos. Now guess who took them? A little hint in the picture below:

Not quite what you'd expected, right? My little friend Liv, 9 years old, did all the photography for me.



I set the camera to automatic mode and let her experiment with it. Well, that was not exactly what she wanted. "The light doesn't look good", she told me, "how can I change it?" So I explained my 9-year-old about shutter speed and diaphragm, and told her how to focus manually. She listened carefully and this is what she came up with. Isn't it amazing? This kid and her endless patience ♥



When she grows up, she'll be a photographer, she told me. I bet she'll be a great one.

Fabric: Moonstone Pink, Atelier Brunette, bought at Lanalotta

Pattern: Top 25, Knipmode december 2013, size 36

Photographer: Liv 

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A Nani Iro blouse

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I bet you all know Nani Iro. If you don't, definitely check out their website, because their fabrics are not only beautiful in colors and prints, but also the softest you have ever felt. They even get softer with every wash, isn't that amazing?

I have several Nani Iro double gauze fabrics in my stash (hadn't used any of them up to now, though. Way too precious to use!)

For this blouse I combined one of their linens (Bed Grass cozy white) with a double gauze (Ori Some blue). Although the linen is less soft than the double gauze, it is so finely woven that I immediately loved it. The blue border that I used for the bottom of my top was printed at both selvages, the white part in between has fine black lines and tiny white flowers printed on it.

The pattern is blouse 129 from Burda 4/2015. It is a very simple model with only three pattern pieces: a front piece, a back piece, and a sleeve insert. 

Both fabrics were ordered online at Julija's shop, a Belgian webshop and brick-and-mortar store with a large selection of Nani Iro and Liberty fabrics. If you happen to be in Antwerp once, it's definitely worth a visit!

My best friend Jan made me these cute little earrings for my birthday. He broke some teacups into pieces, softened the edges and made a little hole in them so that he could pull a ring through. They match my blouse perfectly!

This is the first crop top I have ever made. A few years ago I would have never dared to wear something like this, but being ill for 1.5 years I lost so much weight that I thought it was appropriate to wear a crop top now. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, right? 

Main fabric: Bed Grass Cozy linnen - Nani Iro - bij Julija's shop

Sleeve insert fabric: Ori Some double gauze - Nani Iro - bij Julija's shop

Pattern: blouse 29 - Burda 4/2015

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