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)

The outside kids and their outside clothes

The month of June was all about final exams at university and not that much about sewing. But as my summer holidays started, I'll make up for that soon! To start with, two easy projects in knits for my neighbor kids.

Lans and Roos play outside all day long, I could hear their little voices scream and laugh while I was studying ;) Comfortable clothes are a necessary ingredient for good play, so I took the Billie shirt pattern by Zonen09 and the Princess Castle dress pattern by Ottobre to make them some comfy play clothes!

Roos is such a happy kid, always singing and telling imaginative stories. The fabric matches her personality so well! 

The dress is still a little long now, but at her growth speed it will be perfect length for their summer vacation.

Her big brother Lans got a Billie shirt by Zonen09. The pattern is great: nice fit, good instructions, and it comes in several languages. Designer Sharon is a friend of mine and she's such a talented lady! Billie offers a lot of options, like raglan sleeves and a V-neck, but I chose to keep it simple. My brain wasn't ready for difficult projects yet, after all the studying ;) 

These two kids know what they want. They chose the fabrics themselves (and I was happy, since those were on the pile "don't remember why I ever bought them") and they were extremely satisfied with the result. So was I!

T-shirt pattern: Billie by Zonen09, size 8yo length 7yo
T-shirt fabric: bought from her (I used 0,5m)
Dress pattern: Princess Castle - Ottobre 4/2013 - size 7yo without seam allowance
Dress fabric: Lillestoff (I used 1m)

Berlin Coat for ladies

I've been wanting to sew a coat for myself ever since I was a beginning seamstress (Five years ago already! Time goes so fast when you're having fun!) But somehow coats frightened me. I sewed up some childrens versions already, but kids don't have those difficult lady-shapes :) So when I started Project Sew It in January, I knew a coat for myself would be on the to sew list for 2016. And here it is! Started in April, finished in June. A Berlin Coat for myself!

Berlin is a pattern by StraightGrain, designed for winter and for kids. The little rebel in me decided to make a summer version for ladies out of it! I chose the biggest size (12yo), skipped the batting and lengthened with 8 centimeters. Omitting the batting created extra space on the inside so I didn't have to widen anything.

I chose for Berlin because I love the lines! I added piping to accentuate them.

In the original pattern the pocket flaps are just decorative. But I like real pockets, so I added some under the flaps. I used a soft voile (leftover from this dress) and a snap for closure.

And now: some details! I added little bows at the sleeves (adopted from the Jackie coat pattern) and lined them with the same voile.

Belgian summers can be quite cold and windy. Therefore I wanted to add some warm details! Invisible, hidden under the sleeves, is a piece of ribbing, which makes it quite impossible for the wind to fly into my sleeves.

The hood is accentuated with some piping and lined with beautiful texture fabric, al leftover I bought from Mieke. 

The original pattern has a box pleat in the back. But the piping I used all around made the pleat 'stand out' a little, so I decided to close it at the bottom. Actually, I prefer this finish over the pleat! 

It's my first ladies coat, and it's far from perfect. The sleeves aren't tight enough for me and the buttons could have been placed better too. I was a little disappointed at first, until my mom told me: "Eva, don't be so hard on yourself. This is your first time, you can't expect it to be perfect. It's beautiful, even with those mistakes. And you can start practicing from now on!" 

She was totally right. Moms are for life lessons. And even with the imperfections, I still like it!

Now I'll wait 'till someone takes me on a citytrip to Berlin. A Berlin Coat in Berlin, wouldn't that be perfect?

Outer fabric: pale pink felt wool

Lining: mini stripes aqua pink - Nosh Organics (won here gewonnen, used here)

Pattern: Berlin coat by StraightGrain - size 11/12 yo

Voile (pockets): Wildfield in Cherry voile - Free Spirit - leftover from this project

Hood inner fabric: bought from Mieke

Scarf: Betty Blush - La Femme Garniture (sold out)

Miss Polly and Miss Liv

As soon as I saw the first version of Miss Polly, I knew she and Liv would become good friends. Two months later I finally managed to sew her a Miss Polly Dress!

Completely Sewpony-inspired: her mom chose the fabric after she saw this dress passing by on Facebook. It's called "vintage kitten" and comes in three qualities: quilting cotton, cotton knit and sweater fabric. Designed by children's fashion brand De Melkbrigade, for sale at Bambiblauw! (I guess they do international shipping. And if you stop by, have a look at the other fabrics designed by De Melkbrigade. I'm completely in love with their Summer Swans!)

At first I didn't really like the colors of the vintage kitten fabric. The black and brown seemed too harsh to me for little girls. But when I combined with light pink and yellow, the colors suddenly lit up. I love the way the design of the pattern gives you the ability to play with different colors!

And Liv, she loves the loose fit of the dress. Perfect for playing!

And have you seen my new labels yet? Previously I used to make my own using a stamp and textile paint, but I like these som much better! They were gifted to me by Nominette.

I'm happy with my new labels, Liv is happy with her new dress. Thank you Nominette and Sewpony! 

Cats fabric: Vintage Kitten - De Melkbrigade & Bambiblauw

Pink fabric: Soft Cactus

Pattern: Miss Polly, Dutch version - Sewpony (size 134) 

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