Cheetah jacket

** Voor Nederlands, klik hier **

When Warre was born I made him this little jacket in a size 3mo. He wore it until he was about 7 months old and even the top button didn't close anymore. 

Time for a replacement! This time I opted for the biggest size available in the One to Hug pattern: size 18mo. Still some room for growth, but already way too cute!

The fabric is a french terry summer sweat by About Blue Fabrics, designed by Belgian Illustrator Eva Mouton. 

I had planned to sew piping all around the jacket, but somehow I managed to buy just 10cm less than needed for that. Instead I topstitched with a decorative stitch and used the piping only for the hood.

The best part of the One to Hug pattern is that it is reversible. The other side is a striped summer sweat by Nosh Organics that I won in the Compagnie M. contest.  

Straightaway from size 3mo to size 18mo. This cutie is growing so fast!

Outer fabric: Cheetah's by Eva Mouton for About Blue Fabrics

Inner fabric: stripes by Nosh Organics

Pattern: One to Hug, size 86

Model: Warre, 1 year and 4 months old

BewarenBewarenBewarenBewarenBewarenBewaren

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)

One to Hug

One to Hug is the name of a baby jacket designed by Riet from the Belgian pattern shop Mind the Whale. It comes in sizes 0 to 24 months and has different options, like piping, pockets, teddy bear ears and several designs for the hood.

The fabric was gifted to me by the new Belgian webshop Jongens Toch!, a shop that specialises itself in fabrics for boys.  I chose this beautiful quality wool to sew a One to Hug-jacket in size 1 month for baby Warre. Isn't he extremely cute?

The colors reminded me of Winnie the Pooh's Tigger, so the decision to add ears was easily made.

The jacket is still too big on him, although he is five weeks old now. But I'm sure he'll grow into it very fast!

The pattern only exists in Dutch, but it isn't that difficult to sew and it comes with lot's of clear pictures explaining every step in detail. It can be bought as an e-book here!

Since the weather man forecasted cold weather for the next weeks, I fully lined the woolen jacket with sweater fabric. Warre won't be cold if it's freezing outside. But in the cozy living room the jacket was a little hot for him, which he clearly expressed in his baby language :-)

Me and my Nikon had a great time visiting this love family. The picture below already shows a little glimpse of the dresses I made for his bigger sisters. More pictures on Wednesday, stay tuned!

I don't know whether they ship outside Belgium but if you want to order at the Jongens Toch! shop the code withlovebyeva gives you 10% off!

Outer fabric: orange and blue wool @ Jongens Toch!

Lining: dark blue sweater fabric @Pauli

Piping and buttons: @Veritas

Pattern: One to Hug babyjacket @ Mind the Whale

Bomberjack

**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 **

I don't know about the rest of the world, but Belgian clothing brands seemed to feel a special love for pineapples last summer. At a certain moment, they were everywhere. I was trying to stand strong, trying not to buy any pineapple fabric, but I collapsed after seeing this sweater. In the blink of an eye, I had ordered some grey sweat fabric at  Petite Couture.

The sweat fabric turned out to be very thick and warm, so I decided to sew a bomberjack with it that could be worn as a jacket in Fall and as a sweater in Winter. I chose a pattern from the Dutch sewing magazine Knippie. For the sleeves, I paired my pineapple fabric with the plain grey version of the same fabric.

A little bling bling now and then makes a girl happy, so I altered the pattern a little to create add golden piping at the shoulders and in the back. I also topstitched all seams with a golden thread.

I don't like zippers closing near my neck, but in order to keep warm, a long zipper was necessary. I added a wind stopper that gives extra warmth and folds around the top of the zipper to keep everything soft and nice over there.

After finishing it, I was a little disappointed. Although I had used a children's pattern (size 14), the jacket was way too big for me. My best friend said: "Eva, you look pregnant with it!" Uuhm, that was not what I meant to suggest! I took away 2 centimetres at the sides and added darts in the back.

The result is wearable, although I'm not entirely satisfied. Due to the alterations I made, the inside of the jacket is not perfect anymore, and I think it still looks a little big on me. But it's comfortable and soft, so I'm happy!

Fabric: A nana's grey sweater - Aime Comme Marie - ooit bij Petite Couture

Pattern: model 30 - Knippie 2/2015 - maat 164

Compagnie M. - contest 2015: A Parisian girl in the woods

*Uitgebreidere Nederlandstalige versie hier*

Normally, I do not like competitions at all. Maybe my lack of talent in almost every sport has something to do with that :) But when I heard about the Compagnie M. - contest, I immediately knew I wanted to take part!

My aim was to design a pattern for myself, mixing elements from different children's dresses by Compagnie M. I ended up with:

- Lotta's folded collar

- Ileana's raglan sleeves, which I lengthened to Louisa-length. I added some golden piping.

- For the basis of the dress, I used Louisa. I have liked the special lines ever since it was released, and used yellow satin piping to draw the attention to them.

- mustard yellow, thé real Compagnie M.-colour!

To be unique, I also added a 'With Love - by Eva'-element. I added a contrasting part to the pocket part, in beautiful handprinted fabric by Lotte Martens. The quality is amazing, just like the beauty of the golden flowers. Because they are handprinted, every panel is slightly different and therefore unique!

Ileana, Lousia, Lotta and Eva combined, look like ... this!

For the cape, I used the Ileana skirt as a basis. I changed the shoulderline using the raglansleeve-pattern piece. I cut the front piece to add armholes ...

... and the back piece to add a little more of the beautiful flowers!

I had planned a button placket and a peter pan collar, just like the original Ileana pattern has. But in the end, it turned out better with an asymmetrical closure. So, I used the fabric I had bought for the collar to make a little scarf!

I hope this entry will charm the you and the jury :) Until the 3rd of November, you can vote here by clicking the little heart in the upper right corner of the blog post. Lots of beautiful creations were uploaded, so make sure to have a look at the others! One vote per creation per computer, so you have the opportunity to vote for all of your favorites!

Fabric for dress: thin grey wool by Prada

Fabric for pleated parts in dress and cape: Nivalis katoen - handprinted by Lotte Martens - for sale at Bambiblauw and de Stoffenkamer

Fabric for dress lining: Sketch Gold - Timeless Treasures

Fabric for cape: grey wool

Fabric for scarf: white teddy fleece with golden sparkles