100% Belgian Style

A few years ago, StraightGrain hosted a series called Kids' Clothes Belgian Style. Bloggers from all over the world participated and re-interpreted designs of our Belgian children's clothes designers.

What I present you today is even more Belgian Style! The fabrics I used for these two dresses are designed and hand printed by Lotte Martens, a Belgian textile designer.  The orange one is a thicker woven fabric, the light pink one is a very soft cotton.

The patterns are Belgian design as well. Do you recognize them?

For Suse (6 years old), I chose the Ileana dress pattern in size 6 and lengthened the bodice to obtain an A-line shaped dress. I made the short raglan sleeves in a furry fabric, like I saw in the winter collection of Belgian designer Anne Kurris.

Suse loves the shoulder detail, she keeps petting the fur and calling it "my kitty".

Her little sister Mona (4 years old) got a Tinny-dress in size 4. I added an improvisational pleating detail in the bodice and accentuated the copper fabric print with some glitter piping.

Both dresses close with a blind zipper in the back and are fully lined. I used one panel of the fabric for each.

I don't think I ever enjoyed a photoshoot this much. My two models were so full of joy!

Belgian fabrics, Belgian patterns, sewn by a Belgian girl and worn by two little Belgian girls: 100% Belgian design!

Suse's dress:

pattern:  Ileana dress by Compagnie M, size 116 (6y)

fabric: Rhodifer - Lotte Martens

Mona's dress:

pattern: Tinny dress by StraightGrain, maat 104 (4y)

fabric: Clarias - Lotte Martens

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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

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

Cocoon Dress for ladies

**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 **

A few months ago, I bought this beautiful Marimekko-style fabric from Mieke's stash. Usually I don't buy fabrics without a clear goal, but I just couldn't resist this one. When I saw the Cocoon Dress pattern by Groovybaby and mama, I knew it would make a perfect match with the sweater fabric.

The pattern comes in sizes 2yo to 12yo and can be bought here. Only a few hours after ordering, the pattern arrived in my mailbox! Since the fit of the dress is quite loose, I didn't have to make a lot of changes for my ladies version. I started from the biggest size, lengthened it and added two little darts. I also altered the sleeves based on her suggestions.

Here in Belgium, university students have two exam periods a year: one in January and one in June. My sewing speed has slowed down a little this month since I was mostly studying, but I found some time for this easy and fast project. Sewing this dress takes less than two hours!

My usual studying outfit consists out of a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. Not very stylish, I admit. However, this dress is so comfortable that I love to wear it while studying, yet it is decent enough for everyday use.

The perfect dress to add some color to a rainy day!

Fabric: bought from Sisko by Mieke
Pattern: Cocoon Dress by Groovybaby and mama (gifted to me by super friendly Trine!), with modifications
Shoes: HIP  @Hippeschoentjes
Knitted cardigan: Boozy cardigan @CKS (AW15/16)
Scarve: Anne Kurris (AW15/16)
Umbrella: Flying Tiger

Little black dress revisited

** Uitgebreide Nederlandstalige versie hier **

On New Year's Eve, I wore this new dress in fabrics I received from the Belgian fabric shop Liesellove. She is having a huge sale right now, check it out!

The pattern was completely self drafted. I designed it together with my best friend Jan. Ready for a little journey around the details?

The front bodice has an asymmetric neckline and consists out of two fabrics: a plain black Ponte di Roma and a printed linen by Echino.

I added a black leather waistband which is asymmetrical as well.

The skirt is a tulip skirt with two box pleats.

The sleeves are just normal short sleeves to which I added a special 'touch' by cutting out two triangles in the front- and the back side. The sleeve on the left is completely black, the sleeve on the right is made up of two different halves (one in black, one printed) to make the print continue.



The back side of the dress is fully black. It consists out of two crescent shaped side panels and closes with two little black buttons. No zipper needed!



The back side of the skirt is the same as the front side. With the pleats, I wanted to create the illusion of a curvy shape.

Sadly, the illusion doesn't work from the side view ;-) Inspired by the Cocoon Dress, I lenghtened the back of the skirt and shortened it in the front.

Combined with the handbag I received from Khadetjes, I was ready for the party!

I wish you all the best for 2016!

Black fabric: Punta di Roma - Liesellove

Waistband fabric: black skai leather - Liesellove

Printed fabric: cotton-linen-blend Black and Natural Geometric Triangles and Birds by Echino (Kokka) - Liesellove

Buttons: Veritas

Pattern: self drafted

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