Two Saturday outfits

I've just finished a super colourful top using a pattern from an old NHK crafts magazine and cute cotton from Singapore:

I think it's the first time I've taken pics of this particular pattern but I've made a ton of these, it's such a cool and comfortable design! I love the different lengths at the front and the back and the A-shaped bodice. Normally the sleeves are longer but it is summer now and the shorter the better :) Also there were huge breast pockets on the original version but I didn't put them here because the print is so busy it wouldn't have shown much. And I had to add a front seam because I didn't have enough fabric to cut on the fold:

 Nice topstitching if I may say so myself!

That's my typical summer outfit, a fun, loose top and shorts or a half circle skirt, which brings me to the second part of this post...
... Two Saturdays ago I was invited to a wedding so I made a pistachio green crepe cropped blouse to go with a navy linen Cascade skirt:

So yes, you can tell I'm really into that cropped, hi-lo silhouette aka I get into trends eons after everyone else^^ I'm quite happy with the wedding blouse because the fabric moved a lot and I was surprised I managed to make a neat enough collar as well as a decent button band. But I didn't push my luck and used bias tape for the armholes and hem because I think it's definitely the easiest way of getting an even finish!

Birthday outfit

This year I made a matching crop top and skirt in some beautiful, colourful cotton fabric from Stof!

The pattern for the top is altered from the bodice of my tnt babydoll dress and it closes at the back with wooden buttons:

The gored skirt is a vintage Style pattern that I have already made many times:

I love this fabric so much, I got super inspired when I saw it! At first I wanted to make a sleeveless maxi dress with it but then I knew I wouldn't wear it often, whereas a top and a skirt are more versatile, I can match them with other garments. I'm so happy with the result I can see other ensembles like this one in my future :)

Me Made May 2015

As I said when I wrote my pledge on Zoe's blog, last year I couldn't document my MMM because I was working two jobs - for a few months I was a vet's assistant in addition to giving my usual lessons after office hours and at the weekend. It was a wonderful experience, I LOVE animals so I'd literally fly to work because I knew I'd be with them and the vet and I would do our best to help them!
Unfortunately the doctor is quite old and he has almost retired since the beginning of the year except for emergencies so for now I'm back to teaching only, sigh :(
Anyway, this year I swore I'd wear at least two me-made things everyday, garments and accessories, which shouldn't be too difficult because now my wardrobe is almost completely handmade except for bras and jeans!
So let's start with day 01:

Me-made knit top and cotton skirt from Burda mag patterns, self-drafted handbag and the super cute star earrings were made by my friend Vanessa!

 Day 02:

Self-drafted poplin top, denim shorts from a Japanese pattern, earrings and bracelet made by me :)

Day 03:

Me-made knit tee-shirt copied from an RTW top and cotton shorts from a Japanese pattern.

Swans and zebras

Brace yourselves for an umpteenth version of my favourite babydoll style pattern, this time it's a top with short sleeves made with excellent -and I don't use that word lightly^^- swan printed cotton:

I found it in a local shop, the name on the fabric is Stof and when I looked it up I discovered that it is a 100% French brand! They design prints and make fabrics in their own factory in Loire and yet their prices are very reasonable and the quality is great -you can have more details on their website here .

Naturally I LOVE that print because it features swans that are both adorable and graceful, which cannot be said of all animals:

Dora got crazy when she found that heap of old roots and branches and proceeded to rub herself in it for half an hour^^

I also have another animal printed creation I want to show, it's a low waisted dress I made for my mum using cotton from another local shop but this time it is the Japanese brand Lecien:

It was super simple to make, I took a sleeveless top pattern and added two gathered rectangles for the skirt :)

Best summer dress - sleeveless!

I almost never wear sleeveless clothes because I find my arms very chubby but I think that at nearly 35 years old it's time I got rid of this complex -but I'm totally doing push-ups three times a day to try and limit the damage^^
I decided to start this wardrobe revolution with a trusted and beloved pattern, yes my favourite babydoll dress, so I simply deepened the armholes and neckline a little and got rid of the sleeves naturally :)
I had the perfect fabric for it, a 1 metre coupon of beautiful burnt orange linen that an adorable sales assistant from a local shop gave me because it had a tiny tear in a corner!!

To make this simple design a tad more interesting I added a mock tab with covered buttons on the bodice and I bound the armholes and neckline with self made bias.

Finally for once the pockets are made with the same fabric because any other one would have shown since the fabric is a little see-through!

 

I'm so much into orange these days, to think that I used to hate this colour and now I even want orange shoes and dream of orange hair:

Best summer dress the third

Here's a purple linen version of my current favourite pattern, I made it with 1 metre of fabric as usual -well that's because here in Reunion most fabrics are 150 cm wide^^

I used some chambray remnant for the pockets and flower bias tape to finsh the neckline and sleeves:

There's not much more to say except that I'm super happy with this dress and that I have many other versions to write about :)

White and black

I'm happy I have pics of my black jersey crop top because seeing how often I wear it and wash it I'm afraid it's going to disintegrate soon^^

It's the same design from Female magazine but the fabric is much lighter and softer than the grey knit I used for the other one so it's super super comfortable. The only drawback was that my little Singer machine had a tendency to eat the fabric so I had to put strips of tracing paper under the foot and it worked! Also I couldn't finish the hem and neckline with my usual wide zigzag stitch because the fabric stretched too much so I folded it twice and used a narrow zigzag stitch instead.

As for the shorts they're already from last year! I found them in a Tendances Couture magazine which offers Simplicity patterns to French readers, I thought they looked quite retro with their high waist and flared legs and they didn't require much fabric so it was perfect to finish my beautiful broderie de Calais coupon :)

I lined the broderie pieces with white poplin, basted the two layers together and sewed everything as usual. There's an almost invisible zipper on the side and the waist is finished with a remnant of lilac bias.

I think the two garments work quite well together, the shorts are high enough that my belly won't show and the back curve of the top looks really cool IMO:

Crop top and culottes outfit

So, about that grey knit crop top in my last post, OMG I LOVE that pattern!!! It comes from one of the last Female magazines that were published in 2013:

You can make it with woven fabrics but something told me that it would be too tight with my big arms and that it would look super boxy so I went with knits and it's excellent! You can't really tell from the picture above but it's a hi-lo design with a curved back hem which makes it easier to wear because, well, it is cropped and therefore much shorter than what I'm used to wearing -I lengthened it by 1 inch just in case by the way^^

 

Decent back length -pheeew

And since it's shorter I had to make a bottom that would have a regular or higher waist and still be comfortable and cute if possible. Culottes sounded great but I was a bit disheartened after failing twice with Megan Nielsen's Tania which was much too poofy, short and therefore unpractical for me. A quick internet search and a link to Petit Main Sauvage's impeccable tutorial appeared. Thanks Lauriana, you're a sewing goddess!

And if you're wondering what's happening with my hair I'm trying to emulate my new favorite anime character Jibanyan using Directions pink dye and henna but maybe this is not the best solution^^ Sigh, the road is still long to that perfect orange shade:

Another best summer dress

Well I said I would sew more and since this dress is so quick and easy to make, here's the second version:

I used 1 metre of cotton fabric from the same local shop as my Liberty knock-off one, I think the print is adorable with its stripes and flower bouquets! The pockets are light yellow poplin and I finished the neckline and sleeves with bias tape.
I also made the necklace using beads from an old one from my teenage years -I'm not a hoarder obviously^^- and adding a little chain from my stash:

 I stole this awesome scorpio pendant from my mum.

I hope you're not bored of this design already because I really have several more planned!

The best summer dress!

I'm SO happy with this garment, I think it's my new favorite dress! I used my hacked Japanese top pattern and 1 metre of some Liberty knock off to make it. I didn't know what to do with this fabric and since it was cheap and there's plenty in our local shops I figured it wouldn't be a big loss if my dress test didn't work. Well the result looks super cute IMO and the fabric is so nice to wear, it's light and very soft, the perfect material for our hot summer!
Regarding the pattern this is really a cropped top with a gathered skirt, it retains a little shape thanks to the bust darts but apart from this you pull it over like a tee-shirt and that's it :) I added side pockets for once and I should do so all the time because I feel so cool walking around with my hands tucked in them -even though I got sweaty palms because they're like little saunas when it's 31° Celsius^^
I finished the neckline and sleeves with bias tape and made a simple folded hem for the skirt:

Now I want to make one in madras, another one with polka dots, another one with big pandas on an off-white background, another one with stripes... I need help!

A change will do you good

Today's make fits in the "ugly duckling" category of this blog since never in a million years would I have thought I'd be attracted to a fabric which is black and white -boring!- AND graphic to the point that the print looks like a myriad of tiny soccer balls -ewwwww sports themed clothes:

And yet I LOVE my top, I know I'll wear it all the time, that it will look cool with a big flashy necklace and jeans or tucked in one of my 70's style skirts but I think that this is thanks to the pattern I chose for it. It's the G top from the Sweet Dress Book and it's basically a tee-shirt for woven fabrics so it will give a modern, effortless vibe to the cheesiest prints^^ I like the high neckline, narrow shoulders and perfect little sleeves, the only changes I made from the original pattern were to cut the back on the fold and shorten the length.

So it can be fun to try something a little different, I have so many kitty and flower printed tops that this one is a like a breath of fresh air in my wardrobe!

OWOP day five

That's my last Y for OWOP, I made it a few weeks ago using fabric I found in Spotlight but since I only had 1.2 yards -at first I wanted to make a top with it- I had to squeeze the pattern in there and cut the front on the fold whereas the back bodice has two pieces^^. The dress looks okay but I really thought I wouldn't be able to finish it!

That print is adorable!

I enjoyed this first OWOP but if I do it again I'll choose a pattern with which I have also made tops because in the end I didn't feel like wearing only dresses, even though they don't look alike :) so next time I'll try to make this challenge more versatile!

OWOP day three

Today's Y pattern hack is a maxi dress with side ties, it's made with bright tropical cotton purchased in a local shop:

I love this fabric so much I have it in black, red, yellow and white :)

So I realise that the print might be just a tad loud^^ but it's one of my favourite makes because of its 70's vibe! I added the side ties because I wanted the dress to look more fitted but since it's high-waisted it still has plenty of room which is something I really appreciate :)