Tuesday, May 27, 2014

The Persimmon Dress by Willow & Co / Mouse House Creations.



I am continuing my journey through all the Willow & Co patterns with the Persimmon Dress designed by the lovely Hayley, Mouse House Creations.


The pattern is a perfect summer dress or tunic with tie bands as straps, pleats to add volume, an optional bottom/side ruffle plus some cool pockets.


This fabric.....oh, this fabric. You know I am obsessed with small flower prints. I think I bought it at Fabric Mart. The stripe cotton shirting is from Mood.


A closer look at those pleats. And Wilma's tiny front teeth, ha. One is loose now so I better enjoy the sight of her tiny baby teeth while they last.


The whole thing is a easy and fast sew. Just what you need here in the summer.

And the finished result is obviously also perfect for summer. Just pull it over your kid's head and they are dressed. Peeerfect.

You can buy the pattern HERE.

And check out THIS post on the Willow & Co blog with tons of Persimmon inspiration and information.

Thank you!

Monday, May 19, 2014

Vintage May 2014



I was actually quite surprised to be invited to the great series Vintage May - hosted by the two lovely ladies Jess from Craftiness is not Optional and Kristin from Skirt as Top.
I consider myself having a fairly modern/contemporary style but I certainly do have some vintage elements mixed into my style and I will forever be a shirring and puff sleeve lover, ha.
And being surprised by the invite did not mean that I even for a second considered turning it down.
No, I was certainly honored to be in such good company! Have you checked the posts so far?! Holy smokes....amazing!




The decision to make this dress was sort of a no brainer. I mean duh, the pattern is self-drafted but inspired by a vintage dress (photo below). 

I made the pattern for my spring/summer 2007-collection when I had my women's line in Denmark and it has since been one of my favorite designs (with some help from the vintage dress - thanks vintage dress for being made with 100% polyester so I felt the need to make a new one, ha).





Here is a close up of the neckline. I think this is what you call smock - because it is not made with elastic bobbin thread. My version is shirring and the elastic is pulling the neckline apart - which actually ended up with a design that I like better than the original. It makes it a bit more feminine.

When I start drafting a pattern the design usually takes a few twists and turns before I am finished which for me is all part of the fun. Sometimes things change because of technical difficulties/challenges , other times because of new ideas along the way.


I actually changed a detail for this version. I normal have a Mandarin type of collar like the original but decided to draft a narrow fitted band instead, so it looks like the bias tape from the front goes all the way around. I really like that new little addition.


Here is a closer look of the neckline and front.


I am absolutely obsessed with this French blue/cream stripe cotton from Fabric Mart.
I would probably not have thought of making this dress in this fabric without the Vintage May invitation and I am sooooo happy I did.


This is not the first time I blog about this pattern but it is the first time I am showing a woman's version that I have sewn.

I have made several kids' versions HERE, HEREHERE and HERE.
Both as a shirt dress and shirt. I do also have a woman's version of a shirt but have never showed it on this blog....yet.


Sorry for the above photo but I could not help myself.
My husband walked by when I was editing the photo, did sort of a quick stop and asked "is that you???" 
I did not ask him if that was meant in a good or bad way, no reason the destroy the illusion, right!

Don't forget to hop over to my good friend Celina's blog Petit a Petit and Family. She is also posting for Vintage May today and you do not want to miss it!

Thank you again Jess and Kristin for inviting me!




Thursday, May 15, 2014

The Ash Jumpsuit by Willow & co / Petit a Petit and Family



Ohhhh, today I have one of my new favorite patterns on the blog. The Ash jumpsuit from Willow & Co - designed by my lovely and mega multi talented friend Celina from Petit a Petit and Family.


It might seem a bit overwhelming to sew a jumpsuit - the fit has to be right because otherwise it simply won't work....and guess what? The fit is perfect - roomy yet fitted at the same time. THAT is a hard balance to find so kudos to you Celina.

My girls LOVE their jumpsuits but more about that later.


Even though it might looks slightly complicated there is actually not a single difficult technique involved in this. The hardest part might be to close up the facings/elastic casings and Celina is giving you three choices how to do that in the tutorial - depending on your skill level (or sewing personality, ha).


On Evelyn's jumpsuit I choose to make the facings/elastic casings visible. It does not require any changes to the pattern....just a matter of sewing them right against wrong, instead of right against right. 

The fabric is this very subtle Hello Kitty for Liberty Fabrics. I guess you can call it a parent/child compromise print. The blue cotton voile ties in with the blue flowers on the Liberty print.

The fabric I used for Wilma's is this aaaaamazing (and kind of pricey - around $18) thin, soft cotton denim with a tiny bit of stretch and small white flower print from Hancock Fabrics. The lady at the cutting counter looked at me for a looong time to be sure I really wanted it after she saw the price, ha. And I really did!


There is a little bit more sewing involved than the average garment but it can all be done in a fast tempo. A super fun sewing project actually.

Which was lucky for me because I had to make two right after each other. Something I rarely do. Yeah, I am lazy like that and I get easily bored doing the same things over and over.

Some of you might already have read about this little incident on my Facebook page.
I finished Wilma's size 6 and wanted to try it on Evelyn, who is 4 years old but kind of same size as her sister - except in height of course. So I figured if I one day wanted to make her one I could just shorten the size 6 pattern that I had already traced (yeah, I will do anything to avoid tracing patterns).
BUT what happened next was that Evelyn flat out refused to take the jumpsuit off. Just plain NO! So I literally had to go back to the sewing room, start finding fabrics, cutting and sewing another one. And she is now a very happy bunny....even though she (of course) refused to try the new one on when that was done. Arghhhhh kids!!!! Luckily that did not last long and since photo shoots always involved treats and now also a flat $1 payment she gave in.
 

I give this pattern my warmest recommendations! And so can my girls. They both wore their jumpsuits to preschool and school (with sort of tight t-shirts under) today and when I picked up Evelyn she said: "Mom, everyone was so nice to me today." Oh, that's nice, why was that?" "They all said I looked good in my jumpsuit."
Awwwwwwwwww!

The Willow & Co Glamping Tour is going on at the moment and several of the participants have made this jumpsuits - all with amazing results and rave reviews.
See for yourself:

If you are still a bit scared to make a jumpsuit (even though you really shouldn't), the pattern also have a separate top and pants option....that might be a good place to start. Separates can also be practical for the younger ones. And the result is just as cool. Just look at this post from Heidi & Finn or this from Do Guincho.

You can get your hands on your own Ash Jumpsuit pattern HERE.

Thank you!


Monday, May 5, 2014

The Aster Cardigan + The Clover Shorts by willow & co.


I am going to continue showing you what I have been doing the last couple of months....testing willow & co-patterns. 
Today I am showing you both the Aster Cardigan by LBG Studio and the Clover Shorts by Mouse House Creations.




Both patterns are the fast kind but both with a great and 'finished' looking result. 
The type where you immediately get 10 new ideas for versions when you finished one.
I love those type of patterns (together with the complicated ones, ha).


The Aster Cardigan is made for mid weight knit with limited stretch (around 25-25%).....so types like interlock, French Terry etc are perfect. That makes doing stitches and button holes almost as easy as if you were sewing in woven (phew). 
It has the cutest Peter Pan collar and has an option to add a faux piping as you can see here. The model is cropped and has 3/4 sleeves.....in other words PERFECT to wear with dresses or shorts for a chilly summer day/evening.....OR entering public places anywhere in American where freeze blast temperatures apparently are the only option in summer, (whyyyyyyyyy?) Okay, rant over!


The Clover Shorts have side pockets, front pleats, a cuff, belt loops, elastic waist and options like a waist ruffle and a sash.
These are made from quilting cotton and the fabric was Wilma's choice. I sort of have a love/hate relationship with this fabric but I must say I love how it looks in this model.
I am obviously dying to make some in some color block versions in some thin corduroy, denim etc which is even more my style.
BUT for now I am just happy that Wilma is thrilled with her new shorts. 

BUT do you know what is even MORE exciting than me posting about Aster and Clover? Yeah, I know....that is a tough one to beat, ha.

Do you remember our amazing lookbook? (If not, I am posting it right below.)
Did you also drool over the amazing fabrics that the models were sewn in? 
Well, from today you can buy most of that fabric in our shop. The quantities are extremely limited so hurryyyyyyy. The quality on the other hand is unlimited. I sewed the Lily Fawn and Hawtorne samples for the lookbook and I can honestly say that the fabric is TOP quality and a joy to sew with (and look at!). I can highly recommend it, really!

Here is a link to our SHOP where you of course also can buy all the amazing willow & co patterns including the ones I have showed you today.

Friday, May 2, 2014

The Mulberry Tunic by willow & co/Kid Approved.


Today I have the original version of the Mulberry Tunic from willow & co/Kid Approved on the blog.
You can see my slightly remixed version HERE.
Olga from Kid Approved who designed it, originally made it for boys but it turned out to TOTALLY work for girls too.
The only change I have made here is to pull some elastic through the hem of the sleeve because that always adds an extra girly dimension without having to change anything in the pattern.

 

I had no doubt that I wanted to use the hood option, and the in seam pockets are always popular with my kids too. Sometimes two hands are just not enough compared to all the little things kids wants to drag around. 


 I love the narrow back yoke that screams for color block.


Here are a few shots of the awesome details. The neck seam is beautifully hidden with a binding....AND you can do the stitching for the front placket and neck in one go. I stitched down the in seam pockets and played around with different thread colors. And then I added some playfulness with two colors of snaps to match the dots in the fabric.


And where is the chest pocket you might ask? Ehhhh, I forgot....yup, no fancy design solution or anything like that, I simply forgot to sew it on. 

You can see many more versions of the Mulberry Tunic in THIS post on willow & co's blog. When you are over there please notice how insanely versatile the pattern is. From dress up style to everyday play and school style.

I have so many plans for this pattern.
The next version is definitely going to be remixed into a dress.

And you can buy the pattern HERE.

Thank you!