Animal Print + Easy Tee Raglan Pattern = Match!

For weeks now, I`ve had this great black and white animal print ponte knit in my stash without a clue as what to make of it! I thought it was a great idea when I bought it, and it still was when it arrived. But then I was like: "can I pull of an entire piece with only this animal print? Would that even work?!" So I just put it aside, waiting for the right pattern or idea to come along.
Eventually, I was more and more surtain that it would work just fine if I only could mix in a little neutral in there. Like black! I had a little left from when I made my second Perri Pullowe (not blogged yet. Have to get to it soon.....). It was just enough for 3/4 arms and the neckline+arm lining.

This pattern by the way, is GREAT! Super easy to print and patch up.  And you can make it in a million different ways. Go check out "Its Always Autum".

This is one of those patterns I will make again and again, for shure! The fit is perfect for me! I added a band on the bottom of the shirt so it gives a little extra "hug" around the hips.

Now, do you think the animal print is "to much"? Or just right? :)

DIY on how to make a dress in to a hold-in pencil skirt

We all have it. The Dress. The one that you got just because you had to have it. Maybe because you had been spying on it at the store, stroking it between your fingers. Trying it on even though you know very well you won`t be buying it because it is just a little to expensive. By the way, where would you wear it? On what occasion would it be suitable? Oh.... if only it was on sale. Then at least you could justify buing it.

And then!! On day it happens! It`s on sale, and there`s only one left in youre size! It is faith! OFFCOURSE you buy it! What`s to question?
Weeks and months, maybe even years, go by. How many times have you worn it? ones? twice? Or maybe not at all? Did`nt the right opportunity come by? (I told you so!). Maybe by now you`ve stuffed it in a bag for goodwill. Or youre closet has swalloved it?
Dispear not! Because I have JUST the DIY for you!

You will offcourse need The Dress

Now, follow these steps:

Now, the easiest thing is to use a knit pencil skirt that you allready have, 

and just lay it flat on the dress. If you dont have such a skirt, 

you  can take a look at this tutorial on how to make youre own pattern.
Trace the pattern edges around the exicting skirt, and cut out.
Make sure you have enough seam allowance!

After you have cut the two skirt pieces, staystich the edges.

Try it on to see if it fits. If so, you can now sew permanent stitches.

Now, here is a GREAT tip!

If you are like me and simply love pencil skirts,

but is not quite comfortable with the tummy hugging ordeal, 

then this is something for you! 

I love the look that a pencil skirt gives, and I have envied so many women for it!

But you see, my stomach is bigger then my (really not that big) chest, 

so I have hesitated about this surtain fashion staple.

But fear no more, because I read this suuuuuuper tip over at The Sewing Rabbit. 

Jess Abbott made a genius pencil skirt with a tummy control panel!

How genius is that???

Now, how could I not try that when I first was up to making my very first knit pencil skirt?

I did`nt have any power mash available, but I did have a tight lycra nightie that allso was swalloved

by my closet, and managed to save....

Now you put the "wathever" you want to make the hold-in with,

and lay it over the skirt. 

Now remember you want the hold in skirt to be hugging and tight,

so you cut it in a size or two smaller then the outer skirt.

Cut the lycra a few inches shorter then the outer skirt. You dont want it to show under.

You will need a wide elastic to youre skirts waist.

Try the skirt on and put the elastic around youre waist to figure out

how much you need. Remember to keep it tight.

Sew the ends of the elastic together, and fold it around your pencilskirt,

included the hold in skirt. Pin the elastic on the right side of the skirt. 

Sew it down (again, from the right side).

Et voila!

Look! Hold in!

Hopefully very soon, I can show you a picture with the outfit on.

But I can assure you, the skirt looked like da`bomb! ;)

Now, what do you think? I think I`ll propably get more use of these two 

more than I did the dress in its former state.

I`ll wright about how I made the top in my next post.

Patter testing! The Taking Notes Skirt by Sewing In No Mans Land

Kelly Crawford is the author of the beautyfull blog Sewing In No Mans Land.  My first meeting with her blog was when I discovered the Taking Notes Skirt for girls.

I was in the look-out for an easy but classy skirt patter for my little girl, and this pattern struck my liking.

It might have been the pictures, because they are so fresh and cheerful, but Kellys instructions are very easy to follow, so within a little while I had a lovely skirt for my little twirling girl.

So, when Kelly posted that she was looking for pattern testers to make her pattern even more user friendly and perfect, I did not hesitate to enlist as a pattern tester. She got a lot of requests, and I was one of the lucky ones to review the pattern.

As you might know, a tutorial for the pattern has been out for a long time on her blog, so there are probably a lot of you who all ready know about it and even have made one. I would like to shear some pictures of my results. I will not go in to the details of the sewing, except that it is soooo easy, and everyone can make one!

I made mine out of a quilting weight fabric I had in my stash. I love the flower pattern and the colors.They are so me! I will bring this with me on our family holiday next week!

The skirt is topstitched where ever possible, wich give a great touch of professional sewing.

It allso has nine boxpleats all around the waist. The waiste band gives it all a geat silhouette.

You should all just put away your computers, and wip out this skirt right away, because it really is that simple!

Grainline Studio`s Tiny Pocket tank - without the pocket-

I am continuing my journey against filling the whole in my closet, that I mentioned in my last post.
I simply realized that I have a big lack of comfortable yet fashionable shirts and tops, now that we are safely heading for summer. I have had the Tiny Pocket tank for some weeks now, and desided it was time.
The fabric is bought at Fabric.com. I was quite surprised by it, as I have never sewn whit rayon challis before. I actually bought several types of fabric just so that I could get familiar with the different types of fabric and fibres. And the rayon challis is soooo soft and lightwaight, but still strong and sturdy, whit a nice drape to it. I had only 1 yard, so I had to use it on a project that did not take more then that.

Lets try sitting down first, like I do this aaaall the time. Just chilling on my front stairs. No?...

Ok, lets try standing up..

Is this better? Should I have my hands in my pockets, like this? 

Does that give a good picture of the shirt? NO?

How about now? What if I untuck the shirt? Maybe that will give us a better idea

of the finnished product... 

Now my hands AND my shirt is out. Se what happened?! I gained 10 pounds!...

Lets just take it of and put it on a hanger instead....

Much better! 

If you look closely you see the bias that I used to bind the neckline and armholes. I only had scraps left, but both colours where the same as the shirt fabric, so that went very well. I allso added about 1,2-2 inches on the bottom lenght. I like my shirts whit a little extra length.

The Tiny Pocket Tank is a great basic patter, ment for non-stretch fabric, but I actually made one in a stretch fabric yesterday, and that went very well. But you might want to go down a size.

I can see allready now that this is going to be a pattern for many more tops this summer, along whit my Kirsten Kimono Tee.

Maria Of Denmark Kimono Kirsten Tee

I have noticed a big hole in my closets lately, where there should be nice, fashionable and comfortable t-shirts. Until a few days ago, there really wasnt any. So what do you do? Go shopping? Noooo.... (unless its for fabric, of course) I had been searching on Pinterest for t-shirt patterns, and I came by the Kirsten Kimono Tee by Maria Of Denmark. This is a great pattern, plus its free! Whats not great about that?

The shirt has a very comfortable fit, and NO sew-on arms! There`s only two pattern pieces, + the neck binding of course. Its the perfect base pattern for youre own modifications.
As you can see on the shoulder part, I inserted a contrast fabric of a sheer animal printed chiffon.
Enter: "fashionable"!
Allso, I added a wide cuf-binding on the shoulders, instead of hemming the edges. That added a little length allso.
I am very happy with the results! The Kimono tee has everything I want in a t-shirt. IAnd it allso looks great styled up whit a pair of skinny jeans and heels or boots!

This is definetly something I will make again and again! Thanks Maria for a super pattern!

Have You met Lola?

...she`s all over the web, these days! Infact, It feels like there has been a Lola-invation. I`m just fashionable late to the party. I must admit though, I did`nt reallly notice the dress when I saw it on Victory patterns webshop. I am not shure why, but lets face it! It`s allways a bit more interesting when you se the patterns on "real" people. Am I right?..... (say yes...) A few of my other favourit Lolas were made by Kate who made hers whit the coolest leather pockets, Tillys version was the first one I saw. And then there is Katies version.
All of these versions are so different from each other. Thats how versatile this pattern is!

The Lola dress is allso very comfortable! AND you get to look nice at the same time! Who does`nt want comfortable and nice at the same time?? For me, comfy trumps nice almost any time. But whit the Lola dress, I dont even have to choose. Heck, I`ll even wear this to work! It`s a hacked version of the classic collage sweater, just longer so that you can wear it as a dress. I wear them whit thights and short or high boots.

It has been a couple of weeks since I made this dress, but it was`nt before today that I got someone to catch it on camera. Pluss, we had lovely weather, and that allways helps.

The fabric I bought at Stylishfabric.com . The pattern calles for a knit fabric such as French terry knit or a knit fleece. I bought a french terry, but I was suprised when it arrived, because it was thinner than I imagined it would be. In fact, it was more like a regular jersey knit. BUT, the quality was great and very comfortable, so I was happy whit it.

I have the sun in  my eyes, but ok... I`ll give it a go...

Biiiiig pockets!

Really not bad from the behind, either...

I am quite happy about the results! But be aware, and I read this about an other bloggers version of the Lola allso. The neckline binding is a little big. When my dress was finnished, the neckline was a bit slouchy and shapeless. After a few days I cut it off, shortened it and sewed it back on. And allso, I think I easly could have gone down a size on my regurlar size. This was a size 10. I think....

I really want to make an other one right now!

Red Riding Hood cape

Jepp, thats right! I made a costume piece! *hands up*.
I allways wanted to be the kind of mum who makes her kids costumes, and I did a few times, but nothing fancy schmansy, just the kind of "take something here and ad something there*-kind of costumes. Shaaaameeee.....
But who would have known, that my firs machine sewn, home-made, thoroughly done costume was for my sister? My very grown up (at least her i.d. says so...) sister! But when I think about it, it really doesnt surprise me. Haha...
I should allso ad to the story that she was going to an adult costume party (not the nasty kind, all though, I did hear some stories afterwords...).
She wanted to go as Red Riding Hood, but was missing a long, red cape. So I searched the allmighty Pinterest, and found this great hooded cape pattern at Fleecefun. FOR FREE!
The pattern was a print-at-home pdf, and had three different lenghts. We went for the longest.
This was a really quick fix, as you dont really have to sew the edges when you sew whit fleece, because the edges won`t rip.
I lined the hood whit a "picnic-checkered" pattern in red and white. This really put a great finnishing touch over it. And to close the cape, we added a white silky ribbon.

A late post of my to favourite pieces of me-mades, the Laurel and Beignet

Well, this is awkward..... One of my favourit pieces was finnished almost 5 months ago, and I have`nt blogged about it! (what kind of blogger am I?.... dont answer that....)

I made a second verison of Colette Patterns Laurel dress. My first was this one. It was ok, but not GREAT.
So I wanted to make another one. This time whit the cute ruffled things on the arms.
And allso, I made pockets. A dress neeeeeds pockets! I made them whit a contrast cotton fabric.
I am very impressed whit this dress, as it has a great fit and gives a nice silhouette. I use it to work as well as more special occacions. Simple to style up or down whit different accecories and shoes.
It is the most worn me-made item in my wordrobe.
But I had some fitting issues this time around on the Laurel, since the fabric is a bit more bulkier. And it has some stretch...
So I put in a few extra darts on both the back and on the bust area. Allso the waist got some, and it gave the dress some lovely tucks.

''

Along whit the grey suited Laurel dress, the Beignet skirt, allso from Colette patterns, is allso one of my biggest prides sewing-vise. You can read more of the Beignet here.
These two pieces are both made out of the same fabric. Unfortunately, now I am out.....

The perfect Lady Skater Dress with a twist

By now, I am pretty shure that "everyone" has heard, or even made Kitchy Coo`s famous Lady Skater dress. As usuall I am late to the party... I overthink and over-process the whole thing EVERY TIME I have my mind set to make something. That means hours and hours of Pinteresting for ideas, reading and searching other bloggers thoughts about the pattern, and looking at pictures of the finnished results.

I really liked the pattern and the dress, but I am very self-conscious about my stomach-area (show me a woman who`s not!), therefore I had a problem whit the whole knit-dress-stomach-hugging thing.
ALLSO! I have been wanting a wrap dress since FOREVER! And I thought that the Lady Skater pattern would be perfect for that kind of thing.... I just had to convert the bodice to a wrap... but how?
I am not a fan of self drafting patterns. I am more like the "Hey! A perfect pattern that hundreds of people have allready tried out and aproved"-kind of gal`.
Now that I allready had the LSD-pattern  (wow... did that just spell LSD??...) I needed a pattern that someone else allready had tried out. That`s when I found Sew a straight lines` hacked version of the Lady Skater Dress, altered into a wrap dress! It was a wrap! Litteraly!  Check out here super tutorial on how to make you`re skater dress to a faux wrap dress!

It was all very easy peacy! The Lady Skater is pretty simple to sew up. Could that just be because I got a serger for my birthday a few weeks ago? Hahaha.. It was actually my first project ever on a serger.
A little nerve-wrecked over the fact that I coul cut the fabric on the serger-knife. But It worked out just well.

And now for some pictures...

Such a great pattern calls for a great introduction ;)

Close up on the waist-belt wich I can tie round my waist 2-3 times,

the 3/4 arm-cuff and the bodice wrap. I stitched the pieces together whit 

a few stitches just to avoid my girls falling out...

I am very please whit the results, and it will defenitely not be my last one, since I love wrap dresses.

I personally think that a wrap dress whit a belt like this helps to camuflage the stomach area, and that was eccactly my intension! Mission acomplished.

Have you made Kitchy Coos Lady Skater Dress? What was your verdict? I would love to see pictures:)

My Colette Beignet Skirt

This has been coming for a loooooong time!
Actually, I have tried to make it up for weeks and weeks, actually, months! And finally, it was time!
I think the main reason why I never got around to it was that I had my mine set on making this in a dark blue cord fabric, just like the one Shona has made. I just love it!
But I did`nt have any blue cord, so I had to find something in my stash.
When I went to Oslo before Christmas, I brought home some sort of grey-ish wool-ish knitted suit fabric whit just a hint of horizontal stretch. It is actually quite nice! I made the Laurel dress whit the same fabric.
Unfortunately, I have not blogged it, even though it is like half a year since I made it! *bad blogger*

Aaanywho....
From drafting to cutting to finnished skirt, it took me about 3 weeks. Again, the 1 hour here and 1 hour there-concept. Wery famous for that....

I decided to skip the whole lining, and just interface the inside whit a nice contrasting floral cotton.
After I had cut all the fabric, I suddenly realized that the main fabric has some stretch and the facings has not, so I was very anxious about that. I even made fabric covered buttons, a whole 12 pcs! That is my first time, so I must say that was quite fun, and made a very nice detail on my skirt.
The pockets are the same fabric as the facings, by the way.

I asked my better half to take pictures, outside, during freezing wind. The pictures were quite bad, but it will have to do for now...

I really love my Beignet skirt, it has a great fit and i feel slimming and feminin in it. 

I can se my self whit more Beignet`s in the future

My own designed Pussy Bow Blouse. And a tutorial!

(Furthest down the post you`ll find pictures of my blouse.)

What is you`re first thought when you think of a pussy bow?

After giving it a litte thought, this is what popped up in my head:

But obviously, thats not what we want in a pussy bow blouse...

I decided pretty acutely that I wanted, no, infact needed a pussy bow blouse. 

I had seen them around for quite som time, but whit just like my new Laurel Dress, it did`nt feel right to me.

But our minds works in mysterious ways, `cause suddenly I was convinced!

So I startet to trace pictures on Pinterest, and the options are allmost countless. I knew I had to find some great inspirational pictures, because I did`nt have any patterns available. 

These pictures from Salme Patterns here and Tilly And The Buttons here are the pictures closest to what I wanted. 

Since I`ve recently made Colette Patterns Laurel Dress, and I was familiar to the arm-pattern there, I used The Laurel patterns as a start for the bodice and arms.

My inspirational board.

Now, in my search for "How to make a pussy bow blouse-tutorial", the results were poor. I mostly used the pictures I have over my sewing machine. It was very forward really, but at the same time I felt like I needed a little assistens. But mostly I was on my own. I sort of figured it out my self, but for the interest of others in the search of a "How to make a pussy bow blouse-tutorial", I decided to take pictures of the process as I went.

A good start is to find a pattern that you know works as a bodice and arms. The only differens really, is that instead of a collor, you make a long tie to attatch to the neck.

I desided to open the bodice right at the front. If you take a look at Salmes Pussy bow blouse, you se what I mean. Allso I took the idea from Tilly, to ruche the bodice in the front. Like she did here.

Now, to my tutorial (a simple one...):

First I cut two pieces for the "tie". I started measuring from the middle of the neck. Measure all the way to the front. Make shure that you measure close along the neck opening. Then you add the length of the tie (as long as you want it. All in all, mine was about 70 cm long (make two) and about 8 cm wide. Remember to make it long enouch to make a bow, if that is what you want! Mine was just to short...)

Then stitch the two pieces together at their ends, so that you have 2 x 70 cm = 140 cm tie. Match the center of the tie to the center of the neckline, and pin it down. The (terrible lined) red in the picture is were I tried to show you where I pinned mine down. Pin the tie right side facing the right side of the blouse.

Then you stitch it down whit you`re machine.

(But dont stitch all the way to the end of the tie, only around the neclkline!)

When you are done whit the stitching, fold the tie over (double it), and tuck it under once more so that the raw edge is hidden. Pin it down neatly. 

Thats right!

Now, turn you`re work and place it under you`re needle. It is time for some "stitchin` in the ditch". But this time, start out at one end of the tie, while you tuck the raw edges inside, (see picture below)  hiding them. Stitch at the outer edge of the tie, following all the way up to where the neckline starts. Here starts the "stitchin`in the ditch". Make shure you sew down the fold on the backside of the blouse as well. 

Follow the neckline all the way around, and to the other end of the tie.

When you`re finnished, press everything whit you`r iron. 

Thats is! 

And now for my end results:

I must admit, I had a little problem whit the neckline there. It sort of falls back.

Have to adjust that the next time...

See the ruches at the bodice?

The split opening at the neckline.

I really like how it turned out! I must say, this thing whit making my own patterns is fun!