Dominique set

 I finished this set a while ago in anticipation of todays birthday party of one special little princess.  Only posting now because we are getting ready to leave for the party, and I did not want to spoil the surprise by blogging the pics in advance.  I'm hoping she and her mom like it.  For the skirt I started out with the FM Venice pattern, adding an underskirt, shirring to CF and CB, and additional ruffles.  The top is an adjusted BizzKids 3103, I had to take in the chest circumference by almost 5cm which I find a lot on a childrens size 6T.  Now it is true that the princess in question is particularly petite and delicate but still.  Fabrics are al 100% cotton, the white is a poplin and the white-with-pink is broderie (eyelet).  All materials UWYH, yay!  

Beertje dress

Inspiration is everywhere... I love to look at details of cute girls clothes in store, and then try to put my own spin on it.  The dress itself is a rather basic two-tone tricot dress with three quarter sleeves and a boat neck.  I built it from a basic fitted t-shirt pattern. The dress is supposed to be form fitting but not super tight.  Different fabrics make a whole different looking dress each time.  This one is in Stenzo fabrics.  DD is happy with it, see last pic.  I´m on to the next as these type of clothes get most wear mileage with my girls.  Comfy clothes that look dressy.

Jump rope dress

She surely does not look too happy with this one... Could be the mood of the moment, let´s hope so.  I think this dress is totally cute.  It has a nice fitted style, simple and sophisticated at the same time.  Fabric from stash, a cotton bamboo blend chambray.  The pattern is the Jump Rope Dress by Oliver + S, until recently darn difficult to find because it was OOP.  Until Ms Gibson made it available for download through her website for $9.95, a link is here.  I highly recommend this pattern. Any of her patterns, really.  Each one is like taking a mini sewing class.  For a new generation self taught seamstress like myself who finds answers on ´´how to´´ mostly on YouTube, reading proper sewing instructions can be a real treat.  For instance by making the Sunday Brunch jacket, I learned a lot about neatly finished interfacing which technique I since then have applied to other projects, like the velvet blazer blogged about earlier.  Can´t recommend the Oliver+S brand enough.

Bluuuuuuuuue Velvet (Blazer)

I purchased this too adorable basic woolen skirt by Bengh, picture here.  Yes I know this is a basic skirt but I just loved the sassy color and the sassy grown up style for my 5 year old.  Mind you, I purchased 134-140 size which is at least two sizes bigger than I usually buy, so beware for the odd sizing this brand sometimes has.  There was a beautiful velour blazer jacket in either a kit color or a dark blue too, click here if you want to see it.  List price of the jacket was 129,- EUR, and sold out before ever going on sale (at least in the size I needed).  Ugh,  and unbelievable.  So.  What else could I do?

The pattern I used can be purchased here.  I made an adjustment to the backside to add the bow decoration and added an inverted pleat to CB.  I also faked the flap style hidden pockets.  This is a kids blazer after all.  I sewed a sz 116 (US 6) with half an inch of additional length to the bodice and the sleeves, my idiot proof approach to make any commercial pattern a more slim fitting style.  With such small additions I usually don´t bother to slash the pattern at the waist and add the length there.  Except for OIiver + S patterns I do this to all commercial patterns I use. But of course it depends on the body type of your child.  I used a fabric from my stash, a royal blue poly/cotton velvet from the remnant bin picked up years ago on a closeout sale.  It has a very short pole, which I suspect is the reason it sewed up like a dream.  Other velvets I have sewn before (100% cotton, or silk-rayon blend) all tended to walk away from the presser foot, leaving me with a frenzy of puckers. 

To complete the outfit I bought this top, the bow of which you can see in the pics. All in all, I am very pleased with the result.  DH´s comment was hilarious, his first one was ´´she looks like a tiny KLM flight attendant´´. What do you think?

Gold Star Dress and velvet leggings

I saw this dress by Bengh that I really really like a lot. It´s a jersey dress with a slim fit and three quarter length sleeves with a ruffle. A nice, basic, comfy dres for little girls. What makes it so special is the fabric: a grey jersey with big blue (or red or green, they come in different colors) dots. They remind me of christmas ornaments!   

All said and done, the dress is quite expensive (the whole brand is quite expensive) and were it not for the exclusive special fabric, the simple model is IMHO not worth the hefty tag. Liking the style, I wanted to make someting similar. I drafted a pattern using my favorite t/shirt pattern, the Ottobre slim fit tee pattern (Creative Workshop 301) in sz 122 and elongated it by about 15 cm plus hem. I widened the neckline by 1.5cm on each shoulder as most Bengh tops have a bit of a boat neck. Didn´t want to make it too wide though or it will look weird on skinny little girls necks. So far it was easy. What fabric would give the same holiday atmosphere, and would have the same vintage feel as Bengh. I settled on cutting up and old sweatshirt dress of myself, because it has a nice grayish jeans blue color, plus for the true vintage feel, was already worn in pretty well. I carefully cut up the dress on the seam lines, ironed the parts, and got out my magic little pot of gold (fabric paint, that is). I painted stars on each panel until I ran out of paint, too bad because I was on a gold star mission, could´ve gone on for hours haha. Sewed up the dress, made a little backside pocket using the old kangaroo pocket from the front. Was pondering to add a bow at side of the neckline but did not have the right fabric to sew one, and a ribbon bow looked too flimsy. So no bow. Then to stay somewhat true to the brand inspiring it all, I sewed up a pair of dark blue velvet leggings. We had to toss which girl got to wear the outfit first today, even my pants-only girl likes it that much. ´´Yeah it´s a dress but it doesn´t matter ´coz it has gold STARS!!!´´ Don´t you just love it when your goodies are received in such cheerful manner!

Preppy girls blouse

Peter Pan collars are super hot in womens fashion for this season, but for young girls this style never ever has  been out of fashion.  Never will either I suspect.  I drafted a pattern using bits of everything, for instance the shirred back panel comes from an old Ottobre.  Pretty pleased with the end result.    

The fabric is a gorgeous quality cotton poplin, in a pale blue with cream, brown and medium blue dots.   And tiny Mickey Mouse figures. I suspect this is fabric overrun from Donaldson, I bought it in Belgium for 3 euro per meter. The blouse goes really well with the Oliver+S skirt from last post by the way.

The bad new is, Ms Pfaff threw a hissy fit when it was buttonhole time.  At least ten messed up buttonholes and much cursing further, I got my old Elna from the attic and finished the blouse with her. Ms Pfaff is now being serviced by the dealer.  Apparently there is a problem with the fabric transport.  When making buttonholes, the fabric tend to bulk up under the pressure foot making a big tangled mess.  Also, the two ´´caterpillars´´ sew up unevenly.  If anyone who has the same machine recognizes this please let me know how you solved it.  I have a Quilt Expression 4.0.  Thanks!

Oliver+S boucle skirt and cache coeur shirt

It´s been a while since I last made something, but this adult fabric combination was just begging to be made into a smart outfit for my now 5 year old.  The skirt is the Oliver+S Sunday Brunch skirt which has a small kick pleat in the back as well as elastic in the back part of the waistband.  I ran a double row of stitches along the seam and carefully removed the extra fibers so the hem has a fringed edge.    The shirt is made from a basic tee of which I adjusted the front pattern part into a crossover style.  *You basically draw a full front panel instead of one half only by mirroring the typical shirt front against center front over to the other side. Then comes the fun bit, adjusting it.  I scooped out the neckline at the shoulder a bit (about half an inch - don't forget to adjust the shoulder of the back panel to match), and then drew a slightly scooped line to the opposite side seam. 

 
Cut 2, and attach the shoulders to the back panel.  Then, cut a 2 inch wide strip of fabric, fold lengthwise wrong sides together, iron, serge together, and use this strip to finish the neckline.   The top half is straight, the bottom half of the front is ruched at the side seams - I added about 3 inches of extra length to the front pattern pieces for that.  I realised when it was finished I had to stitch the wrapover part closed as otherwise it would be gaping on a childs chest.  That then insipred me to the tiny velvet bow with the small MOP heart on center front.   DD likes it a lot and insist on wearing it today so I have to go now because I need to dig out dark blue tights and a dark blue cardi since it's just above freezing point today! What are you sewing today?