Striped Jumpsuit

COFFEE and THREAD 2017 TOUR

Today I finally get to show you what I made for the Coffee and Thread 2017 Tour. It has been an amazing two weeks, I’m seriously blown away by all the gorgeous outfits I’ve seen and I’m hoping you like my crazy idea too. 😀 Rock Vibes anyone? 😉

A couple of months ago my friend Olga asked me to be part on her 2017 tour and I jumped in immediately; I’ve always loved her patterns and they are great quality so it was a no brainer. I had some trouble deciding on what to make… I just wasn’t able to choose and I’m the worst procrastinator ever so, I always end up doing things on the last minute. I wanted to make an Antalya dress for M, this one is among my favorite projects to date or a Mulberry Tunic turned dress in sweatshirt fabric. But then another idea started forming and being a bit obsessive like I am I just had to try it.

The Polina Dress is the most recent pattern from Coffee and Thread and if you have kids who love beautiful girly dresses then look no further, this one is perfection. However my sweet girl isn’t very interested in dresses lately so she immediately turned down the idea of having a Polina. Good thing my youngest still loves twirly dresses with all her heart heheh 😉 Anyway, that was when I thought about mixing the Polina bodice with the Wild and Free Lounge Pants and yes, you guessed it, I made another jumpsuit.

I knew exactly what I wanted to make but as I progressed I started second guessing myself, all the way until finishing it and seeing the excitement on my girls face. I chose this striped jersey from NOSH Organics, which is just the perfect thing to have around for all sorts of projects. 😀 As soon as I finished the pants I knew I would have a hard time with it, I was getting too much of a Baseball vibe, my husband even told me to tag it with #cubsuniform hahahah. But then again I was also able to see a Bowie/Jagger vibe in them for some reason so I decided to keep going. 😉

Looking back I realized vertical stripes are particularly prone to weirdness on the front and back crotch seams, I will take that into account next time I make something like this hahaha M. and I laughed so hard when we saw her “behind”, it looks totally weird to say the least LOL, the good part is my girl has a great sense of humor and doesn’t care. 😀 The only thing I changed was adding leg cuffs, I’m kind of kicking myself for not having made a waistband in navy rib, I think it would be a great contrast between the top and the bottom.

I also think I could have made the Polina ruffles in navy, I’m not totally convinced by the way these stripes work. Skipping the lining wasn’t the smartest idea either, I was afraid of bulkiness but I think they should be lined even in knit since they would curl less and look prettier.

I made a few changes to the bodice of the Polina to make this work, changing the closure to the front and cutting the back on fold to make it easier for my girl to dress herself. I couldn’t find the perfect matching blue for the snaps but I’m liking these lighter ones. The pattern has instructions for a lined bodice and since I wasn’t doing it I removed the SA from the neckline and finished it with rib in navy. I didn’t remove the seam allowance from the armholes because I wanted them to hit a bit higher and, since I was working with knits, I knew they would still feel comfortable. I believe I could have added a bit of length to the center front just too, well I know all the tricks for next time, Its fair to say this should have been my muslin and not the final tour thing, but you know me right? hehehe

Gahh not sure why all the close up photos I took have that annoying “wave” on the fabric that makes it look like the stripes aren’t matching but I promise they are. ahahah Maybe that top snap is responsible for it… grrr The things that bother me these days… Well crooked things always bothered me to be fair, you should see me freakin out when I found crooked lines on technical drawings… not pretty hahahah (and I’m talking about deviations in the 0.0000001 order so you can say I’m a freak LOL I would spend hours correcting them because there was no way I would work on a file with that crap… ahhh good times, sometimes I miss technical drawings, but don’t get me wrong there’s nothing else I miss about working as an architect blah sewing is much much better). Anyway totally digressed here… Lets stick to the plan shall we? 😉

For the pockets I decided to cut the stripes horizontally, I cut the top pocket bag from white jersey so that the stripes weren’t visible on the outside. Its a rare thing but sometimes I think before I act hahahah 😀

Man I’m super biased but she’s super cool heheh 😉 I secretly hope she forms a band someday, but I know we shouldn’t impose our own failed dreams on our kids… I’ll behave, promise. hahah I made a size 7 for both the Wild and Free pants and the Polina, the fit is great with a bit of room to grow length wise, she’s only 119cm and size 7 is for 122cm.

Bottom line I’m very happy with this mashup and most importantly so is the girl. Olga’s patterns are such great quality and she has gorgeous designs that always inspire me, I’m grateful for being able to be part of this tour along with all the amazingly talented makers. Don’t forget that there’s a giveaway with a fantastic prize going on, just follow this link: a Rafflecopter giveaway

I’m pretty sure you’ve been following this super cool tour but just in case, here’s a list with all the participants, be sure to check things out, so inspiring. ❤

April 3 Enjoyful Makes || Idle Sunshine || ZowieZo Handmade || Angie Burgett

April 4 Handmade Frenzy || Replicate Then Deviate || Fairies, Bubbles & Co || Coral + Co April 5 Made By Sara || Naeh-Connection || The Bag of Unexpected || Circle Meets Line April 6 Skirt Fixation || Sewing Like Mad || Hello Holli || Buzzmills || April 7 Little Cumquat || Thread Bear Garments || Pearl Berry Lane || Plus 2 is 5 || Sew Chibi April 10 Stahlarbeit || Knee Socks and Goldilocks || Bonnie and Lottie || Sew Sophielynn April 11 Mouse House Creations || While She is Sleeping || Mix it Make it || By Dagbjort April 12 Gaafmachine || Beletoile || LBG Studio || My Cozy Co  || As It Seams April 13 Moineau & Petit Pois || Just Add Fabric || Sweeter Than Cupcakes || Frances Suzanne || Sew Liberated April 14 Stitched Together || S is for Sewing || Boevenbende || Lafolie Sewing Booth || Sew Pony ||With Love By Eva 

You can check out Coffee and Thread patterns here and NOSH striped jersey here.

“Keep on Rockin in The Free World”

Thanks for stopping by. Hugs! ❤

New favorites

NOSH just launched a new collection and, as usual, I’m dying with all the gorgeousness. Seriously the colors they used are totally in line with what I like to wear, as soon as I saw the new fabrics I was drawn to the big leaves print. Initially I was aiming the blue green (this) ho make a dress (that will probably still happen) but then I thought about making a jumpsuit and I just had to get the Olive one (this) instead. 

The past Summer I bought a jumpsuit from Zara, it was one of the few moments of weakness last year in buying something for myself from “fast fashion brands”… I’m almost achieving my goal of making all the clothes I need but I really loved it and couldn’t help myself, no one is perfect right?! I’ll be wearing it for long because the quality seems good so far, so that makes me feel a little less guilty… Anyway as soon as my eyes crossed those green leaves it just felt like I had to try and copy that jumpsuit; and so I did. 

It’s definitely not perfect because my experience with drafting patterns is almost zero/nada/zilch heheh but the result is totally and absolutely wearable and I’m sure it will be in heavy rotation once it gets warmer. The main reason for me to say it’s far from perfect is the fact that the inner leg seams are twisting to the front in all craziness. I’m not sure if it was a grain problem, “pattern” or sewing but I’ll do my best to discover. 😛

The construction was rather simple and straightforward, apart from the binding that also forms the straps on the top. Seriously I almost gave up on the whole project (no I didn’t but it was close heheheh). I decided to make it in rib knit, also from NOSH (material that I love and used successfully many times before), unfortunately I believe it wasn’t best choice for this particular design since I didn’t want too much elasticity on the straps. Even worse when I topstiched the first time using a regular stitch it stretched out the straps a bit. First take on unpicking the whole thing to make the straps smaller. Sigh… I should have changed, right at that moment, the binding to jersey but I was so fond (and still am) of that contrasting color…

The second time my topstich was so miserable that I just had to unpick it all again. I seem to recall other sessions of partial unpicking, so there may have been some other issues like bobbin thread all tangled up on the first stitches and all those wonderful things that happen to us sewers from time to time; particularly during projects that are already going wrong… not sure why this happens hahaha Ohh the joys of unpicking stretch stitches…!!

Anyway I then (FINALLY) decided to hand baste the binding first and then topstich which worked good enough for me to be able to wear with without shame. Hehehe 😀 In the end I’m happy I sticked to the rib because I really love the contrast.

Ohh I hate the behind photos… heheh

Fit wise I’m happy too, however the top could use some changes, it comes a bit too low on the underarm and has a bit of excess fabric. I think next time I’ll taper it a bit from the waist up. I may even change the top a bit to avoid the thin straps… Ideas… Ideas… For a moment I considered turning this into a pattern but then I remembered I’m not a pattern maker… hahah That little detail… 😀

Ohh boy! How awesome does this pair with my Morris Blazer from last year?!! Totally unplanned but super cool! ❤ (you can see more on that project here)

Well now you now what are my new favorite things: this perfect fabric, super soft as usual in a print that stole my heart; and this jumpsuit which I’ll wear a million times for sure. ❤ You can check out all the new NOSH fabric collection here; Lumo Olive Jersey here and Rib knit here.

Thanks for stopping by! Hugs! ❤

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The fabric I used in this post was given to me by NOSH, but all the opinions are my own.

Project Sew It – March

Spring has arrived and I can’t think of anything else but warm sunny days. Unfortunately someone forgot to tell Mother Nature because its super cold, windy, and rainy here in Lisbon… sigh Nevertheless I’ve set my brain to spring/summer sewing so my March Project Sew It make is definitely in tune.

This month the theme was Pants, which was scary because up until now I only had made one pair for myself (you can see them here). I quickly decided I wanted to try a Japanese pattern from the book “Clean and Natural”; ever since I got the book I wanted to try them in some sort of stable knit and as soon as I saw this gorgeous blue flamé jersey from NOSH (available here) I knew it was meant to be. You can see a review of this book over at Japanese Sewing Patterns (here).

As per my measurements I choose size L, with no changes apart from adding 2cm in length; I quickly realised I could have sized down but I still like this relaxed fit and I’ll wear them plenty for sure. They’re similar in style to the ones I made from Named, except they have less fabric on the front which I like. Since I was making them in knit I changed a few things construction wise but the final result is pretty much the same thing. 🙂 I’m super in love with this color, I think I have enough left for a sleeveless top, maybe mixed with some off white flame from my stash… ohh ideas ideas, I need more time or maybe less procrastination. Heheh

It seems I should have pressed better that center seam before taking photos, that weird shade… whatever LOL looking at this makes me think that maybe I shouldn’t size down after all. 😀

As I was thinking on what to wear with the pants to take these photos I remembered this top, made back in January, that I had only shared on IG. Gosh I’m digging this outfit, totally random match because it didn’t cross my mind when making the pants but I think the two pieces really work good together.

This is from a previous photoshoot, I figured there was no point in making another post for this top. 🙂

It’s a free pattern from Nani Iro, well it’s actually measurements for you to draft but I promise it’s super easy and totally worth it if you’re into this style; it only comes in one size but I believe it’s pretty easy to adjust.

The only thing I changed was the knit binding on the neckline, which is one of my current favourite things. It’s easy to make and to put on, double win! 😀 Fabric wise I choose a rayon something off cut from my local fabric shop, with a kind of ethnic print, it’s super flowy and I really love the colours.

And that’s it, so far I’m really sticking to my Project Sew It commitment, so much that I just finished a second pair of pants, actually it’s a jumpsuit, in similar style but more fitted, stay tuned. 😉  You can check out NOSH fabrics here; a great selection of Japanese sewing books here and the Free Nani Iro top pattern here.
Thanks for stopping by. Hugs! ❤