It’s Friday, the man of the house is on holiday tonight, we leave in a week on vacation and this is the complete hysteria here! ❤ I take a micro quiet moment to share you my latest “Scraptastic !” … Juliet’s dressing room has been spoiled this summer. ❤

Remember Whitney dress floral fabric ? It came from Bennytex. And who says Bennytex, says generous yardage… very generous one! Like, you ask for … 1m50 and 1m85 you go with ! After cutting my dress, I still had a lot of fabric, and I decided to re-use one of my favorite dresses from Burda: 639 of the Special Children Edition 2012 (37H).

I had already sewn it last year in a very fluid cotton. After trying it this year, the 104 size was still ok on her, so I took my pattern, and adjusted the length of the skirt to her stature.

It’s a really easy pattern: the bodice is fully lined, you get nice finishes. Not even need to hand-sew the lining, it is top stitched on the waist.

The back is buttoned with pearl buttons that come from La Droguerie.

Conclusion: it’s easy, it’s fast, it fills the dressing and my sweetie is happy … I say banco! Let’s see the Zephyr’s scraps ?

Well here I warn you right now: it’s a fail. I act as usual : I had an idea, I jumped into it … and then thought about it. : D And in that order, necessarily, it does not work. : D But as I am a hopeless optimist, I will try to focus on the positive assessment of this job.

So I had 2m of this scuba, and once my Zephyr cut, I still had some fabric for Juliette. I had in mind a relatively simple dress: a fitted bodice and especially, especially a half circle skirt. Not finding much in my pattern stock I thought about this dress Juliette has since this winter and that fits like a glove:

“Oh okay, huh, go, get out of your comfort zone, try to copy it! It should not be too complicated anyway!”

Except that in trying to go too fast, you make mistakes! One, I forgot to compare the thickness of the knits: scuba is much thicker than the navy knit of her dress. Two, I have only copied the top of the bodice, I drafted the half circle skirt alone … but I forgot to add sewing allowances at the waist sewing line, hence the waist is not that fitted. And three … I cut my neck and armholes bands too large.

WELL, that being said, I’m still glad I tried copying the ready to wear clothes : I wanted it for a long time without daring, and while this first experiment is not successful, I’ll learn from my mistakes.

And beyond all that: Juliet loves it! We quickly forget our sewing problems and the fail feeling when we heard the laughters of a little girl who turns in her dress, right?

(Oh, one day I swear I’ll eat this little cutie. ❤)

And you know what ? He even still had enough to spoil the last born of my dearest friend. ❤

Impossible to not see a short in this tropical fabric, and I just had enough to sew my favorite short pattern, the 140 of June 2014 Burda (already sewn 2 times for Paul).

Ultra simplified here: without seam pockets or back pockets. And I replaced the elastic by a rope and 2 buttonholes.

Cut in the 74cms size, I hope the little Gabriel will love it. Anyway, I put all my love for him and his family. This is what is magical about offers sewn gifts: each point holds so much love! ❤

I wish you a good wk girls, take good care of you. ❤

Sewing has always been my escape. I do not know about you, but in these turbulent times, it became more. When the news are too darks ,when anxiety grips me, I wave my hands, turn my sewing machine on, runing from this crazy world, in favor of a princess cut or a mini hem. And now more than ever, dresses should have dancing skirts, fabrics must have funny prints. Futile without doubt for some, beneficial at least for me. And the dress of today is a little all this at once.

I found this scuba in La Plaine Market, along with Meurmoute and Aurélie. Love at first sight for these tropical flowers: resound in my head “Hawai !” “Elvis!” “Dancing skirt !” … the association with Zephyr was immediate, and I was eager to sew this kind of fabric for the first time.

I have long believed to have dug neoprene, until I read this article of Camille which explains the difference between this material and scuba. My fabric is soft and not ultra thick, I deduced he approached the scuba. Anyway, it’s a nice fabric to work with. I just struggled a bit on the armhole and neckline bands, because of its thickness.

(And for those who asked me the comfort of wearing a fabric such as scuba: we necessarily find the comfort of the mesh that adapts to your movements, but it keeps warm ! D)

About the size, I’m a 38.5 in Deer and Doe. Zephyr seam allowances are 1cm, but I sew knits with the serger, 6mm seam allowances. So I chose the 38 size, fingers crossed for this to work, as on my test Zephyr. And it worked!

Only problem, I do not know why, but I have weird pleats at the shoulders, on the front:

I do not know if the scuba or a bad choice of size is concerned … but anyway, it remains a detail and I will wear this dress anyway.

Zephyr is a very fast and easy pattern. I just had a hard time on the V-neck: you have to really be applied, but nothing insurmountable. This video is very telling if you ever have any difficulty.

Conclusion: loving my test version, I could not wait to sew me a new Zephyr, and not surprisingly, it’s a dress in which I feel really good. What I really like with this pattern is that it is very versatile: here I wear it in stilettos, giving it immediately a classy side. But accompanied by small white tennis, it adapts perfectly to my full time mommy life. I just have to be careful if I bend down! : D

A great week Ladies, take care. ❤❤

After how many successful knittings the OMG feeling evaporates ?? No because, here, it’s kinda hard for me to realize I achieved to knit another wonderful Miette !

And yes, it’s you! One that wanted to give up knitting a thousand times, one whose husband watched half amused half-contrite undo dozens and dozens of rows gently saying “well, you know how to sew, but would you be kind to stop this? It’s not for you…”. Yes it’s you. Proof that valiant heart, nothing is ever impossible!

I definitely think my brain understands better the English knit than the French one, surprising as it may seems. I do not know if it’s the same for the others patterns, but Andi’s are so easy, your work is dictated link by link, no need to think. As I’m used to knit watching TV to relax, this is exactly what suits me. And when the teaching meets the style you love, I want to tell you, Champagne!

Well, seriously, so back to Miette: I need a small cardigan to wear on my summer dresses, in cotton. So I chose the Paris yarn from Drops, Ecru. No problem to knit this yarn: it splits a little when you pick up the stitches, but nothing nasty.

As with the first copy, everything went very well. I just had a problem on the sleeves with the magic loop. After knitted my first sleeve, we can see distended stitches at the junction of the magic loop. Heavy heart, I unraveled my sleeve, looked for a tip, but not find much, just knit very tight at the junction. What I did later:

As you can see, the sleeves still do have some distended stitches, but it is less obvious than on my first sleeve. This was not the case with my first Miette because cotton yarn emphasizes this type of imperfection. Do you have any tips to avoid this kind of mishap?

Edit of my post: following Moineau16’s comment, I bought Hiya Hiya mini circular , 9 inch, but I was unable to knit with, it was too small for me. : D Or you have any good tips here too?

This time I chose the size 38, and the fit is ok. I was so scared to enlarge when blocking, I steamed it with damp cloth (thank you IG girls for your valuable advice!) And it was perfect.

(“Not the moment to button the wrong hole, let’s concentrate !” 😀 )

Speaking of buttons, they come from La Droguerie : they are in light wood, untreated. Exactly what I was looking for this ecru cotton. And I have not forgotten to change the first buttonhole so that it is centered with others!

Conclusion :  if I tell you that a new Andi’s pattern is on my needles, are you surprised? Not me ! ❤ And I already know the next, and the next-next, and the next-next-next … if that’s not kniting love, then I do not know what it is. ❤

A good week-end Girls take care. ❤

As a teenager, I was very complexed by my curves. I remember, I once read an article of tips for curvy ladies, in a women’s magazine. In essence, it said that a curvy lady should have her hair always clean, always perfectly manicured nails, and flawless makeup, just to “compensate” the extra pounds (WTF???). She should also dresses with dark and plain colors, print fabrics weighting silhouette. For a long time I followed those advices, to understand, as an adult, that all this was only a pile of crap: print fabric or not, 0 or 20, a woman is beautiful when she feels beautiful (outside and inside for that matter), and following those tips only generates an unnecessary frustration.

And it seems that I’ve got some time to catch up. 😀

I bumped into this crazy fabric with Gigette in Bennytex last November. It was so gray, so dark, it was raining outside and BAM, these flowers. These dozens of flowers. These bright colors. When we unwraped it, it literally lit up the room, and I immediately saw a summer dress. A beautiful bustier, a dancing skirt, thin straps. The evidence.

In early June, we still had 2 drafting lessons, and I did not want to finish the year without drawing the third version of my basic dress, a summer version this one,that I could wear during heat waves. We started with my second version, and pinned a rep ribbon on the neckline and back, to define its contours, contours which I then reproduced on a new bodice.

15 days separated the two lessons, and I decided to sew a quick muslin of the bodice, to check the fit with my teacher: there were many adjustments to make. Once the bodice was ok, we worked on the skirt.

I wanted a gathered skirt, we drafted it but you will not see it here because the result with this 100% cotton was not flattering. In the end, I used my seam ripper, modified the skirts with my first version’s ones, featuring box pleats, and the result is more successful.

As usual, the bodice is lined with stretch satin and lining is sewn on seams to ensure it stays flat.

The back is finished with an invisible zipper and the hem is sewn with the invisible point of my machine.

One small problem: I think I cut the straps too shorts. But it will not be the most complicated to change for the next one.

Conclusion : I think the above picture sums up what I feel for this dress. Pride already, because I dreamed for a long time of a similar dress, and knowing that I hit my goal, by sewing and drafting it, gives me a great satisfaction. ❤ And also a lot of joy, wearing these colors, these flowers, feeling pretty, feminine and totally agree with what I am inside. ❤ A crazy lady that never feels better than in floral dress with a touch of lipstick! : D

Ps: why Whitney? I had to find an idea to name my dresses, and if there is something I love even more than sewing, is music. I can not live without music, and above all, I can’t sew without music. Each sewing is always associated with a song, an artist. And I sewed this one by re-listening to all the success of Whitney Houston, especially this one.

Just hard to sew AND dance in the same time. 😀 😀 Have a great day Ladies ! ❤❤

It’s been a while right ? Hop hop, get in the bus, let’s go for a Scraptastic Intervention !

Do you remember my Doris dress? Honestly, I did not have much left from this viscose, maybe a 30x30cms double square. I was going to drop the case when I met Juliette’s tearful eyes: you see, pink flowers on pink background … I then began a search in my Burda and found this treasure :

Probably inspired by the fabric very similar to mine : we are on the blouse 135 from Burda April 2015: a beautiful pattern with really charming details.

Basically, the shirt is quite long, and has elasticated hem. Lacking fabric I cut the blouse with what remained of the fabric, and have lengthened it with a gathered white viscose band.

I sewn a rolled hem. Basically, the blouse has 5 ruching on the front: I only sewn  the front one.

The gathered sleeves are so cute : all the edges are finished with bias cut in the fabric, like the buttoned slit. Not very esay peasy with the viscose, but we come to the end. And the result was worth the sweat!

I cut a 110cms size, and the fit is good.

Conclusion : may be one of my favorite kiddos sewings! It was not necessarily easy to achieve but I am proud of the result. It fits like a glove and there is nothing left of my beautiful viscose: mission accomplished! We go on ?

Do you remember, I told you here about a Bombshell cowardly abandoned along the way. This one had to be in pink gingham, and won’t pop up immediately, but his Scraptastic intervention, yes!

For the swimsuit top, I just picked the one from last year : 148 from Burda of June 2012.

Basically, the pattern is designed for woven fabrics: the assembly technique is more perilous with lycra, but it works well. This year I cut a 110cms size, and the fit is good on Juliette.

Oh oh…Little Bro Photobombing… 😀 😀 😀

We go on with the Panty ?

Lacking fabric I could not cut her shorty from last year so I chose the bikini panty 135 from Burda, July 2015.

At the fitting, the result was not happy: there really was an excess of fabric on the crotch. I should have been alerted by the picture in the magazine, which shows that the panty is very wide at this point. So I ripped my wings, redrafted the pattern to make it narrower at this point, and all sewn up.

Well, in the end it goes, but it’s not perfect. I think the problem may also comes from the recommended material: basically, this pattern is intended for woven fabrics, and my lycra is still thicker. But for this summer it’ll be perfect. Cut into a 110cms size there too, and the fit is good!

Conclusion: what else can I tell you except that I find her absolutely irresistible in there. ❤ The pink gingham suits her so well, and for her, do you think, “Mom made me a BIKINI swimsuit!” ❤❤ My mission for next year: find a real swimsuit pattern for little girl with lycra and lining, for she too enjoys beautiful finishes. 😉

To conclude this post, guess who have been interviewed for a French magazine ?

I should have filmed Tom and Juliette faces when they discovered pictures of them in the magazine, it was really too cute. ❤ A beautiful week to all !!!❤