It is increasingly rare that I crush on a pattern at its release. After 6 years of sewing, I’v got a lot of patterns. Now I know better my morphology, lines that will suit me and my style that will stick to my personality. And thanks to my drafting lessons, I have the opportunity to sew the dresses of my dreams. So I have less and less loves at first sight when new patterns release.

Well, except with Sew Over It. ❤

Remember last year and and my huge crush on the Vintage Shirt Dress : this spring, Lisa made a real good job and introduced us to the Doris Dress.

Adorable fit and flare dress, with semi-fitted bodice, floaty grown-on sleeves and dancing skirt, made of several panels that nicely flare at the hips.

Since spring, I dream of lightweight fabrics. When I read that this dress was recommended for such fabrics, I did not think more than 15 seconds and ordered the paper version. Exit the to-do list and well scaled projects: like last year, Doris made a strike in my schedule.

Sewing the Vintage Shirt Dress was a real pleasure, this was also the case with Doris: fun and very rewarding process, you end up with a dress with neat finishes.

The bodice is closed by buttons : as the”breastfeeding” page is turned for me, I sewed the front bodices together and opted for covered buttons.

The dress is closed with an invisible zipper on the side…

… and the back is cinched with a bow.

I just made a mistake by choosing the size: as the Vintage Shirt Dress fits me perfectly in size 8, I have not thought and opted here for the same size. HUGE MISTAKE.

And yes, this dress has taught me to always look at the finished garment measurements when they are indicated. And clearly here, it was reported that Doris is more fitted than the Vintage Shirt Dress. So I still fit it, but I’m not enjoying the ease at the waist offered by Doris when we chose the right size.

I chose the short version, and indeed, it is very short, so I sewn a rolled hem.

I therefore will avoid wearing Doris on windy days. (Ok every two days when you live Marseille. D)

I used a crepe found in “La Plaine” market last few weeks, and that is perfect for this project: fluid, light, with a good drape and non-transparent.

Conclusion : I think we need to find a name for the syndrome of “Oh my God I love this dress this is my new favorite dress of all time,” I feel after every project. : D This, you think, is no exception to the rule, and there will obviously be other versions. But in size 10 and with longer skirts! : D

A great weekend Ladies ! ❤

Believe me, this project has taken many detours before existing. But we must believe that when a fabric is destined for a pattern, the universe conspires to get satisfaction!

Well I’ll be honest with you, when I found out the technical design of Lupin when testing with Deer and Doe, I had two reactions. The first was: “oh man, a lined jacket, will have to roll up our sleeves and work!”. quickly followed by “worse this ultra modern line … it’s not my style, what am I going to do with this one !”. But again, I was stuck on the line. : D

First on the difficulty: it is a lined jacket certainly, but very simple to make. Sewing is fun for a very clean result. I really recommend this jacket to any beginner.

And on the style: I realized my test version in a beautiful mint cashmere (lined with Liberty), and I really thought it would stay in the dressing. And yet, in the spring, it was on my back and never left me since. I discovered Lupin goes well with my vintage dresses, imbuing them with a bit of modernity. The only downside that I could fault was on its length: too long to wear with my fit and flare dresses. It is quite portable, but not so flattering for my taste.

For several seasons I need a cream short jacket. At the last Agnès B sale in February, I found this crazy fabric: a cream woven, covered with sequins, with a nice draped. I only bought 1m, thinking it would be enought for a jacket. But that was before falling in love with Lupin and realized that this yardage would be insufficient. And even with my shortened version of 7cms, all my pieces do not fit. Death in the soul, looking for other patterns… without much conviction. And…

… I came across this project on Thread and Needles: but of course, for the back yoke, I do not need to cut 2 times in my main fabric! Once is enough! And with a remaining cream crepe, all my pieces entered my cutting plane (size 38), and I was able to cut the Lupin of my dreams. (EPEC thank you!)

But before loving it, I had to sew it, and between the ULTRA FRAGILE cream fabric which unraveled without stopping and the ULTRA SLIPPERY satin lining, I suffered. But if you knew how I love this jacket!

I quite modified the pattern: besides shortening it of 7cms, I did not sew the shoulder straps, and welt pockets. The fabric making everything, simplification of the model was necessary. I also had to shorten the sleeves, too longs for me: instead of modify the sleeve, I chose to remove the sleeves bracelets  and simply sewn the outer and inner sleeves like a double coat. I love the style of the jacket with the sleeves rolled up!

I also wanted to be close: I added a pearly snap on the belt, as Camille did.

Funny how a simple touch radically changes the style of the jacket, making it very versatile !

Conclusion : I’m delighted to finally have sewn this little cream jacket, which will become my best friend in half season. I was afraid that the sequins would be too much, but in the end and when trying it, I had the same revelation as with my Japanese dress: it’s not “too much” … that’s just me ! Sequins to brighten the spring days, this is exactly what I imagined, and I’m not unhappy to have followed my instinct. 😉

Have a great week Ladies ! ❤

One of my sewing motto : always use my fabrics as much as I can. So I’m gonna show what I’ve done with my last sewing projects scraps !

So let’s start chronologically with the scraps from my Coco Dress: all I had was a square of 30cms x 30cms, cut twice. As the cotton voile was really fluid and light, I thought a tank top, finished with bias, might be a good idea. And as usual, Burda saved my life !

Here is the top 144 from the French edition of July 2013 : the pattern starting a size above Juliette’s one and intended for knit fabrics, the result was not really guaranteed. But with scraps I did not risk much!

But as you can see, it works ! I chose some bias from “la Droguerie”, the thinniest I could find. And the side seams are French ones.

Conclusion: fast, easy and furthermore we work on our bias sewing…what more could we ask !

We go on with the Belladone scraps ?

Think I’ve got a new OCD : Easter> Belladone > scraps> Mini Perle ! Okay I must confess, I’m crazy in love with this pattern…this one is my fifth version. 😀

I just made a small mistake on the finishes: the cotton piqué being thick, it would have been better open the side seams rather than neaten together and fold in the back. But whatever, my baby girl loves her new skirt !

I used the rest of my piping, and used some white cotton scrap for the pockets and the inner belt. I cut a 6 years size and added 5cms to the length of the skirt.

And some pink biais for the hem, as I know well my baby girl’s tastes. ❤

Conclusion : my fav pattern in a #scraptastic project, for sure ! ❤

Let’s finish with the Cha dress scraps ?

Nothing quite new here, I simply sewn this little Burda dress again.

This time I was careful with the dress lenght : I added 10cms at the hem. (yep…that much !).

The dress is hemmed on 4 cms. I opted for the size 110cms: the neckline is a little bit small for my daughter. Luckily my coupon contains some spandex … next will be in a 116cms size !

My baby girl chose her button for the back…a pink heart, so surprising ! 😀

Conclusion : here again, some easy and fast sewing projects, which fill the closet and allow me to use my fabrics as much as I could…this is the Scraptastic Power !

Have a great week Ladies, take care ! ❤

And after long hours of work, I can finally show you, with so much pride, my first self drafted dress !

She asked me a lot of work…and patience too.

Do you remember my first muslin ? We had to modify it : we reduced the sleeve heads, and reduced the width of the front bodice at the princess seams. But it wasn’t ok at that point.

In the end we lowered the bodice of a size (-4cms), and then I finally got the fit of my dreams : bent just enough to emphasize my waist, but totally confortable.

At the last moment I decided to replace the knife pleats by box pleats.

I also decided to change the neckline to make it deeper. Maybe a bit too much.

In class we just redesigned the depth, but at home I cut the neckline by reducing the width of the shoulders: not necessarily very practical because the strap of my bra tends to exceed. Was necessary that my obsession for Marie Antoinette one day rub off on my seamstresses. 😀

The dress has the same finishes as the previous one : the bodice is lined in satin polyester, and the back closed by an invisible zipper.

The neckline of the bodice is cut on the bias, my teacher gave me a great tip for preventing any yawning : strengthening that part with straight grain. Personally I used Stabilmanche from Vlieseline and it works great!

But it could also work with very fine ribbon, just sewn between the outer fabric and lining. For the sleeves and skirt, I sewn invisible hems with my sewing machine and its dedicated foot.

The fabric is an amazing cotton satin found in Bennytex last November.

Conclusion :  I’m really delighted with this basic dress, which opens me infinite tailoring perspectives. I have at least 10 versions in my head, and the first will not tarry long, as the baptism of my youngest is coming very soon ! ❤

And I dedicate this dress to my teacher, who was a true angel of patience facing my “it’s still not enough adjusted!” and other “no-I want a wider neck … no, less wide … er … maybe I should return to my desk and think about it, right ???” 😀

Have a great week-end Ladies ! ❤❤

Oh I feel like you’re lost with my title. Believe me, so was I a few days ago. 😀

A year. An entire year that my daughter kept telling me “for the next carnival, I want to be dressed as Elsa in Frozen”. I prepared the pattern and the supplies list, and the day before going to buy everything, she told me, very seriously…

…  “oh finally I want to be a Winx Lady”.

I bit the bullet, studied the Winx characters (there are several), found one that could be easy to reproduce (Flora), draw quickly a sketch, requested her opinion and the answer fell : “no I don’t want her, I want to be BLOOM”.

Gathering all my love for her (and a good glass of wine 😀 ) I accepted the challenge, and believe me, it wasn’t that easy. 😀

So I chose the most iconic outfit of the character, and with Juliette’s help, designed an adapted interpretation for her carnival.

Thanks to Elodie, who told me about an Ivanne post about Jalie patterns, I discovered this canadian label. And the 2684 dress was a good pattern to start with.

As the back is totally open on the pattern, I modified it to be more covering. A muslin of the bodice allowed me to get the best fit as possible : we scooped armholes, played with the lycra bands which finish them to prevent any yawning and chose a back cut into 2 parts.

And the hand sewn halter mock neck.

I chose the I size, and lenghtened the skirt of 10cms, with a 6mm hem.

For the princess gloves, I found this great DIY : easy and helpful, love it !

And to stick to Bloom, we did not forget the golden pendant, found at “La Droguerie”.

The lycra fabric comes from E-tissus : I had initially opted for the sequined lycra, I’ve changed my mind while my order was ready for shipment…the team modified it whitout charging me anything, and then sent me a very nice email. Honestly, I was blown away.

And besides, it was so great to sew ! I expected the glitters to fall apart, and it wasn’t the case. And it does not cover loss to stretch. Very good stuff.

Conclusion : honestly, I was about to give up a thousand times. Get the best fit possible on the bodice was not that easy. But her smile when she dressed the costume…PRICELESS !

Nailed it ! 🙂

Have a great week Ladies ! ❤❤