If I put more and more pressure on my own sewings (and in reality this becomes problematic), the scraptastic sewing thing is a real recreation: I can have fun, try things, take risks because precisely, there is no risk: I manipulate scraps that are not worth much. What’s more, if the result is not perfect, it is not very serious: children growing up quickly, clothes are not worn for long. And on this session, I had a lot of fun. 😀

You recognize here the Carrie dress scraps : I had not much left, but just enough to cut a small top for my baby girl.

To do so, I came out with my ultimate Burda pattern, my favorite Swiss knife, the one I had to sew 4 or 5 times already: the dress 144 of May 2014 Burda.

The great advantage of this pattern is that it is ultra-easy, and has few pieces: the ideal ally to get rid of the scraps. Here it is shortened to be transformed into a top, and as I was in full delirium on sleeve drafting, I amused to enlarge them, a little bit like on the Carrie dress.

Beacuse we’re dealing with scraps, they are shorter than mine, but I find the result just as pretty. The back is always finished by a facing, closed by an embroidered bar and a covered button.

(Sorry for the number of pictures, I am unable to choose my favorites as I find my daughter wonderful, so I put them all: D)

Size 116 here, and as usual, the fit is ok.

Verdict: Since I told Juliette that this type of sleeves were called “butterfly sleeves”, she beats arms frantically and has already shown her find to all her friends. I think she likes this top. 😀 Let’s skip to the Lio dress scraps ?

This fabric.❤ I swear to you I loved it so much that it seemed inconceivable not to sew something for the baby girl. EXCEPT I had scarcely anything left. I was ready to let go when I remembered the great advantage of the princess seams: it does not eat anything on a lay plan. What if I use the bodice of the Baptism dress ?

Because yes, this dress was offered without AND with sleeves! So I just picked up the bodice pattern, pulled up the neckline, and added the sleeves.

Basically, these were drafted like ball sleeves. I kept the gathers on the sleeves, but removed those at the hem, so that the top was more comfortable. Basically also, the bodice of the dress is finished by a zipper: I replaced the thing by a facing.

And to visually lengthen the top, I used a gathered band.

Rolling hem with the overlocker mandatory as the top is quite short: it will not exceed the summer, but worn with a tiny short it will be perfect.

Verdict: very happy with this scraptastic sewing ! And red color suits her divinely. ❤ (I totally assume the dithyrambic side of the crazy mother of her offspring. I take advantage of it so much that they do not steal me in feathers. :D)

I wish you a sweet weekend, take care of yourself.❤

Pattern drafting is a wonderful practice, but pattern drafting has a terrible defect: when the fabric is cut, you can’t go back. In sewing you will always be able to get your seamripper, to sew a badly placed zipper again, gathers misallocated, a poorly resorbed sleeve. But the piece drawn and then cut out has an irreversible nature: if your pattern is bad, you have to deal with it. And deploy treasures of imagination to fall back on our feet.

This fabric, found at the Plaine market a few weeks ago, was a real favorite: a viscose, very soft, very fluid, with a bright red color. I wanted at all costs to make a dress with it, without being able to decide on a pattern. And it’s on a sudden impulse, cutting the last thread of the Carrie dress, that I decided to go on the same line.

But this time, I wanted gathered cap sleeves. I take the sleeves from the Butterfly dress, proceed to the flaring explained in my book Esmod, and draws a line of hem rather hollowed out. As I wanted the gathers to be placed more on my shoulders, I dig my armhole at the head of the sleeve, sew the whole … and realize that the result is catastrophic.

I totally forgot to take a picture, but you could trust me, the result was ugly. The hemline was too deep, the sleeves were not flared enough, it looked like too short puff sleeves. U-GLY. And it was by turning my pattern in all directions that suddenly Plan B appeared to me: and if you took the sleeve upside down ? If you sewed your hemline on your armhole?

You would keep the flaring work, your sleeves would not be gathered but flared, certainly there will be nothing academic in your drafting, but if it works and you manage to save your work, why not try?

And it worked ! Well … just for the sleeves. Because something bothered me on the bodice. You can see the picture above, while the whole dress had been sewn: there was an excess of fabric under the armholes. And it was by trying my dress, and pinching the bodice that I understood where was the concern: it missed some bust darts ! I also took advantage of it to reduce by 1cm the side seams just under the armholes.


And there we are! Well almost. I still have a small worry, on which I could put words after seeing these photos. I have a rather short bust if compared to the rest of my body. And here, as my bodice is shortened by the elasticated waist, and I voluntarily dug a deep heart shaped neckline, my bust seems even shorter. For the next version (which will be sleeveless this one), I will try to reduce the height of the belt, and may be less dig the neckline, in order to visually lengthen my bodice. We’ll see if it works!

If I insist so much to work on this pattern, it is above all because it is very pleasant to wear. Sewn in a soft fabric like this viscose, the dress is really comfortable. The skirt has a beautiful fullness while remaining flattering: and this is probably the point I prefer!

And as the bodice is lined, the inside is as pretty as the outside.

Verdict: if by cutting the last thread I was really annoyed that the result was not up to my expectations, I relativized my feeling after wearing the dress for a whole day. I felt pretty and comfortable, and it is this feeling that I want to associate with it. Often I am too demanding towards myself, and I try to keep in mind that I have not been drafting for a very long time. This dress is not perfect, but it is only a step in my learning. And the next one will prove to me that once again, I have not lost but learned! 😉

And why the Lio dress ?? Simply because at the time I was drawing my pattern, I had to baptize the dress to annotate my pieces. I had no idea of a name when at the same time, my music library, launched in random mode, launched “Amoureux Solitaires” by Lio, from her very first album. Album that I had to listen a thousand times as a child, and which is a sweet memory to me. Sold out, so it will be the Lio dress!

I wish you all a great week, and take care of yourself !

As promised, here I am back with my baby girl costume !

It was the very evening of the 2016 carnival that she had solemnly announced to me that next year she would be disguised as a cheerleader. I tittered, knowing my daughter’s tergiversity, and betting that she would change her mind during the year. But nay ! Her idea was well settled, and it has not changed.

So we took the time together to study the project, and it was at Jalie that we found the ideal pattern: the skating dress 2104. With her raglan sleeves, and her little flared skirt, it was perfect.

I asked Juliette to draw a small sketch, to delimit its choice of colors and their distribution.

It is no surprise that she chose purple and pink, which are her 2 favorite colors. For the type of fabric, as she had adored the powdered lycra with spangles of her Bloom costume, we chose the same material, found at the wholesaler Bensimon in Marseille (26 Rue Francis de Pressensé, 13001).

Reminding me of my disappointments with Bloom’s costume last year, this time I proceeded differently: instead of cutting a size and then adapting the result to Juliette, I preferred to work the pattern upstream. I meticulously took Juliette’s measurements, and redesigned the pattern so that it fits her best. As my sweetie is fairly thin in width, but of a stature in the standards for her age, I opted for size G at the chest, enlarged to a I size at the waist, for a length in J size … and crossing my fingers hard to make it work!

And we were good! Pfiou! The pattern is intended for figure skating, the skirt originally is rather short: I lengthened by 5 cms. I did not sew the panties that can be added under the skirt. The entire dress is assembled to the overlocker, and the hems are double-needle-stitched.

(No, but this one I swear … the pose … ^^)

Well, that’s not all, but we might have to verify that we can make the fool in it, right? ;

We can validate, right ?? 😉

Verdict: Listen, I’m always delighted with Jalie patterns, and this one again did not disappoint me. Everything falls to perfection, and the result is that expected. The baby girl was very happy with her costume, which she does not want to leave anymore! I look forward to the challenge she will ask me next year. ❤

I wish you all a very good weekend, and take good care of yourself. 😉

You know, I like to sew for my kiddos. And what I like even more is sewing their carnival costumes. Every year, it’s a pleasure for me to plan it with them, listen to their desires, choose a pattern, fabrics. I feel like a good fairy who will fulfill their wishes. And what a joy to see their eyes shine!

This year, Tom wanted to disguise himself as a magician. We took the time to brainstorm the idea: via Pinterest, Google, we researched, refined the costume he wanted, until he made this sketch, on a silhouette I Had pre-drawn.

He wanted a long jacket, lined with red, a belt and a bow tie.

A few weeks ago, Sandrine, a friend in my pattern drafting lesson, offered me the January Burda edition, which she had bought in duplicate. And as there is no chance, inside hid an ideal pattern to stick to Tom’s sketch !

At the beginning, this pattern (132 of the Burda of January 2017) was presented for a Harry Potter costume, but by removing the badge and playing on colors, it can very well also act as an average magician’s coat!

I went to Bensimon, a wholesaler of Marseille (26 Rue Francis de Pressensé, 13001) where I found this polyester satin, at 2 € the m. So certainly it’s a fabric that frays a lot, which was also not easy to sew, but for a costume is ample enough. And since it is very fluid and very shiny, the rendering on the magician’s coat is perfect.

The pattern only starting at 128cms, and my boy measuring 122cms, I simply did not add seam allowances and reduced the length of the coat by 4.5cms, and the result is rather successful.

The only downside you can see in this photo is the edge of the hood: by topstitching the entire length of the coat, I had to stretch the fabric (which is not crazy) by sewing, and This slightly relaxed the seam. But, for a carnival costume, I will content myself with these finishes.

And the little plus of this pattern is that the coat is completely reversible! Depending on the mood of the little magician, he can wear it black version or red version. 😉

To accompany the coat, I quickly sewed a little bow tie…

… and a belt, closed in the back by a velcro.

“Hey, in your hat, couldn’t you find me some silk liberty from Stragier ???”

“Oh it’s okay, if we can’t laugh anymore …”:D 😀 😀

Verdict: I don’t know if one day the pride of a finished sewing fades. If one day you become jaded. But even today, when I get to shine my son’s eyes with some fabric at 2 € the m, I am filled with pride. And when his teacher told me on carnival day that Tom came to tell her, proudly, that it was his mother who sewn his costume to him … damn … it was hard to hold back The tears ! This is definitely what I prefer in sewing: make my kids happy. ❤

I return quickly with my baby girl costume, and meanwhile, I wish you a great weekend! Take good care of yourself. 😉

I think my main flaw in sewing is impatience. It’s very simple: it’s always in the middle of a project that my head begins to think about the next one. Result: the finishes are often sewn fastly, which is, you will agree, very silly since they are just the first thing you see. And often, too often, this defect plays tricks on me. But I think the Nissa dress gave me a good lesson. 😉

I had a revenge to take with my basic dress pattern : if I have since made profitable the sleeveless version and the bustier one, I still did not have a fully validated version with the sleeves. At the beginning, I wanted to sew it for Valentine’s Day, in a beautiful red satin cotton. But my sprain + the inability to find the perfect fabric for my taste overcomed this project.

The weeks passed, spring arrived, as well as our Easter holidays expected for months. This year Nice hinterland was on the program, and I wanted to sew a dress to celebrate. And it’s while surfing on Bennytex that I found this coupon of red coral satin cotton : its tone immediately reminded me of the Old Nice walls. Bright and vibrant: the revenge had therefore sounded, and it would be in Nice that it would be celebrated. ;

Just now I’m working on the sleeves drafting : after the Carrie dress butterfly ones, I wanted to draft cap sleeves. I loved this detail on the Rue dress from Colette : I find that they balance rather well the A line morphology. This type of sleeves not being developed in my drafting book, and not seeing my drafting teacher for a while, I drafted them by myself, helping me with DIY found on the net.

You can barely see it on this picture, but I chose to line the sleeves, to get a clean hem. I drafted a heart neckline, and a circle skirt on my measurements. (= Less flared on the back so as not to plump my silhouette, and more flared on the front to get a nice amplitude and hide my little tummy)

We are a few days from our departure, and I have to sew it fast if I want to slip it in our suitcases: I sew everything, make beautiful finishes, dress it up, and PATATRAS, I realize of my beautiful blunder … I forgot to stabilize my neckline with some straight grain.

You see in this picture taken during our holidays: on the neckline, left side, the small wave on the neckline? The cotton satin containing spandex + the cut in the bias gave a fatal association: without surprise, the neckline had stretched.

That did not stop me from wearing it on our holidays, but still, I was pretty angry. Those holidays had been too beautiful for this dress, which would be forever associated with it, suffers from the slightest defect. Then I mustered all my courage, and seam ripped all my bodice upon our return.

Yes, the hand stitching of the waist … the armholes seams (the result is always beautiful, but good Lord it’s painful to sew!), My topstitch AND the seam of the neckline …

… as you say I have learned the lesson: ALWAYS. STABILIZE. THE. NECKLINE !

Well, we can barely see where the seam had stretched, my straight grain fusible didn’t manage to make a complete miracle, but the result is still much nicer than at the beginning.

I am very pleased with this satin cotton, which is nonetheless offered at an unbeatable price. (Nothing sponsored here, I remind you) (well, it’s the husband who offered it to me, it counts as a sponsor ? 😀 ). For this dress I barely used a little bit more than 1 m: I will preciously keep the rest of my coupon.

And the great advantage of cotton satin is its heavy weight! And so perfect for a skirt when you live in a windy country: no risk of seeing the skirt fly in the wind and discover your panties. 😉

“Do something with your hands, anything, but change your pose !”

“Okay, okay, take your pose back.” 😀 😀 😀

The back is finished, as always, by an invisible zipper, and the bodice as well as the sleeves are lined with a lining from Mr. Albert.

Conclusion : rematch taken, and challenge raised, I am really happy to finally have a validated version of my basic dress with sleeves.This color is a joy to wear: very flattering, it gives me full of get-up and go. And I am still a fan of cotton satin: appreciating to wear my clothes well adjusted, the spandex it contains allows me to draft with little ease, while denying my comfort: magic!

I wish you all a great weekend, and take good care of yourself.❤