|the| Ladybug Birthday Outfit

The first week of the Refashion Month series is done. I am so glad about the great feedback I've been getting AND there's more to come! So much more, and I am pretty sure you'll want to stay around to check them all. 

But, today I am giving you a break from refashioned items, for this:

It was my daughter's second birthday on June 29, and I made her a ladybug inspired outfit, to match the birthday party theme (wanna see some pictures from all the rest? Click here). Back here, I shared a little from this project but kept you waiting for the final reveal for a little longer than I thought I would. It was a time consuming project but don't you just love how it turned out to be? Didn't she look the cutest of 'em all in it?

Let's talk about it though. I shall start with the peplum top/tunic. I've been wanting to sew a peplum for far too long, but never did until now. I used  Jess' Spring Fever Dress Pattern with some changes: the sleeves, I have enlarged the original and used two sleeve pieces at each side and gave it a heart shape hole in the back.  I mostly used the pattern for sizing. I used the 2T again but it turned out to be a little too large on the front. All the rest was just fine. I've chosen a medium light woven polka dot fabric for it, and lined with a light red one (left overs from the drawstring disney bags).  

I had those black ladybug buttons on my stash that were just perfect for the project. I did have some a bit more realistic ladybug buttons but they wouldn't contrast at all with the red fabric, so I am glad I had these too. As I said they turned out to be the perfect ones for this. 

Then, the other piece of the outfit was the shorts. My latest piece of art! *insert modesty here, please!* 

I used my own pattern for these. The shorts pattern I drafted for the Have a Nice Day outfit and also used in the Blue Romper I've made (and I realised I used the same patterns -top & shorts- together for the second time and did create two completely different looks!). For fabric, I used left overs of the black fabric that had been bought for an order I had last month).

In the sneek peek post I told you that I used Marta's tutorial for the pleats. Well, I did it on each side of my shorts, the second one was way faster; once you get in the rythm it becomes easier. I used the red thread to match the top piece and also because it gives a nice contrast even if she wears it separatedly from the top. Then I only had to add cuffs to the pants to shape it differently and give it a kind of bubble look, and to finish off, I've add an elastic waistband. 

The heart on the back was something I wanted to try for a while too and I finally did. I followed no pattern or tutorial for this, so I am pretty satisfied. Oh and just look at those cute sandals her cousin gave her as her birthday gift? Don't they just look so cute? I love it! And they go with everything!

I just love it that I was able to create a look that looks sofisticated and at the same time is very comfortable. She can play around and still look the cutest thing on earth! ok, enough mamma!!!

Peques de Cine II

more about it HERE 

This challenge, consisted in creating a knock-off from a movie or series that we like. And then, after recreating the look, we should try to recreate a scene from the movie/series. So, as you can guess, I couldn't do that with a sick kid. I mean, she doesn't always collaborate when she's ok, wonder how it'd be with her sick?! Besides, I would never bother her with my sewing obsessions when she's not feeling well, 'cuz no matter how much I love those internet "things", I'm a mom first and have to care for her.

I chose the movie Pan's Labyrinth, which I love to death! I remember watching it on the cinema with V. back in 2006, and we were the only ones in the room. People thought it was a kid's movie... can you believe it? It's a brutal movie that mixes up a world of fairies and the Spanish Civil War. It's not a movie for kids, for sure. 

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I knew I wanted to choose a child character for my project after I did a few researches through Tim Burton's movies (he's the man, what can I say?!), and was madly in love with Christina Ricci's character clothing, specially the black and white dress from Sleepy Hallow.

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I mean, I'd love one of those for myself. I also adored, Sweeny Todd's wardrobe, but they weren't kid appropriated and I didn't have a light on how to make them look like so.

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I then thought of some movies I enjoyed that had kids on it, and of course, Pan's Labyrinth was my final destination. Ophelia (the character I chose), is a girl that dresses simple vintage dresses, with enchanting details... pleats, slight ruffles on the cuffs and necks. I had three picks, and I went for the nightgown she wears most of the time on the screen. Only because it was the one I could get clear (or clearer) pictures from.

That was also my choice, because the nights are getting warmer and I thought that a nightgown would be something she would wear. I mean, I am sewing to save, right? So, there's no point to sew something that wouldn't be wearable on a daily basis.

I made it a size 3, when she's not yet a 2, but I wanted to make sure it'd last for a while.
I addapted a pattern from an old french Burda magazine, it was from a plain dress, and it had a zipper on the back, so I had to adapt it to have a button placket on the front of the bodice and shape the collar into a peter pan collar too. I had a little trouble with it, and had to do and undo the collar a few times until it got just perfect.

I used a small white lace to embellish my collar. Other details I added was the piping on the cuffs, and the waistband. The sleeves are puffier than the original, because I didn't make any changes to the original pattern on that matter, and I like it better this way. It even looks more puffier on her, because it's still a bit too big for her. The skirt has some pleats but it was kept simple, since I couldn't really tell how the original was made. And I even watched the movie again, especially for this challenge. 

And to finish, here's an overall look G.'s new nightgawn. 

I didn't want to push her too much, she's still not feeling 100%. And besides that, she's still too young to understand why she should pose this way or that way. It was just fun to see her walking around with it, and realise she enjoyed it. 

While I was sewing it, she was asked What's mommy doing? - Pants! She answered. lol

If you liked this, check out the flickr group too.

So, what's next?!

So, the sew along for Project Run & Play is over now. 

I still can't believe I made it! I did follow and sew along the six themes. Six outfits in six weeks. I am proud of myself. I am so proud, so happy that I made it, I did not give up, I did not left any item unfinished! 

Yes! I did it and I like it. 

Did you miss any of the entries? Don't worry, here's a short summary of what I made here:

The Party Dress Remix

Stripes and Polka Dots

 Boy's Week
And remember, there's a Tutorial for this outfit here!

Love is in the Air

The Men's Dress Shirt Challenge

Your Signature Look

So, what's next?!

 Time for Sew In Tune. I have chosen my song, I have design my outfit, so I better start sewing, I don't want to be late. It starts off next Monday! 

Project Run & Play: Week 2 |Sew Along|

I've been trying to write this post for hours. Really! Not lying! It's been nearly impossible since my daughter is waking up every 5 minutes, crying out loud, my poor thing. I forsee a wonderful night. NOT!

I really thought I'd be posting my outfit for Project Run & Play, second week's challenge by Sunday or Monday morning, but I couldn't finish it until this afternoon. Baby G. has been crying a lot through her sleep the last couple of nights, hasn't been making long naps as usual during the day, and she's begging for attention all the time. New teeth are coming and she's with the cold. Of course, she's my priority. This sew along is just for fun, it's just because it motivates me to start and finish my (hers) outfits, motivates me to keep me busy and use more and more from my never-ending- stash!

But that's fine, that I only get to post it today, because I am still in time to join the sewalong. Again. I made it! Hurray! So, let's get to the interesting part. This week's challenge was Polkadots and Stripes. Could it be any better? Right!!!

I thought it'd be a pretty easy week. I love polka dots, I mean, I  L o v e  it! and I do like my stripes too. But then I realised I didn't have many fabrics that match together, though I have lots of polka dots fabric. I went for the black one with very small dots. It's a light fabric and not so easy to work with.

My outfit was made out of a buttoned shirt and leggings. Let's start with the leggings. They were actually a refashion job. I had a knit size 10 sweater somewhere in my stash, meant to turn into something else. I first cut off the sleeves and turned them into the leggings. That was easy. I actually had them pinned for a couple of days before I actually sew them together, because I felt that it was too sporty to match my blouse.
And honestly I still think it's not a very good match!

I used an already existing leggings to draw the pattern right on the fabric (sleeves). 

But they were so plain. I didn't like it that way... and right before I sewed it together, I free hand painted a card with a fabric pen on one of the legs and filled it with red ribbon, creating a striped pattern at the same time I was adding a little touch of me to it.

In the process. I left the black pen as it is, I did like to see it that way. And yes, there's a little red spot under the heart, it was already there, and I only realised after cutting. 

The time consuming piece in the outfit was my button shirt! I love this fabric, but as I said before, it's not so easy to work with. But I did make it. I am very much pleased with what I made. I love the details, I wasted a lot of time to make them, and I think it was more than worth it.

     Front, back and buttons detail.  Liked the background of this photos? see entire project HERE

When I started this, all I had in mind, was that I wanted to make the front and sleeve details. I was inspired by an already existing blouse G. had. It doesn't fit anymore, it's from CODE, and it's orange. From that one I drafted a new pattern, just bigger. I had to make a lot of adjustments, it didn't turn out exactly as I wanted but I like the way it came out, after all.

 As I went I was having ideas of what I'd like to do, and how to make it better. So, I started with the polka dots and the pattern (a very difficult to achieve pattern I must say!). Then I had to choose the buttons. I was going with some plain white ones, but then I thought it was eye catchy to use the heart shaped ones. I have a few of them for years, which Iwas always saving for a better project. How stupid is it that we buy things, and then don't use it, always hoping for a better project?

Anyway. I love the contrast of the bright red colour. But then again, it was black and white, what would a little red do there?! That's when I turned to the leggings and added the ribbon heart. And when I attached my collar, I saw another chance to add a little red, so a red ribbon came handy again.

On the front I made several pleats on both sides, and then ran a stitch to turn them to opposite sides. Hard to explain, sorry, I hope you can figure it out with the photos.On the back I did a little crimpy and I did the same pleats (as in the front) for the sleeves, but only ran one stitch instead of 3. 

I used this stripped fabric I had left after making my nephew a pair of Flamenco pants. Which I just realised I 
haven't blogged about yet, like a lot of other polka-dotted projects I've made last year. It had grey on it, that's great, sort of matched the leggins. The stripped fabric was used on the peter pan collar; the fists and to reinforce the button holes. It was used in both left and right sides of the blouse. 

Details
The front pleats. The back, which was made out of two pieces and add the crimpy. More from the front pleats and last photo is from the sleeves.

Again, I wanted to make it one size bigger, but not as big as last time. This is a great outfit for her to wear when Spring comes in just a few months. It's fresh and light. The only bad thing about making things bigger is that they don't fit properly on my model for the photo shoot. But I did make one anyway! We had so much fun taking these photos today. She even posed!

It's not usual to have my 18 month old posing for photos, but she even did that! The leggings do fit already, but the button shirt is still a little baggy and the sleeves are too long. The collar looks funny on her =/

And just because, here she is on the move! Can you tell we love Minnie Mouse?!  And that sock monkey? There's a lot of handmade in these pictures! 

Did you realise that my first entry for the sew along fits both first and second week? And the second entry (this one!), does fit the 4th in two weeks, which theme is Valentine's?

And before I finish, I will leave you the links to another polka dotted project - the very first thing I have shared in this blog: my daughter's robe. And a stripes project that I absolutely love: my first mom and daughter dresses.  I'm sorry this came out so long! But thanks for reading it all. Gosh it is long!

Oh! And I promise there will be more colours nest time! Now go and check out other ladies' creations.

EDITED:
I totally forgot to show you the full leggings picture... here it is:

Gab's Blouse: The Tutorial

Well, I've been short on time to make this tutorial, that's why it took me longer than expected to post it. But I really wanted to make it, and when we really want things done, we always find the time to make them. so, it said, here's the promised tutorial of Gab's Blouse. Enjoy it! And don't forget to let me know if you use it. I'd love to see it. 

What you need:
paper and pencil (to trace your pattern)
fabric of your choice and bias tape of a contrasting colour (you can buy ready made or make it yourself). I've told you how I make mine in the Ant Costume Tutorial.
elastics
Thread, a needle and a sewing machine
Scissors
Your kids fitting shirt and pins.

Note: I use cm in my tutorials, so click here to convert cm into inches! (if you need to).

I used a slightly bigger t-shirt from my baby girl to make her new blouse. I wanted it to fit for a little longer, that's why. So, trace the front and back pattern (1). You need to adjust it to the shape you want. I made the bottoms a little larger, as seen on picture (2). Also, draw a little line on the neckline (4), down a few cms (as many as you'd like, mine has about 10cm), cut it out and save that little piece, it is a pattern too (for the neck detail). Then trace the sleeves, and add lenght (3). Use 1,50cm seams allowance to all, except the neckline and bottom of sleeves (they don't need a seam allowance), and the bottom of the blouse, you'll use a 2-3cm seam allowance here. 

I'm all about recycling, so I use the papers from the shops that they put on my mail box. 

Transfer your patterns into your fabric and cut them.

Now, you have to do the boring part of the project. lol Cut a piece of fabric 10cmx20cm. Fold it in half and draw a line on the wrong side of the fabric (1). From that line you'll measure a few more to each side, with 1,50cm between each one. Get a needle and thread all the lines (2). Since we'll sew on the right side of the fabric, this will help us knowing how to fold it. A look on the right side of the fabric (3). Now, the boring part, fold each of this lines and make a seam at about 0,30cm from the edge. You'll end up with half the size your piece first had (4). 

Press it, and make sure all the pieces are laying the same direction. Mine aren't perfect, but so wasn't the original one from where I copied this one... lol ... This is a picture of the wrong side. 

Fold that little piece of fabric and use the piece of paper you've cut from the front piece of the pattern. Cut two of this, follow the pictures. No seam allowance on the rounded edge (2), and about 0,5cm in all the other. Cut on the fold (3) and add bias tape on this sides you've just cut, on the wrong side first, then turn it and sew on the right side. 

There's no picture of it, but I've cut the corners into a round shape too. Get the front piece of the fabric and a sew this application into place. Make sure, the bias tape fabric, gets one on top of the other, like you see in the next picture. 

Here's how it looks on the wrong side of the fabric. Baste it.

Once the hardest part of the project is done, let's get to the sleeves. Pin them like you see in the next picture, I made mine a little wider on the top so I could pucker it a little. Then sew it into place.

You can now add your bias tape to the neckline and the bottom of your sleeves (1). Cut the elastic to be confortable enough and introduce it in the bias tape of the sleeves (2). Then, you will pin from the bottom of your blouse, all the way to the wrist (3). Sew it and baste (4). 

Only one more step and you're done. Baste, fold the seam allowance, on the bottom, pin it and sew it. I haven't because I was a little lazy (and only did it when G. used it the first time), but you should press it with your iron afterwards to make it look better, and have a nice finished look. 

Yay! You're done!!! Oh, don't forget to add your tag if you have one.

Gab's Blouse

Just finished a new blouse for my little pie. And couldn't wait to come here and show you, my latest creation. 

All her clothes are getting small. She was still using some of her 6 month ones, but I see, I need to get her bigger ones. Still trying to follow one of my 2012 resolutions, I am using fabrics I already have at home, to make new pieces. This pink fabric was just asking to be turned into a new blouse for her.

She had this one:

which I absolutely adore, because of the detail on the front, and the trim contrast of the brown and pink. So, I was totally inspired by this one to make the new one. 

I have a tutorial on the going to share with you sometime soon...