|Romper Week|

I was thrilled when RaeAnna, from Sewing Mama RaeAnna invited me to be part of her Romper Week. I really liked to follow it (as a viewer) last year and it is great that I am one in line with these wonderful and talented ladies.

A few weeks ago I shared some inspiration I found on Pinterest. I had actually pinned both pictures long ago but you know, we pin so many stuff that it gets hard to go through them all. I liked that it was a romper (good inspiration to sew for this series), but the colours were also inspiring to me because I'd like to sew along with the new edition of Challenge Create. Although we don't celebrate 4th of July over here, this would be a great sew, I love the three colours (red, blue & white) together. I love to combine challenges and create one look with it... This time, it was the motivation RaeAnna gave me by inviting me for her series, it made me actually make something inspired on a pin from my boards and I used the first Theme for Challenge Create, all mixed up into my daughter's new look. 

Specifically for today, I have made a romper I've been wanting to try and sew for a while. It is the Pleated Jumpsuit pattern from Heidi, of Elegance & Elephants. It is a FREE pattern in case you haven't heard of it yet (which I doubt!), so if you want to make your own, click here and grab it. You will love it, you'll see. 

You might recognise the fabric from a previous dress I made her. I didn't have much left in the stash, but I had curtains I had made many years ago with the same fabric. I picked it out of a bag, saved for too long, I wasn't using them again for sure, and it would be the perfect fabric for the romper (remember I pledged to NOT buying any fabrics for the whole year, unless I REALLY need it). 

For the lining in the romper I used scraps, it was just the right amount, a bit less and I would have to go with another one, which I didn't want to, I really like this tone of blue. Plus, it is so close to the refashioned blue fabric from the cardigan/bolero she's wearing on the photo above, to complete the look. I actually made it from left overs from a dress I refashioned for myself a while ago, sleeves and bits mostly. I self dafted it, but I have to fix it on the back, it ended up too wide on the back. 

I went with the 2-3 size for the romper, always believing it'd be too big for my skinny lady. I was fine with that though, because if I make things bigger, they will last for longer. And we all know kids grow a lot through summer time (which is just starting)... I was so surprised it fits so good already, normally when I pick the pattern size by age (and not measuring) it ends up too big, too wide, too something... but it looks perfect and she seems to love it. 

But, if you came here looking for rompers inspiration, and were brave enough to read all through this, you might want to check the Bubblicious Romper I made and blogged about last month, mashing up two different patterns. And I have three more rompers to share this week here in my blog. All I can tell you right now, is that I made two of them for my little boy, and it's from a free pattern too, and I used Heidi's pattern again... with a different fabric and print. 

RaeAnna, has prepared a lot of great prizes, so you have the change to get them. Here's how...

There are 6 ways to win!  The first three will be through a link party and voting!  First place will be given to the romper creation with the most votes, then 2nd place and 3rd place!

And there are also three prizes to be given away through a Rafflecopter entry!

1 winner will receive a yard of Ann Kelle fabric

1 winner will receive a PDF pattern by Mouse House Creations

1 winner will receive a PDF pattern by Sewing Mama RaeAnna

You have until June 28th to upload your romper creation photo!  Voting will begin on June 21st

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Remember to also check and follow her Pinterest Board, for some inspiration and if you have your own rompers to share, link them to her Link Party.

LINK PARTY

Welcome to the 2014 Romper Week!
You are welcome to link up any romper you have made in 2014 - baby rompers, boys, girls, women, they are all welcome!

We will begin voting on June 21st and the top three entries to the link party will walk away with an awesome prize!!(Voting will be 1 vote per IP address....recruit your friends to send votes your way! We will keep voting open until June 28th)

First place - the most votes - will receive:$30 credit to Girl Charlee
Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop Romper
Blank Slate Pattern Retro Romper

Second place:Riley Blake Fat Quarter Bundle
Shaffer Sisters Betty Skirt Pattern
Winner's Choice Sewing Mama RaeAnna Pattern

Third place:Fat Quarter Shop Fat Quarter Bundle
Winner's Choice Muse of the Morning Pattern

An InLinkz Link-up

Pinterest Challenge |pin 1 & 2|

For June, these were the 5 pins I chose to cross from my neverending to do list. 

Although last Sunday, I already had one of them crossed off, I failed to blog about it. I am bringing that one and the second one today to get on track with it. 

So, pin number one: the maxi dress look!

I chose that pin for a reason... it wasn't a random pinterest search for maxi dresses. The thing is, I scored a maxi dress in my usual charity shop a few months ago for 1€, but I hadn't used it yet, because it was a bit too large for me. I needed some motivation to fix it and finally wear it. 

The main problem with this dress was with the bodice... way too large for little me. Though the ladies got bigger with pregnancy, they're still not big enough for this dress, so that was something to repais. I tried to pull it down, pin and sew, but after it was done it looked weird, so I ended up unpicking my seams, and the original seams and adjust it to my size. The second problem with it was the stripes, one was ripped when I bought it and I was wondering if I should just tight it on the neck or sew them down on the back. I went with the second choice and I am happy with it. 

The day I wore it, I used a cardigan that was given to me with that huge pile of clothes I blogged about. It looked great. I wore the dress again, but cardigans were no way to be used anymore, the weather had a drastic change from the weekend to monday. Either way, both days I failed to take some photos (forgive my pregnant brains, it just keeps happening with everything and anything), that's why I have my dress form modeling it for you. 

Pin number two: Pancakes

Everybody knows pancakes are wonderful, right? You can have them in a million different ways. I like them plain, with honey, or ice sugar and cinnamon. My pinspiration was of a list of 10 different ways to make a pancake,but in the end, I just needed, again, a reason to make them for the very first time by my own. I knew I'd have a friend visiting me this week, so pancakes for us it'd be. 

I used a recipe from a portuguese blogger, I love her recipes, here's the original link, you can always use google translate to get it if you want to. They are yogurt pancakes. I can't take full credit for the ones we ate though. I was hoping to get them done before my friend arrived, but I had been busy sewing late, working on another pattern test and could only get them done when she arrived. I mixed all the ingredients, but then she got the spot on the stove and I just helped. lol They were so tasty, only one was left when we finished!

Glimpse of our last week

Sometimes I get too silent, and because of that, I wanted to start a few new things on this blog. One of them is the Pinterest Challenge I have started on June first - yes, I haven't updated it last weekend, but I swear I have crosse 2 of the items out of the list - to be up on Sundays, and on Saturdays, I'd like to give you a glimpse of our last week. 

Sometimes, we (hobby bloggers) are just busy working on things that aren't worth showing off and sometimes we're busy working on things we haven't got permission to post about, or... we're just too busy spending time with our families, which is the greatest part. 

I was able to work on some mending orders, my kid got a new toy, she's learning how to use her scissors, got more orders, was able to finish two more pattern tests, we went to the beach, I've been working on a new refashion for the baby boy, I fixed two maxi dresses for myself, sewn for another series, and am just starting a new birthday present today (not on the photos), got a visit from a dear friend (more about that tomorrow), had a doctor's appointment... 

May Wrap Up

Just in case you missed it, here's a wrap up of the things I made last month. 

I will try to do this every first Saturday of the month. A post when I share the photos and the links for the projects I made through the previous month. 

 

Maternity/Sports Bag Tutorial & Free Pattern for the Sew-a-bration of Womanhood series & Billy bright Eyes Snappy Tee for the Muse of the Morning Pattern Tour

There was Kid's Choice Series going on and I sewed along allowing my child pick the fabric for her new romper, which I have made to fit the MashUp series too & Was lucky enough to test another pattern, the Firecracker dress for GYCT

And finally, I refashion an old and baggy nightgown into a fresh and pretty nursing nightgown

And besides the things I made, I've also blogged about the piles of clothes I was donated. 

Boy's Wallet for my nephew

With Children's Day approaching (last June 1st), I started planning my nephew and nieces presents. I couldn't afford buying them much, but when you sew, that's not a big problem, right?! I've shared the Firecracker dresses I made for the little niece and the older niece. Today, here's the little something I made for the boy. First I thought about sewing some clothes for him too, but I am pretty sure the last measurements I took from him would no longer fit. He's 8 and a half right now and maybe it would be fun to make him a wallet for him to keep his stuff. I used Noodlehead's tutorial to make it. I had seen it around long ago and always been wanting to try it. For the main fabric, I used faux leather, some leftovers from a jacket from his mother. And for the lining I used scraps from a vintage sheet (I've been using this in oh so many projects...) and tried to embellish it a little on the outside. I used a piece of dark brown felt and some metalapplications... the stupid thing? I was so focused on getting it sewn in the front of the wallet, that of course, I did it on the back! lol... I was lazy to unpick it all and do it all again... so as it was it stayed!

My (second) Firecracker dress

About a week ago, I have posted about the latest dress pattern I've tested, and have shared the test version of the dress I made. I thought it made a perfect gift for my two nieces. That first one, was meant for the little one and this one I made for the big niece, who's turning 7, next month. 

If it wasn't for the stripes you couldn't tell front from back in this dress, and I don't think it looks half as cute without a model on it, so I can't wait to see L. wearing it and check fit and everything. For the first Firecracker I made, I used the same fabric for the entire piece, but this time I played with contrasts. 

Last time my niece came to visit, I showed her my fabric stash and allowed her to pick 4 of her favourite fabrics so I had room to play with matching them, or even to mix because of the amount I might or might not have available from her picks. This flower print fabric was her first choice, and all the other 3 were in the same line... meaning, they wouldn't stand out at all if I used them together. 

She had no idea what the fabric was for but she played along. I ended up picking this blue linen (from my stash too, of course) to complete the choices for this dress. I had used this combination of fabrics before (in slings I've never blogged about) so I knew for sure, they would work pretty well. Now I just can't wait to meet my niece and give her the new dress. I wonder if she will recognised the fabric she chose and if she'll like it. 

|JUNE| Pinterest Challenge is Back

This is where I post about pins I love and want to recreate, get inspired by to create something new, etc... and I hope to cross off, at least one pin per week. 

Maxi look Little Geranium Pancakes Nursing Top Savoury Flapjacks 

Wish me luck!