Some rat-ified makes

I know, what a lame clever pun ;) I suppose that I've been obsessed with mouse themed fabric because we're in the year of the rat and I love making astrology-related stuff, especially when it's a friendly sign -I'm a monkey and my astro buddies are the dragon and the rat!

It started in January when I found this very cute fabric in Taichun:

 

 

It has china mice and golden details on a red background -the colour is darker and nicer in reality- but the gold paint has chipped off, probably because of machine washing and ironing: you can sort of see the "ghost" of the little flowers that covered the background. Fortunately the golden dots have held out better! Anyway here's a picture of the top I've made with it:

 

 

It's a pattern I've used many times but since I hadn't sewed with it for a long time I made a little mistake and had to add a patch of fabric along the shoulder seam, at the front :( A close-up of the front pleats and stand collar, the patched up area is not too obvious, phew:

 

For the second make, let me tell you that you're about to witness a thing of pure beauty, so try not to shout with delight if you're looking at this in public:

Yes, it is one third of Dora's body! And next to it a top made with awesome Jerry printed fabric I found at a local shop. It's my favourite top pattern, I've made it in dozens of different fabrics but this one is the cutest! I mean look at that little guy:

Aww I love this top! I used a yellow button for the back slit to match the cheese:

 

And finally I made an embroidered mouse brooch so that I could bring that rat vibe to other garments:

Some new tops for the holidays

I've just finished two tops using patterns that I hadn't tried yet and I must say I'm not disappointed! Pattern 1 comes from this book:

It's a dress pattern book and I chose the gorgeous M dress for my project:

It had been a loooong time since I had last made a garment with a square neckline and I LOVE the ruffles on the sleeves so I turned the dress into this top:

Look at this amazing fabric! The print is beautiful animals in toile de Jouy style, it's cotton, it's 6€ a metre at a local shop that's 50 metres from my den and it's allowed me to live my Marie Antoinette opulent gown fantasy while still being able to walk / work / go shopping etc. since I can wear the top with jeans.

Yummy sleeves ruffles

I hemmed the top with seam binding ribbon, I'm using this technique more and more because it's easy, quick, it gives a clean finish and it's very practical when you don't have much allowance.

Now for top 2, I found the pattern in an old Pochée magazine:

It's a raglan sleeve peasant blouse with a slit in the front and a gathered neckline that's sewn in place with a ribbon that ties in the front:

I was quite sure this would turn out nice but I still added 2 cm to heighten the pattern pieces because they looked fairly small to me and I didn' t want my back and arms to be squashed in. I also cut the front in two pieces so I wouldn't have to make a slit -that's how lazy I've become- and I actually used elastic that I threaded in the piece of ribbon sewn around to gather the neckline. I sewed each end of the elastic so it wouldn't move and added mock ties. And I didn't change the sleeves' hem, except I gathered them maybe tighter than per instructions before finishing them with bias.

And yes this print is called "Ouistiti", it's so cute with those little monkeys holding on colourful palms! It's from the same local shop as the previous fabric, it's also cotton and 6€ a metre. Mine has an orange background but my mum bought some in white and I'm already envious of it, she wants me to make something with it for her but I may pretend I didn't understand and thought she wanted me to have it...;)

Sewing update - because I have time!

Hello there, how does it feel living in my dream world ie being paid to stay at home listening to the silence, sewing, reading and playing with pets?! Sorry I know the current virus epidemic is not something funny but the unexpected consequence is that I cannot go to work until further notice and since I'm a civil servant I still get a salary. A few years back I quit my carefree lifestyle to become a state teacher because I felt the need to be financially safe but I must say that I've been utterly depressed and sad ever since and those few free days are a nice reminder of past happier times :)
Anyway let's have a look at projects I've made, worn and hadn't had time to post about, shall we? First this green acrylic fur coat that I brought to my winter trip to Taïwan - it's been five times and I LOVE this country more and more! Also the weather isn't that cold but this year temperatures were around 15 degrees celsius so I was happy I had my little coat. It's a raglan sleeve, boxy shape from a sewing magazine called "Couture actuelle" in French:

Here's my version, the "fur" is really cheap but it looks okay IMO:

Some bonus pics from my trip:

 The Confucius Temple in Taipei

 The local station in Taichung

Jiufen

For this trip I also made this fur sweater, crafted from hairs that I painstakingly harvested from my cat Miwa:

Lol of course I'm joking, the fur is acrylic too but I thought it looked just like her and was obsessed with making myself a garment out of it! This sweater also has raglan sleeves -it's easier to sew for me because it doesn't require any alterations for my rounded back and forward shoulders- and a little standing collar, the pattern is from some old German sewing magazine from my mum's archives and I wore this thing almost everyday, it's super comfortable and warm!

For something a little more recent I've just finished this periwinkle blue top, the fabric is light lawn and the pattern is from the February 2015 Burdastyle magazine:

I had to make a lot of alterations for the yoke to fit and ended making the front and back yokes in one piece instead of three -the pattern has two side pieces and one middle one for them- and I'm quite happy with the result, it doesn't creep up and back when I move around which is my main goal when I sew something with a top part. It looks a bit kitsch, I call it my Gospel top but it's really nice worn, it has a very 60's feel and I'll probably make a few more with some beautiful rayon fabrics I've been hoarding.