Swans and zebras

Brace yourselves for an umpteenth version of my favourite babydoll style pattern, this time it's a top with short sleeves made with excellent -and I don't use that word lightly^^- swan printed cotton:

I found it in a local shop, the name on the fabric is Stof and when I looked it up I discovered that it is a 100% French brand! They design prints and make fabrics in their own factory in Loire and yet their prices are very reasonable and the quality is great -you can have more details on their website here .

Naturally I LOVE that print because it features swans that are both adorable and graceful, which cannot be said of all animals:

Dora got crazy when she found that heap of old roots and branches and proceeded to rub herself in it for half an hour^^

I also have another animal printed creation I want to show, it's a low waisted dress I made for my mum using cotton from another local shop but this time it is the Japanese brand Lecien:

It was super simple to make, I took a sleeveless top pattern and added two gathered rectangles for the skirt :)

Tiny hearts

I cannot resist a cute print so when I saw this heart fabric I had to have it! I also like the fact that the hearts are black, it makes the fabric quite understated actually:

It's cotton of course, easy to sew and comfortable to wear :) I used one of my favourite patterns, my self-drafted kimono sleeved top/dress with a wide encased elastic at the waist:

Here's the thing worn:

And yes it passed the test of a full day of work at the four corners of the island as you can see from my big smiling face above!

Best summer dress - sleeveless!

I almost never wear sleeveless clothes because I find my arms very chubby but I think that at nearly 35 years old it's time I got rid of this complex -but I'm totally doing push-ups three times a day to try and limit the damage^^
I decided to start this wardrobe revolution with a trusted and beloved pattern, yes my favourite babydoll dress, so I simply deepened the armholes and neckline a little and got rid of the sleeves naturally :)
I had the perfect fabric for it, a 1 metre coupon of beautiful burnt orange linen that an adorable sales assistant from a local shop gave me because it had a tiny tear in a corner!!

To make this simple design a tad more interesting I added a mock tab with covered buttons on the bodice and I bound the armholes and neckline with self made bias.

Finally for once the pockets are made with the same fabric because any other one would have shown since the fabric is a little see-through!

 

I'm so much into orange these days, to think that I used to hate this colour and now I even want orange shoes and dream of orange hair:

Best summer dress the third

Here's a purple linen version of my current favourite pattern, I made it with 1 metre of fabric as usual -well that's because here in Reunion most fabrics are 150 cm wide^^

I used some chambray remnant for the pockets and flower bias tape to finsh the neckline and sleeves:

There's not much more to say except that I'm super happy with this dress and that I have many other versions to write about :)

White and black

I'm happy I have pics of my black jersey crop top because seeing how often I wear it and wash it I'm afraid it's going to disintegrate soon^^

It's the same design from Female magazine but the fabric is much lighter and softer than the grey knit I used for the other one so it's super super comfortable. The only drawback was that my little Singer machine had a tendency to eat the fabric so I had to put strips of tracing paper under the foot and it worked! Also I couldn't finish the hem and neckline with my usual wide zigzag stitch because the fabric stretched too much so I folded it twice and used a narrow zigzag stitch instead.

As for the shorts they're already from last year! I found them in a Tendances Couture magazine which offers Simplicity patterns to French readers, I thought they looked quite retro with their high waist and flared legs and they didn't require much fabric so it was perfect to finish my beautiful broderie de Calais coupon :)

I lined the broderie pieces with white poplin, basted the two layers together and sewed everything as usual. There's an almost invisible zipper on the side and the waist is finished with a remnant of lilac bias.

I think the two garments work quite well together, the shorts are high enough that my belly won't show and the back curve of the top looks really cool IMO:

Wild thing

I hadn't sewed this particular 70's skirt pattern in a looong time but I had the perfect fabric for it, some heavy but flowy leopard print cotton from Japan and after a few hours I got this:

The pattern is simple and quick since you cut a center and a side piece four times each and the waistband is a rectangle folded in two. I added belt loops and hand sewed the zipper and the hem, which was made using some bias tape because I wanted to keep the skirt as long as possible:

Of course I adore my skirt and it's going to get a lot of wear because it goes well with simple tees as well as cropped tops :)

Crop top and culottes outfit

So, about that grey knit crop top in my last post, OMG I LOVE that pattern!!! It comes from one of the last Female magazines that were published in 2013:

You can make it with woven fabrics but something told me that it would be too tight with my big arms and that it would look super boxy so I went with knits and it's excellent! You can't really tell from the picture above but it's a hi-lo design with a curved back hem which makes it easier to wear because, well, it is cropped and therefore much shorter than what I'm used to wearing -I lengthened it by 1 inch just in case by the way^^

 

Decent back length -pheeew

And since it's shorter I had to make a bottom that would have a regular or higher waist and still be comfortable and cute if possible. Culottes sounded great but I was a bit disheartened after failing twice with Megan Nielsen's Tania which was much too poofy, short and therefore unpractical for me. A quick internet search and a link to Petit Main Sauvage's impeccable tutorial appeared. Thanks Lauriana, you're a sewing goddess!

And if you're wondering what's happening with my hair I'm trying to emulate my new favorite anime character Jibanyan using Directions pink dye and henna but maybe this is not the best solution^^ Sigh, the road is still long to that perfect orange shade: