Playing with Leather

   I love the kids in their new patching leather jackets and I had a piece of black fake leather i wanted to sew for fun for a while now. So I made a new pair of paperback writer pants for Andrei and a simple circle skirt with elastic waistband and lace hem for Eva. I knew it is not a good fabric for kids and there will be no useful garments but I thought it would be fun to sew. It wasn't really. It was painful even with the special Teflon foot for leather the feeding was awful..
   Since it was just for fun project I allowed myself to play with contrast to stitching on my cover machine. Not the most inspired work but I think I like the pockets look. The front knees was suppose to look a bit like quilted. It starts above the knee but it probably goes to much down. AT least my son had fun at some point trying to count the stitching and lines on his pants. It was fun to see him making up this game for himself.

   The fabric is a bit more glossy then their jackets and I don't think it really goes together. I Think Eva's look is more interesting with the pink coat and boots ...

2 more items so the debt is down to 38 but I still want more knits so I just placed a new order in Germany so the debt will get even bigger. I really need to sew more. I have a few more easy knits planed for kids and us - I bout the new Jalie tee for men and I think we finally have a fit that I like so my husband will probably get coordinated tees as well this summer and he need a lot of fabric - Haha!!

Matching kittens - starting the supper collections for kids

As I have mentioned there is plenty of matching for kids yet to come. I love it. they love it. The only thing I hate is picking fabrics to work for both of them. Eva is crazy for cats lately it seams and white is so nice on both of them even if it so vulnerable to stains they get all the time.
   I did Andrei's tee 1st and I LOVE LOVE LOVE this pattern. Tees could be so boring but this one has normal sleeves in the front and raglan in the back. I love the twist. I did a similar one for my husband last summer from the same issue of Ottobre. This is the small version for boys :

   Eva's outfit is quite simple - same Pocahontas top with a deeper front insert and neckband this time and 2 matching 3/4 leggings:

  I hope they will have fun in it this summer:

4 more items so debt down to 40. That's a lot even in children easy items. And I already have my eyes on other online fabrics. It seemed so easy when I started to think of this system last year and now it doesn't look like I am going to keep my stash down.

More matching for the kids with a touch of gold print - Ottobre 6/2010 #31

Andrei was complaining about how Eva had more and nicer things then him how he doesn't have something from a certain fabric when me and Eva re matching. It made quite an impression on me with his remarks. It is not easy for me to sew for him. Most of the fabrics I have are really not suited for boys and their gear is not easy o make either. All thous pockets that should have perfect stitching and a sharp look are just easier for me to buy then sew. But I absolutely love his interest for my sewing and the proud with witch he wears my items even with their flows so I really want to sew for him and make matching outfits with his sister for as long as they should have it.
   I started with this black stretch denim with gold print. It's quite a lovely fabric to work with and wear. And I copied paperback writer pants from Ottobre 6/2010 #31. There are pleny of 5 pockets jeans / pants to choose from my the description of this one won by by mentioning this is a particulary narrow one for skinny boys and that's my son lately. I'm looking at him now and I hardly can believe how round he used to be before he started to walk...

I still believe this pants are large on him but my husband told me several times how well they fit him, without me asking even once so I started to believe him. My son also seemed to have a great time in them and had no complain. I traced size 116 and my son is more close to 110 so I could have probably went a size down instead of folding them one more time before hemming.

My top stitching is far far from perfect but lucky it doesn't stand out on this print.
For his sister I made a pair of leggings from a single pattern piece. The fabric is stretchy enough for me to not bother with anything else and I made them a bit larger because I still was concerned with this being denim and not knit. They will probably still fit her in the fall.

I also made her a simple black raglan blouse from a very soft lace like fabric. It was part of my resolution to made some clothes for her that are less childish.

They looked lovely together.

I recently bought them fake leather motto jackets so they were quite a pair:

We've only managed to take some hurried pictures while shopping.

I have enough fabric and stretch to make a pair of Eleonore for myself but I have been losing weight since my last one and I now need to trace a new size probably and that will probably make it delay forever or not... I could always hope for a moment of inspiration :).

The new fabric bundle arrived and most of them are nice knits that I will use soon for summer gear so with this 3 items I am now only 44 items in debt...

Pockets, pockets, pockets - Princess castle dress Ottobre 4/2013 #14

   I noticed a while ago that Eva discovered pockets. At first I seen her trying to fit a toy into a RTW coat pockets then I noticed she knows how to use the pockets on her brother old pants. But it was when she was wearing the purple wool coat I made for her last fall and was trying to find a pocket that was not there at all that I realized I need to add pockets to her garments.
   And I remembered a dress tunic design from one of my Ottobre magazine that I always thought it was cool and wanted to try it : Princess castle dress/tunic from 4/2013 #14:

Eva is finally ready for the smallest size - 92. It fits her beautifully.
The 1st version I made was pretty much as the pattern except the sleeve binding and slightly different color blocks.

It was a decent fit and cute but I felt it was a bit to boxy and not the most flattering for her. I don't really like the back cover stitch on the pockets - it seams a bit to much. The stripe fabric doesn't seam to shine in this dress even if the colors coordinate so well with the print...

Later I made her green leggings as well and I think they go together better.

For the next one I skipped the waist band and I added more flare to the skirt. I somehow like this one better. I think the extra flare is more flattering and I don't miss the contrast waistband.

I used the other side of the cover machine to close pockets and I think it looks better like this. Now the pockets contrast can be seen even if the has her hands inside - constant being on the binding not the pocket bag :).

I made her leggings from the same fabric but I think with both of them it starts looking like PJs and I made a simple raglan sleeved blouse for her brother as well. They both love to coordinate with each other and I love it even more to have them match:

For the next one I wanted to use a fabric left over from one of my tees last summer. It was really hard to fit the pattern inside but I am happy I could match the stripes on the sides and for that I had to give up on all flare and have short sleeves:

I like how this fabric looks on her the most. Maybe because it is a bit less childish... I still skipped the waistband but this time I added length to the upper pieces to compensate for it. The back ribbing come out very nice.

On the other hand I totally lost control with fabric purchased. While I was make it even on the Lekala Tops I them got like 8 new fabrics from local stores, 5 from an online site and then just hit send on a 14 lot yesterday on another online site ... it seams everyone finally decided to bring in fabrics I had such a hard time to find in the past... 27 new fabrics and sewed one swimsuit, 3 tunics, 1 top and 2 leggings so I am like 47 items behind to make it up ... Ha ha... The good part is the most of this new fabrics are knits so it will be fast to sew - I could probably make our tee this summer once I get the new Jalie men pattern and hope it will work well for my husband. And there are as well a few short pieces that I bought to make something a little bit usual for Eva that should go fast as well.