Completed: the first piece of men's wear!

I have FINALLY sewn something for my loving husband! It's a Xmas gift, so he doesn't know yet. Posting it online before Xmas? Ruining the surprise? Hardly. This is totally safe. Unless I start writing about the stock market or about electronic gadgets, he will not be a frequent visitor, trust me.

This is what I made: a t-shirt with a contrasting pocket in a lovely, thin, wool knit jersey. Pattern: Julian Tee from Jenny Hellstrom Ruas

Completed: Various bits and bobs

Hey, I've been sewing, friends! Far more than I've been sharing lately.

I thought I'd put up a post with some of the things that I've completed that I am very pleased with, for you to enjoy and hopefully get inspired by.

Here we go! The photo quality is impeccable (not), but I am no photographer, ha.

First one out is a 3/4-length, boat neck, basic, striped top. This is my all-time favourite type of top and I never get sick of stripes. I made this one by copying a top I had in my closet, only changing the neckline. I actually made two, one with blue stripes and one with black stripes. You can hardly tell them apart, therefore only pics of one.

In the below picture I am wearing a royal blue "Wardrobe Basic" jacket. The picture is not great, but the jacket actually is. You have to take my word for it ;-P Pattern from Ottobre.

The third item is the first LBD that I have owned in a decade!! I have had it in the plan to sew one for over a year, but for some reason I just cannot make myself make things in black - because black fabric is BOOOOORING. I do love this dress though, now that it's made, so I am pleased I fought my black fabric resistance this time. Pattern from Stoff & Stil.

Oh, I now we get to the REALLY lousy picture!! It is almost impossible to see what it actually looks like, but it's all right. Pattern from Burda Style.

The last one out is a gem! The coolest and comfiest skirt on the planet is here! Self drafted pattern (or it's so simple I don't even wanna call it a pattern actually). It is made in the loveliest merino wool knit. I want to live the rest of my life in this skirt. Just because of this big love, I'll give you no less than THREE pictures of this little darling.

See you soon!

/Alexandra

Completed: My very first home sewn bra!

This month I am taking on learning something new and it was not hard to pick what I wanted to do - learn (and dare) to sew bras!

I started with the pattern "Pin-up Girls Classic bra" and a fabric kit and then just followed instructions.

It turned out beautiful (ie the actual sewing turned out well). The size was a tad too small, unfortunately, and the style...Well, it's classic allright, granny style!! However it does offer great support compared to many on the market. 

Here are some pictures!

 

A couple of sweaters for little people

I have actually been sewing a fair bit lately, even though I haven't posted much about it. It's the trade off between actually spending time sewing Vs. spending time blogging about it :D

Anyhoo... Here is a quick post about 3 sweaters I've made lately for my toddler and her friend. I refuse sewing all the cutsie, girlish, pink frill stuff for as long as it is avoidable. I thing these ones worked out all right.

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This one was the first one I made in order to practice all the settings on my Janome CoverPro:

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The next one is a gift for my toddlers friend, and my god son. I made a built in tie out of vintage terry I had around. It is AWESOME if you ask me. I would totally wear it myself if I could:

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The third one was also made out of vintage scraps that I had left over from my first Wardrobe Basic. I love how it turned out, in particular the back of it (lower picture):

See, it IS possible to get creative with kids clothes too.

Star Challenge #10 - The DIY month!!

Welcome to the very last star challenge of the Sew for a Change year!! We hope this last one will be a real fun challenge that will inspire many of you to develop your crafty side and be earth friendly in one go. How good does that sound?

This month's challenge is to increase our awareness about the things we buy, and how much the effort is really worth when someone else has made something for us. We will learn to show craftsmanship the love and respect it truly deserves. 
This month we will be Doing It Ourselves!!

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Complete the following:

1. Avoid buying as much as possible that you can make yourself. Dare to challenge yourself!

2. Learn a new skill, or at least give some unexplored crafty domain a proper go!

3. If you are into christmas gifts in your household, then make sure at least one of your gifts is homemade (such as sewn or knitted). Extra round of applauses if it is also made from upcycled material. 

For those of you who hang out in our Facebook group, please share your DIY ideas!

If you manage this, you'll receive a star and 10 points.

Good luck!

Sew for a change - October Results

All right, I failed. That sucks, since I really didn't see it coming. I thought I had this one safe since I already manage everything on the list.

What pushed me over was toothpaste. I use a good one normally, buy a little while ago I was going away on a sort of sewing camp/LAN for a long weekend (and that was awesome by the way!!!) and realised half way there that I forgot to pack both toothbrush and toothpaste! And that the only store between myself and the destination was a petrol station - oh, the horror. I had to buy a terrible super rough plastic beast (yes they only had one) and some equally awful paste to go with it.

The better side of the month was that I have only purchased second hand fabric and therefore spent zero points. Amen.

New challenge will be presented shortly - sorry about the delay!

/Alexandra