Intemporels pour enfants is the best crafting book I've ever bought. It's certainly the one I've used the most, and with its 38 beautiful and highly doable sewing patterns, it's the best value for money. I've made several patterns out of this book, and despite my horrible French, all of them turned out perfectly (see my French Sewing section in my Tool Box for links to those projects). Some of these patterns I made multiple times (like the sun dress, and the teddy bear). And one of the them four times - each time in a different variation.
The Chemise de Nuit, in fact, is a very simple, loose-fitting pattern, that allows easy adaptations to the sleeves, the body, and neckline, which turn it into a different garment entirely. I made four different variations on this pattern, as the seasons changed and the kinds of clothes Rebecca needed evolved: the classic Chemise de Nuit for spring, a wintry flannel pajamas top, a cropped sleeve & skirt summery chemise de nuit, and now my latest variation:
A blouse for autumn! To make it, I shortened the body of the original pattern, omitted the ruffle, and significantly altered the neckline style of the original pattern.
I seem in fact to have completely lost interest in elasticized necklines, and although I loved my previous summer-time attempt to replace the elastic with smocking embroidery, this time I made a blouse with a gathered neckline and a little neck opening.
To do that, I cut a short slit down the front middle (which I then encased in bias tape), made a gathering for the neckline, sewed an extra-long piece of bias tape all around it, and used the extra bias ends on each side of the neck opening as laces to tie the front of the blouse closed with a knot.
One pattern, four different garments for the four seasons of the year.
