FuoriBorgo

green flowers

Despite my best intentions, I've been hesitant to actually sew something for myself.  It isn't the sewing, rather the step before that scares me a fair bit: to cut up all that adult-sized yardage from beautiful fabrics always seems so momentous.  If the garment turns out not to fit properly, in fact, then it's a whole lot of wasted fabric.  On the other hand, pretty fabrics that just sit neatly folded away in a closet are wasted fabric, too - as I keep telling myself.

That cutting moment came the other day, when I finally took out some cotton jersey, and decided to make something with it.  Indecision arose almost immediately: wouldn't cotton jersey be more suitable for pajamas rather than for the top I had in mind?  Or wouldn't pajamas be a waste of pretty fabric?  I asked the kids for advice, but they told me that the fabric was hideous, and best left in the closet.

Hideous?!  Well, I thought, what do kids know about fabrics anyway?  Green flowers on green backdrop are more of a sophisticated, adult taste.  So I asked Tom.

There was something in the way he replied "pajamas" - a little too quickly, without even blinking - that indicated that perhaps it wasn't that he thought that jersey would be better for pajamas, but that he'd rather "see" me wearing a green flowered garment when it's dark.

I didn't enquire, but I made pajamas.  And now I'm asking you: is this print really that ugly?

Pattern Notes: Simplicity #3696 with a few adjustments: I made the legs a little skinnier (still too wide, even for pajamas), instead of hemming I did a little scallopped stitiching at the ends, and I didn't finish the neckline with bias tape - I tried to dilute the green-flower-effect by using this valencienne lace that my grandmother used to use in sewing projects for her church. 

while at the sewing machine together

"We should really also give her something store-bought," said Rebecca, breaking a long concentration spell during which only the irregular stitch-stiiitch-stitch sound of the sewing machine, which she was learning to operate at a slow speed, could be heard.  

"But why?" I replied. "Nothing we buy could be as precious to your friend as this nightdress you've spent the better part of the morning making for her with your own hands."  I was pleasantly surprised to see that she seemed convinced.

"She's so lucky!", continued Rebecca. 

"Why is that?"  I asked out of politeness - because I also think the birthday girl is very lucky: they live in a house right on the beach, and where their terrace ends, the sand begins.  But Rebecca wasn't thinking house-envy thoughts.

"She's lucky because her hair is long", she explained.  Ah, long hair envy ...  I found my voice of wisdom, and reminded her that she should wear her hair in the style she likes, and not echo someone else's.  Besides, it's not the length of our hair, but what we've got inside, that matters.

"But also, her hair is curly", she went on.  "No, I'm afraid, you can't have natural curls," my voice of experience explained. "When you're older, you might want to try to have your hair permed, but it will never look naturally curly.  It'll look like straight hair that's been permed."  And because she didn't ask the question I feared, "How old do I need to be to have my hair permed?", I concluded with my voice of wisdom: "It's important to learn to accept and be grateful for what you have and who you are."

"And her hair is BLOND!" she finally blurted out.  Well, ...

I told her that her own hair is a beautiful color, the color of ripe chestnuts, the color of her Daddy's and my hair.  I didn't add that at this point in life I too begin to envy blondes, because they don't show white hair as easily!  I didn't tell her, because white hair wasn't what my six-year-old had in mind when she was thinking her blond-hair-envy thoughts.

Then we went back to the sewing machine, and as we sewed our envy evaporated.  And together we made a very special present for the (lucky) birthday girl - together, and by hand.  

Pattern Notes: this is the first time Rebecca really used the sewing machine.  With my guidance, she was able to do all the straight seams and the hems by herself (though naturally, not all the stitching is perfectly straight), and she enjoyed it immensely.  The pattern is a very easy one, and easily adaptable, from my favorite French sewing book, which I've previously made into the original Chemise de Nuit, a summery nighdress, and a blouse as well. 

A spring dress buds, flowers, then fades

I made a dress for Rebecca in floral velveteen - the right weight fabric, I figured, for a very wet and still wintry springtime.  She wore it for three weeks straight . . . until this weekend, when the weather suddenly turned almost summery - too hot for velveteen.

So, after only 3 weeks of wear, we packed the dress away along with the rest of the winter clothing.  But no harm done!  I made it a size larger than Rebecca needed this year, so it will still fit her in a few months' time.  And you won't ever hear me complaining about warm weather.  Or about having to make a proper springtime dress for my girl.

Pattern Notes: this is another Girly Style Wardrobe pattern, which I've previously made in a somewhat unfortunate summer version and in a very successful autumn one.  For those of you interested in sewing Japanese patterns, have a look at this great Japanese sewing book series hosted by you & mie, which includes fantastic explanations on how to read and interpret those patterns by Sanae Ishida.

traveling Easter bunnies

We're taking our bunnies for a little Easter time trip.  See you all next week!

(Easy Bunny Candy Pouch tutorial, found via Pinterest.  Be aware that if you plan on slipping something larger than candies inside this cute pouch – something the size of an iTunes gift card for your nieces and nephew, for example - you'll have to adjust the pattern and make the opening wider.  I'm just saying...) 

girly style again

It's a good thing that this Japanese sewing book - Girly Style Wardrobe - has such cute images, else I wouldn't have gone back to it, yet again.

But it does have the cutest images of simple to make, yet stylish, girly dresses, so I went back to it for ideas for what to make out of a very soft floral cotton corduroy remainder I found at the street market (my previous, not-so-stylish and unsatisfactory - for reasons that I couldn't always figure out - projects from this same book are Sewing for Little Red Riding Hood and A dress gone wrong).  

And, blimey, I must have learned Japanese in the meanwhile or something, because of all the girly dresses I sewed for Rebecca, this is my favorite!  

And so thinks my family.

Number 14

Well, it appears that I was wrong when I wrote that I'd completed 13 sewing projects in 2012: I'd forgotten all about Number 14!

Number 14 came to mind yesterday, as I organizing Rebecca's drawer (don't you wish kids' wardrobe drawers and shelves would grow bigger as their clothes get bigger?) and I noticed Number 14: my second Oliver + S After-School Shirt for Rebecca, which got a lot of use in the autumn.  How could I have forgotten to include it?

When I sewed it, back in September, I made a few adjustments to the pattern, because I found that my first After-School Shirt was comfortably loose-fitting but a little too short in the sleeves and body.  Knowing the rate my tall girl is growing, the pattern was no doubt going to be even shorter after a few months.  So I added an inch to the sleeves, and an extra bottom panel to the body, using the same contrasting fabric as for the yoke.

With the extra inches I added, it came out looking more like a tunic than a shirt; and in fact, it was often worn like a tunic at the beach in the fall.  But I bet that this coming spring, when it's time to take it out of the drawer again, it will probably fit tall(er) Rebecca perfectly as a shirt.

sewing days ahead

This year, I have grand plans for sewing projects intended for myself.

There, I've said it.  Now maybe I will make it happen.  After all, I've got a number of fabrics and patterns during the December sales, and I'm all set.  What I still need is a good dose of confidence that I'll be able to make something that will actually fit me, and that I will want to wear.  And there's only one way of knowing it: hello 2013, with 365 sewing days!  

Do you have crafting plans for the New Year?

sewing days behind

1. epiphany sundress(middle), 2. anatomy of an artichoke bag, 3. harvesting lavender with my girl, 4. Little Splashes, 5. a dress, 6. midday in mamma-made nightdress, 7. picking May flowers in Family Reunion Dress, 8. zipper bag for traveling, 9. just in time!, 10. crochet colored buttons, 11. inevitables, 12. French blouse for reading Italian ads, 13. seasonal variations on a pattern

Some of the crafting I've enjoyed the most during the past year was sewing.  I always like to say that my life right now isn't quite zen enough for sewing, but look at that: I completed 13 projects in 2012.  So it would seem that my life (or part of it, anyway) was zennish enough for some sewing, after all.  Right?

Thirteen projects in twelve months . . . let's take a closer look.  One rain jacket for Rebecca, two tops for Rebecca, one nightdress for Rebecca, one zipper bag for Rebecca, pajamas for Rebecca, five dresses for Rebecca.  And a tennis racket cover for . . . Rebecca. 

Hmm. . .  Twelve sewing projects for Rebecca.  How many children do I have again?  (Ok, I also went crazy and made an artichoke bag for myself).

Not that I'm neglecting my boys, but the needle & thread work I do for them is more about mending than sewing.  But I do intend to change things.  I'm already planning a pretty elasticized extension to attach to the ubiquitous (at least in this country) low-rise waistline of boys' pants, to cover up the elastic of their underwear.  Just a thought – I wonder if other mothers of boys long for a similar adjustment to this boys' pants style?

French blouse for reading Italian ads

Our girl is beginning to sound out words.  I'd forgotten how incredible this stage is: when the written world suddenly clicks in the mind of a child, letters are put together to make words, and the meaning of printed language is revealed with great excitement.  It's truly a magic stage, and every day new discoveries are made, and each comes with a huge "I can do this!" smile.  The first occurrence was in a parking lot, when Rebecca stared at an ugly concrete wall for what seemed an unreasonably long time, then turned around beaming, and said "No smoking!" (which in Italian is a seven-syllable phrase).  Not a very poetic first phrase, but I can assure you that I almost got my cell phone out to take a photo of that sign!

Her early steps into the written world continued the other day with the discovery of advertisement.  Oh, advertisement around Christmas time -- so insidious, it even made it to our little, isolated, TV-free house in the middle of rural nowhere!  It came through the mail in the form of a supermarket pamphlet, with lots of alluring images and a few large-type words: perfect reading material for an eager young reader!   Pages, and pages of "REGALI!" (presents) that we didn't even know we needed!  Can you imagine how thrilled Rebecca was when, after studying the leaflet for a while, she announced that the grocery store was going to give her toys as REGALI?

The pamphlet went back out of the house via the recycling bin, and Rebecca didn't even notice it, while the top I'd just completed that day stayed, and it's been worn almost daily.  It's a made with a remainder of very fine, soft cotton flannel fabric which I found at the street market, with a bright, bold print (figs?  lanterns? lantern-figs?) on black background, that I really like.  The pattern for this simple top with a rounded yoke, La tunique à enclure ronde, comes from my by-now long-trusted French sewing book.  And speaking of "REGALI!" (presents), this sewing book would make the perfect present.  I've made so many patterns over the last few years, and each turned out perfect - even in my non-French speaking interpretations.

seasonal variations on a pattern

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.