MY BABY TURNED 4 AND GOT NEW PANTS!

My baby boy turned 4 this month! :-) I decided I would make new pants and a new shirt for him to use on his birthday, but eventually, I was only able to finish the pants.... I cut the shirt and started sewing it, but the fabric is too lightweight and my machine decided to eat it instead of sewing it... maybe I should have changed the needle or do some voodoo, or something, but the fact is that I have zero tolerance to sewing machine moods. Something tells me that if I go and try to finish the shirt now, I will have no problems... anyways, I really need to invest on more sewing patterns for my son, because I keep on repeating the same ones over and over again... 

New tunics for my little ones!

I am a huge fan of Citronille patterns. These were the first patterns I ever used and they never disappoint. Though I agree that the instructions are not beginner-friendly at all, they are pretty okay once you are more experienced. One of the last patterns that I purchased was the Zebulon, which is a boy's tunic. 

I made a tunic for Manuel using a very lightweight denim from Joann's. When I purchased the fabric I failed to buy a matching thread and since I didn't like any contrasting color I had on my stash, I decided to make all finishings by hand, using invisible stitches. I really do not mind hand sewing, so it was not boring at all. 

PATRICIA IS HAVING A BABY!

My blogging friend Patricia (Pequeno Mundo a 3) is having a baby girl next month! What an excitement!! I haven´t met Patricia in person yet (we live in different continents), but I can tell you she is one of the sweetest persons you can find in the blogging world! :-) 

So... what is better that surprise Patricia with a virtual baby shower?? Nothing, right? Wrong! What about making baby clothes for Patricia's new Baby? Cool, right? Can you imagine an even better surprise? Make matching clothes for her older daughter! Yeah! 

So... Patricia, here we go: 

For your little baby, I made the "Barboteuse" and a matching cap. Both patterns are from Citronille's Intemporels pour Bebes.

And for Miss Caracolinos I made the Dress A from Girls Style Book. 

NOT SO SELFISH SEWING!

Scroll down for the English text. :-)

Em Novembro passado a minha amiga Patricia, do Pequeno Mundo a 3 teve uma ideia brilhante: juntarmos um grupo de entusiastas da costura para fazer uns presentes de Natal para os meninos e as suas mães da instituição Mums and Kids (*)...  

A ideia era, em vez de oferecer roupa usada, o que já muitos de nós fazemos, fazer roupa nova feita à mão e pensada especialmente para cada uma das crianças! Claro que achei a ideia maravilhosa e não podia deixar de participar. 

A Patricia encarregou-se de saber os nomes e idades das crianças e a mim calhou-me um menino de 5 anos. o G. 

Escolher o que fazer não foi difícil, porque eu também tenho um miúdo cá em casa. Comecei por fazer um pijama igual ao que fiz para o Manel, em malha, com a camisola branca e calças com carros de bombeiros. Mas depois entusiasmei-me e fiz também um saco para guardar o pijama.

Depois pensei que se calhar o G preferia ter roupa nova para levar para a rua, por isso fiz-lhe uma camisa de ganga e umas calças de bombazine.

Para a camisa usei uma ganga finhinha e como molde usei a Mulberry Tunic da Willow and Co. (já usei este molde "n" vezes e adoro!). Para as calças usei uma bombazina verde seco e usei o molde Ursule da Citronille. 

Como estou nos EUA, não tive oportunidade de entregar os presentes pessoalmente, mas a Patrícia tratou de tudo! As crianças já receberam os seus presentes e penso que gostaram. Eu adorei! E quero muito voltar a fazer! 

Existem tantas formas de podermos proporcionar um sorriso a famílias que estão a passar um período menos bom nas suas vidas e esta foi só uma. Mas estou completamente convencida que estes pequenos gestos fazem imensa diferença!

Já agora, vejam o que as minhas amigas também fizeram:

Pequeno Mundo a 3
Do Guincho 
Fairies, Bubbles and Co.
S is for Sewing
Conversas de Hermanas 
Made by Sara
Rita Pirolita
Saídos da Concha
House of Estrela 

(*)A Mums and Kids é um centro de acolhimento temporário para mães e crianças em situação de risco e exclusão social. A capacidade da casa é de 16 utentes (incluindo as mães e crianças) e durante o período em que estão nesta casa (máximo 2 anos) o objectivo é que estas pequenas familias vivam num ambiente familiar com alguma autonomia. Depois de estarem nesta casa, espera-se que as familias estejam mais capacitadas para a sua reinserção na sociedade. Para mais informação ou se quiserem contribuir de qualquer forma, visitem a página aqui ou a página no facebook aqui.

++++++ 

Last November, my sewing friend Patricia (Pequeno Mundo a 3) had a brilliant idea: what about getting together some sewing enthusiasts to make Christmas presents for the children and moms of a Charity called Mums and Kids (*)...  

The idea was to make brand new handmade clothes to these children, specially thought for each of them, instead of giving them second-hand clothes, which is something that most of us already do. I thought the idea was perfect and I could't say no.  

Patricia got the names and ages of all the children and I got to sew for a 5-year old boy: "G" 

Choosing what to sew was not hard at all, since I also have a little boy at home. I started by making pajamas, just like those that I made to my son Manel. I used a white knit for the top and a print with fire trucks for the pants. I then got carried away and also made a bag to keep the pajamas. 

But then I thought that maybe "G" would prefer to have something he could wear outside to play. So I made him a denim shirt and corduroy pants. 

For the shirt, I used a lightweight denim from Joann's and the pattern is the Mulberry Tunic from Willow and Co. (I've used this pattern before and love it!). For the pants I used lightweight corduroy also from Joann's and the pattern is the Ursule pants from Citronille. 

Since I live in the US, Patricia had to take care of getting the presents to the children. Thank you Patricia! The kids got their presents and apparently they liked it very much. I loved to be a part of this project and definitely want to do it again!  

There are so many ways to bring happiness to someone that is being through a rough time, this was just one. But I am totally convinced that these small gestures can make a difference. 

Now go check what my sewing friends made:

Pequeno Mundo a 3
Do Guincho 
Fairies, Bubbles and Co.
S is for Sewing
Conversas de Hermanas 
Made by Sara
Rita Pirolita
Saídos da Concha
House of Estrela 

(*)Mums and Kids is a temporary foster home for moms and their children, who were identified as being at risk and struggling with social exclusion. The house has a capacity to receive 16 people (moms and children), who can stay here for a maximum period of 2 years. The purpose of the house is to provide these families with a family-like environment, with a certain degree of autonomy. Living here should help these families prepare themselves to "go back to society". 

For more information of if you want to contribute in any way, please visit their website here or their facebook page here.

PINK AND GOLD

Here is Teresa's new tunic. I am totally in love with it. The fabric is Michael Miller's Brambleberry Ridge by Violet Craft (purchased here). It is pink and has some adorable golden birds. 

I only bought a yard of it (I guess I can't get used to the fact that my girl is not a baby anymore) and had to do some magic to be able to sew this tunic.

The pattern is Agnes Tunic by Citronille. Due to the lack of fabric I had to make some modifications, like reducing the width of the bodice. Also, I added a peter pan collar. The collar is far from perfect, I had to self draft it, but I though that this fabric was really asking for something with a peter pan collar.  

I think I got a little bit obsessed here and even used golden thread... I just couldn't help it.

Teresa wore her new tunic today with her new denim skirt (more details here).

I am glad that she is finally well and we could have fun outside!

Hope you liked it! :-)

THANKSGIVINGS OUTFITS

Although I have not been blogging about it, I have been sewing a lot. Yet, my kids are not always into taking pictures, so sometimes it is really hard to sew, dress them, take pictures and blog about it shortly after. I know you can relate to this! Anyway, I managed to sew complete outfits for Teresa and Manuel for Thanksgiving. I made two shirts and two shorts! 

For Manuel I (once again) used Citronille's Balthasar shirt pattern. I like the cut and the fit of this shirt so I keep on doing it over and over again. This time, to be able to match it with Teresa's blouse, I used a different fabric in the placket. I also used some wood buttons. I loved the result. 

For Teresa I used (also once again! Don't get me wrong I purchase a lot of new patterns, but once I get one that I like, I like to test different versions of it) the Compagnie M's Mara Blouse. This is a great pattern, I already blogged about it here. 

The fabric used for both shirts are white viyella purchased here and a beautiful Japanese floral cotton lawn from Farmhouse fabrics.

I wanted to coordinate the shirts with some shorts, since the weather still allows it. For Manuel I used the Two Haute Shorts pattern (Thank you Rita (Conversas de Hermanas) for the tip!). This pattern is great, it has three versions: shorts with or without the sash and a skort, this way it can be adapted for both boys and girls. The shorts are very easy and quick to sew and the result is perfect! 

For Teresa I made Willow and Co.'s Clover shorts. I have been wanting to sew these shorts for a while and finally manged to do it. The instructions are very very clear, and I loved the result. They are very loose, so perfect for playing around. Teresa loved them. I will definitely be making some more!  

For both shorts, I used a lightweight green corduroy from Joann's.

Here are the two with their new outfits! Aren't they cute?

I (HEART) MARCEL MARLIER

Well, I have a confession to make. I have been discussing with my husband for well over a year whether or not I should create a blog to record the thinks I sew for my children. Somehow, I never had the urge to do it... that was until I read about the I (heart) Marcel Marlier sew along! So, basically, what motivated me to create a blog was the opportunity to participate in this sew along! And why, you may ask? Well, I believe I read all books ever written by Marcel Marlier for the "Anita" collection. I still have all those books at my parents' house in Portugal and this book collection was probably the first collection I have ever made. So, for me, this sew along, was the kick that I needed to make this blog!

So, my idea was to try to recreate, as close as possible, an outfit wore by Anita in one of those books. I don't have any book at home here in the US, so, I had to stick with what I was able to find online. One of the first images that I found was one of Anita with a boy. I thought it would be perfect: I would get to sew not only for Teresa but also for Manuel! Here is the picture that I used as an inspiration:

Due to the weather conditions around here, I have not been able to take pictures of Teresa and Manuel outside. I wanted to go to a park to try to recreate the picture above, but it is too cold for that now, meaning that I had to improvise an indoor photo-shoot. Teresa is always ready for a photo, but Manuel hates it, so getting a picture of two together was really hard.

For Teresa's dress, I used red corduroy (Kaufman 21 Wale Corduroy) and seersucker in plaid for the lining (Kaufman plaid seersucker). The pattern is Straight-grain's Hanami top or dress. This pattern is great. I have already sewed the Hanami top (you can check it here) and this time I made the dress version with the invisible zipper. It was the first time that I included a zipper in clothes and, surprisingly, I found it very easy to do (maybe it was just beginners luck...). I really like the way it turned out, it is very elegant and fits beautifully. I made it in size 7 (though Teresa is a size 6), so that she can use it during the winter with a blouse or a sweater underneath.  

 

For Manuel I decided for a tunic and pants. For the tunic I used Willow and Co's Mulberry Tunic in white linen (I already showed this tunic here).

For the pants I decided to try Citronille's Ursule pants, also in linen, bought here. I love these pants, they are very easy and quick to sew and are super comfortable and cool for both a boy or a girl. I love the way they fit Manuel. 

I am really happy with the two outfits! :-) Hope you like it too!

PUMPKIN PICKING

Since we arrived to Texas (it will be a year soon) we have been determined to get to know the traditions around here. Halloween is no big deal in Portugal. In fact, while I was growing up, there was no such think as Halloween. Recently (I would say 15 years ago), stores started selling Halloween stuff and the kids went along with it, but it is really noting like here. Anyway, last weekend we went to pick up a pumpkin to decorate our house for Halloween.

A couple of months ago I made a dress for Teresa and a matching shirt for Manel in a red/orange polka dots fabric and I though that these would be the perfect outfits for pumpkin picking.

The fabric is Amy Butler and the patterns are once again the A Dress from Yoshiko Tsukiori's Girls Style Book and the Balthasar shirt from Citronille. I made some modifications to Manel's shirt: took off the collar and used bias tape instead and made short sleeves.

It was super fun, they really enjoyed their day and so did we!

EASY AND VERY SATISFACTORY PROJECTS!

I really like those projects that though easy to put together provide great satisfaction. This is the case of the A dress from Yoshiko Tsukiori's Girls Style Book.

I really love the design of Japanese patterns and kids look so cool on them. The A dress is a project that can be made really quickly and looks so great! Check it out:

In the first version I made (so far I made 3!), I used an aqua plaid print, which was also a perfect fabric for boys... so I made Manel another Balthasar shirt. This time instead of using the classic version, I included a hoodie and a front pocket.

This is how the two pieces look together!