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... 

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.

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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.

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!