Knock it off at Elegance and Elephants

During the first three weeks of August there's a fun series going on at Elegance and Elephants: Knock it off.
It reminds me of the phrase: "talent borrows, genius steals"! Why spend a lot of money on a garment if you can create it yourself for a fraction of the price? And what's more, if you can ensure a perfect fit and omit or add details as you like?    
I'm certainly going to follow this series. I'm not sure if I will be able to sew along, but I'll link up my own favorite knock off, shamelessly copied from Scotch Shrunk!
Head over to Elegance and Elephants for more great knock-offs!

Sew Fantastic series

A few months ago Annika from Näh Connection asked me to be part of her Sew Fantastic series, in which she interviews bloggers and asked them to sew their 'signature' tee. I was flattered and honored to be part of the series, so of course I said yes immediately!

Today, it's my turn to show up on her blog, so hop over to Näh Connection to read the interview and find out the story behind this tee...

Tropical tee

We have a mini heatwave here in the Netherlands, so time for a tropical post.

Indeed, a pineapple again!

Hot summer days like this are rare, and definitely shouldn't be spent in a sweltering sewing room...

So I got a store-bought tee, my old faithful pineapple stencil, and some fabric paint

Quick, easy, and very summery...

By the way, those cute striped shorts are another hand-made item that was once sewn by my mother for my siblings or me, stored for years and years and now finally gets worn again...

Mend the gap

My friend asked me to mend her trekking pants in return for a three-course dinner. That’s what I call a good deal! Especially since:

a. she is a wonderful cook, and 

b. I got her fiat to add a customized patch.

So I decided to add a leaf. This turned an otherwise boring task into a creative and satisfying little project.

Here are some alternatives I've used before to mend (or prevent) gaps!

Stars, elephants, multiple patches, whale

The guy wearing the patched pants is my middle son, just before he turned 2 (over 2 years ago now). 

I love his cool attitude, contrasting nicely with the rose petals sprinkled on the floor, haha!

And some more fun patches on my 'Mend the Gap' Pinterest board

band aid, hearts, monster, clouds

Prism shorts

A while ago, I was trying out some freezer paper stenciling and ended up with this fun triangle print. My daughter found the stenciled fabric, loved it, and asked me to make her a pair of shorts with it.

Yes, ma'am, your wish is my command!

So I created yet another pair of side-panel shorts. I love this pattern; it is so versatile and lends itself for endless variations: use bold contrasting fabric for the side panels (as in these puffin shorts) or a more subtle combination (last year's pineapple shorts), add piping, do something different on each leg (I made a pair of stars and stripes shorts that I never blogged), or anything you can think of.

I used a self-drafted pattern, but you could easily modify an existing pattern: cut off a rectangle from the front and back panel and add these two rectangles together to form the side panel (see instructions below). The side panels of these shorts (size 5-7) were 12 cm wide.

Once you've cut out the panels, just sew the shorts together as you would normally do, just make two extra seams, and ad piping if you like.

Puffin shorts

Just a few pics of the puffin shorts. More shorts coming up soon...

Summer time!

It's summer time! Time for jumping, running and dancing. 

Not for standing still for a photoshoot.

Not even when modelling my brother's new puffin shorts. 

They're so soft, colourful and stretchy, I just cannot stop moving in them. 

Okay, mom. If you insist, I'll try to sit still (for one second).

Are you done? Fine, then I'm off to jump again.

Notes from mom:

I'm sorry, no detailed pics of the garment today, but I can assure you that these shorts are well loved!