A Christmas dress fit for a princess!

I finally have Anitas Christmas dress ready!

It only happens like every 5 years or so that I have everything ready for the holidays some

time in advance.  Who am I kidding I thing it has only happened once and that

was last year, so lets say every 39 years!

Thankfully Anitas dress was a very quick project.

Warm jackets for the kids!

Winter is slowly but surely creeping up on us whether I like it or not,

and it doesn't look like we will be getting a summer house somewhere in the

southern hemisphere this year (or any other year for that matter).

I guess I had a feeling this would be the case and I'm glad I bought some lovely

wool fabric at Mood Fabrics when I was in N.Y. with my besties celebrating

our big Four Zero this fall.

I used those beautiful fabrics to make jackets for my two youngest ones.

It was the loveliest day when we took our photos so be ready for picture overload in this post!

I was going to blog about the jackets in separate posts but there are some discount codes

going on that I didn't want you to miss out on.

Christmas dress - for me!

A few weeks ago Christina of Wardrobe By Me asked a few of her previous

testers to sew one of her dress patterns in a holiday theme.

I had just bought her Mirri pattern and was planning a dress for me anyway so

of course I was in.  Otherwise I might have procrastinated and not made the

dress until after Christmas.

But now I have my dress ready even in time for

my work Christmas Party next Saturday

Lounge wear.

The very first thing I do when I come home from work is to change clothes.

I don't feel that my workday is over until I have done that.

Usually my lounge wear consists of a pair of leggings, a long sleeve t-shirt and a cardigan.

That doesn't sound so terrible but I should add that I haven't upgraded my lounge wear

for many many years so there might be some holes and permanent stains and what not.

Guess what I now have an upgrade

and I think I should share it with you my sewing friends!

I got to test some more patterns for Wardrobe by Me, I know I'm so lucky!

My handsome guy is back!

The kids are finally getting some new mommy made clothes!

First up is my handsome little guy, who actually isn't so little anymore. He has grown so much lately that almost everything I made him last winter is getting too small.  So I just need to roll up my sleeves and make him some new clothes, oh how I love my chores!

To start off I printed out some Titchy Thread patterns.  

This was my first time using her patterns and they did not disappoint!  I have been wanting to make the Twisted trousers ever since they first came out.  Of course he needs some sweaters as well so I thought some Rowan tee's would be in order.

The perfect sweater!

I have discovered the most comfortable pattern - fabric combination ever!

You can just thank me in the comment section here below!

Keep reading and you will find a coupon at the end of this post, and believe me you

will want to use it!

This one is for me too, I'm getting comments from the kids now that I have made

enough clothes for me and it's time to start making something for them again.

Here is the perfect sweater:

My first pattern testing!

You know how Denmark is famous for great designers?  If you don't ask your friend Google.

I mean in every aspect - furniture, toys, jewelry, fashion - they are just amazing!

So what do you do when you get asked to test a pattern by a Danish designer?

I'll tell you!  You jump up and down and squeal like a crazy person

and than you brag about it to everyone meet!

At least that's what I did when Christina Albeck of Wardrobe by me asked

little old me to test her newest pattern which was just released this weekend.

It is a T-shirt and top pattern.

You can either make a fancy top or a casual light sweater.

Choose from a round scooped neckline or a v-neck, sleeveless or with sleeves,

finish the armhole and neckline with facings or with rib.

Curved og straight hemline.

So many options that result it totally different tops. 

I made two versions.  Here is my fancy top.

Pattern Anthology: Unbiased

There is a new collection out from the amazing designers of Pattern Anthology called Unbiased.

It's a bundle of four patterns for women using knit fabrics.  Actually it is much more than four patterns since all of them can be made as either a dress or a top, with different sleeve options and

different kind of finishing touches.

Totally worth every penny!

I had big plans to sew them all up and share them with you but you guys know how it is,

life usually gets in the way of those grand plans!  So I am pretty happy to share with you

two out of the four.

Lets start with the Diamond - girls best friend, right?

One more for me!

Here is another top I made for little old me.

Who knows maybe sewing for me will be my new thing.

This time I made the Ella Top from Liola Patterns.

Amateur Hour.

Guess what you guys - I made a top for myself!

An Anna top no less!

No no no please don't leave just yet!

It's not the Frozen kind - I have not gone completely mad!

So I apologize that there are no charming cute little models here today.

But don't worry they will be back soon enough!

More fall sewing.

I made two more things before we went on vacation.

Both were for Anita, pants and a top.

The post with six pieces of clothing!

Warning, this is a long post.  I hope you make it to the end! 

We have one more week of summer holiday and we are having so much fun!

I wish it could last forever!

We spent a little over a week in Denmark with my in-laws and my sister in-law and

part of her family.  Even though the weather wasn't the greatest to start with we had so much fun.

We just hung out, ate some really good food and enjoyed spending time together.

We went to a zoo and a rainforest park and sent the big kids to a theme park.

I'm not sure whether the kids or my sister in-law had more fun patting the animals! :)

Before we left I sewed up a bunch of clothes for the kids that I wanted to photograph on our trip.

Since summer goes by so fast - way to fast, I'm starting on the fall wardrobe. 

Today I'll show you no less than six pieces of clothing for my little munchkins!

The Garden Girl Collection: The Stella Tunic and Leggings

The last but certainly not the least in the Garden Girl Collection

from Shwin Designs is the Stella Tunic and leggings. 

The Garden Girl Collection: The Jane Dress and Top

Today is my part two of the Garden Girl Collection Trilogy.

The Jane Dress and Top from Shwin Designs.

The Garden Girl Collection: The McKenzie Tunic turned Dress.

Anita:  Mom, why do you make me so many dresses?

Me:  Hmmm, because I really like making them.

Is it possible that she has too many dresses?  

Nahhh, I girl can never have to many dresses!  Am I right?

She is very happy with her newest addition.  Of course she wanted to wear it to kindergarten today, but she agreed to pick out another one for today so she can wear the new one tonight when we attend Roberts graduation from 10th grade.

My to oldest don't get profiled much here, or not at all.  I have only sewed one pair of pajama shorts for Robert, which he refused to model for this blog, and nothing for Hartmann.  I guess it's a bit trickier to please 16 and 19 year old boys than the little ones.  Maybe one day - we'll see!

Ok, now the star of this post

Shorts = Summer?

We are trying to stay optimistic that there will be summer here this year so I keep

sewing summer clothes for the kiddos.

Now it was Viktors turn, and he wanted shiny shorts!

Oh boy how am going to pull that off, I thought!

So together we looked through my fabrics and he found this great cotton + steel xoxo in green

I bought from Miss Matatabi.

So green and gold shorts I made.

Pleasing a picky little customer

I had mixed emotions when cutting out my fabric for the dress I am going to share with you today.

I truly loved the color palette I ended up with BUT I was not sure at all how my picky little customer would react.

Almost no pink, common how is that going to end well?!

Well...

Penny Dress

Well hello!

I'm still here even though May didn't turn out quite as productive on the sewing front as I had hoped.  It took me some time to decide what to make, there where a couple of long weekends and I got hooked on Mad Men.  When I get hooked on something I just can't stop until it's done!  I only have a few episodes left and then I'll dive into my lovely fabric stash again. 

So far I have only sewed from pdf patterns and this time I thought I'd try sewing from an e magazine.  I know it's basically the same thing but I thought maybe the instructions wouldn't be as detailed.  At least when I was reading through them before cutting my fabric it all seemed so much harder.  But then when I had all my fabric pieces in front of me it all made sense. 

Working on the summer wardrobe.

HELLO!

KCW: My Prepster Lion.

And now its time to show off my other Wild Thing!

Here is Viktor in his Prepster Pullover from Blank Slate Patterns.

KCW: Pink Stallions!

I really wanted to sew along with kids clothes week this time 

cause I had the perfect fabrics for the theme - Wild Things.

But I had to do my sewing last week because my in-laws will be visiting this week.

I managed to finish what I had planned and today I'll share Anitas wild thing outfit.

If you read my last post you might remember that I said my next post would also 

feature patterns from Jennuine Design.

Tada!

Here you have the Haven Acres Blouse and the Dressage Leggings.

The Verona Dress.

I really wasn't going to buy any more patterns for a while,

 cause I kind of have plenty already - even some I haven't sewn up yet.

But then all my favorite designers start launching new patterns for spring! 

And who am I kidding - I have no self control!!

After following the blog tour for the Verona Dress from Jennuine Design

I just had to have that pattern.

Nice and comfy!

In this post I'm going to continue with a comfortable outfit for active kids, 

and this time Viktor is the star of the show.

Once again I played around with colorblocking the Recess Raglan pattern 

from See Kate Sew.

My original plan was to use the Explorer Hoodie pattern,

but in the end I went with what I knew.

I definitely will sew up the Explorer Hoodie another time though.

The pants are the Mini Hudson Pants from True Bias.

The Ponderosa Dress

Alrighty then, lets talk about a pink dress yet again shall we!

Anita basically only wants to wear dresses and even though they are usually very cute they aren't all that practical on cold days in kindergarten.  But I guess long sleeved knit dresses are the best option for those situations, and I have made a few so far even though I haven't posted them all here.  

So today that's the kind I want to show you!

Heading towards spring!

We have been enjoying some lovely springdays in between the rainy ones so I could finally snap some photos outside.  And o boy it is sooooo much easier than dealing with setting up the backdrop and trying to figure out the lighting, which I haven't been successful 

with this winter.  

Hopefully it won't be as far between my blogposts now that we are going towards

warmer weather.

My littlest man turned 5 in February and of course that called for a new button down shirt.

What do you know - another dress!

I have a dress to share with you again.  What a surprice - right?!  

This one I actually made three of, but I can only show you one of them as the other two were christmas presents.

The dress is the Maggie Mae from Shwin Designs.

Conquering the fear of the invisible zipper!

I've had this pattern since last June, but never got up the nerve to sew it.  First of, this dress has an invisible zipper, which I have been terrified of doing after a total failure on a pair of pants for Anita.  Luckily she is such a flagpole that I was able to skip it and just do an elastic waist on those pants. Second, I have been waiting for the perfect combo of fabrics for this amazing dress.  

And third, the invisible zipper thing.

At last the stars aligned, I had the perfect fabrics and decided I just had to conquer that fear!

The pattern is the Louisa Dress from Compagnie M.

A little late but - Happy New Year to you all!

I hope you all had a great holiday with your loved ones!  We sure did!  After WAY too much eating and not exercising at all over the holidays, I am trying to get into jogging again and so far it is going quite well.  Just hope I'll be able to keep it up.

I have been sewing some lately and my head is full of ideas on what I want to make.  

I made christmas presents for my incredibly cute nieces and I made Anita a christmas dress but I never got around to make a shirt and a tie for Viktor as I had planed.  Since the holidays I have made to more dresses for Anita and a T-shirt for Viktor and next up are some pants to go along with it.

I thought I'd start by sharing Anitas Christmas dress.