Come back

Hello my lovelly friends and readers

It has been over one year, since the last time I blogged. I really miss it, let me tell you.

I didn’t stopped sewing, but sometimes I feel like there is nothing about my ventures, that is worth writing about. This blogging thing is hard work, and most of the time I feel that I have nothing new to say/show. I really don’t want to bore you with my sewing!!!

Anyhow, I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, and realized that I have to admit to myself  that my blog is for me. Not that I don’t like to have readers and I love all your wonderfull comments, but if I keep worrying about what you wan’t to read/see, I lose focus on the main reason of this blog

I want to keep track of my sewing. It’s as simple as that…

This dress ( yes, it’s a dress!!!) was sewn last year, I don’t remember quite when anymore, but it’s one of the girl favourites, at the moment.

I love (and hate) how she looks so grown up in it…

The pattern is the Pretty in Peplum, by Sew Much Ado.

Fabrics are Nosh Organics from a past season, but the butterfly pattern is available in a similar colour this season.

I LOVE Nosh fabrics, but that it’s not news to you.

Pictures were taken in Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência (English here). It’s a really wonderfull place to visit with children… ooooh’s and aaaah’s from the entrance to the exit, for sure!!!

That’s it for now!!!

Hugs and kisses

Eleena Dress – The Tour

Hi there,

Yes, it is the Eleena again… Can you blame me!!!

It is such a beautifull dress ❤ ❤ ❤

This is my third version 😀

The first two were made during the testing phase and were more winter appropriate, but this time around I decided it was time for a more “springy” dress.

I choose a pink chambray for the bodice and white cotton eyelet for the accent pleat and short sleeves.

It feels like spring to me ❤

Virtual high five here… I think I finally mastered the invisible zipper 😉

As for the indoor photo shoot… Well, just because you make a spring dress, doesn’t mean spring will come faster!!! In fact it feels like winter is finally settling in this little corner of the world… it’s soooo cold and it feels so weird!!!

I love the vintage feel of this dress, and so does the little miss. She was shivering and a bit unconfortable, thence the pout up there!!!

I still got a little smile, though ❤ ❤ ❤

Don’t forget to check the all the beautifull Eleenas in this tour…

February, 22 

Bonnie & Lottie, As it Seams, Sew Happy, Call Ajaire

February, 24

In a Manner of Sewing, Skirt Fixation, Stitched Together,

Made by Sara, The Life of Compulsive Crafter

February, 26

A Jennuine Life, Fairies, Bubble & Co, Hungie Gungie, Doguincho

February, 29

Rebel & Malice, Sew Shelly Sew, Creative Needle and Threads,

Welcome to the Mouse House

March, 2

Candice Ayala, LBG Studio, Crafty Biggers, Sewing Like Mad

March, 4

Greendoodle, Rita Pirolita, Boevenbende, Kristine Hansen 

March, 7

Les Reloux, Just Add Fabric, Lokakid, While she was sleeping

The Eleena is on sale until March 7th

Hugs and kisses

 

Eleena Dress

Hi there,

Happy new year!!!!

Today I’m here to show you the Eleena Dress by Coffee & Thread.

My daugther was in desperate need of some winter dresses, so I jumped up and down when Olga pick me to test for her.

You know that feeling you get, that you will end up with one amazing outfit, even if it just a tester version. My gut was right!!!

This dress looks amazing ❤ ❤ ❤

Minor tweaks were made to this first version and it is even more amazing now. I’ve made a second test version…. in Liberty corduroy ( ❤ ❤ ❤ ), but have no photos that makes it justice. But I promisse I will blog about it…. eventually 🙂

I’m in love with the collar… What can I say…. I’m just crazy like that!!!! (and I know you totally get me)

And here are some styled photos, courtesy of the little miss 😀

The Eleena dress is now on sale until the end of the week.

Go get it. Go…

You wont regret it 🙂

 

Hugs and kisses

Japanese Sewing Week

Hi there you guys,

Japanese sewing week is almost over (just one day left to go!!!!!) and it has been amazing.

I love japanese sewing books, like everyone else in this series, but I do have a special story to tell you about me and them…

It was the late summer of 2008, I was exploring the web sewing community for a couple of months, amazed by all the beautiful things people from all over the world were making, when I came across a japanese sewing book.

I’ve never sewn anything in my life before, but that book, made me wan’t to start.

Head on first I ordered that book and another one from amazon.jp  (Yes, it’s in Japanese!!!, No, I don’t read/speak Japanese!!!). I don’t know how, but I think (!!!) I choose a more expensive shipping method and for some reason (!!!), those books were held at customs. So, in the end, they cost me the grand total of… $50 (Crazy!!!! I know)

But you know what, I couldn’t care less, I was so excited about them, that I didn’t give it another thought.

I came home and showed them to my mom (I didn’t tell her how much I’ve spent of course!!!). I belive she thought I was in some kind of feverish delirium and asked me where my sewing machine was (No, I didn’t had one at that time!!!).

I think she actually considered admitting me into a madhouse!!!

Long story short, I made the first piece of clothing of my life completely by hand, from a japanese sewing book. And, I didn’t stop sewing since then…

It has been one amazing journey ❤ ❤ ❤

So to all of you who are scared of trying a japanese sewing book… I’m the living proof… You Can Do It 😉

Are you still there?!? Ok, thanks for waiting!!!

Here it is my thirty… something, japanese sew!!!! A pleated skirt ❤

I had the best intention of sewing an entire outfit, but then reality sunk in, one week before this post, and I decided to KISS.

I do not regret this decision at all, because picture time was really hard to find during the week (days are soooo small!!!)

The pattern is from this book ( I ❤ you Ana Sofia ), and you actually have to draft it yourself. But the instructions are very clear and the measures are in metric, wich is a plus in my book.

I can see how that can be discouraging for some of you, but for me, if can skip that boring part of drafting and adding seam alloawnces, I’m in 😀

I admit I I’ve a soft spot for natural fibers, but this time I decided to indulge in the neoprene madness that’s going around 🙂

The fabric is from Sweet Mercerie, and it is a dream to work with. It makes the most gorgeous pleats, don’t you think ?!?

The girl loves her new skirt, so I couldn’t be more happy ❤ ❤ ❤

And for the best part… There is a giveaway… Yeahhhh!!!

There will be three lucky winners among all of our lovely readers. Each winner will win one of the following prizes:

– One pack of 2 two Japanese Sewing books from Tuttle Publishing

– One pack of 2 two Japanese Sewing books from Tuttle Publishing

– A $40 fabric voucher from Urban Sew

All you have to do is enter the Rafflecopter bellow.

The more entries you validate the more chances you have to win!

The giveaway will be open from Nov. 16th to the 25th

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you wan’t to join in the fun, you can go to Sara’s post and link some of your Japanese sewing of 2015. I would certainly love to see it ❤

Also, don’t forget to check the other participant’s posts

In a Manner of Sewing  |  Conversas de Hermanas  |  Pequenos e Verdes  |  Climbing the Willow

Bartracks and Singletrack  |  S is for Sewing  |  Sew Happy  |  Mamacosesola

Fairies, Bubbles & Co.  |  Sewing Like Mad  |  As it Seams  |  Sewing For Mini Me

La Folie Sewing Booth  |  Just Add Fabric  |  Blogless Anna  |  Sweeter Than Cupcakes  |  Needle and Ted

Miss Castelinhos  |  Made by Toya  |  Lil Luxe Collection  |  House of Estrela

Patty Made It  |  Paisley Roots  |  Rita Pirolita  |  Call Ajaire

So-cal Sewing Mom  |  Kiwi Crafty Chemist  |  Sew Shelly Sew  |  Made by Sara

Hugs and kisses

Happy B-day (month!!!!) Ottobre

Hello there friends,

It’s day 2 of Portuguese bloggers celebrating Ottobre’s magazine and I couldn’t be more excited 😀

Did you see Marta’s post yesterday????

She is amazing isn’t she???

So, today it’s my turn to show you some Ottobre sewing…

The thing I most love about Ottobre is that the children’s patterns go up to 170cm. !!!! Hooray for nordic genetics!!!

Because my daugther is a bit on the “chubby” side, I always have to size up, so this feature it’s a big plus in my book (two thumbs up!!!!!)

Both pieces are from Ottobre Spring 1/2015, and are meant to be complementary to each other.

The patterns are quite simple to sew, specialy the skirt 😉

The top is a bit more complicated, because you have make the panels from the original front piece and add seam allowances. Nothing to hard but, you do have to take in account that are a few angles involved… Lesson learned, the hard way 😉

The back piece of the top is a solid panel. You can do the same as in the front, but I like it better this way (or I’m to lazy… one of the two) 😛

The fabrics are from the scraps bin of a local fabric shop, I didn’t spent more then 5 euros in the whole ensemble 😀 😀 😀

And now for the fun part…

Do you wan’t to win a one year Ottobre Magazine subscription (we have 5 to offer) or 50 euros to spent at Ottobre’s etsy shop or 30 euros to spend on fabric in Paula’s shop Maçãs d’Amor ?!?!?

Please go to Marta’s Post, because it seams rafflecopter doesn’t work very well with wordpress domains!!! 😛

Good Luck !!!!

Oh, and by the way, don’t forget to visit Diana’s blog today. I bet she has something amazing to show to you!!!

And make sure to visit all of my friends in the upcoming days.

You will be wowed, I’m sure!!!

Something completely off-topic but, looking at this pictures, I’ve come to the realisation that the little girl is becoming a little lady… Mixed feelings here…. 😦 🙂 ❤ ❤ ❤

 

Hugs & Kisses

Family Celebrations

Hello there,

It as been a while, I know… summer as come and gone, and it was busy busy busy…

Little ol’ blog here was kind of left abandoned 😀 😀 😀

Thru this summer months we, as a family, had two celebrations that were very important to us ❤

First communion for the little miss…

… and baptism for the little mister.

I had to make them something special to wear, of course 🙂

For the my daughter’s celebration, I made something really special… a dress that has to be one of my favourites of all time.

The pattern is the Roma from C’est Dimanche and fabric is white cotton “broderie anglaise”

For the collar and bodice accent I used silver bias from a local store and a satin silvery ribbon for the waist.

In one word… Perfection ❤ ❤ ❤

And, here are they in her special day…

Two months later and it was the boy’s time to celebrate ❤

I made him a white cotton shirt, from Happy Homemade Vol.2.

I love that “mao” style collar 🙂

Like a true lady, the little girl wanted new clothes for her brother’s special day, and I happily obliged 😀

The skirt, is just two panels sewn together with elastic at the waist, what makes it special is the fabric…

Liberty….. ❤

The top is from this wonderful book. ( Thank so much dear Ana Sofia ❤ )

Love them to bits ❤ ❤ ❤

Hugs and kisses.

 

 

 

We <3 Sara

I didn’t want this day to pass by without giving a cheer to my friend Sara.

We love you Sara ❤
Thank you so much for beeing the glue that sticks us together.

Some awareness and a wild skirt

Hi there,

So I’ve been loving this KCW season.

I absolutly love going to the zoo with my children, not only because we have sooo much fun seing all those magnificient animals, but also because we learn a lot about our beautifull planet and how to treasure all of it’s diversity.

If you don’t mind I like to talk a little more about the Iberian lynx

This gorgeous cat is on the verge of extinction. There are only a few of them left in the wild, and the Lisbon zoo is taking an active roll in trying to save this beautifull species.

If you want to learn more you can go here (in portuguese) or here (in english).

And now for some actual sewing…

I made this skirt as try out for the double rolled hemmed skirt of the sininen dress.

I had this scrap of fabric for about two years and I knew I wanted to make a skirt with it after I saw this pin.

The little girl wore the skirt for her birthday party last weekend, and she was thrilled 🙂

The fabric is light voile and because it is double layered it, you can’t see through it (thank God!!!)

I added a rainbow elastic waist, for more fun, and I think it makes the skirt (and model)  look really cool 😀

The party was in a horse farm, and all the kids had fun petting the “not so wild” ponies

Hugs and kisses

Mr. Penguin

Hi,

So, continuing with our trip to zoo… one of the animals I was most excited to see were the penguins 🙂

There is something about this birds that just makes me want to cuddle them.

However, I’m very found of my fingers, as they are quite essencial to my daily life, so I wouldn’t dare try to go near one of this babies 😉

Instead I just went ahead and cuddle this cutie pie ❤

This outfit was sewn for my brothers wedding and probably isn’t very “zoo apropriate”, but I thought he would look so cute near the penguins I couldn’t resist it.

He was the most well dressed little boy those animals have ever seen I can assure you 😉

The pattern is the art museum vest by Oliver+S and I really don’t want to repeat myself, but Liesl gives me no other option…

Best Pattern Ever… for a boy’s vest

The main fabric is the same as here and here (no I didn’t bought the wole bolt… it was an offer from my cousin 🙂 ), and the back and linning are black satin for a more poshed look 😉

– “Mommy, can you see the penguins ?!?!?”

– “No honey, were are they ?”

– “Here mommy, look they are here :-D”

-“Ohhh, I see them honey, but now it’s time to go home, ok ???”

– “Nooooooooo !!!”

Hugs and kisses

Wild things @ the Zoo

Hi there,

It’s KCW again, and I couldn’t be more excited about this season theme…

I love wild things, like… my kids and… my kids 😉

So to get in KCW groove I decided we should go all out and take a trip to the zoo 😀

Of course we had to dress specialy for the occasion…

The girl was properly dressed with her favorite animal… well, after donkies, zebras are a close second, after all they are all in the family 😉

The cool fabric is from Nosh, in Finland ❤

It’s the most awsome knit I have ever worked with and it’s organic to add  to its awesomeness.

The pattern is the  Ethereal Dress by Figgy’s, already used once here, but this time with long sleeves.

I didn’t do the back neck openning because there was no need for it with knit, but I did use the neck facings, as I think it looks more “professional”.

The zebras couldn’t care less 😉

…. more to come tomorrow… think penguins…

Hugs and kisses