Holy cow!

Norah's first reaction when I showed her the Deer Dress? "It's really pretty, but when will you make me the cows and horses dress?".
Apparently, she remembered that in the same week the Deer fabric arrived, the postman also brought another piece of novelty fabric: Cattle Drive Scenic from Marshall Dry Goods (nope, I had never heard of that company either). I bought it from Bigskyfabricshop on Etsy, and it was ridiculously cheap.

 

I used the exact same model as I used for the Deer dress (well excuse me; I'm trying to sew a new wardrobe here, not reinvent children's fashion). I combined it with a bright ribbon in a color I normally hate.

 



With Norah still in her 'I don't like posin'-phase, and me being too lazy to come up with some creative tricks to make her pose for me anyway, you'll have to do with pics of the dress on a hanger.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Oh deer!

'Norah has enough clothes now, I'm going to make a few bags now', I thought a couple of weeks ago. And then she had this growth spurt, and now about everything she has is too short. Bag plans in the fridge; time to create a new wardrobe...

First one on the list: a simple dress in the fabulous fabric American Elk Wildlife from Exclusively Quilters, bought on Ebay many months ago. Dresses in photographic prints are pretty popular here in Belgium, as they are made by hip (read: unaffordable) brands like Dominique Ver Eecke and Inge van den Broeck.

I stuck to my traditional rule: complex fabric; simple pattern. The bodice is a simple model with a blind zipper in the back; the skirt is a rectangle gathered at the waist.

 

I've never known Norah as enthusiastic about any dress as about this one. Next dress with a photographic print is in the making.

A new coat

After some extremely busy weeks at work, combined with illness and a major computer crash, I finally found some time to work on a second Winter coat for Norah. I was quite happy with the way her first one turned out, but the insulating interfacing I used was not quite as warm as I hoped it would be. So I made a new one, this time putting some nice warm fleece between the outside fabric and the lining.

  

While I'm still crazy about DMK's Double Breasted Coat pattern, this time I wanted something different: a standing collar instead of a peter pan collar, and some more straight lines. So with DMK's pattern as a starting point, I drew something new, adding some nice details (straps on the sleeves and in the back, and little faux-pockets in the front). I used some super cheap fabric (€4/m!) from the amazing Rotterdam market.

As Norah is getting more and more reluctant about posing for mommy, I organized a little leaves-gathering session in our back yard, with Mr. StraightGrain taking some in-action pics. Of course, it was only when I was uploading the pictures on Mr. StraightGrain's computer (mine crashed, remember?) that I noticed I hadn't closed the last button of the coat. But I assume that her superflashy boots will get away with all the attention anyway ;-)

Happy holidays, everyone!

Asymetrical blouse with hand knit collar

Today I'm guest posting over at Clever Charlotte's. This totally awesome pattern brand is running a totally awesome project on collars, aptly named The Collar Project. Check out my mini-tutorial for a hand-knit collar here.