Holding Back Summer Part 2; Taking Nani Iro to Romania

It was late at night, I'd been sewing and unpicking for hours, in a desperate bid to finish a complex dress for me.
It was going badly...
So what did I do, in my fit of temper?
Start a completely new project.
I'm not kidding that I started this little blouse at 11pm, and finished it by midnight. It was one of those evenings when I just HAD to sew something, anything, just so long as it turned out right.

And this little blouse was also part of my frantic 'Hold back Summer' sewing. I knew that if I didn't get a few things finished for Missy's summer holiday wardrobe I would miss my chance. And I was right. Since we returned from Romania, the weather has shifted. An autumn chill is in the air. Pretty summer tops and dresses are set to languish for another year. 

Which also means I have zero chance of persuading Missy to pose for photos in this blouse. But in the spirit of hasty sewing, it seems appropriate to make-do with these snaps from our Romanian adventure. (Oh and a few others have sneaked in... forgive me)

We spent a glorious Sunday morning riding the bumpy tracks around the village on this horse and cart. Everywhere people were making their way to church, smiling hello, and dressed in their smart white blouses, billowing skirts, headscarves. 

The cart driver wore his traditional hat typical of the Maramures region. He adored having Missy sitting next to him, she chatted and giggled at every bump of the cart. The fields were full of wildflowers, Missy and Torin were happy, it felt heavenly.

 It was such an inspiring place to be. 
Here are Missy and Torin watching Romanian cartoons, sitting on the sofa in the cart driver's farmhouse. Check out those textiles! A feast for the eyes!
 

 
And these! 

But I digress...back to the sewing...This little blouse is made in Nani Iro Herringbone double gauze, bought from Miss Matatabi. It's made from leftover scraps and I barely had enough, so the back is pieced together. 

I think the effect kind of works with the sea-washed texture of this gorgeous fabric. I completely 'winged' this self-drawn pattern. The bodice front and back is sheered, and there's  a little elastic over the shoulders too. There's no hem (apart from on the sleeves), just a selvege.

It's rather cute, the fabric is fabulous, and for one hour's effort I'm pleased. But it's been worn once, and I expect it will be outgrown by the time the warm weather returns. But this little blouse meant I could go to bed that night and sleep easy. And for that it was worth it....

Holding back summer, part 1 (Plus a Romanian meeting!)

Please can summer last a bit longer? I've been sewing frantically with a crazy feeling that time is running out. 

In September Missy starts school, and like most UK children will wear school uniform. So that means fewer dresses. And the British summer is unpredictable, autumn is just round the corner.
Plus we've just returned from an incredible holiday to Romania, where temperatures hit 32 degrees.

So that all added up to some crazy last minute summer sewing. I've sewn a few complicated things recently (watch this space for details!) and needed an 'easy sewing fix'.

This dress might have taken barely an hour to sew from start to finish, but it has been months in the planning. Perhaps even 40 years. 

This is my twin sister wearing the same dress in the mid 70s. That's me in the crown. I'm wearing the same dress, hidden by the net curtain that is my princess cape. No pre-made dressing up clothes when we were young!

Recreating this dress for Missy was my back-up plan when I took part in Suz at Sewpony's series, When We Were Young. Instead I got swept along on a far more crazy ambitious project, (see here!)but this idea remained in my head.

So late at night, just before we headed off on holiday I whipped this up. It's the simplest construction, just a rectangle with sheering at the top and an added frill. My mum tells me she added the frill a year later, to lengthen the dresses and make them last another year. Her sewing was always about thrift!

And this dress was a hit! Perfect for the remaining hot days of the English summer, and then for taking on our incredible holiday to Romania. 

And while the gingham might not be that stylish (I worry that it's a little 'kitchen table cloth') this dress looks great on Missy with her golden tan and wild summer hair.

And look! Missy was wearing it when we met two other little stars of the blogging world, twins Lisa and Nore of Compagnie M!

For our adventure to a stunning corner of Romania, I turned to Marte of Compagnie M for some guidance and inspiration. And amazingly we were in the same place at the same time. Missy wore her new gingham dress, Lisa and Nore were in Louisa dresses as enjoyed spaghetti bolognese before running off to play.

It was so lovely to meet Marte and her twin girls  in such a far-flung location. I am eternally grateful to the warm welcome she gave us at the start of our amazing family adventure!

PS - My dress was thrown together, but Marte has created a much more polished version of this classic sundress with her Lucy pattern. See here!

 

Take One Dress #8, Nearest the Pin

Have you stumbled on Renee's blog Nearest the Pin? I first discovered Renee's  impeccable sewing when she created some of the most imaginative outfits for the Secret Squirrel adventure. See here, and here! She sews so creatively, for herself and her daughter and son. It's particularly great to see imaginative boy sewing - and if I'm totally honest I love Renee's adorable boy almost as much as her sewing. Isn't he gorgeous! And now she's here for the Take One Dress challenge! Over to you Renee...

Thanks so much Victoria for the invitation to participate in this fun series! Did you see the amazing dress that Sophie chose for me? WOWee!! If you didn't, here it is. 

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I love this dress! The first feature I wanted to incorporate into my creation was the squarish shape of the bodice - it reminds me a bit of a sailor's collar, but I like it's subtlety. So, what did I create? The tunic is a cropped version of Dress b from the lovely Japanese sewing pattern book 'Happy Homemade Vol.2'. I chose a black cotton which has some nice detail close up (see below). I realise that black is not a traditional colour for little girls, so I also wanted to use the watercolour feel that my inspiration dress has. The skirt, as you may have spotted, is Nani Iro double gauze, which may be the most beautiful fabric in the world ;) There is no pattern for this, just a simple little skirt. Fabric this amazing does not need a fussy pattern - the simpler the better, to let the fabric shine. This challenge was just so fun! Little Miss A sat on my knee while we sewed up her skirt. My sewing machine has a 'start/stop' button instead of a foot pedal, so she took great delight in starting and stoping the machine. This was our first collaborative sewing project - I'm looking forward to more! The next fun part of the challenge is to choose a dress for the next Take One Dress participant - none other than the super talented Tasha from Glitter + Wit. Here is Tasha's inspiration dress:

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Thank you so much for having me Victoria!


Ah Renee, so cute! I love that you have made something practical, and that your daughter has been involved with. I'm going to have to start doing that more, my little girl keeps rejecting my creations! Can't wait to see what Tasha creates in September!

Stitched Together for Rachel - A little fish

This is a  little fish who is about to go on a big journey. He's on his way across the Atlantic to welcome Rachel at Stitched Together's new baby!

 

Did you see my post last week? My little nostalgic story about groups of friends creating a special mobile for a new baby.  

Now eight of us from across the globe have come together for one of our blogging friends, to create something special for the imminent arrival of a baby. 

And of course the baby that's brought us all together is Rachel who blogs at Stitched Together. Rachel, this little fish is for you, and your baby girl who will be here soon. I

 love Rachel's blog. Her sewing is always gorgeous, and she also offers a little window on her world, with her four (soon to be five) children in sunny Texas. Like many of her readers I feel like I've got to know Rachel over the last year or so. And now her newest baby is about to arrive.

 

This little fish is made of a scrap of Nani Iro double gauze. The herringbone print just begged to become a fish. The double gauze is so fine and soft that it was a tricky thing to sew, being so small. 

I reinforced it with interfacing, then used the very technical process of 'fiddling about.' A little bit of embroidery in silver thread, to  sparkle to catch a baby's eye, adds a bit of a 'scales' effect. I didn't think about the technicalities of this too carefully, the loop is (oops) sewn at a funny angle, which means this fish will forever be swimming upwards. That's ok though? He can symbolise optimism.

Little fish won't be swimming alone! 

He'll be joined by creations from:

• An at Straightgrain, 
• Suz at Sewpony, 
• Heidi at Elegance and Elephants, 
• Gail at Probably Actually, 
• Kristen at Skirt as Top, 
• Sanae at Sanae Ishida, 
• Nat at La Gang a Nat. 

Take a tour round their blogs to see what will be joining him on this mobile frame hoop.

I've covered a wooden embroidery hoop in cotton tape, which sounds like it should be easy, but is a fiddle. I've kept the colours subtle and neutral to let the fish and the other surprises shine. The only adornment are four mother of pearl buttons.

And this is a little fish with a message; Rachel, I love  new babies, I love that special moment when their dark eyes struggle to focus on you, and the way soft little heads nestle into your shoulder. I know that you know how fast and precious it all is. I hope that you spend this summer resting, and being well loved and cared for to enjoy and get to know a new personality in your lives. And whenever you're ready, we'll love to read about it!

A gift for a baby, and a nostalgic tale

It's only when I turn and look back over my shoulder that I realise that I've moved to a different stage. Which is how I really feel right now. 

My son is about to finish another year of school, and in September Missy will be joining him. I will have two school children! No more little pre-school toddlers, or babies even...And it might be this nostalgia which has prompted me to share this story with you.

 

This is my dear friend Alexci, and her beautiful boy River. And this is the gift that Alexci's friends made to welcome River into the world.

Around the time that I had my son Torin, then later my daughter Missy, all my friends seemed to be having babies too. And in the-time-of-many-babies we evolved a little tradition to welcome these new lives. Now that I'm not surrounded by babies so much, I thought I'd pass on our 'tradition.'

Around a week or so before the baby was due, we would gather at the mother-to-be's house, armed with chocolate. 

There might also be some gifts for the mother-to-be (that would help her to feel special, and pampered. Bath oil, fragrant candles, chocolate and, um chocolate... And we would all bring something handmade to hang on a mobile for the new baby. I saw many of these mobiles created at lovely sociable evenings. They were all different, and all reflected the different group who had gathered together, and their talents.

I made many coloured felt birds, resurrecting the embroidery skills I learnt as a child. And we would add our creations to the mobile, and share a few words of encouragement for the birth and excitement about the baby.

It was a really beautiful thing to do. Somehow by creating a mobile together, we created a space for the new baby.

This is Alexci's mobile. Sadly I couldn't make her 'gathering'. Mr As-it-Seams is a musician, and I think he was performing that night. So none of the creations hanging here are mine. And this is much more nature-based than many of them. Others were more about sewing and crafts. But this is perfect for Alexci, it perfectly reflects her and her friends. And these photos were taken for a magazine article that I wrote at the time, about our tradition - so I have a good record!

 

Missy has a mobile - and it has a little silk fairy, a pine-cone pixie, a felted star. It is also looking a little tatty. It has scraps of paper drawings added by my son, who was four at the time of her birth, and wanted to get involved, as well as seashells that we picked on the beach and strung together. It's not very stylish now, but it is a special piece of our family's history. 

Now the-time-of-many-babies has passed for me, but I like to think that the creativity will continue!

Take One Dress 7; C'est la Vie

July's Take One Dress blogger is here - and I'm so thrilled to introduce French blogger, Sophie from C'est la Vie.
I have a serious blog-crush on Sophie. She is the epitome of French style...in fact, I now know why French seams are, well, 'French'. Everything Sophie sews is impeccably finished. And she can REALLY sew! Everything from quilts to stunning bags, to gorgeous children's clothes, to elegant grown-up clothes. This dress is gorgeous, but the back is even more stunning!  She sews beautiful boy's clothes, as well as lovely dresses...oooh I could go on....

Hi there As-It-Seams readers! 

I am so so honored to be part of this series.

Ever since the day I read Heidi's post and found out which dress she had chosen for me as a source of inspiration, I have been looking forward to sew and share my take on it!

Here is the dress I was given as an inspiration:

I love the dots, the pleats and the big bow. This dress is a party dress for sure! I also like the neutral color of this dress and wanted to translate it onto my own version.

So I decided to sew a party dress for my girl. 

Right now my favorite pattern is the Hanami Dress by Straight Grain : perfect fit, cute sleeves and a lot of room for possible alterations.

 

I dig into my fabric stash and chose this print by Tamara Kate: Helens Garden, Pollen in Creme bought from Hawthorne Threads. I love that it looks like confetti and the colors are just perfect for a party dress: a mixture of soft pink , peach, green and the black I wanted to use as a neutral on my dress.

I coordinated it with some Michael Miller cotton couture in peach.

 I replaced the pleats with some black glitter piping on the bodice and sleeves. Altering the bodice was so easy, and alterations are my new addiction! 

And then I made this big bow out of some black lawn, so soft!

It was my first attempt at a bow and it is definitly worth the try. It is very easy and it really provides the "couture" look I was after.

I like details, I think that's because I am french!!:) So I lined the flutter sleeves with the same fabric as the skirt's:

We do love this dress in our home and my girl is looking forward to her next birthday party to wear it! I called it Liquorice Party Dress!!

 Thank you so much Heidi for providing this inspiration that kept my mind and hands busy for quite a while!!:) And Thank you Victoria for inviting me over to your blog! Creativity is fuelled by challenges and I sure loved this one!!

Now it is my turn to inspire the next seamstress: Renee who blogs and shares her beautiful creations at Nearest the pin.

Here is the dress I chose:

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I am crazy about the neutral colors and structured shoulder line on this dress.

Thank you Sophie! I'm so incredibly grateful to you for taking so much time to produce something so beautiful and, as always, finished so perfectly. All those little details are so perfectly done, and your daughter looks so pretty! And I'm looking forward to August already!