Summer

The summer is coming quickly now, so I have to get into gear. Here is a glimpse of the first pieces coming together:

A nautical combo:

The shirt is 2 patterns mixed together: Spot Fish and Autumn Forest. The short sleeves of Spot Fish, the divided/gathered front panel from Autumn Forest.

The shorts are my first attempt to grade a pattern to a different size. These are Hoola Hoops, starting at size 92, I graded down to 86 and the result is very good.

A skirt with a matching shirt:

The balloons are placed to low, maybe I should put a text above it? The skirt is a first, Saskia LOVES it! The pattern is "Rabbit Dance" from Ottobre, probably one of the easiest skirts to sew: 2 rectangles, sew the sides together, sew the hem en put 4 - 6 rows of smocking elastic in the top. Done.

Next is another Mara-blouse:

Did you notice the hem?

Patterns: Ottobre and Compagnie-M
Fabrics: stash, the skirt is a leftover from Spoonflower, the linen is from Japan (Miss Matatabi on Etsy)

Embroidery

Because I don't have an embroidery machine (yet), I tried my hand at freehand embroidery on a regular sewing machine. This was my first try and as you can see, I need a lot more practice! Or maybe my clumsiness justifies a real embroidery machine? Anyway, although it took me a long time, it is fun to do and the result is, well, let's say unique.

At first, I used the Silhouette to cut out the parts of a simple flower. This design is simple enough to cut it out just using your scissors, but I wanted to see how this works so I kept it simple. One by one I appliquéd the pieces using a satin stitch.
Then I put wash-away embroidery stabilizer on the cutting mat and had the Silhouette sketch the flower using the sketch pen. I put the stabilizer on the fabric, put stabilizer under the fabric too, and I stitched the lines. I lowered the feed dogs to do this and moved the fabric around as I stitched.

As I said, I need more practice but I liked how it turned out.

Patterns: "Parrot" tunic and "Spring" knee pants, both Ottobre.
Fabric: a linen/rayon blend from the local fabric shop.