In the Folds Playsuit

Peppermint Magazine has some free patterns and this is one of my favourites. It is a short jumpsuit, lovely labelled "Playsuit", and the name honours the design, for sure! 

It has a playful, young, relaxed look that inspired summer, travel, and all things lovely.

I used the printed linen I bought in Porto this summer (already sewing my stash, good girl!), which is perfect for the make in terms of drape, hang, texture and pattern. 

I just downloaded the pattern, put it together, took the seam allowance off, and cut the fabric with it. 

This design has such a relaxed fit, that I did not even use with tailor tucks, I just cut 2cm seam allowance all around, just enough to make self-encased seams. 

It resulted perfect at the first fitting, so it was a perfect pattern for me. I only altered the shoulder straps, which were too long. One cannot as anything else to a pattern, to be sure!
Thank you!

 

Fabric Shopping in London: september 2019

The excuse to visit one of my favourite cities was a concert. Coffins, from Japan, were playing in London, they never come to Catalonia, where I live, and we had never seen them before. We love visiting London from time to time, and I needed some fabric for next season sewing projects. Sadly, I cannot find good quality fabrics in my area. There is shops in Lleida and Barcelona, the nearest cities, but they are mostly polyester fabrics, and I do not do polyester. 
So, London. I had been shopping here before. I know Goldhawk road and Walthamstow market, which are lovely if you have plenty of time and not prefixed ideas of what you want. But I had only one day and a very specific list, so I targeted the best shops in London (for my budget and taste).
We woke up saturday morning in our small studio in Soho. My boyfriend was to come along to carry the backpack and patiently give me advice when need it. He has very good taste and sometimes I even follow it, ha ha..
Thanks to glorious Google Maps, we moved around London as natives (+looking at my phone screen half of the time!). So, first of all, we took bus 38 and went to Islington to pay a visit to Ray Stitch. 
In my opinion, the best fabric shop in London (for my taste). It has a little of everything and all is selected with great care and taste. Excellent denims, organic jerseys, Japanesse cottons, woven cottons, excellent wools... I bought 4 fabrics and spent 80 pounds there. Before I left, we walked to Sew Over It, only because it was nearby. I do not fancy the fabrics they've got (too much polyester for my taste), but I bought a couple of patterns. 

Next, we took an overground and made a beautiful trip to The Village Haberdashery in West Hampstead. I love the C. Pauli cotton jerseys they have there, but I found the shop was not very well stocked. It has got the same fabrics it had when I visited it 3 years ago, nothing new (booooring). They had run out of organic black interlock (whaaaaaaaaaaat?????!) and did not even know it. So, I was a little bit disappointed, although I bought 2 gorgeous fabrics.

Then we took the underground to go back to Soho to have lunch in our studio. After one hour, we went to Liberty to drool over the spectacular designer clothes. I fancied some Missoni pants, but they were 3000 pounds, and I did not carry change, haha...

Then we spent one hour trying to decide about what fabric I bought (typical in Liberty). I was tempted to buy some silk for a blouse, but it was 80 pounds and I was starting to feel guilty. So I bought some cotton and we left. 

MacCulloch and Wallis has an excellent website, but the shop is chaotic. I do not like how they have the fabric exposed... or maybe we were starting to feel tired... but some of the products they have on their site are not there anymore... and it is really difficult to get inspired by hanging swaps and mountains of fabric rolls, that you can only see the tip of... I wanted some nappa leather, but they did not have light brown... and now I regret not buying some other colour, since that is lovely. I finally bought some twill for my saint of a boyfriend. 
We visited The Cloth House, and I could not buy anything in spite of loving all their fabrics. I could not find organic jersey, though.
Finally, we visited Broadwick Silks, but they were also out of red or blue silk jersey (apparently, their website is not up to date neither!), so... saving more money there! 
Well, I had a glorious day fabric shopping in London. It is a great excuse to move around the city, which looked great with its parks, trees, gardens, gorgeous houses, interesting people, pubs, shops.. I love London and its culture. 

Clock wise: Naomi Ito Cotton (Ray Stitch), Liberty Tara Lawn, organic purple sweatshirt (The V. Haberdashery), organic ribbed jersey (Ray Stitch), khaki twill (MacCullock and Wallis),  red gingham and black stretch denim (Ray Stitch), Lady MacElroy Checked Wool (The V. Haberdashery).

Wrap Black Linen Dress

I am super happy with my new creation!
I got this black linen fabric (awesome drape and softness, 12 Euros the metre in Coimbra) and I got an instant inspiration just when we got back home from Portugal.

 I saw this Bellbird dress and I thought it was just a perfect match. Of course I was not going to pay 20 dollars for a pdf pattern, so I started to think how I could copy it. (I am a pirate sewist, shoot me).

That night, I went to sleep and then I had another inspiration. I had this robe pattern, which I had rendered three times, in woven and jersey fabrics, because it was perfect. I had just the perfect amount of fabric, so I went ahead with the project.

First of all I removed (simply folding it) the folded neck band. I cut the fabric with 2 cm seam allowance all around, giving some more flare to the skirt sides (the fabric did not allow much, but it resulted enough at the end). I also cut some pockets, to be inserted at the seams, and a long 4 cm wide belt that was several pieces assembled, since fabric was sparse. 
It was a fast project to make, a wonderful fabric to work with. It was perfect at the first fitting, and I wore it happily to work. 

Linen wrinkles like crazy, and I think this design is very forgiving, it even goes well with them.
I love it!

Red Recycled Nylon Bikini!

Well, I needed a bikini.
Since I make all my clothes (but bras, socks and stockings), I had a project. 
First thing was to get the fabric, and it was middle July, all my bikinis seemed to have started dying (I.E. Stretching themselves out of control), and I had to swim + get hold of by flying away bikini to keep it on. I tried to think up a way to make a bikini with natural fibers, which I always use, but even a crocheted bikini requires some elastic in the yarn, so to get the proper needed stretch, I had to go plastic. Then I was tipped about recycled fabric at Thefoldline FB group, and found Carvico's Recycled Vita fabric and Funki Fabrics, where they sold it. I bought 2x 0,5 m for a total of 32 Euros... The fabric is absolutely gorgeous... if it gets to be the durable they promise, it is a gem.

I used the free Acacia underpants pattern, with I love love love!
...and for the top part, I rubbed an old bikini off. I had to make two pieces of each to get it almost right. Bottom is perfect. I used organic thin cotton jersey for the inside gusset, but I did not line the rest, this fabric is thick enough to be discreet when is wet.
I had to repeat the bra because it was small and it squashed my boobs... and that was because the old bikini was veeery stretchy, but this new fabric was tighter. Then it was OK, but the elastic band I'd stitched along the V neck was too tight at at a -25%  rate. So I had to replace it by a -10% new band. 

Now it is almost OK... the only problem being that it either feels to tight at the neck tie or the elasticated V seams turn outwards (damn!), probably because I stretched a bit the fabric when attaching the elastic band with the machine. 
It is perfect when I swim, though... so I can forgive it not being 100% perfect.
Next one is going to be.

Fabric Shopping in Porto and Coimbra

 I am back from my road trip around the north part of Portugal. I love Portugal!!! Food is great, people are kind and calm, landscape is gorgeous, wine is delightful, weather in the summer is great... we could relax and simply enjoy our part of the summer there. We visited different places and towns, and we went fabric shopping in Porto and Coimbra.
In Porto I visited two fabric shops:

• Feria do Tecidos: cheap, too much polyester to my taste, but they have nice patterned viscose, both woven and jersey. A few silks and linens... I bought a flowery jersey viscose and some blue linen to make a play suit.
• Avenida 7: couture fabrics, wool and silk mainly. Expensive. I did not buy even a remnant.

In Coimbra there are more interesting shops:

• Coelho: small shop with nice fabrics, there is also a refined version I could not enter... the two sellers never offered me to enter that part, my touristy informal wear might have seemed not to prone on lace and silk. They lied when showing me the "natural fibers" I always ask for and thus lost my trust. They had a nice woven viscose at 12.00 E I did not buy. 
• I found then Tecidos de Coimbra. That was a shop worth a visit, yes sir! A very kind and knowing seller showed all the natural fiber they had in shop, they were grouped here and there: woven cottons, jersey cottons, corduroy, silk, linen, wool, denim... I spent 69 E in two linens (wait till you see my green one in a dress!), two corduroy pants amount of corduroy, and some thick cotton twill to make myself some rocker shorts. 

I am very happy with my fabrics. I was washing them and drying them in two days, and started making a linen dress right away, I have plans for all of them. In fact, I only bought items from my Keep list, to make pieces of clothing I already have designed in my mind.

I will go to London in one month, I can't hardly wait. 

Stripped Organic Jersey

This is another practical make. 
I bought this organic c. Pauli interlock in The Village Haberdashery. 


Check boyfriend's finger. He is a loose photographer!


I used my Universal T-shirt pattern for the trillionth time. 

Only thing to remark here is the neck, which I have made following Tilly & the Buttons instructions for the Agnes T-Shirt. I think it is a perfect method for jersey sporty neckbands. 
I am gonna wear this a lot. 

 Excuse my hair and appearance in general. It is Obscene Extreme Festival in the morning.
 

Volvo's Bed

This is a very special project, because it is not for me, but for a car, hahaha..
We had been planing and saving for some years to get a car big enough (but just enough) to sleep inside when we travel, or go to festivals. When we went car shopping, first thing we did was opening the boot and get inside. Karlos is a tall man, and he had to get comfortable laying down.
As soon as our XC60 arrived, I started to make templates for all the pieces I had previously planned in my head. It was march, and we had plans for the summer!

I started with the bed. This commercial bed was my inspiration. I made four pieces, to be stacked on top of each other when dismantled, to the exact measures the car had. 

I first made the templates in strong cardboard, and took them to my carpenter. We chose a wood 1 cm thick multi-laminate, and he cut the four pieces using my cardboard templates, although I decided only to use the top ones, the bottom pieces did not need the wood support since they rested directly and totally over the car platform. The top pieces needed a strong wood support because there is 20-30 cm flying on the air to the front seats.

With the wood pieces, I went directly to the foam shop. We chose 30 kg foam, 6 cm thick from the top pieces and 7 cm for the bottom pieces, to compensate for the wood they did not have.
I then took the pieces home.

All the fabric I bought was organic, cultivated in Andalucia and woven in Catalonia. For the bed pieces' jackets, I chose linen. 

I cut the pieces using the foam (glued to the wood for the top pieces), and made the darts and corners with pins directly over them. I sewed them with my machine, including a long zipper in every piece, and Velcro patches to easily attach and unattach the pieces together. It was intense work!

Next thing I did was the curtains. I made paper templates of every window, except the front one, which I directly bought from Volvo. I used the paper templates to cut two layers of thick cotton knit sweat, that went inside every curtain. 

These were sandwiched between two linen pieces, one bigger than the other, to make a self encased rim all around the edge, machine top stitched. I then made small round buttonholes with the machine, which I perforated with a screw, to insert suctions pads I'd bought in Amazon. 

The result was awesome! I could have used that cheap bubble plastic and aluminum foil, but the organic , dye free, natural coloured material was going to give us a nicer atmosphere inside such a small capsule we had to sleep in. And I am eco-friendly!

Next, I made the sheets with a natural coloured cotton twill. A bottom one with 4 elasticated corners, the top being wider than the bottom, and a top one with two elasticated bottom corners and a nice finish for the top.

I made two nice pillow cases with the same cotton twill, and a pillow bag to carry the pillow around the car (we had another already, so I simply copied).

All this stuff is packed with a linen-cotton canvas that we use as a base, tied to the front seats with the same ties we use to tie it together. I dyed this fabric with some black dye I had around, but it was not enough, and the colour resulted army green, which was even better. 

All the project cost around 450 euros because I was so picky with fabric, but the commercial bed (without the bedclothes) costs 650 euros, so I was still saving money.

We have slept in the car three times already, and we plan to sleep in it many more this summer. It is super comfortable for both of us, but as with a van or a caravan, your experience depends on your surroundings. Shadow is of crucial importance in summer if you go to sleep late at night and you want to sleep till mid morning. If the setting is nice, like in the Monte Urbasa camping, the experience is *****.