Saturday 8 June 2013

Refashioning, a Sureau and a Liebster award!

 Me voila de retour avec mon premier short, fait a partir d'une jupe trouvee dans un charity shop, je l'adore! dapres patron dans le dernier Burda Couture Facile. Puis ma premiere Sureau avec dentelle noire et passepoil, je travaille deja sur une 2e Sureau rouge faite a partir de tissu pour enfants!

Hey lovely followers, fashionistas and charity shop maniacs, I am back and I have finished sulking, the sun is out and I can finally wear my home stitched dresses. Happy face. And a lovely person has given me a blog award with a list of fun questions I am answering in the next post!
To get back into the swing of things, let me introduce the most comfortable shorts in the world.
 (I apologise in advance for the ipod pics, my Nikon camera is refusing to transfer my 'proper' photos to computer at the moments, and am working on fixing the problem)


photo taken by my 5 year old daughter! bit wonky, ha!




My first pair !!! Made by my little hands!
You 'll understand how chuffed I am with them when I tell you that they used to be a mini skirt found in a charity shop in my town for...3.99£
!!!!!!
I meant to do comfy summer shorts for a while now that I have ventured out from my cave and that the sun is out, so  I used a Burda pattern from the last 'Burda Couture Facile' magazine and instead of buying new fabric from my local sewing shop ( a shoe box with 2 adorable grannies behind the counter but the cheapest fabric there starts at 8£ a metre, not cheap when you need more than a metre ...) I visited a few charity shops on the look out for the perfect item i could turn into a pair of shorts.
 

I meant to make them in voile like the one the pattern called for but couldnt see anything that tickled my fancy until I saw this black and white roses print on a skirt. In stretch cotton, even better...size 18, so well enough fabric to hack into, yay!
I first simply cut away and turned the skirt into 2 rectangles of fabric so that I could lay my pattern on it. I kept the original hem and waist band because i am lazy because they were perfect as they were and could be re used, so i stitched the waistband on again after trimming it and sewing all the pattern pieces together including the pockets. One thing I love about these shorts are the 4 chic pleats at the front like you'd find on 'proper' classic trousers, and the pockets, which I did in white broderie anglaise for a bit of contrast:
man, these pockets are so comfy and cute, I love them!

impossible to match the front and back hem, oh well


 They are wide fitting tailored shorts  which is what I wanted and suit my round butt, ie, important info: my derriere is not flat and discreet !, so I didnt want tight shorts, also everyone (well teenagers and 20 y old fashionistas) is wearing tight denim shorts so no thanks.
I am wearing them with a blue chambray  top I also made recently from a 50s pattern:


Its got scallops at the hem and collar, I must say they were easier to do than I expected! I messed up the sizing a bit and the top ended up being too short and not wide enough around the hips so.....I added a row of scallops! to lengthen it, and opened the side seams at the hem. so it is a little strange but still very wearable, me thinks? I shall make it again as the pattern intends with a different fabric as it is super easy, just 2 pieces and 2 facings.
not 1 but 2 rows of scallops!
Super chuffed with my first pair of me made shorts, not the last pair, next will be these, complete with sailor top:
 Too cute, no?
And now for my first Sureau , a Deer and doe pattern:
hum could have been a pretty pic with open eyes
(excuse my tired eyes, antibiotics and a chest infection are to blame)
As you can see I added a few 'gothic' details: black lace at the hem and along the fake placket, as well as piping along the waist. I found the lovely purple and black floral cotton in my dream fabric shop in France for 10 euros.







My next step is to encase the sleeves hem in an elastic to give them a cleaner, tighter look.
Cute dress, non?! looks like a Liberty, but isnt... cute, casual, yet not boring, a bit retro, can be worn over leggings when the cold Liverpool wind blows, whats not to like.


I am already making my second Sureau in a oh so cute red japanese fabric with fairytale characters that used to be curtains in my daughter's bedroom.
Phew thats all for now, folks!
xxx

2 comments:

  1. beautiful print
    http://www.mogulinteriordesigns.com/category/26884634861/1/Skirts.htm

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  2. oooh those shorts are soooo amazing! i wish i could wear shorts with my big derriere too ;) and how fabulous is your sureau! very bohemian!
    hope you have a wonderful weekend!
    love and kiss,mary
    http://www.maryloucinnamon.com/

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