Yellow Willow Dress by Love Notions

I'm on a roll, making summer dresses for myself and Gaby. Willow Wrap dress by Love Notions has been in my plans for three consecutive years already, it was high time I made it.

This dress is also the seventh of my Make Nine fabric-and-pattern busting makes for this year - not bad. The bright yellow ITY knit fabric is perfect for a light summer dress and I was extremely comfortable today in the heat on our drive from Samokov to Sofia.

You might be wondering - where is the wrap, if it is a wrap dress? Well, when I bought the  pattern, I was into wrap dresses and I have one made out of similar polka-dot ITY fabric, but in delicious chocolate-brown. As much as I love it, it is a chore to make the wrap at the bust to stay modest, so I decided for my first Willow to skip the wrap and give it a simple front with a round neckline. My other modifications - I shortened the bodice by 2 cm and the skirt by 10 cm, to suit my figure and my preferences. 

Pattern: Willow Wrap dress by Love Notions

Size: xs, shortened

Fabric: ITY 1 m

Time to make: 3 days

The pattern comes with several sleeve options regarding length and style. I chose the flutter sleeve and I am very happy with my choice, I believe it gives the simple tricot dress a trifle of sophistication and femininity. I wasn't planning on buying more ITYs this year, but I was so impressed by the comfort and wear-ease of the dress, that if I come upon a really beautiful one, I might snatch it for a similar dress for Gaby. 

Metra Blazer by Love Notions

My latest sewing project could be rightfully referred to my stash-busting Make Nine projects for 2025, as it makes use of a pattern by Love Notions, which I had not yet used and two pieces of fabric in my stash, remnants from other projects.

I bought the black jersey for a zippered sweater I made for Gaby at the end of 2023 and the complementary colored ponte is from my first Sabrina Slims.

When I printed the pages of the Metra Blazer and spread them on the black jersey, it became obvious, that I wouldn't be able to make a jacket out of this fabric. Still, I wanted to try the pattern, I am petite and I was quite willing to go for a shorter version of the blazer. 

In the end, with some strategic calculations and placements of the pattern pieces, I was able to cut two fronts, two back pieces and two 3/4 sleeves out of my meager piece of main fabric. At this point of the planning I was positive I wanted to use up only fabric from my stash, so there were just a couple of contenders for the lapels and sleeve hems. In the end it was the dark green/white ponte that won me over and I should say, I am happy with my choice.

I didn't have enough ponte for two whole fronts, so the inner part of the colorful fronts, not seen from the outside, is made out of polyester lining fabric, as is actually the custom with lined blazers. I debated with myself whether to line the whole jacket, but in the end decided to keep it simple and line only the fronts, as is per pattern. The idea was to make a light summer blazer and I know from experience that a full lining would have added weight and warmth, unnecessary for warm spring and summer.

Pattern: Metra Blazer by Love Notions

Size: xs

Fabric: ponte, 100% polyester

Time to make: two weeks

The only thing, that I would change, if I were to make this blazer again, is the pockets. As they are, these are faux welt pockets - they don't have pocket bags and in fact the entire front is the pocket. Thus the pockets could be used to put your hands in them, but they are not functional as places to keep your keys or other small things in. I know that plenty of women frown upon the idea of carrying items in your blazer pockets, but I prefer practical pockets and next time I would add actual pocket bags.

Although I did reduce the length of the blazer drastically - probably by 7 cm, I like it as it is and I wouldn't add much length to a future variation of the blazer, if I decide to make it again.

These pictures were take during our walk around Vrana on the second day of Easter and I combined the blazer with my black Burda jeans and Burda short sleeve blouse. 

PS I've been going out and about town in this blazer yesterday and today and I actually find it very practical for the transitional weather. It might turn out to be a useful addition to my wardrobe after all.

My Make Nine in 2025

This is my fourth in a row Make Nine pledge at the beginning of the year. Last year I had planned a number of patterns I paid good money for and wanted to see them in use. However, I only made two of the particular patterns I had chosen - Burda Jeans 120 02/2010 and the cargo pants 129 from the same magazine, which was a curious coincidence. I also made a lot of light summer dresses, including one for Gaby, which was on my Make Nine list, however not the one, I had initially planned.

This time I've decided to play it a bit differently. I usually go mentally through my wardrobe and my patterns and so the Make Nine choice is mostly pattern-based. Over the years, however, I've collected quite a lot of fabrics too and this year I've decided to base my pledge on a bunch of my fabrics. This is just a small pile of the stash I have, but I have to start from somewhere :)

I've chosen 15 pieces of fabric and 12 patterns and the aim towards the end of the year is to have at least 9 of these fabrics made into the selected (or other) patterns. Apart from pattern 1, which is a ready made dress and is a general idea rather than a specific pattern, I have all of the listed patterns in my collection and some of them I've already made with other fabrics over the years.

1. The first pattern is probably the most difficult to make - an imitation of Gaby's graduation dress, RTW Swing Cocktail Dress. It is a combination of four fabrics - lace, knit fabric under the lace, chiffon for the skirt of the dress and sateen for the underskirt. These are fabrics 7 and 8 - lace and chiffon in dusty rose. I have the suitable knit fabric too, I'll only have to buy the sateen.

2. The Gloria dress by Vikisews was one of my finds last year. I've had a cotton sateen fabric in purple, which I bought three or four years ago to make a shirt, but now I want a dress out of it. This is fabric 2.

3. Fabric 6 is a high quality cotton dress fabric, which I want to make for Gaby with pattern 3 - the Burda 144 11/2016. I already made this pattern last year in green, but I want to try it with some mods for Gaby.

4. Pattern 4 is a Love Notions dress, that has been in my plans for two years. In 2025 I plan to finally make it, using the yellow knit fabric 5

5. Last year I made a pink hoodie for Gaby, which has been a big success. I have a fairly large remnant of the same fabric (9) and coordinating rib fabric, so I'll try to make a simpler version, without the hood, for myself. If the fabric is really not enough, I might consider combining it with some other sweatshirt fabric for a color-block hoodie.

6. I want to try my hands at a short suit jacket. Burda 117 08 / 2017 comes in my size and height and I intend to try it with the green georgette - fabric 1.

7. I bought the pattern for the chiffon blouse Burda 101 12 / 2020 the moment it came out and soon after I found the perfect fabric and accessories. This is fabric 12 and I hope to make it this year.

8. A lined jacket out of corduroy fabric. The fabric was a gift and has been in my stash for years, I'm ready to cut into it and try to make something. The pattern I've chosen is Burda 6799.

9. I have two pieces of denim fabric - black (fabric 4) and blue (fabric 3) and I want to make jeans out of them. Last year I made two pairs of jeans and Burda 7050 turned out to be my most favourite make of the year.

10. Grey fabric 13 is some big piece of cotton viscose georgette, that I liked a lot for a pair of wide legged trousers. I have the Burda 104 02/2020 Marlene pants, but I might search for a different pattern for this fabric, I haven't decided yet.

11. Fabric 15 is dark blue sweatshirt knit, which I plan to turn into a hoodie for husband, probably the Burda 6718 men's anorak.

12. I have plenty of big remnants of sweatshirt fabric and if I have enough, I might try to make a color combo pair of joggings to go with the hoodie, like Knipmode 04 03 / 2020.

13. Fabric 10 is a light shirt cotton, fabric 11 is also cotton, medium weight. Since husband has plenty of cotton shirts, but wears none, I've decided to make these two fabrics into boxer shorts for him, something I know he'll like and wear.

Knowing me, I'll probably end the year with bigger stash of fabric than I've started it with, but at least I'm having all the good intentions, and that must count for something :)

Beige Rhapsody for Gaby

While March was the month I sewed for the boys, April was Gaby's month. As we were expecting her on the first days of May, I wanted to make her a few new things to take with her to Vienna. 

The first is a viscose blouse, yet another Rhapsody. I made the size xs, but without the shortenings I usually do, as I thought the full length would suit Gaby better. However, she is not a fan of long blouses, it turns out, so I had to shorten it by 5 cm. I should point out that I agree with her and the shorter length does suit her better.

I took the pictures a few days before her arrival. We had planned to make a quick photosession with all the things I made for her, but time flew so fast, that in the end we gave up the idea and I was left with only these pre-shortened not-modelled photos.

Pattern: Rhapsody by Love Notions 

Size: XS, modified

Fabric: viscose

Time to make: 6 days

I made the blouse, using my favourite version - the 3/4 bishop sleeve with the inserted elastic. I plan to make myself one of these too in a viscose or polyester crepe for the summer, if I can find some fabric that I like.

Although the colors of the viscose fabric are a bit bland, I think it suits Gaby well and she did wear it during her stay for a meeting with her uni friend.

Summer Tranquil Nightgown

Last year I sewed a long-sleeve nightgown for my mother, using Love Notion's Tranquil collection. I am still fascinated with the interesting details of the pattern, so this year I made another nightgown, but a short-sleeved one for the summer. The fabric is a lovely viscose-cotton knit, light and soft, extremely pleasant to wear.

I used the same size as last year, I only tried to make the neck opening less gaping, as my mother complained of its width in the previous nightgown. I believe the problem with larger sizes is, that people can be large at different parts of their body, and as my mother has actually a fairly small stature, the upper part of her body, above the bust, is quite small. I could have made the opening even smaller, I believe the neckline at the back is a bit too wide, but that only occurred to me after I had already made the nightgown. Now I'm just crossing my fingers, that the fit will be alright this time.

Pattern: Love Notions Tranquil Collection

Size: M, elongated by 3 cm

Fabric: cotton viscose knit, 2 m

Time to make: 4 days

I bought a fairly large piece of fabric and I've got still plenty of it, so I'm thinking of making myself a pajama set, using the same pattern.

My Make Nine in 2024

My third in a row Make Nine Challenge. I love this game at the beginning of the year, as it allows me to get out of the rut of sewing easy and easily wearable everyday t-shirts, hoodies and pants and to plan for different types of makes and different fabrics. Even if I don't make these 9, I would still like to have them in my head as a possibility. 

All of the patterns I have chosen this year are ones I already own and a couple of them have been on my list every year. I seem to want to make them, but never get to them. Maybe 2024 will be the year I finally do.

Of last year's Make Nine list, I made 4 - an improvement, I think, in 2022 it was only three of nine :) So, I sewed the Sinclair Lotte Hoodie, twice, once as a sweatshirt knit hoodie and once as a viscose blouse with thumbhole cuffs, which turned one of my favourite blouses last year. 

Then I made the Nightwear from Love Notions for my mother and I believe she loved it. 

I also sewed the Fleece Jacket Burda 6337 from their 2019 catalogue. To test the pattern, I made it from a fleece sweater of my husband, which was too big on him. I did not appreciate the design and didn't repeat it for Gaby, as I had initially intended. Nevertheless, I should acknowledge, that I've worn it a lot at home, as it is comfy and warm. 

And finally I made the Flared Jeans, which I am still to photograph and blog these coming days.

My new Make Nine for 2024 try to reflect my desire to make dresses, coats and jeans.

1. Sinclair Apollo Hoodie. This one I transfer from last year, mostly because I printed and cut the pattern, but never sewed it. I'm not so fond of it as of now, but I'll give it a try, it might surprise me.

2. Boyfriend Cardigan by Love Notions. I want to make this for Gaby, though I did make her two new layer pieces last December. But she claims she always needs layer pieces and her laboratory is quite cold.

3. Willow Wrap Dress by Love Notions. I'm definitely making this for myself, I have a feeling this could be a great summer dress just in my style.

4. Classic straight Burda Jeans, #120 04/2010. I was not very happy with the fit of the two pairs of jeans I made last year, despite testing a muslin first. I think I want to start afresh this year with a new jeans pattern.

5. Marlene Pants, Burda #104 02/2020. I've made these once for myself, now I plan a pair for Gaby. Last summer she liked one of my wide legged pants and wore it while in Bulgaria, clearly she needs a pair of her own. 

6. Coat Burda #102 10/2021. I'm not entirely sure if this is the coat pattern I want to start with, but I want to try it, as I've seen so many beautiful versions of it on the Burdastyle.ru site.

7. New cargo pants for husband. Last year I had promised him a new pair, as he lost quite a lot of weight and his old cargo pants, which he wears on almost every hike, are actually rather loose on him. I have the pattern, the fabric, the zipper and the buttons, I only need to get down to work and make it.

8. Some formal dress for Gaby out of silk, viscose or georgette. I still haven't found the perfect pattern for her, but this Burda #126 01/2015 is very feminine with interesting shoulder details, so I might try it.

9. Summer shorts for Alex. The pattern I have is Burda #137 04/2016 and I've been meaning to make it for him for such a long time, maybe this summer I will.

OK, the pledge is done, the list is made, now on to making some clothes :)

Tropical Rhapsody

After I made the Burda blouse with butterfly sleeves, I was left with quite a substantial piece of fabric, so of course, I made another blouse.

My initial idea was to make it a sleeveless top, however, my piece of fabric was kind of wide but short, so it had to be a top with an yoke. 

And when it comes to tops with yokes, there's only one true-and-tried yoked blouse for me - Rhapsody. For this iteration of the pattern I had to make quite a few adjustments to fit it into the piece of fabric - I raised the cut on the back by 5 cm, thus shortening the yoke, I additionally shortened the yoke but 3 cm (so a total of 8 cm), I also shortened the front and back pieces a bit - in other words I used up the entire piece of fabric and modified my pattern pieces to fit in it.

After the front and the back were assembled together with the double yoke, I tried it on and found it a bit too simple, so I decided to add a henley opening. True, it was a whole day of additional work, but I'm happy with that look, I find it much more interesting than a plain round neckline. There's more to be desired from my execution of the henley, I did try my best, basted everything in place, etc. and still it is not perfect to my satisfaction, but for this attempt it will have to do. I have definitely made some mental notes for my next henley. 

Of course, my buttonholes are real operational holes :)

 

Pattern: Rhapsody by Love Notions 

Size: XS, modified

Fabric: cotton viscose knit

Time to make: 5 days

Green Rhapsody

About two years ago I was so inspired by a Youtube tutorial pattern for a simple peasant blouse, that I cut into one of my viscose fabrics and tried to make it. The pattern - four rectangles, was too simple to be true and so the blouse was a failure. However, it did teach me a very neat trick for making self-folding tunnels for inserting elastic, which I have used several times afterwards, so it was not a complete waste of time.

As this chartreuse green is very much one of my most favourite colors, I kept the blouse with the intention somehow to repair it. Last week I took it out of its bag, together with the remaining rather large piece of fabric and decided to keep the sleeves and add a Rhapsody blouse to them, cut out of the remaining fabric.

The weather in Sofia last Friday was very inappropriate for a light viscose blouse, but I had the spare time, snow was forecast for the next day, so we took a couple of pictures of my new Rhapsody in the near park. The wide bishop sleeves of the Rhapsody got awfully crinkled in the sleeves of my jacket and the entire photosession is a very unprofessional presentation of the blouse, but I don't think there will be better photos any time soon, so I decided to publish it, despite the sorry state of the sleeves.

Pattern: Rhapsody by Love Notions 

Size: XS, modified

Fabric: viscose

Time to make: 4 days

Now I am waiting for spring to wear my new green blouse.

Galaxy Nightgown

My second pattern make from the 2023 Make Nine List - the Tranquil Nightgown by Love Notions.

I bought the pattern at the end of 2022 with a nightgown for my mother in mind. Of course, I could have adapted any t-shirt or knit dress pattern for a nightgown, but I liked so much the crossover details at the hems and the faux wrap top, that I was certain I had to have that pattern. 

The fabric is a gorgeous double knit, very easy to work with in a print, that reminds me of stars and nebulae. And I was lucky to have just the perfect color fabric for the trims.

I chose size M for my mother and I made the gown without any corrections, but for some 3 cm, which I added to the length as my mother wanted her gown almost ankle long.

I already sent the gown and she tried it. The sizing is perfect, but the neck-opening is to wide for her liking, so I will have to take it in next time and I have given her some suggestions how to remedy the gown I've sent her. And there will be a next time - I am already planning another nightgown for her, but a short-sleeved version out of lighter material for the summer.

Pattern: Love Notions Tranquil Collection

Size: M, elongated by 3 cm

Fabric: cotton double knit, 1.5 m

Time to make: 4 days

I am so in love with the trim details on this gown, that I definitely plan to make myself a blouse, using the same pattern. Not that I need many new blouses, but ... maybe I do :)

My Make Nine in 2023

Last year I made my first Make Nine pledge - nine specific clothing items I intended to sew in 2022. Of course, as is quite typical of me, I quickly forgot and abandoned the pledge - pledges, challenges and lists are clearly not my thing. 

Of the nine patterns I had decided to make, I made only three - the denim jacket, twice - for myself and then for Gaby, the Vikisews hoodie for my husband and the dirndl for Gaby, probably my most complicated sewing project last year.

Still, though I rarely stick to plans, it is always informing and curious to me to find out where I was a year ago. For that reason, and because I still think a plan is a good thing, I decided to pledge a new bunch of Make Nine this year.

The first three on my list are the last three patterns I bought in 2022. These are expensive indie designer patterns and I am determined to make use of them, at least once.

1. Sinclair Lotte Hoodie. Although I have plenty of hoodie patterns, I've been a sucker for colorblocking lately and this original hoodie was a must have for me. And while I was on this mindwave and because in was Boxing Day and Sinclair patterns had a sale I bought a similar hoodie for my husband:

2. Sinclair Apollo Hoodie. I'm determined to give it a try, though I might make it as a sweater out of thinner knit fabric.

3. Nightwear from Love Notions. I am a huge Love Notions fan and I've been gradually building a collection of their patterns. I love the curved colorblock detail and I might use it in a blouse or tunic, not just on a nightgown.

The next six items I have planned include three of my previous year Make Nine and three new ones. This year I want to sew jeans and jackets and I also plan a cocktail dress for Gaby - very ambitious :)

4. A coat - I have several Burda patterns and I intend to try at least one of them, probably using a coat fabric I have in my stash for my first try.

5. Fleece Jacket. This is Burda 6337 from their 2019 catalogue. Gaby asked for more second layer clothes, so i plan to make this one for her.

6. Jeans. I am definitely going to try this pattern for myself, I have the fabric already.

7. Some formal dress for Gaby. I think I'll start with this pattern - Burda #126 01/2015 is very feminine with interesting shoulder details, but I would make it with a different style skirt.

8. New cargo pants for husband - he definitely needs a new pair and i am planning to try this Burda pattern this year.

9. And finally something for Alex - summer shorts. I never came to making these for him last year, as I couldn't find suitable fabric. The pattern I have is Burda #137 04/2016

Now that I have made the pledge, I am so curious to see what I will actually make in 2023. Time will show :)

Sabrina Slims III

I made a new pair of hiking pants and I tested them today.

The pattern is again Sabrina Slims, like my most worn summer hiking pants. The fabric is a small piece of ponte, 80 cm long, I bought at the end of spring with the intention of making a pair of 3/4 hiking leggings. However, the summer came and went and I never got to sewing this ponte. 

So, last Sunday I took it out together with the cuttings from three other ponte projects and started planning a new pair of full size hiking leggings. In the end I chose the colorful green ponte, remnants from my second Sabrina Slims, as a complimentary fabric to the main black ponte.

I kept all the corrections to the upper part of the pants I had introduced to my second Sabrina and I also straightened the legs from the knee down. However, I had forgotten that the Sabrina Slims run a bit too narrow down the legs and if I ever decide to make them again, I should add a couple of centimeters to the width from mid-thigh to ankles, lately I prefer more bootleg pants, not the super slim style.

However, my gripe with the narrowness down the leg is purely aesthetic; due to the very stretchy fabric the Sabrina Slims are comfortable and provide full freedom of movement during a hike, which often include climbing, stretching and crouching.

Pattern: Sabrina Slims by Love Notions

Size: 0 with corrections

Fabric: ponte, 100% polyesther

Time to make: 3 days