An embroidered maritime hoodie. Huge mistakes with sewing chalk ..

And once again I have chosen a pattern that I really like.

I had a lot of problems with this hoodie. I’m still not quite sure whether I like the end result as it is now.

You can see exactly what my problem is with the hood! Two different shades of white.

Sweatshirt maritime 04

When I made the holes for the cord on the hood, I hadn’t paid attention and also made the hole through the embroidered middle section. Stupid me!

I ordered 4!!!!! different white fabrics, but all of them were not the same white color as my original.
So I made the new middle section with it.

But then things got really bad. I made markings on all the pieces with blue sewing chalk so that I knew where the embroidery had to be. Then I ironed embroidery stabilizer onto the back and embroidered all the pieces.

When ALL the embroidery was done, I wanted to wash out the blue chalk in the washing machine. But it didn’t work! Not even after two washes.
Google then told me that this chalk should NEVER be ironed. Unfortunately, I had never noticed this before because I had never marked the right side of the fabric with it. At most for cutting, but it disappears when you sew.

So I had to cut out almost all the pieces again and re-embroider them. But this time I marked them with a pencil.

The only parts I kept are the back and the lower front.
You can still see the blue sewing chalk next to the top red line on the pocket!

Sweatshirt maritime 05

If I decide to make the hoodie again, I will definitely do the lettering on the arm from top to bottom and no longer all the way around. It says ” Ocean is calling”. But you can’t really see it when you’re wearing the hoodie.

Sweatshirt maritime 03

Sweatshirt maritime 07

I still like this hoodie. But every time I look at it, I see the two different shades of white!

Here is the complete hoodie from the front and back. Oh yes, I still have to wash out the marks from the pencil that you can still see.

Sweatshirt maritime 01

Sweatshirt maritime 02

Let it Snow sweatshirt in summer hahaha

I actually wanted to make this sweatshirt last year but unfortunately my sewing machine broke down and it took ages for the store where I took it to have the time to fix it. That’s just the way it is when there’s only one sewing shop in a wide area that repairs sewing machines.
Luckily, I finally got around to making the sweatshirt.
It’s already summer now, but the next winter is sure to come 😀

I used the same pattern for the sweatshirt as for the windbreaker. I just made the pattern smaller.

DIY Windbreaker with Dots Dots Dots

Actually, I only wanted to embroider something on the front of the pocket, as with the windbreaker. But I found so many great embroidery designs for winter on Etsy that I couldn’t make up my mind and just used them all. 😀

The fabric is white fleece. I deliberately decided to use the wrong side of the fabric on the outside because I have had bad experiences with embroidering on fleece before.
But if you don’t know it, you can’t see it!

Here is the pocket with a flap. Isn’t the design cute? ❤

Winter Sweat 01

Here is one sleeve. I embroidered snowflakes from top to bottom on the other sleeve.

Winter Sweat 02

I like this design best of all. It’s quite large on the back. When you see the finished part, it could have been even bigger!

Winter Sweat 06

For the hood, I would have turned the design 180°. I draped the hood in such a way that you can see the embroidery in the photo. When it’s positioned normally, you can only see the upper, upside-down embroidery! When I have the hood up, it fits, but when do you put the hood on a sweater?

At least I hardly ever do. Unfortunately, I saw it too late and didn’t have enough fabric left.

Winter Sweat 04

Here is the sweatshirt from the front

Winter Sweat 03

And here the swearshirt from the back

Winter Sweat 05

Now it just has to get cold enough for me to wear the sweatshirt 😀

My 2nd jumpsuit and having to make new experiences with embroidery

And the next jumpsuit of mine, which I finally finished today.
It had already been sewn a while ago, but I wanted to embroider it.
This was the first time I embroidered fleece and unfortunately the result is not what I had hoped for. The thick, fluffy fibers of the fleece make the embroidery look very unclear. You can’t even read the small lettering.
When the embroidery foil was still on, it looked really great, but when I took it off, it became unclear.
At least I know for the future that I can no longer use such small motifs or lettering on fabric like this

Jumpsuit 01

Jumpsuit 02

In the next photo you can see that it is double face fleece. Stripes on the outside and rockets, stars and such on the inside.

Jumpsuit 03

Here you can clearly see that I would have been better off making this motif larger

Jumpsuit 04

But since the jumpsuit is only for at home, I could live with it.
You never stop learning!

DIY A very very colorful super fluffy jumpsuit for at home

I actually wanted to post my last project before Easter, but I forgot.
This weekend I finally got around to taking the photos.
I didn’t sew the jumpsuit at home, but in a sewing class, because anyone who has ever cut and sewn fleece knows that you will find fluff EVERYWHERE afterwards! 😀

A bit mean, but I helped the sewing teacher to get rid of all the fluff with the vacuum cleaner.

I’m one of those women who is always freezing. So if you’re sitting at the sewing machine or at the table for a long time, for example, you don’t want to do that with a warm blanket. It restricts your movement.
But fleece is the perfect solution. It’s super soft, comfortable to wear and keeps you nice and warm.

Simply perfect for at home. Of course I would never leave the house in it 😀 but I didn’t plan it for that.
At the moment I’m already working on the 2nd jumpsuit so that I can always change in winter ❤

And here is my super colorful soft jumpsuit. I made it in the largest size so that I have plenty of space to move in it.

Colorful jumpsuit 03

Colorful jumpsuit 02

Colorful jumpsuit 01

Colorful jumpsuit 04

DIY Windbreaker with Dots Dots Dots

I can hardly believe it. I’ve finally used the laminated fabric I bought in 2014!!!!!. You can see it in the post:

You can not have enough fabric

I actually wanted to sew a raincoat from it. But I thought there wasn’t enough fabric 😦
Apparently I was wrong. The fabric would have been enough. Never mind. There was enough fabric for 2 windbreakers. So I made myself a windbreaker and gave the rest of the fabric to a friend from the course who had also made a windbreaker.
They are similar but not identical.

Here is my latest project ❤

Windbreaker with Dots 01

Somehow all my logos have something to do with maritime 😀
That wouldn’t have fitted here. That’s why I designed a new logo and had it printed on the front pocket.

Windbreaker with Dots 02

The laminated fabric is very similar to that of my raincoat. That’s why I knew it wouldn’t stretch and wouldn’t slip easily if I tried to pull it over my head.
That’s why I had the idea of sewing the opening on the side of the windbreaker to put it on and take it off. This means you only put one arm through the sleeve and the other arm is closed from the lower cuff to the cuff of the arm with a zipper.
It’s as quick as zipping up a regular jacket ❤

Windbreaker opened:

Windbreaker with Dots 03

Windbreaker closed:

Windbreaker with Dots 04

I also sewed a large pocket on the back. As big as the white patch.
This means I can completely do without a handbag or backpack.

Windbreaker with Dots 05

I love the windbreaker, but sewing laminated fabric is so unpleasant. You can’t sew quickly, you can only sew at the slowest speed because the fabric is so badly transported by the machine.

Let it snow …

Wasn’t it just the New Year’s fireworks? 😀
The first half month is already over. Somehow time is racing…

Winter has now arrived here too. Temperatures around freezing point, snow.
I may be a summer person who likes warmth, sunshine and bright colors, but new snow is also visually fascinating to me.

The roads no longer look pretty with the snow, but the bushes were still untouched and beautiful ❤

Tomorrow my favorite sewing course starts again this year.
I hope my last project will be finished by then.
I think everyone who sews something elaborate that takes so long gets to the point where they can’t see the project anymore. I already reached that point last year 😀

Winter 2024 - 2

Winter 2024 - 1

Winter 2024 - 3

Merry Christmas 2023

XMas 2023 - 1

The year is almost over and so much has happened.
I already wrote that “my” fabric store, where I had my sewing course, is closing.
We were really lucky that a man who wanted to buy some of the furniture and sewing machines for his wife found out that these sewing courses were available.
His wife is also a hobby sewer. He made a studio for her where she can sew in the      evenings. During the day, he rents out the studio for sewing courses. Win-win decision 😀

The course takes place with our old teacher and the other hobby sewers have all been taken from the old store. I am really happy about this solution.

I didn’t manage many projects. I made a yellow rain jacket for a friend similar to the one I made for myself. That was very time-consuming.
I’m currently sewing a windbreaker but, as always with me, it’s taking longer than I’d hoped. Somehow I always think of things during the sewing project that I want to have differently or in addition. Hehe

I had sooooo many plans for sewing Christmas presents and what happens? My machine breaks down 😦 Unfortunately, there is no longer a dealer here in town who can repair my brand. The dealer in the next town said he had so many orders that I didn’t even need to bring my machine in this year. Crap!!!

In August I had corona for the 2nd time this year. But luckily it was only like a very mild cold.

All in all, it was finally a good year for me again.
When my sewing machine is repaired next year, I finally want to sew more for myself at home. Apart from the windbreaker, ALL the projects I made were for other people 😀

I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year ❤

XMas 2023 - 2

XMas 2023 - 5

Happy Easter 2023

Where has the time gone? Just a moment ago it was Christmas and New Year!
Actually, I wanted to go out for photos and make beautiful photos for Easter, but somehow I’m still not 100% fit after Corona. Therefore, I took photos with my phone the day before yesterday after my shopping.

My news at the moment is that my fabric store is no more. I am extremely sad about that. Good news is that our sewing group including the seamstress have found a new way to sew together on Saturdays. Unfortunately the course costs twice as much as before. 😦
Let’s see how we will like it in the new store. Next week Saturday the new course should start. Of course I have again lots of ideas what I could sew and where I do not know how I could do it myself.

Happy Easter ❤ ❤ ❤

Easter 2023-1

Easter 2023-2

Easter 2023-3

I so love my self made tartan jacket

Today I show again a part that has taken a little longer.
I had worked last year and the year before last on the raincoat.

At some point I just could not see this yellow fabric anymore. So I just put the coat aside and started with a new jacket that I wanted to make for a long time.

I have an older jacket that I totally love the pattern of. The jacket is light and for summer when it is sometimes cloudy or windy.

This is the jacket I wanted to copy

Jacket-2023-2

Jacket-2023-1

Because the pattern is very similar from a zip-up hoodie, I used such a pattern.
The only difference was that I had to make the cut much larger as indicated. Sweatshirt fabric is stretchy, but my tartan fabric is not.
I just used my jacket as a pattern for the size. Because I knew it would fit me well.

I left out the pocket on the sleeve. On my original jacket, I never used it.

For the back I added such a piece, as you have it, for example, also on the trench coat. No idea what it’s called.
Unfortunately, in the picture it looks like the plaid pattern of it doesn’t fit exactly. But that seems to be because the jacket is hanging on the hanger. When I have the jacket on, the piece and back pattern fit perfectly.

Jacket-2023-5

Tartan fabric quickly looks too much if you don’t work with contrasts. I chose white because you can see the contrast really well and it spices up the jacket.

Jacket-2023-6

The pockets for the new jacket are similar to those from the old one. Here too, as with everything else, I have chosen white zippers as a contrast

Jacket-2023-7

With tartan I associate Scotland, history, past, kings, queens.
That’s why I wanted to have an “old-fashioned” embroidery on the jacket. I thought long and hard about what to embroider on the jacket. Then I found this embroidery with the crown on Etsy.
Now I just needed matching fonts for my name.
This font is called Old English. While embroidering these letters, I sat at my machine and had to recite the alphabet because I just didn’t recognize some of the letters. 😀

Jacket-2023-8

And to give the back of the jacket some contrast, I embroidered two ribbons with the same font.

Jacket-2023-4

What else happened this year?
My fabric store, where I went every Saturday for sewing classes, is closing for good next week Saturday. That is such a shame. You knew all the salespeople, they were incredibly helpful. I’m going to miss them. 😦
Our Saturday group has been offered an alternative starting in April, but we’ll see if the class can be held there on Saturdays. Unfortunately, I have to work during the week and can not go to a class.

After 3 years, it also hit me at the end of February with Corona. And that, although I have 3 vaccinations! It was pretty intense. I am not fit yet. The whole day only exhausted and tired and could only sleep. Hope that passes soon.