French Japanese modern children's fashion

A friend showed me these modern french/japanese sewing books and I could not resist to sew something for the little one.

First I made a blouse from the book "Mademoiselle" by Yuki Araki (french translation)
it's the blouse "Marie Antoinette", page 6, model c. SO easy! And I love the fabric, it was a remnant in a local shop. Just enough for the blouse. ;)

"Mademoiselle" by Yuki Araki

Some time ago I made leggings from this book, which are fabulously easy, too. And VERY practical. They are from cotton/stretchjersey.The  book is calles "Basiques pour les 2 à 6 ans" by Carole Favero.I think all of you know what leggings look like, so I didn't take an extra picture...

"Basiques pour les 2 à 6 ans" by Carole Favero

I am very much loving those. :) 

 Both books contain severa patterns on slightly chaotic giant sheets, but if you can manage ottobre design pattern sheets, you can handle these too! :) 

Monster drops Martha, Mini Martha vom Milchmonster

MiniMartha hinten, Applikation Tropfen auf Kapuze

MiniMartha vorn, genauso sieht die grosse auch aus. :)

MMMMMMMmmmm,
Ich hab schon WIEDER eine Martha genäht. Die gefällt mir sogut. Genauso wie die Stoffe von lillestoff. Und jetzt konnte ich halt wieder nicht widerstehen. Monsterdrops. In quietschegrün. Und gelb. und petrol. und und und...
Bilder gibt's bisher nur von der Mini Martha.

Ich habe diesmal keine Tasche mit Hintergrund genäht sondern einfach nur einen Pulli (oder Shirt, wasauchimmer), sonst wär's sogar mir zu viel geworden (ja, das gibt's). Ich hatte zuerst überlegt, den dazugehörigen Stoff "Monstertown" zu nehmen, aber irgendwie wollte der Funken nicht überspringen. So habe ich einfach nur in der Kapuze, am Bündchen unten und an den Ärmeln petrol jersey eingesetzt und das ist genau so, wie ich es mag. ich wollte eigentlich wieder die identische Mini-Martha nähen, ABER weil ich leider zuerst zwei rechte Ärmel zugeschnitten habe (grrrr....), hatte ich einen etwas höheren Stoffverbraucht... so ist das Kind mit einer Komplett petrolfarbenen Kapuze mit Tropfenapplikation ausgestattet. Sieht aber auch gut aus, finde ich. :)
Ich find den Stoff mit den schrägen Tropfen SUPERtoll! Leider hat Lillestoffe so VIELE schöne Stoffe, aber ich kann nicht so viele Marthas nähen. 1. wer braucht so viele Pullis 2. so günstig sind sie auch wieder nicht (auch wenn man bedenkt dass es wirklich wunderbar griffige, schöne Baumwolle mit Stretch ist...) 3. vernunft sagt nein, man braucht nicht so viele pullis. Auch das Kind braucht nicht so viele Pullis. Oder shirts.

Wer dennoch in Versuchung geführt werden möchte:

Link Lillestoff

Link Milchmonster's Martha

The night before the revolution - a masked ball 1789

(C) Maren

I have attended NeheleniaPatterns Masked Ball 2014 which had the Motto "The Night Before The Revolution - 1789". Some of you might have seen my pictures of my blue Zone Gown - yes, that's what I was wearing. As I was horribly insecure whether the dress would stand the stress of being worn, I also took my Walpole Francaise - you can never go wrong with a robe a la Francaise!  But then the dress did not just explode (yipee! surprise!) and I was wearing it comfortably all night. :)
The Ball took place in the fantastic Schloss Körtlinghausen. So no worries about pretty picturesque surrounding. 
As it was a masked ball I had the pleasure of choosing a mask. I didn't really fancy a Colombina Mask (you know, the pretty one...) so I was looking for something really freaky. First I considered the Moretta Mask, which is REALLY scary, but as it would have meant to wear it with a button between my teeth and thus have my mouth covered (which isn't really handy for eating or talking...) I decided against it. I thought something Venetian Commedia dell'arte like would be nice and then couldn't resist the grotesquely big and ugly noses! Oh my god, I LOVE those!!! I chose the one with the quirkiest swing. ;) It's really creepy when I wear it. ;)This is a "Zanni" - more about that character here on wikipedia. It's a male character, but I had to admit I so wanted to have that nose, I didn't really mind. :)
I did have some unexpected difficulties drinking and eating with this mask, too, though, so I ended  up taking it off for the meal and drinks. Other than that it was pretty scary all way through. :) I got it from maskworld.com :)

The version with the Corset (a sort of lightly boned top with back lacing) was very comfortable to wear. I liked about it, that I don't have to attach an extra stomacher and that it didn't have optical interruption of the front fastening with needles. A Zone-Gown Front with front closure (which has also existed back then) is a very easy option though and doesn't need the extra fitting of the Corset. On the other hand I could use the Corset for another dress, too... some day, maybe. :) i made a new bum pad, too, from woolly felt, very much stuffed with IKEA cushion interiors. You can't see much of it, but it IS bigger. :)

Here are a few pictures of the dress and a few with the mask.

(C) Maren

(C) Maren

(C) Stefan

with flash the colour looks a bit brigther than it actually is! (C) Stefan

(C) Mie

Thank you Maren, Mie and Stefan for the pictures!!!

As to the ball, the castle was SUPERB, a real gem. It was great to see people again and get to know a few more sewing-addicts. I am left with slightly ambivalent feelings concerning some organisational things, but well, so what. Read a great, honest and very true review of the ball here at Silvermedusa's.

the OMG LBBD (=Oh My God little Black Bias Dress)

I've been stumbling around the internet again, in search of... well I can't really remember, but sucessfully stumbled over the most gorgeous little black bias dress pattern - AND IT's free!! The whole hompage is well worth a visit, so before you click on the links below, make sure you've got enought time on your hand! : )

picture from veravenus.com

picture from veravenus.com

The free OMG LBBD pattern (and article)

More free patterns by the same lady

The VeraVenus Hompage from the start -Link


That lady is doing some very cool stuff!

(I think I've got some black stretch satin that was supposed to be a skirt and never spontaneously develloped into one, sitting around here ... somewhere...I wonder if it is enough to make into the OMG LBBD!)

1725 - 1750 Stays blue and white Philamuseum

 Finally here they are, my new stays!!!

Although a couple of years ago I had sort of sworn to myself that I won't be making stays again... I've done it again. Mainly because if you think about it, after you've put so much energy into finding out the right version... most of the work is done (unless you tend to change shape a LOT)!!
Anyway, after finding the below picture of a pair of stays in the Philamuseum, I decided I could make just minor changes to my existing white strapless JPR stays (that are not exactly white any more...) and make my version of these. I haven't exactly copied this one, it's more of a mix between the JPR stays with the looks of this.
I really really like the dark blue, the tight boning channels and the white accents with the ribbons and silk threads.
As usual, the fabric matured about a year on my stash, then I carried it to my sewing spot, looked at it some more, then finally cut it... and let is settle some more (we're talking weeks here...). All in all it is a well matured project, I'd say.  I am sometimes amazed, how long I manage to wait with a project although all the material is present. I am just SO bad at cutting the nice fabric. :) I have absolutely no inhibitions with the cheap mock-up fabric. But the nice, good fabric... takes me ages to cut that. ;) Then after putting it all together and just before the final fit I usually put the things aside again. Probably dreading after putting so much effort into them, they won't fit. So it took me MONTHS to make these stays although the work itself was done rather quickly.
I didn't do the bias in white leather but used the same fabric. Also I didn't find a picture of the back view so I just winged it. I know, they don't look the same, but they are not supposed to, just inspiration, remember? ;)

my inspiration: Stays 1725-50, Philamuseum

Les Nouvelles Merveilleuses

Oh my goodness, I  think I'm in love! By pure coincidence I've stumbled over this designer of the early 20th century:: Jeanne Margaine-Lacroix and her robes-sylphides! Oh my, oh dear oh dear, what dresses!!

here's a lovely article on her dresses that sums it up nicely
and here is a link to my pinterest board

I've not been that keen on making something 19teens, but now.... oh lala!!