hallå patterns

Sewing Plans

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I have a few projects sitting on my cutting table this week, but nothing that will be done in time to post on Saturday. So I thought I’d share a few of my plans with you.I saw this top online and loved it at first look. What I don’t love about it is it’s not natural fibers. I prefer that, so I thought, I can make my own version of this lovely top. If you love it too, there’s a link in the photo. (no affiliation)

I was thinking the Halla Agnes Swing Top would be perfect for the shape.

Use the sleeve option, add the color blocking and seam allowances. It wouldn’t be a hard adjustment to make.

So that’s one plan.

Another is the lovely new Cambia bra pattern.I first saw this bra during the Great Bra Sewing Bee, and simply fell in love. If you haven’t seen it done up, go and have a look. It’s gorgeous! 

I bought the pattern as soon as it came out. This will be one of the next patterns I try. I may try the Lamina or Labellum from Lilypa first so I know how her sizing fits me.

I’ll be back next week with some wonderful new makes to share.

Happy creating!

Color Blocked Agnes

~ Michelle

The halla agnes tops I made a few years ago have gotten so much wear, I thought it was time to make a few more.

I bought some adorable white polka dot, and black polka dot cotton Lycra, and knew they’d be adorable as a color blocked top. In fact, these were the left-over CLs I used for my May Challenge entry. I did have enough after cutting out my newest agnes.

Here’s my color blocked agnes.I adore this! Polka dots are a favorite of mine.

It’s pretty much the same view on the side and the back.I pulled out my Coverpro machine to finish the neckline, armholes, and hem.It really does such a nice job finishing.

Inspiration

   My color blocked agnes turned out so well, it gave me the inspiration to play with some other fabrics I have and make a few more agnes swing tops for this summer.

I have this awesome CL from Smoogie Fabric and Design. I’ve ordered a few prints from them and have loved them all. For this one, as an agnes, I was thinking something along these lines. I’d have the frost detail meet and graduate up and down on this one. I think it will look great.

I got busy. It doesn’t take long to sew up an agnes at all.I love how this turned out.

The one side meets perfectly and I’m so happy with that. The other side isn’t perfect how the patterns meet. However, it was all I could do with the material I had.The back is amazing as well.Yes. I love this!

While I was making tops, I pulled out another fabric I purchased from Smoogie Designs and cut it out too. This one won’t be color blocked though.

Isn’t this pretty?Here’s the view from the side.And the back view. Again it’s pretty much the same as the front view.All of these were finished with my Coverpro machine. I’m feeling very inspired with these new tops, and think I may look at what other fabrics and patterns I have to make for summer.

Happy creating!

Halla Agnes – Libelle Round 4 Pre-Order

~ Michelle

I had one more adorable meter of fabric from Libelle Sewing’s Round 4 Pre-Order, and I was thinking another House Morrighan Abbie. But, my hubby thought this material was too cute to not be seen, so he requested something I would wear outside.

I chose my favorite summer top – the halla swing top and dress.Aren’t these Kawaii Cherries adorable? The link will take you right to them. This is such a lovely bright cheerful print. I think my hubby was right on this one – it is too cute to stay indoors.

My halla agnes

 I made a swing top this time. My favorite agnes has been a tunic length, which is between the top and the dress. However, I’d need more than 1 meter of fabric for that. As it was, I was just a tad short to make the top.

I just happened to have some of that gorgeous red and black lace I used for the Frankie/Clover panties sitting on my cutting table.I immediately changed my pattern to include the lace.

Here’s my Kawaii Cherry lace halla agnes.Those happy little cherries look even prettier with some gorgeous lace. And I have to say, ‘Well done!’ getting that line of polka dots around the neck band. I didn’t even plan that. That was a happy accident.

Here’s a close up of the lace and neckline.Aren’t the polka dots perfect? Yes. That turned out very well seeing as I was using whatever bits were left over for the bands.

Here’s the side view.So cute!

And the view from the back. This material is lovely to sew. It’s a Cotton Lycra with very good recovery. And it’s almost my last project for Round 4 Pre-Order.

I had just enough to make one more pair of Clover Boybriefs for Em.

Em’s Clover Boybriefs

Oh, these cheery little cherries are even more adorable as Clover Boybriefs.

I had talked to Em, and she said she loves the lace trim even more than the bands. That turned out to be a good thing as I was out of fabric after cutting these out and had to use the lace trim to finish them.

Here’s the side view.Yes. These are really adorable.

And the back view.The trim helps them give just a little more coverage on the back.

The Libelle Sewing Round 4 Pre-Order ends on March 24th. There’s also still time to take advantage of the Warehouse Sale. They have lace, elastics, bra kits, and so much more.Happy creating!

A Hallå Agnes for Em

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

Em asked me if I would make her a dress. How could I say no?

It Starts with Materials

I got this gorgeous black and white Liverpool knit from Libelle Sewing.  It’s so lovely! I really love black and white. I love black and white photos, and pretty much any and all clothing that’s black and white. So when I saw this material, I loved it right away.

As soon as I got it, I knew what I wanted to make with it. It has a lovely drape. I knew the  Hallå Agnes would be perfect. I sent Em a photo and asked if she’d like that. Yes. She loved it.

Pattern Adjustments

I have Em’s measurements from ever so long ago when I made her first Watson bra. But Em’s lost some weight, so I got her new measurements and saw she doesn’t fit into just one size either. She does for her hips and waist, but to make the pattern fit her bust, I needed to do a Full Bust Adjustment.

Check out this video for the Craftsy Full Bust Adjustment for Any Pattern class. At 1:09 she shows just what I did for Em’s FBA.

                     Once I’d made this one small adjustment to the pattern for Em, I was ready to cut out the material and sew it up. The Agnes pattern is a quick sew too, which is another plus.

Em’s agnes

  Here’s Em’s Agnes on my dress form.Oh, this is lovely.

Here is the side view. You can see, even though I did a FBA on the pattern just under the arm, it hangs perfectly straight – and I added over an inch to the bust.And the back.You can see here I also did a lettuce edge for the hem instead of a regular hem. I really like this. When I’ve made the Agnes in the past, I was using cotton Lycra, so this was the perfect material for this hem.

     Have you tried the Hallå Agnes yet? It’s a wonderful pattern.

Em came over and tried on her dress. She loved it and it fit perfectly. She loved how light the material is, and the drape of it too.

Here’s Em in her agnes dress.Happy creating, and seeing as it’s Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Hallå Knotty Pants

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I recently saw the most adorable pants pattern. Hallå Knotty Pants. I bought the pattern the day it came out. I also bumped some other sewing projects, and put making these pants at the top of my sewing list.

Fabric

I had some fabric in my stash just waiting to be made into a pair of pants. I originally had planned to make Portlander pants.

I do love these still, and do plan to make them soon.

Like I said, as soon as I saw the Knotty Pants, well, they went straight to the top of my sewing list.

Here’s the fabric I had picked out:. Isn’t this gorgeous? This is the Willow Blooms Spices by Art Gallery. It’s cotton Lycra, which is my favorite, but it’s also available in a cotton. I got this from Funky Monkey Fabrics.

My Knotty Pants

These aren’t hemmed yet, but I’m adoring them so far. In fact, I tried them on and didn’t take them off. I wore them all day. Love them.

You can make them with pockets, or without. Mine are without. As well you can make straight legged pants, or with the slit up the side. These have the slit and can be tied at either the ankle or knee.

Inspiration

I had a reason why I wanted to make these Knotty Pants too, and not just because they’re adorable. For years I’ve watched Shimmy on TV and danced along with the dancers as my morning exercise.

The Knotty pants are very similar to some pants the dancers wear on the show.I found this image on the internet. It shows the knotted pants perfectly. I’m so happy to have found this pattern. They’re also quite easy to make up.

  Upcoming Bra-Makers Challenge

I’m planning on using the Knotty pants as a base for a mash-up for the September challenge – Dancing Queen – and make myself some dance pants.

Happy creating!

Two More Agnes Dresses

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

Last summer I bought some gorgeous floral material to make my favorite Flirt Skirt to wear this summer. I still haven’t done that. I have, however, made two  more dresses from the hallå agnes swing top & dress pattern.

This first material has the design as the red top I made, but in blues and I made it as a dress. Here’s the front: 

This dress comes together really quickly with serged seams, and serging used to attach the neckline and armbands.

I had thought I’d change how I attached these bands, but decided to make another change I’ll tell you about below.

Here’s the side view: 

 Here’s the red top just as a reminder to see the print on it.

I know my hubby loves blue on me, so I think this blue dress will be his favorite.

This forth agnes is a dress too, in black, white, with little bits of yellow. 

The yellow isn’t very visible in the photo, so here’s a close up:

I think four agneses is a good place to stop for now. I really do love this pattern, and am living in this dress this summer.

One Change

Although, I’m loving all my hallå agnes dresses and top, but there’s one little element I wasn’t loving. The seams are all serged on these dresses and the top. That’s great. The seams all looks nice and neat this way.

However,  once these were washed, I found the seams at the neckband and arms were flipping or folding in half. It wasn’t visible from the outside when I was wearing it, but I could see it when I was putting the garment on. I didn’t like it.

Here you can see how the seam has folded up:

My fix for this was to use my coverstitch machine. It worked beautifully too. I’ve finished all my dresses this way now, and no more flipping or folding seams.

One of the things I did to help line up the stitching was to use the markings on the presser foot. That first grove was my guideline. It worked out really well.

Drafting Again

My new wires are here and it’s time to start drafting again! I’ve done a few drafts now, and that’s led to a couple of questions. I’m one or two answers away from drafting, what I hope is, my perfect bra pattern.

Happy creating!

Another Agnes Dress

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

I have a few sewing projects on my list of things to sew. Three of them are gifts for my son’s birthday this month. His girlfriend wants me to sew her a bralette. And let’s not forget I want to get back to bra drafting.

In the midst of all that, I’m planning to sew some new clothes for summer.

Thankfully, with all these projects, one project I’m planning for me is really quick and I know turns out well. It’s the  hallå patterns’ agnes swing top & dress.  It’s quick to cut out and quick to sew.

My last one turned out pretty much perfectly with no adjustments. The armhole was a touch big, so I trimmed a 1/4″ off the shoulder to bring that up and am leaving the rest of this as is. I was thinking I’d make another dress, and a couple of tops.

As it turns out, I cut out three dresses and one top. Here are the fabrics I’m using.

The blue and red floral is a dress, and so is the blue splotchy one. The red splotchy one is an agnes swing top. All of these fabrics were Fabricland finds from my trip to Ontario last year, and they’re all gorgeous cotton Lycras.

I also cut this fabric out as a dress.

For this dress, I have some black cotton Lycra in my stash left over from panty-making. I think I’ll use that for the neck and arm bindings. It will give it a nice color block feel, and a pop of contrasting color. This fabric was another one of my Fabricland finds, but this time at 70% off here at home. I love a great deal like this.

Birthday sewing had to come first though, so although I’ve cut these dresses out, only the top got sewn up so far.

Here’s my first agnes swing top. I’ve been wearing it and it’s so very flattering. I love it.

I did have some fun while finishing this off. I’m using my CoverPro machine. I really do love how neatly it finishes the hems.

Oh, that’s a pretty hem.

I’ll have to do a fashion show with all my dresses and tops in an upcoming post. My husband/photographer is out of town today, so a photo of me in my new top will have to wait. I can say, I’m loving this top!

Happy creating!