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Am I a bad mother now?

By 13/05/2014Blog, Cardigan

Weather has been terrible last days in Belgium and since I’m working for Compagnie M. fulltime for two weeks (yeah!), finished projects are piling up. No sunshine, means no pictures. I’m not a Photoshop expert so I just wait for the sun to appear! How old fashioned is that?

With every little ray of sunshine I run outside with one of the girls. My victim for this last Photoshoot was Nore. It was cold and just in-between the rain showers we tried to make pictures of my Louise jacket that I’ve made even before we went to Berlin.  The quality of the pictures was poor, but with a filter added I guess they look acceptable. Or maybe even beautiful?

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You can see by her face and goosebumps that Nore was getting cold. I hope I’m not a bad mother now? How brave she was to concur the cold weather just for mummy! Thanks little girl…

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I combined some red fabric with Granny Tiles by Soft Cactus. With some left overs I made coordinating buttons… I don’t know whether my foreign readers have heard about the Soft Cactus success story? Noami had the guts to launch a completely new Belgian fabric brand. Never heard of it? Check it out here! The fabrics are very cute, designed with love by Noami & Pieke wieke and actually rather cheap (10 euro / meter). The pattern is the Louise jacket from the book ‘zelfgemaakte kleertjes 2’.

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Since I’m an ecological person, I try to avoid to buy new clothes… As you all now I make my own clothes, but I always try to combine them with 2nd hand ones, like this blouse. Add a pair of refashioned shorts and the result makes me happy!  Stylish and cheap!

This pair of shorts is  just an old jeans that I shortened and finished with bias binding. These pants still fitted well at the waist but was to short at the hem… So easy to do, but it saves you a lot of money that you don’t have to spend on new clothes! A very short tutorial that shows you how to refashion your old pants…

This is what you need: old jeans, some bias binding, scissors, a ruler and coordinating thread (and a sewing machine of course!)

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Cut your jeans to the desired shorts length (I made 4 short with different lengths…).

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Cut a piece of bias tape that is 2cm (6/8 inch) longer then the circumference of the leg opening. Sew at 1cm (3/8 inch) to close the bias tape. Right sides together.

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Put the bias binding around the leg opening. Match at the bottom. Right sides together. Sew around in the 1st crease.

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Close the bias tape around the raw edge of the jeans and sew at 2mm (1/8 inch) from the top side. So easy to save 4 jeans pants in just a half hour of your precious time! ;)

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I bought these floral bias tapes at Julia’s shop (Liberty) but I don’t have to tell you that the golden one is eventually the most popular one!?

Join the discussion 16 Comments

  • How could you be a bad mum when your little one looks so cute and sweet!
    Love the jacket! And thank you for letting us know about this new fabric brand. I just went on their website and they have some lovely fabric. Ah, I’m now tempted to buy some!!! My stash is growing bigger and bigger…

  • nelecrombez says:

    Leuk jasje : ik heb dit boek ook liggen; zal er toch eens iets moeten uitmaken. Ook geweldig hoe je die broekjes hebt afgewerkt. Heel eenvoudig en toch heb ik er nog nooit aan gedacht om dat ook zo te doen. Beetje minder saai dan gewoom omzomen en met een dochter die telkens met gescheurde broeken thuiskomt is dit een goede oplossing.

    • Compagnie M. says:

      Jeuj! Toch al op z’n minst één iemand kunnen overtuigen om broekjes af te knippen. Ze zijn er zo schattig mee. Die gouden is zelf wat chique. Echt een aanrader. M

  • Sylvia says:

    Mooi jasje! Het topje onder het jasje ziet er ook heel leuk uit! Ook een creatie van jou?

    • Compagnie M. says:

      Neen, dat topje is van Van Hassels. Heel mooi inderdaad! Was het maar mijn creatie! ;)

  • maarikami says:

    What a cute little outfit!
    I also like the fabric – I just bought three designs of Noami’s line a couple of days ago not knowing it was Belgian. I love it!

    • Compagnie M. says:

      And the quality is perfect. You will surely notice that when you’re working with these fabrics. M

  • Nancy says:

    Love it! Love the shorts as well… Charlotte is growing like crazy, pants still fit at the waist but it looks like she “has water in the basement” (not sure if the expression has a similar meaning in English! ;-) ). Great pictures and Marte… you’re definitely not a bad mum! :-)

  • Kerstin says:

    I know the picture dilemma too well and I always feel that I could do better. Yours look brilliant and nice of your daughter to be so patient. The jacket looks marvelous.
    Greetings
    Kerstin

  • jenya says:

    Nore looks very cute and fashionable in her outfit. The jacket is oh my – love it! Red is my fave colour and I love red on kids. I am a Photoshop virgin. I have never used it. Like you, I just wait for photo-shoot friendly weather. I too have taken pics in the cold, in the rain, on windy days…

  • Such a cute outfit! I love that granny tiles fabric – it’s my favorite from the entire Soft Cactus line. :-)
    And I’m also getting frustrated about the photography-unfriendly weather here :-(

    • Compagnie M. says:

      All of the sudden after I wrote this blogpost the sun appeared in Hove! Hopefully it stays in town for at least a couple of days! M

  • Barbara says:

    Nee hoor, zeker geen slechte mama :-) zoals iemand hierboven al schreef: hoe kan je dat nu zijn als je zoveel moois creëert voor je dochtertjes!! Prachtig vestje en heel leuk gedaan die shortjes, ik heb het gepind! :-)

  • Marleen (Petrol&Mint) says:

    Ik wacht ook hopeloos op mooi weer… ‘t komt eraan… dan gaan we weer bloggen !!!
    Over rokjes en kleedjes en shortjes en een regen???jas…

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