Operation Project $0:Day Five with House of Estrela

Welcome back, I hope everyone has been enjoying the first week of Operation Project $0, 2013!!!  I am loving each thing that my lovely guest posters are bringing to the table, and today is no different.  Today, I have Magda of House of Estrela here to share.  Magda and I share a heart for upcycling and making full wardrobes for our children without breaking the bank.  Magda did a whole series on refashioning during the month of July that was awesome - and I shared my Crumbcatcher dress.  This is also the same awesome lady who designed the adorable blazer I posted earlier in the week - I hope you heard that we all want it in WOMEN's sizes girl!  If you haven't already, you really should check out the House of Estrela blog and see all the cool happenings!

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Hello Winter Wonderings Wanderings and Whatnot readers. My name is Magda E. from House of Estrela, where I blog about my sewing adventures, from Portugal. As I mentioned in my inspiration boards post, Suzanne's series might be just my favorite, because it has me, me, me written all over it. So, I loved the challenge, and am excited to be a guest today. 

I've been doing Operation Project 0$ basically since September 2012, when I made a commitment with myself of not buying anymore clothes for my daughter (or myself). I succeeded and in January I made the commitment of buying the least I could for my sewing too. For that, I decided I would only sew from my already (never ending) existing stash, or refashioning clothes that we already had or that have been given to us.

The idea of taking this line of thought and create a Fall/Winter wardrobe for my daughter was already dancing in my mind when I was invited by Suzanne to be part of this, so it was just the kick I needed to follow my idea. But, when I started to go through what she already had and what she could probably need, I realized this girl already had everything she could possible wear in one season.

One of my points of spending 0$ (or as close to it as possible) is not wasting time... who hasn't heard the saying Time is money!? Well I know I have and believe to be true. So, in order of putting all of it together, I chose to sew the one garment she really needed in her wardrobe, and that was, a robe.

All the way back to February 2012 I had a brilliant idea. I made her first robe out of a small (travelling) fleece blanket. It turned out so cute and warmth and it lasted! But, kids grow, and although she looked adorable in the pink and purple one, it was time to get a new one. I went with red this time. Her first robe matches the decorations from her nursery, but I plan to re-decorate it one of these days and use reds, and that's the reason why I used a red blanked this time. 

I didn't have it in my stash. I bought it for 3,5€, but since I have behaved so well (only bought about 3 pieces of fabric this entire year and have used them right away) and refashioning as much as possible, I could go with the 3,5€ for a robe. 

I honestly like the first one better. For this one I used a pattern I recently won: The Little Lady Jacket by Seamingly Smitten.  - FREE pattern, see?! - Yes, it is a jacket pattern, but it was really close to what I had in mine. I didn't make the lining though, so I finished my seams with bias tape, and used 5 small front buttons instead of 3. The buttons and the polka dot fabric in the bias were already in my stash. 

I had tried to use the B buttons several times, but never got around to it. I thought this was the time though. My daughter's name is Gabriela, but I often call her just Biela... see?! Starts with a B. Perfect. But I only had 4 of this and needed at least one more. What to do? Well, use another button that was in my stash forever, a bear's head. I think it's a nice detail snapping in the middle of the B's.

I didn't like the collar though, it's slightly ruffled but I think it looks weird. I'm starting to think I am picky with collars. really. I think I liked the first robe self drafted pattern better when it comes to the collar and details, but I really wanted to do one with these sleeves this time. I only added polka dotted band in the left side of the robe's front piece, and simple finished the right one with a zigzag stitch.

I tried to get pictures taken to my little miss wearing her robe. It's been quite hot to wear anything fleece these days, but that wasn't really a problem for her. She wore it happily, actually she was so happy that these were the best photos I got from her:

Then I got silly and tried my 6 year old niece to try it on... ahahah... it was too small and tight for her, but at least she was a more cooperative model, so you can have an idea of how the collar looks on.

And that's it, I hope you all liked it. If you'd like to see some more of my refashions click here.

I'd like to thank Suzanne for having me and for being such an adorable person. It's great that we can do things that are sustainable, save some money and pushing our imagination while we have fun in the process. 

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Thank you so much for being here Magda, I love the robe... and that it is RED!  What a perfect addition to your daughter's fall wardrobe.

I hope you are getting inspired to sew!  Remember to add your own creations to the Flickr Group, and have a Great weekend - I'll see you back here on Monday!