Winter is coming

Or should I say, Winter is here! I took too long to write this post, and I apologize, but I have the best of excuses…

We are expecting our 3^rd bird!  

And it is going to be a baby girl! We couldn’t be more ecstatic. But, the truth is that the baby comes with a bit of a health issue, so I have not been able to devote as much time as I would like to this blog. In any case, I think we are on route now, and it is about time to post a bit about the wonderfully warm, softy and incredibly cozy knit coats that my mother in law and I manage to knit for our 2yo baby bird winter survival kit.

To me, as lovely as huggable

Swiss Elegance

Summer at its best

This 2014 summer dress sewing frenzy was all about Plumeti, we admit it, but on one of our visits to the fabric store, my mother who should have been born rich to afford her excellent taste on everything and anything, fell in love with this Swiss Cotton Fabric, to die for!

Story of a Fiasco

Sometimes we dream too big, and often I do not think before I act. This is specially taxing when knitting, coz to not correct a mistake in time might involve either the waste of lots of time undoing and redoing, or the walk of shame sporting it once the garment is finished. Casycoso, or actually, the younger section of casycoso (that would be me) is too proud to go down and redo, so I often sport my mistakes holding my head hight and affirming that it is the only way to make sure it is evident that the garment is Home-made.

Unfortunately, mandatory redo

But when the problem is not a twisted stitch or even a knot in the yarn but the whole thing being disproportionate and the knit being too loose even for a summery breezy jacket, then you have a fiasco. Which is exactly how my Neon project ended. 

Colors are the Salt of Life

The other day, surfing around and away in Instagram, which incidentally I am getting totally hooked onto, I came across a pic published by 

@funincolor 

which sent me off to bed with my head boiling with projects

 

@funincolor publication

First of, when running into such prolific, visually inspiring and creative profiles like @funincolor, one can’t help to wonder but who are these people? What do they do for a living? What kind of magical eye do they possess to always come across the most astonishing and striking color compositions?

Liberty Nostalgia

We are self-confessed obsessed with Liberty Fabrics. I recently discovered the hashtag #LibertyOfLondon 

it's awesome!

Nano's Autumn - Winter 2013 Inspired

I know, I know... How can I find about # just now?…We are still getting acquainted with social media...what matters is that we found it! The thing is that to see all those pictures of Liberty Fabric Swatches Stacks made us very nostalgic. I noticed that some of the fabrics we have used in the past were quite popular and I thought maybe someone might enjoy having a look at what we did with them, the same way that I would love to see what they sewed. 

What has everybody created with their Liberty Treasures?

There is one dress in particular whose pattern we loved. We made a winter dress for my birdie two years ago and repeated it last year in another color. Maybe you think Liberty is not appropriate for winter. Granted, it is a very thin cotton fabric, which in my opinion is precisely the beauty of it. But if you line it and wear it with a jacket, it is absolutely fine. Plus, it's got long sleeves, so it is adequate for colder days.

Front 

The pinkish one on the left its a size 12months (A/W 2012) and the green on the right was 2014 (24months).

Back 

I got the fabrics from the my fav London treasure cave, Shaukat. I mentioned them before, their stock is endless and their prices the fairest I know. But their web is not very inviting, because their pictures of the fabrics aren't very good neither in resolution, size or color adjustment. Nevertheless, if you know what fabric you are looking for, that is your site. 

Velvet Ribbon that ties on the back  

The original design included, and we copied, a velvet ribbon and bow on the back. It does not serve to adjust the contour, it is mere decoration. To us that is all for the best because we particularly dislike extra wide garments that require to be belt-up as to confirm that there is an actual person under them and not just a floating head over a blanket.

Plumeti Heamline Trimming

Both the cuffs and the heamline are trimmed with ruffled Plumeti. To us, the end look of the dress is so detailed that it just exudes an “I care about what I do” feeling that makes us proud.

Plumeti and Velvet Cuff Trims 

Both sizes are quite similar but not quite the same. The main difference is the arm seamline.

For the 1yo we overachieved. The raglan sleeve angled to the midpoint of the back rather than all the way up to the neckline. The sleeve was slightly gathered up on the shoulder to puff it up a little (a little we said!). This complicated not only the pattern but also the construction of the dress. Since we started the pattern from scratch, doing it this way, made it quite harder to ascertain the correct measurements for each piece and complicated slightly the sewing of the armpits. In conclusion, it took us a bunch of time to get the sleeves set in place right.

For the 2yo size we simplified it and we just cut regular fitted sleeves. We kept them, however, slightly puffed up at the shoulders. We promise you the difference went unnoticed. 

Valencienne Trimming and Arm Seam Details 

We included a  shirt-like piece for the chest front and back in Plumeti and trimmed it with delicate Valencienne Lace which is another weakness of us. The materials were expensive and it was hard to sew. We finished it by hand to cover up the seams, but it was well worth it! (in our modest opinion, of course).

I wish I could show you pictures of how it looks on, but unless I happen to catch my little model unaware, she thinks differently than to let me dress her in and out of several outfits more than once a day and to pose for the camera. It is an ultra cute dress, believe me and not too formal either.  

Disclaimer: as often the CasyCoso Case, this dress is based on a Nano’s 2013 Winter model.

Pool Tunic Tutorial

This dress is so wearable and so delivering, that we truly super recommend it for anytime summer time. We love it so much and we believe that it can really be so practical for any of your darling doves that we have even dare to try to put together a tutorial to incentivize you to make it.

This is all you need

 Please keep in mind that we barely know what are we doing, so we are most probably not the best example to follow..but somehow, the end result of what we make ends up looking cool. It must be all the love we put into it, or the cuteness of our little model. Either way, mysteriously enough, the dress turned out to be pretty neat, to the point of making us believe that somebody might want to follow on our steps…hence:

Tutorial for a Summer Dress 2014

Yellow Fever - Done

Although not as neat as the original one…granted!

Remember my motto about compromises, over-achieving, good balance in life and goals…well, let’s repeat ourselves all that as frequently as required till we all believe it blindly. Plus, DIY got to look like such, don’t they? 

Finishes Still Pending

I often get asked how do we manage to get all that done? All that being: getting the children to safely and soundly grow up (feeding, dressing, occasionally sanitizing them..),

Yellow Fever - Becky Progress

Progress 

It might not look like much, but believe me, progress has been made on the Yellow Fever Bolero confection. 

To be sewn…soon

The back and arms are completed. I sewed them last night. Now, I should be crashing my brains about what the pattern for the original trim is, but

Yellow Fever

Yellow Fever

Living in Northern Spain is an absolute guarantee of the fact that no matter how warm and beautiful a day is, dusk would require a jacket. So, the Liberty Peppered cotton project needs a Becky. To contribute to the hectic past weeks I voluntarily got myself into by working on several fronts at the same time, I also started knitting a very yellow Bolero Jacket. My idea is to copy this model:

                                                                                                                                                                   

Measurements for size 2yo (cm)

Plumeti Pool Passion – executed

The second round of our Plumeti Passionate Summer is completed

We finished our Lavander Lovely Pool Tunic

Blue Birdie in Lavander Love

We finished it, and we believe we will be using this tunic daily. It might actually be a pattern to repeat with some of our other treasure fabric swatches. 

Plumeti Pool Passion

Lavender Love

Continuing with the Plumeti Passion that has won our summer heart, now it is time to cut into the Lavender Swiss Dotted Cotton.Turns out that a breezie short sleeve sweet dress was hiding into the Mint Swatch, you can read about it here.

Visual for the Lavender Love Pool Dress

So maybe, this is could be the fabric to make an easy wear swimming pool tunic! It will have to

Mint Plumeti Dress - copied!

It is not as easy as it seems

Why am I wearing wings? I wonder..

Reading along the notes we have been posting recently, it might look like copying a dress just from a pic is a super easy task. And it might just be so if you are skilled in the art of dress making, which sadly enough, is not the CasyCoso case. On the contrary,

2Many

Repeat with me…a project at a time, a project at a time, 

a project at a time!

I have repeatedly told myself to carry just one project at a time...but sometimes the temptation to get just a couple of fabrics is irresistible! 

Handmade Project Overload

This summer we are being the worst of sinners. When I discovered the colorful catalogue of Swiss Plumetis I had to take both the Lavander and the Mint. I could only hold back on the Coral and that is just because

May 2014 Recount

Welcome to our First Monthly Exposure Recount

As part of our exposure experiment and having completed the blog first month of Real Life, here it is our first ever Monthly Exposure Report.

Baby Boy Bubble Romper

While we work on our summer stock, we thought we might post back a bit on a recent baby romper we knitted and sewed for a very dear friend’s first born boy:

In honor of the newcomer cuteness pie, 

we refer to this model as

Pablo’s Romper

Boy Bubble Romper – Winter 2014

We knitted it with 100% baby Merino Wool, from katia. A wonderful yarn, machine washable that also offers a very soft, elegant yet contemporary color palette. The bubble bottom we cut and sewed using light dusty grey 100% cotton piqué. As always with this garment, we made it with crotch clasp closures because as a mother, I know the tragedy that an onesies without easy diaper access might involve!

Raglan Sleeve Detail

The pattern is simple but the fitting is fantastic, as always with raglan sleeves. It buttons on the back and paired with some color matching leggings, this is for sure, our fetish garment. We included in the gift parcel a baby cap, knitted in wool, for two reasons: 

- babies look the cutest in caps

- winter was coming

Baby  Cap

If you like it, we made it available through our Etsy store.

Suggestions and Customizations Welcome

Mint Plumeti Dress

2014 Mint Parole

The hardest next thing to hold back from buying the same fabric on every color available is, to me, to decide on the pattern. It is often the CasyCoso Case, to find inspiration on the broads of reality and commercial brand’s talents. We humbly acknowledge this and pay tribute to their creativity. So, for this particular light, breeze, extremely classy fabric, we wanted something original, cute and girly yet apt for everyday wear. We didn’t want a dress that ought to sit in the closet till Sunday coz it looks too formal or bow-ish. 

We found this!

Nanos 2013 Spring Summer Catalogue

Once again, it is by Nanos…we just like it so much…we want to know if we can mimic it!

Here is the visual for the pattern and the progress so far, we think we got it!

Visual for the Mint Dress

The lace details are done with a very delicate yet modern pattern of Valencienne Lace, our other confessed weakness. And the silk ribbon over the shoulder just makes it as cute as it can get...in our opinion of course.

Dress Details

Dotted Swiss Cotton Frenzie

Admittedly, I love that type of fabric. Not as irrationally as I love Liberty cottons, which is obviously an infatuated passion, but enough. And this summer we are going crazy about it.

Freshest Mint 

Blue Marine - Girl Dress Completed!

Done

Meet my BirdyGirl

Project complete! How gratifying it is to finish a project in which you embark without any warranty of success and to do it well?

Blue Marine Girl Dress

“Originality is undetected plagiarism” William Ralph Inge

I never claimed to be a great creator and I humbly accept my limitations, one of which is to come up with new (good) ideas, at least, not every time. Disclaimer out of the way...we have decided on the pattern for my 1yo dress to match my son’s blue marine jacket.

Casilda&Jimena 2014 Winter Collection

It is based on Casilda&Jimena’s 2014 Winter collection which

Blue Marine

It all started coz I bought this very nice shirt for my 3year old from Nanos..a shop that I personally love

QUESTION: If a blog becomes ultra viral, do they give you free stuff for mentioning brands?

It obviously requires a jacket, and I already got one from the same brand which unfortunetely does not go well (color wise) with this particular shirt. I would not family economy could withstand getting a second one on a different color..and also, its pattern has got to be mine! It is one of those updated classics that become an extremely wearable, useful, MUST on any child's closet. 

Blue Marine - Break Up

NOTE TO SELF: a 3 year old jacket requires already a considerable amount of wool.

I have always favored baby size projects because of their short-term return of investment. I mean, since they are small (in size) projects, the gratification of finishing them comes faster. In addition to this, for bigger sizes, the cost of the yarns starts to add up. I use relatively fine needles, 4mm for this particular project, so in this case, 6 balls of KATIA Merino 100% wool were wolfed down by the jacket.

Still, its total cost is almost half of a market price for a similar garment.

Blue Marine - Boy Cardigan- Completed!

Knitted, sewn, fitted and finished!

As anticipated, the buckles were a challenge. Thanks to my mother in law who worked hard and in detail to bring them to perfection, they are finally done. My brain always runs faster than my hands and definitely faster than my patience. So that when I envision something, I attempt to do it, but if it qualifies as precision work, then I have come to accept that it is not a job for me. 

Buckle Success (in my humble opinion of course)

Such was the case of the buckles. But my mother in law is something else. She did not rest till she found the right cord, the right leather, cut it, dyed it and sew it to the jacket to perfection!

Here is the end result, how do you like it? The yarn is fantastic! The softest, warmest, richest in color with just the right pinch of elasticity Merino Katia 100%.

Homemade plus: made with undeniable heart warmth 100% for you 

Now for the second part, my baby girl coordinated outfit. 

2 - 4 - 1 (Two for the Price of One)

Remember a couple of days ago, we mentioned that we were going to prepare a surprise for a friend of mine who is expecting TWINS!!

Well knitters: the yarn color has been selected! The soon to be mom loves colors and the babies are going to be Late Spring Sprouts, so I thought that this intense, bright, saturated emerald green might a great pick for their rompers. We plan on matching it to a pristine white piqué bubble bottom, which will tame it down a bit. 

Let's see how it turns out...

KATIA Merino 100% (color code 55)

Twins Romper Rampage!

RECAP

I was so eager to post this! We have finished the twin rompers!

Sending out another packet of love!

Shirt 2 Skirt...destroyer phase

Guilty. I cut it. Here is my plan pattern with the measurements for my 1.5 year old.

Size 18 months

And this is the progress I made so far. It was easy stuff, just getting my scissors in there and:

·        separating the former elastic gathered waist piece, soon to be the "chimney neckline"

·        to cut off the bat flaps

·        to resize the whole garment

·        to pin it all

·        present the project to my mom for sewing

Destroyer Evolution

Mom’s complaints: the basics -> and a couple more:

·         you don’t know how to cut (agreed)

·        this fabric (the lightest silk gauze ever) is impossible to sew (here are some advices)

·        why bother? The colors of this fabric are lame (beauty is in the eye of the beholder)

·        you drive me crazy! (possibly true)

Knitter + Beginner = Where do I Start?

I started knitting coz: 

a.      my in laws did and it was yet another asset I considered mandatory for my "like me for your son" quality list

b.     they appeared to be sufficiently entertained

c.      it is a very portable hobby

Rampage of Rompers

At the moment, We are on a Rampage of Rompers. 

Newborn Wool and Piqué Baby Romper

I think this garment is perfect for newborns and baby dolls! they look absolutely adorable and it is the most comfy, warmest and practical little piece of clothing that I have ever used for my own babies. So naturally, when my friends started having children, I took onto knitting some as presents for the new comers. 

This one for instance, we just gave it to Marcos. His mom said that she adored it, and promised some feedback as to how it fit so that we can adjust the pattern accordingly  for prospect "creations". 

Oh! if you go for a similar project, do always include bottom snap closures for easy diaper access...you never know when an emergency diaper recall might be in order. 

Bottoms on the Back

Currently, we are working on a set for a couple of twins due in June, but shhhh, do not say anything because it is a surprise present for their mom!

Do you want one like this?

visit our Etsy shop and let's personalize it together!

Hello!

                     ¡Hola!

Like many other Spanish old women who would drag a chair to their front door each day at sunset, my grandma used to knit “a la fresca”. Sitting in a circle, it was the perfect time to gossip the ups and downs of the day. Many things came out of those circles: socks, shirts and sweaters were only the tangible ones. Tight friendships were knit too. I, however, only learned how to knit many years later. Nowadays, it is impossible for me not to make the connection between what is really my creative outlet valve and those wonderful childhood moments that I cherish lovingly.

Knitting for me is the balance pill to cope with a very abstract professional profile and being able to actually do something with my own hands. Furthermore, it has helped me to get closer with my mother, whose sewing abilities I have dragged into this project. CasyCoso is actually my personal project for her. I want to introduce her and get her hooked into the new digital tecs; our current socializing mode, whether we like it or not. Because if my grandma would still be sitting with her friends each afternoon, they would have a tablet on their knees.

The name we chosed, CasyCoso, is a blink to her. Casy is my mom’s name, but it is also Spanish for “almost”. Coso means “I sew”, thus it literally translates to “We can almost Sew” …we acknowledge that we have tons to learn! That is our goal, to share what we learn and do with everybody and meet whoever else has got hooked into this wonderful hobby.