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Picture: J. Lundberg-Felten

Sew a Flora-L linen Hummingbird tunic

Finding inspiration through vacation

Yes it is summer and you may be on vacation seeking for rest. Have you noticed that rest creates brain-space and that this triggers inspiration and the will to create? Also a change of surrounding and activities contributes to this. I find it a wonderful feeling when ideas bubble up in front of my inner eye. Coming home after vacation is therefore a perfect moment to get going on a new sewing project. Therefore, we have a wonderful suggestion here for you: sew linen hummingbird tunic and trousers kids. This idea has grown to life through Flora-L Design in collaboration with Malena Hjerpe “PatternbyMalena“, sewing pattern designer and constructor, and photographer and fashion and interior influencer Malena Björndahl “Malenami“.

Hummingbird tunic and trousers

Malena and Malena, two wonderfully creative Swedish-Finish ladies living around Umeå, created the Hummingbird tunic and trousers sewing patterns available in sizes 92-140. A loose fitting, comfy set of kids clothings with beautiful details in the finishing. The patterns come with detailed instructions through pictures and photos and are available in Swedish and English. They can be used for woven fabrics. So perfect for linen, we thought. All of us, including the Flora-L team, have children and love comfy, skin-friendly clothing choices for our little ones. And we know that you do to! So let’s start sewing in linen!

Joyful pattern from plants under the microscope

Kids in joyful, colourful clothing are just adorable, aren’t they? But don’t you agree that there’s not much available in the range of linens when it comes to patterned fabrics? That’s why we went through our plant microscopy pattern database and picked patterns with a range of colours from blue, to green to purple that you can mix and match to create personalized sets of the linen Hummingbird tunic and trousers. Our patterns are created from plants. We cut fine slices out of the plants with specialized equipment in the laboratory, dye these thin slices for various compounds naturally occurring in plants and, finally, take images of them under the microscope. From the microscopy images we create our pattern that we finally print on linen. The pattern we have selected come from a flower stem of a Linnea borealis plant, microspores in a cypress cone that will develop eventually into pollen, cells in the seed capsule of a poppy plant, a resin duct in a pine needle and wood fibre cells in an aspen stem under the electron microscope. Below you can see how the initial microscopy pictures looked like that we used to create our patterns.

Microscopy images and the resulting fabric pattern

Create consciously

One aspect that is important to us is that these will hold for a long time and can be passed on to younger siblings. Therefore we picked linen in 185 gram/squaremeter, which is sturdy enough for play, and softened it. The designs were picked to include unisex shapes and colours so that they can be passed on between boys and girls. Sewing and creating is wonderful and even more so when you can do it with a good conscious for the environment. Below you can appreciate the designs we have picked for you. When ordering fabric through our print on demand shops, we recommend you order a package of fabric samples first to touch and select the right thickness, fluidity and feel of material so it will be comfy and loved. The linen we used here was a product we previously sold in our own webshop before going print-on-demand only. 

Details make the difference

Sewing the hummingbird tunic and trousers comes with a great variety of options. You can make it with short or long sleeves. Use similar or contrasted fabric for the finishing at the arms. The same goes for the trousers. Make them as shorts, 3/4th or long. The long trouser version comes with a little button-and-strap option so that you can fold it up. And of course, for practicality the trousers have pockets. The tunic can be worn with the opening in the front or in the back, or you add a button facing to it as Malena did when she made the tunica in our grey-white woody walls fabric.  So many options to vary this lovely garment! That’s also what other sewing enthusiast think! Use the #hummingbirdtunic Instagram hashtag to find inspiration and some adorable pattern hacks for sleeve options on the tunic.

Girl with flying hair in linen hummingbird tunic in grey-white woody wall pattern
Picture: Malena Björndahl "Malenami"
Girl in linen hummingbird tunic in grey-white woody wall pattern
Picture: Malena Björndahl "Malenami"
Girl in handstand wearing linen hummingbird trousers and tunic
Picture: J. Lundberg-Felten

Start creating

The Hummingbird trousers and the Hummingbird tunic sewing patterns can be found in PatternbyMalena’s Etsy shop. The sewing patterns are pdf downloads. Select woven fabric from our print on demand fabric shops and enjoy sewing your linen Hummingbird tunic and trousers. Share them with us by tagging @flora.l.design and @patternbymalena on Instagram or email us a picture. It’s always so much fun to see how you use our products in your lives.

Enjoy creating and sewing!

The three creators of fabrics and pattern Judith from Flora-L Design, Malena from PatternbyMalena and Malena "Malenami"
At the beach, from left, Judith from Flora-L Design, Malena from Patternbymalena and Malena "Malenami"

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