Scirocco Dress - KCW Days 4 and 5

Pattern: Scirocco by Figgy's

Fabric: Main - Mormor Collection by Lotta Jansdotter

            Lining - Cotton from stash

This is the first thing I've made for my biggest girl in ages. She's at that age (10) where the cute little girl patterns are too cute and she's still too young for the true tween stuff so I just haven't been sewing for her. Enter Scirocco, I think it's the perfect blend of cute and sophisticated. Figgy's patterns are great like that. This pattern only goes up to an 8/9 size but I was able to add 1/2" all over to get it to fit and it fits perfectly. I love when projects turn out like that! This is for an outdoor family wedding we're going to in September, the bride's colors being mint and peach. I loved the really simple pattern of the fabric, I think it really helps the details of the dress stand out and is modern and fun. And the details of this pattern are great, the twist in the back is my favorite part! My pre-tween loves how "sassy" it is which makes the whole thing a huge success in my book since she's so picky about dresses. 

There were a few tricky parts in the sewing, mostly finishing the bodice lining but nothing too overwhelming and the construction is very clever. For the most part it was easy and quick. I even used my rolled hem foot for the ruffles! It was the first time I've been able to use it without cursing and wanting to chuck it. 

Up next is the Fairy Tale Dress by Oliver + S for my little girl who's the flower girl in the wedding! 

Sewing for Baby - KCW Days 2 and 3

It's kind of sad how long it's been since I did a Kid's Clothes Week or even blogged for that matter. When I saw the KCW posts popping up on Monday I jumped at the chance to get some baby sewing done. I'm on reduced hours at work right now so finding the time has been a lot easier and it's honesty been nice even though the reduce pay is hard. We're expecting surprise baby number 3 in October and since I had absolutely no baby stuff left I've been sewing a ton. It's been fun and a great way to use up all the fabric I've stashed over the years. Here's the details on what I made for Days 2 and 3:

DAY 2
Pattern: Baby Sleep Sack from "Growing Up Sew Liberated"
Fabric: Knits from my stash
Cut out and sewed up within an hour, I adore this pattern and will be making more! It's super easy and a great canvas for customizing. I'm thinking some freezer paper stenciled ones would be really fun. I remember loving these sleep sacks when the girls were tiny babies, they're perfect for middle of the night diaper changes. I made the 0-6 months size so we should be able to get a lot of wear out of it.

DAY 3
Pattern: Envelope Tee from "Growing Up Sew Liberated"
Just Hatched Leggings from MadebyRae
Fabric: Knits from stash and Monaluna Woodland Knits Collection
These outfits I've had cut out and half done for a month or so, so it was pretty quick to finish them up this morning. The envelope tee is just like the Baby Sleep Sack in construction, again really easy and fun to customize. I've made probably six of these total so far. I'll share the rest I've made soon. The tees I made the 0-6 month size so they'll probably get worn a little longer than the leggings but I think both will last awhile. I love that the leggings have a little extra room for big cloth diapered butts. Most commercially made stuff is just too slim.

I'm also working on a dress for one of my big girls today that I'll hopefully be able to finish tomorrow. I forget how long it takes to sew bigger things, I've been flying through the baby stuff so fast!

Kids Clothes Week Days 3 and 4

So not much happened on Day 3. My full-time job has been ridiculously busy this week and I've been working a ton of overtime. I did manage to eek this shirt out last night. I needed a sewing break away from the computer! This is another Ayashe top from Figgy's for the oldest girl in a size 8. I love how "boho" this one looks compared to the retro cuteness of my other one. Again, I'm loving how versatile this pattern is! I just used bias for the neck strings and for the bottom and it made such a huge difference.

 It's really funny to me how my children both have their own "colors" that really define them. Mabel (my wee redhead) is all browns, oranges, yellows and greens and Brodi who has very dark hair is my sunshine girl with bright pinks and purples and blues. I'm not a huge fan of pink but I love this madras plaid that I bought at Joann last year. So much I wish I had more to make a top for myself!

And the girl LOVES her new top, so much so she changed her clothes so she could wear it to school. You'll have to take my word for it since it was too dark in the house to get her picture but she looked adorable it it. It's just a nice forgiving fit, comfy with lots of ease for playing. And she loved the way she could tighten the bottom because she hates "poofy" shirts that fly up when hanging upside down on the monkey bars.

(P.S. Sorry for the not so stellar pics. I REALLY need to save up to get a nicer new camera, urgh! I'm taking recommendations for good ones that aren't ridiculously expensive!)

Kid's Clothes Week - Day 2

It's no secret that in the past knits and I didn't quite jive. There have been a whole lot of sewing disasters revolving around that tricky fabric but when I saw Rae's new retro t-shirt pattern I knew I had to try again.   There are a TON of people making this pattern this week and there's a really good reason why. It's just about as close to instant gratification as you can get! I made these two shirts in under an hour and I'm addicted. I can't wait to make more. I figured out how to use the stretch stitch on my machine and that combined with using a ballpoint needle my past frustrations were just that, a thing of the past. There is still a little wavyness especially on the brown shirt but I was able to press most of it out. The fit is perfect and there are tons of ways you could customize these. I did short sleeve versions on both of mine. The brown one I used contrasting avacado colored fabric from an old t-shirt and I love that look. I also top-stitched in a contrast thread. Miss Mabel actually squealed when she saw that one and went on to say how "boot-tiful" the "polky dots" were. It was awesome.

The polka dots and the orange and gray stripe I purchased from this Etsy shop. The striped fabric is super "slinky" and I was a little terrified to sew with it but it was actually really easy and it's SO soft. I'm sure it's got way more synthetic content than I'd normally be into but it's ok. Because these require so little fabric they'd be a perfect way to repurpose old adult t-shirts. I'm definitely going to be doing more of that! In fact, I predict you'll see more of these this week yet!

Kid's Clothes Week - Day 1

My goal this week is to complete one piece of clothing per day. It's a little ambitious but I haven't picked out any patterns that are super complex. I also spend last week cutting things out so this week I could just sew. Here's what I made last night. It's the Ayashe blouse pattern from Figgy's.  The top would have come together in about an hour except I kept making really silly mistakes so it took me twice that. The instructions are very concise and without previous experience sewing something like this I think it would be very difficult. There were several parts I had to keep re-reading just to make sure I understood how to assemble a section. Don't let that scare you though, it really is an easy pattern I just wouldn't recommend it for total beginners because it doesn't "teach" like an Oliver + S pattern would. Also, the double gauze, while absolutely gorgeous is a bit difficult to sew because of it's tendency to fray so badly.

I've been saving this half yard of Far Far Away II for ages and I thought this would be the perfect way to use it. I used a contrasting yellow stripe for the shoulder panels and I absolutely love how retro that made it look! One thing I absolutely love about this pattern is the endless ways you could customize it. I have another one cut from a madras plaid for the bigger girl that I think will look totally different. This is a size 3 and is a bit big which is great, it'll get a lot of wear. This is definitely a pattern that will get a ton of use making it a really great value. And have you seen Figgy's new patterns available for presale!? Oh. My. Goodness. I'll be adding those to my pattern library for sure. What I love even more is that I only have to buy one pattern for both girls. They're such different sizes a lot of other patterns I have to buy two just to get the right sizes which can get expensive.

This weeks sewing got off to a bit of a slow start for me but I'm excited to sew tonight and hopefully it'll go a bit smoother!

Kids Clothes Week Challenge Spring 2012

I'm so excited because next week the Spring 2012 Kids Clothes Week Challenge starts! Meg of Elsie Marley has created this awesome project to challenge people to just dedicate one hour a night to sew something for their kids. (Or knit something!) This is my third year participating and every year I really enjoy my weeklong sewing frenzy because it's SO productive and I get stuff done that I normally would put off until it's too late. I've got my patterns all picked out and this week I've been tracing and getting fabric ready so that next week I can just focus on the fun part, SEWING! It's been SO long since I've sewn anything for the girls so this will be such a fun week. Check out the Challenge details here and join me!

KCWC Jump Rope Dress

I was too busy this week to participate fully in Kid's Clothes Week but I at least wanted to finished something. This Jump Rope Dress has been lingering in the "to finish" pile since the summer. It just needed sleeves and a hem and it was done! Easy peasy and it feels great to have finished something. And even better than I managed to finish it while it still fits my little redhead. The only things I changed were to use the short sleeves from ViewA and I used snaps instead of buttons. (1. Because I'm lazy and snaps are easy and 2. Because snaps are great for a toddler who wants to dress herself) I just have teeny bit of this beautiful Heather Ross print left and I'll be so sad when it's gone. I love everything about it, the design, colors and the weight of the fabric are just perfect. I may have to track down some more! (It's so funny how the lighting makes the fabric look like it's faded at the top, I assure you, it's not)

Check out the Elsie Marley flickr group for some really great kid's clothes inspiration. I've got a bunch more patterns traced that I can't wait to start on soon.