Category: Sewing

A Little Non-KCWC Sewing

10/15/2012

For those of you who don't follow Elsie Marley, last week was KCWC. That stands for Kid's Clothing Week Challenge- in order to participate, you agree to spend one hour a day working on making kid's clothes for one whole week. I did not officially participate, but I did sew some clothes for 5 last week!
If you've never heard of it, you should definitely check out Elsie Marley and her KCWC flickr group.

5 is still a huge fan of spending as much time outside as possible, regardless of the weather. With the increasingly colder weather, we've been trying out some new warmth-inducing outfits. The boys reached a consensus on overalls with a long pants, long sleeves one piece underneath. We only have one of each of these, so Fred requested some more for dirty outside playtime...

I'll have more (and better) pictures of these soon, but for now, here are the details:
The Pattern: I drafted a pattern from his existing ones, simplifying a few of the extra fussy details.

The Fabric: The outside is from Jessica Jones' Outside Oslo line, and the inside is brown cotton flannel from Joann's

The Sewing: I decided a flannel-lined overall would be the best for cozy-ness. I only ended up using 1/2 yard of each fabric, which was super exciting.
They came together surprisingly easily, probably 2-3 hours total sewing time. My pattern for the legs turned out a bit wonky, so I had to re-cut and then bind the hem. I really liked the result though.
I used snap tape on the inseam and replaced the buckles and standard overall buttons with regular buttons. That was a bit of an adventure as I sewed the button holes completely random sizes and then just tried buttons from my stash until I found ones that fit. Almost all of them are different sizes.

Overall, I'm calling them an unmitigated success. 5's reaction- "wooooooooow"!

The long pants, long sleeve one piece was way easier and faster- I will definitely crank out a bunch more of these! Again, proper model-y shots coming...

The Pattern: drafted from his existing one, minus the hood and button placket on front, converted to raglan sleeve.

The Fabric: recycled T-shirts and red cotton ribbing from Joann's (plus snap tape bought online from an Etsy shop a few years ago)

The Sewing: This is like a fancy version of his raglan shirts that I can whip out in about 15 minutes! This one probably took me 30ish though, because of the snap tape. Seriously, I cannot stress enough how easy this was- sew sleeves to body, minus last seam, add ribbing and top-stitching around the neck, sew up last seam, sew side seams, sew crotch panel, add snap tape, sew on ribbing around the bottom of legs, done!

Overall, super fun with bonus sense of accomplishment!

Coming up in the next week or two- a new recipe and a perfect holiday/ baby gift tutorial!

4 Comments

Mama Sewing

8/12/2012

2 Comments

Earlier this summer, I was despairing over the lack of perfect tank tops laying around. Then I realized that I make clothes. Duh. I copied my perfect raglan T pattern from the armpits down and then added a bit of winging it for the neckline. Voila! Perfect racerback tank!
On the prototype (not pictured) the straps nearly outwitted me, but I think I have it figured out now. I have been so happy to have these few that I have made in the last month of near 100 degree temps, especially as I'm ridiculously picky about my tank tops. I prefer everything to be a racerback and it has to be fitted but not clingy etc etc.
Now I just need Joann's to have my favorite teal ribbing back in stock...

2 Comments

Summer Sewing

7/21/2012

1 Comment

What small amount of sewing I have squeezed in in the last few weeks has been thoroughly summer-y. With triple digit temperatures and all three of us spending so much time outside (some of us for work, some for play...), 5 and I have had need of more tank tops! There is a whole parade to be modeled and photographed, but that little dude is rather uncooperative while sleeping, so I'll just show you the one for now...

I'm so happy this one worked out. It's made from an old shirt of mine that is so ridiculously small I can't really believe I used to wear it. I loved this shirt and it makes me feel kind of magical to be able to change it into something my son can now love.

Here's a nice detail shot where you can see I took my time and did a little zigzag stitching so the ribbing would lay flat. I don't think I did it on the other ones I made for him, but I was feeling pretty proud of this one.
I also just perfected my own tank top pattern- all the things I like in a tank top, together, at once! Sometimes it takes me a really long time, but sewing for myself is soooo satisfying. It may just be enough to get me through another hot hot sweaty exhausting week. Hooray!

1 Comment

Days 4 & 5- Sunhat and Tank Tops

4/27/2012

2 Comments

As it turned out, I needed to take Day 4 kind of easy. I had already planned on doing the smallest project that day, but then, I just couldn't muster up the energy to even write about it. Instead, I joined 5 for the last part of his nap. Mmmmm naps.

My day 4 project was a new sunhat for the big-headed boy. He still tries to wear his hat from last year and it's too small by about 2 inches. Comical? Yes. Effective? No. I used this pattern from Sew Much Ado with only one major tweak- I added an elastic chin strap. It's very windy here in the Copper Country and we like to be prepared...
I agonized for what seemed like forever over how to do a chin strap on a reversible hat and in the end, I'm super happy with my crazy easy solution. The chin strap just hugs the back of the head above the brim when the hat is inside out. Pretty simple.

The tank tops were a breeze and so fun to throw together. Each one only took me between 10-20 minutes from start to finish. Gotta love that kind of garment... Plus, 5 turns into an extra big ham when he's wearing one of these muscle-baring shirts. I think he just likes to let the pythons loose.

All three of these tanks are made from old T shirts and they were all made from an Ottobre pattern. I had so much fun choosing which shirts to repurpose for these. The top one refers to a local historic smelter that my husband has done some committee work on, this one is a local festival in my childhood neighborhood, and you may recognize the bottom one from an earlier post this week...

This dragon top may be my favorite. I used the sleeves for his cardigan from Day 1 so I ended up with just the tiniest pile of scraps from this shirt. I love a really thorough repurpose! I remember buying this shirt at a bag sale at one of our local thrift stores- it was way too short to ever wear as is, but the print was so fun I just knew the perfect project would come along.

Even though there are technically two more days in the KCWC, I decided weeks ago that I would probably only do 5 fast and furious days because I believe wholeheartedly that a weekend is a beautiful thing. If you want to see more inspiring handmade children's clothing you should definitely check out the elsiemarley flickr pool, there are some really amazing creations up there!

Have a lovely weekend, friends!

2 Comments

Day 3 - Shorts

4/25/2012

0 Comments

Woof! The week's not even half over and I'm already a bit tired....
I was super excited to try making shorts again though. As you can see, I did finally manage to get them shorts-length. I kid you not, the inseam is 1" long on these babies.
All three of these are made from Rae's Big Butt Baby Pants pattern.
I ordered this elephant fabric just after 5 was born I think, and have been saving it for just the right project. This was definitely it- as soon as they were finished, 5 started making elephant noises and wore the shorts as a hat for half the morning.

This was my attempt at being like those tasteful and refined ladies who like muted palettes, only sew with linen, and do things like handstitching. I didn't do any handstitching. The butt panel was handprinted in South Africa though. It's a precious scrap from my Skinny Laminx scrap pack. A perfect usage if I do say so myself.

It's funny, I didn't even realize until I'd sewn all three pairs that each of them featured animals of some kind. Which couldn't be more perfect, really, for Mr. Animal-Obsessed.

These might be my favorite. I love love love the birds and so does 5- he carried around a scrap of this fabric all day yesterday, talking to the birds. Plus, I finally cut into my stash of Lotta Jansdotter's Echo fabric- yay! The pocket was kind of a last minute add-on. After cutting out the butt panel, I had a pretty big scrap that I knew would get lost in the fabric abyss so it got turned into a bigger-than-I-imagined pocket.

Now we just need some warm weather!

Tomorrow- Sun Hat!

0 Comments

Day 2 - Pants

4/24/2012

2 Comments

Day 2 of the Kid's Clothes Challenge and we are off to a super great start! First, my houndstooth cardigan from yesterday was featured on Elsie Marley's blog today! Go check it out! Marvel at how it looks just like it did on my blog, but famouser! And then look at the rest of the amazing and wonderful things that Elsie Marley does!

Today, we did pants. Pants are a comfy, happy place in my sewing land- sometimes irritating, but rarely mystifying. Just right for day 2 of 7. This first pair are Big Butt Baby Pants from Made By Rae, a pattern I whole-heartedly recommend. I made 5 a pair of these, in this same fabric, in this same size, for Christmas, or his birthday, or something. Which leads me to why this pair was made. Originally, I cut out two right legs. Hmmph.
Luckily they're the cutest thing with two legs and they're still! huge on him, so I happily made him another pair today, un-flannel-lined, and with a butt-accentuating contrasting panel.
The main fabric is Echino cotton/linen blend and the butt panel is something out of print from my scrap stash.

This is the only repurposed pair of the day - GASP! It's true, almost all of my sewing is with repurposed materials, but I also have a slight fabric obsession so I've been trying to use some of my favorites that I've been (ahem) hoarding....
Made from one of his Dada's old concert Tshirts, normal baby 5 is transformed into hip, too-cool-for-school, Beck-loving 5! Kind of.
These are made from a pattern I made myself.

Finally, the fancy pants. I've been dreaming of making these pants since I bought this fabric. The fabric came from India and is a cotton silk blend. Aren't the selvedges gorgeous? I used Rae's BBBPants pattern for these as well, but I only had a half yard of fabric, so I had to modify it a little. They fit perfectly right now, but they're probably going to be fancy shorts by Summer's end.

Tomorrow- Shorts!

2 Comments

Day 1

4/23/2012

2 Comments

Elsie Marley's KCWC begins today! I decided to start the week off with a pair of cardigans- something I hadn't tried before, but really the only thing on my list that 5 will be able to wear right now. It'll be a while before we'll be wearing shorts and tank tops...

So, I've seen this trick that bloggers use when showing a piece of clothing they've made where they tape it to the wall and I'd wondered why they did that. Today, after trying to get my little ham to stand still for even 1 second and only managing the surly above picture for our troubles, I realized, that's why they tape it to the wall.

I made this, the macho-est pink houndstooth cardigan you ever did see, from a big, shoulder-padded, ladies cardigan. I was able to cut in a way that preserved the existing trim (yay) even for the hood (double yay). The only thing I had to get rid of in the original was the buttons. They were big shiny metal ball guys and they just screamed out for mall-bangs somehow. So I removed them and replaced them with some saved Land's End pants buttons.

The pockets got really a lot smaller once I made it 5-sized, but they will still hold sticks, or pens, or something else sharp and pointy, and therefore beloved by my darling boy.

The other cardigan was slightly less successful, but I think I might be able to fix it. Somehow.

It's made from two different women's shirts and purchased ribbing for the trim. The orange one was actually a henley and I used the rest of the body on a project earlier in the year. After I cut the bottom off, I held it up to 5 and just knew it had to become a little jacket of some kind.

The only issue is that the neck is just too big. The original shirt was a scoop neck and I broke some synapses trying to un-scoop it with no luck. It's awfully cute on him though.

Day 2 = Pants!

2 Comments

Pouf Experiment

4/16/2012

1 Comment

Please pardon my brief and unexpected absence- 5 and I caught the bug going around and I kept thinking I could still get everything done. Turns out I couldn't. We are starting to feel better and consequently, my to-do list is getting shorter!

Last week, I made this little experimental pouf. I had been inspired by something similar on etsy a few weeks back, and when I revisited it, I thought perhaps I should just give it a go. It's the body of an old cotton sweater with the armholes sewn shut, stuffed and then gathered at the top and bottom. Nice use for an armless sweater I thought.

It still needs some tweaking- I couldn't gather it tight enough to get the bottom hole all the way closed and the armhole seams are a little lumpy. The other unfortunate thing about this project is that my husband hates it. Hmph. He says pillows should be "regular-shaped". Hmph again.
I'm currently brainstorming ideas to fix all of these problems (and more)! Any suggestions?

1 Comment

Test Drive

4/2/2012

2 Comments

It's possible that I'm a little bit obsessed, but I took my new patterns for KCWC for a test drive this weekend. Since I'm feeling rather ambitious about what I want to accomplish in that week I figured I ought to get it out of the way. Especially because when I'm trying something new, I like to have as much time as possible to make mistakes, throw things around, hurl curses at fabric, thread and bobbins, dance it out, and get back down to business, you know? Not the most efficient use of a dedicated week.

A Tank for my Little Tank

I'm so glad I tried this one out ahead of time. I used the pattern pieces, but chucked the directions in favor of something faster and easier. There was added trickiness though, as this pattern has European sizing. I am now aware that 5 is rather wider than European children of his height, in other words, this shirt is skin tight. It's awfully cute though. I'm definitely looking forward to making several roomier versions.

Shorts?

These were supposed to be shorts, but I vastly underestimated the shortness of the Stinko's legs. These barely clear his ankles! Otherwise they fit great though, so we'll just be bringing back the knickerbockers for dudes this Summer...
Love this fabric? Yeah you do! I got it at the FiberSwap at our local art center last Fall. It clearly used to be curtains, and then someone cut it into pieces to make a shirt out of it, but didn't. And now it's mine! I just adore it- 100% cotton, excellent pants weight, wish I had tons more of it!

Any other test drivers out there?
What do you like to test out before you do it "for real"?

2 Comments

Mom's Clothing Week?

3/30/2012

4 Comments

Oof! Sorry for the brief absence- I was kind of taking some advice from Joy the Baker. In a lovely post (I'll try to find it for you) she wrote with advice for bloggers, she recommended (and I'm paraphrasing here) don't do it unless you love it, only write about it if you're passionate about it, etc. The last part of this week has been gray and gloomy and I've been living silently in my head wishing that there was at least some fluffy Summer TV to sit comatose in front of...
But now I'm better. Yay!
And I've been thinking- as excited and plan-y as I've been getting ready for KCWC 2012, perhaps 5 shouldn't be the sole recipient of such an effort. Maybe I should do the same thing for myself! So, if nothing else (and I really do hope to make these for real), I have below a list of projects I would love to take a week and make for myself.

Sloper Skirt

We attended the annual Finlandia University Student Fashion Show last night and there were two super basic sloper skirts that had been dyed or screenprinted and I loved them. I have a small stash of quilting fabric that I've been meaning to use on special "me" projects and now that I've finally realized slip on shirts made from quilting fabric make me look like a refrigerator I can make sweet skirts! This pic is from a Burda tutorial, click on the picture to go to it.

The Racerback Tank

I am a racerback girl, all the way. I won't even buy a bra that doesn't at least have a racerback conversion option- serious, no? Anna from Noodlehead has a fantastic tutorial for making your own tanks and I'm pretty sure I need to get up on it. Again, click on the picture to go to the source.

A Cozy, Comfy Blazer

Dee from Dee-Constructed made this super cool sweatshirt to blazer conversion and I can't imagine wanting to wear any other blazer more. I also happen to have a few extra sweatshirts from my sweat-dress, good to go! Click on the pic to read what she has to say about it (and a bunch of other good stuff too).

Underneath It All

I've often marveled at both the complexity and simplicity of ladies underoos- I mean really, just try and tell me you'll buy your underwear anywhere. Yeah, I didn't think so, you, just like me, probably have 2 maybe 3 stores or brands that actually fit and don't ride up. At the same time, it's just a little piece of jersey (or something fancier if you're someone fancier...). Picoli Piselli has a pretty fab tutorial for making your own knickers and I for one am inspired. Go ahead, click on the picture, I know you want to.

To Fancy It Up

This is just a necklace from Anthropologie, but I found the concept very inspiring (if not the $500 price tag) I even bought some pom pom trim so I'd be ready if the urge struck. Their version has rick rack, cord, gold chain, velvet ribbon, and even rhinestones I think, but you could use so many different things that could be found in a craft room...

For Lounging

I've had these on my todo list for a while. I love the idea of machine washable slippers. I hate slippers- mostly because they make your feet sweat, and then your feet stink, and then your slippers stink, and then bad things happen. Well, at least mine do. So these babies can just go in with the laundry, before they stink me all up. Also, I have some Anna Maria Horner flannel that is actually shouting my name. Really. It's kind of annoying, but reassuring in a weird way.

So that's my Mom's Clothing Week Challenge fantasy, basically a whole outfit, head to toe. We'll see what actually gets made. Meanwhile, I have at least 16 projects picked out to make for 5...

What have you done for yourself lately? Anything nice? I'd love to hear about it!
Have a lovely weekend!

4 Comments

<<Previous

A Little Non-KCWC Sewing

Coming up in the next week or two- a new recipe and a perfect holiday/ baby gift tutorial!

Mama Sewing

Summer Sewing

Days 4 & 5- Sunhat and Tank Tops

Have a lovely weekend, friends!

Day 3 - Shorts

Tomorrow- Sun Hat!

Day 2 - Pants

Tomorrow- Shorts!

Day 1

Day 2 = Pants!

Pouf Experiment

Test Drive

A Tank for my Little Tank

Shorts?

Any other test drivers out there?
What do you like to test out before you do it "for real"?

Mom's Clothing Week?

Sloper Skirt

The Racerback Tank

A Cozy, Comfy Blazer

Underneath It All

To Fancy It Up

For Lounging

What have you done for yourself lately? Anything nice? I'd love to hear about it!
Have a lovely weekend!

Author

Archives

Categories

Coming up in the next week or two- a new recipe and a perfect holiday/ baby gift tutorial!

Have a lovely weekend, friends!

Tomorrow- Sun Hat!

Tomorrow- Shorts!

Day 2 = Pants!

A Tank for my Little Tank

Shorts?

Any other test drivers out there?What do you like to test out before you do it "for real"?

Sloper Skirt

The Racerback Tank

A Cozy, Comfy Blazer

Underneath It All

To Fancy It Up

For Lounging

What have you done for yourself lately? Anything nice? I'd love to hear about it!Have a lovely weekend!

Author

Archives

Categories

Any other test drivers out there?
What do you like to test out before you do it "for real"?

What have you done for yourself lately? Anything nice? I'd love to hear about it!
Have a lovely weekend!