Kids Clothing Week (KCW) Fail

Fails

Plural, actually. . .

Fail #1--I totally misjudged the amount of time I would have to sew this week. I thought KCW was the week my husband was going to be away (thus giving me lots of guilt free sewing time).  I was one week off with my timing. So my time to sew early this week was more limited. Oh well. I'm making a go of it, I just started my "week" on Thursday and will end on the following Thursday, not big deal.

My first KCW finish is this pair of shorts made from the new Kids shorts pattern from Dana at MADE. Wonderful, versatile, simple pattern. These shorts sew up super quickly and they are cute.

The fabric is an upholstery weight from IKEA a few years ago. I love the colors.

So the fail here?

The Bug hates them. She took one look at them and said, "Those pockets are too big. I will never, EVER wear those."

The good thing about big pockets? They hold lots of bribes. She agreed to put them on for a photo shoot only because the pockets were stuffed with gummy worms. (The gummy worm bribe was not enough to bargain a matching shirt, combed hair or a washed face)

We've discussed, for future reference, what makes these pockets "too big" (they extend up and over the waist band) and how to improve that on future attempts (shorten the top part). I think I've got it. Just another reminder that my sewing efforts need to more collaborative now as she is getting older and has so many opinions.

As for these shorts, they will find a new home where they will be worn. So all is not lost.

~Lindsay

Happy Independance Day

This may be the Bug's new favorite dress. Which is good because her old butterfly dress is beyond worn and needs to be retired.

I used the pattern for the Josie dress in the book Girls World.

The thin straps are one of her favorite parts.

That and the length. I think she feels very fancy in this dress.

This one is a size small which the book says would be about a 4/5 but you can see that The Bug, who normally wears a size 6 has room to grow yet in the bodice.  Moment of truth: This is the second version of this dress I made. The first time I made a 6/7 without taking her measurements just assuming it would work. She LOVED the dress but it fell right off of her. Thank God I had enough fabric to eek out a second dress the next size down.

The butterfly fabric is a bit heavier than I'd normally use for a dress like this. You can tell in the bodice gathering, it's just a bit thick. It was a bottom weight I found on clearance at JoAnns.  The stripe is a remnant my grandma purchased for me at a garage sale.  I'm glad I had it on hand to help stretch the butterfly fabric. I know the Bug would not have liked this dress nearly so well had it not been maxi dress length.

I like that she has a sweet little festive dress to wear this week that's not so over the top patriotic that she can't wear it any other time. Because I think this little dress may be in constant rotation. The pattern may be too. It comes together easily and the finishing is quite nice with a fully lined bodice and invisible zipper. Goodness knows I could use some zipper practice. The instructions are quite clear, I'm just beginning to think I'm zipper impaired.

At any rate, Happy 4th of July to my readers in the States! Enjoy the extra time with family celebrating. I know I will.

~Lindsay

Tote Bag for Teacher

A good friend needed a gift for a very special teacher and asked if I could make a tote bag with lots of pockets. It seems, across the board, that this "a lot of pockets" request is a common one.

I used this tutorial for my measurements and basic instructions though I did add additional pockets inside.

I liked that this has these little side pockets on the outside of the bag. I turned my pocket lining a bit to the right side of the pocket and then topstitched because I wanted it to look a like piping. I like that it lends a bit of distinction between the pocket and the side of the bag.

And here is the inside. The center zip pocket is what makes this bag in my opinion. It made the construction a bit more difficult but it was totally worth it.

The side pockets are the ones I added. Teachers have lots of stuff. Lots of stuff requires lots of pockets.

The plaid fabric is one I've had in my stash for a long time. It was mostly scrap and didn't have a selvidge but I'm thinking it might have been Urban Chicks, 1974 line?

The solids were random cottons I had in my stash and that awesome floral is from JoAnn's. They were sold out last time I was there and I'm kicking myself for only buying a yard. 

I'm pleased with the results and hope this very special Kindergarten teacher gets some good use out of her new tote.

~Lindsay

Tee Shirt Nightgown Tutorial

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Our Crafting Hope group is going to be making summer pajamas for kids that are staying with their Momma's at the county Women's Shelter.  I posted earlier about the generous pattern donation from Peek a Boo Patterns. I think those will be awesome pj for the kiddos. But I wanted a less intimidating option for those with a bit less sewing experience so I drafted up this tutorial for a quick nightgown out of an adult tee shirt.

This is my friend, Jessica's daughter. Isn't she adorable? Jess is an amazing painter and awesome seamstress with great style and an even greater heart. She's been my partner in crime in this Crafting Hope venture from the start. Thanks Jess!  If you haven't ever, check out her blog and her Etsy stores, k?

Here's what you need to make this quick little nightgown:

• One Adult sized tee shirt. I used a mens 2XL. You could probably get away with using a smaller shirt if you have a smaller kiddo.  The nightgown I made was a girls size 8 and the length from the 2XL was just right.
• Matching thread
• A ball point needle -- it's not a deal breaker if you don't have one but it will make sewing the knit fabric that much easier for you
• Your sewing machine and basic sewing supplies
• A tee shirt that fits your child (or a basic bodice pattern)

Cutting out your pieces:

1. Fold your tee shirt in half. Do your best to make sure all of the wrinkles are out and everything is good and even. This can be difficult if you are using a tee shirt that is worn and stretched out. Just do your best.  It's a nightgown, so it doesn't have to be perfect. I bought this tee for my husband in his early days of youth ministry when we were lobbying for a 15 passenger van to haul the students around in. It says, "Church vans move me" and it still makes me chuckle. Don't judge.
   
2. Once your adult tee is folded in half, fold your kids tee in half and place it on top of the adult tee. You are going to use this as a template for cutting out your nightgown.  You can see, I put the collar of the kids tee right under the collar of the adult tee so I could take advantage of the entire length of the shirt.
   
    
3. Take a deep breath. . . you are going to cut a basic A-line shape from the bottom of the tee shirt up to the arm pit area of the kid's shirt you're using as your pattern.  If it makes you feel better, you could use a marker to mark the line before you cut but again, this is a nightgown and doesn't require perfection.  You can make a wide A-line or a narrow A-line. That's all a matter of preference. I made mine fairly narrow because I don't like the idea of a lot of fabric flapping around. But that's just me.
   
4. Now, tuck the sleeve of your tee shirt up and get a feel for how the arm hole is curved. You are going to cut a very similar line from the arm pit up to the shoulder. 
   
5. Cut across the top of the shoulder following the shoulder line of your tee shirt.  Give yourself about an extra 1/2" above the tee shirt shoulder so that you have room for your seam allowance.
   
6. Finally, cut from the top edge of the shoulder down in a gentle curve along the kid's shirt neck hole. Give your kid back their tee shirt.  Separate the front of the nightgown from the back.
   
   On the front neckline, cut a slightly deeper arch.  You do not need to account for seam allowances along the neck or the arm holes because you will be binding them.
7. Very carefully, cut the ribbed neck band off of the adult tee. You could take the time to pick out the stitches to remove it if you prefer but I didn't want to take the time. You will use this around the neck of your nightgown.
8. Cut two strips of fabric that are 1 1/2" wide from the widest part of the adult tee sleeve.  You will use these to bind the arm holes.

Sewing things together:

1. It is best to use a ballpoint needle when sewing knits. Also, you will want to use a very narrow zig zag stitch. This will allow the stitches to move and stretch with the fabric.  A normal straight stitch will break. With all that in mind, put right sides together and sew the nightgown front to the nightgown back at one of the shoulder seams.
   
2. Lay the nightgown out flat, right side up. Take the collar binding that you cut off of the adult shirt and pin it to the right side of the nightgown (raw edges together). Sew the neck binding onto the nightgown with a 1/4" seam allowance. Cut off any extra binding. Press the binding up.  
   
   Top stich the neckline just under the binding seam.
   Make sure you use your small zig zag stitch since this is the one place on the night gown that will get the most stretching.
   
   
3. Pin, right sides together, at the second shoulder seam. Be sure you match up the edge of the neck binding and the neck binding seam. Sew the shoulder seam.
   
4. Take one of your 1 1/2" strips and fold it in half, wrong sides together. Iron.  Pin the binding on one of the arm holes, raw edges and right sides together. Sew the binding on with a 1/4" seam allowance. Trim excess binding. Repeat for the second arm.
   
   Iron seam bindings flat.
   
   Top stitch.
   
5. With right sides together, pin and sew up the side seams of the nightgown. I use about a 1/2" seam allowance. Turn rightside out and you are done!
   

Since you used the hem of the adult shirt as the bottom of your nightgown you have no hemming. And because knit doesn't fray you don't need to worry about finishing any of your seams.  Once you've made one of these and learned the process you should be able to whip them out pretty quickly.

Please let me know if you have any questions or any points need clarification.  If you leave a question in the comments, make sure you are not a no reply commenter or leave an e-mail address where I can answer you.

~Lindsay

Crafting Hope with Summer PJ's

I guess I'm kind of on a pajama kick lately, huh?

I've got good reason though.  A few days ago I received an e-mail listing some things that were needed for the county women's shelter. One of those things was summer pajamas for kids.

It just so happened that our June meeting of Crafting Hope is coming up and kids pajamas seemed like a pretty good project for the group.  This pattern was generously donated by Peek a Boo Pattern Shop. It's the Alex and Anna Summer PJ's and this is a size 6.  Fabric used is some pink camo knit I picked up at Vogue in Evanston.  The binding is a heathered grey rib knit that I think I got at Vogue as well.

I sewed this set up as a sample. I always like to have one done for the participants to be able to look at. It also helps me lead people through the steps if I've made the pattern before.

This one is super simple and a really quick sew.  If you are new to sewing with knits this pattern is a great place to start. There is an option to add short sleeves or you can just bind the sleeves like I did. Either option is adorable.

If the Bug's reaction is any indication, they are super comfortable too.

I can't wait to make some more for some very deserving kids.

If you live in the area, Crafting Hope meets on Thursday, June 20th at 6:30 pm at the Nappanee Public Library.  Anyone is welcome to come. All skill levels are invited.  E-mail me and I'll send you details.

If you don't sew but would like to help out, purchased items work just as well!! Here's a list of their current needs, 

• “Summer” pajamas for children: sizes 6-8, 10-12, 14-16
•  Boys underwear size 10-12
•  Women's “summer” sleepwear sizes large, X-large, 2X, and 3X
• Size 8 women's underwear, briefs

The above items can be dropped off at iFiT, 101 East Hively Ave., Elkhart, IN 46517.

(or you can give them to me and I'll see they get dropped off when we take the pj's)

~Lindsay

Pancakes and Pajamas Party Details

The Bug's Birthday party this year had the theme, Pancakes and Pajamas. 

Originally, she requested a sleep over. There was no way I was going to host a sleepover for a bunch of 5 and 6 year olds so we determined that maybe we could just ask everyone to come in their jammies and we'd pretend they'd slept over. She was o.k. with that compromise.

Of course, I made her a special pair of pj's just for the party.
These are made from the Alex and Anna Winter PJ's from Peek a Boo Pattern Shop.
I bought the sparkly knit at JoAnn's back around Christmas time. It was intended for Christmas jammies but I'm glad I changed my mind because it pairs so nicely with the polka dot knit.

(forgive the diamond sticker, that was the Bug's addition, I didn't notice it until later)

Emily needed a pair to coordinate as well--I had that bright idea at 9 pm the night before the party.  I adapted the 18" doll pattern from the Skinny Jeans (also by Peek a Boo) and made a simple dolman tee for the top. The Bug was super surprised and happy to see Emily when she woke up the day of her party.

As guests arrived we had them make cereal necklaces.  

Once everyone got there, we sat down for breakfast.  The menu was pancakes and yogurt parfaits with a whole slew of toppings to pick from.

We had blueberries, strawberries, bananas, walnuts, chocolate chips, granola, coconut, sprinkles and syrup.

Pancakes are one of the Bug's favorite foods. She isn't a fan of traditional birthday cake so this seemed like a good substitute.  I made three batches of pancake batter the night before. It only took about an hour to make all of these before guests arrived.  

If you need to keep pancakes warm, turn your oven on the lowest setting.  Lay the pancakes out flat and in one layer if you can (I had to stack mine). Then cover the stacks with a wet towel to keep the pancakes from getting crispy.  I found this method worked pretty well.

 Fitting six candles in a stack of pancakes is difficult, but it can be done.

While I thought the pancake and parfait topping bar was genius, (I take no credit, I found tons of inspiration for this party on-line) the girls were less than impressed with all of the choices.

For the most part they weren't super adventurous.  I'm not sure if that's just a trait at this age or if they were more excited about presents and playing? But for the most part they were a syrup only bunch. A few tried some strawberries or chocolate chips but that was the extent of it.

Soon it was time for opening presents and games.

I decided we needed at least one party game so I drew up a little girl in a nightgown and we played "Pin the 6 on the pj's".
Going into it, I felt like this idea was totally lame but the girls loved it.

I cut these numbers out of posterboard and then covered them in Washi tape. I love how they are each different and that I found a use form my Washi other than just looking extremely cute displayed in my sewing room.  The different patterns are all actually on the same roll. I believe it was from Target back around Christmas time.

They played a little more and then it was time to head home. The Bug passed out party favors. . . a personalized pillowcase, a book and some markers.

  I found the pillowcases at Wal-Mart. They didn't have enough in any one color. I would have preferred standard white. But instead we went with a mix of colors, white, pink, purple and floral.
The process for making these was simple. I took inventory of all the letters I would need to make 8 pillowcases and then I cut the letters out of double sided fusible web on an Accu-cut die cut machine. It would have cut the fabric too but I wanted to be able to play with fabric scraps and since hauling my scrap bin in to the library to use the die cut machine was out of the question I just cut the webbing. Then I brough the webbing home and applied it to my fabric scraps then cut out the fabric letters by hand using the webbing as my template.  I ironed the letters on and then sewed around each one with a narrow zig zag.  I estimate each one took half an hour start to finish. Not too bad.

And they are super fun! I love that each girl got something special just for them.

All in all it was a super fun party for everyone I think.  My prep ahead of time was minimal and manageable and I didn't have so much organized for them to do during the party that I felt like I couldn't enjoy it. Yes, I think I might be falling into a birthday party groove.

It only took six years.

~Lindsay

UPDATE: My Pinterest idea board HERE

Happy Easter!

I made a set of Easter dresses for a friend's three girls a month or so ago and I've been waiting to share them with you until now. This past Sunday was Easter for those in the Orthodox tradition and these sweet girls had a lovely day for modeling.

Aren't they adorable?

Little sister and middle sister both have dresses made from an adaptation of the Party Dress pattern on The Cottage Home. I added the gathered overlay on the bodice, skirt lining and zippers in the back.

Very similar to the Bug's Easter dress last spring.

Big sister got a slightly different design.  It's the Josie Dress from Jennifer Paganelli's book, Girls' World.

It already had a gathered bodice so no alterations were needed for this pattern other than putting in a skirt lining.

This butterfly fabric is so cute and so springy.  It's very light weight and a bit slippery and stretchy to sew with but it's also surprisingly forgiving.  I bought it from JoAnn's on clearance last spring. I bought all they had around here and then found 4 more yards on eBay so that I'd have plenty for these three dresses.

It was totally worth it.

The Bug still loves to wear her butterfly dress so I hope these little ladies will enjoy theirs for a long time as well!

Happy Easter!

~Lindsay