I'm going to take a little break from this space, but I will come back soon.  Photo by Thomas Hawk

There is a fantastic store in my neighborhood that hosts an art swap twice a year in their backyard. It's just what it sounds like: you bring some art making stuff you don't want and take some things you do. There are rug hooking kits and mat board and broken lamps and weird little rusty bits and bobs. This year we even scored some pool noodles. I love it because it is so random and so neighborly.  We always get enough paper and markers to last us until the next swap. I was excited to find some dot matrix printer paper (nerd!) for making banners. Remember how many banners we used to make with that stuff with the letters made out of lots of little letters? If you don't know what I'm talking about you are far too young.

My daughter found that odd wooden bear along with many, many little treasures. And I found a nice stack of knits. After kids clothes week I'm feeling more confident working with them, so I'm sure there will be even more 90 minute shirts and leggings in our future. Anyone know of any good kids clothes patterns for knits (I don't have enough fabric for anything for me)? I also found this cardboard tub with a metal rim that reminds me of ice cream in the summertime and though it's sure to get broken in this house I brought it home anyway (along with some snazzy sewing patterns).

I'm really trying not to bring more shit into the house, but I think art supplies should really be an exception--for the kids and for me. And I'm happy to say I brought more things to the swap than I took away, so we are still have less total.  I did find two Taro Gomi coloring books at the thrift store yesterday that I bought. I have been coveting them for quite a while now and I never expected to find them at a secondhand shop. They were a couple bucks each with only a little bit of coloring in one. I think I've used up my thrift mojo for while with these.

Speaking of swaps, Melissa over at tigerlily tinkering started a crafty barter marketplace that I think it a fantastic idea. You post about what you want to make, look around to see what other people are interested in making and then see if they would like to trade.  It's fun to sew little things, but really how many hot water bottle covers does one person need?

1. McCall's vest 2332 and bow tie, 2. Day 1, 3. Tea towel pants, 4. Kids Clothes Challenge, 5. annabelle in ruffle top, 6. Baggy towel pants, 7. 90 minute shirt with pleats, 8. Princess & the Pea Sundress - 2, 9. Goldfish

I was a little unsure about kids clothes week when I first posted about it. There are enough tasks to get done everyday, I didn't want to add to that list and make mothers out there crazy (or crazier).  But I thought maybe we could eek out a little bit of time each day and that wouldn't be too much to ask.  Then blazzam! You took that little bit of time and ran with it. I am floored by the creativity and skill and perseverance of you all.

1. front, 2. Ice Cream Dress, 3. yellow pants . front, 4. kids clothes week challenge :: day 1, 5. sailboat pants - on alice, 6. WIP - polka dot dress, 7. kids' clothes challenge - y's shirt, 8. kcwc rainbow leggings, 9. Vintage Dress

There is inspiration in the flickr group to last all summer long.  I cut out twice as many patterns as I got to sew last week--and I'm sure I'm not the only one--so the group is sure to keep growing.  Looking at all that you've made makes me want to sew so much more! The list will never be completely crossed off and I'm ok with that. Thank you so much for doing this challenge with me.  I had a blast and my kids were pretty excited too. One of the participants (arg I can't remember who) said her daughter told her it was like Christmas getting all these new clothes!

I will definitely be doing this again next year.  We could beef it up with prizes (most completed projects, most botched projects, most beautiful on a hanger, most beautiful on the actual child...) or we could just keep is as it is.  You guys made this challenge successful, so what do you think it should be like next year? Really, I want to know.

hey look! you made it to the last day of the kids clothes week challenge! One hour left to hem everything you spent all week making. It's been amazing to see what everyone has made by just working a little bit everyday.  Some people worked on one garment all week and other people managed to sew up something new everyday.  I finished up these shorts today. The pattern was from Happy Homemade Vol. 2 and he's wearing the shirt I copied from the book too.

I started these on Friday and I was lucky enough to spend that evening sewing with some of my friends. Friends who were nice enought to join in on the challenge and they made some of their first garments for their little ones.  Sitting around a dining room filled with sewing machines (and cake and wine) talking and laughing was wonderful. This challenge has been like that, only with 200 people around the table!  I am absolutely floored by the things you have sewn and the momentum you created by sewing everyday. A lot of people have asked me to keep the challenge going for a few weeks! And really there is no reason you should stop.

It has taken me all week to figure out I'm making clothes that are a size too big for all of my kids. So even though I got a lot done, most things won't be worn until next summer. I guess I'll have to do the week over for this year's wardrobe, but I honestly don't mind. I've learned a bunch of new things and sewing doesn't feel like so much of a task any more. What about you? Did you have a good time? Did you cross everything off your list?

oh you didn't think it was over did you?

The baby doesn't really need clothes, but how can I not sew something cute for him. Plus it's easier to make new pants than to go get the box of bigger clothes and go through it again.  The knee pad pants are from the illustrious Dana of dana made it. And the purple pants I made from sleeve of a sweatshirt. He had some purple leggings that I was squeezing his chubby legs in because they were too cute to give up. Finally I traced them and made these and there are some yellow ones in the works from the same pattern.

I bet you could squeeze in a couple hours of sewing this weekend to finish up some projects, then maybe take some pictures and put them up on flickr. Next week I'm going to show off some of the beautiful things that people have been making because wow! you guy are amazing!

After some pretty obvious frustration yesterday, I finished some projects. Some I just put away for another time and some I started because I knew I could finish them without loosing my mind.  This shirt pattern is from the super fantastic japanese book Happy Homemade Vol. 2.

There is a little keyhole detail in the back, but except for that it's just a few pieces of fabric cinched together with a tie.  The tie works as the straps too and ties in a pretty bow in the back.  If I didn't have to hem the entire tie  (and next time I'll just cut two, sew them together and turn them out) it would have taken an hour start to finish. I don't know if it fits yet, because little miss is at school, but it turned out so well I won't even mind if it doesn't.

I know for sure these shorts don't fit, but they might in a few years. My son doesn't care though. He wore them yesterday and today and the front is covered in breakfast, which is why I am only showing you the back. To make these you take a pattern for shorts cut the front and back pieces down the middle (slash and spread) so when you cut out your fabric you should have eight pieces total. Then sew the middle seams with the seam exposed and sew the side seams normally.  It's kind of a cool detail, but I'm not sure how they'll look out of the wash. I made them from a knit, so they shouldn't unravel. If they come out ok I'll make some more in the right size. someday. The pattern is "i" from Everyday Bottoms.

I usually have a fine time while I am sewing, maybe there are a few mistakes here and there, but I fix them and continue on imagining how perfect the dress (or whatever) will be when it's done and then I start working on the very last step--the waistband or the binding or the damn hem--and everything goes to shit.

It just destroys me every time. Why is it always the last step? Of course it means that in order to fix the screw up you have to undo most of what you just did and unpick a whole lot of seams to get there.  But to have made the dress in the first place I've had to put everything else I have to do on hold (as I sew I can feel the laundry pile getting bigger and bigger) and now I have to go do all that stuff in half the time because I just wasted two hours on sewing with nothing to show for it.

This dress wasn't like that at all actually, but I have plenty of projects piling up on my ironing board that are and I'm feeling a leeetle frustrated about it. If this challenge weren't happening I would just quit and be crabby, but I can't now. Who came up with this stupid challenge anyway?

But the dress. The pattern is from Carefree Clothes for Girls and in the book it's made out of woven cottons, but I made it with knits so I could be sure my daughter would wear it.  I omitted the button closure on the back and made the neckline a little deeper (I was going to say "I made the head hole bigger," I think I need more coffee).  Because of that, it falls off her shoulder a little when she jumps around (i.e. all the time) which is too bad, but it's big anyway and next year I think it will fit perfectly. The printed knit I got from Joann's and the lining was an XL tshirt. I had barely enough of the shirt to make the ruffle, but there were no hems anywhere! so yay!

I was able to sneak downstairs yesterday and make these polka dot leggings for my daughter. Holy crap that serger is fast. Once I get going I get a little serger happy, weeeeeeee!  Of course then I make a mistake and those seams are a bear to rip out, so  I have to serger more to fix the problem and as my grandfather would say, "I cut it and I cut it and it's still too short."  All that is to say the waistband is a little janky.  The pattern is from the Nani Iro book that came out a few years ago.  Between the leg and the cuff of the pants the pattern also had a floobidiboo, but I couldn't figure out the directions and it wasn't all that fantastic, so I skipped it.

The top I made from this peasant top tutorial. I snagged some of that Heather Ross Far Far Away unicorn print when it was flying off the shelves (but oh! have you seen her new designs?).  And I'm so glad that I did because I've never worked with double gauze before and it is a whole helluva lot nicer than quilting cotton. It's light and soft and hangs nicely--perfect for summer.  Thankfully the pants and the shirt are a hit even though they are not pink (thankfully).

If I were the kind of person who planned ahead even a little I would have had a week of posts with beautifully photographed clothes with finished hems that I had made for my children ready to go. Instead you get a hurried shot of this muscle shirt with a raw edge (I hate hemming!) on a rainy day before school. The shirt is made from the wildly popular 90 minute shirt tutorial by Dana.  Only I left off the sleeves and sewed ribbing around the armholes and blazzam! the 30 minute muscle shirt is born.  It turned out well, I think. He looks a little like he's about to go out and race lawnmowers, but that might just be the camo pants.

1. pocketsmock, 2. Music Class Blouse, 3. kids clothes week: frog & toad pants, 4. Ezra in his new pants-in-progress

The flickr group is blowing up with all kinds of amazing clothes. Go check it out! Oh and in case you want to add to your already too long to sew list (like mine) Jennifer from JCasa handmade created a super cute and super quick sundress pattern that you can find here on sew mama sew. I bet you could make it in an hour!

Go!

The first day of the challenge is here! I did sneak down last night to start my first project and it looks like a lot of people have already finished some fantastic projects. But for the most part everything is just in piles. My hour to sew doesn't come until evening, so until then I can just click around the over 200 blogs that are participating and see what you are making. Here is my list for the week.

for the girl

• 2 shorts
• 2 dresses (1 done, 1 started)
• 1 tank top
• leggings
• peasant top
  

for the boy

• 1 pair of shorts
• 1 pair of pants
• 1 short sleeve shirt
• 1 muscle shirt

for the baby

• 1 romper (started)
• 2 long sleeve shirts
• 2 pairs of pants

There is so much more I want to make, which is just ridiculous, but these are the things they actually need for summer. I don't know if I can pull it off, but the point is just to start, right? What is on your list?