Spring has sprung and that means it’s time again for kcwc! Kids Clothes Week Challenge is a bi-annual event here on elsie marley where I challenge you to sew one hour a day, each day for 7 days.  The idea is that we all have the urge to sew clothes for our children, but we don’t always give ourselves the time to do it.  If you commit to sitting in front of your sewing machine, or tracing patterns, or cutting fabric, for one hour each day, then at the end of the week you will have some very well dressed kids. And a very proud mama (or papa) too!

All you need to do to sign up is leave a comment on this post. If you would like to know more about kcwc you can check out the kcwc faq page. You can also head to the elsie marley flickr group to check out creations from kcwc past or see all my posts on kcwc here.

If you would like to sponsor elsie marley during kcwc, I would love to have you! Kcwc has become wonderfully successful, so much so that traffic to this little blog doubles during kcwc month! Sponsor spots go up a bit in price ($40) but it’s totally worth it. Drop me a line if you’d like to get in on the action. elsiemarleyblog@gmail.com

Okay! leave a comment and sign up! spread the word! and sew like crazy!

kcwc spring 2012 buttons:

************************************

*************************************

*********************************************

1. girlies in pjs  2. Hand dyed, wool jersey vest and leggings 3.  raincoat 4. fishsticks and fries austin lee romper 5. pocket shirt 6. Peasant top and repurposed skirt 7. pockets 8. crazy stripey crawler pants 9. pink sweater II 10. gypsy forest 11. elephant and elbow patches 12.  Abby jacket 13. strawberry skirt 14. raw edged raglan tee–bamboo knit 15. school days coat  16. 90 minute shirts

Another KCWC has come and gone and you have made it amazing! One little nudge and suddenly all these cute kids have  closets full of beautiful handmade clothes.  The momentum this kcwc was unreal. Usually there is about a 50/50 split between the fizzle outers and the get ‘r doners, but it seemed like everyone was getting stuff done this fall.  No reason to let that good sewing mojo go to waste. I know you have a life to get back to, but don’t forget that just a little bit early in the morning or after the kids go to bed a couple times a week adds up to a lot of finished projects!

1. clever charlotte 2. too sweets 3. tea collection 4. charm stitch 5. crafty mamas 6. ida pearle 7. secret cake 8. sew many patterns 9. re+new by five green acres 10. vistaprint 11. little part 12. that’s me! want to be a sponsor?

I was very excited to see all the new faces this kcwc as well. You can find some great new (to you) blogs I’m sure either in the comments section of this post or from this flickr discussion.  We all need to support each other in our crafty endevors! You can continue to support your fellow sewist by subscribing to their blog (and mine right there in the sidebar)– it’s like a virtual pat on the back. A little encouragement can do a lot, just look at the kcwc flickr pool! And my amazing sponsors could use your support too. We are all in this together!

Whew! You made it! The last day of kcwc fall 2011. I hope it went well for you this year. All the clothes I’ve showed you so far I made two weeks ago, but this coat? I’ve been working on this beauty all week. An hour here and there at the sewing machine and finally the baby gets something to wear.

Here are all the details:

• pattern: same as the coat I made for his older brother (that one was still too big)
• elbow patches: from Kristin’s tutorial. At first I top stitched a diamond pattern on them, but an oval shape + diamonds = ham. He looked like he had big hams on his elbows!

• fabric: brown tweedy wool (same as these pants) found at a thrift store
• lining fabric: felted cashmere sweater

• buttons: wooden buttons from Joann’s plus one green one I’ve been saving forever.
• pockets: patch pockets lined with green and ironed to make faux piping like these pants again.

Here are some more pictures just because:

Did you have a good time during kcwc? Did you get a lot done? I love this pile of handmade clothes! Makes me want to do laundry (a little). I will be back tomorrow with a big round up of all the amazing things from the flickr pool. Here are the ones from today:

1. wraparound jacket
2. ottobre majava pants
3. ruitjes
4. unicorn dress

Wow, sorry I’m so late with a post today. I forgot about actual work :)

I am pretty proud of this little skirt. It’s a basic, a-line denim skirt with a flat front, a bit of topstitching, and some good pockets. Nothing flashy about it, but it just looks right. You know what I mean?

What is it doing in a circle of glittery gold? After kcwc is over and done I tell you all about it (hey, you might even want to subscribe…)

1. kcwc x hoodie
2. little boy jacket
3. reversible corduroy caplet
4. origami pocket skirt

These are a little over the top to be sure. But so are four year old boys. The patterns is from Happy Homemade vol. 5 modified it a bit, okay a lot. I stole the pocket pattern from a different project in the book and I threw piping in all over the place. The back pockets are my favorite.

I also totally wussed out on the zipper fly and just make a fake fly, that got all janky anyway. Being afraid of putting in a zipper is ridiculous, I mean a zipper isn’t going to kill me or anything. Whatever, here they are: crazy ass orange tight pants with bright blue piping.

He rocked them.

And here are today’s highlights from the flickr group (they are all a little muted today, maybe the rain is affecting me):

1. polaris
2. red riding hood dress
3. library jacket
4. snappy milo cables

only two more days to go!