kcwc guest post: meg from sew liberated

April 18th, 2012

meg from sew liberated

I started following Meg’s blog, Sew Liberated, back when she was a Montessori teacher in Mexico. She’s moved back to the states and had a few boys since then, but her loving, teacherly voice is always present. Meg’s patient, creative Montessori spirit shows through not only in her parenting, but in her home and sewing too. If you haven’t seen her latest book, Growing Up Sew Liberated, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy!

matchy matchy skinny tee + basic pocket pants

At first, I had visions of using one of his dad’s old tee shirts to make him an indie-chic Flashback Skinny Tee. But then Finn entered the sewing studio. And, as we all know, almost-three-year-olds have very strong opinions about certain things. (Well, I’ll be honest – at first, he just wanted to cut the car fabric. Cutting, his all-time favorite activity, was just what I was about to do (with another fabric) so we went ahead and cut the car fabric together for his shirt.) In the end, I can most certainly say that this was our first creative collaboration.

matchy matchy skinny tee + basic pocket pants

He handed me pins, pulled out pins, and trimmed threads. Thanks to Rae and her super straightforward pattern, the boy and I had a lovely time together. I now have a sewing assistant.

matchy matchy skinny tee + basic pocket pants

Why stop at the tee, though, when the tee came together in less than an hour? Finn needed a pair of shorts, so I shortened the Basic Pocket Pants pattern from my book Growing Up Sew Liberated and altered the waistband so that I could use the knit fabric instead of the conventional woven-with-elastic method. I attached the stretchy knit waistband in the same way that you attach the collar to the Skinny Tee.

matchy matchy skinny tee + basic pocket pants

The boy and his pockets, which are always filled with sticks and weeds.

matchy matchy skinny tee + basic pocket pants

For Finn’s Skinny Tee, I opted for the 1 inch cuff finish, and used my all-time favorite lazy person’s finish for the shirt’s hem: Lite Steam-a-Seam2. Just apply the strip close to the raw edge on the wrong side of the fabric, remove the paper, fold up the hem, finger press, then make the bond permanent by pressing with an iron.

matchy matchy skinny tee + basic pocket pants

Happy sewing, everyone!

7 Responses to kcwc guest post: meg from sew liberated

  1. Karin says:

    OK, everyone is making the T-shirt look so easy maybe I have to put one on the KCWC list! Awesome guest posts today!

  2. Laura says:

    Gorgeous outfit, I do love this car pattern. Could you give a bit more detail on adapting the basic pocket pants to use the stretchy knit for the waistband? I’d love to do this but want to make sure I get the size right so the pants stay up.

    Thanks
    Laura

  3. Jo says:

    I recently made a pair of the basic pants from Meg’s book and they’re great so I’m thinking about making another pair for KCWC. The pjs are also pretty cool too – might do some of those too :-)

  4. Allie says:

    Our boys have similar taste… my flashback tee is almost identical: http://www.crozette.com/2012/03/made-by-rae-flashback-skinny-tee.html. And I made your envelope tee out of the blue cars you used here! http://www.crozette.com/2012/03/sew-liberated-envelope-tee.html. Now I need to get on those coordinating pocket pants!

  5. Maria says:

    Could you please post more details about the fabrics and where to source them from? Thank you!

  6. […] honestly, elsie marley has been knocking it out of the park with her great guest posts.  I think this post from meg @ sew liberated was what tipped me over the edge.  what about you? tempted? it’s […]