elsie marley

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?

Making patterns sounds like it should be hard, but making patterns for children is super easy. Up to a certain age, kids are basically little rectangles and as long as you have some straps or elastic to keep the clothes up you are good to go.   I think the pattern everyone starts with is pants: turn a pair they have inside out (oops forgot that part), fold it in half, trace it and add some seam allowances. For babies and toddlers you can get away with same pattern for the front and the back. I like the way pants fit my kids a little better when I make an actual front and back pattern, but even then it’s not difficult at all. There is a very helpful guide on sewmamasew for altering the pants pattern you may already have for your growing kids. And if you haven’t made pants yet there are about a 1000 tutorials out there. If you have a favorite please leave a link in the comments.

I like to use freezer paper for all my kids’ clothes patterns: a big roll is pretty cheap, it’s wide enough to accommodate kid patterns, you can write on it, you can see through it (for tracing patterns), and you can iron right on your fabric so you don’t have to use any pins.  I use knit fabric for most of my kids’ clothes and I find it hard to pin. The only problem with using freezer paper is directionality. You can’t flip it over, well technically you can, but then you’d have to pin it, defeating the purpose. But honestly, I don’t run into this problem very often.

The challenge starts next week on Monday! Remember the challenge is to sew (or make patterns!) for an hour a day, but Tim Gunn isn’t going to tell you to stop when the hour is up. Mostly the challenge is about momentum–just start sewing and see where you end up. My list of clothes I want to make is ridiculously long and I know I won’t get everything done. There are over 200 of you participating! I don’t think lack of motivation should be a problem when 200 people are cheering you on! Be sure to add your photos of finished or half finished garments to the elsiemarley flickr pool as the week goes on and I’ll showcase some here on the old blog.  And if you plan on sewing for your kids after they are asleep be sure to measure them before they fall asleep because I’ve tried to get their measurements while they are sleeping and it doesn’t work too well.

Inspiring handmade baby clothes:

1. modernbebe reversible bonnet, 2. For our little one on the way, 3. Robots, 4. Goodbye Drool Reversible Handkerchief, 5. denim rompers, 6. Bloomers, 7. baby top, 8. roze pruge, 9. finally something new for baby boy

I don’t think I have to say much about baby clothes to get you to make some. They are super tiny and super quick. And it’s even a little silly that we make bonnets and bloomers and booties because they grow out of them so fast.  But we do and even long after we’ve had our last baby we do.  Who could blame us?  They are so stinking cute.

fantastic tutorials for baby things:

1. baby bonnet from vintage hankie 2. kimono booties 3.  sweat pea pilot cap 4. baby boy onesie tutorial 5. fourth of july baby sun hat 6. baby jumper tutorial 8. heirloom bloomers 8. hanging sloth bib 9. sleep sack tutorial