It’s a little late for halloween pictures, but I had to take these after halloween.  The costumes were made in the eleventh hour and there was just no time for pictures, plus it was weirdly hot here so wearing wool wasn’t really that fun.  I used the Purl Bee pattern for the bunny hat and just changed the ears to make a cat and dog.  The kitty tail I just made up as I went along and as I went along I noticed I didn’t have any velcro, so I had to steal some off a bag. I used wool felt for the doggie and mostly fleece for the kitty and though the wool is wonderful and natural the fleece actually worked better.  It was a little harder to sew, but stands up better to kid life.  These hats are great for dress up, but I think next time I would use some elastic instead of the ribbon ties, or nothing (because really they’ll stay on just fine). Otherwise you’ll be tying and untying and freaking out that someone is going to strangle themselves.  This was actually the first time I made my kid’s costumes–I do think halloween should be a homemade holiday, but it can be a royal pain in the butt when your children want to be something different every other day.  Somehow my 3 year old decided what everyone should be and stuck with it for a week (I was to be a fairy and I did make the wings, but wire hangers are a lot harder to bend then you would think and I looked like a smashed fairy).  So even though they hardly wore the costumes on halloween, they are getting plenty of use these days.

This is what all those little things on my desk became–a toy bag for little people. It’s up in the shop along with another toy bag (puzzles) and there are more on their way.  This week was making stuff for the shop week and though I’m pretty excited about this new design, not much more than that got done.  I only ventured down in my studio about half of the evenings I was supposed to–I’m a crappy boss to myself I guess.  But there are somethings cut out for the shop that I really want to finish (city skirts and county skirts too!), so I’m just going to keep at it next week. After that we’ll be off to the middle of nowhere on vacation. A whole week! without the internet! I’m guessing there will be cable in the cabin so that kind of evens out the time suck factor. There will also be an enormous lake so I’m not expecting to get much done, but that is the point of vacation anyway isn’t it?

When I made a plan to just sew one kind of thing for a week, it was a good plan and I should have stuck to it. I completely lost my momentum and now it’s just a chore to go down in my studio.  Sewing from actual patterns didn’t help.  Everything was going fine and then suddenly:  step 12. put in zipper or step 7. sew continuous lap.  I still need a little hand holding when it comes to zippers (and who the hell wrote the instructions on the zipper package anyway? because they’re crap) and they could at least define continuous lap even if they’re not going to tell me how to do it.  I did figure them both out (thank you internet) but they are definitely a little off. A continuous lap is where the buttons are in the cuff of your sleeve, if you’d like to know.  You cut a slit in your fabric and then sew a piece of fabric to it in order to hem it, but not make it any smaller.  That’s very confusing, sorry–maybe that’s why they didn’t explain it in the instructions. Anyway, it’s on the back where the buttons go on this striped jumper.  The striped jumper that’s too big. Oh well, at least it’ll fit for sure next summer. I just can’t figure out sizing with patterns. I measured her and picked the size that matched, but I guess it just runs big, like one size too big.  The same thing happened with the other pattern I made.

But this is heavier than I expected–Joann’s linen is not the finest quality, duh–so it might work well as a fall jumper.  I haven’t hemmed it yet because I can’t decide whether or not to use the striped fabric I used on the collar and armholes or just fold it up and hem it.  If I use the striped fabric do you think I need to make bias tape, or can I just cut it straight?

So I have a few things to finish up this week for my kids and other people kids, but next week I’m moving on whether I’m done or not.  But when I do get back to sewing kid’s clothes I’d like to be able to sell some, but I don’t have the foggiest idea how to size them.  Does anyone have any good resources about this?

*edited to add*  both the patterns I got at a thrift store, so I don’t know if they still sell them, but the striped number is Simplicity 6500 and the one with ruffles is Butterick 6089.

I kept my word and worked (almost) every evening this past week on my kid’s wardrobe.  Actually I had such a good time I’m going keep at it this week.  Mostly I used tutorials, but I’m working on some patterns too. The two skirts are from the twirly skirt tutorial by Erin from house on hill road.  It is a seriously twirly skirt–my daughter calls it her swirly skirt.  The tulip fabric I picked up at the thrift store and there was just enough.  A good friend gave me the fish fabric and even though there was only a quarter of a yard (about half of what is called for) it still twirls a little. I looked forever to find a tutorial for the shirts. I knew what I wanted, but didn’t want to spend 10 bucks on a pattern for something so simple.  I finally found it on Just Tutes, which is a fantastic resource for kid’s clothes (click here to go right to the shirt tutorial).  I made the yellow one first and it’s ridiculously small (I’m worried it won’t even fit the 4 month old babe it’s going to) and the second one I made is too big, so I’m guessing next time I’ll get it right.  That’s the problem with sewing at night–no one is around to try anything on.  The striped pants are for my son and I blatantly ripped off the design (and fabric choice too) from Leah of go monkey designs, but she did a much better job (serves me right). I traced a pair of my son’s pants for the little shorts and made up the cuffs and tabs as I went a long.  I used a contrasting bright green thread for all the details and damn if it isn’t stylish.  They turned out better than I had hoped and have been worn and washed many times already.

whew! if you’d like to see bigger and better photos head over to my flickr site.

Do you have any good garment making tutorials to share? I’m kind of addicted, so if you know of any good ones–for kids or adults–please leave a comment so we can all see. thanks.

I did get to the thrift store while I was away and I couldn’t believe how jam packed with stuff it was.  Turns out my town is full of thrift store scavengers (competition) so the pickins is usually slim.  I think this piano was actually there last time I visited my family (umm, thanksgiving?) but I passed it by.  But really can you pass on a vintage, wooden toy piano for $20 two times? It sound very much like a toy piano–pling, plong–but I kind of like it.

I was thinking I should get a little more organized when it comes to my sewing. I’ve got so many projects that I would like to start and so many that really need to be done and I want to do all of it at once, so I end up staring at fabric or making piles or cleaning up and then it’s time for bed and nothing has been made.  So inspired by some lovely ladies, I thought I’d try to have a goal each week:  making a garment each night of the week (like amanda) or just posing a creative challenge (like fede).  I’d like to do this all summer, but really I think I’ll just start with the next month and see how it goes.  I think it will make me focus a bit better.  This week is just about organzing and getting ready, but I’ll be back next week to post the theme or goal or whatever. If you’d like to join me with your own weekly goals, please do, we’ll get even more done that way I’m sure.