My daughter has never been much of a girly girl. There was a brief princess phase, but for the most part all the frilly and fussy girl things are of no interest to her.  Not that she is all for boy things, either. She just wants to like what she likes and not be told what that should be. A while back she said, totally exasperated, "Arg! why does my toothbrush have to be pink?!"

Exactly.  So what is the awesome dress that isn't too girly, but still has a tiny bit of twirl? The Skater Dress pattern by Kitchy Coo.

Amanda has hit the nail on the head with this pattern. Even the name is perfect. The skater dress is comfy and stylish, just right for puddle jumping in the spring, throwing on over your suit in the summer, and of course going to the skate park.  She designed it to fit for a few years! And this dress will indeed fit my daughter through the fall--a lifetime in kid years.

The original pattern is a crew neck, but I couldn't imagine it without a hood. Luckily for me, Rae recently posted a hoodie tutorial that was a perfect match for this dress. I made the placket a little shorter so I wouldn't have to add buttons or snaps. She does have to wear something under it, but I expected that.

The fabric is from Joann's if you can believe it. I couldn't. It is a lovely knit: not to light, not to heavy, and so soft. The best bit is that one side is stripes, the other polka dots! The color could be less Primary! Blue! but I'll take it.

The pattern is well written and Amanda guides you through the trickier parts of sewing with knits. She convinced me that I should use stretch needles when sewing with knits. And she introduced me to the stretch stitches on my machine, which I'm now in love with. Amanda also tried to get me to use a double needle for the hem. I did buy one, but then wimped out when it came time to using it. My hem is of course wavy and now I regret not listening to her.

The moral of this story is, listen to Amanda and buy her awesome pattern! Be sure to follow along with the Skater Dress blog tour to see everyone's variation of this fantastic dress. See you at the skate park!

1. stars sweater 2. cardigan  3.  simple shirt 4.  linen cotton dress

We are already to the fifth day of kcwc! Don't hang up your hat even though it's Friday! Kids Clothes Week goes a full 7 days. I know weekends can be busy. Maybe you've pushed yourself too hard this week and are feeling a little burnt out, or missed a day this week, but don't stop now when the end is in site! The point of this challenge is not to make beautiful kids clothes--though that does of course happen--it is to sit down in front of your sewing machine a little each day. And it is a big challenge! When the couch or the computer are calling, it can be very hard to ignore them. I know you have two good hours left in you this weekend. I, for one, have about an hour's worth of threads to clip.

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the fabric: a shockingly nice jersey stripe I found at Joann's

the pattern: Rae's Flashback Skinny Tee! I have made a ton with this pattern for kcwc and I have more planned. I stole this idea from the lovely dress Heather made last kcwc. I wish I would have made the bodice shorter. And well, the arms are a little short, but I did size a 5T pattern up for my 7 year old before I realized Rae had put out a big kid sized Flashback Tee. Even will all that, I still like how it turned out--and she loves it!

the sewing: Nothing to it. Really you need to try this pattern!

Sometimes getting a good photo of the clothes is twice as hard as actually sewing the clothes. She loves the clothes--I think this outfit will be worn all summer long---but hates being in front of the camera. There were many, many crabby faces before I got this smile.

the pattern: This wide leg pants pattern comes from the Japanese sewing book Happy Homemade Vol. 2. It is pattern letter o. I've had a few questions about this book and Japanese sewing books in general, so I thought maybe I'd do a few reviews after kcwc wraps up.

the fabric: Aqua linen from Joann's.

the sewing: I've made these pants so many times before I could sew them in my sleep. Actually, I made these exact pants in orange linen last summer for my daughter and she wore them at every opportunity. Who can blame her? Wearing linen pants feels so good in the summertime.

the pattern: tee for two pattern by figgy's. I think this pattern might be out of print, but there is a version in the book Sewing for Boys.

the fabric: Nani Iro knit called Pocho. I would buy every bit of fabric Naomi Ito designs if I could. The knit fabric is just as lovely as her double gauze: super soft, a little waffle-y, and the print is perfect.

the sewing: The tee for two pattern calls for all your seams to be on the outside. I wanted a cleaner look, so I sewed everything with right sides facing. I always have trouble with hemming knits, but this time I used mother's little helper: steam-a-seam. I kind of fell in love with the stuff. It's double sided, fusible, a little bit stretchy, and only 1/4 inch wide.  Stretch knits and shifty fabrics can be tamed with this stuff. The arm hems turned out perfect because of it. Though, I did feel like I was cheating a bit.

Today's picks from the flickr pool are brought to you by the amazing stripe and the crazy polka dot:

1. polky dots

2. kcwc spring day 4 

3. kcwc day 1 and 2

4. more stripey jersey jim jams

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!

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Happy sewing, everyone!

I fell in love with this little sleeper when I first saw it: it's like those nightgowns for newborns, except stylish.  At 40 bucks, it was a little out of my price range, but looked simple enough to recreate. Well, mine doesn't quite live up to the original, but I think I got close.

The pattern came from the book Growing Up Sew Liberated (which I reviewed here). The more I use this book the better it gets.  A rare thing among craft books! Normally they are all eye candy, but look a little deeper and it turns out they are mostly errata and confusing directions. To alter the pattern I just extended the bottom bit, so it looked like it would tie up nicely. The edge really needs a rolled finish, but I'm not that handy with the serger so I left it raw.  I might make this again and try to get the knot bit right.