Posts Tagged ‘kcwc’

kids clothes week fall 2012

The temperature has dropped and fall is finally on it’s way! It must be time for another edition of 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 too!

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.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up! How do you sign up?  Just leave a comment on this post telling me that you are in. Then go tell all your friends to sign up too! Spread the word on twitter, instagram, pinterest, tumblr with the #kcwc hashtag. Slap a button on your blog or on your facebook page. Link to this post and try to get all your facebook friends who sew to join too. I bet your mom would like to be invited. Last year I think there we had almost 700 people sign up. Can we make it to 800? 900? Now I’m starting to sound like a politician! Go knock on some doors for kcwc!

kcwc buttons:

(copy and paste the code under the buttons)

<a href="http://www.elsiemarley.com/kids-clothes-week-fall-2012.html">
   <img src="http://d1yops4utenhgf.cloudfront.net/kcwc-fall12-1.jpg">
</a>

<a href="http://www.elsiemarley.com/kids-clothes-week-fall-2012.html">
   <img src="http://d1yops4utenhgf.cloudfront.net/kcwc-fall12-2.jpg">
</a>

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   <img src="http://d1yops4utenhgf.cloudfront.net/kcwc-fall12-4.jpg">
</a>

 

kcwc spring 2012: day seven

skinny star shorts shot

I’m a little late with the last post of the week, sorry. Yesterday was so dark and rainy we couldn’t take any pictures (hence the wellies).

skinny star shorts

the fabric: this awesome star fabric is from JoAnn’s country club collection. I only remember the name because it’s hilarious. The fabric is a really nice bottomweight print, which I have the hardest time finding.

happy homemade vol. 5 pattern S

the pattern: half pants pattern letter S from Happy Homemade vol. 5 I’ve made the pants version of this pattern before–here–but added all kinds of piping and pockets.

pocket

the sewing: I made this pattern last summer, but never got around to finishing them. Ever do that? Well the half finished shorts don’t fit this year, but I liked the pattern so much I traced a bigger size. The pattern is nicely tailored and the tiny pocket is adorable, even if it’s totally useless.  I have to say, these skinny star shorts are pretty much the bomb: simple, long, good for school and play. I think this would work well for boys too, maybe in a size up from what they normally wear so it’s not so, so tight.

start shorts

Each day in the flickr pool has been better than the last. On this, the final day of kcwc, your handmade clothes are pretty much blowing my mind. Check out these amazing garments:

kcwc day seven mosaic

1. yoke dress for kcwc

2. striped dress

3. robot baseball tee with rainbow stripes

4. organic cotton pj’s

 

kcwc spring 2012: day five

yellow linen hoodie

My youngest has a thing for hoods. He would be happy if every shirt he own had one (this tutorial makes that a possibility). He was looking a little like the incredible hulk in his old hoodie, so a new one was definitely in order.

hoodie from happy homemade vol. 2

the pattern: the hoodie pattern from Happy Homemade vol. 2. I made this pattern a few years ago and my son still wears his–has it on today actually. Successful boy’s patterns for tops made from woven fabric are few and far between. That makes this hoodie pattern practically perfect.  I added a kangaroo pocket to make it actually perfect.

the fabric: yellow linen from JoAnn’s. I’ve been using a lot of linen this week. I can’t help it, it is just so perfect for summertime kids: sturdy but still soft, lightweight but still durable. Also, my youngest is crazy for the color yellow and there aren’t a whole lot of tasteful options out there for that color. This yellow was yellow enough for him, but mustard-y enough for me.

hood

the sewing: This pattern comes together crazy fast. The elastic in the front is a little fiddly and I know it doesn’t look the greatest, but whatever. The hoods on the last hoodies I made seemed small, so I made this hood bigger. Except I made it bigger in the back and now my son looks like a conehead. I fixed the hood not so it’s not so pointy (after this photo shoot), but it’s still elf-y. An elf is cuter than a conehead, right? I think the hood pattern needs to be made bigger in the front so it covers his forehead. I already cut out another of these hoodies for my five year old son, but I may re-draft the hood before I start sewing.

cute

Here are today’s cuties from the flickr pool:

kcwc day five mosaic

1. kcwc 2012

2. sleeveless t-shirt

3. flat front pocket shorts

4. here fishy fishy

kcwc spring 2012: day four

wide leg pants and nani iro top

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.

wide leg pants

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.

wide leg back pockets

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.

nani iro raglan top

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.

top back

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

kcwc day four mosaic

1. polky dots

2. kcwc spring day 4 

3. kcwc day 1 and 2

4. more stripey jersey jim jams

 

 

kcwc spring 2012: day three

matching linen pants

I had planned for this post to be a little more colorful, with some nice bright tees and crazy socks, but the boys insisted on being perfectly matchy-matchy (their words) right down to matching bare feet.  This’ll be yur summertime business casual for boys.

linen pants back

the pattern: This is a new pants pattern for me. I wanted to try it because it was a slimmer cut than my beloved pattern from Happy Homemade Vol. 2 and it had a back yoke (you know that sort of V-shaped part in the back of your jeans). The pattern is from a japanese sewing book called Polka Drops, or rather maybe the series is called polka drops and this specific book is called something else entirely. I know absolutely no Japanese, so your guess is as good as mine. If you follow the link, you’ll see the pants on the front cover.

purple pockets

the fabric: The fabric is the same dyed ikea curtain I used for my daughter’s skirt. I also used the same fabric for the purple pockets that I used in her skirt and for her Ayashe blouse too.

side view

the sewing: The actual sewing of the pants went really well. There were pockets and flat felled seams and it all went swimmingly. The fit though, the fit is crap. They are a nice width–not wide leg, not skinny–but they are way too big in the crotch (it is an awful word, I know, but there isn’t any other that works). If I hike them up old man style, then they fit right, but eventually the crotch gets all saggy again. I don’t really know how to adjust the fit so it’s better. Maybe next time I’ll lob off some of the top on the pattern. If you have any suggestions I’m all ears. Even though my boys do like them (and love that they match) and they will get worn, every time they do wear them the phrase saggy crotch will go through my head. Not pleasant!

silly linen pants

Here are some amazing clothes that will have you thinking only lovely things when you see them:

kcwc day three mosaic

1. gingham dress

2. taming the beast

3. beetlebroek

4. knot shorts upside down 

There isn’t room here on the blog to show off all the super fantastic garments in the flickr pool, so I’ve been featuring some on facebook throughout the day too.